Skinny Protein Brownies

Protein and brownies, I know, those two words aren’t ones you normally think of going together. But if you can bake a brownie without fat and packed with protein… and they taste delicious, wouldn’t you do it too? I saw this recipe posted on a friends facebook page, it was one of those “shared” recipes that gave no credit to the author and I couldn’t track down where it originated from… so this isn’t my brain child, but I did make some changes to the original posting. Whoever originally came up with this, thanks for the inspiration!

Chocolate, low fat, packed with protein AND deliciousness. What more can you ask from a snack?

Find out how to make them at Food Fanatic. You know you want some Skinny Protein Brownies.



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Frozen no bake Brownie Balls

Sounds good right? Considering Monday I posted about mashed potatoes and someone equated them to looking like a pile of poo... I figured I might as well post these bad boys. Although amazingly delicious and seriously addicting, John has lovingly nicknamed them poo balls. Yes folks I just went there. I know I should be talking about such things on a food blog... but seriously as pretty as I tried to dress them up...


Yeah they're poo balls.

Don't be discouraged though, these are oh so very very addicting. I found the recipe over at Cooking al(a) Mel and made them within a day. (her's look less poo like... why is that???)

Brownie Dough Bites
recipe from Cooking al(a) Mel

1/2 cup cashews (I nixed the walnuts and used 3/4 cup cashews instead)
1 cup Medjool dates, pitted
2 T cocoa
1/2 t vanilla
1 T maple syrup or agave nectar (I've used both)
1/4 t salt (I used a little less)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

In a food processor, grind the cashews and walnuts until they are fine crumbs. Add in the dates and pulse until chunky. Add the cocoa, vanilla, maple syrup, salt and coconut. Pulse until well blended and a dough forms. Stir in the chocolate chips or pulse them in for finer pieces. Roll into bite sized balls and place in an airtight container in the freezer!

PS> I sent out jam exchange partners last night so if you think you signed up and you didn't get an email from me comment below and then email me at stephchows (at) gmail.com too please!

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Brownies and Milk

We had a sunny weekend!! Finally spring was here this weekend. It was sunny and in the 60's, and I'm jumping for joy! To celebrate I decided to make a batch of brownies. There is just something so comforting about brownies and milk. Maybe it's the memories making brownies with my Mom, either way this recipe is a keeper for sure.

I found it over at What would Cathy Eat and it's delicious!

Are you a milk with your brownies kinda girl/boy or maybe a scoop of icecream with them? Or straight up plain!? And don't you love the retro milk jug? It was my Nana's, too cute not to use.

Decadent Lowfat Brownies
recipe by What would Cathy Eat

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate (she used a Ghirardelli 70% baking bar) (I used Pure Dark Slab provided to me by Foodbuzz tastemaker program)
2 T. water
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 egg + 2 egg whites
2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar (I used splenda)
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 T. canola oil
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (I left these out)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small saucepan, heat the chocolate and water on very low heat, stirring until melted. Stir in the applesauce. In a bowl, vigorously whisk together the egg and egg whites, vanilla, sugars and canola oil. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Add the dry ingredients and mix briefly. Fold in the walnuts.

Spray an 8×8″ metal baking pan with oil. Spread the batter in the pan and bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

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Apple Butter Brownies and a Cookie Exchange?

Ummmm when did December get here... no really... when did this happen??

We had the brunettes last week so it's about time we have some brownies right? Remember that Musselmans Apple Butter I was telling you about? Well once I made the brunettes with it I had to make up a batch of brownies using it as the base... WOW so glad I did because these things came out AMAZING!


Super fast to whip up these will have people drooling for more.

Fudgy Brownies
recipe by steph chows

1 cup Musselmans apple butter
1/3 cup splenda or 1/3 cup white sugar
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup Hershey's 100% Cocoa Special Dark
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used semi-sweet chips)

Preheat over to 350 F
Mix apple butter, splenda/sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, beat in egg
In a separate bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon.
Add flour mixture to wet mixture a little at a time, stir in chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into 8" square pan
Bake for about 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Serve alone or with a scoop of your favorite ice cream.


Now onto that cookie exchange! I had a bunch of you asking if I was hosting one this year and the short answer is YES! Now the longer answer is when do you want to send cookies??

Would you take part in the cookie exchange?
	Yes but only if I get cookies before Dec 25th
	Yes but only if I can mail them after New Years
	Either way I'm IN!!!!
	I hate cookies
pollcode.com free polls

And the other question is where are you located (if we have enough we can do mini exchanges in other countries like last year's mini UK exchange!)

Where do you live?
	USA
	Canada
	UK
	AUS
	Other- but I want to participate!
pollcode.com free polls

More cookie details to come Friday!!!

Vegan Brownies

This brownie recipe was suggested to me by the Special K Treatment the other day. A very interesting brownie if you check out the ingredient list... chick peas... maple syrup... a banana... cashew butter?? Really?? In brownies???

Not to be easily scared off by interesting ingredients I went to the cupboard to discover I had everything I needed to make them. A short time later I had everything all set in the mixing bowl ready to go.


I must say they looked a bit more inviting in the mixing bowl then when they were done cooking. Since there is nothing to leaven these they are flat as can be. I'd suggest baking them in a smaller pan instead of an 8x8 to give them some more height... there is something about a wicked thin brownie... I want a thick one!


I unfortunately only had peanut butter on hand and was out of cashew butter, I really think the cashew would have upped the flavor on these (as she says). The banana seemed to overwhelm things a little too much for my tastes. I'm curious about using prune puree instead of the banana... All in all a fun experiment... but I want to switch a few things up and give it another go! Thanks Special K for the recipe recommendation!!

B is for Brakes and Brownies

Do you name your car? I never did until my current car, her name is ice skate, in case you were wondering. Why ice skate you ask? Well she's got all wheel drive (since it's snowy half the year here). And the first time I drove her in the snow she did a fun little maneuver where I found myself traveling down the road sideways, thankfully I pulled out of it... but yeah she was riding more like an ice skate than an all wheel drive car... I soon figured out the issue, it wasn't ice skates fault, it was her shoes... she had high heels on and needed her winter boots. So a set of snow tires later and she's been doing just fine ever since :)

Ice skate is getting a little old, she'll be 10 at the end of the year, and I plan on driving her for as long as possible... although as the mechanic bills add up... it gets a little frustrating. She went in for and oil change last week and with a list of a few weird issues I'd been having... new brakes/rotors & a battery later I was all set ... until the check engine light went off 2 days later... I was not too pleased. The guys took care of her and cut me some slack on the labor/diagnostic charges, so I had to thank them in someway... you guessed it, baked goods!

When I dropped these off at the garage Brad and Wally were all smiles, thanks again guys!! I hope they enjoyed them... little did they know they contained some whole wheat flour and the recipe came from cooking light... although if you look at the ingredient list... they really aren't that light, 1 1/3 cups of sugar?? I followed the recipe except for a few things... Kahlua anyone?? They came out super chewy and moist with an amazingly crisp thin layer on top... mmmmm


Fudgy Mocha-Toffee Brownies (with Kahlua!)
recipe by Cooking Light, slightly adapted by me

• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons instant coffee granules (I used 1/4 strong brewed senseo coffee)
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (plus 2 Tbs dark chocolate chips)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat 1/3 AP flour)
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (I only had 1/4 cup in the house... hence the addition of extra chocolate chips above)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used less)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• glug or 2 Kahlua :) (my addition)
• 1/4 cup toffee chips

Preheat oven to 350°.

Coat bottom of a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

Combine coffee granules and 1/4 cup hot water, stirring until the coffee granules dissolve.

Combine butter and semisweet chocolate chips in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH for 1 minute or until butter melts; stir until chocolate is smooth.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine coffee mixture, butter mixture, vanilla extract, (Kahlua if using) and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add coffee mixture to flour mixture; stir just until combined. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with toffee chips. Bake at 350° for 22 minutes (mine took about 35 minutes). Cool on a wire rack.

PS: this leaves your house smelling so amazingly intoxicating... YUM!!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies

So I'm officially moved into my new townhouse! (pictures to come) After way too many trips back and forth between east ave and our new place... we are done!! Wooohooo! We spent the last two weeks hauling loads of stuff and are almost all the way unpacked. I decided to take last night off from unpacking to break in the new kitchen! I was perusing a new blog I just discovered Megan's Munchies, she's obsessed with pumpkin... a woman after my own heart! Since the autumn weather is slipping in, (how did it go from 80's to 50's in a week???) I've been craving autumn style foods. There were a ton of things I wanted to make from her blog but I decided on the pumpkin choclate chip brownies and man were they good!

Super fast to whip up and amazingly moist and chocked full of spicy flavors! mmmmmm Maybe I'll go have another slice now :D

how seriously cute is that mug... maria got it for me from anthropology... love that store!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies
Nonstick cooking spray
1/2 cup LIBBY'S 100% Pure Pumpkin
1/3 cup brown sugar blend (such as SPLENDA)
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Baking Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Spray 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.COMBINE pumpkin, sugar blend, egg, egg whites and oil in large mixer bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Add flour, baking powder, cocoa, cinnamon, allspice, salt and nutmeg. Beat on low speed until batter is smooth. Stir in morsels. Spread evenly into prepared pan.BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into 2-inch squares.

I used a loaf pan since I couldn't find a square 8" or 9" wooops. Still tasty though!

Chow!

Vegan Black Bean Brownies...

So I read about all these different people making black bean brownies... and that made me stop and say... WHHHHAAAT??? Black beans... IN.... brownies... ewwww. But I knew I wanted to give it a try.... so off I went with a very simple recipe all tossed into a blender. And as you may guess it all looked pretty gross...

Before... After....

All you do it toss everything in a blender, blend it really well... Toss in a pan and bake for 30 minutes... So after 30 minutes mine was still totally jiggly and NOT done... 30 more minutes... still not totally done... at this point I gave up and said.. good enough! And took them out and let them cool and hopefully set... Once they cooled they somewhat set... But still not totally... It definitely wasn't a brownie texture, it was almost half very moist brownie half pudding or spoon cake... It was tasty and did NOT taste at ALL like black beans, I actually tasted the banana the most. It was like eating a big chocolate banana... which isn't a bad thing... it just wasn't very brownie like... Anyway, give it a try sometime for fun!

after some chowing took place

Vegan Black Bean Brownies
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup vegan sugar ( I used 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs splenda blenda)
2 bananas
1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into a lightly greased 8×8 pan (i used an un-greased silicon pan). Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

As I said above mine went for an hour and still weren't set... I did have to add about 1/4 cup water to the blender to get it to actually blend everything... maybe that was my issue.. wooops!

Chow!

john says it looks like... ok i'm not gonna say it, i'm sure you can guess...