Sweet Spot

Late Thursday evening my mom flew in from Indiana for a long weekend visit. Yesterday she was on her own as both Jon and I had to work all day so she took her time relaxing on the beach, enjoying a local coffee shop, and touring downtown.

Last night my mom and I headed downtown for some homemade ice cream.

We both chose to get one scoop of the coffee ice cream and one scoop of the salted chocolate caramel ice cream. This made for a delicious combination and satisfied our late night sweet tooth!

We decided to go on a walk through downtown, ice cream in hand, to tour some of the local shops.

Downtown was packed with people as there was an event going on. In Florida it seems that the cool thing to do is to take your dog with you everywhere you go. There were dogs in the wine bar and laying under the tables in restaurants while their owners ate! I wonder if they allow cats in places too...  ;)

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

Earlier this week as I was cooking dinner I saw my KitchenAid sitting in the corner, unloved and collecting dust. I'm pretty sure the frequency of my baking has a lot to do with the size of my counter and oven! I definitely lost a lot of kitchen space when we moved so it makes baking and cooking a bit of a challenge. As I was cooking I was trying to think of something to make for dessert that Jon would love. I figured that chocolate and peanut butter would do the trick. I mean, who doesn't love that combo?!

I thought about making brownies drizzled with peanut butter but then I would have to make one huge pan. I decided that baking individual desserts would be much more fun! Plus I always feel 10x better seeing mini individual brownies disappear than one giant pan!

After doing a bit of brainstorming, these Peanut Butter Brownies Bites were born!

You've seriously got to make these.

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

Ingredients

1 1/4 c. sugar
11 tbsp. butter (1 stick + 3 tbsp)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs, cold
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. arrowroot powder (can substitute with cornstarch)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup peanut butter
chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, heat the butter and sugar together for 1 minute 30 seconds. Remove, stir until mixed, and cool for 5 minutes.
3. Once butter/sugar mixture has cooled, stir in the vanilla extract and cocoa powder.
4. Pour the butter/sugar mixture in the mixing bowl and slowly add in the eggs one at a time.
5. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, arrowroot powder, and salt. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix until no flour pockets remain.
6. Grease a muffin tin and evenly distribute the brownie mixture into 12 brownie cups.
7. Place in the oven for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Flip the brownies over onto a baking sheet or plate.
8. Take a small spoon to remove some of the brownie from the center of each cup. Be careful not to go all the way through the bottom of the cup.
9. Place a spoonful of peanut butter into the center of each brownie and top with chocolate chips (optional).
10. Enjoy immediately or allow to cool so the peanut butter has a chance to set.

I preferred these still warm with gooey peanut butter while Jon liked them better after they cooled so it's totally up to you! I suggest trying them both ways, I know I did ;)

Double Chocolate Chip Paleo Protein Shake

As I've stated before, I'm really bad at getting out of bed in the morning. Really, really bad. But this morning I was able to wake up right away with a little help from my needy kittens. They have taught themselves that the alarm corresponds with them getting fed so when the alarm goes off, they jump all over the bed and meow until I get up. Somedays I can sleep through it, others I can't.

What am I supposed to do with all of that extra time? Instead of sit on the couch until it was time for work, I decided to make a healthy and delicious protein shake for breakfast. It included lots and lots of chocolate. What better way to start a Monday morning than with chocolate? I'm pretty sure I will have the best week ever because of it!

A few weeks ago, Artisana was kind of enough to send me a few samples of their coconut butter squeeze packs. I absolutely love coconut so these have been perfect for adding to my morning smoothies or for quick pre-workout fuel.

I have also heard that by combining coconut butter (or oil) with chia seeds you are bound to have a ton of energy! I honestly didn't even need my morning coffee this morning because I didn't feel sluggish after drinking this.

This smoothie can easily be tailored to fit what you have on hand. For instance, if you don't follow a paleo diet, use regular milk & whatever protein powder you have on hand. If you do follow the paleo diet, I highly recommend you check out the Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I am able to find them at Meijer and other health food stores and they are soy, gluten, dairy, egg, peanut, casein, potato, wheat, fish, sesame, shellfish, tree nut, and sulfite free! The dark chocolate chips do contain cane sugar, but if you aren't crazy strict on your paleo diet, I say they're ok every now and then ;)

Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Paleo)

I have a delicious recipe to share with you all but first a story about the "heart attack" I had today.

This morning on my way to work I was in a bit of a hurry. I really like hitting the snooze button (like a lot) which doesn't leave me with a lot of extra time to make breakfast. Today was one of those days. Heck, almost everyday is one of those days. So I threw a banana, some almond milk, almond butter, chia seeds, protein powder, and spinach into a blender and ran out the door.

When I got home and went into the kitchen I had a mini heart attack because I thought that tiny little bugs took over my kitchen counter! I was so grossed out. Then I took a closer look only to realize I spilled some chia seeds on the counter during my morning rush! What a relief! I honestly don't know what I would have done had there been a million little bugs all over my counter. 

So after I cleaned up that mess, I made these.

I experimented with a flourless cookie recipe I already had and swapped the peanut butter for almond butter, added a few chocolate chips, and used maple syrup instead of honey. I also topped them with a pinch of sea salt for the most delicious sweet and salty taste. These cookies were super soft and chewy too! 

I enjoyed my cookie with a big, cold glass of almond milk. The perfect afternoon snack!

I'm thinking that these would be an amazing breakfast cookie. Especially since I suck at waking up on time. Maybe I'll experiment by throwing some protein powder into the mix next time. 

Recipe

1 c. almond butter, refrigerated* 

1/3 c. pure maple syrup

1 egg

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/3 c. Enjoy Life chocolate chips

* I keep my nut butters in the fridge so this could make a difference if yours is room temp

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix all of the ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl until creamy.

3. Mix in the chocolate chips

4. Place by the spoonful on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. Sprinkle each cookie with a few extra chocolate chips and a pinch of sea salt.

5. Bake for 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Yields: 1 dozen cookies

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Heaven

Peanut butter M&Ms are my favorite. Actually, let's face it, anything peanut butter and chocolate is my favorite.

I made these peanut butter M&M chocolate cupcakes the other day and every one loved them. They were chocolatey, moist, and had a hint of peanut butter. And the best part? They were so easy to make.

These cupcakes ended up serving a lot of different purposes - I gave Jon a plate for our anniversary, I gave my roommate a few for her 21st birthday (I used M&Ms to create the numbers "2" and "1" on her cupcakes) and I took the rest to our Super Bowl party!

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix

ingredients on the back of the cake mix box (eggs, water, oil)

1 cup Peanut Butter M&Ms

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350'

2. Prepare cake mix as directed on box

3. Put M&Ms in a ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them up into pieces.

4. Fold crushed M&Ms into the batter

5. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake as directed on the back of the cake mix box

6. Let cool and frost with peanut butter icing and decorate with any extra M&Ms.

yields: 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes

Peanut Butter Icing

I used this recipe from Better Crocker to make my peanut butter icing and it was to die for! I would recommend cutting the recipe in half because I have so much icing left over but if you are planning on caking the icing on the top of your cupcakes then the original recipe will work.

*Beware, these will not last long!

Question of the Day

What is your favorite peanut butter and chocolate combination?