Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter "Healthy" Brownies

I think peanut allergies are among the most torturous food allergies I can think of (except maybe allergies to milk, gluten, soy...ok so I guess I like food too much). Point being, if you're allergic to peanuts, I feel for you and you should probably not make these brownies. Or you could make them and just leave out the peanut butter filling. Still good and relatively healthy.


Or you could be like my best friend Kayla. See, she's allergic to a lot of things, nuts, soy, lactose, raw fruits and vegetables, grass and nature in general...get the picture? Basically everything. One of her favorite snacks is apples and peanut butter, and she couldn't eat it for a really long time because whenever she did she would have an allergic reaction. Kayla loves Jesus though, and believes that he loves his children and wants to give them good gifts. She had seen and heard testimonies of people being healed or all sorts of sicknesses just because of the Lord's love for them. So she prayed to be able to eat peanut butter, and you know what? Jesus healed her of her peanut allergy. She boldly tried peanut butter one day after years of he allergy, and no reaction! She's ben eating it ever since.


Woohoo! What a good, good father. He didn't have to do anything, but he did. She would have been fine, but he loves it when we rely on him and ask him for healing in ourselves. He just wanted to give her an awesome gift. MMM, how he loves his kids!


So Kayla, make these brownies girl, do it for all the peanut allergic out there. Oh, and you there reading this post should make them too! Hey, they're kind of healthy so you don't even have to feel bad!


What you need
1 1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. butter spread
4 eggs
1 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. low-fat yogurt vanilla yogurt
1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp. fat-free sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
1/2 c. milk (pull it out of the fridge as soon as you start the brownies and it should be a good temp by the time you need it)


What you do
Preheat the oven to 350F.


Melt the chocolate chips and butter in the microwave or a double broiler until melted together. (You want it almost completely smooth, but it's ok if there are a few lumps because those will become chocolate chips.) In a separate bowl, cream together eggs, brown sugar and oil with an electric mixer just until combined. Stir the yogurt, sour cream and vanilla into the chocolate mixture and then beat the egg/sugar/oil mixture into the chocolate mixture with the mixer just until combined. Stir in the two flours, salt and baking soda.


In a separate bowl, cream together peanut butter and confectioner's sugar with a mixer. As soon as it's combined beat in the milk and continue beating until fluffy.


In a greased 9x13 pan, pour half of the brownie batter and spread it out to the corners of the pan. It will be thin and that's ok. DON'T WORRY! Spoon the peanut butter mixture over it and spread to the edges of the pan. Then pour the rest of the brownie batter over that and spread out. Bake in a 350F oven for about 25 minutes or until the middle is no longer jiggly. (Very technical term)

Huevos Rancheros Casserole

Little know fact about me...or not...I LOVE Mexican food! And so does my incredible husband, which is why we're made for each other.


Seriously though, Mexican severely beats up every other type of food in a fight for my love. So tonight when Austin asked if we could do Mexican casserole for dinner I was all "umm...YES!"


We had a bag of tortilla chips in the pantry and some leftover rice in the fridge, but no meat, so I decided I would do something a little interesting for protein. Enter the eggs...


What you need
Half a bag of tortilla chips
8 eggs
1 (15.5 oz) can black beans
1 (15.5 oz) can kidney beans
1/2 c. salsa
1 handful of spinach, cooked or thawed
1 green pepper, diced
1 cup corn, cooked or thawed
1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 cup salsa
2 cups already cooked rice
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 bag of shredded cheddar or mexican blend cheese


What you do
Preheat the oven to 350F.


Cook the eggs in a skilled however you like them. I fried our but you could scramble or cook them up however you like them. Keep in mind they're going into the oven  so don't overcook them. If they're a little runny that's perfectly fine.


Grease the bottom of a 9x13 casserole. Crush the tortilla chips in your hands and sprinkle them onto the bottom of the dish so they cover the bottom.


Drain the kidney and black beans into a colander and rinse with water to remove some of the sodium. Mix the beans and 1/2 c. salsa in a bowl and pour over the chips. Sprinkle the spinach, corn and diced red pepper over the beans. In a bowl stir together the soup, 1 c. salsa, rice, cumin, cayenne and 1/2 c. cheese.


Spread this mixture over the veggies in the dish. Put the eggs on top of the rice mixture and then sprinkle cheese in a thin layer over the top of the casserole. Bake for about 40 minutes at 350.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies and Does Anyone Want to Buy Me a New Camera?

I'm not a big splurger.


Ok, understatement of the century. I never buy anything unless it is on sale. I mean I bought Brie cheese at Wal-mart the other day for $3.50 and have felt semi-guilty since I checked out. That being said, it's a pretty big deal for me to admit this, but I need a new camera. I really, really do. Allow me to justify:


-My camera is junky. The flash is either on (and on HIGH so it washes everything out) or off (so everything is blurry). If the lighting isn't perfect, the pics look janky. You can tell from the photos on my previous posts. I mean I'm not claiming to be a profesh photographer or anything, but I'm not not as super sucky as these food photos it seem.
-I got my camera like 4 years ago. It was free with my warranty from my even older camera when that one broke if that gives you a better idea of how junky it is.
-I want to be able to take cool shots like other (more legit) food bloggers do. Austin says that means I need a 55 mm lens.
-I lost my camera to computer cord so since I can't even upload my pictures anyway, I just decided it's time for a new one!


So if you know of anywhere I can get a really good, nice camera for cheap (besides "in my dreams"), please let me know.


I felt I needed something to cheer me up after all that whining about my camera, so I made these cookies. They are amazingly chewy and delicious. For all your cheering-up needs.


What you need
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 c white sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 egg
1 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped nuts (I used pecans, but walnuts or almonds would be good too!)
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips (I used half white chocolate and half dark chocolate, but use whatever kinds you like)
1 tsp. vanilla


What you do
Preheat oven to 350F.


Beat together the sugars, pumpkin, oil, egg, and milk with a hand mixer until combined. Stir in all ingredients baking soda through chili powder then stir in vanilla. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips.


Drop the batter by the tablespoon-full onto a greased cookie sheet and cook until just golden brown (about 11 minutes).

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Maple Glaze

What you need
For the cake
2 c. pumpkin
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. white sugar
4 eggs
3/4-1 c. vegetable oil
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
3/4 c. chopped walnuts


For the glaze
3 Tbsp. water
2/3 c. confectioner's sugar
1/4 c. maple syrup


What you do
Preheat oven to 350.


Beat the puree, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs and oil with an electric mixer until combined. Stir in all the the dry ingredients. Pour into 2 greased round cake pans and bake until the middle no longer jiggles and a knife or toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean (about 25-30 minutes).


While the cake is cooling, add the syrup and water to a saucepan over medium-low heat and warm until just heated through. Whisk in the confectioner's sugar until combined. Remove from heat. Place one of the cakes (dome side down) on a plate and when it is relatively cool, drizzle on a little less than 1/2 of the glaze. Top with the other cake layer (dome side up) and drizzle with the remaining glaze.


**This glaze was pretty thin, I'm still working out the kinks, but it still tasted really delicious. If you want something a little thicker and conventional, you can pull a Sandra Lee and just stir together 1 8 oz tub of cool whip and 2 tbsp of syrup and ice the cake with that instead.

Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling

These were delicious. Oh yes they were!

What you need
For the muffins
1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c packed brown sugar
2/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp chili powder
dash of allspice

2 eggs

1 c pumpkin puree

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1/3 c honey

2/3 c choc chips
1/3 c your choice of chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

For the filling
4 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp water
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. chili powder

What you do
Preheat oven to 350. Stir together the first 9 ingredients ingredients. Fold in the egg, puree, oil and honey until combined. Then stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

In a small bowl combine all filling ingredients. Line or grease a muffin tin. Fill muffin cups 1/3 of the way full with muffin batter. Drop a 1/2 tsp of cream cheese filling in the middle of each cup, and cover with more batter until each cup is about 2/3 of the way full. Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes. This makes about 20 muffins.

Pumpkin Soup and Pumpkin Hand Pies with Maple Cinnamon Glaze

We did dinner backwards last night. Dessert first and then the meal. And you know what, I never regret it when I do that. :-) Just for the sake of normalcy though, I'll put the dinner recipe first and the dessert one second. We had a very pumpkin night tonight.


I'm not going to lie, both of these recipes were really good and I think you should make them both. Austin said the soup was his favorite soup he's ever had. It tastes really earthy and rustic, but not extremely pumpkin-y and definitely not sweet if you're worried about that. The hand pies were incredible (I think) and I definitely had 3 last night. Aside from just 3 tbsp butter spread and a little cheese in the soup and a little sugar and butter (but not too much when you really think about it) in the hand pies, these recipes were pretty healthy! And good. So, so good!


Both of these recipes call for pumpkin puree and the pumpkin soup calls for pumpkin stock. You could buy it at a store or if you're feeling a little adventurous or want to be cheap/have fun with it, you could make your own. Don't know how? Read this! Warning: If you make either of these recipes, your house will smell freaking wonderful. Especially if you make the hand pies!


Pumpkin Soup
(makes about 4-5 servings depending on how much you eat)


What you need
3 Tbsp butter or spread
3 large garlic cloves
1/2 a medium onion or about 2 Tbsp minced onion flakes
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. corriander
4 Tbps. flour
2 1/2 c. pumpkin stock (want to make your own? Click here.
1 c. water
1 1/2 c. already cooked brown rice
1 1/2 c. cooked lentils
1/2-3/4 c. pumpkin puree
3/4 c. milk (I used skim and it worked great!)
whole wheat bread
parmesan cheese


What you do
In a large pot, melt the butter or butter spread over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5-10 minutes or until very fragrant and translucent. (If you're using minced onion flakes instead of a real onion, just add them in with the garlic and herbs). Add the garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, cumin and coriander and cook for about a minute (garlic cooks very fast and will burn easily, so a minute is usually good). Whisk the flour into the butter mixture to form a rue. Whisk in pumpkin stock and water until combined with the butter/flour/herb rue. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Whisk in the rice, lentils and pumpkin puree just until puree is combined. Turn heat to low and let simmer for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Whisk in milk until combined and let stand for about 3 minutes to thicken.

Ladle the soup into bowls, break up a piece of whole wheat bread into large chunks and scatter over the top of soup, sprinkle some parmesan cheese over the soup and bread in each bowl and stick under the broiler for a minute or two or in the microwave for about 30 seconds or until cheese is almost melted (french onion soup style, but better in my opinion). MMMmmm good. And pretty good for you too!


**Note: I used rice and lentils because I had them left over in the fridge, but use whatever you like or need to use up. Beans would be good, so would fresh or frozen veggies. Make it your own.**


Pumpkin Hand Pies with Maple Cinnamon Glaze
(makes about 12 hand pies)


What you need
For the pie crust
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. all-purpose flour (plus more for the counter when you roll out the dough later)
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) cold butter sliced (I cut my butter into thin slices then wrapped it back up in the packaging and threw it in the freezer the day before, but you could do this just a couple hours in advance or use it straight out of the fridge)
5 Tbsp. ice water or very cold milk
1 Tbsp. melted butter or butter spread for brushing on the pastry before putting it in the oven

For the filling

2 c. sweet potato puree

1 large egg yolk

1/4-1/3 c. packed brown sugar (I used 1/4 c. but Austin said it wasn't quite sweet enough. Really just depends how sweet you like your desserts)

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

For the glaze

6 tsp. confectioner's sugar

2 or 3 tsp cinnamon (depending how much spice you like)

Dash of allspice (maybe about 1/4 tsp.)

1/2 tsp. chili powder

4 tsp. water

2 tsp. maple syrup

What you do
For the pie crust
In a large bowl stir the salt, sugar and both flours. Take the butter out of the freezer or fridge and cut it in with a pastry cutter. (Since I don't have one of those lovely gadgets, I used a fork and basically mashed and stirred the butter slices into the flour mixture just until the largest pieces of butter were about pea-sized.) Pour milk or ice water straight out of the fridge over the mixture a tablespoon at a time stirring it in with your fork or spoon until the mixture looks kind of dough-y. At this point take cut a piece of plastic wrap big enough to wrap up your dough in and set it on the counter. Using your hands, press dough into a disk JUST until it sticks together. (Do not over work or knead with your hands for long at all because if your hands warm up the butter pieces and they melt, your dough will not be flaky when baked.) Put the disk in the middle of the plastic, wrap up and stick in the fridge for about 30 minutes or longer if you need to.


For the filling
Preheat oven to 375F. Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined. Take pastry dough out of fridge after at least 30 minutes and put on a well-floured work surface. This is important because if you don't put down enough flour it will for sure stick to the counter when you roll it out which is no good and a huge pain in the butt. Using a rolling pin (not your hands!!) roll out dough until it's super thin (about 1/8 inch thick). Using a glass or round cookie/pastry cutter, cut circles out of the dough. The cup I used was about 3 inches in diameter. 3-4 inches in diameter is probably ideal.

Place 1 1/2-2 Tbsp. in the middle of one pastry circle cut-out. Top with another pastry circle and press down lightly on the edges with the tines of a fork until the two circles and joined. Repeat with all the other circles. Form the remaining dough into a ball, and repeat the rolling out, cutting out, filling and joining process again until dough is used up. Place all your little hand pies on a very well greased or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with melted butter to make them extra crispy.

Bake at 375F. I would check them after 20 minutes, but mine took about 25. They are done when the pastry is just golden and a little crispy on the edges and filling is cooked through.


For the glaze
While the hand pies are in the oven, stir together the confectioner's sugar, cinnamon, all spice and chili powder. (If you don't like a lot of spice, feel free to vary the amounts of cinnamon, allspice and chili powder but just make sure you keep the same ratio of dry ingredients to liquid). Add the water, stirring after adding each tsp. Stir in maple syrup. After taking hand pies out of the oven, let them sit for a couple minutes then drizzle (or spoon like I did) the glaze over the top. Allow to set for another few minutes and enjoy! Maybe even serve with a little vanilla ice cream!

A little blurry (sorry...my camera is not so good...I really have no excuse) but so cute and so yummy!

Cinnamon Chocolate Molten Cakes with Pumpkin Topping

Chocolate is my favorite.

Seriously. If dark chocolate grew on trees, oooooh baby I would have about a million in my yard! (I’m not even exaggerating!) Well, maybe just a little. Since I am majorly obsessed with chocolate and minorly obsessed with pumpkin, I was thinking I would try something with pumpkin and chocolate. Doesn't that sound heavenly? It tastes even better than it sounds. Take my word for it, or don’t, just make these at home and see for yourselves.

I got the idea for the chocolate molten cakes from this recipe, but changed it around some too. For the record, I’ve made those peppermint chocolate molten cakes (I just leave them in the oven longer than the recipe calls for) and they are goooooood. Of course, I’m a sucker for absolutely ANYTHING mint-chocolate. More on that in the coming months. For now, PUMPKIN MONTH continues.

What you need

For the cakes

½ c. unsalted butter

5 oz. dark or semi-sweet chocolate

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

¼ c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp. pumpkin juice (I saved it from when I made my own pumpkin puree)


For the topping

2 Tbsp. confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

dash of allspice

dash of nutmeg

3 Tbsp. pumpkin juice

2 Tbsp. pumpkin puree

What you do

For the cakes
Preheat oven to 450.

Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl in the microwave. (You could totally do it in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water as a double broiler, but since I broke a bowl that way I am scared and therefore, use the microwave.)

In another bowl whisk eggs, yolks, and sugar until combined and thick. When chocolate and butter are melted together, take a tablespoonful of the chocolate mixture and whisk it into the egg mixture to bring the eggs up in temperature so they don’t scramble when you add all of the hot chocolate mixture. Add the rest of the chocolate to the eggs. Stir in the vanilla extract and cinnamon. Whisk the flour in quickly just until combined.

Butter 4 4-oz ramekins then sprinkle each with a little cinnamon and pour the chocolate mixture into the ramekins, dividing it evenly between all 4 of them. Put the ramekins onto a cookie sheet and bake at 450F for about 7.5 minutes. Remove from oven, pour ½ tablespoon of pumpkin juice onto the top of each of them. Return to the oven for about 5 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit for a couple of minutes. Go around the edges of ramekin with a knife before inverting it onto a plate. Tap the bottom of ramekin to loosen the cake and pull up on ramekin slowly so the cake remains on plate. Top with the pumpkin topping and garnish with some sifted powdered sugar if you’re feeling artsy.

**Note: these cakes are molten which means the center will be gooey. If you are someone who likes your cake more well-done (such as my husband), leave it in the oven for an extra 2 or 3 minutes the second time. Just make sure you watch them. These are sensitive since they are in such little ramekins.

For the topping

Stir the first four ingredients to combine. Then stir in pumpkin juice. When it is thoroughly mixed, add the pumpkin puree. Super easy!

**Note: this topping is pretty cinnamon-y. I like that sort of thing, but if you don’t feel free to tone down the spice factor.