No Bake PB/Chocolate Bars

You know those famous little no bake cookies?? These kind of taste like those...only deconstructed. I found these over at Buns in my Oven, and no it's not that kind of bun! There are tons of great looking recipes on her site, so go and check her out if you haven't already. The one thing that caught my eye with these is the small amount of sugar that you add to the mix.

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

1. Melt butter in a large sauce pan over low heat. Stir in brown sugar, vanilla, and oats. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Press half of mixture in to the bottom of a buttered 8 x 8 dish.

2. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate and peanut butter, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and blended. Pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over the crust, reserving a couple of spoonfuls to drizzle over the top.

3. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate and peanut butter, pressing gently to form a crust. Drizzle the remaining chocolate and peanut butter over the top of the bars.

4. Refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting and serving.

Banana Bread

To be completely honest, there is nothing special about this banana bread. It is simple, moist, flavorful but nothing that just screams "make me". I did cut the sugar and added in some peanut butter and chocolate chips to the mix and it turned out great. So, here's the thing..if you have some bananas laying around that need to be used, make this bread. You won't be sorry.

Banana Bread
3 ripe bananas
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup PB and chocolate chips, or chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mash up bananas and mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar until combined. Mix in the melted butter. Fold in PB and chocolate chips or nuts, if using.

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

I am currently addicted to Cooking Light Magazine. There are so many great looking recipes and all that I have tried have come out tasty. I have tried a couple of dinner recipes and they have turned out as well. This is another great one that will be made over again. You really can't go wrong with a slightly crunchy top with moist cake in the middle and as the base a warm pool of chocolate lava. Top it off with some no sugar added vanilla bean ice cream and you are still within the limits of still being a little bit better for you.

I should mention that this recipe was originally Mocha Pudding cake, but since the hubby and kids are very fond of mocha, I left that part out. :)

Chocolate Pudding Cake
From: Cooking Light

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar, divided
6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp instant coffee granules
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk--I used fat free milk
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cooking Spray
1 Cup boiling water
Vanilla love fat ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa, coffee granules, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Combine milk, oil, and vanilla in a bowl; add to flour mixture, and stir well. Spoon batter into an 8 inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine 1/3 cup sugar and 2 Tbsp cocoa. Sprinkle over batter. Pour 1 cup boiling water over batter (do not stir). Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched lightly in the center (cake will not test clean when a wooden pick is inserted in center). Do not over bake. Serve warm with ice cream.

Note: This recipe is easy to double. Spoon into a 9x13 inch baking dish; bake at the same temperature and time/

Triple Chocolate Cake

Can something this decadent be delish and still be not bad for you? The answer is YES!! I found some old Cooking Light magazines at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago for 25 cents, so I had to buy everyone they had. This recipe was in one of them. With trying to watch my blood sugar and eat healthier and getting my family eating healthier I knew that this one was one that I would have to try. Everyone in my little clan has a sweet tooth, so trying to find the balance between having the sweets and still being somewhat healthy has been some sort of a challenge. This cake was the perfect thing for the weekend. The texture is a little "spongy" as Blake my 12 year old described it, and the batter is a little thicker than a normal cake batter would be.

Triple Chocolate Cake

By: Cooking Light

1 (18.25 oz) package devil's food cake mix--I used a dark chocolate mix

1 cup fat free sour cream

1/3 cup fat free milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp almond extract

3 large egg whites

1 large egg

1 (3.9 oz) package sugar free/low calorie chocolate pudding mix

Cooking Spray

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

4 tsp fat free milk

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; beat at low speed for 30 seconds. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Pour the batter into a 12 cup Bundt pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely.

Combine powdered sugar and 4 teaspoons of milk in a small bowl, and drizzle over cake. Let stand 10 minutes. Place chips in a small heavy duty zip top plastic bag; seal. Submerge bag in very hot water until chips melt, or microwave at medium high for 1 minutes. Snip a tiny hole in 1 corner of bag, and drizzle chocolate over cake.

Low Sugar Pineapple Pudding Cake

I get daily emails from Taste of Home and this was one that I got earlier this week. I knew right then I would make it. This cake is on the healthy side and all the kiddos, including the hubby, liked it too. The recipe originally called for pineapple..and while that is good too...I could so see this with fresh sliced strawberries or bananas, even peaches. I think whatever fruit you like, it would go well with this dessert.

Pineapple Pudding Cake
From: Taste of Home

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cups cold fat free milk
1 pkg (1 oz) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix
1 pkg (8 oz) fat free cream cheese
1 can (20 oz) frozen fat free, sugar free whipped topping, thawed

Prepare cake mix batter according to package directions; pour into a 13x9 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft set.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in pudding mixture until blended. Spread evenly over cake. Sprinkle with pineapple; spread with whipped topping. Refrigerate until serving.

Vanilla Bean Angel Food Cake

With Spring here and the warmer weather showing its presence, what better way to celebrate than with a light and airy angel food cake with fresh berries? With trying to incorporate more healthy desserts in our lifestyle, I found this recipe from Cooking Light and just added in some vanilla bean. I love the extra vanilla that a vanilla bean gives.

I have talked to people that thought angel food cake was a hard thing to do, but it's really not. With just 6 ingredients, and you should have them all in your pantry, you can whip up this cake in no time and would be perfect a perfect dessert for the Easter weekend!

Angel Food Cake
From: Cooking Light

1 cup sifted cake flour, or all purpose
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
10 egg whites
1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp vanilla extract, or 1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together flour and 1/4 cup sugar; set aside. Beat egg whites with a mixer at high speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and salt; beat until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp at a time, beating until soft peaks form. Sift 1/4 cup flour mixture over egg white mixture, and fold in. Repeat procedure with remaining flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time. Fold in vanilla.

Spoon batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan, spreading evenly. Break air pockets by cutting through batter with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until cake springs back with lightly touched. Invert pan; cool 40 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pan using a narrow metal spatula; invert cake onto a serving plate.

Chewy PB Chocolate covered Raisin Granola Bars

Last week Megan shared this recipe that she found from Passionate About Baking. Now, I don't know how I had never seen her before, but I am so happy that Megan pointed me in that direction! With trying to be healthier and sounding like these were delish, we set out to make them. You can substitute any flavors that you like, so I just went with what I had on hand, so I wouldn't have to make an extra trip to the store. I chose peanut butter, chocolate covered raisin. I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but they turned out pretty tasty. The hubby liked them and the kids gobbled them up.

Thick and Chewy Granola Bars

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oat flour (or 1/3 cup oats, processed till finely ground in a food processor or blender)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts
1/3 cup peanut butter6 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 7″ x 11″ x 2″ pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the parchment paper and the exposed pan, or coat with a non-stick spray.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter, syrup or honey, and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing them in firmly to ensure they are molded to the shape of the pan.

Bake the bars for 30 to 40 minutes, until they’re brown around the edges — don’t be afraid to get a little color on them. They’ll still seem soft and almost under baked in the center when you take them out but do not worry, they’ll set completely once they cool.

Cool the bars in their pan completely on a cooling rack. (Alternately, after about 20 minutes you can use your parchment “sling” to lift and remove the bars, and place them in their paper on the rack to cool the rest of the way.)

Once cool, a serrated knife (or bench knife) to cut the bars into squares. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an airtight container. In humid weather, it’s best to store bars in the refrigerator. They also freeze well.