Vanilla Muffins with a Dark Chocolate Filling

I feel like saying, “Just call me the muffin queen.” Because yes, I am bringing muffins again to the party! 😉 But don’t worry, I’ve created a new recipe that I hope you will love!

I love muffins. Muffins are fun. Muffins are versatile. You can eat them for breakfast. You can eat them for snack. You can eat them for dessert. Kids love them. Adults love them. They can be savory. They can be sweet.

When we invited a couple over for dessert, I knew right away that I would be creating a new muffin recipe. I had thoughts of what I might do running through my head all week. Then the day arrived.

It was a long day, and I made the mistake of putting my head down for “5 minutes.” Oops. I woke up an hour before they were supposed to get here. My new muffin recipe that had been percolating in my mind now had to be created at warp speed and half asleep. 😀

Imagine my hearts content when the wife stopped our conversation to say to her hubby, “I need another muffin.” And he came back with another for himself as well.

They didn’t know at the time that my muffins were: low-glycemic, no refined sugar, dairy-free, & gluten free. I love that you can have a healthy muffin that tastes so yummy that people are convinced it is full of refined sugar, etc.!

So here I come Fiesta Friday party goers with my bad-for-you tasting good-for-you muffins! 😉

• Servings: 12 muffins
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*Created by Lori at creatingbeautyinthekitchen.wordpress.com

Ingredients for Muffin:

• 3 cups almond flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

Ingredients for Chocolate Filling:

• Cocoa
• Honey
• Grapeseed oil
• Pure vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Mix all the dry ingredients for the muffin batter in one bowl, and the wet ingredients in another. Then combine all of them together, mixing well.
• Line a muffin pan with papers, or grease it well.
• Pour the batter into each slot, halfway full.
• Combine the cocoa, honey, grapeseed oil, and vanilla. I did this more by taste, which is why I don’t give the specifics on how much of each. It depends on how sweet you want it, etc. And note that you don’t need to make tons, just a little bowl full.
• When this is made, pour some into each muffin..
• Now pour more batter to cover the chocolate, leaving the batter 2/3 of the way to the top.
• Bake for 20- 25 minutes.

Thanks Angie….you always brighten Fridays in the blogosphere! Sylvia, and Andrea – excited you are co-hosting this week! Thanks!

Come join the party!

You can also find me here on Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram.

Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins with Chocolate Cinnamon Sauce- Take 2

Cinnamon + Dark chocolate!? Love it!!

A lot of you probably haven’t seen my original recipe for these muffins, but I experimented the other day and switched it up a bit. I truly love both recipes! I do like the extra cinnamon though in this new one! 🙂

A friend of mine introduced me to grapeseed oil a while back, but I haven’t experimented with it much until recently. There has been a lot of research done suggesting that this oil has a lot of health benefits.

So, I incorporated it into this recipe, along with using agave instead of honey. I typically prefer honey over agave, but I loved the agave in this.

Both recipes are delicious and oh so moist! You choose! 😉

• Servings: about 16 muffins
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*Created by Lori at Creatingbeautyinthekitchen.wordpress.com

Ingredients for Muffins:

• 2 3/4 cup almond flour
• 2/3 cup agave
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 eggs

Ingredients for Sauce:

• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp grapeseed oil
• 3 tbsp agave

Directions:

• Combine all the dry ingredients in one mixing bowl, and the wet in another. Then  combine them together, making sure it is well mixed.
• Put liners in 1-2 muffin trays, or you can grease them. I find liners to work best.
• Pour each muffin spot 2/3 of the way full.
• Making your sauce is simple- just add all the ingredients together and stir well.
• Pour a little sauce over each muffin.
• Add a few extra chocolate chips on top if you would like.

Have you tried using grapeseed oil?

Lemon Rosemary Cheese Stuffed Mini Portabellas

“Let’s get some more mushrooms!” Those were my mom’s words when we went to the store yesterday. I guess I got her hooked on stuffed portabellas! 🙂 This time, instead of doing it with a Mexican flare, I tried something rich yet simple: creamy cheeses mixed with the delightful tastes of lemon and fresh rosemary. These are my favorite! Wow! Mom really liked them, but still loves the guacamole stuffed ones the best. 🙂

There is nothing like fresh ingredients, is there?! I love walking into my back yard and being able to grab some fresh rosemary! 

• Servings: 1 package of mini portabellos
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*Created by Lori at creatingbeautyinthekitchen.wordpress.com

Ingredients:

• 1 package mini portabella mushrooms
• 3/4 package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup Romano cheese
• Lots of fresh rosemary
• 1 lemon
• Olive oil

Directions:

• Wash the mushrooms and take out the stem. Set aside.
• Wash and chop up the rosemary.
• Combine the cheeses, rosemary, and juice from the whole lemon into a mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer to whip it up.
• Stuff all the mushrooms with the cheesy mixture.
• In a large skillet, add some olive oil and your mushrooms.
• Cook on medium heat until ready.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins with a Cherry Sauce

I have always loved the combination of fruit and chocolate. When I was a child and was given a box of chocolates, I would take a bite of each one and set it back if it wasn’t filled with the taste of orange or raspberry or cherry. Looking back, I am sure hoping those boxes of chocolate were mine alone or else someone got a fun surprise when they opened the box and saw that they all had a bite out of them. Reminds me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears….except it would go something like this, “Someone’s been eating my chocolates!” 😉

From the mouth of my mom when she tasted these: mmmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmm. That does a girl’s heart good when someone moans their delight the entire time they are eating! 🙂

She said, “All’s I can say is WOW!! That was the most scrumptious breakfast I’ve ever had!”

When I asked her if she would ever guess that these are gluten free or don’t have refined sugar in them, she said, “It never would have crossed my mind.”

The final words from my mom, “I am saving the rest for lunch!” 🙂

How could I not bring something my mom loved so much to Fiesta Friday?! Of course I had to make an extra batch for you all, because mom won’t let me give away the rest of hers! 😉

• Servings: 12 muffins
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*Created by Lori @ Creating Beauty in the Kitchen 

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups almond flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey + 1/4 for the sauce
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 10 fresh red cherries + 11 for the sauce
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Wash and chop up the cherries.
• Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the wet ingredients in another. Combine the two, mixing well.
• Add in the cherries and chocolate chips.
• Use liners or grease a muffin pan.
• Pour the batter 3/4 of the way full in each slot.
• To make sauce, blend the 11 cherries with 1/4 cup honey (I ended up with extra sauce).
• Pour sauce over the top of each muffin.
• Cook for 25 minutes.

Happy Fiesta Friday Friends! Can you believe it is already Angie’s 30th?!! Wow! Speaking of the lovely Angie, I hope you know how grateful we are for you! And to your co-hosts….the party wouldn’t be the same without you!

Come join the fun…all are welcome…foodies, crafters, photographers, writers, etc……just click on the icon below.

Cinnamon Almond Chocolate Pudding Pops – FF Guest Post! :-D

I love Fiesta Friday! Who doesn’t?! But I love THIS Fiesta Friday even more because I am bringing these lovely pudding pops on behalf of the beloved Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook. So many of you know her, so you know exactly why I call her “beloved.” For those of you who have yet to meet this lovely lady, please go visit her…she is great!

By the way, think of the title of her blog in an ironic sort of way….definitely not literally, because Jhuls IS creative! 🙂 In addition to her creative cooking, she has such a kind heart and reaches out to newbies in the blogosphere. I love that about her!

So, go check out the recipe (and more pics) of these delicious “Cinnamon Almond Chocolate Pudding Pops” that Jhuls and I are bringing to the party! And I do mean delicious!!

Happy Fiesta Friday! And a big thank you, as always, to Angie @ The Novice Gardener and our co-hosts!

Green Blueberry Fruit Roll-Ups

We have all heard of green smoothies, which I have to admit that I have been chicken to try! 🙂 But, what about green fruit roll-ups?!

There were some blueberries in the fridge that needed to be eaten up, so my original plan was just to make plain blueberry ones. But, no! My experimental and creative side couldn’t leave it at that! 🙂 And I just happened to recall how we always keep kale on hand…. 😉

The taste was amazing! Truly! What a wonderful way to get more vegetables in your diet! Seriously parents, your children would never know there were any vegetables in these roll-ups!

Okay friends, I am definitely ready for some green smoothies now! 😀

Unfortunately, I didn’t do as good of a job making sure I spread the puree out as evenly and thinly as I did on my strawberry lemonade and basil ones, so the consistency on a lot of them didn’t come out as I would have liked. It was one of those learning experiences….you need to make sure it is even and thin or else they won’t dry out enough.

• Servings: About 15
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*Created by Lori at Creating Beauty in the Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 18 ounces of blueberries
• 3 hand sized pieces of kale
• 1/4-1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp pure almond extract

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (I decided to try these at a higher temperature than I cooked my other ones.)
• Wash and puree the blueberries, adding in the kale, honey and almond extract.
• Cover a baking sheet with some parchment paper.
• Pour the pureed fruit mixture out onto the paper as evenly as you can. You also want to make sure it is pretty thin.
• Let bake for 6 hours (start checking at the 5 hour mark.)
• Take out of the oven and let cool. Once cooled you can use kitchen shears to cut them into the size and length you want.
• Roll them up and put some ribbon around them.
• When you are ready to eat them they should easily peel off the parchment paper.

I hope some of you will try to make “green roll-ups!” Really, really, really delicious!

Strawberry Lemonade and Basil Fruit Roll-ups

Growing up, I absolutely loved fruit roll-ups! Especially the “fruit by the foot” kind, because there was more to eat of course! 🙂 So, homemade fruit roll-ups with real fruit and no refined sugar?! Yes please!!

I have four people to thank for this wonderful treat that I made: The first three are Aditi and Nikhil at Confused Bawarchis & Sonal at Simply Vegetarian for opening my eyes to the fact that these actually can be made….at home….with good ingredients! 🙂

And finally, I must say thanks to Little Sprouts Kitchen for encouraging me to be brave enough to try strawberry and basil together! I did it! I did it! And I absolutely love it!

The word my hubby used to describe these roll-ups? “Excellent!” I will definitely take that! 😀 These were amazing….hard to stop eating! 🙂 And wouldn’t they make cute little treats at a shower or something? Or how about at a party? Fiesta Friday to be exact. 😀

 

• Servings: About 6
• Print

*Adapted and Inspired from  Confused Bawarchis and Simply Vegetarian by Lori at Creating Beauty in the Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 10-12 strawberries
• 1 1/2 lemons
• 2 large pieces of fresh basil
• 1/3 cup honey

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (I ended up moving it up to 200 degrees for about the last hour, because mine seemed to be taking longer.)
• Wash and puree the strawberries.
• Cut one lemon in half and squeeze the fresh juice into the pureed strawberries.
• Cut another lemon in half and peel the skin off. Throw the half of the lemon in with the strawberry puree.
• Add the honey and 2 large pieces of fresh basil, and mix until everything is pureed along with the strawberries.
• Cover a baking sheet with some parchment paper.
• Pour the pureed fruit mixture out onto the paper as evenly as you can.
• Let bake for 6 hours.
• Take out of oven and let cool. Once cooled, you can use kitchen shears to cut them into the size and length you would like.
• Roll them up and tie to hold them closed.
• When you are ready to eat them they should easily peel off the paper.

Looks like there are 4 people heading up the party this week: Thanks Angie, Selma, Indu, and Hilda! All of you ladies are always so fun to interact with! Thanks for keeping the party going!

Haven’t come to the party yet? Please join us by clicking on the icon below!

Cherry Vanilla Pudding Pops

What was something fun that I could make for my niece and nephew in the midst of a really hot summer? Why, pudding pops of course! I say that as though I had actually made some before…. 🙂

Adding the cherries was a last minute decision, and I am so glad I did! Absolutely delicious!! Perfect compliment to the vanilla!

I am not sure who loved them more….the kids or me! The three of us finished them all off in one morning (yes, I did say morning)…to our credit though, they were quite small! 😉

So, since we loved them oh so much, I had a feeling that you fellow party goers would too. Enjoy these cool treats Fiesta Friday friends! See you at Angie’s place!

Angie, as always, thank you! And to you Julianna and Elaine….excited you are co-hosting this week! Let the party begin! 🙂

*Created by Lori at Creating Beauty in the Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 can of thickened, refrigerated coconut milk
• Honey (to taste)
• Pure vanilla extract (to taste)
• Fresh Cherries

Directions:

• Make pudding by combing coconut milk, honey, and vanilla. Combine with hand mixer. If it is not thick enough yet, put in freezer or refrigerator for a while.
• Meanwhile, wash and chop your cherries into small pieces.
• Then, when it is ready, pour the pudding a little at a time into little cups or a mold, layering with some cherries, then more pudding, then more cherries, etc.
• I had to put the pops in the freezer for about an hour before I could put the sticks in. Once the sticks are placed in the middle of each pop, let freeze over night.

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Almond Cinnamon Mini Muffins with Dark Chocolate Chips & Choclate Almond Sauce

I haven’t been feeling well at all for the last two days, so hubby was a little surprised when I went down to the kitchen and started experimenting around. The sweet man that he is, he tried to encourage me to just lay down and rest, but when my desire to cook was inextinguishable he stayed near me just in case. 🙂

What was I so excited to make? Muffins! I love muffins! Not just eating them (and I DO love eating them), but coming up with a new, creative idea for one! 🙂

These turned out great….loved them! Upset stomach and all….I ate 2! Hey, they were mini…. 😉

ALMOND CINNAMON MINI MUFFINS WITH DARK CHOCOLATE CHIPS & CHOCOLATE ALMOND SAUCE

• Servings: 24 mini muffins
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*Created by Lori at Creating Beauty in the Kitchen

For Muffins:

• 2 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1 tbsp coconut flour
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp pure almond extract
• 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

For Sauce:

• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1 tbsp almond extract
• 1 tbsp cocoa

For Muffins:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Combine the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• In a smaller bowl, combine the eggs, honey, coconut milk, coconut oil, and almond extract.
• When both your dry and wet ingredients are mixed well, combine them together in the large bowl.
• Add in the chocolate chips.
• Grease 2 mini muffin tins and pour the batter into them.
• Using a spoon, generously drizzle the sauce over each muffin. (See recipe below.)
• Let cook for about 20 minutes.
• When finished cooking, let them cool for about 10 minutes and then they are ready to eat!

For Sauce:

• Melt the coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl.
• Combine all the ingredients with the coconut oil, mixing thoroughly.

Ginger & Rosemary Sweet Potato Wedges

It was yesterday, already early afternoon, I knew I needed to bring a side for our small group last night, and I still had no idea what to bring. That’s when I remembered a recent post I just saw on Lisa’s blog, Simple Pairings, called Spiced Sweet Potato Wedges! (If you haven’t already, please go check her site out….she has great recipes, lovely pictures of them, and is very sweet!)

I love sweet potatoes, and though my husband still won’t admit to liking them, he now eats them with me when I cook them certain ways, including this one last night. I was really happy with the taste, and was also pleased that our small group seemed to really like them! I love enjoying my own food, but I also really love when others enjoy my food as well! 🙂

I made a few adjustments to Lisa’s recipe…really just because I couldn’t find the paprika! 🙂 What I did find was a spice I have never used before, ginger, and couldn’t resist the urge to experiment a little.

Fresh out of the oven…

• Servings: About 6 People
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*Adapted by Lori at Creating Beauty in the Kitchen from Lisa’s wonderful recipe at Simple Pairings

• 2 extra large sweet potatoes
• 4 fresh cloves of garlic
• 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp ginger
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Black pepper

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Wash and cut your sweet potatoes into wedges. I had no idea how to make nice wedges, so I was so grateful to Lisa for explaining! She said to slice each potato in length half-wise, and then slice the halves in half again. Continue to do this until you have the amount and right thickness you are looking for. Set aside.
• Press the garlic, or cut it up into really tiny pieces if you don’t have a garlic press.
• Wash and cut up the rosemary.
• Put the two tbsp of olive oil in a small dish. Add the ginger and mix well. Next add the rosemary and garlic, combining well.
• Lay the potato wedges on a large baking sheet. (I coated the back sides of the wedges with a light layer of olive oil, before arranging them on the baking sheet .)
• I am sure you could use a brush for this, but I used my hands in the spice mixture and coated the tops of each potato thoroughly.
• Sprinkle black pepper over the wedges.
• Bake for about 30 minutes, turning the pan around halfway through.

As one of our friends said last night, “These definitely aren’t bland!” I love foods that are rich in taste….that comment made my heart happy! Enjoy!