HOLY cow, the best nut chocolate deliciousness, my gawd! These little squares are creamy, dairy-free, raw cacao sunflower butter squares — made with the best natural ingredients and none of the bad! The perfect bite of dessert!
LOOK AT THIS!!!!
I have had the tab with this NY Times recipe open for months, so finally I decided to make it (COVID 19—- 19 pounds over normal weight here weeeeeeeee commmmmmmeeeeeee). Super easy, fun to make, and delicious. Randomly, it is vegan too (which just means no eggs in this cake recipe) so my dairy free friends can make this and love it. It is a great cake to make with kids and when you are sick of dishes.
Ingredients:
My favorite chocolate bar is the Cadbury Fruit and Nut Chocolate bar. It reminds me of childhood trips to Europe. So this past week, I was craving a fruit and nut chocolate bar, but didn’t know where to get one. So instead, I made little chocolate buttons with fruit and nuts in them. While you can’t go wrong with your fruit/nut choices, I used cranberries, raisins, almonds, and hazelnuts.
A new and improved version of the Cadbury Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bar.
Over Spring Break in Seattle, we had the privilege of visiting Theo Chocolate Factory and going on a tour (my beloved Gwyneth is the one who told me about it). It was fun, tasty, interesting, and a unique experience. Definitely worth going to — but probably best to do it AFTER lunch and not before. Cough, cough, we were the idiots who went with five kids at 10:30 am and ate ten chocolate bars before lunch.
Classic beautiful warehouse (an old brewery) in which the factory is housed.
In the past month, we have been gifted Royce’ Chocolate by two different couples. I had never heard about it before and now I am a fan. Made in Japan, this chocolate is unique, beautiful, and delicious. Definitely different than a normal chocolate bar — more special and rich, making it a great hostess gift.
This one is one of their specialties: Ghana bitter.
I love chocolate almost as much as I love my kids (I joke, I joke….eeks!). And this chocolate, Tony’s Chocolonely, is the best chocolate in the whole wide world. It tastes like gold (if gold tasted good) — just so rich and pure and holy chocolateness. And to top it off, it is from the coolest place in the world, YUP, Oregon. But of course, right? If I were you, I would buy as much of this chocolate as possible and give it out to people as their Holiday presents — it is that good.
My favorite three bars: Milk, Milk Caramel Sea Salt, and Dark Almond Sea Salt.
Thanks to Instagram, I saw a recipe for a peanut butter pretzel truffle from Minimalist Baker and knew I had to make it. The recipe is simple, easy, and a huge win.
How good does this look?
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup pitted medjool dates, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes then drained
* 1/2 cup salted natural peanut butter
* 3/4 cup raw almonds
* 1/2 cup mini pretzels
* 1.25 cup chocolate chips
* 1 tsp coconut oil
Directions:
Before and after dipped. I DIP YOU DIP WE DIP
* Place almonds in the food processor and process until you reach the consistency of a meal.
* Then add in pretzels and soaked dates in the food processor and process until small bits remain and/or it forms into a ball.
* Next, add the peanut butter and mix until well combined. You don”t have to do this in a food processor, and can really just mix it in with a spoon.
* Once you have a dough that’s easy to form into balls, scoop out 1 Tablespoon amounts and roll/carefully form into balls. Set on parchment paper and place in freezer to chill.
* In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and add the coconut oil (which helps thin out the chocolate).
* Remove truffles from freezer and, one at a time, dip them into the melted chocolate. Transfer back onto parchment paper and place in to the freezer.
* Store them in the freezer until you eat them (or else they will melt — they will still be delicious, but they will melt).
They will not last long, mainly because you will want to eat them right away.
Happy weekend! Spring here we are, thank goodness!
Happy Friday! Before I post an indulging (yet delicious) food item, I want everyone to read the article written by our good friend, Sasha Blair-Goldensohn. Eight years ago, Sasha was hit by a tree in Central Park, and is wheelchair bound. His op-ed in the NYTimes from Wednesday is an eye opener, so please do so. I also highly recommend watching the video that accompanies it. Thanks in advance for reading it.
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I am constantly on the search for a “healthy” dessert. While I am well aware of the effects of sugar …..I still love nibbling on something sweet at the end of my meals. Call it an addiction, or a vice, but it is a habit that I can’t stop. So these raw chocolate energy bars are perfect. Raw chocolate, sweet, nutty, gooey, and great.
Romantic rawmantic, yes, handcrafted with love.
I am a devout nut-butter eater and like devouring nut butters in ANY form. So when I came across this Salted Almond Butter Freezer Fudge recipe, I instantly ran to the kitchen to make it. I love love them, and I so shared them with a fellow friend / parent from Cruzzie’s school. Later that day, I received three text messages from three other moms, requesting the recipe (friend #1 shared with friends #2-4). They are loved by all! Enjoy!
If you want a rich, decadent, chocolatey, vegan dessert*, then THIS IS IT. Vegan Peanut Butter Cups.
For those of you who have been reading the blog for a long time (first, huge THANK YOU!), then you have already seen this post. But I can’t help myself and need to include it again because these holiday treats are SO VERY DELICIOUS and addictive. And if you are new to the blog (welcome, and thank you!), enjoy the very best cookie / goodie / chocolate heaven / salty-sweet-thang. Hands down, the best holiday treat. And because you will not be able to stop at just one cookie (or ten of them), better get started on your holiday workout.
Even though I am done with marathon training (well, for NYC 2014…not forever….I am hooked), I still am hungry all the time. Especially for chocolates. Specifically, French chocolates. Recommended by a friend on our recent trip to Paris, we stopped by Jacques Genin, a well known French chocolate and caramel maker in the Marais. And let me tell you, it is worth the hype. At first, I thought that all high-end chocolate tastes the same — good, delicious, and decadent. But once I polished off the box of Jacques Genin’s, I realized that it was HIS chocolate that was oh-s0-flipping-good. He opened up his own chocolate store / tea house in the Marais neighborhood in 2008. It is beautiful and chic — an Hermes version of chocolate.
Damn straight
So, apparently when you follow supermodels on instagram, you start to think that you yourself are IN FACT a supermodel. Yep, that is right. I strut like one, dress similarly, resemble one, and I am a model now. OK. Not really, but I *do* eat Karlie’s Kookies which most supermodels boast about chomping down on instagram. So that makes us similar, right? What is a Karlie’s Kookie? Well, all the celebrities and fashionistas eat them (and post them on instagram), so they must be healthy AND delicious at the same time. And what do you know? They really are. Cross my heart, swear to god, these little cookies are made out of healthy ingredients and are so tasty good, too.
My goodie bag.
I JUST DISCOVERED HEAVEN!!!!! Holy god, thank you Lord! South Bend Chocolate Company Malt Balls! The absolute best cure for Monday blues!
Malt Balls!
The highlight of the past long weekend (aside from being reunited with Ken who had to go to the Philippines for a week) was my visit to the store The Meadow. I can’t even begin to describe the pure AMAZINGNESS of this store. It is everything in one tiny little room- cozy, sweet, interesting, unique, bizarre, and simply, pure bliss. What type of store is it? A boutique that specializes in salt, chocolate, drink, and flowers. Seems obscure, but when you think of it, do you really need anything else? (Don’t answer that.)
The store has two different locations. The West Village in NYC and Mississippi Avenue in … Portland, Oregon. How picture perfect is this store? Too cute for words!
The gourmet salt, artisan-made chocolates, cocktail bitters, and fresh flowers all come together to provide an amazing shopping experience. The owners, Jennifer and Mark Bitterman (“selmeliers”) know their stuff! Walking into their store for 30 minutes made me want to learn and discover more about everything they sold.
Rows and rows of salt. Over 120 finishing salts from around the word! Each has its own special mineral and crystal properties. They also carry salt sets to help beginners start learning more about the process of how salt gets made.
Different sizes of crystals, smells, and colors. The thought of adding an extra sprinkle of love to a food dish seems so romantic and delicious.
Different sizes.
The view out the window. Perfect for a movie!
Chocolate Rolo Cookies, i.e. Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies are AN AMAZING AND INDULGENT SNACK! MAKE THESE FOR VALENTINE’S DAY and you will be sure to get some action. Just joking.
Ingredients
* 2 1/2 cups flour
* 3/4 cup cocoa
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 cup softened butter
* 2 teaspoons vanilla
* 2 eggs
* 3 packages of ‘rolo’ chocolate covered caramels
Directions:
* In a bowl, place the flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Set aside.
Doesn’t this look delicious already?
* Beat butter and sugar until fluffy (you need arm muscles for this one).
Any recipe with lots of butter and brown sugar is heavenly.
Just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean that cookies and sweets are. Far from it! It is the New Year, so time to live in the present moment and eat sweets after every meal!!! This cookie is perfect because it has anything and everything in it. This recipe was taken from the food blog, food52, which is one of my favorite places to visit on the web.
Ingredients:
