Chocolate Brownie Muffin Top Cookies!

Chocolate Brownie Cookies



These butter-free, sugar-free, and guilt-free snacks are so delicious! They are a great sweet for school lunches, or a couple of these cookies are so healthy that they can serve as a quick on-the-go breakfast!

2 c pitted dates (40 pieces)
2 and 1/4 c hot water
1/4 c ground flaxseed
2 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp baking powder

Heat oven to 375 convection (400 conventional). In a food processor, chop dates into a sticky ball. In mixing bowl, stir dates, water, and flax, until well mixed. In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda). Mix wet and dry just until dry is wet. Put scoopfuls onto cookie sheet (I love silicon my bakeware). I get two sheets of 12-13 cookies per recipe. If you enjoy pecans, add a few on top before baking. So pretty! Bake about 20 minutes and enjoy!

If you choose to make cupcakes, recipe should make about one dozen.

For the last batch I made, I added 3 pecans per cookie, coming together in the middle in a "Y" shape, for a very pretty presentation. Plus, the pecans get toasted, really adding to the flavor :)

Other similar recipes include:

Banana Breakfast Cookies
Peanut Butter Banana Crunch Breakfast Cookies
Pumpkin Spice Cookies

3-Ingredient Pecan Pie Bites!

I have now made these Snickerdoodle Laraballs (or No-Bake Cinnamon Pecan Pie Bites) several times in the last week or so. I just can't get enough, which is ok since they are super-healthy! I hope you LOVE them too!

ALL YOU NEED:

2/3 c PECANS*
1/2 c DATES (10 pieces)
1 Tbsp CINNAMON

I usually TRIPLE this recipe!

Blend everything in your food processor for a few minutes, until the dough begins to fall away from the outside walls. Form dough into balls (or bars or whatever shape you like) and viola! I always put my dough into a large plastic bag and form balls from the outside of the bag (I don't like food hands!).

*Toasting is a great addition! Toast pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet at about 400 for about 8 min. Watch closely, let them darken, taste for doneness, they should sizzle when you bite!

This mixture is super tasty with cereal and almond milk for breakfast! It's like the Apple Cinnamon Cheerios I ate as a kid, or just like when I added cinnamon sugar to cereal, another childhood memory. Only this mixture is so much healthier, adding vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, and best of all, yumminess!

As with all Laraballs (lots of yummy flavors at bottom of this link), there is no gluten, dairy, sugar, butter, or oil, so they are truly a guilt-free pleasure. I don't think anyone should ever feel GUILT about food, and, most of the time, I enjoy practicing what I preach about this :).

After I made them, I remembered a delicious recipe I had made and loved from Melissa's My Whole Food Life, No-Bake Snickerdoodles. Her recipe is also very tasty!

COMMENTS: What healthy options do you make that remind you of something you ate when you were a kid? And who else likes (or ever liked) Apple Cinnamon Cheerios? Happy Lunar Eclipse! Did anybody see it? My family tried, but I guess it was too cloudy :(

Magic Reindeer Food

Magic Reindeer Food (popcorn, toasted pecans, salt, cinnamon)

Merry Christmas!  This is magical treat is basically popcorn, cinnamon, and toasted pecans. Delightful!

Magic Reindeer Feed

1/2 c or more popcorn kernels (use air popper)

1 c pecans

2 tsp cinnamon

Break pecans into smaller pieces and top with cinnamon.  Fill cookie sheet with single layer of nut pieces.  Set oven to 425 degrees and place pan of nuts in oven right away (while oven heating) and set a 10-minute timer.

Next, pop your kernels. Remove nuts from oven. Mist popcorn with just a spray or two of water (very little so not soggy) from a spray bottle. Combine popcorn and nuts, and shake in a covered container, and enjoy!

Reindeer, elves, Santa, and other children and adults will love this simple treat!

Here is a link from Christmas Letter Tips for a Magic Reindeer Food tag that you can print.  There is a cute poem that encourages kids to feed the reindeer and head to bed!  And here is one I made :)

COMMENTS: What treat do you leave out for Santa? Cookies and milk? Carrots and apples? Popcorn and pecans? I wish you a wonderful holiday!!

Delightful Dessert-y Snack

Sharing a savory snack!

It reminds me of a childhood treat of the extra pie crust around from the edges baked with cinnamon sprinkled over it!  Only, of course, this version is much healthier!

Chop, smash, or leave whole, 1-2 cups pecans.
Spread evenly over rimmed baking sheet.
Bake at 400 (convection) or 425 (conventional) for 10 min.
Let cool (be sure to taste some warm and toasty!) and pour into storage container.
Sprinkle nuts generously with cinnamon (around a Tbsp) and stir, or just close lid and shake.
Slice a banana and sprinkle as much of mixture on top, and enjoy!

Extra stays nicely for a few days, though it doesn't have much chance to sit around long before being gobbled up by me!...really good all by itself!

It's so healthy and simple! And YUM!  I adore those toasted pecans!  They're delicious with BRUSSELS sprouts!

Read here for the benefits of HEALTHY FATS, AND NUTS in particular!

COMMENTS: are you one to prepare for the holidays early, or wait until the last minute?  Or star early and still have things left to do at the end, like me!?

Top 5 Reasons to Eat Healthy Fat

1. Healthy fats taste great, fill you up, and keep you satisfied longer!
2. Eating more healthy fats will speed up your metabolism AND specifically, your body's ability to burn FAT!
3. Healthy fats are the fats that make up your BRAIN!
4. Healthy fats are great for your skin and hair health!
5. Healthy fats are helpful to IMMUNE function and ANTI-INFLAMMATORY properties.

For more on the specific fat called omega-fats click HERE!

SO WHICH fats are HEALTHY fats? Avocados, nuts and seeds (especially walnuts, flax, and chia), nut butters, canola oil which is EVEN better than extra-virgin olive oil (a pretty good choice), and fish are BEST! Try some snacks with healthy fat: avocado and crackers, hummus on toast, PB&J Poppers, Cinnamon Cranberry Confections, or any of my Larabar ball flavors!

I prefer to focus on what TO EAT, rather than what to avoid! In case you aren't aware: fats FROM ANIMALS is an easy rule, so basically your meats, poultry, dairy, especially cheeses, should be avoided.

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!

Have you ever avoided fat because it is "bad for you"? Do you think "low-fat" foods are good for you? What other fads have you tried/heard about/laughed at?

I think it is hard the way nutrition information changes. Even when I learned about fat in college! avocados were at the top of the food pyramid to avoid!!!! That makes me feel old!

But really, all the nutrition information is finally coming together nicely, recommendations to eat whole foods are beneficial to every health problem, diabetes, arthritis, etc, every health aim, weight loss, etc., and I don't see how that could ever change! It's even being tested and proven by science which is what makes me a believer! Plus how I feel from my own experience :)

How to Make Brownies in 5 Minutes or Less!

Brownie Bites are every bit as rich as any brownie I've ever tasted! No baking required!

Brownie Bites

1/2 c pecans

1/3 c dates

1/4 c cocoa, unsweetened

1/8 c flaxseed, ground

1. Simply blend all ingredients in a food processor.
2. Continue to blend/pulsing until fine mixture forms, and begins to come away from the edge of the container.
3. Next, put mixture into plastic sandwich bag. Hint: you can put your bag into a mug, folding the edges of the bag over the edge of the mug (like a trash can). This just helps you fill your bag fast.
4. Now you can shape the dough into balls without getting your hands all greasy. One inch diameter is a nice serving, and even smaller is good for little kids. They can pop the whole thing in their mouth without making a mess of crumbs.
5. Alternatively, you could mash the whole mixture into a container and cut into squares.

While some flavors, especially Skinny Mints, taste great frozen, these taste much better refrigerated or at room temperature.

These are really nutritious, just like Larabars! They even make a great breakfast with coffee! Having young children, I often find myself being up for a few hours without having eaten, even though I'm sure to feed the kids right away! These are great to pop in my mouth as soon as I come downstairs, so I can lift my metabolism, energy, and mood right away!

These are yet another "Larabar ball" or Laraball flavor! If you like these, you might also like to try some other flavors:

Skinny Mints

PB&J Poppers

No-Bake Carrot Cake
and More!

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WHAT DO YOU THINK? TELL ME IN A COMMENT: How do you like your brownies? Plain, smooth? Or do you like them with stuff in them, nuts, fruit, caramel, marshmallow...???