Life Currents

Coconut Carob Brownie Bars

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Debi

Coconut Carob Brownie Bars. From Mother’s Day Brunch 2013.

Mom loved these! She’s a coconut fan, so these were perfect for her. I doubt these lasted very long in her house.

I made the brownie part with carob powder because mom can’t have chocolate, but feel free to change the carob powder to cocoa powder if you’d like.

I was surprised at how soft these turned out. Tasty, but I think they’re better eaten with a fork than with your fingers.

Coconut Carob Brownie Bars

2013-05-21 15:59:31

Serves 9

Write a review

Save Recipe

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

52g

Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 235

Calories from Fat 179

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 21g

32%

Saturated Fat 15g

74%

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 4g

Cholesterol 41mg

14%

Sodium 37mg

Total Carbohydrates 11g

Dietary Fiber 3g

10%

Sugars 5g

Protein 3g

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

Calcium

Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Does this look wrong?

Brownie Layer

½ cup almond flour

¼ cup raw pecans

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

2 tablespoons carob powder

½ tablespoon mild tasting honey

Coconut Layer

5 tablespoons canned coconut milk

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

pinch of salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Brownie Layer

Place the pecans in the bowl of a food processor, and pulse several times until very finely ground. Add the almond flour, vanilla, coconut oil, carob powder and honey, and pulse until well combined and fine in texture.

Line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper and evenly spread the brownie batter in the dish. You will have a very thin brownie layer.

Coconut Layer

In a medium bowl, mix all the ingredients for the coconut layer together and evenly pour it over the brownie layer. Bake for 12 minutes at 350°F or until set. Remove from oven, and allow to cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Adapted from Living Healthy with Chocolate

beta

calories

235

fat

21g

protein

carbs

11g

Adapted from Living Healthy with Chocolate

Life Currents http://lifecurrents.dw2.net/

Wordpress Recipe Plugin by Recipe Card

I’m contemplating doubling the brownie part and making “truffles” out of it. I really liked the brownie part, and that’s really a no bake part which is always good!

Posted in Food | Tagged almonds, carob, coconut, coconut milk, coconut oil, Cooking, desserts, eggs, Food, gluten-free, healthy, honey, nuts, pecans, recipe, unprocessed, vanilla, vegetarian | 5 Comments

Lemon Poppy Seed Pancake Muffins

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Debi

Individual baked Lemon Poppy Seed Pancake Mini Muffins from my Mother’s Day Brunch 2013.

We’ve made these pancakes a couple times and they’re awesome! They aren’t too sweet or heavy. Just right. And, as little individual mini muffins, they are just the right size to pop in your mouth one at a time. I think these would be really fun for little kids too. And, baking them as mini muffins made it really easy to fix up a bunch for brunch. No one had to stand over the stove flipping pancakes!

I used a small ladle to fill the muffin cups, but if you don’t have a small ladle or maybe you don’t have a steady hand and don’t want to try filling the cups that way, I’d suggest filling a large plastic bag with the batter, then cutting off a small tip and squeezing the batter into the cups using the plastic bag method.

The silicon mini muffin tray makes it really easy to get the pancakes out. And, there’s no need for additional butter/oil on the pan. If you use a regular pan, I’d suggest buttering the sides.

Lemon Poppy Seed Pancake Mini Muffins

2013-05-21 15:31:01

Serves 6

Joy the Baker

Write a review

Save Recipe

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

173g

Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 362

Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 16g

25%

Saturated Fat 9g

45%

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 4g

Cholesterol 99mg

33%

Sodium 718mg

30%

Total Carbohydrates 43g

14%

Dietary Fiber 2g

Sugars 9g

Protein 10g

Vitamin A

10%

Vitamin C

Calcium

25%

Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Does this look wrong?

Ingredients

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Butter or grapessed oil, or oil of your choice, for frying

Pure maple syrup and softened butter, for serving

Instructions

In a small bowl combine sugar and lemon zest, and rub together with your fingers until sugar is fragrant and light yellow. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the lemon sugar. Set aside.

In a separate bowl or a large 4-cup liquid measuring cup, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients all at once into the dry ingredients. Add the poppy seeds and stir until just combined, leaving a few lumps if necessary. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.

If you're making baked pancake mini muffins, preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter the inside of a regular mini muffin pan, or if you’re using a silicone mini muffin pan, there’s no need to butter the pan. Fill the cups about ¾ full with batter, and place the filled pans on a cookie sheet, and into the preheated oven. Bake until golden brown, and springs back when touched, about 15-25 minutes. Serve with softened butter and maple syrup.

If you’re making regular pancakes, heat a griddle or nonstick pan over medium heat. Add a small amount, about a teaspoon, of butter or oil to the pan. Ladle batter onto hot pan, about 1/3 cup per pancake, and cook until golden brown on the bottom and small bubbles appear on on top. Flip the pancake, and continue to cook until golden brown on each side.

Place cooked pancakes on an oven-proof plate and place in a warm (about 200° F) oven until all pancakes are cooked and ready to serve. Serve with softened butter and maple syrup.

Notes

Makes about 36 mini muffins or 20 small pancakes. We've made these both as regular pancakes and as mini muffins, and they're great either way.

beta

calories

362

fat

16g

protein

10g

carbs

43g

Life Currents http://lifecurrents.dw2.net/

Wordpress Recipe Plugin by Recipe Card

Posted in Food | Tagged baking, Breakfast, buttermilk, Cooking, Food, lemons, maple syrup, muffin, pancakes, poppyseed, recipe, vegetarian | 3 Comments

Salted Caramel Coffee Truffles and a Giveaway!

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Debi

Today I have a little something special… A recipe for Salted Caramel Coffee Truffles AND my first giveaway!!

A little while ago I was contacted by the Don Tomas Coffee Company. They wanted to give me some coffee to review and to giveaway! Well, you know how I LOVE coffee! So, of course, I was in! And, I love to share coffee! So I was doubly in!

They have a cool company story too… “We not only grow and roast coffee, we are also known for our thriving community in Nicaragua. Tomas family farm supports the community by providing schools for our children, health care for our families, and steady employment in an otherwise uncertain environment. Generations have worked and lived on our farm perfecting the science behind growing the highest quality, shade grown, 100% handpicked Arabica coffee.”

I loved the coffee too! I went with the Light Roast Ground, and it’s smooth, well-balanced, and has a nice finish. It’s super yummy for a morning cup ‘o joe! And, another thing I like about their coffee is the fact that it isn’t expensive. Check them out on their website and on Amazon.com.

With that, here’s the giveaway, and lower, please see the recipe for the Salted Caramel Coffee Truffles. (Just follow the instructions in the giveaway. The contest is open to United States Residents only. The giveaway is open until Thursday, May 30. Good Luck!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Salted Caramel Coffee Truffles | Life Currents http://lifecurrents.dw2.net

These candies were made with a scoop. And, honestly, each one of these truffles will serve two people. Dan and I split one and we were very happy!

These Salted Caramel Coffee Truffles are da bomb! But, they are super rich, so resist the urge to make them large. They should be little bites, tiny in size, but mighty in yumminess. Also, if you’re a coffee lover, I’d recommend going with 4 teaspoons of coffee. I left a range here because some people aren’t huge fans of coffee (what is wrong with those people!?!)

The coconut oil is for a little bit of shine in the truffle and a little bit of softness. So, if you don’t have any coconut oil, no worries, you can leave it out or replace it with butter or vegetable shortening.

And, as for the Salted Caramel Sauce, I highly recommend you make your own. It’s amazing! I make this sauce for special events; it’s delish over ice cream. “Course, I like to eat it plain with a spoon too, that’s why I don’t make it too often! But, if you’d prefer to buy a jar from the store for ease, that’ll work too. Just get a good quality one.

These candies were made in the candy mold. It makes it really easy to get the right size. After filling the molds, just tap the mold tray on the counter a bunch of times to get the air bubbles out of the candies.

Salted Caramel Coffee Truffles

2013-05-23 11:37:23

Serves 14

Write a review

Save Recipe

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

19g

Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 101

Calories from Fat 61

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 7g

10%

Saturated Fat 4g

20%

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0g

Monounsaturated Fat 2g

Cholesterol 1mg

Sodium 2mg

Total Carbohydrates 9g

Dietary Fiber 1g

Sugars 6g

Protein 1g

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

Calcium

Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Does this look wrong?

Ingredients

1 cup good-quality dark chocolate

3-4 teaspoons finely ground coffee

3 tablespoons salted caramel sauce

1 teaspoon coconut oil, melted

Instructions

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe medium bowl. Melt chocolate in the microwave on medium-high for in 30-second increments, stirring between each. Once chocolate is melted, Stir in ground coffee, caramel, and coconut oil.

Carefully spoon into small candy molds. Tap mold on a solid surface like a counter top a few times to release the air bubbles from the truffles. Place in fridge until solid and firmed.

If you don't have a candy mold, these may be done with a scoop or a spoon. Scoop or spoon out a small amount and place the truffle onto a Silpat or a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Drizzle a small amount of salted caramel sauce over each truffle for serving, if desired. You could even sprinkle some salt over the top for serving.

beta

calories

101

fat

protein

carbs

Life Currents http://lifecurrents.dw2.net/

Wordpress Recipe Plugin by Recipe Card

Salted Caramel Sauce

2013-05-23 11:53:13

Write a review

Save Recipe

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

546g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 1917

Calories from Fat 985

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 112g

173%

Saturated Fat 70g

351%

Trans Fat 2g

Polyunsaturated Fat 4g

Monounsaturated Fat 31g

Cholesterol 367mg

122%

Sodium 3642mg

152%

Total Carbohydrates 238g

79%

Dietary Fiber 0g

Sugars 211g

Protein 4g

Vitamin A

81%

Vitamin C

Calcium

14%

Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Does this look wrong?

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

3/4 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons Fleur de Sel

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Using a wet pastry brush, wash down any crystals on the side of the pan. Boil over high heat until a deep amber caramel forms, swirling often, about 6-12 minutes (be careful, as it will darken rapidly once it reaches that stage). Remove the saucepan from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream, butter and salt. Let the caramel cool to room temperature. The salted caramel sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Rewarm before serving.

If you get large clumps of salt in the caramel, rewarm the sauce over low heat, and stir until the sauce is smooth and all the salt has dissolved into the caramel.

Notes

Note that the nutrition analysis is for the whole batch, so just don't eat the whole batch! This recipe makes way more than you'll need for these Salted Caramel Coffee Truffles. Use the rest over ice cream, in your afternoon coffee, over pound cake, or just with a spoon!

Adapted from Life Currents (hey, that's me!)

beta

calories

1917

fat

112g

protein

carbs

238g

Adapted from Life Currents (hey, that's me!)

Life Currents http://lifecurrents.dw2.net/

Wordpress Recipe Plugin by Recipe Card

Posted in Desserts, Food | Tagged caramel, chocolate, coconut oil, Coffee, Cooking, Food, giveaway, gluten-free, recipe | 31 Comments

Double Layer Carob Fudge Bites

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Debi

I made these Double Layer Carob Fudge Bites for my mom for Mother’s Day Brunch 2013.

OMG, these were good! These were rich and delightful without being too sweet or too heavy. Dan and I both loved that they tasted real. My mom took a few home and her husband (who doesn’t normally care for desserts) ate a few right away. He loved them too. And, honestly, these were my favorite treat of the day!

I made them with carob powder because my mom can’t have chocolate (it gives her migraines), but they could be made with cocoa powder instead of carob, if you so desire.

These are a great healthy dessert snack item. Vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, no processed sugar, healthy fats from whole foods like nuts and coconut. Super tasty.

I made mine in a 13×9-inch pan which yielded a ton of small bars; just the right size for a small rich bite of desserty goodness. They can also be made in a 9×9-inch or 8×8-inch square pan which will yield thicker heartier squares. You could also cut the recipe in half if you didn’t need quite so many, but they keep really well in the fridge and are perfect if you have a little sweet craving. I’d bet that they freeze well too, and you could pack some in a lunch easily that way.

This is one of those recipes that if you don’t have a food processor, I wouldn’t recommend making it. The food processor makes quick work of the nuts and coconut, but it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make this without the food processor. Just be careful not to process the nuts too much to where they become nut butter.

Double Layer Carob Fudge Bites

2013-05-16 11:36:47

Serves 48

Write a review

Save Recipe

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

23g

Servings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 103

Calories from Fat 53

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 6g

10%

Saturated Fat 4g

19%

Trans Fat 0g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1g

Monounsaturated Fat 2g

Cholesterol 0mg

Sodium 10mg

Total Carbohydrates 13g

Dietary Fiber 2g

10%

Sugars 9g

Protein 1g

Vitamin A

Vitamin C

Calcium

Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Does this look wrong?

Fudge

2 cups raw cashews

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

12 soft medjool dates, pitted

1 cup carob powder

½ cup maple syrup

Pinch of fine grain sea salt

Ganache

½ cup maple syrup

¼ cup coconut oil

½ cup carob powder

Pinch of fine grain sea salt

Fudge Base

Line a 13x9-inch or 9x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, and set aside.

Place cashews in a food processor, and pulse several times until very finely ground. Add the shredded coconut and pulse until well combined and fine in texture. Add the pitted dates and process until a soft paste forms. Add the carob powder, and pulse again. Add the maple syrup and a pinch of salt to the food processor mixture, and process it has a creamy texture, scraping down the sides as needed.

Press the fudge mixture firmly into the prepared pan, and place in the fridge while making the ganache topping.

Ganache topping

In the food processor, blend the maple syrup and coconut oil together until well combined. Add in carob powder and a pinch of salt, and pulse until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.

Pour the ganache over fudge base and spread evenly over the top using an offset spatula. Set the fudge in the fridge at least one hour to set. Once the fudge is set, cut into bite sized squares.

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Notes

Makes about 48 bites, depending on the size bites you cut. Mine were about an inch and a half square.

Adapted from Gourmande In The Kitchen

beta

calories

103

fat

protein

carbs

13g

Adapted from Gourmande In The Kitchen

Life Currents http://lifecurrents.dw2.net/

Wordpress Recipe Plugin by Recipe Card

My husband asked me about the difference between carob and cocoa, like how is the taste different. I had a bit of difficulty answering him. When I was a kid, carob was chalky, but it doesn’t have that same chalkiness any more, at least to me. Maybe carob has a more herbal flavor than chocolate. Maybe it isn’t as deep and rich as chocolate. Let me know if you have a good way of describing carob vs. chocolate. I’m really curious.

Posted in Food | Tagged carob, cashew, coconut, Cooking, dates, desserts, Food, gluten-free, healthy, maple syrup, Paleo, recipe, Snacks, unprocessed, vegan, vegetarian | 11 Comments

Mother’s Day Brunch 2013

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Debi

Every year I have my mom over and I make brunch, then after we eat we head out for some shopping. My mom has to fight the urge to ask for the same thing every year. If she did, she would always ask for huevos rancheros. I love huevos rancheros, but I also love getting to try new things. And, this Mom’s Day I tried several new things.

I’m very pleased with the outcome on all of the dishes. Very nice menu. Pretty easy too with lots of variety. I’ll be posting each recipe separately, so keep an eye out for each one.

Breakfast nests. These are super yummy! Impressive looking. I need to work on them a little more to get them to where they are easy to get out of the muffin tin but without too much oil. But, trust me, they rock!

Individual baked Lemon Poppyseed Pancake Mini Muffins. My mom really liked this because poppyseeds are in lots of Ukrainian dishes, and it reminded her of many things she ate from her childhood. We’ve made these a couple times and they’re awesome! I like the individual muffin idea, but they are also delish as regular pancakes.

Oven Roasted Strawberries and Cherries. Mom also loved this one. She told us how they used to go out for dessert when she was a kid, and her favorite thing to order was cherry pie. The cherries in the dish reminded her of pie. In fact, she ate all the cherries out first because she liked them so much. I also think the juices from the oven roasted fruits made a great syrup over the pancake muffins.

Double Layer Carob Fudge Bites | Life Currents

Double Layer Carob Fudge Bites. OMG, these were good! These were rich and delightful without being too sweet or too heavy. Dan and I both loved that they tasted real. My mom took a few home and her husband (who doesn’t normally care for desserts) ate a few right away. He loved them too. Now, I made them with ground carob because my mom can’t have chocolate (it gives her migraines), but they could be made with cocoa instead of carob.

Coconut Carob Brownie Bars. These were a little soft for my taste, but my mom loved them! She took all of them home with her, and I’d be willing to bet that they didn’t last long.

I hope your Mother’s Day was awesome, whether you treated your mom to something special, or you were treated to something special!

Posted in Food | Tagged Food, menu, mothers day | 5 Comments

Easter Menu 2013

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Debi

I just realized that I hadn’t posted the Easter menu yet. Since I was hosting the festivities, I completely forgot to take any pictures! d’oh! Oh well, here goes…

Dan made his world-famous (okra-free) Gumbo. This time he made the whole batch for meat eaters. Often he’ll take half the batch and leave it vegetarian for me. But, since there were so many people coming, we thought it better if he make it all meaty. I made homemade roasted vegetarian broth for the base. He added roasted chicken and Andouille sausage to it. I’m still working on getting the recipe out of him. We may have to arm wrestle for it!

He grilled a couple tri-tips. They were one of the most popular things on the table!

chickpea, red pepper, cucumber, and corn salad with hoisin dressing

Asian Chickpea Salad: chickpeas, red pepper, cucumber, and corn salad with hoisin dressing

I made my Asian Chickpea Salad

with the sour cream added. A REAL breath killer!

Cukes and onions … And they didn’t even make it out to share. I completely forgot about them, so I ended up eating the whole thing by myself the week following Easter. That might’ve been better for my breath at a social event anyway!

Pea Salad: I really liked this and I knew that Dan’s family would too. It’s just like potato salad but with peas instead of potatoes. I made a few changes to it… I used jarred roasted red peppers instead of pimentos; sour cream instead of mayonnaise; a sweet pickle that I finely chopped instead of pickle relish (because I learned that morning that I was out of relish!); and I left the mustard out. Easy to make too!

Caprese Salad: cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, red onion, fresh basil, salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic. Yum!

Potatoes au Gratin: This was my favorite new thing, and I’m really sorry that I didn’t take any pictures of it because it was beautiful! For me, this is a sometimes treat though! Pretty heavy with cream that I don’t normally make or eat. My changes: garlic powder instead of fresh garlic; replaced the bacon with smoked Gouda (I find that smoked Gouda gives the smokey flavor of bacon without the meat; no, it isn’t exact, but that’s just fine with me).

And, for me this is the slightly embarrassing dish… Pizza Rolls from a package. See, I was at Target and I walked past a display of these packaged things (90 of them in a bag!), and I thought they would be good and easy for the kids coming over for one of our get-togethers. When Dan saw them he told me that I should make them for Easter. Well, they were a huge hit! And now I’ll probably have to make them every time.

There was tons of other food, as everyone brings a dish or two. All delish! And, seeing family was just so lovely! Thanks for letting me host this year!