Pumpkin Speculoos and Cocoa Swirled Muffies

SPECULOOS AKA COOKIE BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE.. holy crap! Well anyways, these are super easy to make, and everything was bought at TJ's, how surprising right? 

Add in some greek yogurt for extra moist muffies! 

Mini Zucchini Bread Muffins- 3 flavors!

Happy Thursday!

Zucchini bread is one of those things that you can enjoy, while being "healthy". Or...at least a lot more healthy than other baked goods. Who would have thought putting a squash into bread would have tasted good, but it's all the extra cinnamon and chocolate and nuts and SUGAR that gives it that yumminess. Today was my day off from class, but of course I will be in lab for a couple of hours to catch up on work. On days that I get bored or just need a break, I have this urge to bake! The weird thing about me is that I love to bake, and I like sweets, but I love giving out my baked goods to people to eat. Mostly because it makes people happy! But also because I can't afford so much fat and sugar -.-

 Here's a great recipe that uses greek yogurt...i will almost add greek yogurt to anything, because it just makes everything light and moist :) It's the best secret ingredient. The 3 flavors i made are: Peanut butter, Chocolate Chip, & Classic Walnut. Enjoy!

The lineup

Wet + Dry Ingredients

How to easily peel a zucchini!

Walnut batter =P

Chocolate chips yummm

Everyone loves PB...like come on!

The three batters

Peanut buttery goodness...

DISSECTION!

These are fun little muffin liners I found at Daiso!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup chocolate chip (semi-sweet)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Oil and flour 24 cup mini muffin tin. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, greek yogurt, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Don't overmix!
Split batter into 3 bowls. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips, peanut butter, or nuts into each separate bowl until well combined. Pour batter into prepared muffin pan.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Biscoff Brownies

Round 2 of Biscoff craze:

Ingredients 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup Biscoff Spread

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and line an 8×8 inch baking dish with tin foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Place butter into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30-45 seconds until butter is melted and hot. Add 3/4 cup choco chips and let sit for 1 minute. Stir until smooth, if needed place back in microwave for an additional 15-30 seconds to melt through.

3. Place flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Stir in 1/2 cup choco chips, melted chocolate, then add eggs and biscoff. Stir until well combined. Transfer to prepared baking dish, spreading evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until cooked through. Let cool completely then cut into squares. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled.

Makes 12 servings

Reese's Banana Bread

Who doesn't LOVE peanut butter and chocolate??!.....

Some of the main ingredients 

Line your pan with PAM and a piece of parchment paper for easily pan removal.

Look at those chocolate chips all melted!

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup white sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup apple sauce 2 eggs 1 cup mashed bananas 1/4 cup almond milk or regular milk DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with a non-stick cooking spray. 2. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and applesauce until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs, milk and bananas with the sugar mixture until it is well blended. 3. Mix in the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder just until the mixture is moistened. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to blend all ingredients. Lastly, add chocolate chips and garnish with Reese's in the center. 4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degree C) for about 60 minutes. Bread is done when the top is firm to the touch and a golden brown color. Time will vary according to loaf size and oven type. When bread is removed from oven, allow it to cool on it's side for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a rack. RESULTS: Heavenly PB/Chocolatey goodness!! Best when served warm :) -B

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 cup Reese's PB chips 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional) 5-6 Reese's Miniatures for garnish

Graduations Galore + Cookie Buffet

Jess, Beth, and I just so happened to all graduate from our respective institutions this year, so Mom and Dad decided to throw a not-so-crazy (no more Prince Seafood banquet dinners) graduation party at our house. The task for me: Bake 35 dozen cookies. Time allotted: 5 hours. Mission accomplished. Feast your eyes on 423 cookies..give or take..a few may have landed in our stomachs.
I'll link the recipes to all my cookies below. Most of the ideas for decor came from the one and only Pinterest.

Pecan Shortbread
M&M Cookies
Oatmeal Toffee
Soft Snickerdoodles
Choco-PB-Nutella (I subbed in some nutella for half of the peanut butter!)
Choco Chip were from a can, but here's a good homemade one: Chocolate Chip


Happy Baking!
-B

Red Velvet Cake

Made this Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese filling and buttercream icing for Andrea's graduation gift!
Filled with cream cheese icing, smothered in buttercream and decorated with extra cake crumbs and buttercream swirls. All recipes courtesy of the Crumb Boss!

Red Velvet Cake
Swiss Buttercream
Cream Cheese Icing



the hungry monkey

Ribbon Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

I made this super simple pirouette ice cream cake for Mother's Day! There were layers of Chocolate Cake between Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream with a layer of Chocolate magic shell on top. The idea came from Haagen Daaz Ice Cream Ribbon Cake that I saw in the store when I went in on Free Scoop Day! :)  I just baked layers of chocolate cake, and filled it with ice cream. The decorations are whipped cream and chocolate jimmies. The sides are garnished with Pirouettes Chocolate Hazelnut flavor. Tie it off with a ribbon and you're done!

Ribbon Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

1 box Devils food cake mix

2 cans of Pirouette Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies (find them at Walmart, Target, supermarkets, etc)

1 gallon of Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream (or your favorite ice cream flavor!)

1 bottle of Magic Shell- Chocolate or Reeses flavor :P

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped until stiff

1/4 cup powdered sugar

Bake the Chocolate Cake in 8 inch round pans. You need 2 layers.

Once cooled, line the bottom of a springform pan with cooking spray and a piece of parchment paper.

Layer the first layer of chocolate cake then pack in the ice cream on top. Then place the 2nd layer of cake on top. Freeze for one hour.

Whip up the whipping cream with the sugar. Place into a pastry bag.

Put a thin layer of whipped cream all over the cake layer. Freeze for another 30-45 minutes.

Make sure your Magic Shell is at room temp. If not, microwave for 10-15 seconds so that it is pourable. Pour it all over the frozen whipped cream and it should immediately harden. This will form a sort of sealant around the top of your cake.

Cut the pirouettes to match the height of your cake, leaving a little extra on top to cover the unevenness. Carefully stick each pirouette around the cake, you will probably use almost all of the 2 cans.

Decorate the top of the cake with large swirls of whipped cream using your pastry bag and a large star tip. Garnish with chocolate sprinkles and a couple of your extra pirouettes!

Take a piece of thick ribbon and tie it in a nice bow around your cake.

Freeze for several hours or overnight before serving!

Enjoy!

le hungry monkey

Low Fat OatFlax Walnut Choco Chip Cookies

 

Low Fat OatFlax Walnut Choco Chip Cookies

My big sis Jess likes oatmeal cookies, but she always wants me to make them with less butter, less fat, less sugar, etc. She has super bland taste buds -__-. We had a bag of almost stale walnuts so I chopped them up and added them in as well. So here's my attempt adapted from baking bites. 

Low Fat Oat Flax Walnut Choco Chip Cookies
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg

1/2 cup ground flax meal
1/4 cup plain, unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars. Beat in the egg, followed by the flax, applesauce and the vanilla extract. Working by hand, stir in the flour mixture and the oats until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
Drop tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, flattening each cookie slightly. Bake for about 10-12 min. Cookies will be light brown at the edges when done.
Let cool on sheet for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

GO GET HEALTHY!

le hungry monkey

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

I made this awhile ago, but thought I'd share it. It's just a simple Chocolate Chip cookie recipe with a bit of pecans added in for a nice nutty flavor. I really love pecans, just plain or with any of my baked goods! So here's the super simple recipe. I made it back in April when I came back home for Pacific Day. I was DYING from not baking for like 4 months, so I just grabbed some of the ingredients from the pantry and started baking...at like 10pm. Great midnight snack! Recipe was adapted from Picky Palate. She's great, go check her site out!

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

2 sticks (1 cup) softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups white chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and place your silicon mats or spray your cookie sheets.

2. Place softened butter in bowl of stand or electric mixer. 

3. Add sugars and beat for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla beating until well combined. Slowly add dry ingredients, chocolate chips, beating until just combined. With a medium cookie scoop, add a heaping scoop of dough onto the sheet. Press down onto the pan so that it won't be a big mountain of dough.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, until edges become golden brown. Remove and let cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing. Remove from pans and serve with a glass of milk!

Makes 2 dozen cookies

LOVE,

le hungry monkey