*Takes a deep breath in* Phew that was a long name.

A couple of weeks ago, two new and dear friends of mine Monica and Serena from Dessert Doesn’t Hurt came up with a brilliant idea to conduct a little bake-off! They challenged me to make a variation of their Cranberry Orange Granola, and I challenged them to make a variation of my PEScience Snickerdoodle Bread.

This was a really fun challenge because our styles are slightly different. The two girls are what I like to consider true bakers, using wholesome ingredients and make everything from scratch. I on the other hand use a lot of protein powders and a lot of alternatives since we both target slightly different audiences. But our love for baking is definitely mutual!

It did not take me long to decide what to make after studying their delectable sounding recipe. If you have been following me for a while, you know that I am all about the chocolate and peanut butter combination, so of course I had to incorporate my two favorites into this dish!

I needed a peanut butter creamy enough to replace the coconut oil, and this Trader Joes Flax and Chia Seed Peanut Butter filled that role perfectly.

So here is my rendition, and if you end up trying it, tag me at @hungrygirl325 on Instagram so I can see how you liked it! Even better, make both variations because this recipe is a guarantee winner no matter which flavor you go with.

Ingredients:

• -3 cups rolled oats
• -1/4 cup stevia (the brand I have isn’t too sweet, so start out smaller if yours is sweet and adjust according to taste)
• -dash of cinnamon
• -dash of salt
• -1/4 cup Trader Joes Flax & Chia Seed Peanut Butter (or another creamy peanut butter)
• -2 tbs Vita Fiber Sweet It (or maple syrup/honey/liquid sweetener)
• -1 egg white
• -2 servings Lilys Sweets Chocolate Chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300F.
2. Place parchment paper on a baking pan.
3. In a large bowl, whisk oats, stevia, cinnamon, and salt.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. Add in Sweet It/liquid sweetener and peanut butter.
5. Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients. It’s easier to use your hands to mix it all up, and it’s more fun!
6. Scoop into the baking pan and spread it out a little.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, take it out, and stir it around a little more, breaking up any clumps.
8. Bake for about another 20-25 minutes.
9. Let it cool completely before eating so it gets all crunchy! Once cooled, toss in chocolate chips.

Servings: 16 servings; 1 serving = 1/4 cup

Macros per serving with ingredients that I listed:

• 94 calories
• 3.4g fat
• 14.5g carbs (4.1 fiber, 0.5 sugar)
• 3.3g protein

 

 

 

Yep, you read that right! One of my friends sent me a recipe for Rolo Cheesecake Bars to “healthify,” and it seemed difficult to do because cheesecake is amazing as is, and it just seems so hard to make cheesecakes healthy. But it turned out to be a success, and I am incredibly overjoyed to share the recipe with you guys! I only have the cheesecake base I made without the Rolos here so you can use this as a basic base, and add whatever you want, like blueberries or more chocolate chips!

 

CRUST:

-2.5 cups any type of honey cereal or lightly sweetened cereal

-3 tbs light I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter

-extra water for consistency

FILLING:

-215 grams Greek yogurt cream cheese (my favorite is Green Mountain Farms Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese)

-2 eggs

-1/4 cup coconut sugar + 1/2 cup xylitol (I used a little less because I ran out, and it still turned out delicious), or all xylitol/coconut sugar

-a little bit of stevia for taste, if needed

-1/4 cup whole wheat flour

-1.5 servings of Lily’s Baking Chips (or any chocolate chips) or fruit or other chocolate

GLAZE:

-2 servings of Sweet It/Agave/Honey, etc.

-.5 servings of Lily’s Baking Chips (or any chocolate chips)

-1 tbs light I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter

 

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 F

2) Crush the cereal in a medium bowl.

3) Melt the 3 tbs butter, and then add it into the bowl with the cereal. Mix it all up.

4) Grease a brownie pan, and press the cereal crust into the pan. Bake for about 7 minutes, or until golden.

5) Set the oven to 350 F

6) While the crust is cooling, mix together all the filling ingredients. Taste test and adjust for taste.

7) Pour the filling over the crust and bake for about 25-35 minutes.

8) While the cheesecake is cooling, make the glaze. Let the glaze sit for a while to thicken. Top the cheesecake with the glaze, and add toppings!

After yesterday, I’ve just been in the mood to bake everything and anything! I forgot how fun it is to just put on some music and get creative in the kitchen. And since today is National Sugar Cookie day, I practically had all the ideas laid out for me! Hope you enjoy!

Makes: 16 cake bars

Ingredients:

-1.5 cups whole wheat flour

-1/3 cup coconut sugar

– couple dashes of cinnamon

-1/2 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1/4 cup milk of choice + a little extra water

-6 tbs oil

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 F.

2) Mix together your dry ingredients in a medium to large bowl.

3) Add in the liquids and whisk with a fork. Add the extra water if it’s too dry. You want it to be a mound of dough.

4) Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and press the dough into the foil until even everywhere.

5) Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the top has gotten a little more golden. If you use coconut sugar, it might be hard to see, so make sure you keep an eye on it.

6) Top with whatever you like!

As I was engaging in my nightly routine of scrolling through Pinterest, I came across this beautiful looking bread. Usually when I “pin” things, I do have an urge to make the recipe, but I never have time. However, this picture was just so beautiful and the recipe sounded too amazing to not make. I finally had time today to make it, and I don’t regret it. I pretty much followed the directions and recipe, with just (very minuscule) slight adjustments according to the ingredients I had.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Ingredients:

-1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

-1 tsp baking powder

-1/2 tsp salt

-3 bananas

-8 tbs butter

-2 eggs

-1/2 cup coconut sugar (3/4 if you like more sweetness, but my mom enjoyed the 1/2 cup version, and she has a huge sweet tooth)

-7 medium strawberries

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-1 serving of Lily’s Sweets Chocolate Baking Chips (or any chocolate chips)

-1/4 cup whole cashews, then chopped

-optional: cinnamon

-optional: dough enhance that I got from Whole Foods. I’m not exactly sure if it works, but I like to use it anyways just in case sometimes. But this is completely optional, and the bread will be fine without it.

-Greek yogurt + stevia + cinnamon, chocolate sauce, cashews/chocolate chips/peanut butter, strawberries for the topping

Tools you will need:

-1 large bowl for the mix

-1 medium bowl for the bananas

-1 small bowl for the butter

-a small sauce pan

-a strainer

-loaf pan

-fork, whisk, and solid spatula

Directions:

1) Preheat your oven to 350 F.

2) Break up the bananas and put it into the medium bowl. Microwave for about 5 minutes.

3) Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and optional cinnamon/dough enhancer in the large bowl.

4) Once the bananas are done, transfer them to the strainer, and lay it on top of the sauce pan. Keep the medium bowl on the side. Mush the bananas with a fork occasionally for about 15 minutes.

5) While you’re waiting for the bananas, and occasionally mushing, you can chop up your strawberries and cashews.

6) After 15 minutes are up, transfer the bananas to the medium bowl again. Let the banana juice sit in the sauce pan on medium heat for about 4 minutes. Once that is done, transfer the juice to the medium bowl with the bananas.

7) Add the vanilla extract, eggs, butter, and coconut sugar to the large bowl. Whisk. The batter will be pretty thick.

8) Add in the banana/banana juice mix to the large bowl and mix with a fork (it is very hard to do with a whisk).

9) Fold in the chopped strawberries.

10) Spray the loaf pan, and pour in the batter. Make sure it’s all nice and smooth.

11) Add the chopped cashews and chocolate chips to the top, and bake for about 25-27 minutes.

12) Let it cool, slice it, and top with whatever you want!