Posts Tagged ‘baking’

Mini Strawberry Heart Pop Tarts

Whether you really enjoy Valentines Day, or you see it as just another consumerist, hallmark-card holiday, there’s no denying one thing; it’s the perfect excuse to bake super cute pastries decorated with hearts.

So that’s what I did. Plus, everyone secretly wishes they could eat Pop Tarts everyday without having to consume all of the icky refined sugars and unnatural additives that they’re made of.

I mean, at least I do. I think I might have eaten Poptarts for breakfast AND as an after school snack every day during high school. Oh to be a junk-food-eating teen athlete who never has to seriously deal with the repercussions of eating packaged, processed foods.

Young ones, enjoy the Pop Tarts while you can. For the rest of us, well, thank goodness for this recipe. Get ready to reintroduce Pop Tarts into your diet, the clean eating way.

To make the pastry dough, I followed Chocolate Covered Katie’s Healthy Pop Tart recipe. Not only is it vegan and made with coconut oil, but you can make them using no added sugar. Doesn’t get much cleaner than that!

For the filling, you can use anything your heart desires. I used Trader Joe’s Organic Super Fruit Cherry, Red Grape, and Pomegranate Fruit Spread simply because it’s what I had on hand, but any type of jam or fruit spread will work. If you want to keep the recipe clean, make sure you use a jam or spread whose only ingredients are fruit. No artificial flavors or processed sweeteners. And if you want to be really good, you can one-up me and make your own fruit preserve.

I copied the idea for the strawberry heart cutout toppings from The Novice Chef. Last year she posted this super scrumptious Strawberry Nutella Pop Tart recipe, and from the moment I saw them on Pinterest I could think of nothing but strawberry filled Pop Tarts. (Maybe one day mine will look as neat, clean, and pretty as hers!)

Basically I took two different recipes from two extremely epic food bloggers and molded them into one clean-eating holiday treat. Enjoy!

Directions:

For the dough ~ Follow Chocolate Covered Katie’s Healthy Pop Tart recipe.

Before adding the filling to each Pop Tart and sealing the dough, follow the “Strawberry Heart” cut-out directions from The Novice Chef’s Strawberry Nutella Pop Tart Recipe.

4 Easy Coconut Oil Recipes + Win a 32 oz. Jar of Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil {Closed}

If you don’t have a jar of coconut oil somewhere in your kitchen, then let me just tell you, there is something seriously wrong with your kitchen. Don’t feel bad. I used to be one of the unlucky ones. One of the outsiders who didn’t know that coconut oil is not only a great replacement for butter and other oils in so many recipes, but also, how divinely delectable it tastes.

If you’re in love with coconut oil as much as I am, then you’ll most definitely enjoy my Four Favorite Coconut-oil-incorportaing Recipes below. If you’ve yet to be welcomed into the wondrous world of this fragrant and flavorful cooking staple, well, what the heck are you waiting for?

(Continue reading below to find out how you can enter to win your very own 32 oz. jar of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Coconut Oil.)

1. Vegan Coco-nutty French Toast

2. Chocolate Swirl Brownie Cookies

3. Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

4. Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Cranberry Muffins

Enter to win a 32 oz. Jar of Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil

Here’s how to enter:

1. Subscribe to the Tropical Traditions newsletter and then leave a comment below letting me know that you did so.

2. Bonus entries include: Following Tropical Traditions on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest, then tweet: “@Hungry_Runner I’m ready to cook with #CoconutOil! I connected with @troptraditions to enter to win a 32oz. jar! (+ the link to this post)”

Entries will be accepted until Friday January 4th at Midnight.

Good luck my lovely Hungry Readers! What are some of your favorite recipes that incorporate coconut oil? Share them with me in the comments below!

Win 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!

Tropical Traditions is America’s source for coconut oil. Their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is hand crafted in small batches by family producers, and it is the highest quality coconut oil they offer. You can read more about how virgin coconut oil is different from other coconut oils on their website: What is Virgin Coconut Oil?

You can also watch the video they produced about Gold

Label Virgin Coconut Oil:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h6eycjf29M]

Tropical Traditions also carries other varieties of affordable high quality coconut oil. Visit their website to check on current sales, to learn about the many uses of coconut oil, and to read about all the advantages of buying coconut oil online. Since the FDA does not want us to discuss the health benefits of coconut oil on a page where it is being sold or given away, here is the best website to read about the health benefits of coconut oil.

Disclaimer:
Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Chocolate Swirl Brownie Cookies

I believe in baking.

Baking for friends. Baking for family. Baking for coworkers. And even sometimes, for myself.

By now, most of you know that I believe in healthy baking. I’m always looking for replacements to high-calorie sweet treat staples like butter, sugar, and eggs.

Except during the holidays. Because I also believe that if you bake a batch of cookies to gift to a friend, they might start to reconsider your friendship if you skimp out on all the tasty goodness that things like butter and sugar can bring to all the best baked goods.

Which is why I took a healthy, vegan, Chocolate Chip Brownie Cookie recipe by Chocolate Covered Katie and added my own little twist to it. And by twist, I actually don’t mean the swirl topping, I mean butter. I added butter to the batter. So sue me.

You won’t. At least not after you try one of these heavenly, chocolate-filled treats of wonder. It’s almost Christmas. It’s time to celebrate. Plus, 2012 might also be the end of the world, so please, just live a little. And most importantly (more important than the end of the world) remember that it’s always OK to indulge every now and then.

And these cookies are the best way to do it.

(Just saying.)

Ingredients:

1 C all purpose flour

1/2 C cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 + 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

5 T coconut oil

5 T butter (I used unsalted), melted

chocolate & white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325F. In a large bowl, mix together the first six ingredients.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, melted butter, and vanilla.

3. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until a thick, fudgy dough is formed and all of the flour is absorbed.

4. Place the dough in a plastic bag and mush it all together into one big ball using your hands. Freeze for 15 minutes.

5. Break apart the dough to create small cookie shaped pieces and place on a greased cookie sheet. (Note: Use a conservative amount of dough for each cookie. Their circumference will increase as they bake.)

6. For “Polka Dot” cookies, press chocolate and white chocolate chips into the tops of each cookie before baking. (For regular chip cookies you can simply fold the chips into the dough before freezing.) *And for swirl-topped cookies, place 2-3 white & chocolate chocolate chips on top of each cookie after removing from the oven. Let sit for 2-3 minutes. When they have softened, take the tip of a small spoon and very gently press down while making a light swirling motion.

7. Bake at 325F for 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for an additional 10 minutes before removing from pan.