Raspberry Nutella Marshmallows-- A Guest Post at Go Bake Yourself

The Christmas season is a great time for candy. It's not too hot out to be cooking sugar, and candy makes great gifts. It's also a time for the raspberry and chocolate combo. Luckily for you, I put all three together, with a little added hazelnutty goodness. Because it's the holiday season, and I'm nice like that.

Want the recipe? Don't lie to me; I can see you salivating from here. Head on over to Go Bake Yourself and say hi to my Whovian buddy Uru. I'm totally bringing these bad boys with me when we go traveling with the Doctor.

  

Honey Wheat Pretzels-- A Guest Post at Food Stories

I am without power you guys, so it will be a while before you hear from me again. Until then, check out these pretzels over at Food Stories. C.J. actually posted them yesterday, but hurricane.

I'm safe, I'll just be taking cold showers for the next week or so. And stealing power and wifi from work. So updates will be sporadic.

Guest Post: Ginger Macadamia Brownies

I'll be back on Sunday for Sunday S'mores (and no, I have no clue what I'm making yet, thanks for asking), but for now I leave you in the utterly capable hands of the woman herself, C.J. from Food Stories. C.J. was gracious enough to share with us her quest for the perfect "healthy" brownie, and I don't know about you, but these sound pretty awesome to me. Have at it, C.J!

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Hello ... I am C.J. from Food Stories and I am so excited to be joining you today to share a fabulous chocolate treat recipe. Thank you, Kim for extending this opportunity!

Just so you know a little bit about me, I am a 40 something, married female that lives on the west coast of the United States. I love food and all things food related. Being a nurse, I especially like the food science/nutritional aspect of food, as well as, typical food preparation, recipes and eating (of course). Consuming fresh, natural, whole and unprocessed food is probably the way that most people should be eating. Unfortunately, I’m a Type II Diabetic so I have to use some processed items to make my diet even half way palatable. Balancing natural foods along with low carb can be daunting but I work hard at it and do my best. 

When Kim and I talked about a guest post, I immediately knew I would be making a brownie recipe. You see, I'm a little OCD about some things and finding a great brownie recipe has eluded me for years. Because of my diabetes, I try to eat lower carb foods. Obviously, some foods just cannot have the carbs removed and still be good. I'm beginning to think that brownies are in this category but I'm not ready to give up yet. Brownies, you won't beat me!. 

I'm not trying to take all the carbs out, just enough so that my pancreas doesn't get tuckered out (FYI ... when you eat carbs, your body produces insulin to "process" the carbs. In Diabetes, your pancreas has trouble doing this). Of course, I haven't tried all the brownie recipes out there but it sure feels like I have. I prefer dense, fudgey, gooey brownies and this is the type of recipe that I'm having difficulty finding, I just want it to fit reasonably within my nutritional plan. And, just for the record, I don't have any issues with the amount of fat or protein in recipes so butter is A-Okay :-) 

So today, I present to you my latest attempt at low-carbing a brownie recipe ... Ginger Macadamia Brownies from Elena Amsterdam's Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook. 

While this recipe is not the gooey, fudgey brownie that I'm searching for, it is very good.

I usually use walnuts in my brownies so macadamia nuts were such a great option.

I have never had ginger in a "sweet" recipe so this was a big change of pace for me. It had a nice zing or zest that I've not had in other recipes which was a nice surprise.

Whew ... Look at those chocolate pieces ... I'm hungry just looking at these pictures :-)

Ginger Macadamia Brownies

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or any vegetable oil)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar free davinci sweetening syrup (or agave nectar, honey)
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup peeled and minced fresh ginger
• 1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a 9x9 baking dish with oil and dust with almond flour.
• In large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda and cocoa powder.
• In medium bowl,  whisk together the oil, eggs, liquid sweetener, vanilla and ginger.
• Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and combine thoroughly.
• Stir in nuts and chocolate.
• Pour batter into baking dish.
• Bake 30-35 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Let cool in the baking dish for about an hour.
• Cut and serve.
• Makes about 20 brownies (who are we kidding here ... it was nine at our house).

My assessment? 

These are not "the one" but they are really good. They were moist and chocolate-y, the texture was good ... just not gooey and fudgey. I guess my brownie quest continues ...

There you have it ... My latest attempt at finding the perfect brownie. I hope you'll stop by Food Stories and see what other brownie recipes I'm trying or share your own :-)

I'd also like to thank Kim for offering me the opportunity to guest blog!

Guest Post: S'mores Cookies (Sunday S'mores)

Hello and welcome to another Sunday S'mores! I'll be back soon, but until then, I'm leaving you in the best of hands. Today we have a guest post from the incomparable Heidi of Young Grasshopper. Heidi's tons of fun, and I'm so happy she agreed to help out today. Take it away, Heidi!

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S'mores Cookies



HAPPY SUNDAY S'MORES!

I'm VERY excited that Kim asked me to pop over to her "place" for Sunday S'Mores. I adore S'mores.... I mean who doesn't? And since it's not always practical to light a campfire.... it's important to have some other avenues to get to that same yumminess!

I searched and searched for a "different" approach to S'mores and ultimately picked this recipe because we've tried to cut white flour out of our diet and so when this popped up in my google search from Bon Appetit I knew it was "the one." Initially, I followed it to the letter but they were just "o.k." and then I saw someone else's post {and I wish I could remember who} with some marshmallow on top so when I baked my second batch I kicked it up and over the top with the recipe below!

S'MORES COOKIES

WHAT YOU NEED:
for the cookie dough
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
3/4 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk {I didn't have any so I soured a 1/2 cup of milk with a tsp of lemon juice for 15 minutes}
1 TBSP dark molasses
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
for the topping
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini marshmallows

WHAT YOU DO:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray large rimmed baking sheet with butter flavored nonstick spray. Combine all your dry ingredients in a bowl then add everything else except the topping and mix well. I used my Kitchenaid and I would recommend a beater of some sort because it shredded the marshmallows somewhat.

Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheet, spacing well. Bake cookies for 7 minutes and then quickly {and carefully} top with 3 or 4 mini-marshmallows and 6 or so chocolate chips. Put back in oven for another 7-8 minutes. They will look like a hot mess.... but fear not they'll firm up just fine.

Remove from oven and let cookies cool on sheets 10 minutes before transferring to racks {if there are any left.... they were awesome warm and cool}.

NOTE: I made the dough and baked a batch a day for several days.... it held up well stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

ENJOY :)

Thanks again Kim for having me and I hope you'll stop by Young Grasshopper to see me...

Heidi

Guest Post: S'mores Milkshake (Sunday S'mores)

Hi all. Due to some personal issues, I won't be able to tend to the blog for a little while. But don't think that means I'm abandoning you. I've asked a few of my fellow Food Stories Award Judges to take over for me until I get back on my feet. These are all truly fabulous ladies, so don't forget to hop on over to their blogs and thank them for helping out.

Taking over today's Sunday S'mores is Jennie, aka The Messy Baker. Jennie's super talented and a total sweetheart, and I'm already drooling over this milkshake. Take it away, Jennie!

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Hi. I'm Jennie from The Messy Baker. I was super excited when Kim asked me to guest post for Sunday S'mores. I believe s'mores to be a symbol of summertime. I grew up camping with my family, and we looked forward to evening campfires toasting up marshmallows for gooey s'mores.

I made s'mores milkshakes for today's Sunday S'mores post. They are creamy, chocolatey, and absolutely addictive. I toasted up marshmallows under the broiler, added them to a blender with some rocky road ice cream, graham crackers, and chocolate chips. I gave it a good whiz, and what you end up with is a drinkable s'more. It. Is. Amazing.

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S'mores Milkshake

Ingredients:

2 cups rocky road ice cream, about 4 generous scoops

1 graham cracker, broken up into quarters

2 tbs. chocolate chips

1 tbs. toasted marshmallow syrup (optional, but totally yummy)

3 marshmallows, toasted

1/4 cup milk

Instructions:

Turn on the oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the marshmallows on the baking sheet and place the sheet under the broiler. Cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. Warning: Do not take your eye off of the marshmallows! They can and will catch on fire if you leave them under the broiler for too long. If you have a gas stove, feel free to toast your marshmallows over the gas flame.

In the bowl of a blender, add chocolate chips, graham cracker, toasted marshmallows, syrup, ice cream, and milk. Blend until smooth. Add more milk or ice cream depending on how thick you like your shake. Enjoy!

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Thank you for allowing to guest post, Kim!

Enjoy!