Tag: chocolate

Can cookies be healthy? { Recipe for vegan, gluten-free​ chocolate chip cookies)

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Can cookies be Healthy?

 

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Gluten free, vegan chocolate chip protein cookies

 

 

I am a big fan of moderation.  If you want the cookie, well then eat the cookie.  But what if you want a cookie every single day? If that is the case then it might be helpful to have a healthier alternative.

Something that:

  • Can help take the edge off a craving.
  • Something bite-sized.
  • With a little healthy fat.
  • And a little punch of protein.

These tasty morsels fit the bill.

 

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Double chocolate protein cookies

 

Keep in mind, these cookies are tiny. That is by design.  The goal was something to help take the edge off those cookie cravings.  Not a full-on indulgence.  Got make the real thing for that.

The only knock on these tender morsels, is they do not keep. I do not advise doubling the recipe and making a big batch. Since they are made with protein powder they tend to dry out after about 24 hours.

These babies are tender and cake-like straight out of the oven.

Now I made these in the food processor, but you do not have to.  A hand mixer will work just fine.  And if you want to skip your arm workout this week, you can probably stir by hand even.

However, have you ever baked with a four-year-old? If so, then you know the drama of when they can’t keep the hand mixer deep enough in the bowl and you find yourself scraping the dough off the ceiling.  (true story!) The food processor contains the mess for you! (So if you happen to be cooking with kids, give it a try.  It helps with clean up! And they love pressing the button. )

So, can cookies they be healthy?  Well… let’s just go for healthier.  If the cookies never even make it into the oven and you eat the whole bowl of dough while standing in your kitchen, well then no.  You would have been better off eating ONE the real thing.

But just one tidbit has only 83 calories with 4 grams of protein.  If you just need a little something then these guys are for you!

Alright, enough chatter lets get to it.

 

Healthier Vegan, Gluten Free Mini chocolate chip cookies

 

¼ cup almond flour

2 Tb Brown Rice Flour

2 Tb coconut oil, melted

2 Tb honey

2 tsp natural peanut butter

1/2 cup Garden of Life Vegan Vanilla protein powder

1 tsp baking soda

¼ unsweetened cashew milk (or milk of choice)

2 Tb mini chocolate chips (I used Enjoy life Vegan chips)

 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Line baking sheet with parchment
  • Add all ingredients Except the chocolate chips to the bowl of the processor.
  • Mix until thoroughly mixed.
  • Fold in mini chocolate chips (I imagine pecans or walnuts would be great too!),
  • Scoop out one heaping tablespoon and roll into a ball. The dough will not be normal cookie dough. You will have to form it into a ball.
  • Then gently press into the middle to make a cookie like shape.
  • Bake for 6-8 minutes until the edges are just set. They won’t look done.
  • Move to a cooling rack to cool.
  • Enjoy!

**to make the double chocolate ones add 2 Tb Cacao powder.  You may need a splash of more milk.

Makes 12 bite-sized cookies.

Each cookie has 83 calories 5 grams fat, 7 grams carbs, 4 grams protein

gluten free, vegan

 

 

 

5 Minute Double Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

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For the next few Mondays, I will be sharing different high protein mug cake recipes, because sometimes Mondays just need some cake!

Double chocolate mug cake w/ PB frosting

Chocolate cake in just 5 mins!

Mug cakes are just that, a cake made in a large coffee mug!

To keep the protein high in these I use Kodiak Powercakes Mix, it has 14 grams of protein per serving and can be found at major grocery stores (including Costco, Target and Amazon).

You can use any pancake mix you want (including gluten free.  I have even made these with Enjoy Life’s pancake mix).  Just know different mixes will change the nutrition.

Now for that cake…

5 min Double Chocolate Mug Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
  • Cooking spray
  • ½ cup Kodiak Cake Power Mix
  • 1 Tb Cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp coconut sugar (any sweetener of choice will work here)
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • ¼ cup unsweetened cashew milk (can use any unsweetened milk)
  • ¼ tsp vanilla
  • 2 TB mini chocolate chips
  • 2 Tb PB2 (defatted dried peanut butter)
  • 1.5 Tb water

 

  1. Spray an extra-large microwave safe mug liberally with cooking spray.
  2. In mug, mix Kodiak Cake mix, Cocoa, sugar, salt and cinnamon.
  3. In a separate dish warm the cashew milk and coconut oil in the microwave (the oil should be melted but not boiling)
  4. Add the vanilla to the warm milk. Stir.
  5. Gently pour the liquids into the mug and stir gently. Mix till just combined (Do not over stir, or it will be tough.)
  6. Fold in chocolate chips
  7. Microwave at 75% power for 90 seconds. Let stand in the microwave for 1 min.
  8. While that nukes, mix the PB2 and water. Use as much water as you need to make a frosting like consistency.
  9. Gently side a knife around the edges of the cake and dump it on to a plate
  10. Frost with peanut butter frosting
  11. EAT CAKE!

 

Nutrition for the whole dang thing:

335 calories, 48 grams carbs, 9 grams fat, 20 grams protein

Brownie Balls (Vegan, Wheat Free and Paleo Friendly)

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Chocolate can easily be part of a healthy diet. Also, regularly including some chocolate in your diet may help you from bingeing on it down the road. If you would like to learn more about chocolate, and how to include it in your healthy diet go check out this article here. Then make sure you come back and learn about how to make these decadent chocolatey brownie balls.

These vegan, wheat free, Paleo friendly brownie balls were quite the hit with my whole family.  They are rich enough, that one can satisfy a sweet tooth without completely ruining your calories or macros. Honestly, they taste like raw brownie dough, just without the whole raw egg thing.

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Wheat free, vegan, paleo friendly Brownie Balls

While are delicious fresh, I like to keep mine in the freezer.  Not only do they keep longer this way, but also I am less likely to over indulge in them.  Out of sight, out of mind.

If you don’t want to make your own almond paste for this recipe, you could use pre-made almond butter.  I really recommend grinding up your own almond paste for this though, it tastes better and has a better consistency.  Plus, you’ll already be using your food processor.

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Almond Paste. It is not processed all the way to butter consistency.

Brownie balls (Wheat Free, Vegan Paleo Friendly )

1.5 cups almonds, raw unsalted

½ cup hazelnuts

12 whole Medjool Dates

2 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 tb water

½ tsp kosher salt

½ cup cocoa powder

  1. Preheat oven to 350 and lay almonds on one half of a tray and hazelnuts on the other half.  Do not mix them up. Roast in oven for 10 mins.  Keep a close eye on them.  The hazelnuts may be done before 10 mins is up.
  2. Once roasted, place hazelnuts in a kitchen towel. Rub them with the towel, using the friction to remove the skins.  Then place all but 20 hazelnuts in a food processor.  Pulse till coarsely chopped. Remove to a small bowl and set aside.
  3. While the almonds are still warm place in food processor, and process till it is almond paste. (not quite almond butter state).  It will still thick like paste, not thin and runny like almond butter.
  4. Add dates and pulse in food processor until paste like.
  5. Add cocoa powder, vanilla extract, salt and just 3 tablespoons water.  Process till combined, you may need to add an additional tablespoon of water to get it well combined.
  6. Using a melon baller or tablespoon, scoop out a portion, and roll it around one of the whole hazelnuts.  Then roll the ball in the chopped hazelnuts.
  7. They are perfect as they are or store them in the freezer.

 

Makes 20 balls.  Nutrition info for 1 ball:  127 calories, 7 grams fat, 15 grams carbohydrate and 3 grams protein.

 

Inspired by a recipe for Cooking Light Magazine and my gal Emma over at Betterwithcake.com

vegan-wheat-free

 

 

Chocolate Cravings

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Did you know there is a physiological reason you may crave chocolate?  And that chocolate is not bad for you.  Actually, dark chocolate or unsweetened cocoa powder is not only healthy but can also help to deal with food cravings.

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My personal favorite dark chocolate, Divine Dark Chocolate with Pink Himalayan Salt

If chocolate is one of the foods you crave, find out why you crave it and how to include in your diet without blowing your calories/macros.

First off, not all chocolate is created equal. It runs the gamut from the chocolate in a snickers bar to the bitter baking chocolate. So, let’s break it down:

Milk chocolate:  The chocolate found in most candy bars.   Has the most sugar and milk fat and the least amount of actual cocoa. The least nutritious.

Bittersweet, semi or dark: Has no milk powder and dark must have at least 35% cocoa solids.

Unsweetened (Bakers) Chocolate: made from 100% cocoa liquor and very bitter.  (As every kid who has ever stolen a bite from a bar they found in mom’s pantry knows.)

Cocoa powder: the ground crushed solid left after the coco butter is removed from the chocolate liqueur. Most is unsweetened.

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Cocoa Powder

Cacao powder: it is much like its cousin; cacao is just processed at a much lower temperature. Its low temperature processing allows it to still maintain all its enzymes, vitamins and nutrients.  Also it is more bitter then cocoa, so keep that in mind when substituting in a recipe.

(By the way, white chocolate: not really chocolate, at all. Sorry, white chocolate lovers.)

The higher the cocoa content of the chocolate, the more benefits it has.  So dark chocolate, cocoa powder and cacao are your healthiest choices. This also correlates to the bitterness.  Usually the more bitter the chocolate, the higher the antioxidant amount.

Chocolate with a high % of cocoa has a higher antioxidant content.  Raw cocoa has the highest amount of antioxidants of any food! One tablespoon of cocoa powder gives you half the total antioxidants you need in one day.  Antioxidants in food are measured using an ORAC value.  The higher the ORAC, the higher the antioxidants.  100 grams of cocoa powder has an ORAC value of 28,000.  For comparison blueberries is 2,400 and kale is 1770.

The antioxidants in chocolate are known as flavonoids.  Flavonoids are very bitter (anyone who’s ever tasted plain cacao nibs knows what I am taking about). This is also why people will add fat and sugar to chocolate, to help reduce the bitterness.

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Cacao Nibs

The flavonoids in cocoa have been shown to reduce blood pressure, raise HDL (the good cholesterol) and reduce platelet stickiness.

Chocolate also has been known to have positive effects on mood. A chemical in chocolate called phenyethlamine help to release endorphins (feel good chemical) and can increase our dopamine.  Hence, why we crave during times of emotional upset, and when women are experiencing PMS.

Now, this is not permission to go overboard on chocolate. Too much is not good and will negate any health benefits.

If chocolate is your craving food, you may benefit from regularly including some in your diet. By have a little bit of your craving food, periodically BEFORE a big craving hits, you are less likely to binge later on. If you are trying to come up with some healthier ways to include chocolate here are some ideas for you:

  • Have a square or two of dark chocolate.  Remember the darker the chocolate the more health benefits it has.  (look for ones that contains at least 85% cocoa)

Since cocoa (and cacao) have no fat or sugar added to them (as long as you buy unsweetened cocoa, and not that drink mix with the bunny on the front) they are excellent ways to incorporate chocolate into your diet.

  •  Drink it. Add 2 tablespoons to hot water with a sprinkle of cinnamon and cayenne and an either a tsp of sweetener or drop of stevia.  Or tablespoon thrown in your favorite smoothie.
  • Mix it in your oats.  (I like it in my overnight oats with some raspberries. Recipe here.)
  • Mix it in chia seed pudding.  (I have a chocolate overnight chia seed pudding recipe coming soon).
brownie-bites

Wheat free, Vegan Brownie Bites

References

Nehlig, A. (2013, march). The neuroprotective effects of cocoa flavanol and its influence on cognitive performance. Br J Clin Pharmacol., 716-727.