Coconut Banana Bean Cake

I made these for Preschool snack day tomorrow.  Turned out really good!

#GlutenFree #NoSugar #KidsSnacks

A Healthier Peep Just in Time for Easter!

When I was in the store the other day I saw the Wilton Peeps Mold and had to buy it.  I was instantly inspired to make my kids a healthier version of the fun holiday treat!

I once again used my healthy chocolate cupcake recipe that I've also used to make healthy donuts.

Instead of dipping them in dark chocolate, this time we used up the rest of some white chocolate bark that I had leftover and cut it with a bit of coconut oil so it didn't solidify all of the way.  Then I dipped them in Wilton decorating sugar in the perfect Peeps colors and used a skewer to poke the holes for the eyes and bunny nose to give them that classic Peeps look.

I'm really happy with the results of the bunnies and the boy was convinced he was getting what he saw in the store.  (Let's hope he never figures it out!)

Made a few Easter colored doughnuts too with the leftover batter

The chicks were a little harder.  I could have used the same method, but since I had such a sparse amount of white chocolate I was working with, my double boiler wasn't full enough to really dip them in there and get the coverage I needed  I'm sure it would have been successful if I had more chocolate.  But I kind of prefer the flat surface of the bunny, because it leads to less chocolate and a healthier (less sugar) treat for the kids.  I think I will go back and buy the all bunny pan they were selling next to the bunny and chick pan that I purchased. 

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Healthy Chocolate Doughnuts made with Garbanzo Beans and Avocado! (White sugar free and gluten free)

After I made those healthy chocolate cupcakes last week, I decided to test them out as mini doughnuts!  I thought the texture could lend well to a cake doughnut.  The first thing I did was order a perfect pan for my cupcakes. I love THIS PAN so much, I ordered a 2nd one today!

My recipe made enough for 3 dozen of these mini doughnuts.

Aren't they so cute!?

I followed my recipe.  The only variation was that I added a little bit more rice flour just to make the batter a little thicker.  Then I piped it into the pan with a piping bag.  Cooked for 15 minutes at 375 and out popped perfect doughnuts!

When they were done, I dipped them in a few chocolate wafers melted with a bit of coconut oil.  I had some sprinkles in the cupboard, so I added them for flare. The baby ate 5 of them before I even put chocolate on them.  They are yummy without frosting, but once I added the flare, the 8 year old and Papa both ate some too.  They got thumbs up all around! 

I'm thinking some version of these are going to the next preschool snack day!

Garbonzo Bean Yellow Cake recipe for preschool snack day. (dairy free and gluten free)

For Valentine's snack at preschool I decided to try to create a healthier cupcake.  This is what I came up with! It was a hit with the toddlers and the parents! We have a dairy allergy at preschool so this recipe is also Dairy free, but where it says vegan butter you can always use regular butter if that is not a concern)

 
1 can drained and rinsed Garbanzo beans (approx 2 cups)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup coconut oil melted and cooled
3/4 cup of Organic coconut sugar
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup rice flour (or whole wheat flour if you don't worry about gluten free)
 
Blended all together in my Ninja mixer until lump free. Pour about 3/4 full in cupcake cups and cook at 350 for 15-17 mins. (Until passes toothpick test)
The variation I did for snack was I used 1/3 cup honey instead of coconut sugar, I used white beans, 5 eggs, and I used Wheat flour.  The re-work was yummy even for adults in the house. 

The frosting is just 3 TBLS of vegan butter and 3 TBLSP of coconut oil with about 1 cup powder sugar and 2 TBLSP of coco powder mixed until fluffy.  A few splashes of fruit juice to thin as needed.

Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes made with Garbanzo Beans and Avocado! (White sugar free and gluten free)

1 can of Garbanzo Beans (Drained and rinsed thoroughly) 

4 eggs

6 oz (1/2 can) of 100% apple juice concentrate (Melted) 

1/4 cup of honey (Increase to up to 1 cup if you prefer a sweeter cake, but I liked it fine like this) 

1/2 avocado

1/4 cup coconut oil melted and cooled
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup rice flour

1/2 cup coco powder

Blended all together in my Ninja mixer until lump free. (I used a Ninja, you could use a vitamix or a food processor) 

Blended all of the wet ingredients first and then mixed all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and added to the blender.  

Blended until smooth.  

 

Pour about 3/4 full in cupcake cups and cook at 350 for 18-19 mins. (Bake until toothpick comes out clean)

The kids had no idea that I made these any different from a chocolate cake.  Sylvia and JR both ate one and asked for more right away! 

I frosted them with a simple frosting made with coconut oil, a couple TBLSPs of Butter, coco powder and a little powder sugar.  (So the frosting did technically have regular sugar in it, but the baby liked them just fine un-frosted.  I think the 8 year old expects to see frosting on a cupcake, but it was so little, I don't think it can hurt.)

Toddler cookies (So easy my toddler can help me make them!)

I just got a Ninja BL820 Ultima Kitchen System and I really wanted to try coming up with ways to make some of my healthy kid recipes using the larger food processor attachment.

These toddler cookies are not only easy, they are pretty healthy, and super yummy.  They are also vegan and dairy free if that is something you worry about.

Ingrediants

2 ripe bananas

1/3 cup mini dark chocolate chips

1/3 cup of homemade peanut butter (Just peanuts I blended in the ninja with a squeeze of honey. SO GOOD!) 

2 heaping TBLS of ground unsweetened dried coconut (Ground down from shredded to almost powder in the Ninja and kept in a jar to add to recipes) 

1 1/2 cup of rolled oats

2 heaping TBLS of flax seed

And a adorable helper...

 First we added the bananas, PB, coconut, & flax seed and blended down to smoothie texture. About 1 minute in a Ninja.

Scrape down the sides

Add the mini chips and the oats

 A squeeze of honey 

(This step is optional: I use homemade PB so it doesn't have 

quite the sweetness as the store stuff has) 

Run on mix for about 30 seconds until it looks a bit like this

Place on greased or lined cookie sheet

Smash down to shape like a cookie. These do not flatten at all when baked.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes and they will be done! They look about the same on top, but crisper on the bottom.

They should be easy to transfer to a cooling rack.

The hardest part is keeping your helper out of them 

until they are cool enough to eat! 

Have kitchen assistant place on pretty dish for photo finish:

"Future food designer for photo shoots"

Enjoy!!

 A treat you can give your tots and not feel guilty about!