Chocolate and Hazelnuts and Bananas...oh my!

These are just a few of my favorite things:





I love this homemade "Nutella" on top of bananas. I think hazelnuts and chocolate are a divine combination. I first tried Nutella when I was a junior studying abroad in Europe. My uncle Luigi (I kid you not) had stocked up on the sweet treat a few months before when my kid brother had come to visit.

Nutella on crusty bread is a favorite of many bambini d'Italia.

And apparently 20-year-old foreign exchange students too!



Unfortunately, Nutella, like most commercial nut-butters contains a few ingredients that I am not so crazy about. Nutella contains a LOT of sugar, a LOT of modified oils and not a lot of hazelnuts (only about 13%).


So I searched the Internet for a healthy(but yummy),homemade recipe and found a great one at: Su Good Sweets. This recipe contains more nuts, less sugar and more real cocoa than the Nutella you can buy at the market. I used organic brown sugar in place of powdered sugar and it turned out great. I also used just a tablespoon of canola oil instead of the 1/4 cup of oil called for in the original recipe.

This is a truly, delicious, alternative to peanut butter and you can adjust the sweetness to your liking.

Walrus loves the roasted hazelnuts that fall to the floor when I'm rubbing the skins off.

Lucky dog.

This spread is great on pancakes, waffles, toast, in sandwiches and it is brilliant partnered with bananas.


mmm mmmm mmm.


Nutella Advert:



pretty slick.

Pantry Challenge - good chocolate on the cheap

Craving Chocolate?

I love chocolate. I will spend a bit of money to get that fancy bar of organic 70-80% cacao bar from the market each week just to have a nibble now and then.

It can add up.

Well, tonight I found a solution. I made a thick chocolate sauce/non dairy ganache from cocoa powder, sugar and Earth Balance and figure that could save a us a good 10-12 bucks a month.

It was rich and delicious and tasted just like my favorite chocolate ganache.

Why didn't I do this years ago?

Chocolate sauce on bananas is so damn good.

2 parts cocoa powder
2 tspns sugar (or sweetener of your choice)
2 tablespoons good cocoa (Dutch)
1 tablespoon canola oil or Earth Balance spread-melted

mix ingredients together to make a thick, rich sauce.
adjust to taste then dollop on a sliced banana or fruit of your choice.
top with crushed hazelnuts or walnuts.

yum.

serves two.

Sweets for the sweet

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins







Nancy Silverton's Cake Donut(holes)




Banana chocolate-chip muffins

I made these for me. In my humble opinion, chocolate and banana is a match made in taste-bud heaven. I used a 3 oz dark chocolate - 80% cacao bar chopped up into little bite sized bits of goodness. I made this with whole wheat pastry flour, a cup of Nancy's non-fat yogurt, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, canola oil, one egg and a cup of mashed bananas.

They are great warm (with the dark chocolate oozing out) or cold.


Classic buttermilk cake donut-holes

These little guys were for Jason. Fried little vittles topped with cinnamon and sugar - nuff said.

I picked up Nancy Silverton's: Pastries From the La Brea Bakery from the library this weekend.

Foolish, foolish girl.

How can I stick to my healthy salad and veggie plan with this book in the house? I swear everything in this book calls for at least 2-3 sticks of butter. Believe it or not her cake donut recipe was one of the healthiest recipes in the book. I adapted the recipe a bit and made only half the recipe and I made little holes instead of the proper donuts out of shear laziness. I also used yogurt in place of buttermilk.

They came out perfectly - light and crunchy with just a hint of nutmeg and that divine cinnamon smell throughout the house.

Best donut recipe I have made, yet.

Nancy Silverton made Julia Child cry in pleasure. You will too if you make these donuts.

"A Triumph!"

Chocolate Porter Cupcakes

These are an adaptation of an adaptation.


I recently came across everybody likes sandwiches blog on red ale and chocolate cake which is an adaptation of Nigella Lawson's Guinness Chocolate Cake.


I didn't have Guinness or red ale in the house - but I did have the happy medium: Porter! And not just any porter, but Oregon's own Deschutes Brewery's Black Butte Porter. I had to try it out. Tis the season for chocolate, as you know.


Cupcakes are a lot more fun than cake and bake more quickly - which I find is crucial with a sudden chocolate craving.

"Must have chocolate, now!"


Basically I stuck to the Nigella recipe just subbed the porter for the Guinness. I also skipped on the frosting since we didn't have any cream cheese in the house. But I will definitely try these again with the frosting. These little guys were delicious on their own, but they could use a bit of sweet, dense cream on top. Just like a good pint.

Yummy and moist with a great tangy twist.


Pair with a game of Scrabble and your best buddy ;)

Chocolate Chunk Goodness Cookies

Believe it or not these are good for you. And yes, they are delicious!

No butter, no eggs, low sugar and whole wheat flour turn these yummy goodies into something even better.

The chocolate chunks are 88% cocoa too. So you get your flavonoids-on.

I really was a bit experimental with this so my measurements may not be exact.

But here it goes:

1/2 cup plus 2 tspns of whole wheat flour
3/4 cup of rolled oats
1/2 of a 3 oz dark chocolate bar banged to bits - go for the higher % of pure cocoa type.
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 cup of brown-sugar splenda blend
1/2 tablespoon of black strap molasses
1/4 cup of applesauce (no sugar added)
1/4 cup of canola oil
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

Preheat over to 350.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Add the chocolate chunks to the dry mixture.
Combine wet ingredients together in another small bowl to blend.
Then add wet to dry and mix.
form small spoonfuls of batter and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment or silpat.

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Enjoy with your cold milk of choice!