Pistachio Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Look, I know what you’re thinking. Cookie sandwiches on a (supposedly) healthy food blog?
Are you serious about it? How can you keep a straight face?
What can I say?
Sometimes a guy just needs his cookies and it was at such a moment on a recent afternoon that I made these Pistachio Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.

Sunflower Sesame Seed Brittle

Today I have a brilliant little recipe for you guys, which doesn’t involve a lot of ingredients or effort for that matter.
What could possibly be better?
A sweet and irresistible brittle, packed with healthy fats. Paleo, vegan, and gluten-free: a treat that everybody can enjoy.
Hurray!

(Paleo) 3-Ingredient Vanilla Ice-Cream with Ginger Pecan Crunch

When I was little, my mom and I used to make vanilla ice-cream with pecan brittle for special occasions.
I remember melting the sugar in the pot and watching the temperature on the candy thermometer climb as the melted sugar bubbled away.
I loved that ice-cream. I loved that ice cream very much purely because it was made at home and I also remember that it used to be very crystallized and I always ended up having a brain freeze after that. Ouch!
It was sweet, rich, with an awesome crunch. Perfection.

(Paleo) Pecan Sweet Potato Muffins

I am, without a better way to put it, swimming in pecans.
Dismayed by the price of nuts everywhere in my hood, but determined enough that this wasn’t going to keep me from baking with them, I asked a friend out in the ‘burbs — a place where people would never ever pay $6.99+tax for a microscopic 6 ounces of pecans — to see if he could better.
He came back with three pounds for less then $20 from Costco.
Which is, to put it mildly, awesome.

5-Minute Maple and Thyme Skillet-Roasted Apricots

Let me just get the obvious out of the way because I know what you’re thinking: what am I doing here? Shouldn’t I be at the beach or something?
It’s summer after all, so leaving home (even if it’s air conditioned) and spending time outside, in the shade, is (almost) mandatory.
So again, why am I sitting in front of my laptop on a sunny August afternoon?
These are valid questions, but you see, there is history here, a prolonged history of recipe testing/creating which cannot be stopped.
Not even by the call of the beach.

(Paleo) Brownie Bites

I made these Brownie Bites last night.
Why? Because I wanted chocolate.
Where? In my kitchen.
And you know what? They are awesome!

Pina Colada Chia Pudding

I’m aware that there’s a time and place for everything, in the case of pina colada it’s a swim-up bar at a tropical resort or under a cabana while gazing at the turquoise water meeting the impossibly blue sky.
But I realize that not all us have the time or the means to fly to the tropics just to sip pina colada.
So what about a pina colada in pudding form that’s also super good for you?
Too good to be true?
Of course not.

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (Homemade Nutella)

I know it’s a terrible idea to post a recipe for homemade Nutella right now. It’s June. You’re getting in a bikini/swim trunks in a couple of weeks and I know for a fact that all you’re focusing on is getting beach-ready.
You’re probably all about salads, smoothies, and juices. Yet here I am, presenting you with a luscious Chocolate Hazelnut Spread.
But you see this Chocolate Hazelnut Spread is made with only good-for-you ingredients and it’s so delicious it will make you feel better instantly.
And since it’s a known fact (or at least I like to believe it so) that happiness is one of the biggest factors in feeling and looking great you can understand why it totally makes sense to post a recipe for homemade Nutella right now.
Not to mention that it’s not like you have to eat more than a spoonful. It’s possible — though difficult — to exercise some self-control around chocolate and hazelnuts. Trust me.

Flourless Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

I made us some cookies.
I know, how kind of me.
It started as a quest for cookies that tasted like Nutella, if, say, you were the type of person who may or may not have bragged with his 7-year old niece that he could bake any cookie ever known to mankind. Including, but not limited to, a “cookie that’s as awesome as Nutella but does not have Nutella in it!”

(Paleo) Carrot Cake In A Mug

OK, I’ll admit it, I’m having way too much fun with this cake-in-a-mug thing.
I’m like a kid with a new box of LEGOs: endless entertainment!
I started with the Chocolate Chip Cookie, then it was the Cinnamon Roll (one of the most popular recipes on this blog), followed by the Chocolate Cake, the Apple Pie, the Brownie, and no later than last Friday by the Lemon Pound Cake.
Today it’s all about carrot cake.

(Paleo) 1-Minute Iced Lemon Pound Cake

If you’ve ever had Starbucks’ Iced Lemon Pound Cake, you know how good it is. Full of lemon flavor, dense, rich, and so so moist.
I haven’t had it in years — last time was probably 2006 and I was still in college — but I remember perfectly how awesome it is. Maybe a bit too sweet (at least for me) but awesome nonetheless.
A tasty little lemon cake goes great with just about any drink you can think of: coffee, tea, latte, hot chocolate, cappuccino, mocha, etc.

(Paleo) Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares

Today I have one question for you guys: Why aren't most cookies square-shaped?
Or to put it differently, why are most of the cookies round-shaped?
It’s one of those questions that has troubled me most and I’ve always wanted to know the answer to — but I was too afraid to ask.
When I was a kid I thought that all cookies begin as squares, but then people always nibble off the corners because they're so tasty. Hence, round cookies.
Was I onto something?
I dunno, I dunno…

(Paleo) Sweet Potato Brownies

These Are. Hands Down. The Fudgiest Brownies. Ever.
I’m not joking. I had to chill the pan for quite some time before I was able to slice 'em.
Mom even said that these brownies were too fudgy and too chocolatey. Can you believe that? Too fudgy and too chocolatey?
Seriously mom, brownies are supposed to be fudgy and chocolatey. Do we need to have another conversation about cakey brownies and how they are not brownies but just chocolate cake cut into squares?
I don’t think so…

(No-Bake) Coconut Lemon Meltaway Balls

The proverbial phrase "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" is usually used to encourage optimism and a positive can-do attitude when one faces adversity or misfortune.
But lemme just say that I wholeheartedly hate that phrase.
Why should I make lemonade with your stupid lemons life?
You want me to open a lemonade stand on the street selling lemonade 50¢ a cup. Nah, it's not an option — I’m not 0 years old anymore.
Maybe I can consider becoming a lemon magnate. I mean if the product cost is zero, I can retail lemons for a considerable profit. That’s business 101.
But it all depends on the amount of lemon you're giving me life...

(Paleo) 1-Minute Chocolate Brownie In A Mug

I love me a good mug cake for many reasons.
The first obvious reason is that they are so quick to make — meaning that you don’t have to set aside a whole afternoon for baking when you’re in the mood for a brownie.
Another reason is versatility. There are sweet mug cakes, there are healthier mug cakes, there are protein mug cakes, there are savory mug cakes, the list in endless.
But my number one reason I love mug cakes is portion control.
My healthy living means I can eat almost anything, still I can’t eat everything I want all the time.
So when I want a cookie, a cinnamon roll or a cupcake, it’s a lot easier to make a single serving mug cookie/roll/cupcake than an entire batch of cookies/rolls/cupcakes.
I don’t feel deprived but at the same time I’m skipping the temptation to smash an entire tray of brownies in one sitting.

3-Ingredient Fudgy Chocolate Blender Brownies

Fudgy brownies or cakey brownies?
A question that has plagued many throughout time and that has sparked lively debates around kitchen tables, potlucks, and bake sales.
I know that opinions are opinions, but as far as I’m concerned I believe that the only way to make a brownie is a fudgy one.
If you want chocolate cake, make a cake.
Just don’t ask me to believe that your airy and light chocolate dessert is a brownie. That’s just chocolate cake, actually it’s a non-tall chocolate cake cut into squares (or a squared too short cake.)

Homemade Blueberry Muffin Lärabar Balls

A great many people rightfully find the “make your energy bars at home” trend both unnecessary and incomprehensible.
Why spending (read this as wasting) time making like 100 bars when you can just buy the one you want in a easy-to-carry single-serving package?
I totally get it.
But I believe that there’s a time and place for everything and for me that time and place (currently trying to save a few bucks) is right now.

(Paleo) Apple Pie In A Jar

The world of pie making abounds in legend, myth, tradition, and even cautionary tales.
Cracking the code on how to make the perfect pie crust is almost as complicated as solving the Sphinx's riddle or untie the Gordian knot.
Pie scientists will tell you that it’s all about the crust. Sure there’s the gooey sweet fruit that fills the cavern of your pie, but the best filling in the world won’t save a poor crust, turning an otherwise tasty pie into dishonorable failure.
It has to substantial enough that it doesn't sog-out from a juicy filling, but tender enough that it flakes in your mouth into buttery shards.

Almond Flour Coconut Sugar Cookies

I guess I consider myself not a cookie kind of guy.
Since I was a kid, while my sisters would all line up for the first batch of fresh cookies out of the oven, I couldn’t have cared less.
Sure, I would put up a pretty good fight for a second serving of vanilla ice-cream; but cookies? Nah.
Don’t get me wrong I appreciate an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie just as much as the next guy but I’m not one of those people that goes crazy over cookies.
Still, for someone who’s not a cookie-holic I have to admit that I have a fair amount of cookie recipes on my blog.
Nothing crazy, but still you would need more than one hand to add it all up: Chocolate chunk, almond butter, gingerbread, thumbprint, stick, hazelnut, and shortbread, just to name a few.

(Paleo) Chocolate Mug Cake

I won’t deny it, I love me a snowstorm.
I love waking up on a cold snowy morning, watching the snow fall and accumulate. When all the surroundings are beautifully quiet — not only does everything look as if it is covered with a big white blanket, it also sounds as such.
A snow day means I can stay in my pajamas, drink hot tea and being lazy on the couch all day.
No running, no biking, no swimming, not even yoga — though I could take a yoga online class or do my own thing I just don’t feel like it.