Egg Free Gluten Free Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread

I was so excited to see this on Pinterest & to know I could still eat zucchini bread, chocolate chip zucchini bread even! I just had to make a few adjustments in my pantry, which was totally doable! And this recipe called for a banana, which is gross so I substituted applesauce. I think I used too much applesauce, since the bread came out a little too crumbly, like it literally could not hold up, but it still tasted sooo good!

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread (Pinterest):

2 /14 c gluten free flour
1 c grated zucchini
1/2 c dairy free chocolate chips
1/4 c dairy free milk
2/3 c sugar
1 1/2 c ripe bananas (or applesauce)
1/2 c oil
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp guar gum

Preheat oven to 350 for 20 min. In large bowl, smash bananas with a fork until small lumps remain & turn into a liquid consistency. Wash & grate zucchini. Place grated zucchini in several layers of paper towels and wring out excess water. Combine zucchini and all remaining ingredients. Mix until well incorporated.

Bake in a 9x5 bread pan with a foil tent for 45 min. Remove foil tent and bake for another 25-30 min. Check center for a toothpick, it should come out clean. Remove bread from oven. Allow to cool in pan for 5 min, then carefully transfer to wire rack to cool. Allow to cool before slicing. Enjoy!




Ready to be baked...

Cooled & ready to be sliced...

Crumbly bread...Enjoy!...

Microwave Chocolate Fudge

This fudge came out so much better than the last batch. And much easier to clean up!! It was just a basic chocolate fudge but to make it better, I put peanut butter chips on half of it & coarse sea salt on the other half of it. There wasn't a ton left over after I divided between 8 therapists but I managed to taste it & it was pretty good! I'd definitely make it again! There's so many variations you could make with it since it's just the basic chocolate base too.

Microwave Chocolate Fudge (Pinterest) (32 servings):

18 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz) can condensed milk
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Prepare an 8x8 pan by lining it with foil & spraying foil with nonstick cooking spray. In large microwave safe bowl, combine chips, condensed milk & butter. Microwave for 1 min & stir. Continue to microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after every 30 seconds, until the fudge is melted and smooth.

Stir well to ensure all the chocolate is melted, then add the vanilla & salt. Stir until everything is smooth & well-mixed. Pour fudge into prepared pan & smooth it into an even layer. Place fudge in fridge to set, for at least 2 hours. Once set, cut into 1-inch squares & serve at room temp. Store excess fudge in an airtight container in the fridge.




Enjoy!...

Cookie Bars

Again I did not get an after shot...but to my defense, there wasn't any leftovers so I couldn't!! These were gone fast when I brought them to work!

Cookie Bars (Pinterest):

1/2 c butter
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 c flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
3/4 c chocolate chips

Melt butter in microwave safe bowl until melted. Let cool. Add brown sugar, vanilla & egg-mix well. Add dry ingredients gradually. Blend well and pour into greased 9x9" pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and bake at 350 for 20-25 min.




Enjoy!...

Chocolate Chip Caramel Butter Bars

I needed to make a dessert for a potluck for work & I found this recipe on Pinterest. I don't have the after shot but they were really good! And they did not last long with the therapists!

Chocolate Chip Caramel Butter Bars (Pinterest) (24 bars):

1 1/2 c unsalted butter
1 1/2 c sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
4 c + 1/4 c flour, divided
2 c chocolate chips
1 (11-12 oz) jar caramel or salted caramel ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9x13" pan with foil & spray with nonstick cooking spray. Cream butter & sugar with a mixer. Once mixture is creamed & fluffy, mix in the eggs & vanilla extract until smooth, then mix in the baking soda, cream of tartar & salt. Slowly mix in 4 c flour until mixture is just combined, then stir in the chocolate chips.

Press about 2/3 c of this mixture in the bottom and about 1/2" up the sides of the prepared pan. Stir in the caramel sauce & remaining 1/4 c flour in small bowl. Pour over the top of the dough. Drop spoonfuls of the remaining dough evenly over the top of the caramel.

Bake 25-33 min, or until the top looks done & is golden brown around the edges. It will still be somewhat jiggly in the center. Cool completely before cutting. It's easier to cut when chilled. Store in airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month.




Enjoy!...

Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies

Again I didn't take any after pictures, which I should have because these brownies turned out GOOD! We had to make sugary goodies for work for one of my coworkers for her bday so I took to Pinterest & this recipe made me drool so of course I had to make it. I didn't realize how rich they were going to be until I actually started making them. Once I brought them, I made one of my coworkers cut them into fudge-size pieces. They were really good! In fact I still have some of the leftovers (I made them in April!-I shoved them in the freezer). I'd definitely make them again-they were really easy.

Find the recipe here




Ready for the chocolate chips to be melted...

Salted Caramel Bark

I had family in town for Thanksgiving and I wanted to make a dessert that could be eaten throughout the weekend. I love making desserts but I only like making them if I can share them because otherwise the majority of it would go to waste. This made way too much as it is but it was really really good. The recipe calls for a bag of dark chocolate chips and a bag of milk chocolate chips. I'm not a fan of dark chocolate so I used a bag of semisweet chocolate chips. Everyone seemed to like it but the only thing I wished I had was more of a coarser salt. All my aunt had was the fine sea salt, which worked, but I had to use a lot of it and it still wasn't enough. I also think I should have melted the caramel without the water because when I went to break up the bark, the caramel was still really soft. I found this recipe on Pinterest.

Salted Caramel Bark (20-30 pieces):

11.5 oz pkg of Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips (or semisweet chocolate chips)
11.5 oz pkg of Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips
11 oz pkg Kraft Caramel bits + 2 tbsp water
Coarse ground sea salt

Rip off a piece of wax or parchment paper and cover a cookie sheet. In microwave-safe bowl, microwave caramel bits with 2 tbsp water for 2 minutes. Then stir and microwave for additional 30 second intervals until fully melted.

Place both pkg of chocolate chips in a separate bowl and melt in the microwave or place on the stove with a double broiler and stir until melted and glossy. Spread the melted chocolate with a spatula on the wax paper, making sure the chocolate goes all the way to the edges.

With a spoon, drop dollops of the caramel. Take a spatula and swirl it into the chocolate in an up and down motion across the pan creating swirled ribbons. Sprinkle the salt across the top. Don't be stingy with the salt.

Place your cookie sheet in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Take it out of the freezer and break the bark into pieces. Pull off the waxed paper and layer in a container with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!




Chocolates melted and spread into pan...






Caramel and chocolates swirled together...






Liberally sprinkled with salt...






Enjoy!...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Bars

I think Nicole or Dana posted this on their timeline on Facebook and tagged everyone else for this recipe. These bars were soooo good! Really rich and full of flavor. Nicole was babysitting her niece Ariana and I guess Ariana was being very vocal and basically being feisty. When I got there with Dana, Nicole said she was ready for something sweet! She had just gotten Ariana to sleep when we got home and of course she woke up for us :). So she got to help us make this yummy dessert. This was my last dessert I made with these ladies before I moved :( so of course I had to add the extra pictures. I'd definitely make this recipe again.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Bars:

1 (16 oz) pkg peanut butter sandwich cookies, divided
4 tbsp butter, melted
4 oz cream cheese, room temp
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/3 c creamy peanut butter
1 (8 oz) container Cool Whip, divided
1 (3.9 oz) pkg instant chocolate Jello Pudding Mix
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c milk chocolate and peanut butter chips (we used more to completely cover the bars)

Preheat oven to 350. Finely crush 24 of the cookies. In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter and finely crushed cookies until well moistened. Press into an ungreased 8x8-inch or 13x9-inch baking dish. Bake for 10 min. Allow crust to cool before continuing.

Meanwhile, mix the pkg of pudding with the 1 1/2 c milk in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and peanut butter together. Fold in 1 c of the Cool Whip and mix until well blended.

Spread the chocolate pudding over the cooled crust. Place dollops of the cream cheese mixture over the pudding layer and with a spatula or large spoon, gently spread to completely cover. Spread the remaining Cool Whip over the cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate 2 hours. (We ignored this part of the step since we wanted to eat it right away!)

In a plastic bag, break up the 8 remaining cookies. Sprinkle the cookies and the chocolate/peanut butter chips over the top just before serving. Slice into squares and enjoy!




Ariana holding dearly to our bag of chocolate/peanut butter chips!...






Spreading the chocolate mixture on top of the crust...






Spreading the peanut butter mixture over the chocolate...






Ariana tasting the Cool Whip...






Nicole tasting the Cool Whip...






The Cool Whip layer...






The cookies and chocolate/peanut butter chips layer...






Enjoy!...

Mini Cheesecakes

So normally when I make these cheesecakes, I make a double batch. I only made one batch this time since there would only be 3 of us eating off of them all weekend. However since both my friends love cheesecakes, I probably could have gotten away with the 2 batches and they could have just taken the leftovers home and would have been happy. Oh well. I found this recipe several years ago on www.kraft.com Since I only made the one batch, I mixed things up a bit. One batch each normally makes 12 vanilla cakes and 12 chocolate chip cakes. With the vanilla, you would use 12 vanilla wafers at the bottom as the crusts. Since I knew I was only making the one batch, I just used Oreos instead. I don't eat either cookie so I thought it would be less wasteful if I just picked one. I separated the batches and added chocolate chips to one batch and left the other plain. I didn't measure exactly half so I had a little more chocolate chip cakes than vanilla but it worked out and I didn't have any complaints! This is a perfect serving size if you are craving cheesecakes and I've made these desserts several times in the past couple of years. You can either chose to eat the vanilla cakes plain or add some fruit to them-either way they are really good!

Mini Cheesecakes (12 servings)

2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
12 vanilla wafers (or 12 Oreo cookie halves)
Assorted fruit
1/4 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl with mixer on medium until well blended. At this point, I separated the batches and added chocolate chips to one batch. Place one cookie in the bottom of 12 med paper-lined muffin cups. Fill evenly with batter.

Bake 20 min or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Right before serving, top with assorted fruit of your choice.




Oreos as a base...






Batter separated...






Ready to be baked...






Enjoy!...

Strawberry Bread

I had gone to the farmer's market this past weekend and picked up a lot of fresh strawberries. But they were smaller so I knew they would go bad pretty quick. I ate what I could but I also wanted to try to make a muffin or bread recipe. I found this recipe on Pinterest via askchefs.net After reading the ingredients list, I decided on this bread because it looked like it would be moist and it definitely is! The bread is super moist, with chunks of strawberries and a hint of cinnamon. I added some chocolate chips on top to one of the loaves for a little bit of a change and that turned out to be good as well. I didn't add the pecans to mine. I'll definitely make this bread again!

Strawberry Bread: 2 loaves

2 c fresh strawberries
3 1/8 c flour
2 c sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 c veggie oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 c chopped pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 9x5-inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spay. Slice strawberries and place in a bowl, sprinkled with sugar; set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl; mix well. Blend oil and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until ingredients are just moistened. Stir in pecans, if using. Divide batter into pans. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaves out and cool completely.




Strawberries and sugar...






Everything mixed together...






Ready for the oven...






Fresh from the oven...






Sliced and ready to eat! Enjoy...

Puppy Chow

I fell in love with puppy chow way back when I was babysitting in middle school. I was at a charge's house for New Year's and their parents were having a party that night. We had the rein of the upstairs so before we headed up, they gave us some treats to snack on and puppy chow was one of them. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this dessert. I don't make it often because it's a lot easier to make with two people and it lasts quite a while since it's rich. I found the recipe on the box soon after that night and made it myself and have been making it through the years. But I've noticed that within the last couple of years, the recipe changed. Now it includes butter and vanilla. To me, that doesn't make sense. I would think the cereal would become mushy and it would become even richer than it is now, so I haven't tried it. I still continue to make it the way I've always made it and I'm happy. I also always make a double batch. Make sure you store the leftovers in the fridge either in a plastic bag or in a container with a lid.

Puppy Chow:

12 c Krispex, more as needed
12 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips
1 c peanut butter
Powdered sugar, as needed

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave at 1 minute intervals, until melted. Stir in the peanut butter. Pour the 12 cups of cereal into a large bowl. In batches, slowly pour the chocolate-peanut butter mixture into the cereal. Mix it all together with your hands (if you use a spoon, the cereal tends to get crushed). Keep adding the chocolate-peanut butter mixture until everything is mixed together. If it becomes too chocolaty, add some more cereal. Don't add a whole lot more-you want enough in there to coat the cereal otherwise you will be left with cereal covered with powdered sugar and no chocolate mixture.

Once everything has been mixed together, this is where you will be needing the extra set of hands. I've discovered over the years that it's easier with a non-scented garbage bag. Pour about 1-2 cups of powdered sugar into the bag. Working in batches again, place some of the coated cereal into the bag. Pour some more powdered sugar on top. Close the bag and shake gently to combine. Pour the contents of the bag into a strainer/colander placed in the sink. Shake the strainer/colander to shake of the excess powdered sugar and then place contents into another large bowl. Either keep the puppy chow in that same bowl with a lid or transfer to gallon-size zip loc bags.




All the ingredients minus the powdered sugar...






Ready to be mixed...






Mixing the cereal with the chocolate and peanut butter by hand...






Powdered sugar in the garbage bag...






Cereal ready to be coated with powdered sugar...






Powdered sugar on top...






Sifting out the excess powdered sugar...






Ready to eat!...

Carmelitas

I had been madly craving something sweet but something that was baked and not cookies. So I started looking on Pinterest for ideas and came across this gem via luluthebaker.blogspot.com The picture looked fantastic and it seemed easy to make. And omg it was amazing! But it was so rich I could only eat a little bit at a time. I actually brought it up to my parent's with me so they could help me eat it before it went bad. It was definitely good but I don't think I'll make it again unless I'm going somewhere I can bring it so others besides me can eat it!

Carmelitas:

32 caramel squares, unwrapped
1/2 c heavy cream
3/4 c butter, melted
3/4 c brown sugar, packed
1 c flour
1 c rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan over low. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. In separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats and baking soda. Pat half of oatmeal mixture into bottom of an 8x8 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 min, until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before serving.

*The bars take a while to cool since there's a lot of caramel in there. The bars taste good warmed up in the microwave.




Mixed together...







Crust before the oven...






Bottom crust from the oven...






Melted caramel on top of the chocolate chips...






Additional crumbs crumbled on top...






Enjoy!

Cookies in Muffin Cups

I found this idea on Pinterest tonight when I found the orzo recipe. The idea came from this blog: www.myfridgefood.blogspot.com It's a good idea, one that I should have thought of! I found some refrigerated cookie dough in my fridge so I used that. I decided to use paper cups as well. I always like to add M&Ms to my cookies so I did that and placed the dough in the cups. I cooked them per the package directions and they turned out pretty well. My only complaint is that the bottoms of the cookies are really greasy. Maybe they will dry out once I take them out of the cups and put them in containers for storage. I still have some leftover dough so maybe if I don't use the muffin cups next time they won't be so greasy.




Cookie dough in the muffin cups...






Fresh from the oven...






Enjoy!...

Snickers Popcorn

This recipe didn't turn out the way I thought it would. I found the idea for this on Pinterest and it sounded easy enough. I'm horrible at melting things on the stove...they never melt and they always harden up. And of course I don't have a double broiler, which would make things a whole lot easier. So when they started hardening up after being cooked on the stove, I put some popcorn on a cookie sheet and put the semi-melted chunks of Snickers over the top and put it in the oven for about 5-10 min. That didn't work so great either but I was able to pick up chunks of melted chocolate to make a decent size bowl of Snickers popcorn. And it tasted pretty good too.

I've seen a couple ways to cook this from Pinterest...one is where you melt down the candy bars over a double broiler or another way is to put the chopped candy on top of the popcorn in the oven and they supposedly melt down. Then again, by the time I figured out I couldn't melt them on the stove, my popcorn had gone cold so maybe hot popcorn would have worked best for this idea. Oh well, I was able to still make the best of it and be able to eat it. Next time! :)

Find the recipe here




Cut up Snickers bars...






Enjoy!...

Double-Decker Fudge

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine. I had never made fudge before and this seemed pretty simple..and it was. With very few ingredients, which is always nice. And it didn't make a lot, which is good for me :)

Double-Decker Fudge (Makes 1 1/2 lb)

1 tsp butter
1 c peanut butter chips
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract, divided
1 c (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Line an 8-in square baking dish with foil; butter foil and set aside. (I used nonstick cooking spray instead since it's easier to coat.) In a microwave-safe bowl, combine peanut butter chips and 2/3 c milk. Microwave on high 1 min; stir. Microwave at additional 15-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla. Pour into pan. Refrigerate 10 min.

Peanut butter layer....

Meanwhile, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and remaining milk. Microwave on high 1 min; stir. Microwave at additional 15-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Stir in remaining vanilla. Spread over peanut butter layer.

Refrigerate until firm. Using foil, remove fudge from pan. Cut into 1-in squares.



All cut up....

Enjoy!

Fruit Cups

I made these for our annual girls' holiday dinner in February. I hosted the fun dinner so I wanted to make something pretty simple for a dessert. I had also made the green bean casserole from another post on here. I found this recipe online...sorry I can't remember where! But it was super easy..I made the cheesecake filling the day before and I threw it all together pretty quick. I accidently used too much melted chocolate but it tasted okay. The girls' seemed to love them, so that's all that mattered!

I also forgot how much it makes but I believe I used two packages of pre-made phyllo cups.

Recipe:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c confectioners sugar
1-2 c white chocolate, melted
1-2 c milk chocolate, melted
Your choice of fresh fruit, such as raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries

Beat cream cheese with mixer until smooth. Blend in sugar in small amounts until well creamed together. Add sour cream and blend well. Spoon mixture into a zip-loc plastic bag and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight.

When ready to use, cut the tip off one corner of the bag and squeeze into the prepared phyllo cups. Top with berries. Once chocolates are melted, pour into two zip-loc bags, cut the corners off and drizzle over the cups.

Enjoy!