Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Butterscotch Brownies

Photo from The Southern
Lady Cooks blog

It's Book Club night, and Sherrie is hosting. That means it's my turn to bring dessert! Knowing these ladies have a serious love affair with chocolate, I figured I couldn't go wrong with something chocolatey.

This recipe is a fairly recent addition to my ever-growing collection. It popped up in my Facebook feed, and after giving it a quick read, I knew it would be a perfect fit for our book club gathering.

Of course, I made a few adjustments. Shocking, I know!

First up, I needed to make this gluten-free, so I swapped in a gluten-free brownie mix. I used this one, and I have to say, it's pretty darn good for a gluten-free option.

A couple of other changes along the way:

1. No marshmallows. I completely overlooked them on the ingredient list and didn't have any in the pantry. Honestly, with how rich these brownies are, I didn't miss them one bit.

2. No frosting. I skipped this too, and for the exact same reason. These things are RICH! Adding another layer of sweetness seemed like overkill.

I also used an 8x8 pan instead of the recommended 9x13. I didn't catch that little detail until after I had everything prepared. But now I'm questioning the serving size. How on earth does a 9x13 pan only serve eight people? An 8x8 pan generally gives me nine pretty generous portions. 

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Butterscotch Brownies

Recipe from The Southern Lady Cooks

Serves 8

• 1 box Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge Premium Brownie Mix family size for a 9X13
• 2/3 cup Roasted Peanuts and Honey Crunchy Peanut Butter Can use just regular crunchy peanut butter
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1 cup walnut pieces
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows

Brownie icing or topping:

• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
• 1 1/3 cups confectionery sugar

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for fudgy brownies. Spread the mix in the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish sprayed with cooking spray. Melt the peanut butter in the microwave for about 40 seconds until spreadable.

Then spread on top of the brownie mix. Next, spread chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and walnuts over the peanut butter. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Remove and add marshmallows and put back in oven for 7 to 10 minutes to allow marshmallows to start to melt on top. Remove from oven and let cool, then add icing.

Brownie Icing Instructions:

Mix together cocoa, margarine, milk and vanilla with mixer. Add sugar, mix well. If icing is too thick to spread, add a little more milk. Spread over cooled brownies.

No Bake Nutella Pie

Happy Sunday Dinner Night! I haven't been hosting much lately, mostly because everyone else seems to have claimed the summer hosting duties. And honestly? I'm perfectly happy to share the workload!

No one signed up to bring dessert this time, and as luck would have it, I already had two of the needed ingredients for this recipe sitting in my pantry. That is my kind of recipe planning—even when I didn't actually plan it.

This is a no-bake pie, and it is ridiculously easy. But let's be honest, how could you go wrong with Nutella? Exactly. You can't.

I already had a pie crust on hand along with the Nutella. So the hardest part of this recipe was really just remembering to set the cream cheese out so it could come to room temperature. That's about the level of difficulty I can get behind.

The filling comes together in practically no time, yet the finished pie looks and tastes like you put in far more effort than you actually did. Those are my favorite kinds of desserts.

Make this pie. Your future dessert-loving self will thank you.

No Bake Nutella Pie

Recipe from Spicysouthernkitchen.com

Serves 8

Crust: 

• 25 oreo cookies
• 5 T melted butter

**Or if you're like me and have a need to have less work on Sunday Dinner, buy a pie crust. Saves time and $$ I think.

Pie filling: 

1 (13-ounce) container Nutella

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (8-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Process cookies in a food processor until finely ground. Transfer to a medium bowl.

Drizzle butter over cookie crumbs and stir to mix well.

Pour mixture into a 9-inch pie pan. Press crumbs onto bottom and up sides of pie plate. Refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes

Spread 1/4 cup of Nutella over bottom of pie crust.

Using an electric mixer (hand-held is fine) beat cream cheese until creamy. Beat in remaining Nutella.

Gently stir in whipped topping. Transfer mixture into pie crust, spreading evenly. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I finally did it...I bought a Ninja Creami!

Amazon had a deal that was just too good to pass up, so I took the plunge. As if that wasn't enough of a sign, the wonderful lady from All Day I Dream About Food posted this recipe right afterward. I mean...the universe was practically shouting at me.

Once I tracked down all the ingredients, it was time to give it a try. The hardest part? Waiting. You'll need to freeze the mixture for a full 24 hours before spinning it into ice cream, so a little planning ahead is required.

One piece of advice: don't skip the "optional" vodka. Seriously, add it. You won't taste it at all, but it helps keep the ice cream from getting icy and gives it a much creamier texture.

I did have to make one small substitution. The recipe called for a peanut butter drizzle, but I discovered I was completely out of peanut butter. Oops! I tossed in a handful of peanut butter chips instead, and they added little bursts of peanut buttery goodness throughout the ice cream.

This one is definitely going into my regular dessert rotation. It's rich, creamy, incredibly satisfying, and best of all, it's low carb. I have a feeling my Ninja Creami and I are going to become very good friends.

Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Recipe from All Day I Dream About Food

Serves 8

• 1 1/3 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/3 cup erythritol sweetener
• 1/3 cup allulose, or xylitol
• 6 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp vodka, (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• Salt
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 tbsp butter

Whisk the cream, almond milk, sweeteners and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan until cocoa powder is mostly dissolved. Bring to a simmer and cook 5 to 10 minutes, until somewhat thickened.

Whisk in the vodka, if using, the vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Sprinkle the surface with the xanthan gum and whisk quickly to combined.

Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

Pour mixture into canister of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions.

While the ice cream is churning, melt the peanut butter and butter together in the microwave, or in a pan over low heat on the stove.

Working quickly, transfer about half of the churned ice cream to a freezer safe container. Drizzle with about half the peanut butter. Add the remaining ice cream and the remaining peanut butter and swirl with a knife to spread evenly.

Freeze until firm, another 3 to 4 hours.

Snickers Salad

Photo from Troprockin.com

For some unknown reason, I volunteered to bring dessert to Sunday dinner this month. Then I found out the theme was salads.

Yep. Salads.

Suddenly, I was on a mission to find a dessert salad that wasn't just another bowl of fruit. After spending far too much time scrolling through recipes, I stumbled across something called Snickers Salad. The name alone was enough to stop me in my tracks. Snickers? In a salad? I needed answers.

I'll admit, the ingredient list had me a little skeptical. Apples, pudding, Cool Whip, and candy bars don't exactly sound like they belong in the same bowl. But somehow, it works.

The secret is the Granny Smith apples. Their tartness keeps the salad from becoming overwhelmingly sweet. The pudding, Cool Whip, and chunks of Snickers bring plenty of sweetness, while the apples provide just enough tang to balance everything out. Every bite has a little crunch and a little creaminess.

This is one of those classic potluck recipes that makes you smile because it's so wonderfully unexpected. Is it really a salad? That's debatable. Is it a dessert? Absolutely.

Will I make it again? Yes! It was fun, it was different, and it definitely fit the salad theme better than showing up with a chocolate cake. It was the surprise of the night.

Snickers Salad

Recipe from Troprockin.com

Serves 16

• 1 package Vanilla Instant Pudding 3.4 ounce box
• ¾ cup Whole Milk
• 8 ounces Cool Whip thawed
• 3-4 Granny Smith Apples chopped
• 12 fun size Snickers Bars (or 3-4 regular size) chopped
• 1 cup Miniature Marshmallows

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together instant pudding mix and milk until well combined.

Add cool whip and mix well until creamy and well combined.

Fold in the chopped apples, chopped Snickers and marshmallows. Be sure to save a small amount for topping.

Chill for about 1 hour in the refrigerator or until ready to serve.

Add extra apple chunks and candy bar pieces for topping before serving.

Mississippi Mud Brownies

Photo from Insanely Good
Recipes

Book club this week. We rotate everything — who hosts, who brings appetizers, who’s on dessert duty — and yes, we actually have a grid for it. The hostess handles the main meal and sides while the rest of us fill in the fun stuff. It’s organized chaos and honestly one of my favorite nights of the month.

This month it was my turn for dessert.

At our last gathering I joked that every single book club somehow ends with brownies showing up. Not that anyone is complaining — especially me. Brownies are undefeated. We also have a gluten-free queen in the group (shout out to Sherrie), so we’ve all become loyal fans of gluten-free brownie mix (my favorite is Ghiradellis). It’s ridiculously good, easy to make, and nobody would ever guess it’s gluten free.

But I decided if I was bringing brownies again, they needed a little personality. Theme brownies. Elevated brownies. Book-club-worthy brownies.

Enter: Mississippi Mud Brownies.

Now technically this recipe includes homemade brownies, but I skipped right past that part and grabbed my trusty GF boxed mix instead. No shame in that game. My mission was all about the toppings and the over-the-top chocolate situation happening on top.

In an attempt to clean out my pantry, I swapped regular marshmallows for freeze-dried mini marshmallows I already had on hand. Unfortunately…that experiment did not exactly succeed. They sort of melted into the brownies instead of staying soft and gooey. You could tell marshmallows existed at some point, but it definitely wasn’t that classic sticky marshmallow bite I was hoping for. Lesson learned: real marshmallows matter.

The frosting instructions also threw me for a loop. The recipe has you spread the frosting over the brownies immediately after they come out of the oven. At first I thought I had completely ruined them because the frosting melted everywhere. But once I cut into them, I realized that messy, drippy situation is kind of the point. The frosting runs down the sides and turns into this gloriously chaotic chocolate layer that honestly fits the “Mississippi Mud” name perfectly.

Messy? Yes. Rich? Extremely. Worth bringing to book club? Absolutely.

Mississippi Mud Brownies

Recipe from Insanely Good Recipes

Serves 16

For the Brownies:

1 cup unsalted butter

2 tablespoons oil

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups mini marshmallows

For the Optional Topping

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons milk

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 325°Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper for easy removal.

Make the Brownies: In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the butter and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring well between each spin, until smooth.

In a separate large bowl, whisk the sugars with the eggs on medium speed until thick and pale, about 2-3 minutes.

Stir the vanilla and melted chocolate into the bowl, followed by the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Mix until about halfway combined, add the remaining chocolate chips and the marshmallows, and stir just until no streaks of flour are visible.

Pour the batter into the baking pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until slightly puffed in the center with a crackly surface. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out with a few moist crumbs.

Make the Frosting: While the brownies bake, combine the butter, cocoa, and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until melted and smooth.

Remove the pot from the heat and mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Set aside.

When the brownies come out of the oven, immediately sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of marshmallows. Then, drizzle the warm chocolate frosting over the top.

Cool completely in the pan before slicing and serving. For clean cuts, cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours (after cooling to room temperature). Enjoy!

Apple Nachos

This was THE BEST snack ever. I saw this on instagram and knew I had to make it. I'm a bit laid up at the moment and can't drive, but Amazon Fresh will deliver anything. I made a quick order and had this by the time for a snack in the afternoon. 

It's super easy and is so delicious. 

I used granny smith apples and I only did a half. One whole apple might have been too much for a snack. 

Apple Nachos

Instagram

1 Apple, sliced thin

1 T peanut butter; melted

1 tsp mini chocolate chips

Melt the peanut butter a little in the microwave. 

Arrange the apple slices, drizzle the peanut butter and then sprinkle with chocolate chips. 

Keto Cowboy Cookies

Photo from All Day I
Dream About Food

Just about every recipe I make from All Day I Dream About Food is fantastic. Sometimes it's not the recipe, but me (insert egg recipes here). Her "sweet" recipes have all hit it out of the park for me. She focuses on low carb/keto recipes, which helps when you want something sweet, but need to watch your sugars. 

I started a new medication (Osempic) and one RARE side effect is an increase sweet tooth. Guess who got that rare side effect (**raises hand**)? So I've been struggling with not eating chocolate like it's got no sugar in it. I started the search for alternatives and the "sugar free" candies are ok, but not great. 

I saw this recipe a couple months ago and thought I'd give it a try. Finally yesterday, my sweet tooth demanded I make there. And boy am I glad I did. 

Almond flour is not my favorite. It usually has a too gritty texture that I don't enjoy. Almond Flour in a cookie seems to be different and edible. 

These are amazing! I had all the ingredients and so I made myself some cookies. Sherrie was over last night (she's gluten free) and said these were pretty good for low carb and gluten free.

One small secret...I didn't have sugar free chocolate chip cookies. So I used mini semisweet chips, and fewer than the recipe called for. So there is some sugar in this recipe, but not as much as you'd have if you made real chocolate chip cookies. 

You'll notice the recipe calls for gelatin to make the cookies more "chewy". I like a crunchy cookie, but I decided to see what the gelatin would do. And I gotta say, the cookies turned out crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside. 

Keto Cowboy Cookies

Recipe from All Day I Dream About Food

Makes 24

• ¾ cup butter softened
• 1 ¼ cup brown sugar substitute
• 2 large eggs room temperature
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups blanched almond flour
• 2 tablespoons grass-fed gelatin optional, adds chewiness
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips, sugar-free

In a large bowl, beat the butter with the sweetener until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes on medium high. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined.

Add the almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat until just mixed together. Stir in the coconut, pecans, and chocolate chips.

Form the dough into 2-inch balls and space at least 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with silicone or parchment paper. Press the balls down with the heel of your hand to about ¾ inch thick. These cookies will spread so give them room!

Bake at 325ºF for 15 to 20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown, switching the pans and rotating them halfway through. Let cool completely on the pans.

EXPERT TIPS

These keto cowboy cookies like to spread so make sure you give them plenty of room on the pans. If you prefer thicker cookies, try adding another ¼ cup of almond flour and don’t press them down too much.

The gelatin is entirely optional, but it does give the cookies that perfect chewy but crisp texture. The edges get crisp on the pan while the centers stay chewier.

This makes a big batch of big cookies! But you can easily cut the whole recipe in half for twelve large cookies. You can also make the cookies smaller, if you prefer.

Chocolate Protein Balls

On occasion I like to have a more sweet, healthy, snack on hand than a savory one. And I've been trying to use up items in my pantry. The only ingredient I didn't have was the Almond Butter. 

It's an easy recipe to throw together and is absolutely delicious! 

I cut this in half because 1) 30 balls are a lot and 2) I didn't have enough old fashion oats. I ended up with 15 balls exactly! And after tasting one I wish I would have made 30. 

My dough was a little dry, so I added a bit more almond butter. I didn't read the part of the recipe where it says to add more honey, but I think I got the same result. 

Chocolate Protein Balls

Recipe from Chelsea's Messy Apron

Makes 30 balls

• 1 1/2 c old fashioned or quick oats
• 1/2 c dry roasted and lightly salted almonds
• 1 1/2 T unsweetened Dutch Process cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 c  + 2 T  honey, separated
• 1/2 c almond butter
• 1/2 c miniature chocolate chips

BLEND OATS: In a high-powered blender or food processor, add the old fashioned or quick oats. Pulse or blend until it resembles flour. (You may need to stir it around to get all the oats to be fully blended). Add the blended up oats to a large bowl.

BLEND ALMONDS: Add the almonds to the processor or blender and pulse until they resemble a flour. Do not blend too long or it turns to almond butter. Add to the bowl with the ground up oats.

*The measurements of oats and almonds should be the measurements BEFORE blending, no need to measure after blending.

MIX: Add in the Dutch process cocoa powder, vanilla, 1/4 cup honey, almond butter, and miniature chocolate chips. Add pinch or two of salt if desired or if your almond butter/almonds aren't salted. Using electric hand mixers, mix ingredients together and then knead the mixture with your hands until a thick dough forms (kneading also helps incorporate chocolate chips better). If everything is not coming together nicely, add in remaining 2 tablespoons honey (I usually always add in this extra honey, but every once and a while the almond butter is exceptionally wet and extra honey isn't needed). IF dough is too wet, add additional powdered oats. (Dough will vary depending on actual ingredients used)

ROLL INTO BALLS: Roll mixture into balls, each ball of dough should be 2 teaspoons in size to get around 30 balls.

STORAGE: Store in an airtight container (in fridge, freezer --delicious!, or at room temperature.)

Chocolate Banana Muffins

So one day at the grocery store I bought some bananas. They were greenier than I like so I let them sit to ripen.

I blinked and then I had these bananas. 

I'm not a fan of bananas that are this ripe. Dad loved them this ripe. The browner the better. And as I'm watching my sugars these aren't the best to eat for that purpose. 

So naturally, I need to make banana bread. Which I know the logic is missing there, but what's a girl to do? I wasn't going to throw them out. And if I put them in the freezer I'd forget about them I'm sure. 

I didn't want to make my normal banana bread and thought this would be an opportunity to try a new recipe. 

I made three small changes to this recipe. 

1. I swapped the sugar out with allulose (low carb sugar)

2. I swapped the chocolate chips out for sugar free chocolate chips

3. I didn't have Greek yogurt so I used sour cream

All minor changes. These were good muffins. In all honesty, chocolate muffins are really chocolate cake to me. So they are more for after dinner treat than breakfast. 

I gave 4 away to Janet and Kathy and will freeze the rest and take them out as I want them.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

Recipe from Love From the Oven

Makes 12

• 1/4 c butter softened
• 1/2 c vanilla Greek yogurt
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 large ripe bananas
• 1 1/3 c  all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour if desired
• 2/3 c dark cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 c milk
• 1/2 c chocolate chips semi-sweet recommended, but milk or dark chocolate also work well

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Puree, mix or blend bananas until smooth. Add in butter and yogurt and mix until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla, mixing until well combined. Stir in sugar until well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix white whole wheat flour, dark cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine wet and dry ingredients, add in milk and stir until just combined, do not overmix.

Scoop into a muffin pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops spring back when touched. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Store loosely covered or in refrigerator.

Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts

Just about every recipe I've tried from the blog "All Day I Dream About Food" has been exceptional and delicious. These donuts are no different. Baking low carb is hard for me. I'm not a fan of the texture Almond Flour usually leaves behind. By adding some Whey Protein powder into the recipe, it changes up the texture perfectly. 

I linked the brands I used to the ingredients below. These have been tested by me and the ones I find the most tolerable when eating low carb. None of them leave any sort of chemical after taste - which I find common in many low carb sugars for some reason. 

The peanut butter glaze is what makes these donuts. I made mine thinner than she did according to the photos on her blog, but I also like a glaze to be loose and run down the sides. More glaze than frosting. If you prefer frosting, don't make it as thin. 

The hardest part of this recipe was determining when they were done. Her instructions say "when they are firm". I find that quite ambiguous. So do like me and give it your best guess. Letting them sit in the pan helps them continue baking too in case you bring them out sooner than "they are firm". 

The number of donuts you get will differ on how thick you make them. I got 12 and I filled the donut tray up to about 3/4 of the way to the top. I wasn't sure how much they'd puff up so I went a bit conservative. 

Keto Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts

Recipe from All Day I Dream About Food

Makes up to 12

Donuts

• 1 ¾ cups almond flour
• 6 tablespoon Swerve Granular
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoon unflavored whey protein powder (or egg white protein powder)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs room temperature
  
• 6 tablespoon butter melted
• ⅓ cup water
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze

• ¼ cup creamy natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons powdered Swerve Sweetener
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream room temperature
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water to thin as needed
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped peanuts for decorating

Preheat the oven to 325F and grease 10 wells of a 12 well donut pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweetener, cocoa powder, protein powder, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, butter, water, and vanilla extract and stir until well combined. If your batter is overly thick, add a little more water, a few teaspoons at a time. It should be scoopable but not pourable.

Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan, filling the wells about three quarters full. Bake 18 to 23 minutes, or until set and firm to the touch.

Remove and let cool completely in the pan before flipping out onto a wire rack.

Glaze

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the peanut butter and butter on high in 30 second increments, stirring until smooth. Alternatively, you can melt them carefully in a small saucepan over very low heat.

Whisk in the sweetener, whipping cream, and vanilla. If the glaze is very thick, whisk in the water a few teaspoons at a time until a dippable consistency is achieved.

Working quickly, dip the tops of the cooled donuts into the glaze and place on a baking rack to set. If the glaze thickens up too quickly, you also spread it onto the donuts.

Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and let set, about 20 minutes.

Healthy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting (Low Carb)

Photo from Wholesome
Yum

This recipe I had such high hopes for. The ingredients, the blogger, the photo, all of it. Made me really want to like this recipe. 

It was not great. The first part was the weird part of mixing coconut oil and cream cheese together. Melting it together rather. Turned out I didn't have coconut oil so I used regular veg oil. In hindsight I wish I would have used melted butter. 

Almond flour is never going to win me over. Janet told me at book club about an almond CAKE flour she uses that she really likes. I'm going to check that out and maybe that would make this better. I really want to like this recipe. The texture was very much pumpkin pie esk and I think that was part of what I didn't like.

Healthy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting (Low Carb)

Recipe from WholesomeYum

Makes 16 bars

• 1 c Pumpkin puree
• 1/4 c Coconut oil
• 2 oz Cream cheese
• 2 large Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 c Blanched almond flour
• 2/3 c Besti Monk Fruit Erythritol Blend
• 2 tsp Gluten-free baking powder
• 1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp Sea salt

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 oz Cream cheese (softened, cubed)
• 1/2 c Powdered erythritol
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 T Heavy cream (optional, for easier frosting)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line a 9x9 in (23x23 cm) baking pan with parchment paper.

Using a bowl in the microwave or a double boiler on the stove, melt together the cream cheese and coconut oil, until you can stir them together easily.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, melted coconut oil/cream cheese mixture, eggs and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer at medium speed, until smooth.

In another bowl, stir together the almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.

Add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Beat with the hand mixer at low speed, until just combined.

Transfer the batter to the lined baking pan and smooth the top. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

To make the frosting, use a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese, sweetener, and vanilla, until smooth. (You can thin it out with a little milk or cream if you'd like.) Let the bars cool completely before frosting and cutting.

Keto Chocolate Chip Muffins

In all the recipes I've tried that calls for Almond Flour, I've generally not been a fan. Especially bread of any type. I keep trying them though hoping that I'll stumble on a recipe that is good. 

I have found one! Yipee. 

This recipe is simple and delicious, even with almond flour. It's also the first time using sugar free chocolate chips. I had Hershey sugar free chips on hand, so that's what I used. I am amazed at how good they are. 

Overall, this one is going into the "favorites" list for this year. If you're looking to lower your sugar intake and maybe eat something low carb, I highly recommend these. 

A serving size is one muffin. 200 calories, 6.3 g carbs, 3 g fiber and 10 g protein. Not too shabby. 

Keto Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recipe from All Day I Dream About Food

Makes 12 muffins - maybe. I only got 10 out of this batch

• ½ cup sour cream
• 3 large eggs
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup Swerve Brown lightly packed
• 2 ½ cups almond flour
• ⅓ cup unflavored whey protein powder (can sub egg white protein)
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp mini keto chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a standard metal muffin pan with 12 parchment paper liners. You can also use silicone liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add the sweetener and whisk until well combined, breaking up any clumps with the back of a fork.

Add the almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, and salt and stir until well mixed. Stir in ⅓ cup of the chocolate chips

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffins cups and top each with a few more mini chips. Bake 18 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and firm to the touch.

Remove and let cool in the pan.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe has been in my "Weekly" folder for a couple of weeks. I finally decided to make it to get it

out of that folder and into my belly. It'll make a lot so most of them will go into the freezer.

These cookies are tasty. There is a lot of texture going on in these cookies and I'm a fan of that. 

I wouldn't put in a cup of cocktail peanuts whole next time. I'd chop them up and put in maybe 1/2 a cup. The whole peanut makes it difficult to eat sometimes. If you can have difficulty eating a cookie.

These are reminiscent of Lone Ranger cookies which have all of this stuff minus the peanuts and add rice crispies, peanut butter and coconut. So it doesn't sound like they're similar, but I promise you they are.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe from The Mom 100

Makes 36 cookies

• ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
• ½ c creamy peanut butter
• 1 c dark brown sugar
• 1 c granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract or pure vanilla powder see Note
• 3 c old-fashioned rolled oats
• ¾ c all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 2 c bittersweet chocolate chips
• 2 c salted cocktail peanuts

Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly spray two baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, and brown and white sugars until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scarping down the sides of the bowl between each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat on low speed to just combine. Stir in the chips and the peanuts until they are evenly incorporated.

Place the batter in ¼ cup scoops on the prepared baking sheets. Press down into cookie shaped disks. I like to bake them one at a time, but if you want to bake both sheets at once, you might want to rotate them and switch the racks midway throughout the process. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until browned on the edges, then let them sit for one minute on the tray before transferring them to wire racks to cool. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Andes Mint Cake Mix Cookies (156 of 150)

I love Andes Mints. They're my favorite after dinner treat when you go out to restaurants. That said, mint can get overwhelming so the thought of making these cookies had me worried. 

First, you can find Andes mint pieces in the baking aisle now. This saved me from having to chop up the mints. I did cut mints in half for the top of the cookies. 

I didn't follow how they did the cookies with the mints underneath. I mixed the mint pieces into the dough and then plopped 1/2 of a mint on top after they came out of the oven.

Tonight is the Cookie Exchange Sunday dinner and I thought these would be perfect for that event. 

Andes Mint Cake Mix Cookies

Recipe from Dinners, Dishes and Desserts

Makes 24 cookies

1 (15.25 oz) box devil's food cake mix (just the dry mix)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 whole large eggs

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

40 Andes mint candies

Start by breaking 24 of the Andes mints in half, and then stack 1 half on top of the other. Chop the remaining mints into small pieces.

In a large bowl mix together cake mix, vegetable oil, and eggs until well blended. Mix in chocolate chips.

Scoop balls of dough and shape around the stacked Andes Mint candy. Place on a lined baking sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes until the edges are set. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Place the chopped mints onto the baked cookies. Let them cool completely and the chocolate to set up before storing.

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Break 24 of the Andes mints in half. Stack 1 half on top of the other. Chop the remaining mints into small pieces.

In a large bowl mix together cake mix, vegetable oil, and eggs until well blended. Mix in chocolate chips.

Scoop balls of dough and shape around the Andes Mint candy. Place on a lined baking sheet.

Bake for 9-11 minutes until the edges are set. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Place the chopped mints onto the baked cookies. Let them cool completely and the chocolate to set up before storing.

Store in an air tight container

Crunchy Chocolate Peanut Butter Stacks (126 of 150)

Photo from Savory Sweet Life Blog

Tomorrow is book club and its my turn to bring a dessert. I usually like to find something different, but this time I just ran out of time. Traveling and this !@#$%^ cold made me lose time for planning. Instead I found this simple "recipe" - its simple and meets the number one criteria...its gluten free. 

I put "recipe" in quotes because it doesn't feel like a recipe with only three ingredients. I tossed in a tab of butter with this too. Not sure why, but it felt right. We'll see if they stand up now. 

Crunchy Chocolate Peanut Butter Stacks

Recipe from Savory Sweet Life

Makes 12

1 ½ c chocolate chips

½ c natural creamy peanut butter

3 c Corn Flakes cereal

Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat this until the chocolate chips are smooth. Add peanut butter and stir until well combined. 

Fold in Corn Flakes until the flakes are evenly coated. 

Drop the mix by the tablespoons on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. 

Allow mounds to cool and harden in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Or if you're experiencing snow (like we are in Seattle) and your refrigerator is packed (like mine), stick them in your car.

No-Churn Chocolate Ice Cream (115 of 150)

Photo from Food52

I'm very into making ice cream this year. Its so easy to do and yet I have not been able to master it in
any way. I've tried several failed low carb versions. I've tried some so-so low carb ones too. THIS recipe is not low carb, but it could be. 

I have another recipe to make low carb sweetened condensed milk. It takes time and patience and we all know how much patience I have. 

In the spirit of just trying a new recipe, I decided to make this one. I did NOT follow the directions because I have an ice cream maker and I decided to use that instead of the directions. I think, in the end, the results are the same. 

I'd make this again in a heart beat. Super easy and I can think of so many variants to this. Nutella, Swap kahlua with Irish cream; add peanut butter (using another liquor  of course)

No-Churn Chocolate Ice Cream

Recipe from Food52

Serves 4 to 6

• 3/4 c sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 c liqueur of choice (see author notes)
• 1/3 c plus 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 c heavy cream, super cold

Whisk the sweetened condensed milk, liqueur, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl until combined. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form.

Gently fold all the whipped cream in the cocoa mixture. Pour the mixture in a container and let it freeze overnight. Serve it as soon as you pull it out of the freezer—it will be nice and scoopable. Bonus points if you serve it in a frozen bowl. Don’t let it sit at room temperature for too long, it will start melting fast.

Chocolate Keto Frosty Low Carb Shake (108 of 150)

Its still hot here in Seattle. I needed a treat that was cold and not full of calories. I realized that I didn't exactly follow the recipe when I made this. I'm not sure why, maybe I assumed. 

I mixed all the ingredients together in a Bullet blender. I find that helps break down the cocoa powder and the sugar so it's not gritty. 

After I zipped it, I put it in an ice cream maker. I bought a single server ice cream maker and it really does the trick. After running it for 20 minutes, the texture was like a frosty. 

I added a tablespoon of Kahlua to it too so it wouldn't freeze rock solid and gave it a little flavor.

Chocolate Keto Frosty Low Carb Shake

Recipe from Low Carb Yum

Serves 1

• 6 T heavy whipping cream
• 5 T unsweetened almond milk
• ⅛ tsp sugar-free vanilla extract
• 2 T cocoa powder
• 1 ½ tsp Truvia or 2 T equivalent sugar substitute

Start whipping cream with mixer until soft peaks form.

Slowly add remaining ingredients.

Continue beating until stiffer peaks form.

Put mixture in freezer.

After 20 minutes, remove from freezer and stir with fork to break up frozen areas around edges.

Keep checking mix every 20 minutes and stir until it’s cold enough and the right consistency.

Chocolate Toffee No-Bake Cookies (103 of 150)

Photo from Food Network

Happy Sunday everyone. I recently did an inventory of my pantry to see what's in there and what needs
to go. I found an entire canister of oats! I don't even remember buying them so figured the HAD to get used.

I thought briefly about Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies, but didn't really want to turn the oven on. So no bake cookies were my next choice. 

I didn't at all follow their instructions. I think it's weird to put everything in the pan at once and let things melt from there. So everything went in the pan except the oats and toffee bits. Once everything was melted I added the oats, stirred well, THEN added the toffee bits. I wanted the toffee bits to stay harder than the rest. 

Chocolate Toffee No-Bake Cookies

Recipe from Food Network

Makes 12-14 cookies

3 c quick-cooking oats

1 c peanut butter

1/2 c bittersweet chocolate chips

1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 c toffee bits, plus more for sprinkling

2 T softened unsalted butter

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Combine the oats, peanut butter, bitter and semisweet chocolate chips, toffee bits, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate chips melt, 3 to 5 minutes.

Scoop heaping tablespoons of batter onto the baking sheet and sprinkle each cookie with extra toffee bits. Freeze for 15 minutes before serving. The cookies can be stored in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for 1 week.

No-Bake Nutella Oatmeal Cookies (92 of 150)

The Pantry Goat was over for dinner last week and she brought me this HUGE tub of Nutella. So, since I had so much Nutella I figured I'd make myself some cookies. 

Now, if you've been following along you know I'm trying to eat healthier and, well, cookies don't really fall into the healthy category - especially no bake cookies. So, to make this lower in carb, I swapped the 2 c sugar with 2 cups Swerve sugar.

I also didn't put spoonfuls on parchment paper. I put the whole kit and kaboodle in a lined 9x9 pan. Its quicker and easier.

No-Bake Nutella Oatmeal Cookies

All Recipes

Makes 24 cookies

• 2 c white sugar
• ½ c butter
• ½ c milk
• 4 T cocoa powder
• ½ c chocolate-hazelnut spread (such as Nutella®)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 c quick-cooking oats

Combine sugar, butter, milk, and cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat until they are a smooth liquid. Bring to a rolling boil; continue to boil for at least 1 minute.

Remove from heat and stir in chocolate-hazelnut spread and vanilla extract until dissolved. Return the pot to the still-warm burner, or the lowest setting on gas stove, and add oats. Mix well.

Leave the pot on the warm burner while you drop cookies by heaping spoonfuls onto wax paper. Let set and serve.

Bailey’s Chocolate Cheesecake Trifle (Recipe 35 of 150)

Occasionally a recipe gets posted by a friend on FB and I think, "I must make that for book club." This is one of those recipes. The book club ladies love chocolate and I love feeding them chocolate. 

I made quite a few modifications to this recipe. Mostly because I'm a doof and didn't check my ingredient list enough and didn't have some of the items.

For starters, I didn't have Bailey's. I always have Bailey's and was sure I had some. But alas, no. So I figured I'd just use Kahlua. Which I also always have. But no, that was out too. Who am I? I ended up with used some random bottle of Cream de Cocao. Where I got that from is a mystery?

The second change I made is I swapped regular powdered sugar with low carb powdered Sugar (Swerve). I try to cut the carbs where I can. 

The final thing I changed is, we have a glute free book clubber and I couldn't find the GF Oreo's. I almost always find them when I need them so I was surprised when I couldn't. So instead I used some other GF chocolate wafer cookies. They worked well as a substitution. 

So with my changes, this dessert was quite delicious. 

Bailey’s Chocolate Cheesecake Trifle

Recipe from Spaceships and Laser Beams

Serves 4

Cheesecake

• 16 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream

Chocolate Whipped Cream

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream chilled
• 2 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• Additional
• 20 Oreo cookies

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and sea salt together until combined. Add ¼ cup of Baileys and continue beating until smooth and fluffy.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat 1 cup of heavy whipping cream until it doubles in volume and begins to thicken. Add in 2 tablespoons of Baileys, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, and 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Continue beating until the mixture has thickened and stiff peaks form.

Place the Oreo cookies into a gallon-size plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin to form small crumbles.

Place the cheesecake mixture into a piping bag and the whipped cream mixture into a second piping bag.

Beginning with the cookie crumbs, layer the cookie crumbs, cheesecake mixture, and whipped cream mixture into four lowball glasses. Repeat with a second layer of cookie crumbs and cheesecake mixture.

Put an open star piping tip (e.g., Tip #1M) on the whipped cream piping bag and pipe a swirl on the top of each glass. Sprinkle with a few remaining cookie crumbles and serve.