logo
cuppacocoa
June 26, 2015

Homemade Granola with Coconut Oil

I always thought it took one of those super healthy, super “crunchy,” super moms to do things like make your own granola.

BUT HEY GUYS I DID IT! And it was pretty easy!! I didn’t do it because I was trying to be that mom. I did it because I had greek yogurt and honey and nothing fun to go with it, so I thought I’d try to find an easy homemade granola recipe, cuz y’all know I love a little crrrrrunch in my food. There are a lot of recipes out there, so I was just trying to find something where I already had all the ingredients in my pantry. I narrowed it down to one winner winner, and the results were delicious! It was just crunchy enough, and had a complex sweetness that wasn’t cloying or too straightforward. Yum!

I brought some to share with friends and someone immediately commented on the complexity of the sweetness. This isn’t something I usually notice when I’m noshing on granola, so I think that makes this a recipe worth keeping. I’m not honey expert, but I find that darker honeys seem to taste more complex, so I use my darkest honeys (buckwheat, and one I got from Paris) for this granola. The almond extract, vanilla extract, and coconut make a lovely combination I would have never thought to try on my own! I’ve made this recipe twice now, and love that I know exactly what’s in my crunch-a-munch. Hope you like it, too!

read more

July 18, 2014

Frozen PB and Banana Pops Recipe

Yeah, I totally just added “breakfast” as one of the categories for this treat… and why not? Peanut butter? Bananas?? Sounds like 2/3 of a complete breakfast to me!

This is a similar concept to the chocolate-dipped frozen bananas concept I posted yesterday, but smaller, cuter, and stuffed with peanut butter! I also made my own “magic shell” this time with chocolate chips and a little bit of coconut oil. Overall, it’s a little more work, but it makes a much prettier result, don’t you think?

Frozen PB and Banana Pops, Pipe some PB

Slice bananas and pipe some PB onto half of them. I find a piping bag quicker, cleaner, and easier than spreading peanut butter on with a butter knife. Of course, a butter knife totally works!

read more

May 10, 2014

Nut Butter Chocolate 2

I have recently been trying lots of recipes from Eleanor’s kitchen over at www.petite-kitchen.com. I used to be really turned off by tags like “gluten-free” or “dairy free,” and especially the dreaded “sugar-free,” but she has steadily changed my mind about all that. Her recipes are simple, nourishing, and yummy. I couldn’t ask for more from a food blog!

Last week, I tried one of her chocolate recipes. I was more than a little skeptical about substituting honey for sugar, but I was so pleased with how her banana muffin recipe had worked out for me last week that I decided to give it a shot. I was so doubtful that I’d like it that I actually halved the recipe… which is too bad. Because turns out I loved it. The chocolates were gone by the next day. I noshed on piece after piece after piece of chocolate, feeling… not guilty at all! I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, but when you look at the ingredient list, I think you’ll agree with me that it’s not such a bad thing. Better than my usual cookie or brownie binges, anyway!

read more

May 5, 2014

Make fluffy muffins with a few nourishing ingredients

What do you think happens when I mix these ingredients together and stick ’em in the oven?

….

THIS!

Nourishing fluffy banana muffins

AMAZING, right?! I would have never guessed that peanut butter, eggs, coconut oil, and bananas make delicious, light and fluffy muffins… but they do! They really do! I threw in a handful of chocolate chips cuz, well, that’s my thing. I feel like I’m eating a complete breakfast when I stuff one of these guys in my mouth!

read more