Vegan Coconut-Carob Bars – No-Bake!

I’m proud of myself for cutting out meat properly this time around. I haven’t even eaten fish, dairy products, or eggs, which is a big step for me. Last time I was vegetarian, I still ingested those three things. This time around, I don’t have anyone pushing meat or animal products in my face on a daily basis, so I’ve found it a lot easier to make it through the first couple of weeks of being a vegetarian. (Brief history: I was a vegetarian for a few years, was with a big meat-eater, so it didn’t last long… Tried again, but went back to eating meat after 7 or 8 months.) (And for those of you who always ask, yes – you CAN get enough protein being a vegetarian. No, you don’t need to drink milk and eat meat. I can’t drink milk anyways…More on this coming up in a new “blog project” soon…)

One of my favourite sweet things to eat is carob. In powder form, solid form, whatever. It tastes awesome, and you don’t have to add any sugar to it! Oh, did I mention I’m also not really eating sugar? Some foods I eat have sugar in it, but not a lot… I haven’t opened up a bag/jar of sugar (white or brown) for a month, maybe longer. I was using honey, but then decided to give agave nectar a try. What a good decision! That stuff tastes great.

Anyways, here’s a recipe that I put together to satisfy that sweet tooth that pops up screaming for chocolate every once in a while! I’ve made this a few times now, one of the times being for a presentation in front of a group for a health and wellness class. The response was great, everyone loved them! 🙂 There wasn’t a single one left, which was awesome, because that means a few people had more than one…

I did a print out with the recipe for people, so instead of writing out the recipe here, I’ll just post a picture of the recipe. It’s so simple, anyone can do it! If you decide to make this, and have ANY questions or are confused, ask away! 🙂 Hope you enjoy! 🙂

Note: mix all ingredients together in a food processor!

 

Mmmmm....

Lemon Meringue Pie Minis with a Macaroon Crust

I’ve made these a few times now, and have enjoyed them each time. As the title says, these are mini lemon meringue pies with a macaroon crust. I find that the light taste of coconut really compliments the lemon curd used in this recipe.

For these little guys, I`ve found a way to make them just a bit healthier than the traditional lemon meringue pie. Taking away the traditional pie crust and replacing it with a tasty macaroon crust, removing egg yolks from the lemon curd recipe and increasing the amount of flavour with a few tweaks, and decreasing the amount of sugar in everything, allowed me to turn this into a dessert that`s a bit friendlier to those trying to eat healthy. Although, all treats should be enjoyed in moderation… But with these, it`s okay to have more than one… 😉

This recipe makes 8 minis. Enjoy! 🙂

Lemon Meringue Pie Minis with a Macaroon Crust

Macaroon Crust Cups Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (fine is best, but you can use larger flakes too)
• 1/4 cup sugar (I like to use turbinado sugar for this)
• 3 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg white

Lemon Curd Ingredients:

• 1 cup fine white sugar (I usually try to avoid white sugar, but it just works really well for lemon curd…)
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• 2 tbsp corn starch (this is being used in place of the egg yolk)
• grated rind from 1 large lemon
• juice from 1 large lemon (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 tbsp butter (again, I try to avoid butter at all costs… However, it gives the curd a bit of a creamy texture just by adding in the smallest amount. You can omit the butter if you wish!)
• 1/8 tsp orange extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Meringue Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites (room temperature)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (you may need a pinch more if you have troubles getting your meringue to stiff peaks!)
• 4-5 tbsp fine white sugar (less or more, judge by your own taste! Try to keep it under 6 tbsp though, otherwise you may have trouble with the egg whites…)

Method:

• Pre heat the oven to 350.
• ***Make the macaroon crust cups:
• Mix all macaroon ingredients in a bowl.
• Divide the mixture evenly into 8 paper muffin cups (about 2 tbsp per cup)
• Dip your thumbs in a bit of water, and press the mixture into the bottoms of the muffin cups, and a half way up the sides. Make sure the mixture is smooth.
• Once you’ve done this with all of the cups, bake in the oven for 15 minutes. The edges should be golden brown.
• Note: check the cups half way through. If they start to puff up in the middles, you will need to use a wet spoon to press the middles down.
• Once done, remove from the oven, and set aside to cool while you make the lemon curd. Keep the oven on.
• ***Make the lemon curd:
• In a sauce pan, combine the 1 cup of sugar with the 1/4 cup of corn starch.
• Set the sauce pan over medium heat, and slowly add the water while whisking until everything is smooth and combined.
• Whisk in the 2 tbsp of corn starch.
• Continue to whisk over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. This may take 10-15 minutes. Just keep whisking!
• Once you’ve reached a boil, continue to whisk and boil for about 1 minute. If you stop whisking, the mixture will burn. Once the mixture has become thick, you can remove it from the heat.
• Add in the rest of the lemon curd ingredients, and stir until combined.
• Spoon the lemon curd into the macaroon crust cups. (About 2 tbsp per cup. You will have curd left over, so if you like you can put it in a glass jar once it cools and use it for another recipe!)
• Set the filled cups aside in the fridge to cool while you make the meringue.
• ***Make the meringue:
• Put the egg whites into a clean bowl that has not come into contact with anything greasy. Grease/fat is an enemy of whipping egg whites into meringue.
• Add the cream of tartar and vanilla extract, and using a hand mixer on a medium-high speed, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. When pulling the whisk away from the egg whites, soft peaks will pretty much look like a bird’s beak at first, but then the egg white falls back into itself. The egg whites won’t hold their shape fully, and won’t be that glossy. I also talk a bit more about meringue here, so check it out if you like!
• Once the egg whites are at the soft peak stage, you can slowly add the sugar while whisking. Set the speed on the mixer to high now.
• Continue to whisk until the egg whites are at stiff peaks. When pulling the whisk away from the egg whites, stiff peaks will maintain that “bird beak” shape. Also, when you hold the bowl upside down, the egg whites will stay where they are. (Although, you may not want to use that as a method to test what stage the egg whites are at…)
• ***Prepare the cups for baking:
• Once the egg whites are at the stiff peak stage, remove the filled macaroon crust cups from the fridge, and top each cup with 2-3 tbsp of the meringue. What you want is a nice puffy “cloud” of meringue on top of each cup. Using a spoon, you can spread the meringue on each cup to make sure the meringue covers the whole top of each cup.
• Sprinkle the tops of each cup with some flaked coconut, and bake in the middle rack of the oven (which is still at 350) for 10-15 minutes.
• When they are done, the meringue will be lightly browned at the edges, the coconut flakes will be lightly browned, and when you touch the meringue it won’t stick to your finger.
• Allow to cool completely before eating.
• These can be stored in the fridge over night, but should be eaten within 2 days.
  

  Finished product! 🙂 Mmmmm...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home made lemon curd 🙂

Clean Chocolate-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to be updating this blog, but I”ll have more to post soon! 🙂 For now, this is going to be an entry that’s short and sweet, just like these cookies! If you’re into eating clean, these are the perfect little things to snack on and not compromise on nutrition. Enjoy! 🙂

Clean Chocolate-Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (quick cooking)
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 1 scoop carob powder (you can use cocoa powder if you like, but carob powder is naturally sweeter! So no need to add any extra sugar… 😉 This scoop should be the same size as the scoop of protein powder.)
• 2 tbsp almond butter
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 egg whites (or egg replacer)
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut

Method:

• Pre heat oven to 350.
• Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.
• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
• Roll into 12 balls, and place each ball on the prepared baking sheet.
• Press your thumb lightly into each ball, but keep the cookies thick!
• Bake for 10-14 minutes.
• Remove from oven, allow to cool for a few minutes, and enjoy minus the guilt! 🙂
  

  mmmmm

 

Strawberry Chocolate-Chip Frozen Yogurt

I feel a little strange calling this frozen yogurt, because it’s not very similar to that stuff you get at the grocery store. It’s not soft and mushy like ice cream… It’s actually closer to an Italian ice in texture, or even similar to a strawberry sorbet… Somewhat… Regardless, it’s still technically “frozen yogurt”, as there is dairy (yogurt) involved as a main ingredient. (Italian ice doesn’t have any dairy.)

This tastes pretty great, and I can imagine that in the hotter summer months ahead, it will be quite an enjoyable form of refreshment. Also, using non-fat yogurt cuts the fat almost completely! If you prefer using another liquid sweetener over honey, you can and I’m sure it will taste just as good! 🙂 Here’s the recipe, enjoy! 🙂

Strawberry Chocolate-Chip Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

• 2 cups non-fat plain yogurt
• 1-2 cups frozen strawberries (this varies depending on how much strawberry flavour you want!)
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp liquid honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Roughly chopped dark chocolate (I used about 4 squares of a large Lindtt dark chocolate bar)

Method:

• In a blender (or with an immersion blender), blend all ingredients except the chopped dark chocolate. Blend until smooth.
• Stir in the chopped dark chocolate, and then pour into a couple semi-shallow plastic dishes (I used two Glad containers, about 2 inches deep)
• Place in the freezer, and allow to harden for about 45 minutes.
• After 45 minutes, remove the containers and stir contents until smooth.
• Repeat this process (freezing, and removing every 45 minutes to stir) until the desired consistency is reached.
• The frozen yogurt can be stored in these containers, or you can scoop it back into the original yogurt container. Make sure it’s covered with a lid after the whole “freeze-then-stir” process is finished.
• Note: You can store this for many weeks in the freezer. After it’s been frozen for a day or two, it will be rock solid. Simply allow the frozen yogurt to soften slightly on the counter for 5 minutes or so prior to serving. To serve, you can also shave pieces of the frozen yogurt off of the top in layers if it doesn’t come off in one big scoop.

mmm... There it is... 😉

Coconut Banana Cream Pie – Raw & Vegan

Here’s something a little interesting, and it’s (sort of) raw. I say “sort of”, because a few ingredients such as maple syrup and carob powder aren’t considered “raw” by everyone. There are “truly raw” carob powders available, however it’s not always guaranteed that the temperature was kept low enough during processing. Either way, if you eat raw foods, the carob powder and maple syrup can easily be substituted for more “raw friendly” items such as agave nectar and raw chocolate. (I’ve been interested in raw recipes in the past, and I was actually inspired recently to try out another raw recipe by an old highschool acquaintance, Elena. She’s got her own blog going on, and has some pretty cool recipes for raw food lovers!)

So here’s my tasty recipe for a coconut banana cream pie! This recipe makes 4 small servings. It’s a very rich and decadent pie that’s slightly higher in calories, so I suggest keeping the servings small. Enjoy! 🙂

Coconut Banana Cream Pie – Raw & Vegan

Ingredients:

Base

• 1/2 cup pitted honey dates, soaked for about 5 minutes.
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup walnut butter (home-made is best!)
• 1/4 cup carob powder (tastes similar to cocoa powder, but a little sweeter)

Filling

• 1 banana (I used a frozen banana, it may be a better idea to use one that’s not frozen though, as it causes the coconut butter to harden…)
• 1/2 cup coconut butter (to make: blend/process 1 cup flaked coconut for 5-10 minutes until a liquid forms. It may be slightly grainy still. Pour into a jar/cup, and allow to harden slightly for about 15 minutes. It will be creamy and smooth in texture. This does not need to be refrigerated.)
• 2 tbsp almond butter (again, home-made is best, but store-bought is alright too)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (real, not that artificial stuff!)
• 1/4 cup almond milk

Chocolate Sauce

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 2 tbsp almond milk
• 4 tbsp coconut butter
• 1 tbsp carob powder

Method:

• For the base, stir all ingredients together in a bowl until mixed well. Press into the bottom of a plastic wrap lined bowl, and freeze for 30-60 minutes.
• For the filling: using a blender, food processor, or immersion blender, mix all filling ingredients together. Pour the mixture on top of the semi-frozen base, and return to the freezer for another 20-30 minutes.
• For the chocolate sauce: mix all ingredients together, and drizzle over the finished pie prior to serving!
• To serve: Simply remove the pie from the bowl by pulling the plastic wrap carefully, and cut into four slices. Serve with chocolate sauce drizzled on top, and enjoy! 🙂 If the pie is too hard, allow to soften for a few minutes before serving.

Here's the pie! 🙂

And now for a "fancy picture" 🙂

Whole Wheat Lemon Almond Biscotti

Mmm biscotti… So good… So perfect with a cup of tea… I have a few biscotti recipes that I really enjoy, and this is another one to add to that list! 🙂 These are also pretty healthy, containing no butter, no egg yolks, and no white sugar/flour.

Whole Wheat Lemon Almond Biscotti

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 50 ml ground almonds
• 50 ml organic cane sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup almonds, skin on, roughly chopped
• 4 egg whites
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Method:

• Pre heat oven to 300 F (or 285 F – 290 F if using a convection oven), and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Combine all dry ingredients together.
• Add all wet to dry.
• Mix together just until a dough forms.
• Pat into an oval/log shape, about 3/4 of an inch thick.
• Bake for about 35 minutes (check at 30 minutes that it’s not burnt, as all ovens are different).
• Remove from oven, and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
• Cut the log diagonally into sticks, about 3/4 of an inch wide.
• Flip the sticks over onto their sides (cut sides are facing down and up now), and bake for 10 minutes.
• Flip the sticks again, and bake for another 10 minutes until the biscotti are dried out.
• Allow to cool, and enjoy! 🙂

mmm... Biscotti... 🙂

I really wish you could smell this... Lightly scented with lemon and almonds... Just beautiful...

Eggnog Scones

A while ago, I made some lemon vanilla scones. I am a huge fan of scones, so it’s a bit of a shock that I haven’t tried to introduce eggnog into a recipe for them. So this evening, I went to my tested recipe for the lemon vanilla scones, and made a few changes to it in order to get that festive eggnog flavour! {Nope, there’s no rum in these. Not that kind of “festive”. 😉 }

The basic recipe is pretty much the same, but I did cut it in half. I’ll post the updated version right here! {I know, I’m so nice, eh? } As with the eggnog pancakes in my previous post, the eggnog flavour isn’t overwhelming. It’s more of an… enhancement to the original flavour of the food. 😉

This recipe makes 8 small scones. Enjoy! I sure did. 🙂

Eggnog Scones

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp granulated (white) sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp each baking soda and salt
• 1/4 cup butter, crumbled (cool)
• 1/2 egg (room temperature. To get half of an egg, just whisk the egg in a bowl, and then remove about 1 tbsp of the egg. You’ll have a little more than half of an egg in the recipe, but that’s alright.) **Note: Keep the extra tbsp of the egg for the pre-baking glaze!!!
• 1/2 vanilla bean pod seeds (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1/2 cup light eggnog
• 1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch nutmeg (more if you like nutmeg)

Method:

• Pre heat oven to 400 F.
• Lay parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
• Mix all dry ingredients well in a large bowl.
• Add butter, and mix with your hands until crumbly. You don’t need to smooth out all of the butter, instead you want to make sure it has a texture like sand with clumps in it. (Yummy image…)
• Add the egg, eggnog, and vanilla, and stir well until mixture becomes a firm dough.
• Knead on heavily floured surface with floured hands until firm (about 2-3 minutes), sprinkling flour onto the dough if the mix is too sticky.
• Knead the dough into a ball, and flatten slightly. About 1 1/2 inch thickness is great. Slice across the middle horizontally with a large knife, then across the middle vertically, then cut each quarter in half. You should have eight pieces. If you don’t, well then… You may not know how to count. O.o
• Place the pieces about 1 cm apart on the lined cookie sheet. Brush the tops lightly with a bit of the reserved egg, and sprinkle a little bit of nutmeg over each piece.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes, until tops are lightly cracked, and are firm when tops are tapped. When you stick a toothpick in, it should come out clean. (you may want to check the bottom of one of the scones to make sure it is not burnt. The bottoms should barely be darker than the top.)
• Allow to cool.
• Can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge in plastic wrap or baggies for up to 1 week. Can be kept in the freezer, in foil and plastic bags for 1-2 months. If freezing, simply microwave scone at 20 second intervals until thawed.
• Eat them as they are, or add an eggnog glaze! (See below!)

Eggnog Glaze

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp icing sugar
• 4 tbsp eggnog
• pinch each of nutmeg and cinnamon
• Note: you can adjust the quantities of each ingredient to suit you. If you like a thicker glaze, add more icing sugar. A thinner glaze requires more eggnog (or less sugar). For more of an intense flavour, increase the spices.

Method:

• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, and drizzle over cooled scones. Allow to set for a few minutes in the fridge, or eat while still wet and sticky! 🙂

Lightly spiced eggnog scones. Sooooo tasty! 🙂

 

I love the texture of scones! 🙂

Peanut Butter & Banana Maple Bran Muffins

I can’t believe how tasty these muffins are! They aren’t too sweet, and they’ve got the perfect blend of banana, maple and peanut butter. 🙂 The husband and I both enjoyed these! There’s not much more to say about them, so here’s the recipe! This recipe makes 6 muffins. Enjoy! 🙂

Peanut Butter & Banana Maple Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 wheat bran
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed
• 1 egg
• seeds scraped from 1/2 of a vanilla bean pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter maple syrup (1/4 cup each of peanut butter and maple syrup, mixed until combined. Great over pancakes! 😉 )
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Method:

• Pre heat your oven to 375 F, and line a muffin tin with 6 paper muffin cups. (I used large-sized ones.)
• Mix all wet ingredients, plus the sugar, in a bowl.
• Sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
• Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix together just until combined.
• Spoon batter into the lined muffin cups, and bake for about 15 minutes. (Check the muffins at 10 minutes with a tooth pick poked into the middle of the muffin. If there’s any wet batter on the tooth pick, cook the muffins a bit longer. All ovens are different, so use your judgement here!)
• Optional: sprinkle some cinnamon sugar (equal parts white sugar and ground cinnamon) on top of each muffin, along with some crushed walnut chunks.
• Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes before removing them from the tin.

I should call this the "Elvis Muffin" 🙂

Rocky Road Bars

While grocery shopping this weekend, I saw a HUGE box of rocky road bars as I was leaving… It took all of the willpower in the universe to not turn around and purchase these…

All weekend, I couldn’t get these off of my mind. I decided to make something similar to a rocky road bar, but a little healthier. I must stress “a little”, because these still possess some of the chocolaty goodness that graces the original rocky road bar. If you’re watching your calories, you probably won’t want to make them will probably give in and make them, because they taste so good!!!

With traditional rocky road bars, you’ll enjoy two key parts: 

1. the base: which is usually made of some graham cracker crumbs (or the whole cracker broken into bits), butter, chocolate, nuts, and coconut. The base can also be a cake or brownie. There are so many variations out there of this!
2. the topping: which is a tasty mixture of marshmallows, nuts, and coconut, topped with however much chocolate you desire. Again, there are many variations of what these bars have, or look like, but this seems to be the general combination I’ve seen.

I wanted a few extra flavours mixed into this recipe, so decided to make my own spin on it! This is chewy, gooey, a little crunchy, sweet, smooth, and very rich in flavour… It makes me feel like I’m eating an indulgent “adult” version of a rocky road bar, but is definitely something I would have enjoyed as a kid!

This recipe makes 6 servings. Enjoy! 🙂

Rocky Road Bars

Ingredients – Base: 

• 1/2 cup almonds and walnuts roughly chopped in the blender/food processor
• 1/2 cup pitted dates, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup flaked coconut
• 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg
• 1 tbsp warm water
• 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter

Ingredients – Topping:

• 36 mini marshmallows (6 per serving)
• 1 peanut butter cup (mmm, Reese’s!)
• milk chocolate for melting (Aero bars work really well for this… We had a bunch of mini bars left after Halloween!)

Method:

• Pre heat oven to 350 F, and line a muffin tin with 6 paper muffin cups.
• In a bowl, mix all of the base ingredients except the peanut butter. It should be a paste that’s a bit rough/dry.
• Press the base (in equal amounts) into the bottoms of each muffin cup. It should be as flat as possible.
• Spread the peanut butter (in equal amounts) over each of the six filled muffin cups.
• Bake for 10 minutes.
• Allow to cool.
• For the topping: once cool, press 6 mini marshmallows into each base. You may need a little bit of peanut butter on each marshmallow to make sure they stick. I used molasses. Then, melt your chocolate, and put a glob of it (or drizzle nicely) over the marshmallows, and allow to fall over the sides as it will. At this point, if you want, you can add some chopped peanuts. Or, take the peanut butter cup, and cut it into 6 equal pie shapes. Then, place a little “pie” on the tops of each bar.
• Allow to cool completely in the fridge before serving. The chocolate will harden, and hold the marshmallows and “peanut butter “pie” in place. The base will also be more firm once cooled completely.

Mmmm... Rocky Road Bar.... 😀

Frosted Peppermint Mocha Brownies – Made With Almond Flour

 

After making some almond flour cookies, I was wondering what else I could use almond flour for. I’m almost determined to prove to myself that I can use almond flour for anything that requires regular flour. {Pasta? Hmm, maybe…} I had an urge for something sweet tonight, and had a craving for some brownies… Of course, I still don’t have any flour in the house… But I DO have almonds. Trusty, tasty almonds… So in the blender they went, and the brownies were born! I decided to add a few things to give it an extra kick {peppermint extract and espresso powder}, and boy was the end result ever tasty! These little guys came out so tender, with a nice little “brownie crust” on the top {my favourite part of a brownie!}… It was hard to believe that these weren’t made with regular flour! Almond flour is a little heavy, so it may not work for lighter baked goods. However, it works perfectly for something as dense and moist as a brownie! I’ll stop talking about it now, and give you the recipe! 🙂 Enjoy!

Please note: These brownies do not contain any flour or butter. They do have egg whites, and many other tasty things. Do not be fooled, they are NOT really healthy. But it’s alright… We’re allowed treats every now and again. 😉

Frosted Peppermint Mocha Brownies – Made With Almond Flour

Ingredients:

• 2 oz (2 wrapped squares) white Baker’s chocolate (or any type of chocolate you like, I prefer white chocolate as the base for this though!)
• 2 tbsp almond butter
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup almond flour (grind 3/4 cup whole almonds in the blender until the texture is fine crumbs)
• 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (this is optional. You can use 1/4 cup wheat bran, rolled oats, or even an extra 1/4 cup almond flour)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 1 1/2 tsp espresso powder

Method:

• Pre heat your oven to 350 F. (For our new convection oven, it has an auto-converter which will give the proper temperature for convection ovens. So for convection ovens, the temperature will actually set to 325 F. Pop it up to 340 F for convection, not 325 F.)
• Grease an 8 x 8 square glass baking dish. (You can line it with tin foil if you like, and lightly grease the foil. I just used a glass dish, and had a REALLY hard time getting the brownie out at the end… Yeah… You should probably use a foil lined baking dish…) Set the dish aside.
• Melt the chocolate in the microwave (45 seconds on high and stir. If it’s not melted, pop it in for another 35 seconds and stir again), and then add in all of the other wet ingredients. The ingredients may look a little funny, but that’s alright!
• Now add all of the dry ingredients, and stir until combined.
• Pour the batter into the baking dish (the batter will be a little thick), and spread it evenly through the dish.
• Bake in the middle rack for about 30 minutes. When you stick a knife or toothpick in the middle, it will come out with a couple of crumbs. With brownies, it’s better to have them slightly undercooked instead of slightly overcooked.
• Remove, and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before adding any of the frosting. (See frosting recipe below!)
• After 5 minutes, drizzle the frosting all over the brownies. Allow to set for another 10 minutes, then serve! 🙂
• Note: These aren’t really “portable brownies” for lunch boxes or anything like that, so they’re better suited to serving on a plate with a fork or spoon, and maybe a scoop of ice cream…

Mint Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

• About 3/4 cup icing sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• About 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp peppermint extract (depending on how much mint flavour you actually want. Don’t use any more than 1/2 tsp, otherwise it will taste like mouthwash!)

Method:

• In a bowl, mix all ingredients together. It should be thick enough where it slowly falls off of the spoon, but still have enough of a liquid consistency to drizzle onto the brownies.
• Note: to make the frosting thicker, add more icing sugar. To make the frosting thinner, add more milk. When the frosting has dried, it will look more like a brownie frosting… In the picture below, I had just poured the frosting on top so it was still wet and glossy.

  

The brownie. 🙂 It's not the best picture, but you get the idea. 😉