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Category Archives: Dessert


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Treats: Part One! Homemade Protein Bars

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend. Mike and I managed to get quite a bit done and the house is starting to look good! The highlight of my weekend was watching our garden grow.

Seriously, the garden seemed to just come to life overnight. This year, we planted so much stuff (compared to last year’s million tomatoes and pumpkins). We have: sugar snap peas, snow peas, onions, two types of beans from my parents’ garden last year, carrots, radishes, daikon radishes, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, Anaheim chiles, jalapeno peppers, Serrano chiles, lettuce, mustard greens, bok choi, cucumbers, and zucchini. Amazingly enough. everything is coming in! Now I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed that we can keep them alive!

Now, on to my latest favorite baking projects! I have one delicious recipe for Mike and me and one delicious recipe for our dogs! Our house can’t get enough of these treats and we are going through so much peanut butter!

First, the human treats: homemade protein bars! It’s perfect for me to munch on post-run and Mike likes to eat them after… well, he just likes to eat them, no special occasion required 🙂

Want to know what I cooked up for the pups? Check back Friday for the post!

Homemade Protein Bars
3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup whole sesame seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup 100% pure maple syrup
1 cup all natural peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup chocolate chips of your choice (I used semisweet this time)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped or nuts of choice
1/2 cup dried cranberries or other dried fruit
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9×13 pan with cooking spray.
  2. Combine oats, sesame seeds, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, maple syrup, peanut butter, vanilla extract, and coconut oil until well mixed. 
  4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir to combine. 
  5. Mix in chocolate, nuts, and dried fruit and mix well until all ingredients are evenly distributed. 
  6. Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes. 
  7. Let bars cool for 10 minutes in pan before removing and cutting into squares. Arrange onto cookie sheet and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely before wrapping and storing in the fridge. 


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Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

I love challenges. I needed a dessert for a dietetic intern potluck. The catch – I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy it and one intern eats vegan and another gluten-free. Bring on the challenge, baby! I scoured the internet far and wide (ok, I only used Google and Pinterest) and ended up combing a bunch of different recipes to get this final product.

I got the base cake recipe from Eggless Cooking. It’s made with beets and chickpeas. I was really skeptical at first, but I decided to give it a try. Turns out you can’t even taste the chickpeas or beets! I used canned chickpeas and beets to cut down on prep-time and it turned out pretty well.

These cupcakes were soooo decadent. It’s not really cake-like. More fudge-like perhaps? They’re dense, rich, and definitely chocolatey!

(Sorry for the bad photo - I took this minutes before running out  
the door to get my butt to the potluck!)

Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
yields 12 cupcakes 

For the cupcakes:
2 cups chickpeas, canned or freshly cooked
3/4 cup beets, cooked
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups vegan chocolate chips*

  1. Remove the thin outer skin from the chickpeas. Enlist help if you can – this will take a while! Use a food processor or blender to puree until smooth with a tablespoon or so of water.
  2. Puree beets into a smooth paste, using the cooking water.
  3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with liners and set aside.
  4. Melt chocolate chips in microwave in 20 second increments, stirring after each until completely melted.
  5. Combine chickpeas, beets, and sugar in the food processor or blender until completely smooth – no lumps allowed! Puree in coconut oil, baking powder, coffee granules, lemon juice, and vanilla extract until well combined.
  6. Blend in the melted chocolate chips into the chickpea and beet mixture and let the food process or blender run for a couple minutes to allow chocolate to distribute evenly throughout the batter.
  7. Pour batter into prepared cupcake pan and bake for 40 – 50 minutes.
  8. Remove pan from the oven and place on a wire rack. Let the cupcakes cool completely in the pan.
  9. Remove cupcakes from cupcake pan when cool and frost with chocolate frosting (recipe below)!
For the frosting:
1 can regular coconut milk, opened and refrigerated overnight – do not shake!!
1 cup Smart Balance, room temperature
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 – 6 cups powdered sugar
  1. Scrape the thick layer off the top of the coconut milk into a large bowl. Add in Smart Balance and beat until well combined and smooth.
  2. Mix in cocoa powder and vanilla extract until well combined.
  3. Gradually add powdered sugar into frosting, 1 cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached**.
  4. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered.

*I used Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips and they were pretty darn tasty!
** I ended up using some of  coconut milk left in the can to thin out the frosting and give it another boost of flavor. I ended up using about 5 cups of powdered sugar in addition to about 1/4 cup of the coconut “water” that was left in the can.


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Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

I purchased some raspberry jam to make raspberry tartlets for Mike. I got all my ingredients out, dug out my mini muffin liners, and then tragedy struck. I couldn’t find my mini muffin pan. Noooooooooo!!!! I tore my kitchen apart – both the actual kitchen and our basement kitchen and they were nowhere to be found.

I pouted about this for a couple weeks before deciding that I should just make something else with the jam. I decided to re-make an old recipe with a few changes.

raspberry thumbprint cookies | doughseedough.net

Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
makes 3 dozen cookies

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup raspberry preserves

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in vanilla and gradually mix in flour until dough comes together.
  3. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets.
  4. Make a small indentation in each ball with your finger and fill with 1/2 teaspoon of preserves.
  5. Bake for about 15 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. Let cool on cookie sheets for 1 minute and move to wire rack to finish cooling.


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Friday Favorites (& Granola Bars)

Happy Friday everyone! Hope everyone had a fabulous week. While my week was better than usual, I’m still looking forward to the weekend. I’m starting something new – Friday Favorites. Read on for little moments from the week that grabbed me as well as a delicious new recipe!

Favorite blast from the past: school lunch. Yup, that’s right. I started my 1 month school food service rotation this week and they are feeding me lunch!  This is my first rotation to offer me food, so I’m pretty psyched. Some menu items that brought me back to my elementary and middle school days? Pizza dipper, mini corn dogs, and the good ol’ chicken nuggets. Don’t worry, they’ve got some amazing fruit and veggie spreads along with some other healthier options. Also, for the first time in a loooong time (quite possibly years) I’ve had a cup of skim milk every. single. day. My favorite part of eating school lunch? The spork.

image from newsone.com

Favorite  can’t-live-without-it workout equipment: Foam Roller. Best $20 I spent. You can find me rolling around on it for a good half hour after all my runs and cycling workouts.

 image from synergy-athletics.com

Favorite breakfast inspiration: overnight steel cut oatmeal. I’ve been eating old fashioned oatmeal for breakfast day-after-day. I love it, but it’s getting a little… boring. I finally went out last night and bought some steel cut oats and I can’t wait to give this recipe a try!

photo from thebittenword.com

 Favorite kitchen find: olive wood salt keeper. I’m drooling over this. I’ve seen so many salt keepers and I still haven’t snatched one up. Someday…

image from williams-sonoma.com

Favorite jewelry find: “asymmetry” earrings from Paon Blanc. I love big, dangly earrings. I love sparkly things. Check and check. These earrings are perfect.

image from etsy.com/shop/paonblanc

 and finally, my Favorite new holiday: National Granola Bar Day. There will never be a shortage of bizarre “holidays”. Celebrate National Granola Bar Day with me on January 21, 2012 with these delicious, no-added-sugar granola bars!! These granola bars are chock full of goodness – cranberries, bananas, pecans, oats, and flax. They were so easy to whip up and they taste a-maaaaazing.

Low Fat Granola Bars with Bananas, Cranberries, and Pecans
recipe from Cookin Canuk via Prevention RD 

3 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped
3 large, ripe bananas
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons ground flax seed (or flax meal)
1/2 teaspoon salt

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Line a 9×13 baking sheet with parchment paper, with about 1 inch of parchment paper overlapping the sides.
  3. Spread out the oats and chopped pecans on a baking sheet. Place in the oven until they are lightly toasted, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
  4. In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with the back of a fork. Stir in applesauce until combined.
  5. Transfer the oats and pecans to a large bowl and stir in dried cranberries, ground flax seed (flax meal), cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
  6. Stir the banana mixture into the oat mixture until well combined and starting to clump together. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and press down evenly.
  7. Bake until the bars are golden brown and starting to separate from sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
  8. Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Let cool to room temperature, then cut into 15 bars. Serve or store in an airtight container.


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World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well folks, I found it. The only chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need. What makes them so good? They’re perfectly fluffy, chewy and well… delicious.

I made them as-is the first two times and then mixed in a cup of toffee pieces the third time I made them. The verdict? One of my favorite cookies ever.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
  2. Cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.
  3. Stir in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.
  4. Drop by tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 8 – 10 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.
  5. Let cool slightly and enjoy.

from Food Network Canada


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Welcoming 2012 with Mocha Almond Biscotti

These biscotti are perfect for the chocolate lover in your life. The chocolatey goodness is highlighted with a hint of coffee and each bite is guaranteed to have some to-die-for chocolate chips and almonds. I loved biscotti back in my coffee drinking days. Now, I won’t touch the stuff, but I still enjoy biscotti on its own! They’re crisp but not hard and well… perfect.

So, start 2012 out right with some of these biscotti. Share the love and send some to friends and family 🙂

Mocha Almond Biscotti

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons instant coffee
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped almonds
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

  1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a large baking sheet and set aside.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In separate bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and instant coffee. Add eggs and vanilla until butter mixture and beat until well combined.
  5. Stir in flour mixture and mix until a stiff dough forms. Stir in almonds and chocolate chips.
  6. On prepared baking sheet with floured hands form dough into 2 slightly flattened logs, each about 12 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide.
  7. Bake for 35 minutes and remove from oven. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes.  Transfer biscotti to cutting board.
  8. Using a very sharp knife, cut biscotti diagonally into 3/4 inch slices. Arrange cut slices onto baking sheet cut-side down. Bake 5 minutes and flip biscotti to other side. Bake for another 5 minutes or until biscotti are crisp.
  9. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.


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Wrapping up 2011 with Sea Salt Caramels

It’s been a long, crazy year. Even though I didn’t quite make it through my 11 in ’11 list (oops), I managed to accomplish a lot of things that I am very proud of. Mike and I bought our first house; I got accepted in the dietetic internship program of my dreams; I ran my very first race, the Hot Chocolate 15K in Chicago; signed up for my first half marathon; and celebrated one year of marriage with Mike.

Maybe 12 in ’12 will be a little more successful. I actually made most of the items on  my 11 in ’11, but I never found the time to write about them. I think once I graduate in May my life will become much more manageable and DSD will once again be updated regularly. So, keep an eye out in 2012 for my 2011 must-cook dishes!! Until then, stir up some of these delicious caramels – the perfect balance of sweet and salty goodness.

Microwave Sea Salt Caramels

1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
coarse sea salt

  1. Line a 9×13 pan with aluminum foil. Coat inside with cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. In a large microwave safe bowl combine butter, white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Stir together and place in microwave.
  3. Cook on full power for 6 minutes, stopping to stir thoroughly twice during the cooking time (every 2 minutes).
  4. Remove from microwave and stir until well mixed. Pour into prepared pan. Place in fridge until firm, about 45 minutes.
  5. Remove whole slab of caramel at one time by pulling up on aluminum foil. Place slab on cutting board covered with parchment and peel off foil.
  6. If caramels are oily from the cooking spray, blot them off with a paper towel. Sprinkle coarse sea salt directly on top of caramels.
  7. Cut caramels into desired size and wrap with parchment paper.
recipe from The Yummy Life


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Apple Streusel Bars

Mike and I went apple picking with my family a few weeks ago and we went home with a 10+ pound bag of apples. I ate as many as I could (I think I averaged 2 a day). My new favorite snack? Apples with vanilla yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon. YUM. There is such thing as too much of a good thing, though. I decided to bake something before I started to hate apples.

My only criteria was that it had to be something I’ve never made before. So, caramel apples, apple pie, baked apples, applesauce,  and apple cupcakes were all out. I finally stumbled across a recipe for apple streusel bars over at Our Best Bites. They looked pretty darn tasty and the recipe was simple, too. Simple is a must because I find myself with so little time to cook and bake now with the internship…

These bars are perfect for breakfast, dessert or even a snack. Mike likes them warmed up a bit in the microwave before he eats them. No microwave? A toaster oven or even a hair dryer might work 😉

Apple Streusel Bars

For the pastry:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg, beaten

For the filling:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups sliced, peeled baking apples

For the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon almond extract

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. For the crust: combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until pea-sized crumbs form. Gently mix in beaten egg. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Gently pat about 2/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the dish.
  3. For the filling: combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss with apples. Spread apples on to prepared crust. Sprinkle reserved crust mixture over apples evenly. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. When cooked, allow to cool completely.
  4. For the glaze: whisk together powdered sugar, almond extract and milk. Place glaze into a zip-top bag and cut off a small portion of one of the corners. Drizzle glaze over cooled pastry and allow to harden. Cut into bars and serve.


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Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

Well folks, I start my first dietetic internship rotation today. Since I’ll be spending my day talking about nutrition, I figured there was no better way to kick it off with something not-so-healthy.

These are time-consuming to make, but the results are so worth it. Delicious white cake topped with ganache and filled with a to-die-for custard? Don’t mind if I do!

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes
 makes 12 cupcakes

For the custard:
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/3 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
3 large eggs
3/4 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the ganache:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup whipping cream

To make the custard

  1. In a small bowl, lightly beat egg yolks and set aside.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in milk. Cook, stirring frequently, until thick and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 more minutes.
  3. Remove from heat. Stir in butter until melted and then stir in vanilla. Cover pan with plastic wrap and chill for 2 – 24 hours.
To make the cupcakes:
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with paper cups and set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar on low. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  3. Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing until well combined. Add milk and vanilla and increase the speed to medium. Mix until batter is light and fluffy.
  4. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean about 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
To make the ganache:
  1. For the ganache: melt chocolate chips and whipping cream in microwave-safe bowl. Stir until smooth.
To assemble:
  1. Insert a small paring knife at a 45° angle about 1/8 inch from the edge of a cupcake and cut all the around to remove a cone. Cut the tip of the cone off, leaving about 1/4 inch of the top, creating a small disk. Repeat with remaining cupcakes.
  2. Fill a plastic bag with custard and cut off the corner of the bag. Fill the cupcakes with custard and top with the cake disk.
  3. Spoon chocolate ganache on top of the cupcakes and refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.
Recipe adapted from Cook’s Illustrated


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White Peach Blueberry Cobbler

Cobbler vs. Ice Cream. Spoiler alert – ice cream wins. I tried my darndest to get a picture of the cobbler with a scoop of ice cream. For some reason, I thought I would be quick enough to get one photo of it before the ice cream turned into a puddle. I even tried taking the picture inside since it was a bit cooler.

I lost.

Darn. I quickly ran this plate out to my father in law before the ice cream turned to complete liquid and the whole dish became inedible. Then, I tried again.

Eh, a little better. Food photography is obviously not my forte. Moving on… here’s the recipe!

White Peach Blueberry Cobbler
serves 8

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 white peaches, peeled and sliced
1 pint blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar
Vanilla ice cream

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter an 8×8 pan and set aside.
  2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Add milk and butter, whisk until smooth. Pour into pan and scatter fruit evenly over batter.
  3. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar.
  4. Bake until batter is a golden brown and the fruit bubbles, about 60 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.