Happy Valentine's Day: Healthy Black Bean Chocolate Cupcakes

When I first thought of Valentine's Day (albeit only 3 days ago), I had visions of making my kids heart-shaped pink pancakes for breakfast accompanied by skewers of various heart shaped fruits... 
of a wonderful, romantic, homemade dinner for my husband and I... and of delicious cupcakes for dessert, topped with heart-shaped fondant toppers.

And then reality hit.  My life is way too busy for all of this crap!

The thing is that this is what I LOVE to do.  In an ideal world, this is part of how we would have celebrated Valentine's Day today.  But my kids were none the wiser this morning, as they happily sipped their smoothies before leaving for daycare. 

There will be other years for this kind of craziness when my life isn't quite so crazy in and of itself ;)

The only thing from my above list that I managed to accomplish (sort of) was the cupcakes - without the fondant toppers. I ended up settling on some heart shaped candies that we happened to have here, instead.   

I found the recipe for this chocolate cake on youtube.  It is naturally gluten and dairy free and I loved the idea of sneaking some black beans into chocolate cake for my kids for some hidden protein and fiber.  Now, you're probably thinking that black beans in chocolate cake sounds disgusting.  I swear, you can't even taste them!!

This recipe is overall quite healthy.  It won't win any awards for being the absolute best chocolate cake you've ever tasted in your life.  It's not quite on part with the rich chocolate sour cream bundt cake that Katie made us for dessert on Valentine's Day last year.  However, this is healthy enough that it could be a regular indulgence. It is not very sweet tasting in and of itself.  But I found that after adding the icing, it had just the perfect sweetness.  Not that super sweet taste that many cakes have.

I got the recipe for the buttercream icing here.  To make it dairy (but not soy) free, I used Earth balance instead of butter.  However, I found that I had to add a ton more icing sugar than the recipe called for to get it stiff enough to pipe.  Maybe it is because the Earth balance has a different texture than real butter??  I also used some of the real vanilla we bought in Tahiti instead of the vanilla extract. Yum!

Healthy Black Bean Chocolate Cupcakes

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed1 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 egg

 
Blend in food processor or blender until smooth.

 
Mix in:

1/2 C sugar (I used coconut sugar, but regular sugar would be just fine too)
6 tbsp. olive oil or butter

 
Place 4 eggs in a mixing bowl

and beat for 3-4 minutes on high until they are fluffy.

Add the following to the beaten eggs, along with the black bean mixture and stir only until mixed:

6 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Pour batter into muffin tins.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes at 300 degrees Farenheit. 

I have superstar aim with my batter pouring ;)

Frost with buttercream icing and dust with coloured sugar.  Decorate with candies, if desired.
 

Enjoy!  Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

What Valentine's Day treats did you indulge in today?  Do you have any Valentine's traditions that you enjoy as a family?

Difficulty level: easy-moderate

Makes approximately 18 cupcakes.

Note: because of the black beans in the recipe, these tend to dry out quickly, so keep them in a tightly sealed container.  If you don't frost yours (and you will regret it!), place plastic seal directly on the surface of the cupcakes to help keep them fresh longer.

Chocolate Truffles

A quick post tonight as I still have a million and one things to get done.  But I wanted to share this recipe while there is still time (as if!) to make these.  Trust me - they're worth finding the time to make.  Though I didn't find the time to make any myself this year.  This is another post that I never actually posted last year ;)

Back in my old life when I actually had some time, we used to make these for friends and family over the holidays every year.  And I have had many, many friends request a batch of these well in advance.  That's how good they are.  And they're amazingly simple to make. 

The most important thing to have excellent results is to use quality chocolate.  We always use dark, dark chocolate (probably at least 70%).  We typically use chocolate that we bring home from France, so I can't share a specific brand with you.  But we have, on occasion, bought some of the dark chocolate bars at Costco and had good results with that.

Believe it or not, these are actually freezer-friendly.  I wouldn't necessarily freeze them before giving them out as gifts, but we have often frozen post-Christmas left-overs and eaten them over the following months (in other words, a frozen one every time I opened the freezer!). 

The recipe below is for plain ol' chocolate truffles.  We have, however, been known to spike them with some Baileys or Amarula from time to time ;) 

1 C 35% cream
8 oz. (approximately 240g) chopped dark chocolate
1/3 C butter at room temperature
cocoa powder

1.  In a saucepan, gently heat the cream (without bringing it to a boil) and incorporate the chopped chocolate.  Stir until melted, taking care to not let the chocolate burn.

2.  Add the butter and mix well until the butter is melted.

3.  Cover and refrigerate for approximately 4 hours or until the consistency of the mixture is firm enough to be able to form truffles - if not, just eat it directly out of the saucepan with a spoon ;).  

4.  Dust your hands with cocoa powder and scoop a teaspoon sized amount of the mixture into your hands.  Roll until you have formed a ball.  Continue to do same until you have used all of the chocolate mixture.  Keep coating your hands with cocoa, as needed, along the way.  

5.  Roll the truffles in cocoa until fully coated.

6.  Eat.  Stop eating before you get sick.

Options for garnish:

• grilled coconut flakes with five spice powder
• cocoa and five spice powder
• cocoa and ground cardamom
• chopped pistachios
• ground hazelnuts 
• etc, etc, etc...  

Variation:  For mint chocolate truffles, add 1/2 C of chopped fresh mint to the cream.  Bring to a boil and let infuse for approximately one hour at room temperature.  Bring to a boil again and pass through a strainer to remove the mint.  Wait until the cream has cooled somewhat and continue with the rest of the recipe.

Difficulty level: easy to moderate

For a soy and/or nut-free version, just be sure to read the label on your chocolate (use a brand such as Enjoy Life).

Healthy Date Squares

My sister recently asked me to e-mail her my date square recipe.  And by recently, I mean maybe 3-4 weeks ago.  And I still haven't done it.  I somehow found the time to actually make a batch myself (eat them) and blog it, but have yet found the time to e-mail her the recipe.  Funny how that works sometimes, eh?

So here ya go Kris ;)

I've adapted the original recipe ever so slightly to make them both dairy and gluten-free (see bottom of post).  However, I'll post the recipe as is too so that all of you who don't have to be on this crazy diet can enjoy the real thing.

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour (I used to use whole-wheat)
1 1/2 C rolled oats
approximately 1/4 C hemp seed
1 C lightly packed brown sugar (I find 1/2 C is enough for the regular version; I used 3/4 C in the gluten-free version to hide the taste of the gf flour mixture)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C butter or margarine (I usually use a bit less)

Date filling:
1 lb. dates, chopped (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 C water
2 tbsp. lemon juice

1.  In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar and baking soda.  

2.  Cut in butter with pastry blender or in food processor until mixture is crumbly.  

 
3.  Press half of the crumb mixture into nonstick or lightly greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.  (I made mine in an 8-inch square pan - I prefer to eat a smaller square with lots of filling).

4.  Date filling:  In a covered saucepan over low heat, cook dates and water for about 15 minutes or until thickened and smooth, stirring occasionally.  (You may need to add extra water while cooking if mixture becomes too thick).  Stir in lemon juice.  Spread over crumb layer; sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.  

5.  Bake in preheated 350 degree Farenheit oven for about 35 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cut into bars.

 

Makes 42 bars if made in 13x9 inch pan.

For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free certified oats and Bob Red's Mill all-purpose gluten-free flour instead of regular flour.

For a dairy-free version, use Earth Balance spread instead of butter.

For a dairy-free, soy-free version, use coconut butter or Earth Balance's soy free spread instead of butter.

Difficulty level: easy to moderate

Adapted from Cook Great Food.
 

Health-Packed Pumpkin Bran Muffins

Before I get going with my recipe, I wanted to quickly share this week's favourite moments with the kids:

- Logan came up with the nickname "babykins" for Chloé, a mixture of "Chloékins", which we call her, and "baby", which he almost always calls her.  I LOVE her new nickname!!

- ever since we finally got around to opening up our pool, Logan has been running around the house shrieking "Logan in a pool" non-stop.

- when I had to brake quickly the other day, Logan told me "whoa! careful car".  God that kid makes me laugh.  When he isn't making me pull my hair out.

Now onto the good stuff.

Today's recipe comes from the amazing cookbook Simply Great Food.  In my quest to empty my freezer as quickly as possible, I whipped up these muffins this weekend with some leftover canned pumpkin I had frozen awhile back.  The thing with this freezer challenge is that you take out a small bag of pumpkin, only to transform it into a mountain of muffins, which can't possibly be eaten before they go bad.  And back in the freezer these bad boys go, only now, taking up 20 times more space than the pumpkin originally did.  I don't think I'll ever see the end of it!

I made half of these into mini-muffins and the other half into regular sized ones.  Logan liked them almost as much as he liked these muffins here and scarfed down 4 of the mini muffins as soon as they came out of the oven.  Guess I could have made them all just regular sized and saved myself the headache of washing those tricky mini-muffin pans!

I made my muffins with 3/4 C of pumpkin and 1/4 C of unsweetened applesauce, only because I didn't have quite enough pumpkin (just an idea, for when you get to the bottom of your canned pumpkin).  I also made them entirely with whole-wheat flour instead of a mixture and they turned out fine.

I like these muffins because they're full of all things healthy: whole-wheat flour, flax seed, sesame seeds, wheat germ... and even some sneaky vegetables!

2 C bran cereal (I used All-Bran) or 1 C natural bran
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 1/4 C whole-wheat flour
1 C raisins
1/2 C sesame seeds
1/2 C ground flaxseed
1/4 C wheat germ
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 C buttermilk or sour milk (1 tbsp. lemon juice/vinegar added to each cup of milk)
1 1/2 C lightly packed brown sugar
1 C mashed cooked pumpkin or canned pumpkin (not pie filling)
1/2 C vegetable oil

1.  In a large bowl, combine bran cereal, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, raisins, sesame seeds, flaxseed, wheat germ, baking soda and salt.

As you can see, I cheated, and mixed the wet ingredients in first

 

2.  In a very large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, pumpkin and oil.  Gradually fold in bran mixture until well combined.  Bake immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 week.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.

3.  Scoop about 1/3 C batter per muffin into prepared muffin cups.

4.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch and a tester inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean.  Let cool in tins for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 24 muffins.

Difficulty level: easy to moderate

Healthy, Veggie Packed Morning Glory Muffins

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there!!!  I hope that everyone was spoiled and enjoyed a day of relaxation in the sun.

I've had a nice, quiet day.  I woke up this morning to a brand new KitchenAid mixing bowl.  Does my husband know me or does my husband know me?  Or was it just an attempt to get me to make more goodies??  So, I of course had to test run it as soon as I got home from my zumba class. 

So I made some muffins, as it's been quite awhile since I've made any and Logan has been asking for them lately.  Remember here when I said that I had found a delicious, new, healthy recipe for muffins?  I think I love these ones here even more.  I got this recipe from Katie when we were in Vancouver.  These muffins are packed with vegetables, which as any mom of a toddler knows, are almost impossible to get into most kids.  Logan has no idea that he's eating anything good for him here.

I would usually leave the cranberries and pumpkin seeds out, as Logan doesn't like to mix textures of food together.  But he has recently fallen in love with dried cranberries and cherries - I've convinced him to eat them by telling him they are candy.  I have no idea how he even knows what candy is, as I've certainly never given him any (daycare???), but it was enough to make him try (and love!) these.  We also tried to sell him on some soup by calling it ketchup, but he was a bit too smart for that one ;)

I left the dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds in and it seems to be a success, as he ate one and a half of these huge muffins within a few minutes of them coming out of the oven.

Before I get on with the recipe, I wanted to share a few of my favourite moments from this week:

- Logan turning to wave to our family doctor as we were leaving his office and saying "bye Soucie".

- how Chloé has started pulling at her hair and her ear when she is falling asleep.

- watching how Chloé watches Logan's every move, wherever he goes.  She cranes her neck at insane angles to not lose sight of him and he eats it up.  It's so special to get to watch such a bond develop between the two of them.  I think of how close I am with my siblings and realize that it likely started way back in the beginning.

- seeing how excited Logan was when Jérôme took him for his first ride of the season in the bike trailer.   He kept begging "vélo, vélo" (bike) even after returning from an hour long ride.  And refused to take off his helmet for at least an hour afterwards. In true Logan style ;)

- the sound of Chloé starting to babble (what S-LP wouldn't love that??). 

- how when I kissed Logan good night tonight to go put Chloé to bed (unsuccessfully), Logan smiled and said "dance".  I usually only kiss him goodnight before he's in pyjamas on the night I go to zumba.  So much better than the tears we used to get at my departure.

Enjoy your muffins.  And your Mother's Day.  I hope you have something special planned for dinner.

Beat together with a fork:

1 egg
1/2 C brown sugar
1/3 C plain yogurt
3 tbsp. canola oil

I used plain Greek yogurt, as this is all that I had in my fridge.

Whisk together in another bowl:

1 1/2 C flour (I used whole-wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix wet and dry mixtures until just combined and then add:

1/2 C grated carrot (Katie mentioned she usually puts in a fair amount more, so so did I) 
1/2 C shredded zucchini
3-4 lumps of frozen spinach, defrosted and well drained (pat with a paper towel to dry well)
1/2 C grated apple (I left the skin on for extra nutrients and fiber)
1/4 C cranberries (I used dried cranberries)
1/4 C pumpkin seeds or walnuts
1/4 C shredded unsweetened coconut

I doubled the recipe, and it took me almost an entire bag of mini carrots to get 1 C grated (didn't have any regular carrots in the fridge), about 1 and a half tiny zucchinis and about an apple and a half.  Just to give you an idea on how much to buy.  And it was maybe total 1/4 C of spinach that I put in.

Next time, I'll also throw in some combination of the following: wheat germ, ground flax seed, hemp seed, and/or chia seed.

defrosted spinach

Mix until just combined.  Do not overmix (lumps are fine).

Pour into well-greased muffin tins and bake for 16-20 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit.

The recipe says that it makes 6 large muffins, but I got 18 large muffins after doubling the recipe.  Katie always doubles it and makes them in a mini-muffin pan, yielding close to 2 dozen mini muffins. 

Difficulty level: easy to moderate