Raw Oatmeal Cookie Energy Bites

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted!  Feels like a lifetime ago.  In that time I've gone to Thailand, lost my camera (and my SD card), baked my way through Christmas, ate my way through Christmas, and changed jobs.  Needless to say it's been a busy few months!  The good news is that I've been baking like a crazy person and I have sooo many recipes to share.

Just to ease my way back I thought I'd start with something simple.  I've seen so many recipes out there for homemade lara bars I thought I'd give it a try.  My first attempt? ... yeah ... that was a disaster.  Grainy, oily, kind of hard.  The good news is that I've fixed it....and now it's awesome ... and SUPER easy.  These are a no-bake version of oatmeal cookies, and at about 50 calories per ball, it's easy to stick to your new years resolutions.

You can also make them gluten-free or paleo by removing the oats.

Ingredients (makes 16 bites)

1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnut halves (I used raw)
1/4 cup rolled oats
2 Tbsp unsweetened coconut (I used shredded)
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Step 1: Soak the Raisins
Place raisins in a bowl and add about 1 cup of water.  Let them sit for an hour or so.  This step is important because if your raisins are too dry you'll end up with a grainy mess that won't stick together.

Step 2: Grind the Walnuts
Place walnuts in a food processor and grind until grainy.  Not too long, you don't want walnut butter.

Step 3: Add the Oats, Coconut, and Cinnamon
Add rolled oats, coconut, and cinnamon to the food processor and give it a couple of pulses.

Step 4: Add the Raisins
When your raisins are nice and soft, drain the water out and add your raisins to the walnut mixture.  Pulse until it looks like dough.

Step 5: Form into balls
Form into balls about 3cm in diameter.  I used a 3cm ice cream scoop to portion out my bites.

Step 6:
Refrigerate.  You can eat them without refrigerating, but I like them a little cold, keeps them firmer.

Now get out there and make your own.

Magic Bars

I don't really know where this name came from.  My mom as been making these bars for YEARS and has just always called them magic bars.  If I were to guess, I'd say that you can make these so darn quick it feels like magic :-)  Also, you just can't screw them up, you can't ... trust me.  The worst thing you could do here is keep the crust in the oven too long.  If that scares you, heck, just skip baking the crust first, it'll be just fine.

I like these for either an afternoon tea or as a 'secondary dessert', you know the kind of desserts that seem to come out after the main dessert ... wait, is that just my family that does that?!?  hmmm ... there's a reason that I have a sweet tooth.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
1 cup toasted pecans (roughly chopped)
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened)
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Take out a 9"x13" pan.

Step 1:
Put your crumbs and butter in your pan and mix them.  Then press them into the pan.  I use the base of a glass or the base of my measuring cups to press the mixture down as much as I can.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then take it out.

Step 2:
Pour the condensed milk on top of the crumbs

Step 3:
Sprinkle the pecans on top

Step 4:
Sprinkle the coconut and the chocolate chips on top

Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

And .... done!  just like magic.  Wait for the bars to cool before you cut them.  Now the real magic will be managing to keep your hands off these babies!  :-D

Flourless Chocolate Cake

If you have never made a flourless chocolate cake, you're missing out.  I made this cake for the first time two years ago on valentines day and it was a hit.   It's like a cake had a baby with a brownie ... it has the rich, moist quality of a brownie with the fluffiness and look of a cake.

This is also a great recipe if you have to make a desert for someone who has a gluten intolerance.  It has no flour what so ever so you don't have to worry about finding different kinds of flour at the last minute and worrying that it won't taste right.  

It is a very rich cake so it's nice to cut that with some ice cream .... and heck, if you have some caramel sauce kicking around, load 'er up!!  haha

I must confess that I was making this desert to take over to a friends place, so I made one 9" cake to take with me and then saved a little batter to make the little 4" cake pictured above so I could destroy it for your viewing pleasure :-)  This is what the full cake looked like:

Ingredients:

9 Eggs

1 Pound of good dark chocolate (I used 1 and a 1/2 of those big gold wrapped Lindt chocolate bars)

1/2 cup of butter

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

Original recipe found at www.foodnetwork.com

Directions:

Preheat you oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x3" circular spring form pan.

Step 1:

Separate your eggs,  put the whites in the clean and very dry bowl of your stand mixer.  Put the yolks in a side bowl

Step 2:

Set your mixer on medium and whip your egg whites to firm peaks (make sure everything you use is COMPLETELY dry or the egg whites won't whip up).  Once your egg whites are done, put them in bowl or side plate.

Stiff peak egg whites

Step 3:

While your egg whites are whipping up, chop up your chocolate into little pieces and put it in a bowl and put that bowl over simmering water.  Add the butter.  Keep stirring and let it melt.  Once it has melted, turn off the heat.

The melted chocolate with butter

Step 4:

Once your egg whites are in a side bowl, put your yolks in the bowl of the stand mixer with the sugar (no need to wash the bowl).  Whip your yolks and sugar together until pale yellow.

Step 5:

A little at a time, add the melted chocolate to your egg yolk mixture.  Don't put it all in at the same time because if your chocolate is too warm you'll scramble your egg yolks.

Egg yolk, sugar, and chocolate mixture

Step 6:

Gently fold in half your egg whites into your yolk/chocolate mixture. Once they have been incorporated, fold in the rest of your egg whites.

Step 7:

Pour your batter into the prepared spring form pan and bake for 35-40 minutes. When it's done you'll see the top start to crack along the sides and when you insert a toothpick it should come out with a little moist crumb stuck to it.  Let it cool for about 10 minutes before removing the sides of the pan.

Ready to go in the oven

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream ... everything is better with ice cream and caramel :-D