Coconut Cacao Pancakes made with Califia Farms Almondmilk

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PANCAKES! Do you remember when I was the queen of #glutenfree pancakes?! Two-ingredient, three-ingredient, FOUR and more… I made them all! Until I discovered my smoothie obsession and put my pancake game on pause. WELLLL, it’s time to spruce up my pancake collection… and what’s a better way to do so than by adding a little cacao into the mix?! Introducing my Coconut Cacao Pancakes! With a special thank you to Califia Farms for saving me on a day-to-day with their incredible dairy-free Almondmilk.

What You Will Need:

1 Cup Almond Flour
1/4 C Coconut Flour
1 T Honey
2 T cacao powder (TRY 2T to start!)
1/4 Cup + 1 T Unsweetened Vanilla Califia Farms Almondmilk
4 Eggs
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
pinch of salt
1 tsp Vanilla

What You Will Do:

In a bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, combine Califia Farms Almondmilk, eggs, honey, and vanilla.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until totally combined.
Add cacao, and stir!
Spray a heated skillet with coconut oil spray.
Pour batter into 3″ diameter circles on your skillet (should be able to make 4 at a time). Let the pancakes cook for ~1 minute, or until they start to bubble/firm on top and are firm on the bottom. Flip and cook for ~30 seconds!
Stack your pancakes and top with melted chocolate chips or chocolate sauce (NECESSARY), and more toppings of your choosing! (I added more honey!)

Enjoy!

 

Hot Chocolate Made with Vital Proteins Mocha Creamer

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I talk all the time about my obsession with Vital Proteins (blog, here!), and if you follow me on Instagram, then you will see Vital Proteins on my stories pretty much daily! I’ll save you my speech on why VP and collagen are a necessary part of one’s diet (hair and nail growth, heal leaky gut syndrome, clears skin) and instead, I will talk about their NEWEST addition, Mocha Creamer! For the coffee drinkers out there, this is TOTALLY for you! And if you don’t drink coffee like myself, then this creamer is MEANT for your hot chocolate!

Order your Vital Proteins, here! 

What You Will Need:
1.5 C Unsweetened Coconut Milk
1 T Maple Syrup
2 T Cacao Powder
1 Serving Vital Proteins Mocha Collagen Creamer
Pinch of salt
Gluten-free, dairy-free mini marshmallows
What You Will Do:
Boil unsweetened coconut milk and add to Vitamix.
Add maple syrup, cacao powder, salt, and collagen peptides.
Blend on high until fully mixed!
 Serve and top with mini chocolate chips and marshmallows!

Enjoy!!!

Blondie Bars with Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

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I’ve tried making blondies for years, but have yet to develop the perfect recipe. Well my friends, that all changed TODAY. Not only did these blondies come out just as I wanted them to, but they were delicious and totally allergy-free!! Feast your eyes on my new favorite recipe, courtesy of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chip Minis! 

You’ve seen me post Enjoy Life Baking Chocolate for YEARS now, and there is a reason for it. I am absolutely OBSESSED with it! The mini chips, dark chocolate morsels, and mega chunks are staples in my cabinets, and not only are they incredibly delicious, but the chocolate, as well as the entire Enjoy Life Foods brand, is entirely allergy-free.

I’m known to grab a handful of chocolate chips after each meal, but I also use the chocolate in just about every recipe I make. (i.e. the topping on my Classic Banana Bread and as the necessary coating for my Chocolate Avocado Marshmallow Cups)

What You Will Need:

  • 1 1/4 cup Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour 
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 Chia egg, (1T chia powder to 3T water)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Enjoy Life Baking Chocolate

What You Will Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix your GF flour, baking soda, salt and brown sugar.
In a separate bowl, mix your chia egg, HALF of the vegan butter, and vanilla.
Combine the two bowls and stir/whisk until totally blended.
**We added the second half of the vegan butter AS IT WAS NEEDED. I was hoping to only need 3/4 C, but I finally got the consistency I wanted after I used the full cup. 

Add your Enjoy Life Baking Chocolate minis!!
Lay parchment paper on a baking sheet or brownie pan, and dab with remaining vegan butter so the blondies don’t totally stick.
Spread dough on the parchment paper. We opted for a thin blondie versus thick.
Bake at 350 for ~17 minutes. Check in at the 15 minute mark. They COULD have been taken out then, but I wanted the bottom to be a little bit more crisp.

Let your blondie cool for ~15 minutes and then slice into bars!
Melt more Enjoy Life Baking Chocolate in the microwave, and drizzle it on top of the bars for more chocolatey goodness!

SERVE!

Links:

 

Cacao Avocado Pudding

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Growing up I had a pudding cup in my lunch bag every day. Which explains why I am a total chocaholic now! Since going gluten and dairy-free, I haven’t had pudding! Well, it dawned on me. I use avocados in my smoothies to make my smoothies extra creamy, so why not use them with a little cacao to make my dream pudding bowl. Four ingredients later, my dream pudding bowl had been made!
What You Will Need:
2 Avocados
1/2 Cup Cacao Powder
1/4C Maple Syrup
1/2C + 2T Unsweetened Almond Milk
Pinch of Salt
1tsp Vanilla
What You Will Do:
Slice two avocados and add to a blender or Vitamix.
Add Cacao Powder, Maple Syrup, Almond Milk, Salt, and Vanilla.

Blend on high, pausing here and there to scrape down the sides of the blender if need be.
Pour into a bowl, and add your toppings! I added Banana Slices and Cacao Nibs.
Enjoy!
 
I like my pudding as is, and use toppings as a way of adding sweetness to the pudding. But if you like things EXTRA sweet like my assistant, add a little more maple syrup on top and stir it in!
This recipe makes 4 servings! 

Cacao Banana Bread

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chocbanana

So, who has made my famous banana bread?? And did you love it? It’s my go-to baked dish when I’m asked to bring breakfast or dessert to a party! Not only is it super filling, but it also uses few ingredients, and on the whole it’s pretty healthy! Well, I decided to take the recipe one step further and add a little cocoa to the mix. The result? Chocolate-y goodness.

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What You Will Need:
2 large very ripe bananas
1/2 cup dairy-free butter, melted
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 Cup Almond Flour
1/3 cup cacoa powder
OPTIONAL: Walnuts, Blueberries, Coconut Butter

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What You Will Do:
Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, mash bananas.
Add melted butter, coconut sugar, egg, and vanilla, and mix!
Separately, combine Almond Flour, cacoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
Pour your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until all ingredients are combined.
Optional: add walnuts or dairy-free chocolate chips!
Pour batter into a 9×5″ bread pan that is coated in olive oil or olive oil spray.
Cook for ~40 minutes! When finished, let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving. chocbanana2

Chocolate Avocado Coconut Cups

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Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Butter Cups, Coconut Butter Cups… why not Avocado Cups!! Last year I made Avocado Marshmallow Cups and they were super tasty! But the filling was more liquidy than your typical nut butter cup. And although I still HIGHLY recommend making them, I decided to give this recipe another go, except this time I opted to use coconut butter in place of marshmallow to give me the nut butter cup consistency I was craving. The result? HUGE SUCCESS. Top 5 recipe of the year right here!!!

What You Will Need:
1/2 Cup Mashed Avocado (1 medium avocado)
1/3 Cup Coconut Butter
1/4 Maple Syrup (or alternative paleo sugar)
Pinch of Salt
Half Bag of GF/DF chocolate Chips
1T Almond Flour

What You Will Do:
In a small bowl, add mashed avocado, coconut butter, maple syrup, salt, and almond flour.
Mix until combined and smooth.
Line a muffin tray with Cups, and add 1T of batter to each cup.

Melt chocolate chips in the microwave (add coconut oil if need be)
Top each avocado cup with a thin layer of chocolate.


Chill in the refrigerator or freezer for at least 30 minutes, and serve!


PRO TIP: FREEZE your cups!! They LITERALLY taste like ice cream when you do!!!

No Bake Chocolate Almond Bars

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I first started making no-bake recipes because whenever I cook, I tend to eat half the batter before baking! And when a recipe has egg in it this isn’t the smartest idea. Does anyone else agree that the batter is the best part of a recipe?? With this No Bake Chocolate Almond Bar recipe you can indulge in the batter, guilt-free!

What You Will Need:
For the Almond Bake:
1 Cup Almond Butter (or other nut butter)
1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
1/4 Cup Coconut Sugar (or alternative natural sweetener)

For the Chocolate Spread:
1 Cup Vegan Chocolate Chips for melting
1/2 Cup Almond Butter (or other nut butter)

What You Will Do:
In a bowl, combine almond butter, coconut sugar, and coconut flour. Stir until totally mixed.


Line a 8″ square baking pan with parchment paper, and pour batter into the pan. Spread until the batter is even throughout.
Place in the refrigerator to cool.
In a separate bowl, melt your chocolate chips in the microwave. Add almond butter and mix!
Remove batter from the refrigerator, and pour chocolate over the batter. Spread evenly!
Place back in the refrigerator and cool for 1-2 hours before cutting.
Slice and serve!

For even firmer results, place in the freezer! You can also do a double chocolate layer and pour the chocolate spread under and on top of the almond batter.

NOTES:
This recipe can also be used to make peanut butter cups!
If you want to eat immediately, refrigerate and eat after an hour or two. But it will melt quick! For best results, FREEZE!!

Pumpkin Chia Pudding

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It’s October, and as pumpkins line the grocery stores and homes on my street, it also fills my cabinets and refrigerator. I love making classic pumpkin dishes like roast pumpkin, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin bread, but it’s also fun to incorporate pumpkin into my everyday, year-round recipes! One of my favorite recipes to incorporate seasonal flavors into is my Chia Seed pudding! When you make the pudding parfait style you can play around with the different layers, and given the time of year, I figured a Pumpkin Chia Seed Pudding Parfait sounded just right.

What You Will Need:
2 C Unsweetened Vanilla Hemp Milk
6 T Chia Seeds
1T Maple Syrup
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 C Pumpkin
Dash of Cinnamon
Handful of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

What You Will Do:
Pour maple syrup, chia seeds, and vanilla into your bowl of hemp milk and stir.
Place in a refrigerator for minimum 1-2 hours. I like making the recipe before I go to bed, and eating it in the morning!
When your pudding is done, pour half of the pudding in a jar. Add 1/4C pumpkin. Add the second half of the pudding, and the second half of the pumpkin. Top with chocolate chips!!
Mix it all together and eat up! Or, if you’re a purist like myself, eat it layer by layer!

This recipe serves 2 people and although it may not seem like it, it totally fills you up! Enjoy!

Vegan Funfetti Cookies

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Cookies are my favorite baked-good to make. Maybe it’s because they are pretty simple to make, or maybe it’s because I eat half the batter while doing so. I’m known for my gluten-free and vegan chocolate chip cookies, and I love that there are SO many different recipes out there that result in the same, but different delicious creation! This week, I opted for making vegan, GF sugar cookies, but made them a bit livelier by adding gluten-free sprinkles and vegan chocolate chips!

What You Need:

  • 1/4 cup plus 2T vegan or dairy butter
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Chia egg
  • 1 cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
  • Handful vegan chocolate chips
  • Handful Gluten-Free sprinkles

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What You Will Do: 

In a bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, and all-purpose flour.

In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, vanilla, and egg.

Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients and mix.

Toss in chocolate chips and sprinkles!

Scoop up tablespoon-sized balls of dough and place on a pan.This recipe makes 8

Cook ~10 minutes on 350, or until you see a light golden brown color.

Take out of the oven, and let cool for 10 minutes.

That’s it! So easy!

Apple Slice Toast with Enjoy Life Chocolate

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I did it! I cored an apple without an apple corer, and didn’t cut off my fingers!!! The process was fairly simple, but I don’t recommend kids doing it! Anywho, I’ve been looking into healthier variations of (gluten-free) toasts, and recently I’ve seen a lot of people using apple slices as the base in place of toast! It’s pretty genius if you ask me. Apple and sunbutter/chocolate sauce are my go-to’s when I’m having fondue, so it was only logical to use the two as my ‘toast’ spreads. With a few bags of Enjoy Life Baking Chocolate and Mini Chips on hand, I knew exactly what I was going to do.

What You Will Need:
2 Apples
1 T Sunbutter
1/4 Bag Enjoy Life Mini Chocolates to melt
To Top: Enjoy Life Mini Chips, Baking Chocolate, Mini Sugar Cookies, Nut & Seed Mix

What You Will Do:
Core the Apple: 
To core the apple, first slice off a thin layer of the bottom of the apple so it sits flat on the surface.
With a knife, cut straight down into the apple, creating a square around the core. Trace your knife through the four marks to define the square.
Press your fingers on the stem of the apple, and push down. The core should come through the bottom!
Now rotate the apple on its side, and cut horizontal slices, making rings!!

The Fun Part:
Melt your Enjoy Life Baking Chocolate for 60 seconds in the microwave on high.
Spread your sunbutter or melted chocolate on the apple slices, and top with whichever toppings you’re in the mood for!

This is the ULTIMATE snack for kids, either while at school or when they are back home! They won’t even realize they are eating apples! And for the adults, this snack is great, too. I mean, adding nutrients without sacrificing flavor is a total win! Enjoy!

Paleo Banana Bread Donuts

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What do you do when you have one overly ripe banana, a bunch of almond flour on hand, and thirty minutes to kill? Make Paleo Banana Bread donuts, of course! This recipe literally takes just 5 minutes to prepare and under 15 minutes to cook, and before you know it you will have 5 days worth of breakfast at your fingertips. Or one day of meal and snacks if you’re like me!

What You Will Need:
1 Cup Almond Flour
1 RIPE Bananas
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Coconut Sugar
Pinch Salt and cinnamon
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Vanilla
Optional: Paleo choc chips!

What You Will Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In two separate bowls, mash your banana and whisk your egg.
Combine banana, egg, and vanilla.
Add your dry ingredients! (Almond Flour, Baking Soda, salt, cinnamon)
Stir until totally incorporated. Mix your chocolate chips in the batter!


Spray a donut tray with coconut oil, and pour in your batter. You should be able to make 5-6 donuts! Top with more chocolate chips and place in the oven.


Cook for 13 minutes or until a toothpick can be stuck in and come out clean.
Plate and serve!

These donuts are super fluffy thanks to the egg ! But the recipe turns out just as well if you sub the egg for a chia egg and make it vegan. Enjoy!

For cacao donuts, add 1/4 Cup cacao!

Chocolate Coconut Cauliflower Smoothie

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Cauliflower in your smoothie?? YES. Recently I’ve become obsessed with making my smoothies as thick and creamy as possible. I don’t like to put fruit in my smoothies, as much as I love the creaminess you get when you add a banana into the mix, so I’ve been on the hunt for creamy, veggie alternatives! I was skeptical about adding cauliflower and worried it would throw off the taste, but with just one cup of steamed, then frozen, cauliflower, taste isn’t sacrificed at all!!


What You Will Need:
1.5C Unsweetened Coconut Milk
1 Scoop Chocolate Protein (I use Aloha or Tone It Up)
1 T Chia Seeds
.5 T Brain Octane (optional)
1 T Coconut Oil
1 Cup Steamed and then frozen/refrigerated Cauliflower

What You Will Do:
First things first. Steam and then freeze or refrigerate your cauliflower! Before you freeze/refrigerate, make sure you squeeze ALL the water out of the steamed cauli!
Add all of your ingredients to the blender, starting first with the Coconut Milk.
Once all of your ingredients are in your Vitamix/blender, blend away!
Pour into a cup or bowl and top with toppings of your choosing. I added Eating Evolved Midnight Dark Chocolate and blueberries!