No Refined Sugar Protein Brownies

My husband and I extended our January No Sugar Challenge to February...And YOU get to benefit! I am sharing another healthy treat. This one will satisfy your chocolate sweet tooth, and it packs a good protein punch!  Double WIN!

The main response we get when we tell anyone we are avoiding refined sugars and flours is "WHY???" I admit had to ponder this to give a genuine answer. 

In January, my "why" was to clean up my diet after all the holiday junk I consumed at the end of last year.  My husband and I extended it into February because we have loved the way we feel.  We allow ourselves one "cheat day" each week, but it's not a "binge day." Usually it means we eat something like waffles or chocolate chips (or both, together!). We don't go eat a dozen doughnuts and negate all the good we have done through the week!

We have also upped the ante on our workouts, so these protein brownies especially feel good after a hard bootcamp or trail run!  In fact, my husband came home from a tough snow-camping trip with our son and ate the last three (of the second batch I made)!

No Refined Sugar Protein Brownies

Makes 1 9x13 pan

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened  (can use all coconut oil, just double salt)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

1/2 cup natural peanut butter (or other nut butter)

1/2 cup chocolate protein powder

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9x13 baking dish/pan.

2. In a food processor or electric mixer bowl, beat coconut oil and butter until well combined. Add cocoa powder and honey and beat well. Mix in eggs, peanut butter and protein powder until smooth. 

3. Whisk coconut flour and sea salt together, then stir into main mixture. 

4. Pour into prepared dish, and bake 13-16 minutes, just until top no longer looks wet and edges begin to darken. 

5. Cool completely. These taste best cooled or chilled. I liked them at room temperature, but loved them after they sat in the fridge a while. Store in air-tight container, or wrap individually as an easy to grab protein treat!

Participating in these link-ups. 

Banana Bread Cookies

Creativity in the kitchen so often arises out of necessity, am I right??  In the case of these cookies, I NEEDED something sweet.  However, my husband and I have sworn off refined sugars and flours for the month of January, so my sweet tooth was not easily appeased. 

I had some bananas sitting on the counter that I was guarding with my life so they would ripen enough to use in my sugar-free-sweet-treat-making endeavors.  Finally they began to turn brown, and I set to work. 

Now I know that raisins in cookies are not enjoyed by all. Usually you love'em or hate'em.  I am in-between. I love them if they are soft and don't break up the uniform texture of the cookie too much. I hate them if they are hard.  I think the Love'em camp would be larger if more cookie chefs took the time to plump their raisins in water before adding them to recipes.  Sun-Maid has figured this out and has done it for you with their Baking Raisins, available at grocery stores or on Amazon. 

You can also measure out your raisins, cover them with boiling water, and let them sit for about 10 minutes. Then drain off the water (but don't squeeze the raisins), and they are ready to add to your baking! 

But if you absolutely hate raisins in any form or fashion, leave them out. These cookies can stand on their own, with our without the addition of raisins!

Banana Bread Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups whole-wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup coconut oil, softened

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

3 very ripe bananas, mashed well

3 cups rolled oats (oatmeal)

1 cup baking raisins (raisins soaked in hot water 10 minutes, then drained), optional

1 cup chopped pecans, optional

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment, silpat, or coat with cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and coconut oil until smooth. Add honey and beat well. Beat in eggs. 

4. Add 1/2 flour mixture to wet mix. Mix in bananas, then add remaining flour mix. Stir in oatmeal, raisins and pecans. 

5. Place rounded teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 10 minutes, until edges just begin to brown and tops no longer look wet.  Cool, then store in airtight container. 

Participating in these link-ups. 

Natural Energy Bites

Summer is coming, and if your family is like mine, we will be on the GO! Vacations, camps, swimming lessons, hiking and camping are all on the agenda.  

So I developed these yummy and nutritious Natural Energy Bites. I've seen similar products in the health food section at the grocery store--Aussie Bites, Simple Bites, Somersaults--and all are yummy. But we can devour lots of money's worth of those in a short amount of time. 

You can make these bites and store them in the fridge or freezer all summer long. My family loves them. My neighbors love them. I took some to my physical therapist today--they loved them!  Have I convinced you yet? 

If not, here are more reasons to love these nutritious morsels: 

* Refined Sugar-Free

*Made with Coconut Oil (a healthy fat)

* Gluten Free

*Wholesome, Natural, Easy-to-find Ingredients

*5 Grams of Sugar and 85 calories per FOUR snacks

Here's how to make 'em: 

The healthy winning line-up. Many, if not all, of these ingredients are probably staples in your pantry. 

The tools used to make the cute little uniform bites: 

Wax Paper or Parchment Paper and an Apple Corer.

Beat coconut oil and honey. Add the egg and mix well.

Put nuts and dried fruit in food processor and pulse until...

...it looks about like this. It's okay for a few larger chunks to remain.

Stir the processed fruit and nuts into the oil and honey mix.

Measure 1 cup of old-fashioned oats into the food processor or blender. 

Pulse until mostly milled into "oat flour."  Add baking soda and pulse a few seconds more. (No need to wash your food processor between the fruit/nuts and the flour--it all ends up together in the end!)

Mix oat flour mixture, remaining 2.5 cups of rolled oats, vanilla, seeds, and coconut (if desired) into the wet mixture until well incorporated.  Dump entire bowl onto wax/parchment paper.

Place a second piece of wax/parchment paper over the dough and roll to 1/2 inch thick.

Here it is all rolled out.

Use the apple corer to place the "bites" onto a prepared cookie sheet. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes. Check at 6 in case your oven or pan cooks faster than mine. 7 was perfect for me. They should rise just a bit and be light brown around the edges. Cool completely.

No "empty calories" here! Full of goodness!

Natural Energy Bites
Makes 168 bites

Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1/2 cup nuts (if using roasted and salted, omit salt)
1/2 cup dried fruit (dates, raisins, dried cranberries, apricots, etc)
1 cup oatmeal ground into flour (grind in blender of food processor)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup chia, flax, or other seeds of your choice
1/2 cup coconut flakes (optional)
2.5 cups old fashioned oatmeal

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat coconut oil and honey. Add egg and mix well.
3. In a food processor, process nuts and fruit together until chopped very small. Stir this into the oil and honey mixture.
4. Stir oatmeal flour and baking soda together. Add to wet mixture. Stir in vanilla.
5. Stir seeds, flakes, and remaining oatmeal. Dough will be thick.
6. Dump dough onto wax/parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment on top. Use a rolling pin to flatten to a uniform 1/2 inch thickness.
7. Using a apple corer, cut out the "bites" and place 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheet.  Bake for 7 minutes. Cool completely.
8. Store in a zipper seal bag in the pantry, fridge or freezer--depending on how quickly you expect to eat them. Recipe doubles well. :)

Participating in these link-ups. 

Trail Cookies (Sugar-free, Gluten-free, Milk-free, Bad Fat-free)

And they're not gross! They are tasty, even. I promise. My kids have all approved.

In hopes of seizing the forecast sunny (!!) day this weekend, I decided to try out an idea for a healthy but hearty cookie to take along on our excursions.  It doesn't have any weird unnatural sweeteners, bad fats, or ingredients that are hard to find or expensive. My recipe made about 60 cookies and cost about $6 to make. Not bad eh?

I used homemade date paste instead of refined sugar to sweeten them. You can find the tutorial for making your own date paste here on Chocolate and Carrots. These cookies aren't as sweet as a typical oatmeal cookie (more in the realm of a muffin's sweetness), and they are full of delicious texture and moisture.

I'm so excited to pack these up for our hike this weekend! Now we won't be tempted to stuff our pockets with Halloween candy! 

Here's the recipe: 

Trail Cookies

Makes 5 dozen

Ingredients:

1.25 cups date paste (see link above for how to make your own.)

1.5 cups natural unsweetened peanut butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

4.5 cups rolled (old-fashioned) oats--gluten free

1 cup dried fruit, chopped to raisin-size (I used cranberries, raisins, and blueberries)

1 cup finely chopped nuts (I used pecans because I love them)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat date paste, peanut butter and coconut oil. Add in eggs and beat well.

3. Beat in vanilla, sea salt, and baking soda.  Mix in remaining ingredients 2 cups at at time.

4. Use a medium cookie scoop to place on cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Press down to flatten slightly. Bake 9-10 minutes. Cool and store in refrigerator or freezer. 

Here's a glimpse of the hike we took these cookies on this weekend.  My only complaint: I should have packed more! We gobbled them up!

Linking up at these parties.