No-Bake Cookies with Crio Bru

Have you tried Crio Bru? If you like chocolate--especially if you like rich, dark chocolate--you will LOVE Crio. I am a huge fan. I drink it several mornings a week.  Crio is a drink made from 100% roasted and ground cocoa beans, and it is brewed like coffee. I brew mine in a french press. My favorite way to drink it is iced with a pack of Truvia sweetener and a shot of creamer.  So delicious!

A beautiful feature of Crio grounds is that they can be re-used in baking.  And after making a few recipes with my used grounds, I never throw them away. They are too deliciously valuable!

I buy my Cri Bru on Amazon, and it is also available in many grocery and health-food stores. I am NOT being compensated for this recipe post--I'm just sharing a product I truly love with my many chocolate-loving readers!

After some questions on social media from readers, I am posting a link to the french press I use. I'm sure there are others that work well out there, but I can personally attest to the ease of use (and ease of cleaning!), as well as the effective brewing ability of this press: 

Now on to how to use the grounds to make your chocolate no-bake cookies over-the-top with rich yumminess!

Here are the used grounds. They should be damp, but not at all juicy. This recipe uses 1 cup of previously-brewed Crio grounds. If you brew daily, you'll have a cup in less than a week.  The grounds expand when they are brewed, so they accumulate pretty fast. I just scoop them into a bowl after each brew and keep them covered in the refrigerator. 

Place your cup of grounds into a food processor/blender. 

Pulse for about 1 minute total, scraping the sides a couple of times. The grounds will still be coarse,  but less rough than they started out.

Now make the chocolate candy base for your no-bake cookies by melting 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1/3 cup of cocoa powder.  Once melted, stir in the processed Crio grounds.  Bring to a boil and boil hard while stirring for 2 full minutes. This breaks down the sugar so the cookies aren't gritty. Don't boil more than 4 minutes, though, as the sugar will start becoming too hard. 

Remove from heat, and stir in 1 cup peanut (or other nut) butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Stir in 2.5 cups of quick oats.  Similar recipes for no-bake cookies call for 3 cups of oats, but the Crio grounds add fiber and bulk, so these only call for 2.5 cups. 

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto wax paper. Refrigerate or freeze to set. 

I kept these in my freezer for a few days and LOVED grabbing one when I needed a little chocolate treat. My kids discovered them and they were gone shortly after. The chocolate flavor in these are SO incredible! And they have less sugar and more health benefits than most cookies, so you can feel good eating them and sharing them with your family!

Here's the recipe: 

No-Bake Cookies with Crio Bru

Makes 30 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup previously brewed Crio Bru grounds

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup peanut (or other nut) butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups quick oats

Directions:

1. Place previously brewed Crio grounds in a food processor and pulse 1 minute, scraping sides 2 times.  Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter with sugar and cocoa powder, stirring until smooth. Add Crio grounds and bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil 2 full minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Stir in quick oats. Immediately drop by heaping tablespoon onto wax paper-lined baking sheets. Place in freezer of fridge to set. 

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Blueberry Brunch Cake

Fresh blueberries, sweet cream butter, and rich Greek yogurt make this a coffee cake that works for breakfast, brunch, or as a midnight treat.  Every part of this cake is delicious--the crust, the baked batter, the berries, and the ribbons of brown sugar and cinnamon!  

If you need a fail-safe dessert, a celebratory treat to share, or something to make for a friend who deserves more sweetness in his/her life, this is it!  My husband and kids are in love with it, and I ate mine slowly to savor each bite. 

Blueberry Brunch Cake

Makes 2 large loaves

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour (whole wheat works)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup plain Greek yogurt (full-fat preferred)

1 3/4 cups fresh blueberries (frozen work)

1 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 large loaf pans with cooking spray.

2. In a medium/large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. 

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and soda, Alternate adding flour mixture and Greek yogurt to creamed mixture.  Fold in blueberries. 

4. In a small bowl, stir brown sugar and cinnamon well. 

5. Spread 1/2 blueberry batter in prepared pans. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture over the wet batter. Top with remaining blueberry batter, and finish with a sprinkling of the remaining brown sugar mix. 

6. Place in center of hot oven and bake 38-42 minutes. Let cool in pans. Use a knife to loosen edges before removing.  Serve warm or cooled. 

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Healthy 3-Ingredient Spinach Artichoke Side Dish

Creamy, rich flavor in a side dish you can feel good about feeding your family! I love it when healthy tastes good! 

What makes this recipe over-the-top on the must-make-again scale is that it has just THREE ingredients. You can whip it up in about 10 minutes! Seriously!

Here's the starring line-up: Neufchatel cheese, marinated artichoke hearts, and frozen chopped spinach! That is it!

Healthy, 3-Ingredient Spinach Artichoke Side Dish

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

16 ounce package frozen chopped spinach

1 cup of marinated artichoke hearts, drained slightly

4 ounces Neufchatel cheese (cream cheese works), cut into 1/2-ounce chunks

Directions:

1. Place artichoke hearts in a blender or food processor, and pulse until chopped small--almost a puree.

2. Cook spinach in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until defrosted. Add chopped artichoke hearts to spinach and increase heat to medium-high, stirring often. 

3. Once boiling, add Neufchatel cheese, reduce heat to low, and cover.

4. Cook 2-4 more minutes, stirring cheese in as it melts.  Serve warm.

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DIY Sleep Mask College Student Send-off Gift

When I left for college a few years back, someone gave me a sleeping mask and earplugs. I remember my dad saying, "Oooh good! That will come in handy!"  I didn't grasp what he meant until I had lived in my new dorm for about a week. I soon learned a fact of college life: Night time doesn't mean sleeping time.  But I wanted to sleep! I had early classes or an early job to get to every day, and I often woke up even earlier to work-out. I was SO GRATEFUL for the sleeping mask and earplugs I was given!

So when I saw this tutorial for a reversible sleep mask from Behind the Seams Sewing, I thought it would be a perfect gift for some gals I know who are heading out into the world of dormitories, lectures, and libraries. 

The tutorial includes a link to this simple pattern from Instructables that you can print out on one regular sheet of paper at home. I used some extra fabric I had for the outside, and white felt for the inside.  For the band, I used 1/4 inch elastic. 

With all gifts, but especially simple ones, I believe presentation is of utmost importance, so I am sharing a cute printable I made using the Rhonna Designs app to give with the sleep masks. 

Go HERE to download this free printable.  I sized mine in Publisher to 4"x 4" so it would fit just right on the top of the bags I used.

I found some earplugs at my local hardware store for 49 cents/ pair, because what good is a dark room if it is still noisy??

And finally, I used some long, clear party bags (found HERE on Amazon) to package up each sleep mask and earplug set with the printable poem stapled to the top of the bag. 

I wrote a personal message to each recipient on the back of the card. It is great to be able to give something useful, and if it can be homemade, you can truly make it a gift from your heart! 

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Fancy Nancy - Inspired Birthday Tea Party

Fancy Nancy is a household name for many families with 4-7 year-old little girls--including mine! And I welcome this darling, girly-girl created by author Jane O'Connor as she teaches my daughter to learn and use new vocabulary. Especially "fancy" words like GORGEOUS, ACCESSORIES, and ECSTATIC. 

So I jumped on the idea of having a Fancy Nancy-themed party for her fifth birthday. I haven't had this much fun planning for a party in quite a while. I guess I like being fancy, too!

I will share DECORATIONS, PARTY FAVORS, FOOD, and CRAFTS that I used at her party. Get ready to make your party a SMASHING SUCCESS! 

First I ordered the following items from Amazon: 

These darling little Tea Party Cups were economical and LOVED by all the guests. I wrote their names on them with a Sharpee using fancy, frilly handwriting.

I also ordered this Tea Cup Candy Mold to make as a treat for the girls to take home. You could serve them as a treat at the party, but since ours was held in late-afternoon, I decided to hold off as courtesy to the parents. :)

I also purchased Plastic Bags with Twist-ties, as well as Lollipop Sticks from Amazon so I would be good to go!

Here they are made up. I'm no confectioner, but the little girls didn't care about perfection! I just used melted white and milk chocolate chips to make the forms. 

You can't have a fancy party without fancy TIARAS! I was so pleased with these! They stayed on their heads because they were really just toothed headbands. 

And my final Amazon purchase was a package of Assorted-size Doilies.  It was amazing how much they added to the frilly, fanciness of the decor!

Now for our FANCY CRAFT: Paper Bag Purses

I used shaped scissors to cut rectangular holes out of paper bags.  Then I printed out the guests' names in a fancy font and glued them to each bag. 

The girls used stickers, washi tape, and lace tape to decorate their purses. This craft was a HIT! And it was a practical way for them to take home their teacup and lollipop when the party was over!

I found a couple of teapots at Goodwill to use in the decor.  The rest of the decor was stuff I already had around the house. I used fabric for the table cloths.

For food we served poppyseed muffins, Jello (in individual little plastic cups), and blueberries.

The "tea" was actually strawberry lemonade. :)

I ran out of time to iron my tablecloths. That was my one regret. But I LOVED using my grandmother's dessert plates (the ones with the flowers).  

I printed out a couple of pages: "Ooh La La" and a page of  "fancy words" from the Fancy Nancy books as decor.

Guests were also greeted with an "Oooh La La" at the front door, so they knew they were at the right house!

My favorite part was just hearing the little girl conversation as they enjoyed their tea-party!

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Healthy Ginger Cookie Dough Balls

Have you tried crystallized ginger?  I bought some the last time I was at Costco (in the snack/dried fruit section).  It has such a strong taste that I really only need one or two pieces at at time. And since I'm the main one eating it, I decided to try using it in a no-bake treat. 

These cookie-dough balls are like nothing I've had before. My entire family loves them. The ginger taste comes through well, but not overwhelmingly. It gives these a fresh-baked taste, even though they are no-bake! I've made two batches already--one I shared with a gluten-free friend for her birthday; the other I packaged cutely and gave to my son's teacher as part of her end-of-the-year gift. 

They can be whipped up--start to finish-- in just a few minutes.  You will need a food processor or good blender.

Healthy Ginger Cookie Dough Balls

Makes 18

Ingredients: 

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup crystallized ginger, chopped small (use your food processor if it is a strong one)

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup nut butter, salted (I used cashew butter)

Directions:

1. Measure oatmeal into food processor or blender. Pulse until coarsely ground. Set aside

2. Beat ginger, coconut oil, honey, and nut butter until well mixed. Stir in (or use cookie dough paddle on stand mixer) oatmeal flour, 1/2 cup at a time. If the dough becomes too stiff to add more oatmeal flour before you add it all in, stir in a tablespoon more honey/ oil. 

3. Form balls or use a cookie scoop to make heaping spoonfuls of dough onto parchment or wax paper. Place in refrigerator to set. 

The Noosa Shift Dress Pattern

I had the opportunity to test the pattern for this darling, comfortable and versatile dress. What a pleasure it was to work with Lindsey from Sew To Grow! I have only good things to say about this pattern.

The pattern fit true to the size requirements stated. It includes pictures with each step and is worded very clearly. I never used my seam ripper the entire time! 

I was able to customize the length of the dress to fit my long-waisted body with built-in adjustment lines on the pattern. This is a HUGE feature that too many dress patterns don't have. 

I made my dress from a printed linen, so it is light and airy for summer but not at all see-through--so no need to wear layers underneath. It is perfect for the heat of the summer! I am looking for a good deal on more fabric to make myself a second one. I like it THAT much! 

To purchase your own downloadable pattern: CLICK HERE.

Use code NOOSASHIFT for 25% off through June 19!

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