Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Double chocolate banana bread was the only reason I was excited this morning. It’s not that I lead a miserable life and need baked goods to pull me out of bed, it’s the fact that my dreams and lack of sleep were enough to put a damper on this morning. When I say dreams I don’t mean the half remembered, barely anything to talk about dreams. This was a full on Sobbing with real tears, scaring my husband type of moment that left us both confused and and tired.

I have been listening to a lot of Jane Austin books on Audible, which has been great until last night... I dreamed that my little sister and I were the eldest in a family of several children. We were definitley poor and in need of assistance. I visited a wealthy family and they seemed nice enough, but also game me a bad vibe. At a party that evening I saw my sister sneak off and hop on their yacht and sail off into the night, I was furious, how could she leave me?

I stayed up all night waiting for her (even in my dreams I don’t rest), and when they got back I made a lame excutse as to why i was creepily waiting in their driveway. My sister was okay, but when I tried to urge her to come home, the wife told me that they wanted to keep my sister forver. I ran away sobbing and distraught, and that ques me waking up Daniel and soaking my sleep mask in tears.

Like I said though, I had Double Chocolate banana bread waiting for me in the fridge. Thankfully this brought e to life once again and I was able to write this blog post just for you. SO with that, let’s get into baking this bad boy!

I decided to make this Double Chocolate Banana bread with a pancake mix because of my lack of correct flours in the pantry and my detest for running to the store for one item…ever since the whole walk this way down the lane and everyone being stressed out in a small place, grocery shopping just isn’t the same.

Anyway, I used The Ancient grain pancake mix by Purely Elizabeth because it’s what I had on hand, not because this is a sponsored or paid post! The beauty of using a pancake mix, is that you don’t have to source a bunch of gluten free flours or worry about getting the ratio correct, because it’s already done for you!

I added in the oats and cocoa powder because I wanted to make sure the bread ended up with a heartier texture, closer to bread then a pancake which worked out perfectly!

I decided to use cacao nibs because for #1 I didn’t want to go to the store, and #2 I didn’t want to add in a ton of extra sugar to this recipe. Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate chips, but the addition of cacao nibs to this bread helped it reach that next level taste. The carimalization of the banana met the bitterness of the cacao and it made a perfect combination!

SO here is your perfectly baked, fluffy and simple, gluten free and dairy free, Double Chocolate Banana Bread!

Ingredients

·         2 medium ripe banana

·         1/3rd cup Almond Milk

·         1 Tbsp. avocado oil

·         2 Tbsp. agave

·         4 eggs

·         2 cups Purely Elizabeth pancake mix

·         1/4th cup cocoa powder

·         1/4th cup oats

·         1/3rd cup cacao nibs

Directions

Preheat the over to 350F

In a large bowl add in the wet ingredients and whisk until combined.

Add in the pancake mix and fold together until well combined but not fully combined.

Whisk in the cocoa powder and oats and then fold in the cacao nibs.

line a bread pan with parchment paper and spray with coconut oil. Pour in the mixture until about 1/2 inch from the top.

Slice a banana in half and place on top with extra cacao nibs.

Place in the oven for 50-60 minutes, making sure when you stick a knife in the bread it comes out clean.

Note** Initially I used a smaller bread pan & had some leftover for mini Muffins, so if you have any leftover feel free to bake into muffin form, making sure to reduce the baking time to about 20 to 25 minutes.

Slice a banana in half and place on top of the mixture in the pan.

Let cool & enjoy immediately or store in the fridge

Banana Bread Smoothie

Nothing beats waking up to banana bread during the star at home orders…thankfully you can now enjoy banana bread in several forms thanks to this rending food item right now. For me I a big fan of smoothies in the morning, so when everyone was baking away, I remembered a recipe that I had come up with last year and totally forgot about! Let me explain…

Last year I spent some time in South Africa to see family and there is this smoothie place that is over the moon delicious! One of my favorite smoothies I had there was one that tasted exactly like banana bread! I figured that since I am in America now, and couldn’t get my hands on a smoothie made to perfection, I would have to make one at home!

When you freeze your bananas they should be ripe, none of this green banana business. Remember you want this to taste like banana bread & when it comes to banana bread spots = deliciousness! Just make sure they aren’t at that stage of the peel looking completely brown, that flavor is a little too intense for this smoothie…

If you would like to make this a vegan smoothie feel free to omit the collagen and instead replace it with vegan protein powder. Just keep in mind that this will change the taste and texture a bit. Try to stick with unflavored or vanilla protein powder.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Almond Milk

• 1 Tbsp Tahini**

• 1 Tbsp Cacao nibs

• 1 Tsp Cinnamon

• 1 Frozen banana

• 3 to 5 ice cubes

• 1 scoop Collagen

Directions

• combine all the ingredients into your blender, making sure to pour in your almond milk first! This helps to ensure that your dry ingredients don’t get stuck at the bottom of the blender.

• Sip and enjoy it!

  **If you don’t have Tahini on hand, the next best thing is cashew butter or 2tbs soaked Cashews.

Tahini Energy Bites // Gluten Free & Dairy Free // Vegan Optional

Staying at home has its ups and downs, on one hand, it’s awesome because I don’t have to put on makeup all day! On the other hand, I have to make sure I have snacks and dessert ready in a moment’s notice to satisfy all the hunger and cravings. This has been kind of annoying, because it feels like I am a teenager again, with minimal responsibility and a lot of time filling my time with random activities. The thing is when I was a teenager the snacks just appeared after every Thursday when my parents would grocery shop…But obviously I am an adult now and have to provide for myself.

Thankfully being an adult means getting to make whatever you want, and since I am a firm believer that snacks and dessert have the ability to be totally interchangeable good things happened in the kitchen this week.

Behold, I bring to you, Tahini Energy Bites. They taste like dessert, but totally can pass as healthy snacks! They are packed with protein & healthy fats from the nut butter, collagen & hemp hearts! All while offering you a tasty treat that has the perfect balance of sweet & bitter from the dates & cacao!

You can make a whole bunch of these and store them in the freezer for whenever your feeling peckish so don’t be shy! Double or triple the batch, either way, you won’t be sorry!

Ingredients

• 1 cup Pitted Dates

• 1/4th cup Hemp Hearts

• 1/2 cup Tahini

• 2 Tbsp Cacao Nibs

• 2 Tbsp Almond Milk

• 1/4th tsp Sea Salt

• 2 scoops Collagen (optional)

Directions

In a food processor or a high-speed blender combine all of the ingredients except for the almond milk.

Blend on high until well combined. Add in your almond milk and then blend for about 1-2 minutes longer, until combined.

Roll into balls, coat in hemp hearts, and then store in the freezer!

Eat whenever pleases you & enjoy them!

No-Bake Coconut Cookie Bars

Chocolate is kinda my thing if you haven’t noticed from the presence of chocolate in my recipes. So when I am thinking of a new recipe, that’s usually where I start! Then I think to myself what goes best with chocolate? Well today I had a huge bag of coconut in my cupboard that was just ASKING to be made into a sweet treat!

Now in order for my sweet treats to be accepted into the realm of Sonya’s Open Cupboard they have to be tested and approved by both my nieces, nephews and my husband. All who are equally picky…When I presented these No-Bake Coconut Bars it was a success!

The kids loved them and so did Daniel and my sister, and me, and…well we ate them all so that was as many people I had try them that day!

My favorite part about these bars is that they are a no-bake recipe, that is super easy to make, especially if you are home with little ones! I take care of my nieces and nephews a lot who are all under the age of 10. Keeping things creative with them is super important to me so whenever there is a simple recipe to make with them it’s so much more fun!

The Coconut Cookie layer is great because you get to use your (washed) hands to mix and place in the pan which is great for stimulation!

For the Chocolate layer, you get to teach them about using a double boiler, and how easy it is for the chocolate to burn. This helps them learn precision and the importance of following directions! It also teaches me to be more patient and relaxed with them…so all around it’s a win-win!

Coconut Cookie Layer

• 1 cup coconut flour

• 2/3rd cup shredded coconut

• 1/4th cup Agave

• 1/4th cup hemp hearts

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1/3rd cup full fat coconut milk

• ½ cup sunflower butter

Chocolate Layer

• 1 cup chocolate chips

• 2 Tbsp coconut oil

Toppings (optional)

• Toasted Coconut (see directions below)

Directions

Line an 8x8 Brownie pan with Parchment paper, making sure the paper covers the sides of the pan.

In a bowl whisk together the coconut flour, shredded coconut, hemp hearts & sea salt.

Add in the Coconut Milk, Agave, and Sunflower butter and mix until well combined, using your hands if need be!

Press the dough into the pan evenly, making sure to get the cookie base evenly into every corner!

Freeze the base for about 30 minutes.

While your base is in the freezer, combine your chocolate chips and coconut oil together and melt using a double boiler method. What I do is boil water and put it in a glass bowl, and then place the smaller glass bowl with the chocolate and coconut oil, into the hot water. Making sure the water doesn’t overflow into the small bowl. Make sure you are stirring the chocolate and coconut oil together. Feel free to replace the water with hot water halfway through if need be.

it should take about 5 to 10 minutes to melt the chocolate.

I have found that it is a super gentle way to melt the chocolate, and you end up with more control, especially since the amount of chocolate is small.

Once your chocolate is melted evenly pour evenly on top of the Coconut Cookie base and then place back into the freezer. If you want you can top with toasted coconut**!

After the cookie has been in the freezer for 30 minutes check to see if the chocolate has set. Once the chocolate has set take out, cut into squares and enjoy!

Toasted Coconut**

For the toasted coconut, all you have to do is preheat your oven to 350F

Put your desired amount of coconut on a baking sheet and bake it for about 8-10 minutes, making sure to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Let cool and use to top your No-Bake Coconut Cookie Bars!

Cookie Dough Bites // Guten Free & Vegan

Hello there, and welcome to another episode of What I Made During COVID-19! Today I am bringing you guys the vegan and gluten-free cookie dough bites that are sure to trump those store-bought cookies you bought in a panic because they were the only dry goods left in the store…

Anyway, these cookie dough bites are brought to you today in an effort to provide fun and easy recipes that you can make with simple ingredients! I also want to ensure that these recipes are indeed kid-friendly! I have 9 nieces and nephews all under the age of 10, so trust me when I say I would not be afraid to make these with any of them…except maybe the baby, but he would just sit there and sleep anyway so maybe it would work?

Other than the fact that these are delicious, simple, kid-friendly, healthy, vegan, gluten-free, etc. They also allow you to work with what you have! For example, If you are not a sunflower butter family, use what you have on hand! Just keep in mind that if your peanut butter or whatever other nut butter you use is sweetened, It will alter the flavor and sugar content.

If you don’t have almond flour laying around, you could definitely blend up oats and use that flour instead of the almond. Just keep in mind to check in on the consistency. If it is too runny add in more oat flour about one tablespoon at a time until the texture is a little thicker and easier to mold. With oat flour, you can also leave the mixture in the fridge for about 15 minutes and see how it looks as the oats will soak up some of the liquid!

You don’t have agave? Use maple Syrup!

All of these things will change the texture and alter the flavor of the recipe a bit, but when it comes down to it, the same idea applies! This recipe is about being able to utilize what you have on hand and do something fun while everyone is cooped up at home!

SO without further delay, here is the recipe for your Cookie Dough Bites!

Ingredients

• 1 Cup almond flour

• 1/4th cup sunflower butter

• 1/4th cup Agave

• 1/2tsp vanilla

• Pinch of sea salt

• 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

• 1 Tbsp coconut oil

Directions

Combine the Almond flour, sunflower butter, agave, vanilla and sea salt together.

Fold in half of your chocolate chips, reserving the rest of the chocolate chips for your chocolate coating, and put in the fridge.

For the chocolate coating, combine the rest of your chocolate chips and the coconut oil and melt using a double boiler method.

Once your chocolate is melted, remove your dough from the fridge and roll into balls. I used a tablespoon measure, but you can make them smaller using a teaspoon measure.

Once you have formed the dough into balls coat in the melted chocolate and place on a plate covered with either parchment or wax paper.

When you are done, sprinkle with flaky salt or sea salt and place in the fridge or freezer until the chocolate has set.

Serve and enjoy!

Dairy Free Frozen Yogurt Bars

I don’t know about you, but today was one of those days where I just didn’t want to drive to the grocery store. YOu might ask “Sonya, isn’t that your job?” Well yes, it is my job to think up recipes, but the products, and then we’ll give you a new product, but who says you can’t get a little creative with what you have at home!
So today I bring you THE BEST frozen yogurt bars because the best things always happen when you are forced into being creative! lazy =’s success!…at least, some of the time.

I made these thinking it would be a tested recipe, but once they came out of the freezer and saw that they were both beautiful and delicious, I knew there was no use tweaking the recipe.

I used WHole foods Dairy-free almond milk yogurt because it is one of the cheaper options out there, without having a million ingredients or hoards of sugar added! I will add the sugar on my own, thank you very much!

I also used a 60% dark chocolate bar which didn’t melt as well as the enjoy life chocolate chips, but I think worked better for the recipe anyway! Having the ribbons of thick chocolate and almond butter with the combination of the sweet/tart blackberries and the crunchy texture of the sunflower seeds were everyyythinggg. Not to mention the flavor combination of dark chocolate, almond butter and blackberries is an opportunity we are missing out on!

SO without further delay, let this ice-cream loving, frozen yogurt convert teach you how to make frozen yogurt!

Makes: 9 Servings

Total TIme: 3 &1/2 - 5 & 1/2 hours

Assemble time: 30 minutes

Freeze time: 3 & 1/2 hours

Ingredients: 8

Ingredients

                Base

·         2 cups Dairy free plain yogurt

·         1/4th cup syrup or agave

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings

·         Blackberries

·         1/4th cup Dairy free chocolate

·         2 tbsp. coconut cream

·         1/4th cup almond butter

·         2 tbsp. sunflower seeds

Directions

Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper so all the sides are covered as to prevent leaks, and set aside.

Combine the yogurt, syrup, and vanilla together and then pour into the lined pan. Drizzle in the almond butter and Berries and put in the freezer. This will allow your toppings to set a bit before adding more so they don’t all mix together.

Using the double boiler method, melt together the dark chocolate and coconut cream together until smooth. Take the pan out of the freezer and drizzle the chocolate sauce on top. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and then freeze for at least 3 hours.

Take out of the freezer and enjoy immediately!

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