Tag: Dessert

Big Little Bites > Dessert

Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Posted on by biglittlebites

Vegan or not, bananas, chocolate and peanut butter are always going to be a winning combo – let’s be honest! I’ve been making this cake for a loooong time (because it’s always a win with family and friends!) but this was my first time “veganizing” it and I did a ton of research to get the recipe just right! Vegan cakes are often dry, lacking moisture, and/or super dense. This cake was NONE of that, and it was too good and too easy to not share it with you! If you’re looking for a sweet treat free of animal products, for any reason, this is your new go-to!!

This recipe makes 2, 8″ round cakes, so you can build a double layer cake with plenty of frosting for decor and leftovers! I like to make more up front, instead of worrying about running out while frosting my cake!

I have also made this recipe as cupcakes, and they turn out perfectly! Simply line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill them just over halfway full. Bake at the same temperature (350 degrees) for only 18 minutes. remove the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool once they are done. This recipe will make about 2 dozen cupcakes.

Ingredients  for Cake

3 C + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1.5 C  coconut sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1.5 tsp Redmonds Real Salt

1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 1/4 C plant milk (I use Forager unsweetened vanilla cashew coconut milk or homemade almond cashew milk)

6 tbsp avocado oil

2 ripe bananas, mashed

2 tbsp vanilla extract

1 C non-dairy chocolate chips, plus more for decorating (I use the brand “Enjoy Life”)

Ingredients for Peanut Butter Frosting

4 sticks (2 C) Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks (soy free)

2 C Peanut Butter (unsweetened)

7 C Powdered Sugar

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1-3 Tbsp plant milk

Directions

Set your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare 2 8″ round baking pans by coating them in coconut oil or avocado oil. I take extra precaution and trace rounds of parchment paper to cut out and place in the bottom of my pan too.

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the plant milk and vinegar and set aside for 10 minutes.

In a second large mixing bowl or the bowl of your electric mixer, whisk together all of your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt).

Now add vanilla, mashed banana and oil to your plant milk/vinegar bowl and stir to combine. Add these wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until the batter is smooth. Now stir in your chocolate chips.

Pour the batter equally between the 2 pans and bake for 37 minutes. The edges should be starting to turn golden and pulling away from the edges of the pans.

Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire baking rack for 10 minutes. Use a butter knife to gently work around the inside edge of the pans, to loosen the cake, and very carefully, flip your pan upside down onto a flat service, to release the cake. Gently turn the cake right side up, and let cool completely while you make your frosting.

For the frosting: cream together the vegan butter and peanut butter until smooth (I use my electric mixer). Add the powdered sugar a little bit at a time to avoid a mess, stirring as you go. Gradually add your milk and vanilla, until the frosting is perfectly smooth

  • I like to make the cakes the day before my event, and wrap them in plastic wrap to store in the fridge, so I can frost them the next day

Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Posted on by biglittlebites

This recipe differs from our favorite banana bread recipe, in that it includes flour, but it’s still super yummy! We prefer cooking with sprouted flour because, it’s actually nutritious! The entire composition of flour changes, when the grain is sprouted first – it’s pretty amazing! Want to read more? Think protein and tons of nutrients! We also prefer making our own pumpkin purée over using canned foods. You can learn how, in our how-to section of our blog, but it’s super easy! You probably are already aware of the dangers of BPA linings in canned foods, but no one talks about the fact that the cans are aluminum! Aluminum leaks too, lined or not, and aluminum is linked to memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s. Why add more toxins into your life!? Make a batch of purée and stick it in the fridge to use for our pumpkin bread one day, and for pumpkin pancakes the next 😊 I also love stirring it into my oatmeal, and you’ll see us post about THAT recipe on our Instagram!

We discovered this organic bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup at Costco recently, and can’t get enough of it! It’s honestly hard not to lick the bottle after you pour some out 😆😆 We are not being sponsored by them, we just really like the delicious refined-sugar-free flavor it adds to some of our favorite recipes! If you can’t get this particular syrup, don’t worry, any real maple syrup will work! Just stay away from the wannabe breakfast syrups that are full of artificial flavors, sugars and high-fructose corn syrup.

We’ll have to add a post about healthy cooking oils versus not so healthy, but for now, trust us – if you can sub avocado oil for vegetable/canola oil – you’re doing your heart a favor!

We hope you enjoy this recipe – let us know what you think, in the comments below!

Ingredients: 

3 C sprouted white wheat flour

1 tsp (heaping) cinnamon

3 tsp (heaping) pumpkin spice

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp Real Salt

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 C Crown Maple bourbon, barrel-aged syrup

1 C avocado oil

4 eggs

2 C Pumpkin Purée (see recipe:

1.5 C chocolate chips

 

Directions:

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients together in a small bowl. Transfer wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and stir just until combined.

 

Bake at 350 degrees farenheit for one hour.

 

Brown Butter + Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Cookie Skillet

Posted on by biglittlebites

Just TRY not to eat this whole brown butter + dark chocolate hazelnut cookie skillet in one sitting – I dare you! It’s what cookie dreams are made of and there’s not a family member in sight, who doesn’t want a piece of this healthier dessert!

I’ve made this cookie skillet a healthy dessert by using sprouted flour in place of traditional, substituting dairy-free and clean ingredient chocolate hazelnut spread for the alternative… and using coconut palm sugar in place of brown sugar. My husband and one of our daughters are both allergic to dairy, and while we don’t believe in drinking cows milk, we have cut it out of our kitchen completely by dropping all dairy products aside from butter here and there. Honestly, none of us miss it. That being said, you could totally use a chocolate hazelnut spread that is made with milk and get similar results – maybe not AS rich as the dairy-free one I use  (insert drool emoji).

I know that many scoff at ‘substituting’ traditional cooking ingredients – but hear me out: sprouting grains before pulverizing them into flour, literally produces living, vital nutrients – providing more protein, vitamins and minerals than you would get from flour otherwise! It also neutralizes the phytic acid present in wheat, that inhibits nutrient absorption. The process of sprouting (see our post about sprouting) also makes digestion easier, as the starches are broken down into simple sugars, and there is less gluten. But guess what – sprouted flour is also less fattening than traditional flour! So, if you are gluten-sensitive but don’t have celiac disease or a gluten allergy, sprouted grains could be a game-changer for you! Why not try making the switch? It doesn’t change the taste of this drool-worthy, brown butter and dark chocolate hazelnut cookie!

While coconut palm sugar has the same number of calories as cane sugar, it is lower in glucose and fructose. It also contains inulin, which may help reduce the absoption of glucose, and makes it an alternative, for those who are diabetic. It also ranks lower on the glycemic index scale, if you’re watching that. The taste is similar to brown sugar, which is cane sugar with molasses added to it. This cookie is sweet without spiking your blood sugar through the roof.

Sometimes, I like to switch things up by using 1 c whole wheat (instead of white-wheat) sprouted flour and 1 c coconut flour. Either way, this brown butter + dark chocolate hazelnut cookie skillet, will have your tastebuds watering for more.

Brown butter dark chocolate hazelnut cookie skillet

Brown butter dark chocolate hazelnut cookie skillet

Ingredients:

1 3/4 sticks of grass-fed butter, unsalted

3/4 c coconut palm sugar

1 mashed ripe banana

3 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 c sprouted flour (regular works just the same, but sprouted is healthier and easier to digest)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp Redmond’s Real Salt

1 c dark chocolate chips (or chop up a bar of dark chocolate)

3/4 c Nocciolata Organic, Dairy-Free Hazelnut Spread (or Nutella, but this other brand is cleaner)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Line a 12″ cast iron skillet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a saute pan, add the butter and patiently melt over low-medium heat; when it begins to sizzle, turn it down to a simmer and let it begin to brown – you’ll know it’s ready when you see brown bits on the bottom of the pan and smell a delicious nutty smell! That’s when you turn off the heat, and add it to mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer with whisk attachment); add in sugar and whisk until blended. Now you’ll need to wait about 20 minutes to allow the bowl to come to room temperature again.

In the meantime, take the same saute pan you used for the butter, and without washing it, put it back on low heat and add in the chocolate hazelnut spread – you just want it to get soft and gooey for easy spreading. Once the mixing bowl is cool enough to the touch, add in the eggs and vanilla and whisk in on a low setting just until combined.

Next, add in all of the dry ingredients and mix this just until combined. Gently fold in the dark chocolate pieces.

Rip a new sheet of parchment or wax paper and place it on your kitchen counter. Pour half of your cookie batter into the lined skillet, and the other half onto the parchment paper on your counter. Spread each out gently, making a round shape to the edge of the skillet, and making the other half on the extra parchment, look similar. Now pour the chocolate hazelnut spread over the cookie batter inside the skillet and gently spread the layer. Take the extra sheet of parchment with the other half of the batter spread out, and carefully flip it over on top of the chocolate hazelnut layer in the skillet. Scatter the top with some extra dark chocolate pieces for visual effect, and pop it in the oven for 25 minutes.

The goal for me, is to get a slightly gooey cookie to scoop out of the pan, but if you want it more traditional-cookie style, keep it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Guilt-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Posted on by biglittlebites

This banana bread is so good, I literally hide bananas from the kids, so they get a chance to over-ripen before being eaten! My new motto might be, “when life gives you brown bananas… make banana bread!”

This week I’m focusing on eliminating grains, dairy and sugar to detox a bit, and I love to do that every so often. It’s SO hard to kick a sugar addition, and takes some serious effort, but once you get past the first week, you start to feel so much better! My trick to getting through the first week, is tackling sweet tooth cravings with fresh fruits or healthy banana bread.

Best Brain Food

Guilt-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is the perfect breakfast food for busy weekday mornings, combining healthy fats and protein to keep you feeling full until lunch. 

I’m not kidding when I say you won’t miss the flour, the butter or the sugar – this banana chocolate chip bread is DELISH! Sweetened only with low-glycemic coconut palm nectar and over ripe bananas, the substance of this banana bread comes from the almond butter and eggs, eliminating the need for oil, butter, sugar or flour. Guess what? It tastes identical to any other banana bread you’ve ever or never made!

chocolate chip banana bread in a loaf pan with parchment paper

chocolate chip banana bread in a loaf pan with parchment paper
Print Recipe

Guilt-Free Banana Bread

Free of refined-sugar, free of flour and gluten, full of all the good stuff!
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time45 mins
Course: Breakfast, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 servings

Ingredients

  • 3 overripe bananas
  • 3 organic eggs
  • 1 3/4 c roasted almond butter
  • 2 tbsp coconut palm nectar or maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar with the mother
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 c chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
  • In one big mixing bowl, smash your bananas with a fork, pressing it against the sides of the bowl to get it smooth and creamy.
  • Grab a whisk, and whisk in the eggs, beating lightly for a minute. Mix in the almond butter, coconut palm nectar and the remaining ingredients.
  • Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, pour in your batter and pop in the oven for 45 minutes.
  • Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing - and dive right in!