Non-toxic Cookie Dough Balls

The world warns us of the dangers of raw cookie dough. Specifically raw eggs.
As adults, many of us ignore these warnings for the sheer delight of the sensation of butter, flour and sugar in their cold mixture rubbing against our teeth and heating with the warmth of our mouths. Especially if there are also chocolate chips.
Still, salmonella is a real problem, so how can one make cookie dough balls and keep them together without risk?

I'm in the mood for quick and easy recipes this week, so this is another non-Facebook recipe. Two steps and you've got a great appetizer (that does serve best if cold) that costs you a couple dollars but will elicit pleasure in the mouths of many!

When somebody moans in delight after biting something I made, that reward is unlike anything else. It's as rewarding as being a comedian and causing somebody to laugh with your words!

A popular pizza chain sells chocolate chip cookie dough. They state directly on their label, "Keep refrigerated. Bake before consuming."

However, they fully expect disobedience. If you read their ingredient list, they use eggs and egg whites, both followed with the words "dried, pasteurized".
That's right. Dried, pasteurized, non-toxic egg products in this marvelous chocolate chip cookie dough!

I purchased a tub of said pre-made dough, along with a bag of chocolate chips, then went home.

First, roll your dough into bite-sized balls. If you refrain from snacking, you can yield about 30 from the tub of dough. I was not so strong and only yielded 28 this time.

Then, place them in the freezer. This allows them to retain their shape when you apply the melted chocolate, the chocolate also hardens faster, and you run less risk of melting the butter in the dough.

When they are nice and cold, melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips for 60 seconds in the microwave in a glass container, stir and coat. Then, return to the freezer for cooling and quick setting.

My 1/2 cup covered 8-12 balls of dough. I used my remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips, then was stuck with three uncovered balls of dough and some sparsely-coated chocolate balls.

I took some "Almond Bark" (also known as vanilla candy melt, also identified as "white" chocolate) and melted according to the package, stirred and coated the remaining balls.

When you try to coat a chocolate ball with the white chocolate, even though I had frozen them in between coats, the white chocolate will swirl and melt and mix with the semi-sweet chocolate.Embrace the combination, or know in advance never to double-dip.

The Non-toxic Cookie Dough Balls were an immediate hit at the party. Even better was the next morning when I took some to the teachers at my daughters' school. I heard the rewarding moan of taste satisfaction! You can too. The dough was $3 and if you had a full bag of semi-sweet chips ($2 or less), you would be "covered" for sure. I only had a half-bag left after I'd made my Easy Almond Roca.

Thanks for reading, hope this makes your appetizer obligation a bit less stressful as you enter the party season. I will be trying to post some less-decadent options in the weeks to come that still taste amazing.
P.S. My frozen delights always bead with condensation when they are in a room-temperature setting. This does not harm the flavor, but I would recommend keeping them at least in the refrigerator until serving time. I keep mine in the freezer as I enjoy the crisp coating of the chocolate paired with the extra-cold dough.

~Tammy

Easy Almond Roca

This will be my first recipe post that did not come directly from Facebook, but after making this treat I have had many friends ask me to share the recipe.

And yes, that is my photo with my own camera phone. I was shocked too. :)

I recently attended a Tupperware party. I grew up in a home where we owned many pieces of Tupperware, but had never been to a party. It's a cooking demonstration and it was a lot of fun! I volunteered to assist the saleswoman and we made this treat, though she said she was still working on tweaking the recipe to have less waste. (We had to pour off a lot of the butter liquid in the middle of the cooking)
This will not be an advertisement for Tupperware, but I did use their product to make this easy treat.
First, you will need almonds. They will need to be pulverized. Though sliced almonds are more expensive, they are much easier to pulverize.

Next, I placed waxed paper on a cookie sheet and spread the pulverized almonds.

 I then cubed one stick butter (to make it easier to melt) and mixed it with one cup raw sugar.

Her ratios at the party were 1/2 cup butter to 1/2 cup sugar, which did not work well. We had to drain a lot of the liquid, so I doubled the sugar and was pleased that I had hardly any excess liquid.

The tricky part is the cooking. You use the microwave rather than a stove and candy thermometer.

So, after one minute of cooking, remove the bowl and stir.
**My dear friend Bonnie is very conscious of the dangers of BPA contamination and contacted me after I'd posted this. If you are at all concerned about your dish, please try a glass bowl instead. I do not know how that will affect your cooking time, but your end result is to caramelize the sugar**

 The goal here is to carmelize the sugar and butter. When it looks like a caramel candy, soft and brown, you are finished.

Depending on your microwave, it will take an additional 2 to 4 minutes from the first time you stir. Check often! I checked at 60-90 second intervals.

Your next step is to pour and spread this liquid "caramel" over all the almonds. At the party, she used a little tupperware container that was safe to go "from freezer to microwave". Her roca was thicker than mine as it was not spread over such a large surface area.

I tried to spread this to the corners, but really didn't have enough "caramel" to go around the entire pan.

While the "caramel" is still hot, you then spread one cup chocolate chips over it so that they melt and mix as they go. At the party she used regular semi-sweet chips, but I chose to use mini-chocolate chips as they melt faster.

Again, I am not a food artist, and I use my 3.2mp camera phone for all these shots, so please forgive the soft focus that sometimes plagues my images.
Once I had sufficiently melted the chocolate, I used the wax paper to fold up the edges with extra almond bits and "threw them" onto the chocolate, mixing it in.

I then placed the cookie sheet into the freezer. Please note that this pan is fairly warm, so you do not want to place it directly onto any frozen food. I have a wire shelf in my freezer that is perfect for this purpose.

When you are satisfied with the freezing process, you may remove your roca. I was attending an evening function, so I know mine was in there for a couple hours before I removed it. You probably won't need to wait that long.

As it is nice and frozen, and I used wax paper, simply pick up the entire thing and flip it over, then begin breaking it!

 When you are satisfied with the size of your pieces, you can place it on a nice serving platter.

And, I promise that the butter flavor is what makes it the best recipe you will ever try!

Comment with your input!
~Tammy

37 Calorie Brownies

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7umZR_4pC6G9BAh-wsK-rKWrIFDAYirjdzNWfVa-IveyfyZCwIPM4awTxbxcJ3NrVGNx7YJGJDpS_nFv0I0SaGuXLUemFX_l8VmRBZ37YQ8yJ7HofLbEV_vfCHCkNBR4uoWMHddF613kP/s1600/37-Calorie+Brownies.jpg

Generally, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. :)
Any time that somebody tells you there is a healthy tasty version of something that is otherwise an unhealthy treat, you're tempted to try it! I want to have my cake and eat it too. In this case, a very tasty chocolate brownie!

So, when a recipe comes across facebook, I immediately copy and paste into Microsoft Word, knowing that the "share it to your wall" option will not truly save all these posts. (due to experience, the original post is often removed within a day or two of the time I see it)

I then Google the recipe to find the original blog and directions to see how they compare to the facebook version.
This recipe was fascinating. I entered all the ingredients into myfitnesspal.com to see what changing the 1/2 cup Truvia to 1/2 cup real cane sugar would do. My recipe turned these into 97 calorie brownies. Still, that seemed reasonable!

After reading through the comments on the blog, a wise observer pointed out that the original recipe never called for applesauce. (the facebook version asks for 1/3 cup)
The post mentioned that the ingredients would make 45 cal brownies but if you account for not fully scraping all sides of the bowl, the amount left in a container or measuring cup etc, then it would be 37 cal/brownie.
Here's the link to the blog, posted in April 2013. Bromabakery.com

I purchased the ingredients I lacked, then placed all of them in full view for your enjoyment.

The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of Truvia or other sugar-like (non liquid) substance.
First, I don't like the flavor of artificial sweeteners, second, they are expensive and I only needed one half cup, so I purchased a happy medium.

Zulka Morena pure cane sugar. GMO free, "all-natural", and? Still only 15 calories per teaspoon (exactly the same as every other package of gmo-contaminated non-organic white sugar product I examined while at the store). It did seem to have larger crystals than the generic white sugar in my pantry, so I was curious to see the results after baking.

As directed, I mixed all the ingredients into my food processor and greased an 8x8 pan (which I dusted with cocoa powder)

The batter was really runny compared to your standard box mix with eggs, water and vegetable oil

I baked as directed-15 minutes at 400 degrees. I let it cool (some) before cutting it up and trying it

I was pleasantly surprised that this was more dense and less cake-like than the last chocolate brownie recipe I tried.
These brownies are a little too moist when not cooled. They were difficult to cut and eat initially, but when they were completely cooled, they were better than palatable. The applesauce overwhelmed the chocolate for me, but I really like buttery, fudgy brownies.


If you want the joy of eating brownies without the high fat content of butter or vegetable oil and you don't mind a bit of applesauce flavor, this is the recipe for you!
The sugar content really doesn't seem to be an issue for me, but if you prefer your artificial sweeteners, you can cut calories. I would recommend reading the original blog post and the comments before attempting that particular recipe.

~Tammy

Zucchini Brownies

This time, a friend tagged me in a recipe and asked me to try it.
The recipe originated at allrecipes.com (a frequent source of our dinner ideas around here) and some of the comments were that the result of mixing all ingredients pre-zucchini led to something resembling dirt.

So, my friend was excited to tell us she'd made these delicious brownies by adding pureed baby food and that the results were perfect! (and that she skipped the frosting)

First, they asked you to grease and flour the pan. Having made a chocolate cake from scratch two years ago, I was given the most glorious tip ever: Dust the pan with your cocoa powder, not flour!

Next, mix your vegetable oil, sugar and vanilla extract

All your dry ingredients will now be mixed together to add to the "wet" mix

You will combine them all thoroughly and it will look like...Dirt.

All you are supposed to add now is zucchini.

Now to be fair, I had shredded and frozen my 2 cups zucchini which breaks it down and separates the liquid better. This made it much easier to mix than a fresh shred if you aren't catching your juices.

Still, she'd asked me to add the baby food so I did, then poured into the pan. (I did 6oz pureed pears)

Baked it for 25 min, did the toothpick test, then did the additional five (they said 25-30)

End result? Very moist, very delicious, very cake-like! If I were to call this "super-moist zucchini cake" then you would expect my results.
When it comes to brownies, my personal preference is dense, chewy, fudge-like brownies vs fluffy cake-like brownies. Thankfully my husband shares this preference.
I also prefer using butter to cooking oil.
Still, the recipe was not too dry and was tasty and you'll never know it has two full cups of shredded zucchini. (We all get tired of standard zucchini bread after a while)

When I saw her today she recommended a shorter baking time so it wouldn't rise as much. I would probably decrease the pears to 4oz...and perhaps do applesauce instead? Maybe less baking soda?
This might be my new chocolate cake recipe with a little tweaking-the cake was really crumbly but delicious. It would make an excellent base for dark chocolate cake pops! Cook, form into balls, then dip in your favorite chocolate and let them harden! Mmm!

~Tammy

Mini Zucchini Cheese Bites

Appetizers are always a challenge.
I'm trying to make new friends (or keep the ones I have) by providing them something tasty yet healthy.
Okay, sometimes I just make a decadent dessert, but I really do look for healthy munchies.

When I saw this recipe I was skeptical. I have mentioned before the disaster that is called cauliflower pizza crust, and this had all the signs of following in its steps.

http://www.sugarfreemom.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/zucchinicups3.jpg

The photograph did look like it might be a tasty treat, but food artists abound on the internet with their deceptive wares, so I couldn't know without making it.

The recipe said to mix 2 cups zucchini, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and 1 egg (with optional cilantro). My zucchini yielded 4 cups after food processing.
This was an appetizer for a party, so I made one tray following her instructions, all I did was add an equal amount of mozzarella cheese.

Here are some quotes from the facebook photo text I saw:
"You do not have to add any salt or pepper since the Parmesan is salty enough."
"Squeeze out the excess water in a paper towel or clean cloth"
"Spray a mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray"

I tried using a paper towel or two to absorb the liquid from the first batch of zucchini and can tell you that after you add the egg it makes the mixture very wet again.
The first batch was fairly bland, but I kind of expected it.
Though I coated the pan thoroughly with oil, the bites did not easily come out of the pan.
Cooking instructions called for 15-18 minutes. I did 15, then two more for a total of 17. For that batch I just don't think it was long enough.

So, I tweaked with the recipe as I was bringing this to an event.
I placed the cheese/zucchini mixture in a colander and let it drain, then pressed it down to really shed the excess liquid.

Just for fun, I measured the amount of juice drained...

Nearly a half cup! (Is there a market for zucchini juice? Maybe I can go into business...)

I added onion powder and garlic salt to the mix, and this time I baked for 19 minutes per batch. The results were a lot more consistent with the photo, although the "crispy on the outside and soft on the inside" really didn't prove true for me. They were soft all around, just dark brown on the outsides from the pan.
I had to use a knife to loosen them and a spoon to remove them from the pan to keep them from falling apart.

Bottom line? If you adhere to the recipe, these will probably leave you disappointed, I don't know how much my addition of mozzarella changed the flavor, but I find it hard to believe it would have decreased any saltiness that may have existed.

If, however, you add just a little bit of onion powder and garlic salt, you will find a very flavorful and somewhat healthy appetizer that really doesn't take long to make! My friends at the party really enjoyed them and I only had five left at the end of the night.
(plus, most of you need to use up all that extra zucchini that's ready to harvest now!)

~Tammy

No-Bake Energy Bites Variation

I'm sorry if you've been following me and have noticed a break.

I have been cooking, baking and following some new recipes, but none of them came from Facebook, so I haven't been posting them. Perhaps I should, some were very tasty!

Back to the title. I enjoyed those bites very much and still had enough ingredients left to do another batch, but I was lacking the chocolate chips.
Let's just say I have a small problem with keeping chocolate in my house for very long without consuming it all one delicious portion at a time!

So, I decided to make these more like oatmeal-raisin bites. In order to change the flavor further and give the cookie taste to the dough, I decreased the honey and added dark molasses in about a 1:2 ratio (1 part honey, 2 parts molasses).

http://www.brerrabbit.com/

 If you like raw cookie dough and have ever made oatmeal-raisin cookies (see my previous post for the Quaker recipe-it's the best!), then you will really enjoy the flavor in this variation.

Quick overview:
1 cup dry rolled oats
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup peanut butter (you want the kind with oils for moisture)
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Variation for tonight:
1 cup dry rolled oats
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup Adam's peanut butter (the kind you stir)
1/3 cup of wet sweet liquid (2 parts dark molasses, 1 part honey)
1/2 cup raisins

And best part yet? My two year old daughter asked for raisins. I gave her some, used the rest in the recipe, so when she asked for more and I gave her one of these?? She ate it and wanted another!

My four year old, on the other hand, said "No, thank you." (without trying it, of course!)

My verdict: Molasses gives it a bit of a tart flavor, you don't need the vanilla in there, but the texture is comparable to raw cookie dough of the oatmeal raisin variety. I am in tasty-treat euphoria right now!

~Tammy

No-Bake Energy Bites

No-bake cookies. The ultimate concoction of sugar, butter, chocolate, peanut butter and oats.
Though far from healthy, those semi-solid pleasure puddles would be my fall-back indulgence, if I had to choose one. At Easter time this year, our babysitter had made little no-bake nests in cupcake liners with peanut M&Ms sitting on top. Cute AND delicious.

But, this blog is about a different no-bake concoction. In my news feed, I saw what appeared to be raw dough for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/healthy-energy-bites.jpg

 

 When I saw the title, "no-bake energy bites", I was instantly curious. Most of us are enticed by the idea of more energy. Especially when I see chocolate chips. As I scanned the ingredients, the only unfamiliar one was flaxseed. I figured it couldn't be too bad. After all, the Peanut Butter cookies with no flour completely hid the chickpeas.

And? Pleasant surprise at the grocery store: ground flaxseed was not cost-prohibitive.

When I googled the original recipe, she had a couple more ingredients than the facebook posted one, so if you take her link from under the fancy photo up top, you can see she added coconut and chia seeds. I kept it simple for this one, as I'm just testing the facebook recipes.

I used Bob's Red Mill Golden Flaxseed Meal, generic quick oats, semi-sweet chocolate chips, Adams natural Creamy Peanut Butter (this photo was before I stirred it) and local raw honey.

The instructions were simply to combine the ingredients, form into balls, refrigerate to set, and enjoy.

She estimated you would yield 20-25 balls. I think I made 21 but I didn't begin counting until after I'd eaten a couple. I found online that following the recipe with the five ingredients I used, you were eating about 100 calories per "bite".

A friend and I took a 3 hour road trip yesterday to meet the author of Unveiled Wife, a blog devoted to strengthening and encouraging wives and marriages. I brought some along and she liked them enough to have more than one! My husband, the foodie, said it "wasn't bad". As soon as I mention some new ingredient that sounds like it came from the kitchen of Granola Gladys, he's hesitant to put it into his mouth. So, when I say flaxseed, he says "what?!"

Bottom line? Totally worth your ingredients! Not as buttery or chocolatey as a no-bake cookie, but if you put the entire thing in your mouth rather than biting it, the flavors pool together and you get a little bit of that raw oatmeal satisfaction.
I was working in a pretty hot environment so I actually put them in the freezer to set. It makes the chocolate chips a lot crispier.

What do you think?
~Tammy