Mug Brownie with Coconut Oil

One minute mug treats are just the best. They are quick, easy, use on hand ingredients, and they save me a trip to the store (and some money) if I have a craving that just won't quit. They also produce no leftovers, which stops any secondary snacking that could happen later. They really are the perfect treat solution for me. My go to is normally Mug Coffee Cake, but Mug Brownie is perfect for chocolate cravings.

I recently got some coconut oil and wanted to try it in my baking. It initially felt weird to use it, as I normally purchase and use coconut oil as a moisturizer or bath oil. I had to remind myself it was food and perfectly good to eat. I replaced the butter in the mug brownie recipe with coconut oil and was really pleased with the results. The brownie was pretty much exactly the same as the butter version but with a subtle hint of coconut (which was lovely).

For my Mug Brownie, I use the recipe found here. I cut the original recipe in half as I found the full recipe made a little too much brownie for me.

Mug Brownie
1 tbs coconut oil (or butter), melted
1 tbs water
splash vanilla
dash salt
1 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs flour

Coconut oil, sugar, vanilla, flour, cocoa powder

Method
1. Choose a mug perfect for the occasion. I chose my Care Bear Cousins mug, as I wanted to "treat myself to something special" as they suggest.

2. Melt coconut oil in mug. Using a whisk, mix oil, water, vanilla, and salt until mixed.

3. Add coca powder and whisk until mixed. Add sugar and whisk until mixed. Add flour and whisk until mixed.

Pre- microwave

 4. Microwave for 60 seconds.

1 minute brownie!

Enjoy as is, or got nuts and add whip cream and dark chocolate chips to the top.

Have fun!

Cinnamon Toast Supreme

I really need to start exercising more because I keep eating ridiculous (but delicious) foods like this:

Cinnamon Toast Supreme

I had some leftover canned frosting in the fridge, but it wasn't really enough to do anything with but eat with a spoon. Which I did, but kinda wanted more.

I looked around for a mini recipe of cinnamon rolls, thinking maybe the icing would spread on 3 or 6 of them. All the recipes were a lot more effort than I wanted, since I have already established I could just eat the frosting with a spoon.

Then it hit me - why not spread it on some cinnamon toast, super cheater style?

Step 1: Toast and butter some bread

Step 2: sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (1 tbs sugar to 1 tsp cinnamon, mixed)

Eat and enjoy...and then go for a walk, lol

Making Chocolates - Practice Round

I am following through on the lesson I learned last week, which was to have more fun in the kitchen and start practicing recipes. I no longer have to wait for an event to try something new; it is actually less stressful for me to practice first so I don't have to 'get it perfect the first time'. Practice makes perfect, and practicing is super fun and yummy.

Over the past few months I have been collecting flavour extracts. I've been adding flavour drops to hot chocolate (orange and peppermint work great for that) or coffee (almond is tasty addition) or use them in baked goods (lemon made these cupcakes zing). I love working with flavour extracts and want to find more reasons to use them.

I have been toying with the idea of making a big batch of chocolate creams/patties around Christmas time, and last night I found myself practicing. I didn't want to make a whole batch (30 or more) so I took a cue from the internet and altered the recipe so it was closer to a single serving. Cutting a recipe down is super easy when there are only a few ingredients (and no eggs!) and I got to use my love of basic math to work it out. My kind of fun.

So I took a peppermint patty recipe I found through yoyomax12 (love her!), and adapted it to a smaller portion.

Bite Size Chocolate Patties (Practice Edition):

4.5 tbs icing sugar
1/2 tsp corn syrup (I used golden)
1/2 tsp water
1/2 tsp veg oil
drops of flavour extract of choice 
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

I wanted to make three flavours, so first I mixed the icing sugar, corn syrup, water, and veg oil, into a blob. Next I separated my big blob into three smaller blobs and added flavour to each (one orange, one peppermint, one almond). Then I divided each flavoured blob into 3 bite sized patties. They were really sticky so I put them in the fridge to harden for about an hour. Then I dipped them in dark chocolate and put them back in the fridge to harden.

Things I learned by practicing with a small batch:

1. The patties get really melty in the chocolate. If I make a big batch I will try to dip faster.

2. The original recipe called for light corn syrup (the clear kind) but I found I could use golden and the patties still came out white.

3. I didn't pay close enough attention after dipping and lost track of which flavour was which. If I make a big batch I will have to be more organized. I also thought about colouring each patty according to flavour (green for peppermint, orange for orange, light yellow for almond).

4. These were really quick and easy to make - so I now have a new 'single serving' treat I can turn to during moments of craving (...and yes, 9 bite size pieces could be a single serving!).

5. The patty part of this recipe could be any flavour. I am looking forward to picking up more extracts to build my collection of options.

6. Dark chocolate is fantastic.

Emergency Peanut Butter Cups

I was craving peanut butter cups but didn't want to go to the store or make a giant batch of them. So I asked Google if there was a single serving recipe and of course there was. So now I can have a peanut butter cup at a moments notice (with just a little bit of waiting for chocolate to harden). It is too easy. If you don't want to know how to do this, please click away, I totally get it!

Recipe was slightly adapted from Maple Spice.

The recipe will make two (in case you need two or feel like sharing).

Ingredients:
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp margerine
sprinkle salt
4 tsp icing sugar
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vegetable oil

Method:
1. Mix peanut butter, margarine, and salt in bowl until smooth. Add icing sugar and stir until incorporated. Set aside.

2. Line a muffin tin with two muffin liners.

3. Melt 1/4 cup of chocolate with oil in microwave, checking every 15 seconds until melted.

4. Spoon a layer of chocolate into each muffin cup, spread out with knife to ensure bottom is covered. Spoon half of peanut butter filling onto chocolate, spreading out with knife or finger so it covers chocolate. Spoon remaining chocolate over peanut butter layer.

5. Place in freezer and wait at least 20 minutes. Wait longer if you are able (we were not).

6. Enjoy!

The cups probably didn't set long enough and broke slightly when bitten into. Still tasted amazing, but I couldn't get an attractive photo. I imagine chilling longer would help with that. I'm sure I will make them again soon, so I will find out (if I can wait for them to chill longer, that is...).

Mug Cake!

Years ago an email forward was going around telling everyone about Mug Cake. The forward included photos and the claim that it really worked and was so easy. I'm pretty skeptical when it comes to information found in a forwarded email, so I never tried it.

Years passed and it was somehow 2013 and I still had never experienced the joy of mug cake. While I was being ignorant, so many other people were figuring it out and perfecting it. A 'mug cake' Google search will show you countless round ups of all the different mug cake options available to you, and Dr. Oetker even has a mug cake mix you can buy. So mug cake is a real thing and I may be late to the party, but it is a quick party to get into.

My favourite Mug Cake at the moment is a coffee cake which I slightly adapted from a Crazy for Crust recipe.

First step is having a really awesome mug. I suppose you could use any mug, but if you had a mug with your cat on it doing yoga, you'd probably pick that one, right?

 

Mixing in a bowl, add 1.5 tbs sugar, 1.5 tbs flour, pinch of salt, and 1/4 tsp baking powder.

Mix dry ingredients together. Next add 1 tbs milk, 1 tbs plain applesauce, and a splash of vanilla.

Mix well. You now have mug cake batter.

Spray your mug with cooking spray and add the cake batter.

Sprinkle 1 tbs of brown sugar and 1/4 tsp of cinnamon on top.

Microwave for 1 minute.

Eat and enjoy. And try not to eat one everyday (it will be difficult!).

Emergency Cookies

Sometimes I get a craving for something full of sugar. I would love if this craving was satisfied by a strawberry yogurt, a fruit smoothie, or any sort of healthy sweet food. Unfortunately, this craving cannot be tricked! There are just times when I need to eat a baked good and that's that (cake, cookies, doughnuts, cinnamon buns, or any other sugar filled treat).

I love to bake, but the craving often happens when I'm super tired and in absolutely no mood to do so. If my craving wins, I usually end up at the grocery store where I buy a super tasty (but expensive) store-made baked good.

That was until I discovered emergency cookies.

Browsing the Dollar Tree I noticed some quick baking mixes. Cookies, cupcakes, muffins; all for $1 each. They had simple directions and required little prep time, so I bought a few for those times when I need 'Emergency Treats'. Now if I get that unstoppable urge for sweet, I make something from a mix (which takes about the same time as a trip to the store). It's a great solution! 

Emergency Cookie Mix

Add mix, 4 tbs butter or margarine, and 2 tbs water

Mix until it is cookie dough

Place onto cookie sheet (makes about 10)

Emergency cookies!

Are these the greatest cookies I've ever had? No. But they taste pretty good and satisfy my sweet craving. The quick mixes also don't make very much (about 10 cookies), which is great for having a few cookies in the moment but not a lot of leftovers.