Most impressive to me, however, is the fact that our boys have learned to adapt recipes to make them healthier.  I really had no idea that I was inadvertently teaching them this skill as we’ve cooked together.  But as our two middle boys (ages 10 and 12) dug through our Better Homes and Gardens cookbook one day recently and decided to make a Brownie Pudding Cake, I found myself preparing to walk them through how to exchange less healthy ingredients for those that we typically bake with.

To my surprise, my assistance was never needed.  I heard them reading the recipe aloud, “1/4 cup sugar – okay, I’ll get out the sucanat.”  and  “1 Tablespoon cooking oil…I think coconut oil would be the best one for this cake.”

I stayed out of the kitchen the entire time.  They had it under control and knew just what to do.  Might they still need my assistance at times while they are cooking?  Of course.  Not everything about ”healthifying” a recipe is as easy as switching out sugar for sucanat, one for one.  But it goes to show that if you talk through recipes while you’re cooking with your kids, they will learn an incredible amount, whether you realize it or not!

In case you’re interested, here is my boys’ version of a very tasty cake.  They even got a picture…after we taste tested it.  :)

Coppinger Boys’ Brownie Pudding Cake

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sucanat
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1 Tablespoon melted coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sucanat
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup boiling water

Stir together flour, 1/4 cup sucanat, 1 Tablespoon cocoa, and the baking powder.  Add milk, oil and vanilla, stirring until smooth.  Spread batter in a 1-quart baking dish.  Combine 1/3 cup sucanat, and the remaining 2 Tablespoons of cocoa powder.  Gradually stir in boiling water.  Pour evenly over batter.  Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Serve warm.  Makes 6 servings.

I’ve created a free downloadable Healthy Recipe Substitutions Chart
that you are welcome to print and keep in your kitchen.
Here is more information I’ve written on substituting healthy ingredients.

And now for the giveaway!

I’ve found that summer is a perfect time to give my kids more time and experience in the kitchen.  Interested in joining me in this endeavor?  (With your own kids, of course.  My kids would probably love to come cook in your kitchen, but they’ll be too busy scrambling eggs and making muffins in mine.  Sorry.)

Last summer, we finished and launched to new books:  Teaching Your Kids to Cook (written for the parent) and Learn to Cook (written for the student).  We’re giving away one of each today (the downloadable version) as a way to encourage you to get your kids in the kitchen with you.  And watch closely over the next few days.  There may or may not be a sale on those books soon.  :)

If you’re interested in winning one of these books, head over to the book description page and look them over.  Come back here and leave a comment, letting us know which one would work best for your family.  If you’d like extra entries for more chances to win, share this giveaway on Facebook, like me on Facebook, follow me on Pinterest, subscribe to my blog, and/or come mop my floors.  I’d be happy to give you extra entries for any or all of the above.  ;)

I’ll draw two random winners on Monday, May 28.  Please watch for a post stating the winners as you will be responsible for contacting me if your name is chosen.

Warning: The following post is full of calories, sugar, and rich gooey chocolate.  Reading this post will not result in any weight gain, neither will you have a sugar crash when you are finished looking at the pictures.  However, baking and actually eating these Cheesecake Brownies in real life is a different story - especially if you struggle (like I do) with over-indulging in such things as cheesecake or brownies or a fantastically incredible combination of the two.  These are made with healthier ingredients such as whole grain flour and unrefined sugar, but it’s not like these are made of green leafy vegetables.  Oh how I wish. Therefore, I recommend that if you make these Cheesecake Brownies, you should plan to take them immediately to a potluck or otherwise heavily populated event where there are many servant-hearted people to help you consume them.  Participating in a short time of “quality control” before taking them to an event is acceptable, as long as you don’t feel that you need to test the quality of the entire pan of goodies.

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Trust me, I am offering this warning from the botom of my sugar-loving heart.  I am the girl who, when asked, “Which do you like best?  Brownies…or Cheesecake?” I always answer with an definite and enthusiastic, “Yes!!!”  I love them both, but put them together and that pan of Cheesecake Brownies and I could have a fine party, just the two of us.  But I’m also working hard to get in shape and to eat a healthy diet.  Cheescake Brownie binges and my running shoes just don’t go together.

In other words:  Share the love, people.

Cheesecake Brownies

Brownie Layer

1 cup melted butter
2 cups sucanat
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Cheesecake Layer

2 – 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup sucanat
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together melted butter, sucanat, and cocoa powder.  Add eggs and vanilla, stirring well.  Mix in flour and stir until thoroughly mixed.  Spread the brownie batter into a 9×13 inch baking dish and set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, cream together all cheesecake layer ingredients:  softened cream cheese, eggs, sucanat and vanilla.  Once it is well mixed and creamy, spoon the mixure into about twelve “plops” over the top of the brownie batter.

Use a butter knife to “cut” and swirl the cheesecake mixture through the brownie batter.

Try not to hyperventilate while you anticipate how good these will taste once they are baked.  Good luck.

Bake in a 350° oven for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow the Cheesecake Brownies to cool completely before slicing.  Makes 24 servings.

I will say it again:  This recipe makes twenty-four servings.  These cheesecake brownies are not to be consumed by you alone – not even in 24 different settings.  Not even if you first ate a good dinner.  These are to be shared.  Do not forget this important information.

Oh, but when you do indulge in your Cheesecake Brownie, I give you full permission to thoroughly enjoy yourself.  Savor each rich, chocolaty, cream cheesy bite of gooey goodness.  Put your feet up, turn on some music, and make it an event.  And if you think of it, call me.  I like events that include brownies and cheesecake.

What would you answer to the question of:  “Which do you like best?  Brownies…or cheesecake?” (“Yes” is an acceptable answer.)

Typically, I am a regular ol’ chocolate chip cookie girl.  I began making chocolate chip cookies when I was about eight years old, and made them almost daily in the summer when we had hired hands helping us on the farm.  I can make chocolate chip cookies in my sleep.  I don’t have to even think about the ingredients or the measurements while I make chocolate chips cookies.  And shucks, if I do say so myself, my chocolate chips cookies taste pretty good.

Lately though, my boys have been asking for something a little different.  What!? They don’t want the same chocolate chip cookie over and over and over?  C’mon.  Change is hard for me.  And if I really care to admit it – thinking is often hard for me as well.  I’d rather make something that is a no-brainer, thank you very much.  Don’t they understand?

Okay, fine.  A change of pace in the cookie department every now and then is nice.  Which is why I played with a chocolate cookie recipe to make it healthier.  We all loved the way it turned out.  And if you throw some homemade white chocolate chips in these, you’ve got a fantastic “healthy-ish” cookie.

By the way, if you don’t feel like taking the time to make homemade white chocolate chips, I completely understand.  Just know that regular store bought white chips typically have hydrogenated oils and corn syrup in them, which I recommend avoiding if at all possible.  I did find some healthier white chips at Whole Foods a few months ago that were “clean”, and I noticed that VitaCost and Amazon had some too – so hey, all is not lost!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

3 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sucanat (or brown sugar)
1/2 cup  melted coconut oil (butter would also work)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground flour from hard white wheat.)
1 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

Whip together eggs, cocoa, and sucanat.  Stir in melted coconut oil, baking powder, and vanilla.  Mix in flour until a nice dough has formed.  Fold in white chocolate chips.  Spoon teaspoon sized balls of dough on to a cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.  Bake in a 350° for 8-10 minutes.  Allow the cookies to sit on the cookie sheet for about five minutes before removing.  Makes about 24 cookies.

The dough just looked too yummy, so I had to take a picture.  Kind of makes you want to reach into the computer with a spoon, doesn’t it?

These cookies are soft, sweet, and slightly coconutty if you use virgin coconut oil.  (Use expeller pressed coconut oil of you don’t prefer a coconut flavor.)

What’s your favorite kind of cookie?  Do you ever get into a cookie rut?

Gone are my days of eating biscuits or crescents from a can.  Oh, and can I just pause to say this:  I do not miss that vulnerable and insecure feeling that always came from never knowing when the can would pop open and dough would ooze out.  Maybe it is just me, but waiting for the biscuit can pop always put me slightly on edge.   Yeah, it was probably just me.  I have can-popping-biscuit-bursting-forth issues, I think.

Anyway, I had forgotten all about this delicious dish, which is crazy, because hello?  It does have cream cheese in it.  It occurred to me recently that the perfect replacement for Billsbury* crescent dough would surely be my go-to whole wheat yogurt dough.  Why I hadn’t thought of using it to figure out a new Cream Cheese Pastry dish, I have no idea.  But I finally thought of it, tried it, and here it is.  My family devoured it for breakfast this morning, which means that next time, I have to double it for sure!

*name changed to protect the innocent guilty

Flaky Cream Cheese Pastry

Dough:

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Filling:

1 – 8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup real maple syrup (sugar, sucanat, or honey would work too)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice (optional)

Mix together all four dough ingredients and knead lightly to form a nice ball.  Divide in half.  Press one half of the dough into an 8×8 inch baking dish.

Whip together the cream cheese filling ingredients.  Pour filling over the bottom crust.

Roll the second half of the dough into a square and place it on top of the cream cheese filling.

Bake in a 350° oven for 30-40  minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

Allow pastry to cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Tell me – am I the only one here with can-popping-biscuit-bursting-forth issues? I’ll admit it right now, it makes me jumpy just thinking about it.  ;)

I absolutely do not like coffee.  Can’t stand the stuff.  Never have liked it, no matter how I’ve tried to doctor it up.  However, as I’ve mentioned before, I’ve always loved the way it smells, which is why, when a friend was over one morning earlier this week, I was excited to brew her some coffee.  She actually likes how it tastes – and making some for her gave me an excuse to smell it.  I know.  I’m weird.

This is why I can hardly believe I’m about to say the following words:  I drank a cup of coffee on Tuesday.  And I liked it.

Yes, my husband passed out when he heard the news.  As did my children.  Thankfully, they have all recovered nicely from the shock.  I’m not sure I’m over it though.  Seriously.  I can’t believe I drank a cup of coffee and liked it.

Here’s how it all went down:  When I asked my friend what she would like for her coffee, she told me that she would usually add a shot of “Chocolate Caramel Creamer”.  Since she and I are good at talking smack to each other, I said something very gentle and kind like, “Oh gag, are you serious?  Do you know what’s in that stuff?”

(Partially hydrogenated oils, plus a bunch of weird stuff I can’t pronounce – in case you were wondering.)

Well, it just so happened that we had hosted a birthday party for Elias last week.  And it just so happened that we had offered an ice cream sundae bar during the party.  And it just so happened that I had leftover homemade hot fudge sauce, leftover homemade caramel sauce, and fresh cream in my fridge.

So I said to my friend, “You want REAL chocolate caramel creamer in your coffee? I’ll give you chocolate caramel creamer.”  And so, I heated some hot fudge and hot caramel on my stove, drizzled them into her coffee, then poured in some fresh cream.

She took one drink and passed out from the deliciousness.  Not really.  But she loved it and said something like, “You have got to try this!”  To which I reminded her, “Um no.  I don’t like coffee”.

(It’s just like you’re a fly on my wall, huh?  You’ve gotta love a play-by-play of my first coffee drinking experience.)

I finally gave in to the peer pressure, because shucks, it did smell really good, and I took a tiny, little sip.  That was when it was my turn to pass out.  Wow, it tasted good.  I couldn’t believe it, so I took one more small sip just to see if I had completely lost my mind.  I think the question of me losing my mind is definitely up for debate, but yeah – that stuff was good.  I therefore made myself my very own cup of coffee with hot fudge, hot caramel, and cream.  I sat down at the table with my friend, and together, we drank coffee.

Well now, I can’t say I’ve ever been able to write that sentence before.

The reason I share this with you is not ultimately because I have discovered a super healthy new recipe.  I can’t say that this beverage is a must-have because of its stellar nutritional content.  However, many of you have asked for an alternative to non-dairy creamers, which are really full of some not-so-good-for-you ingredients.  If in fact you are looking for a better option for your coffee, I believe this might be just the thing you’re looking for.

Ingredients:  One cup of hot coffee that smells really good, one teaspoon hot fudge sauce, one teaspoon hot caramel sauce, and a few teaspoons of cream.

Make it.  Smell it.  Try it.  And then, we will all pass out together.

Are you a coffee drinker?  Have you found any great alternatives to purchased creamers you’d like to share?

For years and years and years (give or take a year or two), I’ve been wanting to find a good Caramel Popcorn recipe that did not contain corn syrup.  The recipes I found that didn’t contain corn syrup were either complicated, or they contained other ingredients beyond corn syrup that I didn’t feel comfortable feeding my family.

But just leave it to you all to solve my Caramel Popcorn dilemma.  A big thanks goes out to everyone who suggested that this new Caramel Sauce recipe might be able to be used on popcorn.  Over the weekend, I decided to give it a try.  I figured the outcome may not be blog-worthy, but surely my family would eat it regardless of whether it was great or not.  My men are always so good to eat my experiments.  Especially if it’s an experiment with Caramel Sauce on top.

This got rave reviews, which came, as you can imagine, while they were chewing.  Since they were saying such nice things to me about my cooking, I lovingly allowed them to talk with their mouths full.   Far be it from me to scold my popcorn munching children when they are in the middle of boosting my ego.

Caramel Popcorn

1 cup unpoppped popcorn
1 recipe of this Caramel Sauce
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Pop 1 cup of popcorn and put it into two 8×13 inch baking dishes.  Stir together the caramel sauce ingredients, stirring in 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt.  Drizzle the caramel sauce over the popcorn.

Stir the caramel sauce all around the popcorn the best you can without making too many popcorny messes.  Good luck with that.  (Bigger pans might be helpful, but two 8×13 pans is what would fit best in my oven.)

Bake in a 250° for 10 minutes, then stir the popcorn.  Bake for an additional 10 minutes.  Remove Caramel Corn from oven and serve.

If there is any left after you feed this to your family, package some up to give as gifts.  Yep, people everywhere will be talking with their mouths full.  It’ll be a beautiful, Christmas moment.

I didn’t think you’d mind.  Especially if you think about the possibilities this Caramel Sauce presents.  Not only can you make it for your own family and serve it on ice cream or cheesecake – wouldn’t this make a perfect Gift in a Jar?

Why yes, I believe it would.

And then, what if you took it a step further and created a big Ice Cream Sundae Basket to give as a gift?  In your basket you could include a jar of this Caramel Sauce, a jar of Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce, a container of nuts, an ice cream scoop, some bowls and spoons – who wouldn’t love to receive this inexpensive, yet thoughtful and fun gift?

Alright, now I’m giddy and need to figure out who I can make an Ice Cream Sundae Gift Basket for.

Here is the very simple – and sort of healthy because at least it doesn’t have corn syrup in it - recipe:

Homemade Caramel Sauce

2 cups sucanat or brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cream (heavy whipping cream)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the sucanat, butter, and cream into a medium sized saucepan.

Cook over medium to high heat until ingredients are melted and well mixed, stirring constantly.  Bring mixture to a boil and boil for one minute, while continuing to stir.

Pour mixture into a mixing bowl and add vanilla extract.  Whip with beaters for three minutes so that it will thicken.

Serve immediately or pour into a pint sized jar for a gift.  Store in refrigerator and reheat before serving if desired.  (This recipe makes one pint jar or two cups of sauce.)

Beyond ice cream, cheesecake, and the Ice Cream Sundae Gift Basket, don’t you think I should come up with some sort of Caramel Swirl Brownie recipe?  Or maybe a Turtle Fudge Something or Other?  We could even use it as an apple dip I bet!

What do you think?  How could you use this Homemade Caramel Sauce?

P.S.  Be watching for an upcoming giveaway from Challenge Butter, in which you too might have no choice but to use their butter to make some Homemade Caramel Sauce.

This recipe actually calls for leftover mashed potatoes – how fun is that?  Since I had a pound or four of mashed potatoes left over after Thanksgiving, I decided I could spare the 1/2 cup needed to make this recipe.

But before we go any further, I need to let you know that this recipe is a little different from those that I usually share.  There is not much about this recipe that is healthy.  These peppermint patties consist mostly of sugar.  Do not make this recipe and serve it to your family for breakfast.  Do not assume that since there are mashed potatoes in these, they can be considered a vegetable to be served as a side dish to your pot roast.  Do not sit down and eat this whole batch by yourself.   Do not make this recipe very often, for these patties are addicting.  I will not be held responsible for you getting sick off of homemade peppermint patties.  In fact, I hereby relinquish any responsibility for influencing you to make these.  Just because a recipe is posted here does not mean you have to make it.  Nobody here is forcing you to get out your mixing bowl.  Actually, you really shouldn’t make these at all.  No.  You should just read through this post, then nod and smile.  Then you should promptly move on to read about something less sugary, like this Angel Ornament post.

Yes, whatever you do, do not make these peppermint patties.

Homemade Peppermint Patties (adapted from Domesticated)

1/2 cup leftover mashed potatoes
1 Tablespoon melted butter
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
5 cups powdered sugar (told you there was a lot of sugar)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon coconut oil or palm shortening

Stir together the mashed potatoes, butter, peppermint oil and powdered sugar to form a thick dough.  Spoon a teaspoon at a time onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  (I was able to form 38 teaspoon sized patties from this dough.)

Press down the dough and shape as small patties.  Refrigerate for 3 hours, or freeze for 45 minutes.

On the stove top, melt together the chocolate chips and oil.  Dip the chilled patties into the chocolate to cover them.  Chill until set.  Admire the peppermint patties, but do not eat them.  Do not even lick your fingers.

Good luck with that.  ;)

It could be that I’ve been going a little overboard on the pumpkin recipes recently.  I can’t help it.  Between the pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch this year, the awesome home grown pumpkins my friend shared with me, and my newly found easy method for cooking a whole pumpkin – I’ve had lots of pumpkin puree to play with.  Yes, my house smells like the holidays.  No one seems to mind.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake (adapted from Diva Entertains Blog)

2/3 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 cups sucanat or brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk or water
1 cup chocolate chips (I use either homemade chips or these these soy free chocolate chips)

Cream together butter and sucanat.  Beat in eggs and pumpkin puree.  Add flour, baking powder, salt, spices, vanilla and milk – beating until well combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Pour batter into a well buttered 9×13″ baking pan.  Bake in a 350° oven for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Serve as it is…

Or top with whipped cream…

What’s your preference?  With cream or without? I’ll take three dollops, myself.

I’ve managed to whittle my apple supply down to about only 50 pounds of apples after making two rounds of Apple Sauce, Apple Butter, Caramel Apple Dip, Apple Crisp and Mini Apple Pies.  Since I’m still surrounded by apples, I knew I had to try these Peanut Butter Apple Cookie Bars when I saw them at the Diva Entertains Blog.  If you are unable to eat nuts, I would imagine you could substitute Sunbutter in this recipe, but I haven’t tried it to know for sure how it would work.

Peanut Butter Apple Cookie Bars (adapted from Diva Entertains Blog)

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sucanat (or brown sugar)
1/2 cup peanut butter (homemade or natural)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground hard white wheat)
1 1/2 cups peeled and diced apples

In a large mixing bowl, stir together melted butter, peanut butter and sucanat until creamy.  Add eggs, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stirring until well combined.  Mix in flour thoroughly.  Fold in diced apples.

Spread dough into a 9×13 inch baking dish.  Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden.  Allow bars to cool before adding the glaze.

Peanut Butter Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar (I recommend making your own with sucanat or using organic, unbleached)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (homemade or natural)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.  Drizzle or spread over the cooled bars.

As you can see, drizzling the glaze kinda led to spreading the glaze like a frosting in my case, so feel free to drizzle or spread or slop the glaze on there however you’d like.  They’ll pretty  much taste great no matter how you do it.  :)