I love making cookies, especially chocolate cookies of any kind. Today, I tried something that I have never done before—an orange chocolate cookie. I’ve made orange chocolate truffles before, but not cookies, and they were even better than I’d imagined. Orange is the perfect seasonal flavor to welcome spring and complements the rich chocolate so well. If you like chocolate (who doesn’t?) you are going to absolutely love these gluten-free Chocolate Orange Truffle Cookies. 

These Chocolate Orange Truffle Cookies are simply the best. They are almost like brownies, with an intense chocolate flavor. Rich and fudgy with a touch of citrus, these will satisfy any chocolate craving.

For the orange juice that gives these cookies their delicious citrus flavor, I choose Florida’s Natural Orange Juice. Florida’s Natural comes from pure Florida oranges. There are no artificial flavors or ingredients, and Florida’s Natural only uses oranges hand-picked from their grower-owned orange groves in Florida. Plus, Florida’s Natural orange juice is full of vitamins and minerals like potassium and vitamin C.

This recipe calls for two types of chocolate, which gives the cookies their sensational brownie flavor. I wanted to keep my cookies strictly orange and chocolate so the flavors would really stand out, but you can also include add-ons to the recipe, such as walnuts or pecans that will add just a little bit of crunch.

These Chocolate Orange Truffle Cookies are decadent, exceptionally tasty and perfect for any chocolate lover. If you are looking for a cookie with a rich, fudgy texture and intense chocolate flavor, this is your recipe.

Enjoy!

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Chocolate orange truffle cookies

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 24 cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp Florida’s Natural^® Orange Juice
• 12 oz dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened or Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Celtic salt
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons orange zest
• Flaky sea salt, optional

Directions:

Melt 8oz of the chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave. If using the microwave, cook in 20-second increments, stirring after each until the chocolate is completely melted. Set aside to slightly cool.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and remaining 4oz of chocolate chips together. Set aside.

Transfer the melted chocolate to a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the eggs and orange zest and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Add the coconut oil and mix for another minute or so on medium speed, until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Transfer the dough to the refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to two hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper.

Spoon the dough onto baking sheets, using approximately 2 tbsp of dough for each cookie, placed 3 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges appear set. The centers will look a little soft.

Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, top cookies with a pinch of flaky sea salt.

 

 

 

The post Chocolate orange truffle cookies appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I am almost done with the didactic portion of PA school. I can’t believe how fast these 3 past semesters have flown by. I think that is a good thing because to be honest, it has been one of the hardest things I have had to do in my life.

Not only because of the amount of material I had to memorize and learn in such a small period of time, but because leaving my family and moving 2 hrs away from home and seeing my kids only twice a month was the worst part.

I have actually 3 more semesters to go but I hope and pray that these are much easier on me and my family. We shall see.

Because of school, I haven’t had much time to get in the kitchen to cook and bake as I have wanted to, however, since we had about 4 days off this week, the minute I got home I started my cooking  baking marathon. I kid you not, I probably made 6 different recipes that day. I really don’t know what it is but the urge to get in the kitchen, especially after a while, it is just normal for me.

These almond butter oatmeal chocolate cookies come from my friend Erin’s blog Meaningful Eats. Her recipes are all gluten free so make sure you go ahead and visit her blog. She has awesome recipes and photography.

I have been wanting to make some skillet brownies for quite as long as can remember as well. I have this gluten free recipe that I want to tackle soon so most likely it will be my next baking project. We shall see.

Until then, I hope you like these almond butter oatmeal chocolate cookies. You can half the recipe and make less cookies  if you like but for me, well I wanted these to last a bit longer.

Enjoy!

Almond butter oatmeal chocolate cookies

Yield: 48 cookies

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup gluten-free rolled oats
• 2 tsp aluminum free baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon celtic salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 16 oz almond butter
• 1 cup unrefined sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz dark chocolate bar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 4 baking sheets with unbleached parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the almond butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth, about 2 minutes.

With the mixer on low, slowly add the oats, baking soda, coconut, salt and cinnamon. Stir to combine mixture. With a spatula stir in the chocolate. The dough will be very sticky!

Scoop 2 tablespoon rounds of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake each batch for 10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

NOTE: I made a large badge but you can half the batter and make less cookies.

Recipe slightly adapted from Meaningful Eats

The post Almond butter oatmeal chocolate cookies appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I know I haven’t been posting many recipes for a while but it is because school is just simply kicking my behind. I mean,  school schedule runs from 8am to 5pm and then coming home to relax for perhaps an hour and going back to studying has taken much of a toll on me.

Don’t get me wrong, I knew school was going to be hard but having 3-4 exams a week on subjects that are nothing but pathology, physiology, gross anatomy, pharmacology etc it is very hard, plus I am not one of those people that can function with 4-5 hours of sleep every day.

Anyways, will see how it goes  because I worked really hard to get to where I am right now and I would hate to turn around. Will see what the next few weeks hold. Like I always say, if it is meant to be it will be so I just have to keep a positive attitude.

Much of my cooking is left for the weekends. I get to cook about 4-6 recipes and be able to eat that during the week. I refuse to eat out simply because I need good quality food to nourish my brain cells!

I haven’t had a chance to make many desserts though. I plan on making a few of these no bake desserts since there is no baking required and it will take a shorter amount of time to get them ready. Hopefully in the next few days.

Well, I hope everyone is doing great. I have a couple more round ups ready for you since I have about 400+ recipes in my blog already. I am sure most of you forgot OF some of the recipes I have so I hope you like these.

Enjoy!

Double chocolate almond popsicles

No bake lime cheesecakes

Superfood chocolate truffles

No bake peanut butter banana pie

Avocado mint cream bars

No bake chili brownies

The post No bake desserts appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

With Valentine’s day coming our way, what best to make than a chocolate cake?. This cake not only is out of this world delicious but extremely simple to whip up.

Because I had to perform some experimentation with this recipe we actually had two versions of it to eat. Nothing wrong with that, I just had to make sure not to eat an entire cake all by myself. It was just so good…

For the first cake I used I Can’t Believe Is Not Butter and the taste, while good, it was a bit odd. More like a taste of fake butter. The way I can describe it is that taste you get when you go to the movies and eat their popcorn. While the popcorn is suppose to taste like it butter has been added to it, it doesn’t. All I can taste is imitation butter flavor.

For the second version I used Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread. The taste was much better. You couldn’t taste the butter flavor as much and the chocolate flavor came through much more on this cake version. It gave the cake recipe a more authentic flavor. My family agreed with me so that was good!

I love the fact that Smart Balance Original Buttery Spread is Non-GMO and dairy free. If you haven’t tried yet I think you would like it, plus it works great for baking cakes.

I am so in love with this gluten free flourless chocolate cake recipe that I think I am going to make it again over the weekend. My kids wanted me to make something sweet the other day and this cake exceeded their expectations.

If you like chocolate I suggest you try my gluten free flourless chocolate cake version. I think this is going to be one of our favorite to go recipe cakes when it comes to chocolate cake. The perfect chocolate combo that is sure to be a hit for everyone.

Enjoy!

Gluten free chocolate cake

Miryam's original

Yield: 8 servings

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup smart balance buttery spread, melted ( or coconut oil)
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 6 oz dark chocolate, melted
• 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of celtic salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8 inch round baking pan with unbleached parchment paper. Set aside.

Combine the sugar and eggs on a stand mixer. Add the vanilla extract, melted spread and combine. With the mixer running, add the melted chocolate.

Turn mixer off and add the baking powder and cocoa powder. Combine on low speed to make sure the cocoa powder doesn't fly every where. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Let the cake cool in the pan and serve as desired.

 

Smart Balance buttery spreads support healthy cholesterol levels already in the normal range.  Clinical research has proven that the right blend of fats may improve your cholesterol ratio when:

– At least 2/3 of your fat intake comes from these products or the Smart Balance Food Plan
– You limit total fat to about 30% of calories (65g per day)
– You limit saturated fat to 10% of calories (20g per day)
– You limit dietary cholesterol to average 300mg or less per day
– You avoid trans fat
– You exercise regularly

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Smart Balance®. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Gluten free flourless chocolate cake appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

1. Kale Cranberry Feta Salad

2. Roasted Garlic Spinach Pizza

3. Almond butter chocolate overnight oats

4. Caribbean Rice and Beans

5. Loaded Baked Sweet Potatoes

6. Slow cooker broccoli mac and cheese.

7. 3 Ingredient Almond Butter Bites.

8. No Bake 4 Ingredient Almond Butter Chocolate Cookies

9. 5 Ingredient Almond Coconut Bars

The post My Top 9 recipes of 2015 appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

Have you made your own granola before? Once you start making your own granola, trust me, you will never go back to store bought!

For this pumpkin chocolate granola, you can add any other nuts of your choice. I only had hazelnuts and sunflower seeds on hand but any other type will do as well. The same goes for the dried fruit. I added cranberries but raisins or any other dried fruit will work.

I actually consume this pumpkin chocolate granola several ways. I normally have it with Greek yogurt but sometimes I will have it with ice cream as well as with milk.

Granola makes a great gift. Each time I make it I tend to give some to my neighbor and best friends. Because the recipe calls for such a large amount of granola there is always enough to give some away. I actually tend to make more than what calls for here but you can make half of it if you like. I have huge two huge anchor hocking containers that I use to keep my granola. It will keep for at least 1 month in your kitchen counter so don’t be afraid of having so much of it. It will get eaten, trust me!

If you haven’t started making your own granola you really should. Start with this pumpkin chocolate granola version. You will love it!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin chocolate granola

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 32 servings

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 8 cups gluten free rolled oats
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup honey or maple syrup
• 3/4 cup coconut oil
• 16 oz raw hazelnuts
• 2 cups sunflower or pumpkin seeds
• 12 oz dark chocolate chips, vegan if need be
• 2 tbs pumpkin spice
• 8 oz dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 275F.

In a extra-large mixing bowl add the rolled oats and pumpkin spice. In a sauce pan add the maple syrup, coconut oil and pumpkin puree. Heat until the mixture is combined.

Pour this mixture over the oats and coat the rolled oats with it. I do this step with my hands.

Divide mixture between four baking sheets.

Bake the granola for 30 minutes. Remove it from the oven and transfer the granola to the extra-large mixing bowl. Divide the granola between the baking sheets again and bake for another 30 minutes repeating this procedure once more  for a total of 3 times until the granola is dried and toasted.

Remove the granola from the oven and add the rest nuts, cranberries, sunflower seeds and chocolate. With a spatula, mix well until all the ingredients are combined. The chocolate will melt but that is what you want. Let the granola cool completely.

Store granola in the anchor hocking containers for up to 6 weeks.

Note: You can half this recipe if you don't want to make so much granola. I tend to make even more! 

One serving = 1/4 cup granola

The post Pumpkin chocolate granola appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.