Chocolate mousse cake

So every one knows Valentine’s its just in a couple of days……yeap…..I am pretty sure :-)

Well just a quick round up for those that still don’t have any baking ideas for their valentine……or even if you don’t have a valentine maybe you just want to have something special for the day :-)

All of the desserts are a little bit healthier than other regular versions out there. The taste it is totally there so I hope you try some of them so don’t be afraid to the word healthier. That doesn’t mean these are not good….trust me….they are :-)

Anyhow, happy valentine’s day to all my friends, family and followers!!

Enjoy!

Sugar cookies with home made sprinkles                      Coconut valentine’s cookies

Valentine’s coconut cranberry mini cupcakes               Chocolate valentine’s cookies

Healthier chocolate brownies                            White and pink meringues for your valentine

The post Valentine’s baking treats appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

Valentine’s its just around the corner and baking at my house is just on full swing.

In a couple of days I will post some healthier valentine’s ideas from where to choose from. Some are easier than others but all of them are really good :-)

I have wanted to make a couple more recipes for the occasion but I have not had time to do so, which I am bump about it…..maybe next year.

For this recipe I used my old sugar cookie recipe and also my old frosting recipe. They both worked really good. I also use the recipe for the sugar sprinkles made a while back, since I don’t buy them because most of them have trans fats, NOT GOOD!

The sugar sprinkles are really easy to make. The trick is just to get the right consistency when piping it. It is really fun to do, especially with the kids, and making them different colors its just great. I hope you try making your own on day.

Anyhow, I won’t elaborate any further. I hope you have a wonderful valentine’s day and until my next entry

Enjoy!!

Here you can go here for the home made sprinkles recipe. They are just awesome. The right picture are the cookies right after taking them out of the oven and right before frosting. I actually did not frost all of them!!

I made different shapes but you can go ahead and do what ever you prefer.

Sugar cookies for valentine's day with home made sprinkles

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 16-18 cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, next time I will try to add some shredded coconut to the mix
1 stick of butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup unrefined sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

FROSTING

2 tablespoons butter
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
Natural food coloring
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, I use less sometimes

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in egg, oil and vanilla. Add flours, and baking powder and combine until you have a homogenous dough formed.

Divide dough into two and flatten out with a rolling pin like in the pictures. Chill dough for at least 2 hours. I did over night.

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and line a two baking cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and stamp out rounds using a cookie cutter (I roll out the dough in between plastic wrap which I find very easy to do. You can use any other cookie cutter shape you like as well).

Bake cookies for 13-15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 2-3 minutes and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting mix all of the ingredients until smooth and use a spatula to spread over each cookie. Sprinkle some of the sprinkles if using. For the home made sprinkle recipe you can go here

Tip: Dough can be chilled for up to 5 days or frozen wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap for up to 1 month. If frozen, thaw dough in the fridge before using.

The post Sugar cookies for valentine’s day with home made sprinkles appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I just baked these brownies I made a while back and used a heart shape cookie cutter to make them especial for valentine’s day. If you want something simple and decadent this is it!!

They are great brownies, I must say :-), but if you use semi sweet chocolate chips use 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 3/4 cups. This time around I did use semi sweet chocolate chips and used 1/2 cup sugar which was enough!!

There is not much to say about these brownies, but just that they are awesome and we love them so I hope you try them soon :-)

In the next few days I will have a post with some healthier baking options for Valentine’s day so stay tuned but until then these brownies will keep you satisfied :-)

Enjoy!!

Here you can see how I was using the cookie cutter. You can serve the brownies how ever you prefer. I used chocolate syrup, cocoa powder and ice cream afterwards :-)

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil, minus 2 tablespoons
2 eggs
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1/2 cup unrefined sugar, you can do 3/4 cup if you like
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, I sometimes use chocolate extract or amaretto liquor
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, minus two tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
12 oz dark chocolate chips, 1 bag

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a square baking pan and set aside.

In a bowl whisk first 5 ingredients. Add flour and baking powder and incorporate well.

In a bowl place chocolate chips and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir well. Continue microwaving in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Incorporate melted chocolate into the batter and mix through. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Let the brownies cool. When completely cool remove the brownies from the pan to a flat table of cutting board where you can cut the brownies using the heart shape cookie cutter. Stamp hearts on the brownies, like in the picture, and serve as desired.

The post Best ever healthier brownies for valentine’s day appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I made these beautiful valentine’s cookies a while back, and while they were really good I wanted to find an even healthier option. We know that valentine’s day it’s just around the corner so I figured I make these again.

I experimented with the coconut oil and they turned out beautifully. They are not that sweet and the coconut flavor is even better now that I added the coconut oil. I also opted for using a smaller cookie cutter this time so the cooking time was less.

You can just go ahead and used the 3/4 cup of butter instead if you don’t have the coconut oil, they will still be perfectly fine and yummy. Next time I make these, which I will for my daughter’s birthday party, I will add an extra 1/4 cup sugar though.

Anyhow, you can make these valentine’s coconut cookies which ever shape you prefer. I got a new hello kitty cookie cutter for my 2 year old daughter so I figured I make some for her as well.

If you try them let me know….I hope they turn out as good as they did for us :-)

Enjoy!!

This is how I rolled the cookies. In between plastic wrap. Make sure you don’t cut the cookies too think otherwise they won’t cook very good, they will become crumbly when you eat them!!

You can see the slight brown color around the cookies after baking them for 10-12 minutes. I made some pink and some purple.

My kids of course ate the hello kitty shaped cookies first :-) and as you can see no fancy decoration techniques here :-)

My job decorating the cookies was not very elaborate and I actually hardly used any glaze on them. They weren’t too sweet at all so next time I will use and extra 1/4 cup of sugar.

100% whole grain valentine's cookies Round 2

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 20 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup unrefined sugar, you may want to do 3/4 cup because the cookies aren't that sweet at all
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup butter, room temperature, 1 stick
1/4 cup coconut oil, room temperature
5-7 tablespoons milk, I used low fat
1 teaspoon coconut extract, optional
A couple of drops of pink food coloring

GLAZE

7 tablespoons confectioner's sugar
3-4 tablespoons low fat milk

 

Directions:

In a bowl, with your hands mix flour and butter until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Add coconut oil, sugar, coconut, milk, coconut extract and food coloring. Mix until you form a soft dough.

Preheat oven to 350F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and stamp out hearts using a cookie cutter (I roll out the dough in between plastic wrap which I find very easy to do also you can use any other cookie cutter shape you like).

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Let them cool in the baking sheet for 5 minutes or so and then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.

To decorate cookies mix glaze ingredients and drizzle it over the cookies.

The post 100% whole grain valentine’s cookies Round 2 appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.