Oh look, it’s a milkshake!

It’s yummy.

It tastes like you’re drinking a sugar cookie.

Ok, that just sounds weird … but this is really good!

Ensure? No thank you!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you probably know I don’t really like being as skinny as I am. I create recipes that can be very low in calories; but if I’m making them for myself, I usually take advantage of the higher-calorie options. To keep weight on, I pretty much have to eat 24/7, which works out perfectly since my job entails lots of taste testing!

In high school, I often drank vegan “weight-gain shakes” called Power Dreams. However, two things happened: the company discontinued the shakes, and I bought a Magic Bullet. So now I make my own shakes! (I wrote more about my weight-gain efforts at the very bottom of this link.)

Big thanks to reader, Kate, for inspiring this milkshake.

A few months ago, she left a comment on my Cake Batter Milkshake recipe, suggesting I experiment with adding cream of tartar to my smoothies for a fun cake-like taste. Of course, as soon as she said it, I had to try it. Thank you, Kate!!

Sugar Cookie Milkshake

(serves 1)

• 2/3 cup milk of choice (try canned coconut milk for an ice-cream-like shake)
• 1 frozen, over-ripe banana or 1/2 cup of your favorite ice cream (see nutrition link below, for my many substitution options!)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• optional: 1-2 tbsp raw cashew butter (I like to add this)
• optional: add cinnamon for a snickerdoodle shake!

Blend everything together until very smooth. Don’t add ice; it will dilute the flavor. Feel free to crumble an actual sugar cookie into the shake as well! (My ”healthy sugar cookie” recipe is linked at the end of this post.)

View Nutritional Info

Also shown in the photos are two of these: Healthy Sugar Cookies.

Question of the Day:

What is THE best milkshake flavor of all time?

According to an online poll, the most-loved milkshake flavor is chocolate. Surprisingly, people chose strawberry over vanilla. My favorite was fourth: mint-chocolate-chip!

Does this look healthy to you?

Surprise!

Or maybe not a surprise, given that this is the healthy dessert blog. But can you believe this melt-in-your-mouth chocolate fudge has absolutely ZERO added sugar?

Plus, it can be made in 5 minutes flat.

Healthy, easy, and chocolate. Best of both all worlds.

Chocolate Nutella Fudge

(gluten-free and no-bake!)

• 1/4 cup coconut butter, melted
• 1/4 cup choc-hazelnut spread or Healthy Nutella
• 1-2 tsp cocoa powder or cacao powder
• 65g very-ripe banana (about 1/4 a large banana)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• sweetener if desired (Some people want it, others don’t.)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. (It’s best if the coconut butter is not solid, and if you use a frozen banana be sure to thaw so it doesn’t harden the coconut butter.) After blending, taste to see if you’d like to add any sweetener. Scoop into a container or even a little pie pan, and put in the fridge or freezer so it will firm up. (Alternatively, you can eat it soft, like frosting!) If desired, top with chocolate chips and extra Healthier Nutella (recipe linked above) like I did in the top two photos. This is freezer fudge, so it needs to be kept cold. It makes a small serving, but feel free to double or triple the recipe!

Click for: Nutrition Facts & Substitution Notes

Above, unfrosted Nutella Fudge. It literally melts in your mouth!

Other “healthy fudge” flavors:

……….PB & J Fudge                     Chocolate-PB Fudge              Chocolate-Raspberry Bites

(Click on the photos for the recipes.)

Question of the Day:

Do you like surprises, or do you hate not being in control?

Obviously, no one likes bad surprises. But if you’re a control freak or hate change, even good surprises might stress you out by interfering with your well-laid plans.

For me, it depends. My 16th birthday was a surprise party, and it was one of the best nights of my life. Or, if I’m expecting an early night, and a friend calls up and want to go out, I’m usually excited for the last-minute change of plans. However, when I read about husbands surprising their wives with spur-of-the-moment trips, I know I would hate that. If I’m going on a trip, I’d prefer to know well in advance so I can pack accordingly!

Chocolate surprises? They’re always good. (I mean the edible ones, not the ones Batman keeps leaving on the rug! )

Pizza for breakfast!

Sometimes I get so caught up writing new recipe posts that I forget to write about other things I’ve been eating. Today’s breakfast was worthy of a magazine cover; too pretty to not share:

The actual recipe can be found here: Single-Serving Breakfast Pizza

(Be warned: It’s an embarrassingly old post!)

A few years ago, this breakfast pizza was one of the most-popular recipes on my website. However, it wasn’t originally called “breakfast pizza.” No, originally I thought it’d be a great idea to name this lovely creation… a pizzert. I went on calling it “pizzert” for over a year, until finally someone told me she couldn’t get on board with the recipe because she was pronouncing it to sound like it rhymed with lizard. Yikes!

So yeah, the recipe needs a new name.

Question of the Day:

What would you call this recipe?

If I use your suggestion, I’ll send you three packs of my favorite Artisana nut butters (your choice of flavors) as a thank you.

Just a heads up: Don’t try and combine the words pizza and breakfast either. You’ll end up with something even worse than pizzert!

Are you looking for a good granola bar recipe?

This recipe won’t disappoint.

These delightfully chewy granola bars include all the goodness of everyone’s favorite Quaker granola bars, but without the corn syrup, refined sugar, and long list of artificial ingredients. So if you’re looking for a good granola bar recipe…

It’s staring you in the face.

Unless you are extremely tall or your computer is low to the ground.

Then it’s staring you in the belly button.

It even looks like a face. See the eyes and the nose? Those would be made out of chocolate chips. Yes, a chocolate chip face.

Are you jealous?

I am!

These bars are really easy to make!

Quaker-Style Chewy Granola Bars

(Can be gluten-free!)

With a “no-bake” option!!

• 1 cup rolled oats (for all substitution notes, see nutrition link below)
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• optional: 1/4 cup rice crispies (brown, white, or gluten-free)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp oat flour (see recipe instructions below for an easy substitution) 55g
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp coconut oil or veg oil (See nutrition link below for notes on a fat-free version.)
• 1/4 cup agave (Honey will also work, but not for strict vegans.)
• 1-2 packs stevia (up to 1/16 tsp uncut) or 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar or extra liquid sweetener
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp applesauce (banana would probably work as well, or pumpkin!)
• Ideas for the add-ins: mini chocolate chips, chopped raisins or other dried fruit, shredded coconut, chopped walnuts, etc.

Unless you’re doing the no-bake option, preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all dry ingredients and mix very well. (If you don’t have oat flour: simply grind rolled oats in a food processor to make oat flour. Be sure to measure the correct amount of flour for the recipe after grinding, not before.) In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients. Stir wet into dry and use another sheet of parchment (or wax) paper to squish evenly-coated mixture into a parchment-lined 7×5 pan (or double the recipe for a 9×13). Squish very, very hard, with a can or something heavy. Either fridge until firm (the no-bake option is firmer if you use coconut oil), or cook 18 minutes, then squish very hard again. Cool in the fridge for at least ten minutes before cutting into bars.

View Nutrition Information

These bars can be stored at room temp, but if you use coconut oil they’re best kept in the fridge. Or they can even be frozen. The bars thaw very well!

Other homemade granola bar recipes:

(Click on the photos to see the recipes.)

Question of the Day:

Do you wish you were taller?

Or shorter? Or are you happy exactly the way you are? I’m 5’5, and I always wanted to be taller when I was growing up. But now I actually like my average height. My grandpa used to say that you’re tall enough as long as your feet touch the ground. How are grandparents so wise?

This post is for YOU.

Yes, you. All of you. Every person who is reading.

You might’ve noticed a lot of my blog comments (and tweets and facebook responses) start with “Thank you so much…”

I’m sure it sounds like an annoyingly-broken record, but I really do mean every one of those “aww thank you”s. Thank you for trying my recipes, for sharing my website with friends, or for even just reading my blog in the first place. I get up every day, excited about my job, and it’s all thanks to you. Although I can’t think of a way I could possibly repay you all, this giveaway will hopefully at least make one of you very happy!

Vita-Mix Giveaway!

A Vita-Mix is not a regular blender. There are recipes—such as my fun ice-cream recipes—that just can’t be made unless you have a Vita-Mix. This $500 machine makes instant ice cream, hot soups, fresh smoothies, homemade nut butters, etc. And it can chop, grind, blend, churn… It’s very common to hear people say they are in LOVE with their Vita-Mix. Now the Vita-Mix company is giving you a chance to fall in love, too!

How to enter to win:

Feel free to gain extra chances by entering in more than one (or all!) of the following ways:

• You will get three entries if you share any of my recipe posts on your facebook wall. (To do that, just copy/paste the link to the recipe into your facebook status.)
• You will get three entries if you subscribe by email and verify.
• One entry if you like the CCK Facebook Page
• One entry if you follow me and tweet this 
• One entry for liking Vita-Mix on facebook and following them on twitter

Please leave a separate comment for each way you’ve entered and three separate comments if you’ve entered in one of the first two ways. (So, if you enter in all ways possible you’ll end up leaving 8 comments for 8 chances to win.) Sorry, I know it’s a hassle but I’m choosing from the comments, so it’s the only way I know how to set it up.

Also, if you have a specific question, please leave it on a different post. I won’t be able to read all of what will probably be thouands of comments on this post.

Here.

I made you something:

A single-serving coffee cake!

Complete with crumbly streusel topping in each little bite.

I think every one of my friends (the girls, anyway) is now on Pinterest. (It also seems like all of my unmarried friends have a “Dream Wedding” board. But please, let’s not get into that right now!). We were talking about the site a few days ago, and one of my friends mentioned a “coffee cake in a mug” pin that taunted her every time she logged on.

Finally she wrote down the recipe, then was horrified to learn one mug contained 720 calories and an entire day’s worth of saturated fat!

How can they fit so much fat into a single mug?!

So I came up with a healthier version for her: You could quadruple the following recipe and it would still be healthier than eating one of the frankenmuffins from Pinterest.

I think my friend approves of this recipe.

She’s made it four times already and says I’m her new favorite person in the world. Apparently my face is now pinned to her “Dream Wedding” Pinterest board, under the title “dream wedding caterer.”

*Shudder*

Coffee Cake for One!

Recipe can be found here: CCK Single-Serving Recipes

For the batter:

• 3 tbsp spelt flour (or white. For gf: a commenter had success with 1 tbsp rice flour and 2 tbsp almond flour.)
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/16 tsp salt
• 1 stevia packet (or 1/32 tsp pure) or 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 tsp water
• 2 tsp oil or melted margarine or applesauce (I prefer the oil/margarine, but that’s simply because I’m not a fan of fat-free baked goods.)
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the streusel: (If you like a lot of streusel, feel free to double all ingredients below.)

• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1 and 1/4 tsp sucanat or brown sugar
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp oil or melted margarine (once again, use applesauce if a fat-free version is desired)
• tiny, tiny pinch salt
• 2 pecan halves (or walnut halves)

(If using an oven, preheat to 330 F.) Combine batter dry ingredients and mix well. Add wet and mix until just mixed. In a tiny bowl, combine all streusel ingredients. Fill a greased muffin tin 1/2 way with the batter (or a ramekin or mug, if using the microwave). Sprinkle on two-thirds of the streusel, then spoon the remaining batter on top. Finally, sprinkle on the rest of the streusel. Cook 12-13 minutes in the oven, or around 1 minute in the microwave. (Microwave times may vary.)

View Nutrition Facts

Obviously, coffee cake is meant to be consumed with coffee…

Complete the meal with Healthy Starbucks Frappuccinos.

Question of the Day:

Do you know anyone who’s obsessed with weddings?

Suddenly, it seems like that’s all my friends want to talk about (probably due to our age, and also thanks to the fact that two of my friends are planning actual weddings). I can’t say I don’t sometimes get caught up in the talk; it’s fun to imagine the location, the proposal, and especially my dream wedding dress. But I don’t need a big, expensive wedding and I definitely won’t be a bridezilla.

Have you seen those crazy stories about people making their bridesmaids sign contracts saying they won’t gain weight, break a bone, or even change their hairstyles before the wedding? Those girls should just hire models to be their bridesmaids! The day ought to be perfect because of whom you’re marrying, not because your bridesmaid looks pretty in the pictures. (True story: one of my mom’s bridesmaids broke her leg the day of the wedding and is sitting in a chair for the photos!)

For other recipes, see: Single-Serving Cupcake Recipes.

Ridiculously easy.

As in, I made it in about 30 seconds.

Yes, a 30-second pie crust.

This recipe saves you precious time, so you can spend it on the important part: the filling!

Like this No-Bake Chocolate-Pumpkin Pie.

Or my favorite chocolate fudge pie, but I won’t link to that one today because you’re probably bored of my incessant mentioning of it!

Anywhoos… in addition to its simplicity, this pie crust is great for numerous other reasons: It’s chocolate. (Yay!) No lard, no partially-hydrogenated oils, and no ingredients you can’t pronounce. (You can pronounce “cocoa” right?) No added sugars, no flour, and it’s gluten-free!

30-Second Chocolate Pie Crust

(gluten-free!)

• 1 tbsp cocoa powder (or cacao powder)
• 1/4 cup raw cashews (or almonds, walnuts, pecans, or macadamia nuts)
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened) (See nutrition link below, for substitution notes.)
• 1/16 tsp salt
• scant 1/4 cup pitted dates (4 small dates)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend. Then transfer to a 7-in baking dish or aluminum pan (as shown above). Using a piece of wax or parchment paper, smush into the pan and pour desired filling on top or refrigerate until ready to use. (Notes: I like Sunmaid dates, as they’re softer. Also, you can probably use a blender, but I haven’t personally tried it and therefore cannot vouch for it. And feel free to increase recipe size for a bigger pie.) 

View Nutritional Information

I can’t show you what went on top of this particular pie crust, as it’s scheduled to be Mothers’ Day dessert, and my mom reads my blog.

Happy Mothers’ Day to the most compassionate, selfless woman I know.

(Do you think we look alike? Just a little?!)

Cast your vote!

Pie crust: yummy or yucky?

If we’re talking about that traditional flaky stuff, I’m going with yucky. When I lived in China, we frequented a restaurant that made really good apple pie. Except… I dislike crust, and my sister loathes apple pie. (Really. I don’t know how.) So we’d save money by sharing a slice: I’d eat all the filling and leave her the crust. Win for me, win for my sister, and big win for my mom who was paying!

Also, are you making anything for Mothers’ Day?

I just took breakfast out of the oven: Fat-Free Banana Bread.

You may have noticed…

I’ve cut way back on the “recipe round up” posts. I admit, accepting criticism is hard for me. But I really do appreciate reader feedback, and many of you felt I was publishing too many of these round-up posts. (Sorry! They’re just so much fun to write!) Taking your feedback into account, I’ll cut them back to every few weeks or special occasions and holidays. As it just so happens, there’s one of those coming up this Sunday.

Here are 10 healthy recipes that would be perfect for Mother’s Day:

Breakfast Jelly Roll for One

This recipe is probably the easiest “fancy” dessert you could ever make.

Peach Breakfast Cobbler

A dessert-like cobbler that’s healthy enough for breakfast! This recipe is also very simple to make. So even if you don’t like to cook, you can still treat your mom to a gourmet breakfast in bed.

Healthy Pancake Recipes

On the page, you’ll find recipes for Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes, Snickerdoodle Pancakes, Red Velvet Pancakes (sans food coloring!) and even Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough Pancakes!

Banana Bread Doughnuts

If your mom likes banana bread, she’ll like these even better!

Raspberry-Marzipan Muffins

This recipe makes just two muffins: one for you, and one for your mom!

Big Fat Coconut Breakfast Cake

This cake-like bread would go perfectly with a breakfast scramble and tall glass of orange juice.

Chocolate Strawberry Truffle Pie

Do you want a show-stopping fancy dessert that looks like it took hours to make but can really be prepared in just 5 minutes? This is the one to try!

Flourless Chocolate-Chip Cookies

This is one of my mother’s personal favorite recipes, so I had to include it on here!

Secret Chocolate Mousse

Your mom will never guess the secret ingredient.

Frozen Hot Chocolate

This recipe is my mom’s #1 all-time favorite recipe on my entire blog!

Question of the Day:

What is the best thing about your mother?

After telling me, be sure to go tell her if you can.

Breakfast just got 1,000 times more fun.

Make that a million times more fun.

Dessert Pancakes.

In elementary school, my sister and I looked forward to every “report card” day when our mom treated us to ice cream sundaes at Friendly’s (not for getting a specific letter grade, but just for working hard in general).

Sometimes I’d order the Monster sundae: mint-chocolate-chip ice cream with a cone head and M&M eyes. Sometimes I’d get two scoops of black raspberry ice cream with gummy worms. And sometimes I’d get… the most gargantuan sundae on the menu: the banana split.  

Stuffed with juicy strawberries, caramelized banana, and sweet chocolate chips, the following recipe is like the breakfast version of a banana-split sundae. All that’s missing is the ice cream! 

When was the last time you had a banana split?

Banana-Split Pancakes (for one!)

Inspired by this and this.

• 1/3 cup flour (spelt, white, ww pastry, or Arrowhead Mills gf mix all work)
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 plus 1/16 tsp salt
• 1 packet stevia or 1 tbsp sugar (you can omit if you’re planning to top with syrup and don’t want the actual pancakes to taste sweet.)
• handful chocolate chips
• 4 cherries or strawberries, chopped
• 1/2 a medium banana
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk of choice
• 1 tbsp coconut or veg oil, or 1 more tbsp milk of choice (Personally, I use oil because I don’t like the texture of fat-free pancakes. But I know a lot of you don’t mind, so feel free to use the second option if you’d prefer!)

In a bowl, mash the banana and combine it with wet ingredients (including berries). In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients and stir very well. Preheat a greased or oiled pan to medium, then pour wet ingredients into dry and stir to combine. Drop 5-6 dollops onto pan once it’s hot (I did it in two batches), and cook on medium-low. Flip once per pancake. 

View Nutrition Facts

Other Dessert Pancakes:

        Ice Cream Sandwich Pancakes

            Hot Apple Pie Pancakes

Question of the Day:

What do you think about the idea of rewarding kids for getting all As?

I think it’s important to acknowledge kids’ hard work, as opposed to rewarding all As. A struggled-for C should be applauded, not condemned, as it’s more meaningful than an A in a blow-off class. Then again, I can’t say I never wished to be like some of my friends who got $5 for every A they earned!

Edited to add: That’s Barleans’ chocolate syrup in the photos.

This might be the best lemon square recipe you’ll ever find.

So it’s a happy coincidence they’re healthy, too!

These won’t disappoint.

My roommate, who is obsessed with lemon desserts, took one bite and declared these “the best lemon bars on the face of the planet, healthy or not.”

Monster lemon bar.

Money shot.

Stock up on the ingredients…

This is a recipe you’ll want to make over and over again!

Healthy Lemon Squares!!

Crust:

• 1/2 cup ww pastry or white flour (180g)
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar or Sugar-Free Powdered Sugar (28g)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp plus 2 tsp coconut oil (40g)
• 1 tbsp water or more coconut oil

Filling:

• 1/2 tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp lemon juice (90g)
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar or sf powdered sugar (linked above) (28g)
• 2 Nunaturals stevia packs or 1/16 tsp uncut, or 2 more tablespoons powdered sugar or sugar-free powdered sugar
• 1 cup MoriNu silken-firm or lite tofu (This is not the same as the tofu in a grocery store’s refrigerator section. See “nutrition facts” link below for where to find this.) (240g)
• zest of one lemon (you can omit this)
• optional: a few drops yellow food coloring, only if desired for color

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine crust ingredients, either in a food processor or by hand. (Make sure the oil is melted if combining by hand.) Press evenly into a well-greased 8×8 pan. (I used a piece of wax paper over the top, so it was easier to press down.) Cook 10 minutes, while simultaneously combining filling ingredients in a food processor or blender. After crust cooks, pour filling evenly on top and cook another 26 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then fridge uncovered for at least 2 hours (important, as this lets the custard set) before cutting with a sharp knife. If you’re having trouble cutting, leave out just a few minutes so the coconut oil softens. (Note: If you want fatter squares than what are pictured, you can times the filling by 1.5, cook 10 minutes longer, and fridge 2 extra hours.) Makes 12-16 squares.

Click to see: Substitutions & Nutrition Facts

These are best stored in the fridge.

Question of the Day:

Fruit desserts or chocolate desserts?

These bars are so good, they have even me questioning my chocolate roots. But don’t worry; I’ve already made a chocolate version. I’m not a complete disgrace to chocolateness!

Facebook Update: There is now a “share” button at the bottom of each post. I absolutely hate the awkward self-promotion part of blogging, and so I will probably never mention it again!

But I’d be the happiest girl in the world if you’d like to share this on facebook.

(Seriously. I would! )