Gluten Free and Vegan Chocolate Cake with Cocoa Peanut Butter Sauce

Wow. Just wow. There are no other words ... I'm a chocolate fanatic, and this recipe totally satisfied my cocoa cravings!

This is another adaptation of a Bethenny Frankel recipe, and she has not led us astray! So crazy delicious!

Here's The Skinny:

Each generous slice (serves 6) has 417 calories, 6.1 grams fiber, and 10.4 grams protein! Pretty dang good for a piece of chocolate cake if you ask me!

Recipe:

For the cake:

1 1/4 cups oat flour
1 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1 teaspoon warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1) Preheat oven to 350
2) Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, and stir until combined.
3) Pour into a bread pan, and bake for 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.

For the cocoa peanut butter sauce:

1/3 cup raw sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 1/2  tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons original almond milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan, and heat until the crystals from the raw sugar are dissolved. Then drizzle over the chocolate cake for an incredible experience!

This recipe is a MAJOR keeper! SO SO delicious, and not a bad calorie count for the size of the piece of cake! You could easily cut the cake into 8 and still have a good serving size!

Next time, I'm planning to bake the cake in ramekins instead of in a bread pan, because the cake was pretty crumbly and hard to get out of the pan and serve. I think serving this cake in ramekins with the sauce over top would be perfect!

Vegan and Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

"I can't believe these are vegan AND gluten free!" my friend Andrea exclaimed when she first tried these; and it's true!

They're moist, delicious, and only 70 calories a pop! I seriously had to check the recipe a few times to make sure I had done it right, because it seemed WAY too good to be true!














Here's The Skinny

Each cookie has 70 scrumptious calories!


Recipe:

Makes 24 cookies

1 1/2 cups oat flour
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
 3/4 cups rolled oats

1/3 cup original almond milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon coconut oil (or canola oil if you like to use that)
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Measure the milk in a measuring cup, and add the extract and coconut oil. If using coconut oil, make sure it's dissolved; you may need to heat it in the microwave for a few seconds.

Add the applesauce and milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in the raisins!

Arrange balls of dough on two cookie sheets, 12 per sheet. With a spoon, flatten the balls gently.

Bake them in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. Be sure not to over bake these! Err on the side of caution. Since these don't have any any animal products in them, being slightly undercooked won't be a problem!

You couldn't ask for an easier recipe with a bigger pay off!


  

Incredible (Gluten Free) Protein Bars!

I've mentioned before that I try to put a lot of emphasis on protein consumption. But, I always felt that even though protein bars technically had a lot of protein in them, they never really filled me up or satisfied me. Over the weekend though, I was introduced to the idea of making your own protein bars, and a bar that actually keeps me full and energized for a LONG TIME! Added bonus? They're ridiculously easy to make - you don't even have to bake them! You have got to try these!

Here's the skinny:

Each bar has about 200 calories, 9 grams of protein, and 6.5 grams of fiber.

What I love about these is that you can so easily change the recipe based on what you like. Don't want cranberries? Mix in some mini chocolate chips! Or use almond butter instead of peanut butter if that floats your boat.

I personally don't eat products with soy in them, because I was warned by my doctor that soy is really bad for us. So I searched high and low for a protein powder without soy. (I used the vanilla hemp protein powder from Trader Joes, and next time I plan to try the Raw brand powder)

Side note: I used hemp protein powder to make these, which is why they're so dark and slightly green. But if you make them with normal powder they will turn out the color of a traditional granola-type bar :)


Makes 24 bars

2 cups protein powder1
3/4 ground oatmeal (just pulse it in a food processor a few times)
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 1/2 cups peanut butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple sauce

Heat the peanut butter and apple sauce in a sauce pan until they soften together.

Mix together the dry ingredients, and then pour the peanut butter mixture into the oatmeal mixture and combine.

Line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Press the "dough" into the pan, and stick it in the fridge for a few hours.

Cut into squares! Ta da! You're done!