Coconut Pecan Hot Fudge Sundaes

It’s almost Valentine’s Day! Let’s celebrate with ice cream sundaes! 

Gluten Free Chocolate Pancakes

What are your thoughts on breakfast in bed? 

I think sounds nice, in theory… but really, I sort of hate it. Eating in bed grosses me out. Crumbs and food smells in the bed… no gracias. But, I am all for a quick chocolaty breakfast for Valentine's Day… just, served in the dining room. PS. Who am I kidding… we totally only eat on the couch in front of the tv. 

These pancakes are super simple to whip up, and happen to be gluten free, sugar free (unless you add chocolate chips and maple syrup like I do), and, minus the chocolate chips and syrup, and maybe a pinch of salt, contain only four simple ingredients. Almond butter, bananas, eggs, and cocoa powder. That's it, my friends. 

I know it seems weird to not add any flour, but it just works! And if these weren't already simple enough, I mix the batter up in the blender, which makes for easy, even pouring, and quick clean up. I'm pretty sure that Evan could even make these pancakes (hint, hint)! 

Gluten Free Chocolate Pancakes

Makes about 16 silver dollar pancakes

The riper your bananas, the more banana flavor you'll get. If you're into that, go super ripe. I prefer less ripe, to let the chocolate shine through more. You can also swap out the almond butter for peanut butter! The ratios here are really simple to remember, and make it easy to halve or double the recipe. The one drawback to these is that they're a little difficult to flip. The smaller the pancake and the less you cook at a time, the better.

2 bananas

2 eggs

2 heaping tablespoons almond butter

2 tablespoons cocoa powder 

Pinch salt

Chocolate chips

Cooking spray or butter

Maple syrup, for serving

Blend bananas, eggs, almond butter, cocoa powder, and salt until smooth (will just take a few seconds, depending on the power of your blender). Heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat, and spray or butter. Pour a small amount of batter into the skillet (silver dollar size) and add 2-3 chocolate chips/ pancake. When the top starts to bubble (generally takes less than a minute), gently flip, and cook another 30-60 seconds. Repeat with remaining ingredients, spraying/buttering skillet between each batch. Serve warm with maple syrup! 

Coconut Milk Peanut Butter Mousse

I love Valentine’s Day. There, I said it.

I know it’s all hearts and mushy-love and pink things. I know it’s super commercial and makes people cringe. I know single people go home and cry into their ice cream or get drunk or something. I just don’t get that. I’ve always loved Valentine’s Day. Even when boys had cooties. Even when I had a broken heart.

When I was kid, I would wake up on Vday, and there would be big gift baskets waiting for me and Amanda, full of candy hearts and chocolates, usually with a toy or earrings or makeup.  There would be flowers on the table for Mel, from John, with a homemade card that he painted or drew or collaged. In elementary school we would decorate bags or boxes to collect Valentine’s cards. In high school, my girlfriends and I gave each other little gifts, chocolates or scrunchies or mugs with pink and red pencils in them.

I think it’s sweet. I think love is sweet, romantic or otherwise. And I think that even if you’re single or heartbroken or on a major man-hating streak, you should still love love—you know, love that your friends and family love you. That your pets love you. Give all of them some of your love, too. This Valentine’s Day, can we make a pact? Can we all plan on being in love…with life? It’s just too short and unpredictable to be hateful or ungrateful.

Here’s a little something else for you to love—super simple peanut butter mousse, made with just a couple of ingredients, including coconut milk and that powdered peanut butter you ran out and bought to make instant oatmeal!

Coconut Milk Peanut Butter Mousse

1 can full-fat coconut milk (not Goya, it doesn't seem to separate)
1/4 cup powdered peanut butter + 1 tablespoon
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Salted peanuts

Chill the can of coconut milk overnight. Open the cans (a lot of recipes for coconut milk mousse recommend opening upside down, as the cream will float to the top when it separates), and scoop the thick cream into a chilled bowl. You can save the liquid for something else (like throwing into a smoothie) or toss. If your coconut milk doesn't separate, it won't be thick enough to whip. It will still taste good though, but will pretty soupy. Add the peanut butter powder and powdered sugar, and beat until desired consistency. It will thicken up a lot once you add the powdered peanut butter and start whipping. I usually beat by hand with a whisk, because I only make 1 can worth (which isn't enough for my whisk attachment to reach in my stand mixer!). This is super rich, so 1 can worth is plenty for two people. Top with salted peanuts. PS. Try freezing it for a few hours for super delish PB ice-cream!!

Happy Happy Love Love + Pudding

Sometimes a scent or a taste brings you back to some other time and place. Have you ever had one of those moments, where the lick of an icy popsicle transports you to childhood summers, playing outside by the little inflatable pool? I have those moments all the time. I also have a crazy-good memory (trust me, I know what you wore on this day in 1995), so my memories play out in a little more detail than some. 

Amanda, for instance, hardly remembers what she did yesterday. I guess I'm here to keep the story of our childhood alive. We regularly have conversations that start with me saying "remember that time, I was probably 6, you were 8…you were wearing….we were eating those…and then I said… do you remember?" She rarely does. I wonder if she remembers that time we begged our parents for candy, we must have been at a Mexican grocery or something, and the only options were those spoons with tamarind goo on them, or weird little tamarind baby-bottles. That's what I got, and it ended up being super spicy. I cried. I mean, I was kind of a cry-baby, but still. Who makes spicy candy look like a baby-bottle!? That's just crazy. To this day, I remember how it tasted. That was probably about 22 years ago. 

For some reason, this chocolate pudding is one of those things that brings back a flood of memories for me. The recipe was published in the February 2009 issue of Gourmet. That Valentine's day, Evan came over to my old one-room garden level apartment. We made an unbelievable amount of sushi together, and ate it in the living room, watching Nip Tuck. I think we watched like 2 full seasons that day. Then—even though we were so full of homemade sushi we could barely move—we ate the entire bowl of pudding, with whipped cream and strawberries. I was wearing a red shirt. Like I said, I remember details. 

I guess there are probably other amazing chocolate pudding recipes out there, but I just keep coming back to this one. And every time, it makes me think of Valentine's day. And Evan. I love that. I love him. And chocolate pudding. 

Recipe: Mexican Chocolate Pudding, Gourmet Magazine