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! 

Nutty Tropical Breakfast Quinoa

I'm not immune to kitchen failures. I rarely use recipes, so it’s a lot of trial and error. Like a few nights ago, when I decided to roast some rhubarb, and somehow ended up with crispy, charred, inedible little rhubarb cracklins. My five beautiful, giant stalks of ‘barb were reduced to a tiny handful of garbage.

Sometimes, though, I manage to throw together just the right flavors, and get a home run. Those are the ones I usually share here. Like this breakfast quinoa. I make fruity, breakfasty quinoa fairly often, but it’s usually nothing to write home about.

This breakfast quinoa—sort of tropical and nutty—this one is a winner, my friends. I used almond butter, because it’s what I had on hand, but I bet any nut butter would be delish… try cashew or macadamia! I used half a peach and half a mango, which leaves you with half a peach and half a mango for tomorrow’s quinoa, too! I would recommend just making a big batch of quinoa and keeping it in the fridge for this very purpose, but you can also toss it with salads, make burrito bowls with it, or even add it to cookie dough.

Nutty Tropical Breakfast Quinoa

1 tablespoon chunky unsalted almond butter

1 teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon almond milk

1/2 cup cooked quinoa, warm

pinch salt

1/2 peach, diced

1/2 mango, diced

1 T shredded coconut
Dash of cinnamon

Whisk together almond butter, honey, salt, and almond milk until smooth. Stir into warm quinoa. Mix in peach, mango, coconut, and cinnamon. Add a splash more almond milk if desired. 

Dark Chocolate, Almond Butter, & Coconut Muddy Buddies

So, it’s super sunny outside this week and I have a bowl full of gorgeous meyer lemons I picked off my Oma’s tree in southern California a week ago. All things to point to bright, fresh, springy, lemony. Yet staring at that those lemons, I was racking my brain trying to come up with something to make. Cake, scones, cookies, muffins… I just couldn’t get behind any of that. I thought I was in a slump.
 

But then I realized I’m not in a slump, after all. I’m just craving something totally opposite of what I was trying to make. Chocolate. Coconut. That’s where my head is right now. So, I made muddy buddies. Or puppy chow. You can call it that if you want…but I prefer muddy buddies, because, well...they aren't named after dog food. I also prefer them with almond butter, dark chocolate, coconut, and a sprinkle of sea salt. I mean, c’mon, we’re grownups here. 
 

In college, when I lived in a big house with 5 other girls, we made this treat all the time for late-night study sessions. So, it’s only fitting that I give you muddy buddies on Tasha’s birthday. Tasha lived with me in that big house, is one of my very best friends in the whole world, and is celebrating her birthday far away in her new home—the windy land of Chicago.
 

Sorry lemons… you’ll have your day soon enough.

 

Dark Chocolate, Almond Butter, Coconut Muddy Buddies

 

4 cups Wheat Chex
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
1/4 cup crunchy almond butter (unsalted)
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla  
Pinch of sea salt
3/4 cup powdered sugar

 

Put Chex in a big bowl, and set aside. In a microwave-safe bowl, add chocolate, almond butter, and vanilla, and microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat (in 30 second intervals) until smooth, melty, and creamy. Stir in coconut, vanilla, and sea salt (taste, and add more salt if needed, to your liking). Pour chocolate mixture over Chex, and gently stir until the cereal is all coated. Pour into a big freezer bag, add powdered sugar, (seal) and shake until all the pieces are coated.

Almond Butter Fruit Dip

We all have our bad habits. Some are vices, some are just little things that drive other people crazy. I definitely have some bad habits that drive Evan crazy. I leave dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, I hit snooze a million times every morning, I'm the worst back seat driver. But lately, the one thing he just can't stomach…is that I eat peanut butter (and Nutella, and almond butter, and spekuloos spread) straight out of the jar, on a spoon. He thinks its disgusting. I think….why consume extra calories via an edible spoon (cracker, bread, waffle, cookie, etc), when all I really want is the peanut butter? I think my logic makes perfect sense. 

My favorite afternoon snack the last couple of weeks is a spoonful of almond butter with a drizzle of honey, a sprinkle of coconut, and a couple of blueberries. Delicious one bite snack, right!? 

But, since it bothers him so much, I tried putting it all in a little bowl: almond butter, honey, coconut, blueberries. Stir it together, insert spoon, eat. Delicious two bite snack! He didn't like that too much either. The guy isn't too particular about most things, but this one just really seems to bother him. So, to make my afternoon snack a bit more appealing to him (not that his opinion has stopped me from standing at the counter eating Nutella straight out of the jar, with a spoon), I decided to add yogurt and whip everything up into a dip for fruit. That's totally normal and acceptable, right? Way less crazy than drowning every single thing you consume in hot sauce. *Cough* Evan *Cough*. 

Almond Butter Fruit Dip

1 cup nonfat vanilla greek yogurt

2 tablespoons salted almond butter

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup shredded coconut

pinch of cinnamon

sliced fruit or fruit skewers for serving

Whisk together yogurt, almond butter, and honey. Stir in cinnamon and coconut. Add more of anything, as desired. Serve with fruit.