Sometimes you just need dessert. How about a healthy dessert? One you won’t feel too bad about eating?

I love strawberries. They’re one of my favorite things about summer. So sweet. So perfect for summer.

This Strawberry Shortcake recipe uses honey instead of sugar. I also used Whole Wheat Pastry flour. And I made fresh whipped cream. Perfection in a bowl!

You are going to love this! It’s the perfect dessert for the summer. And who doesn’t love strawberry shortcake?

Strawberry Shortcake

recipe from Heavenly Homemakers

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• fresh strawberries, sliced
• whipped cream (I whipped my own whipped cream and added a tsp of vanilla extract and a tablespoon of honey)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking dish, and set aside.
2. Mix together flour and baking powder. Mix in eggs, honey, oil, vanilla, and milk. Pour into greased baking dish, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
3. Allow cake to cool and then serve with strawberries and whipped cream.
4. Enjoy!

– Jill

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We love crackers in our house. We could eat them everyday if allowed (and sometimes I allow it). Since we love crackers, I figured it was time to make one of our favorites, Wheat Thins, from scratch.

These turned out great. Just like Wheat Thins, but better! Isn’t everything homemade better?

I do have one complaint abut these. They were gone way too fast. If my little monkeys are around, they’re gone in about 10 minutes if not sooner. I think I’ve found a solution. Only make these at night when the kiddies are asleep.

Homemade Wheat Thins

recipe from Oh She Glows

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 & 1/2 T sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 4 T butter, softened
• 1/4 cup plus 2 T water (and more if needed)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and paprika. Using a pastry blender or two forks cut the butter into the flour mixture until crumbly. Then add water and vanilla and work into a smooth dough. Add more water if needed.
3. Split the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your dough until very, very thin. Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into small squares (or whatever shape you want). Put the crackers on the lined baking sheet. Repeat with other dough.
4. Sprinkle more salt over crackers if desired. Bake 8-10 minutes or until crackers are done. You will want to keep a close eye on these. They burn quickly.
5. Enjoy!

– Jill

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Sometimes the easiest treats are the best. It’s easy to forget that when all these elaborate desserts pop up in magazines and on food blogs. (And yet I want to make them all!)

Sometimes you just need a good ol’ rice crispy bar. And that’s what I have for you today. Except instead of regular butter, I browned it. You can never go wrong with brown butter!

I found this recipe over on Smitten Kitchen. One of my favorite food blogs for sure!

These were a huge crowd pleaser, especially with my kids. (Not that you’re surprised). I mean, really, who doesn’t love a rice crispy bar?!  If you make these you will love them. And your kids will love them. So will your friends. And definitely your spouse, especially if you give him a cup of coffee to go along with it.

Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats

recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1- 10 oz bag marshmallows
• 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half of a 12-oz box)

Directions:

1. Grease an 8-inch baking dish, and set aside.
2. In a large pot, melt your butter on low heat. Leave it for like 10-15 minutes until it’s brown and has a nutty smell. If I remember to, I like to whisk it every once in awhile.
3. Take the butter off the heat, and mix in the marshmallows. If you need to put it back on the heat to get the marshmallows to melt completely, go ahead. Next mix in the salt. And then the cereal.
4. Spread mixture into prepared baking dish. You’ll want to press the crispy treats down firmly. I like to use a spatula or Smitten recommends a greased piece of wax or parchment paper.
5. Let cool, and cut into squares.
6. Enjoy!

– Jill

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Boy, do I have a treat for you all today! Let me introduce to our new favorite pasta dish: Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese!

This was spicy but not too spicy. (I didn’t add as much hot sauce as I would have liked because of the kids). The pasta. The cheese. The hot sauce. The chicken. Blue cheese, melted butter, mozzarella cheese and panko crumbs sprinkled on top before baking. So good!

My kids ate it, and they loved it! I wasn’t sure since it was a little bit spicy but it was a hit! I can’t wait to make this again.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

recipe adapted from foodnetwork.com and epicurious.com

Ingredients:

• 1 lb elbow macaroni (we used wheat)
• 2 T fresh oregano (or 1 T dried oregano)
• 8 T butter, divided
• 3 cups onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 4 cups milk (I used skim because that’s what we had on hand, but the original recipe called for whole)
• 1 lb extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 4 oz mozzarella cheese, grated plus 1/4 cup for topping
• 3/4 cup blue cheese, divided
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup hot sauce (if you want it spicier you could do up to one cup.)
• 3 cups cooked and shredded chicken
• 1 cup panko crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13-inch glass baking dish, and put aside.
2. Boil macaroni until just tender but firm to the bite, about 7 minutes. Drain, and put in a large bowl. Mix in oregano. Set aside.
3. In the same pot you just used to boil the macaroni over medium-low heat, melt 6 T of butter. Add in your onion and garlic. Saute until onions are soft. Add flour; stir for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Add cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup blue cheese, paprika, salt and pepper. Whisk for 2 minutes until cheese is smooth. Remove from heat and add in hot sauce.
4. Mix cheese sauce into macaroni. Add in chicken. Pour mixture into your baking dish.
5. Melt 2 T butter. Mix in panko crumbs, 1/4 cup blue cheese and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle on pasta.
6. Bake 20-30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.
7. Enjoy!

– Jill

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I’m always on the lookout for delicious, yet healthy cookie recipes. You can never have enough, right?

And these are just that. No butter. No eggs. No sugar. Just peanut butter. Chocolate (okay, maybe a little bit of sugar). Maple Syrup. And some other basic ingredients.

These satisfy my sweet tooth. Which is important, especially because lately it’s been out of control. After every meal I feel the need for a small piece of something sweet. Usually chocolate.

The awesome thing about these cookies? I don’t feel guilty when I eat one. Or two. And, as always, my kids loved them. They’re kid-approved!

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

recipe slightly adapted from The Fauxmartha

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (plus more for sprinkling, if wanted)
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (I bet coconut oil would be good as well)
• 1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together your flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In a larger bowl, whisk together your peanut butter, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla until all mixed together. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour until ingredients are combined.
4. Stir in dark chocolate.
5. Refrigerate dough for 15-30 minutes.
6. Using a tablespoon, scoop dough onto lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Using a fork, make a criss-cross pattern on each cookie and sprinkle with a tiny bit of sea salt if desired.
7. Bake 10-13 minutes or until the bottoms are starting to brown. Mine were perfect at 10 minutes. Let cool, and then move to a wire rack.
8. Enjoy!

– Jill

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Last week we watched The Avengers with the kids. This was the first non-Disney movie we’ve watched with them so, it was sort of a big deal. We had a fun picnic dinner and then I really wanted to make caramel popcorn. As good as it is, I didn’t want all the butter and brown sugar that goes along with it.

As soon as I saw this recipe for Salted Maple Popcorn, I was sold. It was very tasty. It was sweet without being overly sweet. It was a little bit salty. And the best part? (This usually seems to be the best part of my recipes… Lol). The kids loved it and ate it up!

I had a hard time keeping kid fingers out of the popcorn while I was taking pictures. Not a bad problem to have.

Salted Maple Popcorn

recipe from Homestead Revival

Ingredients:

• 1 cup popping corn, unpopped and oil for popping
• 1 T butter
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• sea salt

Directions:

1. Pop popcorn, put in a large bowl, and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter and maple syrup over low heat. Bring to a small boil. Take off heat and add vanilla.
3. Let cool and pour over popcorn. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt.
4. Enjoy!

– Jill

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So, this morning I finished reading Jodi Picoult’s The Storyteller. I read it in a day. It was that good. I shouldn’t be surprised that I couldn’t put the book down. All of her books do that to me. They’re so good. So raw. So real.

The Storyteller is about a baker (as soon as I saw it was about a baker, I was hooked!). It’s about forgiveness. It’s about the Holocaust. So, the book is unsettling. Hard to read. Yet I couldn’t put it down.

Anyways, about these Chocolate-Cinnamon Buns. In the book, she talks and talks about these Chocolate-Cinnamon Buns. I couldn’t get them out of my mind. So, last night I made them. And we ate them. And I almost died. Seriously. I may have cried a little bit.

You look at these and think they’re hard to make. They’re not. Seriously. They are so easy to make! There is yeast in this recipe, but don’t let that scare you! They are simple. They are easy. I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed when you make these.

These Chocolate-Cinnamon Buns are filled with sweet chocolate and cinnamon. If you want to be extra awesome, you can put a pat of butter on top of them as soon as they come out of the oven.

Chocolate- Cinnamon Buns

recipe from Sarah Jio who got it from Jodi Picoult

Ingredients:

• 1/2 warm milk
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus a pinch
• 1 large egg, at room temp
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour (I’m hoping to make these again use whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 T butter, softened and divided
• 1/4 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped or shaved (I used mini chocolate chips because that’s what I had on hand. Next time I’m going to use better chocolate.)
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Heat milk in a microwave-safe glass measuring cup (the kind with a spout). You want your milk warm to the touch, but not too hot. Sprinkle yeast and a pinch of sugar over milk, and let sit for 5 minutes or until frothy and bubbly.
2. In a small bowl, whisk egg, egg yolk, and 1/4 cup of sugar together. Add to yeast mixture and whisk together.
3. In the bowl of stand mixer (if you don’t have a stand mixer you can do the kneading by hand), using the dough hook, mix together the flour and salt. Add egg mixture and mix on low until everything is mixed. Add in 3 tablespoons of butter. Knead for about 7-10 minutes or until everything is incorporated well. The dough will be sticky.
4. Put a little bit of oil in a clean, large bowl. Put your dough in the bowl and make sure the oil gets on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
5. In a food processor, add 3 T of butter, the chocolate and cinnamon. Pulse until everything is mixed. Set aside.
6. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Set aside.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
8. After dough has doubled, punch it down and leave it for 5 minutes. Then on a well-floured surface roll dough out into a large rectangle shape. Sprinkle the chocolate-cinnamon filling over dough, and roll dough into a log, making sure to pinch the ends. Cut dough into 12 pieces and put in greased muffin cups. Cover and let rise for 15-20 minutes. Dough will rise a little bit during this time, but will rise even more during baking.
9. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops are light brown.
10. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

– Jill

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