Nikki's Healthy Cookies

I've told you about my favorite cookies before right? Well you can find them here. Well these? These are my second favorite cookies! Actually they are pretty much on par with my favorite cookies but perhaps even better because they are healthy to boot! Generally I don't really care if something is healthy or not. If it tastes good, I most definitely will eat it. You can see me eating a quinoa and tempeh salad one day, then an entire bag of hot cheetos the next day. But if I can cut back on unnecessary sugars and fats without having to sacrifice taste, then I say why not?

I had been wanting to try this recipe for a while now and finally got down to doing it... and boy I am so, so, so glad I did. These cookies are amazing. Pure amazingness in a tiny little package. Would you puuulease look at that ingredient list? It is so hard to believe that there is no butter, no eggs, no flour and no added sugar! These are slightly crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. They don't have the typical "cookie" texture but they are sure to satisfy your craving for something sweet! I promise!!!

Nikki's Healthy Cookies Recipe

Yields: 3 dozen bite sized cookies

Original recipe from 101 Cookbooks, which can be found here.

Printable Recipe

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut oil or olive oil

2 cups rolled oats

2/3 cup almond meal

1/3 cup coconut, shredded and unsweetened

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

6 - 7 oz. chocolate chips (I like using dark chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350 F, racks in the top third. In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla and oil, set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, coconut, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Add the dry to the wet and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate. The dough is looser than a standard cookie dough but don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart onto parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes.

Tailored Tuesdays

Sorry for my tardiness. I was preoccupied with midterms.

Mmmmmmm edgy.

I love black.

The end.

1. Helmut Lang "Asymmetric fastening leather jacket"

2. Marc Jacobs "Ruched printed silk dress"

3. Jimmy Choo "Blythe large tote"

4. Rayban "Wayfarer sunglasses"

5. Tory Burch "Reva patent leather flats"

all images can be found at net-a-porter.com

Ricotta Anything Muffins: Two Ways

These muffins are delectable.

The ricotta in the batter is so unbelievable dreamy and creamy. The sugar on the tops add a teeny bit of crunch and the berries add a bit of tang. The almond extract is a nice addition as well, as it goes great with both blueberries and raspberries.

I ended up trying two different recipes just for experimental sake. I had only planned on making the blueberry muffins but the recipe only yielded 10 muffins plus I had tons of ricotta left over. The blueberry muffins use almond meal, which is a bit harder to come by and just a teeny bit more of a hassle to make. So for the raspberry muffins I eliminated the almond meal but still had all the delicious almond flavor by using extract and topping it with more almonds.

Raspberry Ricotta Muffins

Yields: 10 muffins

Slightly adapted from here.

Printable Recipe

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 stick butter

1 egg

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 cup fresh raspberries

1/4 cup slivered almonds, for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside. Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl cream together the sugar and butter. Add the egg, ricotta and extracts and mix well. Mix wet with dry until just moistened. Fold in the raspberries carefully. Pour batter into prepared tin. Sprinkle each with a little sugar then top with slivered almonds. Bake for 28 - 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

I really can't tell which muffin I like better. Each of them were incredible in my opinion. The ricotta is what really makes these muffins. They were so moist and full of flavor! But honestly you could add whatever fruit or flavorings you'd like in this muffin, I'm sure anything would be just as delicious as these combinations!

Blueberry Ricotta Muffins

Yields: 10 muffins

Original recipe from Stick to Your Hips, which can be found here.

Printable Recipe

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

1 egg + 1 white

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup almond flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with liners and set aside. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, egg white, vanilla, almond extract and ricotta cheese. In a small bowl mix the flour, almond meal, salt and baking powder. Stir into the ricotta mixture until just moistened. Fold in 1 1/4 cups of the berries. Fill muffin tin with batter and press the remaining berries on top of the batter, then sprinkle with extra sugar and bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Moist and bursting with juicy blueberries!

Midterms Mixtape

Yep. It's that time again; midterm season, the time when I am just mere inches away from my death. But my savior? Music; especially these upbeat mixes.

1. Walter Meego - Forever

2. Santogold - Lights Out

3. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

4. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

5. Friendly Fires ft. Au Revoir Simone - Paris (Aeroplane Remix)

6. Vampire Weekend - Ottoman (Redlight Remix)

7. Fleet Foxes - Summertime (The Professor Remix)

8. Thao Nguyen with The Get Down Stay Down - Goodbye Good Luck

9. Britney Spears - 3

10. Gonzales - Let's Ride

11. The Pragmatic - Circles (RAC Maury Mix)

12. Metric - Help, I'm Alive

Spooktacular Cupcakes

These are some cupcakes I made for an upcoming event for my club at school, The Flying Samaritans. It's an amazing club and I'm so proud to be a part of it! It was only a matter of time until I made some cupcakes for them. We are gonna be selling these to help fundraise for our club, I hope people will like them!

Furry Swamp Monsters!

Blood Bones!

Brains!

Spiderwebs!

Mummies!

I didn't have much time so I used boxed cake mixes. But I did make my own Swiss meringue buttercream! I used Martha's recipe but let me warn you, this recipe makes SO much frosting. I made 36 cupcakes and I still think that I had enough frosting left over to frost another 36! Even though the recipe said it was only for 28! Make sure to cut the recipe in half if you aren't making a ginormous amount of cupcakes!

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Yield: enough for 40 - 50 + cupcakes

Original recipe can be found here.

Printable Recipe

2 1/2 cups sugar

10 large egg whites

8 sticks/ 4 cups of unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Place sugar and egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a pan of simmering water and whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers, it should feel completely smooth. Transfer the bowl back to the standing mixer and using the whisk attachment, whisk on high speed until mixture has cooled and forms stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes. Add the butter, a little at a time and beat after each addition. DO NOT WORRY if it starts to look like it curdled, keep mixing and it should eventually become smooth again. Beat in vanilla and just mix until combined. Enjoy!

To make the furry swamp monsters:

I used a smaller star tip and just piped small stars around the whole cupcake surface until it was covered. I used M&Ms for the eyes and edible ink pens for the irises.

To make the blood bones:

I used a 2D closed star tip to frost on the frosting. To make the bones I used red candy melts, melted them, then put them into a ziplock bag with the tip cut off to pipe out bone shapes. After they hardened, I added them to the cupcakes.

To make the brains:

I used a medium sized circular tip, first divided the cupcake through the center then swirled the tip around to fill each hemisphere of the brain.

To make the spiderwebs:

I used an offset spatula to spread some dark grey frosting in a thin layer across the top of the cupcake as a base. Then I used a small circular tip filled with white frosting to pipe concentric circles on the top of the cupcake. Then I used a toothpick to drag the frosting from the center out to the edge of the cupcake.

To make the mummies:

I used a rectangular basketweave tip to pipe lines in random ways across the top of the cupcake. I used M&Ms for eyes and used edible ink pens to make the irises.

The Kooples

Not yet available here in the states yet, sadly, but you can find these amazing pieces here. Aren't they just perfect for a Californian winter?

Tailored Tuesdays

It's getting colder. FINALLY!

I'd probably suggest a light cardigan or jacket with this one then.

1. Denis Colomb "Two tone horizontal stole"

2. James Perse "Casual cotton t-shirt"

3. Chloe "Wool flannel turn up shorts"

4. Yves Saint Laurent "Divine peep toe pumps"

5. Chloe "Paraty leather tote"

6. Mawi "Heiloom multistrand necklace"

all images can be found at net-a-porter.com

Monkey Bread

The Pioneer Woman strikes again. That woman has it out for me. Well, actually this recipe found me through a long string around the world wide web. First I saw it on Honey & Jam, where she found the recipe from Ryan via the Pioneer Woman. What a tangled web we weave...

But this monkey bread? Not so tangled nor complicated. Quite possibly one of the simplest and most satisfying recipes yet. It takes pre-packaged biscuits and turns them into something so much more than you could ever think possible. Really how could cinnamon, sugar and butter go wrong? It can't. And I do believe that is a fact. Cold hard facts people.

This bread is sticky sweet and slightly chewy in texture. It's quite sweet so I think a nice, steaming hot cup of black coffee would be the perfect accompaniment. Or even a cold glass of milk too! Enjoy the bread warm though, it's best that way!

Monkey Bread

Yields: 2 of the loaves shown above

Original recipe from Ryan via The Pioneer Woman, which can be found here.

Printable Recipe

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 sticks/ 1 cup butter

2 - 3 tsp. cinnamon

3 cans buttermilk biscuits (the non-flaky ones)

1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Open up all three cans of biscuits and cut each one into quarters. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a large zip lock bag and shake it to mix evenly. Drop biscuits into cinnamon sugar mix, close the bag and give it a vigorous shake to nicely coat each piece. Spread them in any bundt pan of your choice. Melt the butter together with the brown sugar in a medium saucepan until the two become incorporated. Pour over the biscuits and bake for 30 - 40 minutes until the crust is a deep brown on top. Allow to cool for 15 - 30 minutes before turning it over onto a plate.

Spring Ready-to-Wear 2010

My FAVORITE collection this season, BY FAR.

Fresh Corn and Avocado Salsa

Again, with The Pioneer Woman. I think I should just set the goal of cooking my way through her entire recipe list, I've made a pretty nice dent so far. If I had the time and money, that is something I would love, love, love to do. Every recipe I've tried from her has been irresistible, this one is no exception. It's the epitome of summer and what better way to send this gorgeous season off?

This recipe makes a big tub but no problem, you'll finish it in no time!

PW's Fresh Corn and Avocado Salsa

Yields: enough for a crowd (10+ servings)

Original recipe from The Pioneer Woman, which can be found here.

Printable Recipe

4 ears of sweet corn, cooked

1/2 red onion, diced

2 large, firm avocados, diced

2 jalapenos, seeded and finely diced (I like it spicy)

Juice of 1 lime

Plenty of chopped cilantro

Salt, to taste

1 tbsn. vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

Slice the kernals off the corn and combine with the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Enjoy!

Top an omelet with it, it's delicious: