Christmas Eve Eve

Extra bananas, walnuts and hazelnuts. Banana bread of course!

A Delicious Flop

I can’t believe it has been 2 weeks since I’ve last updated Fallon’s Cucina. My bad! It literally does not feel like it has been that long. I set some time to get this post together because 1) today is February 29th, 2012 and 2) it was time to get a more updated post. I couldn’t miss out on today because we won’t have another leap year for 4 more years. Happy Birthday to whoever is actually born on a leap year. I always wondered how that works? How old can you really be if your birthday only comes every 4 years? Hmmm ;)

Today I have a recipe for you which is easy to put together but ended up turning out to be something completely different. Remember those rolo cake mix bars I made? They were so good, I wanted to change them up and do something different. Like using a chocolate cake mix and adding marshmallows, caramel sauce and pecans. Sounds delicious right? Well the bars ended up turning into this gooey, lava like cake. These definitely required a spoon for consumption, unless you like sticky fingers! As much as I wanted to call this mess a flop, it actually turned out to be a delicious lava like cake.

I baked them for over 30 minutes because I thought the cake was still not cooked through but it just continued to stay gooey. I realized I might of gone a bit overboard when it came to the caramel sauce and it is what kept the cake so moist and lava like. Which isn’t a bad thing!

It was enjoyed throughout the night at my best friend’s house. I couldn’t stop picking at them either. The toasted marshmallows are the best part. I’d recommend this cake to someone with an urgent sweet tooth because this cake will solve all those problems.

Gooey Chocolate Cake mix with Marshmallows, Caramel and Pecans
By Fallon

Ingredients
1 box (18.25oz) chocolate cake mix
1 (5oz) can evaporated milk (I used reduced fat)
1/4  cup unsalted butter, melted
2 cups mini marshmallows
1/4 cup caramel sauce, warmed
1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13in pan with cookie spray. With a mixer, beat cake mix, evaporated milk and butter until combined. Mixture will be thick and sticky.

Divide batter in half and press 1 half onto the bottom of the pan. Bake until just set, approximately 8-9 minutes.

Remove base from oven and place marshmallows, caramel sauce and pecans on top. Drop remaining batter on top of marshmallow mixture in teaspoon sized amounts. Bake for 30 minutes longer until marshmallows are toasted and cake mix is cooked through but still fudgy.

Cool and serve by scooping into a bowl and if your feeling extra frisky, serve with vanilla ice cream!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone has a great day today! I’m glad it is already the middle of the week. I’m so ready for my days off. ;)

Enjoy,
Fallon

Salted Nut Squares

Just a few days ago I saw the recipe for Salted Nut Squares on Bake or Break. This is a blog I’ve been following way before I started my own blog about 2 years ago. She always shares such wonderful recipes and her photos are amazing. They are so clear and crisp, it makes your mouth water. So basically, after I saw the post for salted nut squares my mouth was watering and I knew I had to make them. Let’s just say these are a must if you like the flavor of peanuts or that candy bar called Payday. Reminds me exactly of that candy bar. They keep their shape very well and if you let them set overnight they cut like a charm.

To get the recipe for Salted Nut Squares please visit Bake or Break.

I followed her recipe exactly and they turned out beautifully. I used an organic sweetened condensed milk because most brands will have HFCS. The organic has just milk and sugar. It makes these type of candies like fudge so creamy and something about the HFCS that makes it feel really heavy and artificial. Trust me you will notice the difference if you pick up the organic variety. Something else that is nice about these squares, they were so easy to make that clean up was a breeze. I love that!

Makes these and add them to your holiday dessert plates! Drizzle some chocolate on top for even more deliciousness.

  

It is optional but I recommend it, sprinkling extra sea salt on top. It balances out the salty from the peanuts and the sweet from the marshmallow/peanut butter chip mixture.

Fallon

Pecan and Goat Cheese Crusted Chicken

Here is ANOTHER fabulous recipe from Tara of The Foodie and The Family. She takes a chicken breast and presses a pecan/goat cheese mixture on top and bakes it in the oven. I tweaked mine slightly by using a grainy mustard and adding a little honey. I’m sure the honey isn’t primal but it was delicious. My boyfriend has a hard time eating chicken, especially if it is dry so I wanted to make sure it had a little more flavor. The pecans went perfectly with the goat cheese. It was crunchy, sweet and savory all at the same time. If you don’t like goat cheese, I’m sure cream cheese would work since it is almost the same consistency. This meal was very satisfying and I enjoyed having chicken that was different from a typical grilled piece of chicken.

I some what halved the recipe and and still had leftover of the pecan/goat cheese topping. Remember to preseason the chicken with salt and pepper.

Pecan and Goat Cheese Crusted Chicken
Adapted from The Food and The Family

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1-2 tablespoons grainy mustard
2 teaspoons clover honey
1 cup raw pecans, crushed
1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the honey, crushed pecans, goat cheese, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Put the chicken breast onto a baking sheet that has been oiled with olive oil or use a nonstick foil/parchment paper. Season with salt and pepper on both sides and brush the chicken breast with mustard. Press the pecan/goat cheese mixture onto the top of the chicken breasts. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

 

Yum yum,

Fallon

Happy Monday + Gluten Free Scones

Exactly 5 days from today will be my 25th birthday! I can’t wait because my boyfriend and I planned a really fun trip together for that weekend. I know Friday is a pamper day for me with a manicure and pedicure. Then I’m picking up some amazing cupcakes to enjoy for my birthday week! I can’t wait to show you guys how delicious they are. Although it will be a fun weekend, turning 25 hasn’t exactly hit me yet. I guess you could say it’s a big deal because it is your quarter century birthday. But I just don’t feel it yet!! I’ll probably feel like, “Gosh I am getting old!” But in reality I know I’m still young. ;)

I made these delicious scones over the weekend. I’ve been meaning to make them for over a month now and finally decided to get to business. These scones are very nutty and slightly sweet. I had one with an afternoon iced coffee and it kept me fueled up for grocery shopping during the afternoon. I didn’t have any dried apricots, so I subbed in dried mango instead. These will help me get through the work week during my afternoon break. I found the recipe from Elana’s Pantry for Gluten Free Muesli Scones.

Gluten Free Muesli Scones
Adapted from Elana’s Pantry

Ingredients
2 cups almond meal (a bit heavier than blanched almond flour)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup dried mangoes, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raw sesame seeds
1/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
1 large egg
2 tablespoons agave nectar

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a skillet on medium heat, toast the sunflower and sesame seeds. Every few minutes mix and shake the pan so the seeds get toasted evenly. Once you start to smell them, remove from heat and pour into a medium bowl to cool off.

To the bowl of seeds, combine the almond flour, salt and baking soda. Stir in the dried fruit and nuts. In a small bowl combine the egg and agave nectar.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Wet hands with water and form the dough into 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 square that is about 3/4” thick. Cut the dough into 16 pieces place on a baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake for 10 minutes and remove. Cool on baking sheet and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. (Some pieces were just too small, so I ended up combining them so they all be about the same size. I ended up with 13 scones, rather then 16.)

     

Enjoy,

Fallon

Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Protein Truffles

What is it lately with ME! My photos are off and the only thing I can blame is this apartment. There is no natural light near the kitchen or where our dining table is. If I make dinner, the photos will never be clear and a yellow tone. For instance, I made an amazing Mexican lasagna one night for dinner. It was so good but the photos were so bad that I refused to blog about it. Who else does that? Wish this place had better natural light.

Oh natural light, where art thou?

Then this recipe today was totally made up on the spot by me. I wanted to make my own nutella but healthier. I had toasted hazelnuts the other day and was inspired. I used cocoa powder, agave syrup, vanilla extract and coconut oil to loosen things up. I don’t know what happen but it turned out VERY gummy and not drippy,creamy like a peanut butter. I tried to spread it on bread for a photo, it was nearly impossible. It tasted really good though! LOL Maybe because I added a little water and ruined it! I just never saw it becoming super creamy and drippy :(.

So I was upset once again. Watched some TV shows like Cake Boss and the gypsy bride show.. I was inspired once again. Make these into truffles. I was still wanting to make them healthy and I needed to dry up the dough a little. I took vanilla protein powder and the nutella mess back into a food processor and it was finally easy for me to roll into balls. Placed them into the freezer and heated up dark chocolate with 1 tsp of coconut oil. I dipped the balls in the chocolate, let it set and I came up with Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Protein Truffles. They taste good, not too sweet and the hazelnut is very noticeable. I did nutritional stats on these babies, I rolled them into 12 balls and they came out to 165 calories each, with healthy fats, protein and dark chocolate! One truffle is the perfect bite and totally satisfying. Let me know if you try these out!

Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Protein Truffles
By Fallon

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups toasted hazelnuts, skinned
1/4 cup dark chocolate powder
3 tablespoons agave (any sweetener will work)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil, melted
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder (approx~30grams)

Chocolate coating
2-3 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon extra virgin coconut oil

Direction
In a food processor pulse the hazelnuts until it starts to form into a nut butter. Ass Add in the cocoa powder, agave and vanilla extract. Pulse again until combined. You may need to get a spatula to scrape the sides. Slowly add the coconut oil by the  teaspoon. Once combined add in protein powder and a dash of salt. Pulse till combined and starts to form into a ball. It is done when the mixture can stick together. If you want it sweeter, add more.

Ready for their chocolate bath, after hardening up in the freezer.

On a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper roll mixture into 12 balls. Save a little for snacking ;). Add to the freezer to harden up. In the mean time add 2-3 ounces of dark chocolate to a microwave safe bowl. Melt chocolate in 20 second intervals. Give a stir in-between. Once melted, add in 1 teaspoon of coconut oil. This will give the truffles shine and make the chocolate harden.

Remove truffles from freezer and roll into chocolate. Place back onto the parchment and let harden completely. To make this process go faster place in the freezer. Then ENJOY!

   

They melt quickly!  

Enjoy!!

Fallon

PS: Yes I did type in ass when I meant add. One of those mornings!

Telluride Trail Bars

As I’m typing this up I’m having one of these amazing granola bars as my dessert after dinner. I came upon these bars through the blog Family Fresh Cooking. Marla has a really nice blog all about fresh and healthy cooking. We both can relate to that. I was actually in the market for some homemade granola bars because I’d like to limit my intake from store bought bars. In reality it is cheaper to make your own bars and you can use all natural ingredients. These bars are suppose to mimic one of my favorites, sweet/salty peanut butter pretzel Clif Mojo bars. Which is also one of Marla’s favorites as well! Marla’s Telluride Trail Bars were inspired by their many trips to Telluride, CO. I’ve never been to Colorado but by her photos, it looks like a beautiful state!

The bars have pretzels and peanuts, with peanut butter and banana being the binder/sweetener. No refined sugar is added to these bars. A touch of honey or maple syrup would be nice but I really don’t think it is necessary. They bake up beautifully and are great snacks. I’ve enjoyed mine like Marla and her family does by making little sandwiches with them or adding it to some plain kefir with a drizzle of peanut butter. I tweaked the bars a little bit by adding in some pepita and sunflower seeds, chocolate chips and chia seeds on top! Also instead of plain peanuts I added some honey roasted peanuts (these will contain refined sugar).They make a great dessert like I mentioned earlier or a pre/post workout snack. I totally recommend peanut butter on top!

  

Telluride Trail Bars

Adapted from Family Fresh Cooking

Ingredients

2 cups toasted old fashioned rolled oats

1/4 cup honey roasted peanuts, chopped

2 tablespoons raw pepita seeds, toasted

2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds, toasted

4 mashes very ripe bananas

1 cup natural peanut butter

1/2 cup whole grain or spelt pretzels

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons chia seeds

Optional: natural sweetener to taste

Direction

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle. Lay peanuts, seeds and oats in a 9 x 13” baking dish in a single layer. Bake for about 10 minutes until lightly toasted and golden brown. When you can start to smell the oats, peanuts and seeds, that means they are done. Set aside and let cool in a medium bowl.

Keep the oven heated to 350 degrees. Line the 9 x 13” baking dish with parchment paper. Heat up peanut butter and mashed bananas in microwave or over the stove and stir well to combine. Let cool a few minutes. In the medium bowl with the toasted oat mixture add in the peanut and banana mixture. Fold in the pretzels and 1/8 cup of the chocolate chips. The chocolate will melt into the mixture. Taste granola and add any sweetener if desired. Spread the mixture evenly in the baking dish and top with remaining chocolate chips and chia seeds.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. The granola bars are done when the top is golden brown and the edges are a bit crispy. Let them cool so they are easy to handle, gently transfer to a cutting surface removing parchment paper and cut with a serrated knife or pizza cutter.

Plain kefir, go lean crunch cereal, crumbled up telluride bars, and peanut butter drizzle.

TRY THIS!

Enjoy,

Fallon

Are you this dedicated…

…that you’d have a separate shelf for all your nut butters and nuts? It wasn’t something I really thought about but once I started organizing my new kitchen I realized that I had way too many nut butters. I also had way to many bags of nuts (to make nut butters). So I dedicated 2 shelves for these items. Oh don’t worry, chocolate has its own shelf as well. It is above the bag of nuts. ;)

Peanut flour, white chocolate PB, creamy PB, dark chocolate AB, Barney butter packets..

More PB and AB. Coconut butter decided to join the party too!

I’m hoarding 2 bags of hazelnuts up there because they are VERY hard to find. Basically I’m saving them and I don’t know when I’ll eat them! I’m so silly ;)

This one is currently my favorite. That clearance sticker sure is tacky but they are crazy for discontinuing this cashew butter. The best store brand by far and it was the last jar. You know me I would of stocked up for my collection.

So dreamy.. I mean creamy!

So amazing?

MMM HMMM!! Come back tomorrow and I’ll share my flavor of amazing!

Fallon

Chunky Monkey Granola

Katrina from Baking and Boys! likes to call it Banana Dark Chocolate Chunk Granola but I’m more fond of the Chunky Monkey Granola. Either way it is a healthy granola! The extra ripe bananas act as the glue to this granola by adding the right amount of sweetness and practically no added fat. The only fat, which is good fat comes from the nuts and flaxseed. I’m very picky when it comes to buying granola and making granola. We all know granola “sounds” healthy but it is usually very calorie dense with a high amount of sugar and fat. When I see homemade granola recipes calling for 3/4 cup of fat and sugar, I stay away from it. This granola recipe Katrina came up with is great. I don’t feel guilty eating it! The addition of dark chocolate chips is an added bonus too. I always need my chocolate fix daily and sometimes I get this out of the way during breakfast!

 

I love this granola topped on frozen yogurt, Greek yogurt, vanilla soy milk, or as a smoothie topper! Next time you want to make homemade granola I’d recommend this recipe. It is very simple to make and all ingredients are pretty standard in most kitchens! I followed Katrina’s recipe but I adjusted some of the ingredients which is posted below. To get the original recipe for Chunky Monkey Granola head on over to Katrina’s blog by clicking this link HERE.

Chunky Monkey Granola

Adapted from Katrina of Baking and Boys!

Ingredients:

4 cups old fashioned oats

2 tablespoons ground flax meal

1/2 cup unsweetened, flaked coconut

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/4 cup salty almonds, chopped coarsely

3 small bananas, overripe

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon table salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons hot water

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Handful of dark chocolate chips

Direction:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine oats, flax, coconut, sunflower seeds and almonds. In another large bowl, combine the bananas, almond extract, salt, brown sugar, water and cinnamon. First use a fork to mash the bananas down and then change to a wooden spoon to mix everything together until smooth but slightly chunky from the bananas.

Pour banana mixture into oat mixture and stir together with a wooden spoon until all the oats are moistened. Transfer the granola onto rimmed baking sheet and spread evenly. Stir every 12-15 minutes and bake for an hour (longer if you like it extra crunchy). Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before adding chocolate chips. Store granola in an airtight container. You can keep in a cool spot or store in the refrigerator.

   

Please don’t forget I am hosting a giveaway!!! I’m going to go ahead and extend it till Saturday, March 19th till midnight! So you have today and tomorrow to submit your comment(s). Click this link to head on over to the giveaway page and read the following. I’m going to add a few more things to the package but that will be a surprise to the winner! If you like almond butter, then you will like the surprise!

Much love,

Fallon

Gingerbread Men and Hazelnut Bark

   

A long time ago I found a recipe called salted gingersnap and hazelnut bark. A year later I finally decided it was time to make this bark! I had leftover gingerbread cookies and I had plenty of hazelnuts. This bark was out of this world. My gingerbread men were salty, sweet and chewy. Pair that with toasted hazelnuts and dark chocolate for a wonderfully sweet and savory combination. This was by far my favorite treat of the season because it had all my favorite components. I’m definitely making this bark again for Christmas this year. I’m glad I will have a few months to recuperate after all the wonderful treats I was able to make last Christmas. ;)

This is the LAST installment of all holiday cookies of 2010. I hope you all enjoyed reading what I was up to and hopefully you bookmarked them to make later on in the year. If you missed my other posts here is one more recap:

Gingerbread Cookies (Used this to make the bark)

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

Cranberry Chocolate Almond Clusters

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

White Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

 

Gingerbread Cookies and Hazelnut Bark (Adapted from Bitchin’ Camero)

Ingredients (half version)

1 1/2 cups gingerbread cookies

6oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Place the cookies in a bag and beat them with a rolling pin or a heavy handled pan into rough pieces. Place the broken cookies onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Create a double boiler by placing a metal bowl on top of a pot of water over medium heat. Add your chocolate to the bowl and stir until it melts through. Carefully pour the chocolate over the cookies until completely covered. Use a small spatula to spread it evenly over the cookies. Quickly sprinkle the hazelnuts over the chocolate in an even layer. Then evenly sprinkle the salt.

Let cool completely. To speed up the process, place in the refrigerator. Once harden, break or cut into pieces.

 

Enjoy,

Fallon