Dark Chocolate M&M Zucchini Bread

Marathon training makes me SO HUNGRY! Seriously, I am hungry all the time.  Plus, my lunch at school is at 1 in the afternoon.  So, when I eat breakfast at 5:30 and run in the morning I feel great, but by the time lunch rolls around, I am practically seeing stars I am so hungry.  I decided it would be a fantastic idea to hide some food in a drawer in my room so that I can discretely munch occasionally.  This was the motivation behind these Dark Chocolate M&M Zucchini Muffins...

This recipe made 24 mini muffins plus a whole loaf pan.  Bri was very excited when he saw what was happening in the kitchen and these guys came out great!  

Dark Chocolate M&M Zucchini Bread

(adapted from The Kitchn)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 small zucchini, shredded and squeezed dry with paper towels

4 eggs

1 cup non-fat, plain greek yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup dark chocolate m&ms

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a mini muffin pan and loaf pan.  

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, oats, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  

3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the greek yogurt and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Beat in the shredded zucchini.  Add in the dry ingredients and beat until just combined.

4. Stir in the m&ms and then spoon into the prepared muffin tin and loaf pan. 

5. Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes and bake the loaf for about 25-30 minutes.  A toothpick should come out clean from both.  Let cool and enjoy!

Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Yay Passover! I just love not being about to eat bread for a week...

Okay, I am very excited to eat bread again! In fact, every year, I take a break from Passover to enjoy Easter! My mom's side of the family has an Easter party every year and it is a lot of fun.  I love doing the colored eggs and sharing a big family meal.  She even brings a Lamb Cake! It's really cute and then we fight over who gets the butt (typical).  So, today I am off to my cousin's to celebrate Easter and I am very excited to enjoy the food and take a little vacation from Passover.

If you didn't see yesterday, I fell while running, and today I am still feeling very sore and beaten up.  My knee has developed a small bump this morning and I am not sure if I am going to make it through my Sunday morning Jillian Michaels work-out.  Wish me luck because I am going to try!

After my work out, I have homework to do for an online class that I am taking and then I am going to attempt to cook a few meals so that we are all ready for the week.  This is all before we drive to my cousins (about an hour away) for Easter.  So, I am up bright and early to share this with you all and then get to work!

Keeping with the Passover theme, today I am telling you about some amazing Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins.  They are crazy simply and crazy yummy.  I have made these multiple times and I even brought them in to school to share with my fellow teachers.  Everyone loved them!

Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
(adapted from Averie Cooks)

Ingredients: 
1 medium ripe banana
1 egg
1/2 cup creamy, natural peanut butter
3 tbsp honey
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini or regular)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place everything except the chocolate chips into a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Spoon into a greased mini-muffin pan until about 3/4 full, or regular muffin pan.  Bake for 7-8 minutes if a regular muffin pan and 8-10 minutes for a mini muffin pan.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Carrot Zucchini Muffins

It's the weekend! Finally! This week of camp seemed to go on FOREVER and I am so excited to rest for a bit.  Of course I didn't sleep in today, but I have been having a great weekend so far!

I went downtown to the Taste of Chicago last night and it was a blast!  My two friends and I tasted a ton of stuff because we shared everything!  The food was great and I can't wait to share here what I tried.

Today I'm not sure what I will be up to, but tonight my friend Alyson is turing 21 and we are all going downtown to celebrate!!  I can't wait to celebrate the special birthday girl and I am super duper excited.

Today I have a fun Gluten Free recipe to share that is perfect for breakfast or as a yummy snack.  I saw Giada make these Gluten Free Carrot Zucchini Muffins while working out one day and I just had to make them.  I adapted the recipe slightly to fit with the ingredients I had lying around and they were amazing!  I brought these in for my camp counselors as a breakfast treat and they were a huge hit!

Gluten Free Carrot Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 heaping tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup light maple syrup
1 egg
1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
1 medium zucchini, grated
1/2 cup dried blueberries or chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a mini muffin pan with liners.
2. Drain the zucchini by placing the grated zucchini on a paper towel, wrapping it in the paper towels, and squeezing dry. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg with the canola oil and maple syrup.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Pour dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.  Mix in the carrot and zucchini.  Mix in the blueberries.
5.  Fill muffin wells almost to the top.  Bake for 15-18 minutes.  Let cool completely.

Enjoy :)

Gluten Free Treats

It's time for camp again and I love bringing in treats to share with my counselors.  We end up being like a little family by the end of camp since we spend so much time together and so it is nice to share treats with them once in a while.  Two of my counselors cannot eat gluten products and so I try to incorporate a gluten free treat whenever I can.  Today I am bringing in one of my favorites: Gluten Free Nutella Brownie Bites.  These brownies look just like the mini ones you get from the store, but they are homemade, gluten free, and even better!  I love Nutella and this is one awesome dessert.

I am pretty new to this Gluten Free thing and while I am decently good at cooking gluten free, I am still searching for those great Gluten Free baking ideas.  If you have any I would love if you would share them with me! 

Here are a few of the other things I've made that are Gluten Free:

Puppy Chow

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

Gluten Free Cheesecake

Apple Crisp

Skinny Peanut Butter Brownies

What I really need is some gluten free cupcakes...I'll get right on it!

Whole Wheat Strawberry Muffins

It's Strawberry Season and I have been in such a great mood because of this whole getting a job and graduating thing and I just felt like baking something scrumptious with strawberries!  I used the same base as I did for my Perfect Blueberry Muffins to make Perfect Strawberry Muffins! I also doubled the recipe because I wanted to share my treats! All my friends who are still "real students" are taking finals and I brought these muffins to a study session to share with everyone! I don't have finals since I am a student teacher and I have to go to school every day until the end of the high schools school year.

Perfect Whole Wheat Strawberry Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup non-fat, plain greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1 to 1 1/4 cups chopped fresh strawberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 and lightly grease a muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs with sugar until pale yellow, beat in milk, yogurt and vanilla.  Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.  Stir in the strawberries.
4. Fill the muffin pan all the way to the top and bake for 5 minutes.  Lower the temperature to 375 and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan.

Enjoy :)

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

Can't believe we are back at another Monday! These weeks and weekends are just flying by!

It's Half Marathon Monday once again! This past week, I ran 3 miles on Monday, 4 on Tuesday, 5 on Wednesday, rest on Thursday, 3 on Friday and then 8 on Saturday!!! It was a pretty epic week and I am feeling great.  On Sunday I did my cross training work out and I'm feeling a little sore.  Good thing today I have a shorter run planned.  My 8 mile run felt amazing and I'm feeling pretty confident about the half marathon!

I also have a great recipe today that is healthy and amazing.  I made really good blueberry muffins and I am pumped to share them.  I found a recipe for bakery style muffins on Sally's Baking Addiction and they looked so perfect that I just had to try them.  I made regular sized muffins and subbed some ingredients for others and they still came out great!  They look super attractive and they taste even better.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup non-fat greek yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
extra sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 and lightly grease a cupcake pan.  This will make 6 regular muffins.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg, sugar, milk, and yogurt until well combined.  Beat in the vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.  Stir in the blueberries.  Fill cupcake wells all the way to the top and sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake for 5 minutes and then reduce heat to 375 for an additional 18 minutes.

Enjoy :)

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

For this week's Foodie Friends Friday, I'm linking up this amazing recipe for On-the-Go Oatmeal Cups.  I am so glad that I found this recipe over at With Style and Grace because it was super easy, healthy, and totally adaptable! I made it with apples and raisins, but I can definitely see other combos in my future (peanut butter/banana, nutella, blueberry, strawberry...the options are truly endless!).  I hope that you enjoy this recipe and have a happy Friday!

Mini On-The-Go Apple Oatmeal Cups
(makes 24 mini cups plus 5 large cups or 36 mini cups)

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 1/2 cups plain almond milk
1/2 cup egg whites
1/4 cup plain applesauce
1 apple, peeled and chopped (I used Granny Smith)
1/4 cup raisins

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a mini muffin pan.
2.  Beat the egg whites, almond milk, and applesauce together in a large bowl.
3.  In another bowl, whisk the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves together.  Pour this mixture into the almond milk mixture and mix to combine.
4.  Pour the batter into the muffin pan, filling each well about 3/4 full-full.  Bake for about 30-35 minutes.  The mini cups will be done closer to 30 and the large ones may take a bit longer.

Enjoy :)

It's time for another Foodie Friends Friday! Last week these three lucky winners won a coupon from Daiya Cheese:

Fan Drawing:

1. Jessica

2. Tara, Let's Eat Beef Stew

Blogger Drawing:

1. High Heels and Grills Tin Foil Dinners

2. A lil Country Sugar Roasted Balsamic Zucchini

3. Life and Lovebugs Vegetarian Chili

4. A Girl's Reflection Italian Wedding Cookies

And here are the winner's from last week's party!

#1 Sweet Heat Chefs- Dark Chocolate Covered Pumpkin Truffles

#2 Marlys This and That- Baked Rice with Eggplant and Zucchini

#3 Busy Vegetarian Mom- Vegan Philly Cheese Steak

#1 Marlys This and That- Baked Rice with Eggplant and Zucchini

#2 Family Food Finds- Vegan Crunch Wrap

#3 Pint Sized Baker- Ginger and Lime Sandwich Cookies

This week is sponsored by A Mustard Seed Dream and three randomly picked, lucky winners will win a Kitchen Canister Decal!

But first, here are this week's co-hosts:

Foodie Friends Friday http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com

Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom http://www.busyvegetarianmom.com

Robyn's View http://www.robynsviewathome.blogspot.com

Angie at A lil Country Sugar  http://alilcountrysugar.blogspot.com/  

Marlys at This and That  http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com/

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine http://wifeofthecolonel.blogspot.com/

Lindsey at Family Food Finds  http://www.familyfoodfinds.com

Cindy at Cindys Recipes and Writings  http://www.cindysrecipesandwritings.com

R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade  http://www.spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

Ericka at Chef Picky Kid  http://www.chefpickykid.com

Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes http://www.fromcalculustocupcakes.blogspot.com

Cynthia at Feeding Big  http://www.feedingbig.blogspot.com

Jodie at Binomial Baker http://www.binomialbaker.blogspot.com

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Honey Wheat Cakes with Brown Butter Honey Glaze

I made these amazing little honey cakes for my study night this week.  Rosh Hashanah is coming up on Sunday and I wanted to bring a dessert that really celebrates that holiday!  Honey was on my mind because you eat honey on this holiday to celebrate having a sweet new year! I have a lot of sweet things going on in my life right now (including these mini cakes!) and I can't wait to see what this next "new" year has to bring!

Mini Honey Cakes with Browned Butter Honey Glaze (adapted from Pastry Affair)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup skim milk
2/3 cup non-fat greek yogurt (I used Plain Chobani)
Glaze:
3 tsp honey
1 tsp butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease some cupcake pans.  This recipe will make about 24 mini cakes.
2. In a large bowl, beat the oil, applesauce, and sugar together until well combined.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well combined.  Then, beat in the vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves together.  Incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.  Stir in the milk and yogurt. Pour batter into prepared pans filling each hole about 1/2-2/3 full.  Bake for about 18 minutes.
4.  While cupcakes are baking, make the glaze.  Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Swirl butter around until completely melted and then continue to swirl until butter browns and smells fragrant.  Pour butter into a small bowl and whisk in the honey.  Drizzle glaze over the warm cupcakes!
Enjoy :)

It's time for another Foodie Friends Friday! Last week these three lucky winners won an adorable towel from Bazor Designs:

The Meltaways Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

Earning My Cape Microwave Dried Fruit

Slice of Southern Pineapple Grilled Pork

And here are the winner's from last week's party!

#1 Top Voted AND Most Clicked:

Hun What's For Dinner Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Loaf

#2 Top Voted AND Most Clicked:

Cozy Cakes Cottage Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

#3 Top Voted:

Jenmi Jenmi Chocolate Chip Cream Pie

#3 Most Clicked:

One Creative Procrastinating Gal 3 in 1 Meal

This week is sponsored by Miss Macie and one lucky winner will win this gorgeous ring!

But first, here are this week's co-hosts:

Foodie Friends Friday http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com

Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom http://www.busyvegetarianmom.com

Robyn's View http://www.robynsviewathome.blogspot.com

Angie at A lil Country Sugar  http://alilcountrysugar.blogspot.com/  

Marlys at This and That  http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com/

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine http://wifeofthecolonel.blogspot.com/

Lindsey at Family Food Finds  http://www.familyfoodfinds.com

Cindy at Cindys Recipes and Writings  http://www.cindysrecipesandwritings.com

R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade  http://www.spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

Ericka at Chef Picky Kid  http://www.chefpickykid.com

Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes http://www.fromcalculustocupcakes.blogspot.com

Cynthia at Feeding Big  http://www.feedingbig.blogspot.com

Jodie at Binomial Baker http://www.binomialbaker.blogspot.com

Amber at http://www.mamasblissfulbites.com/

One more thing: The Rules

Step 1: Make sure that anything you link up is:

• A recipe that is made and photographed by you
• Not part of a sponsorship/sales/giveaway or other promotions/linky parties
• Linked to a specific page of your recipe, not your homepage
• Please limit your link-ups to 3 per party

Step 2:

• Show some love and link back to my blog and Foodie Friends Friday (http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com)  on the post of the recipe you are submitting. For example: This recipe is featured on "Host Blog Link" and  http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com Linky Party

If you want to be the very best Foodie Friend Ever...

• Grab our button at  http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com and put it on your page and share Foodie Friends Friday! 
• Take some time and check out other submitted links and the blogs of all our gracious hosts
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Step 3: Come back on Sunday and vote for your favorite recipes by clicking on the star  under the recipe.  You only get 3 Votes so use them wisely!

***Please note that by linking up your recipe you are agreeing to allow Foodie Friends Friday and any of it's affiliated websites or publications to use photos/links/recipes for any reprint, republishing and distribution without monetary compensation to you.  If photos/recipes are used, proper credit and link backs will be included. 

Mini Morning Banana Muffins

It felt like a muffin kind of morning and so I decided to whip up some banana muffins.  I found a yummy sounding recipe over at How Sweet It Is and then instead of a brown butter glaze, I opted for plain-old-muffins.

Last night, I had a super nice dinner with my co-site director, Anna, and director, Lucy.  We went to Kona Grill where from 5:30-7:30 in the "seat yourself" section, you can participate in Happy Hour.  They have tons of half-priced appetizers, small meals, sushi, and of course, drinks.  It was exciting because I am finally 21 and I got to order a drink and get "carded" for real for the first time! I love the friends that I make through camp.  We had a great time and it was a nice way to make a Wednesday summer evening feel a little more special.

Afterwards, I got to be super early and of course, woke up too early once again.  Thus, the muffins.

Mini Banana Muffins
makes 36

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 egg
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup skim milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 bananas, mashed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pan with paper liners or lightly grease.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.
3. In a large bowl, whisk egg and brown sugar together until well combined.  Whisk in the butter, milk and vanilla.  Whisk in the banana.  Stir in flour mixture until just combined.  Pour into muffin pans, filling about 3/4 full, and bake for 12 minutes.
Enjoy :)

...I might even slather some nutella or peanut butter on top of these...

Gluten Free Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

This morning I woke up 30 minutes before my alarm...so I made muffins!

I've wanted to make a gluten free muffin so that I could share it with my staff at work.  Two of the counselors can't have gluten and it makes me sad when I bring in treats that can't be enjoyed by everyone.  So I found a gluten free recipe and I gave it a try.  There were a few problems, though.  First, I didn't have the flour that the recipe suggested and second, I didn't have the right oil either.  So I improvised a little...

And, it turned out...okay... They were super moist (too moist) but they tasted fantastic! Plus, these little morsels are light and yummy.  This is the perfect little muffin to enjoy for breakfast, plus it is gluten free!

Now, what should I do with the rest of my morning?  I still have 1 hour before I need to leave!

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins (adapted from Bakerita)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup almond flour
2 tbsp old-fashioned oats (gluten free)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup agave
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (don't pack it down and then drain out the excess water)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a mini muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, oats, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs, oil, agave and zucchini until well combined.  Mix in the flour mixture until combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Fill muffin pan up to the top (they don't rise much) and bake for about 20-22 minutes.
Enjoy :)

Skinny Strawberry Banana Muffins

Now for another fun recipe that is both sweet and healthy!

But first, last night Bri and I had an adorable little date night! We went to Milwaukee to see Sunday in the Park with George, which is a musical with music by Stephen Sondheim.  Bri's harp teacher was performing with the orchestra and he wanted to go to support her.  The production was at the Starlight Theater.  We went out to dinner beforehand at Comet Cafe where we enjoyed some seriously delicious food.  Comet Cafe had a very "hip" vibe and is known for being vegan friendly.  You get a ton of food for the price and it was really good! The show was also very good and we both thoroughly enjoyed the night.  It was a nice "mini" vacation.

Artichoke Melt

Mac N Cheese

vegan apple pie

Orange-Chocolate Cupcake

Now for another fun recipe that is both sweet and healthy! 

Strawberry Banana Muffins (adapted from Une Deux Senses)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

4 tbsp agave nectar

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 bananas

4 tbsp applesauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a muffin pan with paper liners and lightly grease the liners.

2. Place chopped strawberries in a bowl with the agave nectar.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

4. In a large bowl, beat bananas to mash them and then mix in the vanilla, eggs, and applesauce.  Next, beat in the flour mixture until just combined.  Finally, stir in the chopped strawberries/agave.

5.  Fill each muffin well to the top and bake for about 25 minutes.  An inserted toothpick should come out clean.

Enjoy :)

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

The weather is dreary, I am exhausted, and I have a paper to write.  Plus, it's Monday.  How can I make this day better? Muffin Monday! I am sharing a great recipe for super easy muffins today.

All you have to do is go to Trader Joe's and find their fantastic pumpkin muffin mix...and then make them! I am usually not one to take the easy way out and make something from a mix, but I love these muffins, and sometimes, when you need a good pick-me-up, doing something simple and still delicious is the way to go! Oh...and I added a dash of nutmeg! Yum!

Enjoy!