Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread

I've been spending a LOT of time lately revisiting my eating and cooking habits. I don't like "light" or "diet" or "non-fat." (Though I do like 1% milk for my cereal.) For me, I think having a small pat of butter is more important than having a mass of a fat-free version. But somewhere along the way, I think I lost sight of portion sizes or maybe it was just a combination of factors. Regardless of the progression, I didn't like that a few favourite pieces of clothing were a bit too snug...

Time to revisit.

So, I've been trying to choose more vegetables than starches... opting for greek yogurts versus mayonnaises... and trying to get a bit more creative. I still enjoy the french fries and gravy every so often but it just can't be every day.

Time to be (a wee bit) healthier. These mini muffins are a great step in that direction... Wheat bran and flax kick up the fibre and omegas, bananas are full of potassium, greek yogurt is a great source of calcium and protein, agave is much sweeter than sugar so I could use less to achieve a similar level of sweetness as using brown sugar. And let's not forget my favourite sweetie-treatie justification... dark chocolate is a source of happy healthful antioxidants. So, I'm feeling pretty good about my little creation here. haha.

Camp-foodie

A few weekends ago (and ambitiously early in terms of my tolerance for outdoorsy activities), we packed up our world and trekked it out to Spray Lakes. For someone with a near-complete disinterest in the discomfort of the outdoors, I needed a beautiful setting, good company, and really good food in order to get to the point of suspended disbelief and settle into enjoying the escape. 

Our first trip to Spray Lakes was last year and while there was a general state of preparedness, there was one tremendous misstep, which led to one tremendous meltdown. We each thought that the other had put the bag full of blankets in the car..... it was cold..... there was one sleeping bag between the two of us..... there was ugly crying..... need I say more?

Well, we made it through (without driving back home in the middle of the night) and in true Christine fashion, we laid everything out upon arriving home and now have itemized Excel packing lists, prepacked tubs of gear, and dedicated camping blankets whose sole purpose is to get us through the camping cold snaps. 

So, obviously, the first thing that made it to the car this year was a tub full of blankets (haha!) and we got on the road and out to our little hideout in Spray Lakes. We even managed to procure our same campsite, which just made everything so familiar and lovely. It really is the perfect site. And because I was packed up and felt prepared (basically since last summer), I had the time and energy to focus on the part that I really love... the food!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cookies

Thanks for visiting! You may have found this post through Pinterest, the Great Food Bloggers Cookie Swap, or Metro Edmonton... yay! Please stay a while and check out some of my other cookies, like the Lemon Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal cookies or -if marshmallows are more your schtick- there are Chocolate Stout Marshmallows topped with crushed pretzels, among other treats and treasures. Enjoy!

When word spread about a cookie exchange for food bloggers, I paused... could I pull this off? Could I be creative and produce a cookie that would make a food blogger also pause? I've so enjoyed making sweets and treats for my friends and family that I wasn't even sure why I was concerned! I gave my head a shake, surfed on over to the sign-up page, and signed myself up!

Let me say... I am so glad that I did that! Thoughts of the cookie that I would create took over my thoughts. I scribbled ideas onto scrap paper and post-it notes. I made several trips to the craft stores to find appropriate packaging. I eagerly made and mailed my little care packages, then waited in very eager anticipation for the arrival of cookies in my mailbox and my cookies in the mailboxes of my fellow bloggers. 

This whole exchange really put me into the holiday spirit but also challenged me to come up with a creative and new cookie to share... it kick-started the rest of my Christmas baking and introduced me to a community of bloggers that I found so inspiring... A big thanks again to Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil (and her Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Malted Milk Chocolate Buttercream) and Julie of the Little Kitchen (and her New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie). I can't wait for the next Great Food Bloggers Cookie Swap.

Banana, Pecan and White Chocolate Muffins

This recipe started out with mushy, brown, "fragrant" bananas on my counter. Staring me down in the way that overly ripe food does... implying guilt with every pass. "Save me, save me," is the subtitle in their pungent scent. My internal subtitle says, "get it together, Christine... don't you dare toss those bananas into the purgatory that is your freezer... until you throw them out as freezer burned shadows of what they could have been."

I started to think about the banana chocolate chip muffins that my mom used to make and then we used to make as kids. The recipe was so simple and there was very little better than tearing open that creamy muffiny goodness studded with semi sweet chocolate surprises.

Typically, I have the full gamut of options in my baking cupboard. Several different dried fruits, various chocolate chips and chunks, nuts, coconut and so on. Well, it looks as though my store has been pillaged. No standard dark chocolate chunks or chips here! I remember being quite concerted about using up several items but didn't realize that effort would stand between me and my perfect banana chocolate chip muffins now.

Regroup. Reassess. What did I have? I had a giant bag of pecan halfs, another of dried cranberries, smaller bags of peanuts, butterscotch chips, mint chips, white chocolate slabs and chunks... I grabbed the pecans and white chocolate chunks and got back on track.

Tea and a warm banana, pecan and white chocolate muffin

Orange Chocolate Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

I tried to shrink the name of these cookies somewhat... but I certainly didn't shrink the ingredient list (though there was not one item on this list that required a special trip to the market). But, just like the Lemon Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookies, these cookies have a lot going on.

I solicited a great deal of feedback before embarking on this next cookie attempt... and so many great suggestions came my way! The last batch of cookies was such a hit that I could not fathom producing a poorer version of cookie... or why not just make the first ones again and keep the taste-testers satisfied?! This cookie only changed slightly from what I had dreamed of in my mind (or my mental mouth as coined by Food Philosophy) but I'm already scheming on how the next one will taste. What do you think of a chocolate chocolate (cocoa plus chocolate chunks) cookie with chili heat?? Kirby and Cori seem to think it would be a good one... and I can't help but agree!

So, I go to share this wonderful cookie with you and discover that, in my reckless cookie making abandon, I completely neglected to take one photo of the finished product. I blame my excitement over getting this cookie into the hands, and mouths, of some important people. All hope was not lost though... apparently one lone cookie managed to escape all clutches and was squirreled away in a secret cache. Count yourself lucky that there are now photos of a cookie... and not a post-it note on a plate that reads, "a cookie was once here."

But before I get too far into this imaginary cookie-land where the possibilities are limitless, let's take a moment to enjoy this cookie... Orange Chocolate Walnut Oatmeal... yum.

Chocolate Macarons

I don’t know where the macaron craze came from but it seems like every blog that I stumble across has either recently or previously posted about these delightful little treats. I’ve always found macarons to be a stunning creation but, as with most fussy and complicated recipes, I was intimidated.

My strategy whenever I am faced with the unknown is to attack it with knowledge. I “hit the books”… or at least, the net. I read numerous blogs for tips, tricks and anecdotes (including one, MacTweets, dedicated to all things Mac). I read articles in food magazines. I watched youtube tutorials.

While I was certainly better equipped to deal with the macaron attempt, I was still quite nervous. However, there was little else that I could do but try… so try, I did.

Salted Caramel Fudgy Brownies

Ummmm…. speechless. Dubbed #sexonaplate… #foodporn… just plain good. My ever-obliging taste testers at the office swooned over these. “I would get fat for these.” “They’re rich… but not. I love the salt.” “…..mmmmm…..” Yeah.

Honestly, these started as an “I would like something sweet but not too sweet.” I love those salty-sweet combinations. It’s the best middle ground between the sweet and savoury war, which I wage internally on most every day. Yes, there are two distinct processes involved with this dessert but I promise that it is worth the effort. I made one 10”x10” tray of thin but still rich and gooey. I think that three times that many could have been eaten. The only things grateful, when the bottom of the container was reached and only a few crumbs remained, were our waistlines.

“I will make some man fat and happy one day.” Heads nod.

An OMG Raspberry Souffle

Well… this could have been a COMPLETE overly ambitious disaster. A souffle and I was making it with an audience… nothing like a good challenge. :)

The first time I ever attempted a souffle, I was around sixteen years old and was experimenting in my Food Studies class in high school. I had an incredibly supportive teacher who broke the financial restrictions on my “per student, per dish” budget and encouraged me to try more challenging and advanced recipes in every class.

I can’t quite remember what kind of souffle it was that I made. What I do remember was her coaching, my careful consideration of each step in the process, our excited anticipation and the complete thrill of a successful result.

So, just as with the fish, I just wanted to make something wonderful and didn’t want to over-think it.

Chocolate Cloud Cake

This is Nigella Lawson’s Chocolate Mousse Cake. It is unreal good and definitely needs to be part of your cake repetoire. In fact, you really should pick up, if you don’t already own it, Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess. From cakes to cookies to puddings extraordinaire, this is a fantastic cookbook.

So, in her book, you will find this recipe as “Chocolate Mousse Cake” but for me, it will always be a cloud.

Hot hot chocolate

Now, I had a bit of chocolate left from the breakfast bar dipping and was not so interested in the scraping and mess of cleaning it out... so I opted to make a mug of hot chocolate! I was thinking of a mole sauce as I chose the spices to accompany the chocolate... but you can really add what you would like.

Ingredients (if starting from scratch):
- 40g (1/4 cup) chocolate (I prefer dark chocolate.)
- 250 mL (1 cup) milk
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Chili powder

Melt the chocolate. Whisk in 250 mL of milk. Bring to a low boil. Sprinkle with cinnamon, a dash of chili powder and a dash of cinnamon. Stir and enjoy.

Chocolate Gingerbread

It is no secret that, in terms of chefs, I am completely in awe of Nigella Lawson. She is quite striking herself and makes no bones about her love affair with food, which I quite enjoy. Her food is comforting and delicious and she treats it all with a slight dash of eccentricity.


Now, I haven't made a cake or anything along those lines in quite some time... and, after making this cake, I know why... you could easily stand over the kitchen sink in a very Miranda Hobbes versus the chocolate cake battle, eating slice after slice, completely forgoing the plate and even the fork.


Here is Nigella's Chocolate Gingerbread... courtesy of her cookbook, Feast. It is wonderfully complex with the ginger warmth and chocolate sweet.


I reduced the amount of chocolate chips and used the mini ones. A) Because it was all that I had but B) that, for me, was the perfect amount of chocolate. I also reduced the cooking time by 5 minutes... I think the cake would have been dry otherwise, so keep an eye on it around the 40 minute mark.

One substitution... I did not have any ginger ale and wasn't braving the cold for a mere 60 mLs, so I used 60 mLs of sparkling water with a scant 1/2 tsp of powdered ginger dissolved into it. Seemed to work just fine!

Other than that, the recipe uses a frightening amount of sugar, so just forget that and enjoy the treat, remembering that you don't do this that often... ;)