Pretty Little Apron

pure vanilla extract

Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

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These Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats are my new favorite breakfast! I combine dried cherries, walnuts, and brown sugar to make the most delicious oatmeal topping ever! Perfect for breastfeeding Mommas + busy families who love make ahead breakfast options.

Instant Pot Oatmeal


Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

I mentioned in my 50 Words of Advice for New Moms post that I got an Instant Pot at my baby shower! When you have 5 kids, making a baby registry is hard. Since we have all of the essentials, we decided to throw some most wanted kitchen items on our Amazon Baby Registry, and Hello! I’m the new owner of an Instant Pot thanks to my Mother-in-law. 🙂

I have to say, EVERY new Momma needs an Instant Pot! When we brought our sweet Felicity home, it was a lifesaver. Breastfeeding cravings are a real thing, and I’m pretty sure I ate steel cut oats more then once a day for a couple of weeks. I always used the same vanilla + cherry + walnut + brown sugar topping combo and it never got old.

Preparing the steel cut oats in the Instant Pot is a breeze! The Instant Pot makes the perfect oats, and all you have to do is throw the ingredients in and turn it on. Any new Momma can relate that extra time is nonexistent, so I found myself searching for make ahead options that I could heat up during the day when I needed a snack or a meal. These steel cut oats were perfect for just that!

Cherry Vanilla Steel Cut Oatmeal Recipe

Tips for Making Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats

  • SAFETY first! Please read through your entire Instant Pot manual if you are not familiar with using the Instant pot.
  • I would not stray from the ratios provided. I’ve tested this once or twice when I came up short on the oats and honestly it just wasn’t the same! 2 cups of steel cut oats to 5 cups of water makes the perfect oatmeal. It is not too dry, but not runny either.
  • I stuck with using 1/4 cup of brown sugar as I didn’t want my oatmeal to be super sweet. If you like your oatmeal on the sweeter side I would suggest 1/2 cup of brown sugar.
  • For the best results, you will want to allow your Instant Pot to cool for a minimum of 20 minutes. This will release the pressure from the pot naturally (as opposed to opening the pressure valve), and you should see the little round stainless steel pressure meter come up fully. Your Instant Pot will start a timer as soon as your cooking time is over so you will know when it has been the full 20 minutes. If you do open your pot sooner, your steel cut oats might stick to the bottom. To prevent sticking even more you can coat the bottom of your pot with butter or coconut oil. FYI, I do not coat mine with anything and I haven’t had sticking when I followed this 100%.
  • A pat of butter on the top of your warm bowl of steel cut oats + dried cherries + walnuts + brown sugar or maple syrup is LIFE.

Cherry Vanilla Steel Cut Oatmeal

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Steel Cut Oatmeal Recipe

Cherry Vanilla Steel Cut oatmeal

Salted Chocolate Covered Strawberries

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You guys. These Salted Chocolate Covered Strawberries!


Just in time for Valentine’s Day because let me tell you… your Valentine does not want one of those heart shaped things that contains crappy chocolate that not only tastes like poo but also has poo ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, artificial food dyes, and hydrogenated oils. Those hearts are the WORST.

Indeed one or two years in a row I received one of those heart shaped chocolate poo boxes from my husband and ummm… well… thanks for thinking of me I guess. Nothing says I love you like a bunch of fake tasting chocolates. Orange cream anyone? 🙂

I know, I know. Because I entered Giant yesterday and there was a huge arch of red and white balloons. There were bears, and flowers, and poo chocolates. They were so cute and tempting. Right? For a second I caught myself going “awwww” and then I remembered how gross those chocolates were, and how the companies who produce those chocolates continue to take something really simple and make it one big disastrous mess of ingredients that cover the entire back of the package.

Those companies don’t love us. Let’s not love them with our money!

A hop, skip, and a jump away from that big balloon arch sat the Strawberries. Right next to them were the chocolate “dips” for making chocolate covered strawberries. Again, a product that pops up every Valentine’s Day that is filled with poo ingredients. Of course, a product I just don’t understand in general. Why exactly does the chocolate you dip strawberries in have to have trans fats in it? And why is it necessary to buy a product that YOU STILL HAVE TO MELT YOURSELF just like regular chocolate that doesn’t contain a list of bad ingredients?

A long time ago I realized one thing about chocolate. Any product marketed as “melts” or “dips” has hydrogenated oils in it. I haven’t found one that hasn’t! It seems so senseless to me because after all, it is really just marketing. There is nothing different about how you would use the product, just the ingredients. So skip right over those products and move along to the baking isle filled with bags of chocolate chips and baking bars. We are simply going to take away the trans fats and add in a little coconut oil to get the same end result. It is that simple. Those companies could do the same thing, however they choose not to so I will not support them nor will I purchase their products when they start loosing money and change their ingredients like so many companies have done recently.

Tips for Choosing the Right Chocolate for your Salted Chocolate Covered Strawberries

So I’m just going to give it to you straight. I’ve tried multiple types of chocolate. I’ve tried the expensive chocolate in the organic isle and I’ve also tried the Hershey’s chocolate chips. Either one will do as both are 1,000 times better then anything we discussed previously. I used organic semi-sweet chocolate chips from Wegman’s because they were affordable and the ingredients checked out. Don’t beat yourself up about exactly what brand you are using or if they are organic or not. Just read the ingredient label and make sure there aren’t artificial flavors and hydrogenated oils in the product and you should be good.

Tips for Dipping the Strawberries

Some folks use the microwave to melt their chocolate/coconut oil combo and that is totally fine. I prefer to use the stove top over the microwave because I can keep my chocolate at a low, consistent temperature which is ideal for dipping. If your chocolate isn’t melted quite enough you will end up with chunky looking chocolate and wonder to yourself why the strawberries on my images look better then what you ended up with.

It is all about temperature!

I used a small sauté pan and put my chocolate and coconut oil right on the burner. Some folks use a double boiler and that works too but I like to keep things really simple. If you crank up the heat on your chocolate it will seize up and you will be left with a burnt mess. So put your chocolate on the lowest setting possible and use a spatula to continuously move the chocolate around while it is melting. Yes, it is a bit tedious but your Valentine will love you for it! <3 <3

After my chocolate was melted I turned my burner off but left the sauté pan on the burner so my chocolate stayed nice and smooth. I simply rolled each strawberry through the chocolate, using the side of the pan to wipe off the excess, and then placing the side I wiped off down onto my parchment paper.

Right after I placed each dipped strawberry onto my parchment paper I took a Pink Himalayan Salt Grinder and did one little twist and shake right over the strawberry. I also used clear India Tree sprinkles on my strawberries too which made them look really professional and nice! Then I ate like 10….. haha!

Salty Sprinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Salty Sprinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies || www.3boysunprocessed.com || A delicious and slightly healthier version of the classic chocolate chip cookie topped with natrually dyed sprinkles of all kinds!


Oh hey there pretty little salty and sprinkled chocolate chip cookies! Oh how I’ve been waiting for February to show it’s face just to have reasons to use all of my naturally dyed sprinkles I’ve been stock-piling! Ok, so it isn’t exactly February yet, but it is really close, right?!?! 🙂

Yes, that’s right. Valentine’s Day is upon us. For some couples this “holiday” means going on extra special trips and doing all kinds of fabulous, lovey-dovey things. For couples with kids this “holiday” means reminiscing about the days before you had kids and you could do those things. HA! Ok, you know sometimes we just have to be real and this my friends is the truth about Hallmark “holidays” after having kids!

I think last year we all went out to eat as a family. My husband can tell you, I’m always the voice of reason when he suggests such outtings.

“Buuuut remember last time we tried that and it was a horrible event that I never want to relive, like ever in my life again?”

Yeah, it never really goes the way you were thinking when you have small children. Two of our kids are past the *NEVER TAKING OUT TO EAT, EVER* age, but we still have little baby Christian who is kind of still unpredictable in public. So that means I’ll probably just get my husband a plant for Valentine’s Day again and then we can name it Heart-y or something. Then of course I will have a huge tray of fresh, just out of the oven chocolate chip cookies to go along with my completely random present. Works like a charm every time!

 

Salty Sprinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies || www.3boysunprocessed.com || A declous and slightly healthier version of the classic chocolate chip cookie complete with some whole wheat flour and naturally dyed sprinkles.

Ok, now that I’ve just given all of you un-married and un-kid-ed folks the truth about well…life… let’s move on because Hello! These cookies are pretty and delicious and slightly better then your average cookie. By slightly I mean that we subbed some whole wheat flour, and added sprinkles that aren’t so offensive because they don’t contain trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils), like most sprinkles, and they are naturally dyed. No laboratory chemicals in these cookies! 🙂

Ok, so you might be wondering why I’m not going 100% whole wheat on these because normally, I do. The truth is I just can’t get a 100% whole wheat cookie to taste good. I’ve tried, and tried, and failed, and failed. Then I realized it is a damn cookie. Just put some white flour in it and forget about it! So I did, and they were perfect, and delicious, and gooey, and chocolatey, and ever so slightly salty in the most perfect cookie way. The End!

*I used 3 different naturally dyed sprinkles on these cookies but my most recommended naturally dyed sprinkles are these India Tree sprinkles. The price reflected is for a bulk order but you can find them individually in stores and on Amazon. I’ve found them in stores for $4-5 a jar so it is cheaper if you can find them locally. Wegman’s carries a ton of their line.

Salty Sprinkled Chocolate Chip Cookies || www.3boysunprocessed.com || A festive and slightly healthier take on the classic chocolate chip cookie.

*Recipe adapted from Chocolate Chip cookie recipe printed on Wegman’s Organic Chocolate Chip bag.

Whole Wheat Funfetti Cupcakes

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Will the Real-est funfetti cupcakes please stand up???? 🙂


Confession: I love sprinkles, and cupcakes, and cute baked goods. They brighten my life when everything around me is blue, green, and super hero colored. You know, the 3 boys struggle… it is real folks! I love cupcakes so much I even have one tattooed on my foot, complete with sprinkles and a candy heart. I think that means I’m the official Knower-of-all-things-sprinkles, right? Right!

But then a while ago we kind of had a falling out, the sprinkles and I. I figured out their dirty little secret. It was a little too late, ya’ know with the tattoo and all? The proof was right there, the whole time. All I had to do was flip the little plastic bottle over and take a glance at the ingredients, and we were done-zo for good! Why Wilton, why? Trans fats and artificial colors? How are you going to do me like that Wilton?

I could keep going on about boxed cake mixes, sprinkles, sixlets, and the like but I’ll shorten it up real nice for you… break it off with these products now, it’ll save you in the long run!

Since the sprinkle break-up of my own life I’ve been on the lookout for a better product. Mainly one that is naturally colored and doesn’t contain any partially hydrogenated oil (trans fat). I’ve tried a few different products and while they were all better I liked one brand the best: India Tree Natural Sprinkles. The one big thing that makes these sprinkles different is that the colors don’t bleed once they are on the product. I experienced color bleeding with all of the other brands I tried, although I would still highly recommend them over standard sprinkles any day! One thing I should mention, India Tree’s products are NOT Non-GMO verified, and do contain soy lecithin, which is an ingredient we try to avoid. With that being said, a girl can’t have everything!

You can probably imagine my excitement when a huge rack of India Tree sprinkles appeared at the super-awesome grocery store I frequent. Of course, my husband was along for that trip so it didn’t seem like the right time to go on a naturally dyed sprinkle buying spree. Husbands just don’t understand!

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A few days later I was there again and let’s just say I got a few bottles. It’s the Holiday Season! I needed those sprinkles! The internet needs a #betterbaking Funfetti Cupcake recipe! Best part was I got to choose my own mix of colors. Aren’t they puuurrrttty? 🙂

Now comes my whole wheat disclaimer, because I HAVE to say this. I’ve served whole wheat cupcakes to dozens of family members and friends and not one person even questioned them being whole wheat. You know what that means? They didn’t even know. You know what else that means? If you use the right whole wheat recipe your cupcakes will not come out dense and dry like the way people describe whole wheat products. What dense and dry cupcakes? I don’t know because I don’t make them. I promise, you will probably not be able to tell a difference your kids will definitely not know, and your husband will be too busy wondering where all the naturally dyed sprinkles came from to notice either.

This is a whole lot of ‘fetti in my face and I kind of like it! 🙂

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Last but not least let’s talk icing. I don’t love a sickeningly-sweet powdered sugar icing. However, I think if you prefer a sweeter icing these would be the perfect compliment! I have quite a few really delicious icing recipes so here are the two that I think match these the best:

Simply Vanilla Buttercream (sweeter):

Ingredients:

  • 1 and 1/2 stick unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 2-3 cups organic powdered sugar
  • 1/2 vanilla bean pod or 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions: Soften butter to room temperature while baking cupcakes. This step is very important!! Beat butter until very smooth, scraping down the sides of your bowl numerous times to make sure all lumps are out. Add sour cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add additional 1-2 tbsp. tapioca starch or non-gmo corn starch to thicken icing to desired consistency without adding more sugar.

Naturally Sweetened Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

  • 1 (8 ounce) package full fat cream cheese
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 3-4 Tbsp tapioca starch
  • 1/2 vanilla bean pod or 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions: Soften cream cheese and butter to room temperature. Beat cream cheese until very smooth, scraping down the sides of your bowl numerous times to make sure all lumps are out. Add butter, continue beating until very smooth. Add maple syrup, tapioca starch, and vanilla.

*Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction’s: Easy Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes. Have never tried a recipe from her blog that I haven’t loved. Thanks!

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Here is the Amazon link to the sprinkles. They are a lot cheaper in stores if you can find them there!

White Chocolate Orange Gingerbread Cupcakes

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Hello November! So glad you are here! I officially have the next 2 months to bake up a storm. Love, love, love!


Speaking of love… these Gingerbread cupcakes totally converted me to a Gingerbread fan. I’ve been on the molasses train pretty much all year and I have been patiently waiting  for the holiday season to bust out some Gingerbread recipes because molasses is kind of awesome. By kind of awesome, I mean it might just be one of my top 5 fav ingredients. Why? Because it gives such a boost of flavor to all baking! These cupcakes highlight the goodness of molasses, with a hint of orange, and a bit of spice. Can you think of a better holiday combination?

PLUS…. remember when we started #betterbaking by calling out all of the nasty ingredients being thrown into dessert recipes all over the inter-world? *Ahem….Cool Whip, Trans fat laden sprinkles*  Well, you can add ANOTHER cupcake recipe to the #betterbaking books because this one is simple and to the point. No weird stuff, no convenience products loaded with random crap. Just the simple, real deal… and THAT’S IT! 🙂

Is it just me or do these guys look like they just jumped off the Candy Land board game?

 

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Now, as if you didn’t know this was coming….We need to talk about white chocolate. Yes, the dreaded trans fat talk is coming. I know, it is such a Debbie Downer in all of this cute cupcake fun. But, but, but…. we need to talk about these companies that put dangerous fats in their products knowing full well that they are dangerous! Upon some investigation at the grocery store I came to the conclusion that ALL of the white chocolate morsels/chip contained partially hydrogenated oils (non-organic brands). Hershey’s even called their white chips “Premium” yet they were made with dangerous trans fats. Come on now Hershey’s! We know you can do better then that for us!

Soooo….. I suggest taking a look at your white chocolate ingredients before purchasing a product. If it is organic, AWESOME! Then we know that eliminates most of the cray-cray ingredients we are trying to avoid. I used a Green & Black White Chocolate Bar and it worked great, tasted great, and didn’t contain any added crap. It cost me $2.99, which was only a few cents more then the Ghiradelli bars. If you can’t find an organic bar, look for a bar that doesn’t contain any partially hydrogenated oils, or artificial flavors. Companies like to throw in additional unknown flavorings but nobody likes that weird, fake taste that comes from those flavorings anyway!

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And then there was that time when I thought I was getting red cupcake liners, but apparently they were pink.  The grocery store must have been convinced they were red too, because they were sitting around all the baking stuff in the middle of the grocery store surrounded by huge Christmas Trees and the green liners. *face palm* But hey, they are super cute AND match my logo, so oh well! 🙂

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#betterbaking Whole Wheat Caramel Blondies

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That’s a big blondie, isn’t it? A big, rich, caramel-y blondie that is all whole wheat!


Is it just me or are people totally scurred of committing to using all whole wheat flour in recipes? I can’t even count the amount of times I have been foodgawking and thought to myself “cool no refined grains!” only to click on the recipe and realize it isn’t  a whole wheat recipe because it contains 1/2 refined flour. What gives people, what gives!?!?!

Not only that, why label a recipe whole wheat if in fact, it isn’t? Maybe I’m missing something there. 🙂

Fear not though, because here at 3Boys we don’t play those games. All of our recipes are 100% whole wheat, and #betterbaking is taking the internet by storm! Ok, maybe the second part of that was kind of a long shot but people really seem to be interested in baking recipes using better ingredients, so I am here to give you more options and better recipes.

Whole wheat recipes don’t have to be bland, boring, and standard. They don’t have to be limited to just one version of a classic, the possibilities are endless. You don’t have to worry about trying something in whole wheat form and it turning out horrible, and I get to take pictures of pretty desserts that make me happy. Sounds like a  win-win situation, doesn’t it? Even my husband thinks it is genius because he gets to taste all of my creations! After all, I have to put that Pastry Arts degree to use somehow, don’t I?

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Now that ^^^^ is a caramel blondie! With this recipe I’m really tackling those boxed mixes with the little pouch of gooey caramel intact to drizzle right over those trans fat laden boxed brownies. I know, I know, I’m sorry I just can’t help myself! I have to get all health-freak up in here and talk about the nastyt ingredients in boxed mixes so people understand those mixes are not frowned upon simply because they are supposedly quicker (which I highly debate). They are frowned upon because they contain trans fats, preservatives, and a bunch of other crap. But aren’t brownies just flour, cocoa powder, and leavening agents anyway? Please, someone, anyone…. tell me how this makes ANY sense!

I got to wondering what else Ghiradelli was throwing into those gooey caramel packets and it was just the icing on top of the nasty ingredient cake! It was ugly folks, really ugly. Corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, and preservatives. Just a few little extras, right?

Ok, I promise I’m off the trans fats are bad train and we are now going back to our regularly scheduled programming! 🙂

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These blondies sound complicated but I promise they are not! Putting together the caramel from scratch could NOT be easier. A few simple ingredients, 5 minutes, and a stovetop is all you need. After you do it once you’ll be wondering why you ever thought caramel was complicated. Not to mention, the FLAVOR from real caramel is totally different and so much better then those plastic wrapped chunks of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Come to the real caramel dark side, I promise we have more fun here! 🙂

For more #betterbaking recipes check out these posts!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Cupcakes

PB and Apple Muffins

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

German Chocolate Cupcakes

Fudgy Trip Chocolate Cupcakes

caramelblondies

*Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

German Chocolate Cupcakes

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Dana Carvell (3BoysUnprocessed)
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You didn’t think the week was going to end without a cute #betterbaking cupcake recipe, did you? Not only was it my Birthday week, I’m also going to a party tonight so I had a few pretty good reasons to start baking up a storm and turning my kitchen upside down! Would you like some cocoa powder on that? 🙂


Yes, you read that right. I AM GOING TO A PARTY. I know, this never happens. I can’t even think of the last time I went to a party but it is happening tonight and the theme is Oktoberfest. How about some German Chocolate Cupcakes? Seems like the perfect dessert addition to an Oktoberfest party, right? I thought so too, until I Googled German Chocolate only to find out it has NOTHING to do with Germany. *palm to my face*

Well then, I guess I won’t be asking the German guy there (yes there’s a guy from Germany coming) if these babes are authentic because he may just laugh in my face! Come to find out, through Google too of course, that German chocolate was named after the guy who created it, and the cake came after that. Doesn’t this remind you of the time we found out Betty Crocker wasn’t even a real person? Seriously, all these things I thought I knew just went down the drain. But have no fear because these cupcakes are:

  • delicious
  • cute
  • whole wheat
  • 100% from scratch

Yes, I think that makes this whole German chocolate snafoo a little bit better, don’t you? Who cares where the term German chocolate came from because we have these awesome cupcakes to blame for that term, and boy these are a great Oktoberfest mistake! Did I mention we are making homemade caramel again? Yeah, that too! There is just no way to go wrong with chocolate cupcakes filled with a gooey, caramel/pecan/coconut filling, and topped with chocolate icing and more caramel and pecans. Is this a cupcake dream or what?

You know what else is really dreamy? Caramel that doesn’t come from a can or a wrapper!

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Ok, ok, now that we got that pour shot out of the way let’s talk about assembling these babes because it is super easy. I made the filling using the caramel sauce, toasted pecans, and finely shredded coconut. It was like killing two birds with one stone (seriously who would kill a bird anyway?) because the caramel is the base of the filling, and the topping.

After I made the filling/topping, I whipped up the amazing cream cheese/chocolate/buttercream icing concoction and started assembling. I hollowed a hole in the middle of the cupcakes using the bottom of a piping tip (I’ve also used a melon baller to do that), then I filled the hole, piped the icing, dusted with finely shredded coconut, drizzled with caramel topping, and added some extra pecans. Then of course I had to eat one because I can’t take something to a party that I haven’t tasted yet, and wow… these are just pure amazing-ness. I mean, I just made up a word to describe these because they are that good. I promise, if you like chocolate and caramel, these cupcakes are just for you!

Homemade Caramel Filling/Topping

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup organic sugar
  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/2 tsp molasses
  • 2 Tbsp water
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • 1/4 cup toasted pecans (for filling)
  • 1/4 cup finely shredded coconut (unsweetened, for filling)

Directions: In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients except milk. Stir over medium-high heat until sugar is melted, bubbly, and begins to turn darker in color. Remove from heat, stir in milk, and allow to sit to thicken for a few minutes. Set aside 1/4 of the caramel for drizzle, then add pecans and coconut to remaining caramel (you can put it all in the same pan you used to make the caramel). Stir to combine. Filling may harden after caramel is cooled, but still makes an amazing cupcake center!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream

Ingredients:

  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup organic sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3-4 Tbsp Tapioca Starch (or Non-GMO verified corn starch)

Directions: Allow cream cheese and butter to soften on countertop for 30+ minutes before starting. Beat cream cheese and butter until very smooth. Scrape down sides of bowl numerous times to ensure all lumps are out of mixture. Slowly add sugar, beat for another 5 minutes to allow sugar to incorporate, continuing to scrape down bowl to ensure everything is evenly mixed. Add cocoa powder (I always sift cocoa powder first), and Tapioca Starch to finish.

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Cinna-Swirl Sticky Bun Cupcakes

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Dana Carvell (3BoysUnprocessed)

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Yes, I’m still #Betterbaking! And yes, it just got 1,000 times yummier with these Cinn-Swirl Sticky Bun Cupcakes that take two wonderful baked goods and smear them together to create a pretty, decadent, and fall inspired treat like no other IN THE HISTORY of HISTORY!

Now, hold onto your britches because we aren’t stopping there! These cinnamon-y cupcake delights are topped with Cream Cheese Icing that is naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup. Is this real life? A completely pipe-able, smooth, and delicious icing that stays in tact without the use of 10x sugar? My baking life is now complete!

Two things: Yes, this really happened! And yes, I will be using this method to make icing from here on out during our #Betterbaking series. You know, that little thing I created to help people cut processed ingredients like Cool Whip, and Jell-O Pudding Packets out of their lives forever? Cool Whip and it’s trans fats be gone forevs!

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So how is it that I can put maple syrup aka something liquid, into cream cheese and still be able to pipe it onto a cupcake in a smooth and delicious looking way? Tapioca Starch! I know, I know, this sounds like some crazy “health freak” ingredient, but remember that pudding? You know, the one nobody wanted to eat in Elementary School because it was orange and confusing? Yep, that pudding is thickened with the same ingredient so apparently it isn’t so weird and “heath freak” after all. You can find it at almost any grocery store in the organic section or baking section and it works just like cornstarch, minus the whole GMO corn ingredient thing.

Tapioca Starch will dissolve JUST LIKE 10x sugar, and tighten your icing up perfectly so it isn’t dripping down the sides of your cupcakes and making you scream “I hate Pinterest for giving me this horrible idea!” If you aren’t too keen on using a new ingredient, go ahead and look for an organic 10x sugar, or a Non-GMO certified cornstarch to use in place. In my Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Cupcakes, I used an organic 10x sugar so those measurements are over there if you’d like to go that route.

But seriously, how perfect is that icing? 🙂

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Now, let’s talk cake because I love me some cinnamon cupcakes to remind me that it is indeed fall and I do need more cinnamon in my life like right now! I took a basic vanilla cupcake recipe and divided the batter in half so I could add LOTS of cinnamon and a hint of molasses and vanilla to the batter to make the swirl. Got it? Don’t worry, everything you need to know is in the recipe. If you aren’t really feeling the extra time to make the swirl, just go ahead and add the extra stuff to the batter. My swirl wasn’t quite as swirly as I would have liked it to be, but I still ended up with a double colored cupcake that was pretty. A girl can’t have everything I suppose.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way I’m going to share some MORE cute-ness in the form of a really cute baby that just happens to be of my making. Usually I don’t share pictures of my kids, but this was just TOO cute not to share. Not only that, my 3 year old asked me if he could have the “pretty cupcake.” See, my boys are coming around! 🙂

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And then there was this:

 

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Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cupcakes PLUS #betterbaking

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I know, I know, ANOTHER cupcake post!??! A bit over-board? Maybe. But keep reading!

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BUT wait just a hot second because this isn’t just another cupcake post. It is the start of something really awesome here at 3Boys Unprocessed because I’ve taken notice to TONS of crappy dessert recipes floating around the internet. You know, the dump cakes, the poke cakes, the boxed this and that, the cool whip, and the totally refined and semi-homemade desserts that aren’t just 3 ingredients like the title says. Boxed cake mix + box of jello = A LOT MORE than 3 ingredients! Not just that, it also = trans fats, artificial everything, unhealthy oils, and weird preservatives banned in other countries. Say whhhahattt!?!?!

Now, I try my hardest to ignore these dessert disasters because let’s face it, we live in a processed world and our food supply is nothing short of a complete disaster as it stands. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel because all of these recipes can be tweaked just a bit to be turned into something that isn’t so much of a processed mess. You know, like using whole wheat flour, and substituting real stuff for the boxed stuff. It is SO easy, yet people are so afraid of ruining a batch of cupcakes or running the risk that they don’t turn out tasting superb. Using trans fats instead of trying something new out of baking fear??? Doesn’t sound like such a good idea to me! Of course, these recipes are going to contain sugar. Sugar = desserts. I want to post relate-able content that doesn’t make the dump cake people say “Oh no, I’d never try using those weird ingredients,” therefore, I’m sticking to the simple stuff but making it a tad better by using organic versions that aren’t as processed, and don’t contain GMO’s. All of these things are important to me, and I’d much rather see people using organic sugar in their own home before going to the grocery store and buying a cake that contains 100 ingredients, including trans fats and everything else I’m going to talk about here. You get the drift? Good!

Now, I also know most of you aren’t trained Pastry Chefs like myself. That’s why I’m taking the guess-work out of all of this and bringing you #betterbaking (yes I just hashtagged in a post!) so that you can create desserts in your own home, without the processed crap, that taste nothing short of a product that comes from an upscale bakery and is totally amazing. Ready?? Let’s go! Each week I’m going to be posting a brand new recipe that DOESN’T include any of these ingredients:

  • boxed cake mixes
  • boxed jello
  • cool whip
  • soybean/canola oil
  • refined grains
  • artificially dyed and trans fat containing sprinkles (pretty much ALL mainstream sprinkles)
  • other artificial ingredients (flavors, colors, products, etc.)

Now, just so you know, none of my other baking recipes posted so far contain any of this stuff because truth is, these products don’t exist in my household. A few years ago I woke up to the fact that these products aren’t good for any of us. I know there are lots of people who haven’t realized this yet, so that’s why I’m doing this! The interwebs need #betterbaking recipes! triplechocolatecupcakes8 (1 of 1)

No sprinkles though!?!? Come now, how can that be? You see, there are these little things called naturally dyed sprinkles, and there are also these little things called cupcake toppers. They both make cupcakes as cute as they should be, without adding a bunch of chemicals and artificial dyes to your food. Problem solved! See how easy that was? I knew you would totally understand the whole no sprinkles thing, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Since I’m promoting cute cupcake toppers, I’m about to make it ALOT easier by offering FREE printable cupcake toppers. Print them, cut them with those crafty folk scissors, tape them to a paper straw or toothpick, and BAM! Cute and frugal cupcake topper. For reals though, how cute are these fall inspired toppers? More to come, I promise! To get these cuties, just scroll to the bottom of the post, and click the dropbox link.

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Now that we have all of that exciting news out of the way, let’s focus on these heavenly chocolate cupcakes that not only look stunning and taste stunning, but use ingredients that are better! These are inspired by all of those “Fudgy Cupcake” recipes that include boxed Jello. I’ve tasted cupcakes with boxed Jello in the past, and yes, they are moist and yummy. But you can do the same thing using milk and yogurt, and yield the exact same texture and fudgy goodness without the boxed stuff! Yes, this is happening! No more boxed stuff just to yield a fudgy cupcake because you can do it with REAL STUFF! Ya digggg? Keep it coming, keep it coming!

Not only are these cupcakes fudgy and moist, they also are dipped in ganache, which is a fancy-pants way to say chocolate and cream, and topped with a DOUBLE CHOCOLATE cream cheese icing. Did those words really just come out of my mouth. Yes, yes I do believe this is real life and if this is what real life tastes like I’m so in. Just incase you didn’t get all that… I created this: Do you feel like you are in high schoolBiology again? 🙂

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Why yes, that is a chocolate smudge in the bottom on that picture because I said this was real life, remember? And in real life these cupcakes are a tad messy, so don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Can we talk ganache now because I kind of love that word and it is one of the most ridiculously good chocolate creations ever. I mean, if you’ve never had anything dipped or filled with ganache your life is not complete. Not to mention, it is SO EASY and looks really nice. When choosing a semi-sweet baking chocolate be sure to look for a brand that is using the least ingredients possible, and not using GMO’s. My favorite brand is Alter-Eco, and they have many products with basic ingredients.

To dip the cupcakes all you do is  make the ganache in 2 easy steps and dip them. Everything seemed to fall together perfectly when I did this because I chose to use foil cupcake wrappers that include a white wrapper on the inside, so they are double wrapped. This made is so easy to dip them because then the outside wrapper was able to be removed, and therefore didn’t get messy. Dipping the cupcakes isn’t really messy to begin with, but I would highly suggest double wrapping just to mess-proof them.   Whew! That was ALOT of info… so let’s recap this post since we are going all Biology Class style today:

  • We don’t like dump cakes or cool whip
  • We are providing recipes that are #betterbaking recipes, using whole ingredients and no artificial stuff
  • We think cupcake toppers are way better then sprinkles with chemicals and trans fats!!!!
  • We are providing FREE printable fall cupcake toppers and more to come
  • Ganche is awesome
  • Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cupcakes are about the best thing that ever happened to whole wheat white flour in it’s entire little shelf life
  • Double wrap your cupcakes if you want to dip them in ganache
  • This was a super long post, so thanks for reading! 😉

And here’s more cupcake porn, just incase we didn’t cover that well enough. triplechocolatecupcakes4 (1 of 1)

As promised.. here is the link to the FREE printable cupcake toppers! Simply click the dropbox link, and download the file. I’m using dropbox links to ensure everyone this is a safe download.

*I use homemade brown sugar, which is simply 1 cup of organic cane sugar to 1 Tbsp of un-sulphered blackstrap molasses. This enables me to always have fresh brown sugar, instead of a hard clump when I want to use it. For more on this check out my Homemade Brown Sugar post.

Double Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

  • 1 (8 ounce) package full fat cream cheese
  • 1.5 ounce semi-sweet baking chocolate (non-GMO preferred)
  • 2 Tbsp heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup organic 10x sugar
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions: Allow cream cheese to soften on countertop. Beat softened cream cheese until very smooth, scraping down the sides of your mixing bowl several times to make sure all lumps are out. In a microwave safe bowl or stove top melt heavy cream and chocolate together. Pour mixture into cream cheese. Sift cocoa powder and 10x sugar into mixing bowl slowly. Add vanilla extract, and additional Tbsp of heavy cream if needed to smooth.

Chocolate Dipping Ganache:

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate (non-GMO preferred)
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions: Chop chocolate finely. Bring heavy cream to the brink of a boil in a small saucepan on the stove, then pour over chopped chocolate. Allow to sit, unstirred, for 1-2 minutes. Begin stirring, and continue until smooth and silky.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Cupcakes

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This might just be the best thing I have EVER made. Scratch that. This is totally the best thing that has ever come out of my oven, and my husband would agree. Of course he would agree with a big ol’ smear of icing in his beard, but hey we’ll take it! 😉

Speaking of the wonderful man I married, he inspired this cupcake creation. Looking for new inspiration I asked him “What kind of cupcakes should I make?” and being a man he said “Whatever kind you want.” *head scratch*


Well gee Mr. Construction Man thanks for helping me. BUT THEN…. in a moment of manly clarity he said “Why don’t you just think of all the ice cream flavors you like and pick one of those.” Then I began to think of the whoopie pie ice cream I had last week (NOT real food btw) and it came to me…. Pumpkin Whoopie Pie Cupcakes!

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I started thinking about executing this fab idea, and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Next month marks 6 years since I graduated from Pastry Arts school. 6 years! Am I old now or am I old now? Ugh I think I’m old! Ask me about it in 20 years and I’ll talk about how young I was back when I was a food blogger. 🙂

In all of my time as a Pastry chef working in bakeries and restaurants I had not come across a Whoopie Pie Cupcake so I knew I had to make this over the top fab because if I’m putting something on the map it better be amazing!

And believe me… this baby is over the top fab, delish, and cute. So cute I even went against all real food rules and sprinkled some powdered sugar on it (organic that is!). Oh the cupcake madness! Of course I also decided to use a dented cupcake for my epic powdered sugar dusting picture so please excuse that lil’ old snaffoo. Trying to dust and shoot proved to be a daunting task so the dent was overlooked.

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But WAIT… there’s even more madness to these cupcakes because I’m totally not even close to being over my paper straw obsession. My husband was also wondering why there was a straw in the cupcake. Ummm HELLO! Because paper straws are awesome and they need to be put into various cupcake porn shots to make things even more beautiful. The nerve of him to question my paper straws! hehe He will never understand because he’s a man, and they don’t understand things like cute cupcakes and pretty food. They just want to eat, that’s all. Heck, this cupcake could be in a pile on the floor and he would probably still try to find a way to eat it.

Now before we finish let me tell you about how great the texture of these came out. I wasn’t sure how they would turn out because well.. I was adapting from a recipe that was not created to be a cupcake. But the texture is SPOT ON. Super duper moist and cakey, almost so that it reminded me of a cake pop. With the pumpkin, the extra egg, and the yogurt the texture is out of this world perfect. Like I said, these are probably the BEST thing to ever come out of my oven!

*Whoopie Pie recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

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Caramel Apple Cupcakes

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Caramel and Apples have  been friends forever. I am so glad they are besties for life because let me tell you… it makes food blogging so much easier! I don’t have to spend long hours thinking about elaborate cupcake recipes. I don’t have to think up some new and crazy food combination. I just have to put two things together that were made for each other… caramel and apples!


Breaking news: I LOVE PAPER STRAWS! Yes, I saw an isle full of paper straws at Target and boy oh boy do I have about 60 more reasons to continue taking pictures of food now! Are they not just the best thing that ever happened to food blogging? Ummm yes I do believe so. I can now go to Target in all of my yoga pants and messy hair glory and wander through the paper straw isle like I don’t have a care in the world!

In other breaking news if you have a husband make sure he knows paper straws don’t mix well with wee lil’ ones who like to chew on things. Apparently mine wasn’t aware of this information because I found baby Christian chewing the top off of a paper straw my husband put in his cup. Yeah, not a good mix! Fear not, Mommy swooped in and grabbed that straw right out of his cute little mouth and saved the day. Ok, maybe it didn’t go that smoothly but somehow I finangled that crap out of his mouth. Baby Christian is ok and was not hurt in the making of these cute cupcakes!

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Now let’s talk about how crafty I’ve become since blowing through the paper straw isle at Target because this is the breaking-est of breaking news. Who knew DIY cupcake toppers could be so easy and so cute. 😉 All I did to make the toppers was cut the straw on an angle, then tape a construction paper leaf onto the straw. BAM! That is it. I do believe this is officially called crafting for the non-crafty folk? Why yes, yes it is. Now please excuse me while I hand model this genius idea.

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*Pro non-crafty folk tip: Fold a piece of construction paper in half to cut out the leaf to get it perfect. I do believe I learned this pro-tip in Kindergarten. Thank you Mrs. Margerum!

Maybe we should just get back to food because I’m more comfortable being a foodie then a craftie. There are a few components that go into a Caramel Apple Cupcake so let’s discuss:

  • The amazing, moist *hate that word*, whole wheat goodness that is the cupcake
  • Cinnamon buttercream
  • Apple pie filling
  • Caramel drizzle

I know, I know, that is a lot of steps! But I promise they are ohhhh soooo delish and totally worth a few extra minutes to make the filling and drizz.

On another note, I broke one of my own rules and used 10x sugar in the icing. Being a former pastry chef, this is basically the lazy way to make icing but I know some people are intimidated by cooking sugar so I wanted to provide a recipe that did contain 10x, and suggest a brand that is trustworthy and non-GMO. Here is the brand I used. This link is for 20 lbs of sugar, hence the price. You can find it at most grocery stores in the organic section.

 

 

Apple Pie Cupcake Filling

Ingredients:

  • 2 large apples (3 small)
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar (I used my Homemade Brown Sugar)
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions: Dice apples small. Put apples and all other ingredients in a small sauté pan and cook over medium heat until apples are tender and sugar becomes syrupy.

Caramel Drizzle

Ingredients;

Directions: Put all ingredients in a small sauté pan and cook over medium-high heat until thick and bubbly, about 5-6 minutes.

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*Cake recipe adapted from my favorite baking blog Sally’s Baking Addiction using her Snickerdoodle Cupcakes with Cinnamon Swirl Frosting post.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

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I’ve been gawking… foodgawking that is! One thing I’ve really been gawking are all of those cutesy desserts covered in sprinkles galore. I’ve always loved sprinkles because they are cute, colorful, and well, they can make ugly things look pretty. However, once I grew up and realized what sprinkles actually were we kind of had a falling out. How could they have been lying to me this whole time? Pretending to be cute when in reality they are chemical bombs covered in artificial colorings! We’ve been broken up for quite some time now, and every time I see a sprinkle my heart sinks a little more. Until now!


I have no idea why it took me so long to realize that there ARE naturally dyed sprinkles out there, and they were right in front of my sprinkle-less little eyes this whole time. I’ve passed by them time and time again, never looking twice at their vegetable dyed awesomeness. One day when my kids weren’t screaming for Annie’s crackers (yes I do fall victim to those stupid bunnies sometimes too) I had a moment of clarity in the grocery store for the first time in over 7 years. All of a sudden there they were… the sprinkles I have been longing for all this time, so I scooped them up for $1.99 and was on my merry way home to think of reasons to use them.

Naturally I thought I’d be using the sprinkles for cupcakes but when I made these banana muffins I thought they needed a bit of a sprinkle face lift. My husband said “Don’t waste sprinkles on muffins” but seriously, he’s no food stylist so I started sprinkling, and how cute are these!?!? Muffins are no longer the “ugly cupcake” or the “stepchild of cupcakes” or the “duff” (totally not explaining that one if your not familiar with that term 😉 ), but they are now holding their own on the cuteness scale. These muffins are worthy of being a healthy classroom treat, or the lunchbox item all the kids are secretly longing for. We’ve re-invented muffins here people and I’m  loving these!

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What I love most about these muffins is they aren’t just cute muffins… they are healthy muffins! I don’t play the “whole wheat” game that is actually half whole wheat and half refined flour. What is the point of that again? Not only are these muffins whole wheat, they are also naturally sweetened which is almost always my goal when baking. On top of that they have a rich and creamy center with just enough cream cheese to make you feel like your eating something dreamy and decadent. Even better then all of that, they are so easy to make. Simply mix wet, mix dry, and combine just until mixed and bake.

Muffin Tip: I always fill my muffins to the top of the liner because nobody likes a muffin without tops!

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*If you are looking for naturally dyed sprinkles here are the ones I used. It is a bulk pack but if you love sprinkles as much as I do it might be worth it!

Pina Colada Cupcakes with Fresh Coconut

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I picked up a fresh coconut at the grocery store and wanted to make a treat for the kids with it. We had an interesting time opening it, but it wasn’t as hard as people make it sound! It did require a large chef knife and a hammer but hey, it’s all in a day’s work I guess! My husband opened it and my kids loved the fresh and cool water inside. Even the baby was downing it like it was going out of style. There was about 2 1/2 cups of water in the coconut so we drank a little bit, and saved the rest for the cake. I mentioned in my Whole Wheat Black Raspberry Shortcake post that my husband had picked up a Cooking Light Desserts magazine for me while he was at the grocery store. Although I don’t agree with their stance on substituting low-fat and potentially harmful ingredients (like Cool Whip) for the real deal, I did find a lot of inspiration in the magazine. When I make desserts I try to find a balance between super sweet and bland, and these cupcakes fell right in the middle, and were absolutely delicious. There is a perfect balance that can be achieved by using real and fresh ingredients, whole wheat flour, and a nice fluffy homemade meringue icing that doesn’t skimp on flavor. When you use real ingredients, you don’t need cups upon cups of sugar to make a dessert amazing. These are truly “from scratch bakery style” and can be made for far less then what you would pay at an upscale bakery ($2-3 EACH!). I wanted to show you exactly how I filled these cupcakes just incase you have never done it before. All you need is a melon baller or the underside of a piping tip. I simply press each end of the melon baller into the cupcake very gently, and when I have impressed a circle in the middle I scoop it out. If you are worried about messing up your cupcakes don’t sweat it, because nobody will see what is underneath the fluffy meringue icing. It took me a few tries to get a really nice circular hole in the middle of my cupcakes, so just keep in mind practice makes perfect when it comes to baking. pinacoladacupcake7 (1 of 1)


Nothing compares to the light fluffy meringue style icing on these cupcakes! It is truly the perfect icing for any dessert because it is not sickeningly sweet. It is so beautiful and glossy, and pipes very well. It holds up well in the refrigerator for a day or two, so these are a cupcake that can be made the day before your event. To make a meringue style icing you will need a sugar thermometer which can be purchased at a crafty store, restaurant store or online. The sugar thermometer just clips to the side of your sauce pan and allows you to see exactly what temperature your sugar is. You will be looking for about 250 degrees, or soft crack, for this recipe. I started whipping my egg whites about 3-4 minutes into cooking my sugar and the timing was perfect. The egg whites were reaching stiff peaks when my sugar was reaching 250 degrees, which is what is ideal. If your whites are at stiff peaks and your sugar isn’t to 250 degrees yet, simply turn them off until your sugar is ready.

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Here is the meringue on the cupcakes before I put any garnish on them.

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With this icing you can really garnish it however you’d like, or leave it as is which is pretty too! To garnish these I toasted the fresh coconut flesh in the oven in larger chunks. I decided I wanted to set these apart from all the other cupcakes I’ve seen that just use shredded coconut. I love the look of the slightly toasted coconut chunk and the fresh pineapple. The umbrellas can be found at Party City or online for pennies, so if you are planning a luau or party the umbrellas make an inexpensive and cute decoration. We recently had a luau for my baby’s 1st birthday so I have a whole box of umbrellas to use!

 

* You an find the items you might need to make these cupcakes here. 🙂

The Meringue Icing (Adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

  • 4 large egg whites + 2 Tbsp raw cane sugar
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (or a squirt of lemon juice)
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 cup raw cane sugar (I use Woodstock Brand)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • fresh toasted coconut flesh (for garnish or topping)

Directions: Combine 1 cup raw cane sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy bottomed saucepan and mix. Attach sugar thermometer to pan, and turn burner on high heat. Once you have turned your heat on, do not touch your sugar! Cook sugar to 250 degrees. While sugar is cooking put 4 large egg whites and 2 Tbsp raw cane sugar in bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Turn mixer on medium-high speed and whisk whites to stiff peaks. While whites are whisking, sprinkle in 1/4 tsp cream of tarter (or squirt of lemon juice) and 1/8 tsp salt. I have made meringue without the cream of tartar or lemon and it will turn out just fine without this ingredient if you do not have it on hand! When sugar reaches 250 degrees and whites are at stiff peaks, continue whisking whites on medium speed and slowly pour sugar into whites while increasing the speed slowly to high at the same time. Make sure you are pouring sugar in a slow, steady stream. Some sugar may get stuck to your bowl, and that is fine. When your sugar is combined allow to mix for another 30 seconds-1 minute. Add vanilla extract to finish.

Fresh Pineapple Curd

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups fresh pineapple, diced small or pureed
  • 1/4 cup raw cane sugar
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 6 large egg yolks (leftover from your meringue and cake)
  • 2 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
  • 2 Tbsp cold butter, in small chunks

Directions: If you’d like a smooth curd blend pineapple in a food processor, then strain through a mesh sieve. Also, omit water. Follow the rest of the directions the same. I left my pineapple in small chunks for a chunkier filling. Combine pineapple, sugar, lime juice, and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until sugar dissolves and pineapple changes color, about 8-10 minutes. When pineapple is tender and can be broken apart you may shred it if desired. Whisk egg yolks and flour in a separate bowl, and temper yolks using your pineapple mixture. Do this by adding a little bit of pineapple mixture to your eggs at a time, while whisking continuously. When eggs are warm, add eggs  into saucepan and continue to whisk until mixture is thick. If your mixture is not thickening, give it more heat. Pour mixture into heat safe bowl and add chunks of cold butter. Stir until butter is melted and combined. Refrigerate until ready to use. Be sure to place plastic wrap directly on top of curd or you it may develop a skin on top. *I can’t seem to attach a link but here is the original recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fresh-coconut-cake-10000001973648/

Vanilla and Fig Baked Oatmeal

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One thing I always hear people saying is they just don’t have time to make themselves a healthy breakfast every morning. If you are used to eating nothing (or something packaged) this recipe is for you! It takes just a few minutes to put together, and after you bake it you will have a healthy breakfast prepared for the rest of the week. I top this oatmeal with a mix of nuts, seeds, and dried fruits, and pour a little milk over it while it is still hot. I cut it into little squares for my kids and they eat it with milk like regular cereal. This is a great alternative to boxed cereals for kids because it is real food with real ingredients and is not loaded with sugar like most of the boxed options.


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Whole Spelt, Lemon, and Ricotta Pancakes

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I can’t even explain how excited I am to announce… I have finally purchased a REAL camera! Please bear with me through the process of figuring out how to use it. I have never even operated a professional camera so this is a learning experience for me all around. I can honestly say this is the first picture I have ever taken with a real camera and while it isn’t perfect, it is much better then the iPad photos I have been using! I’m really excited to continue growing my photography and feedback is much appreciated. 🙂

On to the pancakes… my husband actually had a dream that someone from his past was baby-wearing and making lemon ricotta pancakes at the same time. Seriously, I couldn’t make this up if I tried! Sunday morning I woke up refreshed because somehow I managed to sleep 12 hours after a really long day. It was glorious! Making up for lost sleep usually equates to a big breakfast here, and he mentioned the dream pancakes so I looked around the web but couldn’t find a whole grain version. I found this recipe on Cooking Classy and adapted it to a whole grain version using whole wheat pastry flour and whole spelt. I also made them a second time with whole wheat pastry flour and oat flour, and I have to say I liked the spelt better! I made a few other revisions to their recipe and they turned out fabulous! They are super light, fluffy, and have just a touch of lemon.

*I cook these in a cast iron skillet with about a tablespoon of melted ghee. The key to the perfect pancakes in cast iron is heating it correctly. Put the ghee or butter in your skillet when you begin mixing your ingredients. Keep it on low and let it get nice and warm. I turn it up to just under medium when I begin cooking the pancakes. Low and slow is the way to go! If your skillet is seasoned nicely you should not have to add any more ghee to your pan after the first tablespoon.

 

Whole Grain Banana Bread

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We had some bananas get brown really quick, so it was banana bread time! I adapted an old banana bread recipe to make it with whole, natural ingredients and it turned out fantastic! Quick breads are just that… quick! It takes only a few minutes to put together and it is delicious. This bread it great for lunchboxes or after school snacks.


This recipe features whole spelt flour, whole wheat pastry flour, mascobado sugar, maple syrup, and salted butter. I love using salted butter in recipes like this for a little touch of saltiness  to go with the sweet bananas.

Fruity Nutty Oat Squares

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The Ninja

Not to brag but I have a pretty awesome husband who is completely on board with eating unprocessed foods and supports everything I do. He knew I wanted a food processor because the small one I had a while back broke and I never replaced it. We went to Target for sponges last week and came home with a Ninja Masterprep Professional blender, chopper, and ice crusher.! My husband picked it out and brought it to the counter so it was a spur of the moment purchase but I’m very happy with it. The machine is a processor, chopper, and bullet all in one and it is AWESOME!!!! It  was relatively inexpensive for everything it does and it could crush just about anything. If you are in the market for a cool kitchen gadget here is a link to this machine:

The Squares


I had been looking a recipes for date and nut bars (LaraBars) and realized a lot of them looked super sticky. We always have rolled oats on hand so I decided to try my own version with some oats to help with the stickiness of the dates. These came together like a charm and with no trial and error I had created exactly what I was thinking of. These squares are versatile and could easily be modified using different types of dried fruit and nuts. My toddler was curious to try them right away and approved! These would be a great breakfast, snack, or lunchbox treat! With no added sugars, whole oats, and raw almonds these squares are something I feel good about feeding my children.

Whole Wheat Apple and Oat Pancakes

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Apple and Oat Pancakes

I mentioned before I had been trying to perfect my pancake recipe. When I’m creating recipes to use for my kids it does take a bit of trail and error with ingredients to get things just right. I’ve been making pancakes from scratch for quite some time now, so I’m familiar with what makes a good pancake! I also have 3 tiny taste testers to let me know what they like as well.

Nutrients


Of course, being a health conscious mom I  also want to pack as many nutrients as I can into my kid’s breakfast. When my 7 year old son goes off to school in the morning I want to be sure he will have energy to last him until lunch time. The problem with sugary kids cereals and some frozen pancakes is that they are loaded with sugar and refined grains that give kids energy spikes, then crashes. Kids tend to loose focus easily and eating highly refined foods won’t help with that!

Oats provide long lasting energy and are iron rich, so I feel good about feeding them to my toddler and baby as well. Its awesome being able to make a breakfast like this and feed all 3 boys the same thing! The stone ground whole wheat flour in these is also naturally rich in iron, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and folate so your getting nutrients from grains without the bleaching and enriching refined grains go through. I’ll never understand the concept of stripping grains of their natural nutrients, then adding them back in. Getting back to basics and using stone ground whole wheat flour, rolled oats, and real apples make these pancakes a delicious way to start the day. They are great for snacks and lunchboxes as well!

*Here is a link to the flour I use:

Almond Joy Greek Yogurt

by

almondjoy1

Store bought yogurts typically contain tons of  added sugar and unnecessary additives.  Most brands have jumped on the Greek Yogurt bandwagon, however a lot of the flavored versions contain GMO’s (modified corn starch), and preservatives (potassium sorbate). I have even seen mono and digycerides (hidden trans fat), natural and artificial flavorings (unknown ingredients), and fake sugars all packed into seemingly harmless Greek Yogurt.


The best thing to do is buy a plain yogurt and flavor it yourself. You will be surprised how much better this tastes then any of the already flavored stuff! If you’ve tried the Pinned It, Did It cookie dough Greek Yogurt and liked it, this one is even better! Almond butter can be expensive but I’m telling you, it is so worth the extra dollar or two. I could eat almond butter out of the jar for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and be happy about it!

I should also mention to choose your chocolate chips wisely. Most chocolate contains soy lecithin as an emulsifier, and most soy is GMO. Here are the chips I use. A few chips go a long way!