Sunday Sweet Treat: (No flour or added Butter or Sugar) Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

Can I just say again how much I love baking? I think part of it may be because I enjoy licking the spoon (or dish) before having to clean it :).

Blondies are one of my favorite baked goods. And making them with peanut butter just makes life better. I am always looking for SIMPLE recipes that don’t call for a ton of ingredients. Who doesn’t like being able to whip up a delicious treat with ingredients they already have on hand?

Lately I have been baking most Sundays. I had some time to spare and a sweet tooth (shocker) and had a flourless peanut butter chocolate chip recipe picked out, so voila!

Don’t let the fat content on these scary you away. It is mostly coming from the Natural Peanut Butter used (GOOD fats!). The 14 grams are just under the average natural peanut butter has (16 grams). These aren’t made with butter, brown sugar and flour like most blondies so the batter is thinner/drier than most recipes and not as dense.

Let me know if you try this recipe out and what you think! Enjoy!

I found the original recipe here from a great new blog I found. Check it out!

http://detoxinista.com/2011/12/flourless-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-blondies/

What you need: For an 8×8 pan, makes 12 blondies

-1 cup natural creamy peanut butter

-1/3 cup honey

-1 whole egg

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8″ square pan

-In a bowl, mix the peanut butter, honey, egg, salt and baking soda until well combined, then fold in the chocolate chips

-Pour the batter into the greased pan, and smooth/even out the top

-Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is a light golden brown. I kept mine in for 25 minutes.

Nutritional Info:

Calories-206
Fat-14g
Sugar-11.7g
Fiber-2.6g
Protein-6g

 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Cookies (made with No Flour and No added butter)

Who said peanut butter and jelly have to be eaten on bread?

Self.com recently posted an article on 12 ways to eat Peanut Butter and Jelly. Well, of course it got my attention and I had to read every review and drool over them. They ALL look delicious. Check them out here: http://www.self.com/fooddiet/2014/03/pb-and-j-dishes-slideshow#slide=1

I plan to try out several of them, but I started with the peanut butter and jelly cookie sandwiches. They looked simple, and well they are cookies. ENOUGH SAID! :). Ohhhh and as an added bonus, they are made without butter and flour!

What you need:

-1 Cup Brown Sugar

-1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter (you can use natural to make it healthier, I was all out). Additional peanut butter is needed to spread on cookies

-1 tsp Baking Soda

-1 tsp Vanilla Extract

– 1 Egg

– Any kind of Jelly for the filling (I used Strawberry Spreadable Jam. There is no added ingredients and its lower in sugar than most)

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 350. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

-Combine all of the cookie ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Scoop out teaspoon sized balls of cookie dough and space them two inches apart on the cookie sheets. Using a fork dipped in sugar gently press the cookies down. Rotate the fork and press again to make the classic peanut butter cookie pattern. The dough is quite sticky so it is important to keep re-sugaring the fork to keep it from sticking.

-Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly set and browning around the edges. The tops should still be light.

-Remove pans from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

-Turn half of the cookies over and spread the bottoms with a thin layer of peanut butter. Top with a teaspoon of jam and spread almost to the edges of the cookie. Top with remaining cookies.

Enjoy! 🙂

 

PB2 Chocolate Brownie Protein Cookies

These have to be the SIMPLEST cookies to make that exist.
I recently found a new favorite Protein Bar- “OH YEAH Nutrition Victory Bars.” ANND I’m addicted. They are about 200 calories, packed with 21 grams of protein, 20 grams of fiber and low in sugar compared to most protein bars. They are also gluten free and all natural so there is no added fake sugars. Did I mention they are delicious?! They come in several flavors but so far Peanut Butter Chip and Vanilla Almond are my favorite.

I recently started following the OH Yeah Nutrition Facebook page and came across this genius idea of breaking a bar into 3 pieces, rolling into balls and sticking on a cookie sheet and baking in the oven on 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. I admit, I was very skeptical of the fact that you can turn a protein bar into cookies BUT I am so glad I tried it because they turn into such a tasty treat! I added some PB2 onto my Chocolate Brownie Protein Cookies. YUMM! 🙂 Enjoy!

Nutritional Info: 1 Victory Chocolate Brownie Protein Bar (makes 3 cookies)
Calories: 200
Fat: 6 grams
Protein: 21 grams
Carbs: 28 grams
Sugar: 8 grams
Fiber: 20 grams

PB2 (powdered peanut butter)
Calories: 45 calories
Fat: 1.5 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Carbs: 5 grams
Sugar: 1 gram
Fiber: 2 grams

Here are some Vanilla Almond ones previously made: