Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites

It's a big, scary day over here, so I'm just popping in to give you guys a quick recipe I made over the weekend. As I mentioned last week, I'm trying my best to save desserts and booze for special occasions and the weekends. Well, reason to indulge came sooner than I thought with Valentine's Day, so I tried making a treat that was both rich and, at least somewhat, nutritive.

Check 'em out:

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH BITES
vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, too!

What you'll need . . . 

• 1/4 cup Earth Balance
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup oat flour*
• 1/2 cup almond meal/flour*
• Handful dark chocolate chips

* For this recipe, I used homemade pulsed rolled oats (GF from Bob's Red Mill) for flour, but store-bought almond meal/flour. You could also pulse raw almonds for your own almond meal at home. Consistency will vary depending on store-bought/homemade, so add a little at a time for best results.



Method . . . 

1. Cream together the Earth Balance, water, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract until fluffy.
2. Then mix in the flours and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Scoop by heaping tablespoonful onto a plate or wax paper and then refrigerate.
4. Note: You can add more/less of the flour to achieve your desired consistency. Oat flour tends to soak up more moisture as time goes on, so keep that in mind.

// INDULGE?

I entered this recipe into MyFitnessPal and divided it into 12 servings (12 heaping tablespoons) and came out to around 110 calories per cookie dough ball. 10 grams of carbs, 7 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein, 49 mg of salt, and 5 grams of sugar. Now, compared to the cookie dough I used to make, it's not that different calorically.

However, it's lower in carbs, higher in nutrition and healthy fats, and has much less of a glycemic spike than it would with refined sugar and white flour. I could definitely do myself a huge favor and just stop eating sugar altogether, but I know the all or nothing approach doesn't work well for me. So, I'll focus on the gradual instead -- on portion sizes and adding in good stuff, like almond meal -- which is a fat-fighting food, where I can.

So, there's this question of indulging.
Not specifically in these treats, because I've already eaten many, but in general.

Though I don't appreciate Anthony Bourdain's disdain toward vegetarians and vegans, I do enjoy his writing, and recently came across this quote: "Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.” -- As much as I try to eat healthfully and cut out "bad" stuff, I continually strive to strike a balance between enjoyment of my favorite foods and better health from the rest. Sometimes the two overlap, sometimes not.

What are your thoughts?

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Cookie Dough Crumblers and Giveaway

* * * Giveaway Now Closed * * *

Congrats to Jen (California Meets New Jersey) who writes: "Well if I made it past putting it together and not eating the whole bowl...I like to make my own ice cream sandwiches with homemade cookies!"


You all know about my struggles with sugar. Things are looking up, which I'll write about another day, but I must say that Lindsay (Love and Olive Oil) is responsible for a sort of relapse.

A brand new collection of her recipes came out on June 5th in a book called The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook (Quirk Books). It's absolutely teeming with dessert ideas that feature -- you guessed it -- cookie dough.


To celebrate, Quirk Books has asked several food bloggers across the web to go crazy with her concept and create their own masterpieces. With cookie dough. Please. You had me at hello.

Thing is, I eat cookie dough so frequently, I could really only think to share my extremely basic (and quite embarrassing) guilty pleasure. This is my favorite way to eat it.


Obviously that wouldn't earn me any points. So, I went back to the drawing board. Cookie dough cheesecake? It's been done. Cookie dough tirimisu -- also done! Surely there's got to be SOMEthing unique and new!

What about COOKIE DOUGH BABY FOOD?!


OK. No babies were harmed in the execution of that joke. It was purely photographic. The babe ate carrots last night.


Anyway, I decided to keep it basic . . . with a twist. These cookie dough crumblers are bite-sized, salty, crunchy, chewy, and topped with chocolate-peanut butter.


COOKIE DOUGH CRUMBLERS

What you'll need for the cookie dough:

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance or butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons light coconut milk (or other milk/substitute)
• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• Pinch salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

For the pretzel base:

• Pretzels, enough to make at least 3/4 to 1 cup when processed
• 2 to 4 tablespoons melted Earth Balance or butter

For the chocolate:

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon Earth Balance

Method . . .

1. Cream together the Earth Balance, brown sugar, cane sugar, vanilla extract, and coconut milk. Beat until light and fluffy. Then add in the flour, salt, and chocolate chips. Mix until combined. Set aside.
2. Lightly butter the cups of a mini muffin tin and set aside.
3. In a food processor, pulse your pretzels until they are into little bits. Then add in the melted Earth Balance. More EB means less crumble. Though, I used 2 tablespoons and think mine are almost too crumbly. It's up to you!
4. Press equal amounts of pretzel mixture into the cups of your tin. Make sure you have a little left over for sprinkling at the end, though you will have a bit that comes off when you pop them out of the tins.
5. Then press equal amounts of cookie dough into each tin. You may have some left over. Eat it promptly. (Well, that's what I did. You can also store it in the fridge for the week.)
6. I covered my tin and placed it in the freezer for an hour to chill. Then I gently popped each bite out using my fingers and placed on some tin foil. I would have used wax paper, but I was out.
7. Then melt the chocolate, peanut butter, and Earth Balance together. I did it in the microwave, but stove works, too. Spoon this mixture over each bite and then sprinkle with excess pretzel. Let chill in the refrigerator for several hours. Or eat right away for a gooey experience.

Don't mind if I do!


And the book again is The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook by Lindsay Landis. I've had my copy for maybe a month and it's already well worn.


GIVEAWAY: If you'd like to win a copy of the book, just leave a comment below -- by midnight EST by Thursday, June 21, with some way to contact you -- with how you'd use the cookie dough. Winner will be announced Friday morning.

And to check out scenes from Stephen's first father's day, visit Writing Chapter Three. We'll be back with more weekend happenings later in the day.

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Peppery Polenta Bites

Thing about that ratatouille recipe is that it doesn't fill us up on its own. That's why I made up these peppery polenta bites to accompany dinner. They were definitely an afterthought. We hadn't made polenta in a while, so I mixed up a batch because I thought it'd go well with all the veggies. Then Ada got fussy/tired/cranky right when I was about to pour it into a large baking dish and chill in the fridge. Her impending nap meant I had some more time to put it into our mini-muffin tin.

(My life is exciting, right?)

Anyway, if you haven't made polenta before, it's quite easy. 

PEPPERY POLENTA BITES

What you'll need . . .

• 4 cups water 
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal 
• Pinch of salt 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 

 Method . . . 

1. Just add the salt to the water and bring to a boil.
2. Turn heat down to a simmer and whisk in the cornmeal 1/4 cup at a time. Stir vigorously to prevent lumps and bumps. 
3. Add in the olive oil and keep stirring for around 5 minutes.
4. Then pour into a baking dish -- in this case, a mini muffin tin -- and chill in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

All you need to do to make them crispy and peppery is to preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Spritz a baking sheet with olive oil. Then place your chilled polenta bites on the sheet. Spritz each with a bit of olive oil and then generously top with pepper. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes -- until crisp. Serve with dipping sauce of your choice. Or ratatouille goes great with them, too!

In other news, I finally bought a new pair of running shoes last night. For the first time in a year, in fact -- and I desperately needed them. I don't pay attention anymore to the specific mileage guidelines for when to get rid of shoes. Instead, I take each run as it comes and evaluate how my legs feel afterward.

These shoes felt dead these past couple weeks.


I tried on many different shoes, as a few of you wrote me to say the Nike Run + 2 and + 3 didn't feel the same as the type I'm used to. Stephen had me try on the Brooks Pure Connect (my heel felt so wobbly and lower than my toes -- didn't like it at ALL!), Saucony's Kinvara (eh...), and a few other more minimal types.

I tried on the Run + 2s and HATED them. Something about the decorative side plastic-y things didn't feel right on my feet. But when I slipped my foot into the +3s, I fell in love. Too bad the store only had the most obnoxious, neon color known to man. I edited to to mute it out. If you have sunglasses handy, here's the true color.


OK. Secretly -- and I guess now NOT-SO secretly -- I enjoy having a really bright, loud shoe. Makes me feel like I'll seem faster than I actually am when I lace up at races. I completed my first run in them yesterday (a blustery 5.5-miler) and they were glowing. But so was I. I get so anxious switching models of my favorite shoes. I've had bad experiences in the past, but I think I'm in the clear with this one. (PS: Thanks to the ladies who wrote me to help with making up my mind!)

Oh, yeah! And with several coupons and store credits (from using the store's loyalty card), I didn't spend the $100 retail price. Closer to $60. Nice.

Today on Writing Chapter Three I wrote a longer-than-it-needed-to-be post about our toy storage and cleaning situation. I'd love for fellow parents to let me know what they do to wrangle all their loot. My entire house looks like this one corner does right now.

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Banana Bites FAQs

Seriously? Are we searching for content or what! Well, by far, the most popular page on (never home)maker is our Frozen Banana Bites recipe. Understandably so. It's one of the quickest, tastiest, and healthiest desserts we've ever whipped up.

We've received a lot of comments and questions about these ice cream-like treats, so we thought we'd post to answer the most frequently asked:

Did you find that the bananas turned brown in the freezer?

For us, they don't. I think in part it's because they never, ever last long. But April commented: "I freeze peeled whole bananas in a Rubbermaid container and use them to make ice cream like smoothies and they don't turn brown unless I leave them for many months. I think they would turn brown if they were mushed up because it's like bruising them."

If I don't have vegan chocolate chips, what kind do you recommend to use for this recipe?

Any kind will do. Some readers said they used milk chocolate and they turned out just fine. I've also made them with semi-sweet and bittersweet. I've used other nut butters, too. Almond butter is particularly great with dark chocolate. Some readers said they used soy nut butter. I imagine sunflower butter would also be a great substitute.

I'm not a big coconut fan. Any other suggestions to put on them? Or are they OK by themselves?

They aren't OK without coconut. They are AMAZING. I've also chopped up dry-roasted peanuts and rolled them, chocolate sprinkles, and even crumbled Reece's Peanut Butter cups. Go crazy!

What is a good way to dip the pieces of banana into the chocolate and have them come out "pretty?" Mine were kind of a hot (delicious) mess.

Hahah. I love it. Mine are never terribly pretty. But since posting this recipe, I came across a similar one on Bon Appetit. They have some good instructions -- and their bites are gorgeous!

I wonder how could I make this recipe Weight Watcher Approved?

I'm not up on Weight Watchers rules, but I'm tossing this one out to the crowd to see if we can get a response. I imagine there's got to be a way to make it work.

How long will the banana's last in the freezer?

Again, they never last a long time in our house because we eat them quickly. But I could see them being good for at least a week or 2. Longer they might get too hard or brown. But, again, I'm not sure.

These are gross! The bananas freeze like stone and you end up breaking your teeth on them. If you defrost them, then the bananas go soggy and are yuck!

I've actually never had either of these scenarios happen with this recipe. So, I'm sorry you experienced this problem! And I'm not in the habit of posting recipes that don't work. Anyone else have this experience?

Want another way to enjoy frozen bananas, chocolate, and peanut butter?


Try the Ultimate Vegan Ice Cream! We got the idea for banana ice cream from The Kitchn and went with it. This tasty recipe utilizes all the same ingredients, but in a different way. And, as mentioned above, you can substitute in your favorite chocolates and nut butters or substitutes.

If you guys have any other questions about these sweet treats, just let us know! And if you follow (never home)maker, baby! -- you can head over there now to read Ada's 3 month update.

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

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