Get Cooking!

Recipes, Kitchen Gadgets, Cookbook Reviews, Gluten Free Recipes...

You are here: Home / Archives for Desserts / Chocolate!

Chocolate!

ChocZero: Sugar Free Chocolate Squares (Perfect for the Keto Diet)

By

ChocZero Sugar Free Chocolates Review

ChocZero Sugar-Free Chocolate Squares

One of my greatest passions in life is chocolate. If I weren’t so allergic to pain, I’m fairly certain I’d get one tattoo – the word CHOCOHOLIC (all caps, non negotiable) somewhere on my person.  I mean, the world deserves to know what they’re dealing with.

True Story: 10-12 years ago (time flies when you’re eating chocolate), I literally made a couple of New Year’s Resolutions that I knew, beyond a shadow of doubt, that I’d be able to keep. It was half playing-around with my daughters and half let’s see what it feels like to actually keep New Year’s Resolutions throughout the year. What were the things I knew I’d stay loyal to?

  1. Tell my family… including cats, naturally… that I love them everyday (awwwwwww).
  2. Read from an Agatha Christie mystery daily. I read and re-read her mysteries and have been in the midst of reading one for half of my life.
  3. Eat chocolate every single day.

10-12 years later and I’m still going strong. With each. Please don’t ask about learning to speak Italian, drinking more water, never drinking sweet tea, or learning to play the piano. Thank you.

I was recently sent ChocZero Chocolate Squares in exchange for telling you about them. My first thought was, “Yay! Chocolate!” but then I began to worry… after all, I am as big of an expert when it comes to chocolate as is possible. I know chocolate. I breathe chocolate. So, I started to worry that I might not be able to give a raving review of the chocolate!

What worried me? Well, the fact that it is… are you sitting down… sugar free. That concerned me – but, strangely enough, it shouldn’t have. In fact, the fact that these chocolates aren’t overly sweet actually allows you to taste the chocolate better.

That, y’all, is a very positive thing.

ChocZero Sugar Free Chocolates

ChocZero Sugar-Free Chocolate Squares

ChocZero uses a zero-calorie, low carb natural plant called monk fruit to create delectable chocolate that’s low carb and sugar-free. Indulge in some more chocolate minus the sugar crash and extra calories. Whether you’re on the keto diet or simply hoping to reduce your sugar intake, ChocZero has savory options to fit a healthier lifestyle.

Perfect for the Keto Diet or “Lazy Keto” Diet (or anyone cutting back on sugar)

While my family doesn’t strictly follow the Keto Diet, I do incorporate A LOT of Keto recipes and philosophies into our meals. Cutting back on carbs is important to me but cutting back on sugar is far more important. I regularly eat potatoes but am trying very hard to cut as far back on sugar as I possibly can. ChocZero makes it easier to enjoy chocolate, thanks to their monk fruit sweetener.

My favorite way to enjoy these ChocZero Sugar-Free Chocolate Squares is given below the deliciousness….

ChocZero with Ghee and Salt

As I’m sure I’ve mentioned on the food blog before, I am a Ghee FANATIC. I saute’ chicken tenders in it, melt it for popcorn, slather it on toast… it has a flavor that, as far as I’m concerned is nearly as addictive as chocolate.

Soooo, it was just a matter of time before my two worlds collided – with a little salt thrown in for good measure.

Every single day, I take a square of chocolate (dark, usually but medium is just as delicious), add a little ghee on top, then sprinkle the whole shebang with pink Himalayan salt or sea salt. It has to be one of these and the reason is a very technical one… they look cooler.

Very technical.

The absolute best ghee on the market is Ancient Organics Ghee. Trust me on this one – I’ve tried them all and, for whatever reasons, no other ghee even come close.

My beloved Ghee and ChocZero make an unbeatable team and I do believe I’ll get up from here and have one. Oh, heck let’s make it two, want to?

ChocZero Sugar Free Chocolates, Ghee and Pink Himalayan Salt


Best Fudgy Brownie Frosting Recipe – You’ll Want to Eat it Straight Out of the Pan

By

Brownies Baked in a Pie Plate with Fudgy Brownie Frosting

Brownies, Baked in Pie Plates and Frosted with a Fudgy Frosting

A few weeks ago, a familiar mood hit me… an “I MUST MAKE SOMETHING CHOCOLATE!” mood that has come to define me. I mulled over the usual cast of chocolate characters – chocolate cupcakes, chocolate cake, cookies, brownies, and fudge. Brownies won and I started rounding up the needed ingredients.

I found that I didn’t have any walnuts, but decided to forge right ahead in spite of the absence of a favorite brownie ingredient. I decided (as I always do when my brownies won’t have nuts) that I’d simply make a fudgy chocolate frosting for the brownies and the absence of walnuts wouldn’t even be missed.

I was right.

As I was mentally dreading the all too familiar brownie-baking-battle (trying to get the center SET without the corners becoming so hard they could knock out a mouse), I had an idea. Why not divide the brownie batter in two and bake them in pie plates?

I didn’t know of any mice who needed konking, so I grabbed a couple of glass pie plates, greased them, and proceeded just as I would if I’d been using a square pan.

I seriously doubt I’ll ever bake brownies in a square pan again.

Brownies Baked in a Pie Plate with Fudgy Brownie Frosting

Pie Plates Keep The Crusty Corners Out of the Picture!

The outside, smaller cuts were triangular (a small price to pay for having the outside of brownies that are just as moist and delicious as the center pieces) but the rest were able to be cut into squares – you’d never know they were baked in a pie dish.

I made my favorite Fudgy Brownie Frosting and iced them once they cooled off. They were outstanding.

If you attempt the pie plates method with your favorite brownie recipe (or mix), just be sure to start checking on them before the traditional time limit. They tend to cook a little faster when they’re divided into two separate dishes.

I made a single batch of the Fudgy Brownie Frosting and it was just enough for the two pie plates of deliciousness. If you’re making a large batch of brownies, you might want to double the recipe. This is chocolate deliciousness at it’s finest!

 

 

Gluten-Free Sandwich Cookie Truffles with Glutino Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies

By

Gluten-Free Cookie Truffles with Glutino Chocolate Creme Cookies
Gluten-Free Cookie Truffles with Glutino Chocolate Creme Cookies
Chocolate? Check!

Cookies? Check!

Gluten-free? Check!

Cream Cheese? Check!

Que the song, “… these are a few of my fav-O-rite things…” – is it any wonder I’m obsessed with these cookie truffles?

These truffles call for Glutiono Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies (which are beyond delicious on their own, by the way – they’ll rock your world with a glass of milk). The traditional truffles call for a package of Oreo cookies – but they’re certainly off-limits for those of us who have to avoid wheat/gluten.

Thanks to Glutino we don’t have to miss out on chocolate sandwich cookie truffles. I’ve actually found that, thanks to companies like Glutino, we can pretty much have and enjoy anything our counterparts have. It just takes a little more planning and creativity.

Glutino Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies
Glutino Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies
I normally sprinkle the tops of these truffles with reserved crumbs from the cookies, but these were made last week for Christmas, so colored sugar festivities ensued.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Sandwich Cookies Truffles Recipe

1 pkg. (8 oz.) brick cream cheese, softened
1 pkg Glutino Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies, finely crushed
1 pkg white chocolate chips, melted

  1. Mix softened cream cheese and  cookie crumbs until well blended (if you want to top the truffles with crumbs, reserve some to the side).
  2. Shape the mixture into 1 inch balls and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. This makes them hold up better when it’s time to dunk them in the white chocolate.
  3. Melt the chocolate when it’s almost time for the truffles to come out of the freezer. I melt them either in a double boiler type situation (big bowl over a pan of boiling water) or in VERY short intervals in the microwave. Burning the white chocolate is a miserable, ugly thing – so go slowly… as in 30 seconds at a time.
  4. Dip each ball into the melted chocolate and quickly top with either cookie crumbs, sprinkles, or colored sugar. You could also drizzle melted caramel on top and sprinkle it with a little sea salt – if you’re feeling fancy, you know.
  5. Allow the truffles to hang out in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to set.

I hear of people storing these truffles in the refrigerator but, in my house, it never comes to that. They’re gone before I could even open said refrigerator.

You can find Glutino Chocolate Vanilla Creme Cookies in just about any grocery store. You can, of course, also find them on Amazon.

Gluten-Free Cookie Truffles with Glutino Chocolate Creme Cookies

Chocolate Desserts to Die For: Beautiful Cookbook with Mouthwatering Recipes and Pictures

By

Chocolate Desserts to Die For! Cookbook Recipe
The links in this post are affiliate links, meaning I earn a small amount when you click through and make a purchase. This (of course) costs you nothing extra – it simply allows me to support my cat in the lifestyle they’ve become accustomed to!

As a chocoholic, my cookbook collection includes plenty of cookbooks with one thing in mind – chocolate! A received a new one recently (Chocolate Desserts to Die For!) to review and I’d love to tell you all about it.

Now that Halloween has come and gone, thoughts are turning rapidly to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m featuring cookbooks (such as this one and Celebrations) on the food blog recently that pull double duty:

  1. They’ll be invaluable to you when you’re cooking your holiday meals.
  2. They make excellent gift ideas for cooks and foodies in your life.

Chocolate Desserts to Die For! actually pulls triple duty as it adds this to its resume: This cookbook is filled with beautiful and delicious gifts you can make for people in your life – after all, gifts don’t get any better than chocolate!

{Review Continued Below the Mini Chocolate Turnover…}

Chocolate Desserts to Die For! Cookbook Recipe

Chocolate Desserts to Die For! (Mini Chocolate Turnovers)

This is not a “Gluten Free” cookbook, obviously, but its recipes are either gluten free in the first place (such as the candies) or can be made gluten free with easy substitutions.

Some of the Recipes Include:

  • Not My Momma’s Rice Pudding with Cranberry Compote (would make a GORGEOUS Christmas dessert!)
  • Chocolate Cranberry Oat Cookies (again, perfect for Christmas)
  • Bev’s Hot Fudge Sauce
  • Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
  • Chocolate Chocolate Chipotle Fudge Milkshake
  • Strawberry Saute’
  • Warm Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake (when I make it, I substitute the chocolate cake with a gluten free cake mix.. can you say easy?!)
  • The Kid in All Adults Marshmallow Truffles
  • Triple-Decker Chocolate Cookies
  • Fudgy Goes Latin Bars
  • And many, many, many more chocolate recipes.

Take a closer look at Chocolate Desserts to Die For! by clicking the link.

Chocolate Desserts to Die For! Cookbook Recipe

Melt Organic Buttery Spreads – Delicious on Just About Everything

By

Grilled Corn on the Cob with Melt Organic Buttery Spread
The recipe below is an out of this world grilled corn on the cob that’ll rock your very world. You’ll see Melt Organic Buttery Spread in the ingredients – it’s just one of the Melt spreads that are now on the market. I’ll tell you more about them immediately below the recipe.

But first things first!

Chocolate Melt

I know I’m switching lanes at an accelerated speed here, but… come on… it’s chocolate! One of the Melt Organic Buttery Spreads is the beauty you see above and below, Chocolate Melt.

Chocolate Melt
Just look at that chocolate gorgeousness!! Yes, as a matter of fact, it does taste even better than it looks. It tastes like you’d expect chocolate butter to taste – somewhat reminiscent of the beginnings of a Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. Heavenly.

On the container of the Chocolate Melt is a recipe for brownies. Naturally, I made them. Unfortunately, the picture below doesn’t do them justice. They were the most moist brownies I’ve ever made and were insanely good with ice cream.

Brownies with Chocolate Melt
 

From Melt Organic’s Website:

MELT® Organic is a line of luscious, all-natural butter improvements for butter lovers seeking an alternative with beneficial ingredients. Its flagship product line, MELT Organic Buttery Spreads, is made from the Perfect Blend™ of fruit- and plant-based oils: virgin coconut, flaxseed, hi-oleic sunflower, palm fruit and canola. Two new products that leverage the company’s tradition of innovation were launched in January 2016 – MELT Organic Buttery Sticks, with a simpler formulation of our VCO blend optimized for baking and cooking, and Probiotic MELT Organic Buttery Spread which delivers active cultures more effectively than yogurt. All MELT products are sustainably sourced and are certified organic, kosher pareve and Non-GMO Project Verified and made with fair trade, organic virgin coconut oil and Rainforest Alliance and Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil Production (RSPO) certified organic palm fruit oil. They are also trans fat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free. Each of our naturally sweetened MELT spreads (Honey and Chocolate) contain just 1 gram of sugar per serving. None of our products contain hydrogenated oils or artificial ingredients of any kind and they never will.

Other Melts are the traditional (pictured below) and a Honey Melt, which is fantastic, too. I’ve eaten each variety on just about anything and everything and, since having the samples sent to me by Melt (in exchange for telling you about them), I have bought EACH flavor several times.

Try not to judge me or my obsession with all things buttery. Read More…

Melt Buttery Spread

Given that another obsession of mine is sweet potatoes, this beautiful vegetable was actually the first way I used the regular Melt AND the Honey Melt – each are uncommmonly delicious with white potatoes and sweet potatoes. They’re also perfect on cornbread, toast, rolls, carrots, asparagus, corn, pancakes (so is the Chocolate Melt!) and oatmeal.

Find Melt Buttery Spreads in your favorite supermarket, then try them all. I find mine in my local Meijer Supermarket. Whole Foods Markets also carry them. You’re going to be as hooked on them as I am.

See More:
Find more Melt Recipes by visiting their official website. Because they are awesome people, they even have a page for gluten free Melt Recipes – something I appreciate greatly!

Endangered Species Chocolate and Hazelnut Spreads (Review)

By

Endangered Species Cocoa Spreads
Whenever I’m asked to describe myself (in a short bio, social media blurb…), I always have a difficult time. For one, if I were totally honest in my assessment, it’d read like something out of a old school sitcom. An I Love Lucy episode, to be exact. For another, I’m a scatterbrain’s scatterbrain, with thoughts running all over creation, top speed, at any given time. Hobbies, interests, passions… they’re all over the place. Give it to you in 100 words or less? You’ve got to be kidding, right?

However, there are a few things that always, always, always make the cut. Right after God and my family/cats, my boundless love for animals and chocolate will always get top billing. When I had the honor to review Endangered Species’ Chocolate Spreads, how could I NOT jump at the chance? I was on board before they even asked me.

10 percent of Endangered Species’ net profits are DONATED to Non-Profit partners that protect and preserve WILDLIFE. Maybe you’ve seen their candy bars in grocery stores? They are out of this world delicious – if you haven’t seen them, do your taste buds (and wildlife) a favor and search them out. You can find more information about the candy bars and more Endangered Species products at ChocolateBar.com.

Endangered Species Cocoa Spreads
I had never seen or even heard of their cocoa spreads before they contacted me, but now that I’ve tasted them, I can guarantee you my kitchen will never be without each flavor. Each time I think I’ve decided on a favorite, I’ll taste another and… zoom, right back to indecisiveness. Each one is uncommonly delicious and downright addictive.

These spreads have more than just GREAT taste in common – they’re also gluten free, Non-GMO verified, and proudly carry the Fairtrade symbol.

10% of our net profits are donated annually to current 10% GiveBack Partners;  each is guaranteed a minimum annual donation of $10,000 and is free to use the funds on projects they deem most important. With over $1 million generated in the past three years alone, each chocolate purchase adds up to big support that helps wildlife thrive. –  From Endangered Species

I’ll give each of these fantastic spreads a little bio below, but the best way for you to find out just how impossibly delicious they are is to buy your own beautiful little jars and lose yourself in the deliciousness.

Endangered Species Cocoa Spreads
Hazelnut Spread with Cocoa

As you’d imagine, the Endangered Species Hazelnut Spread tastes a lot like Nutella. Except, I personally think it’s even better. It’s about 4 times creamier and spreads a lot more easily. Dipping fruit, crackers, cookies, fingers, and nuts into the spread goes more smoothly.

There’s a distinct flavor of hazelnut that pairs beautifully with the insanely delicious cocoa flavor.

The Hazelnut Spread is perfect served on cookies or crackers and makes an ideal dip for strawberries and almonds.

Learn more about the Hazelnut Spread with Cocoa by clicking the link.

Almond Spread with Cocoa

The Almond Spread with Cocoa tasted like the outside of the most delicious candy bar you ever ate. It’s creamy and addictively good.  My favorite way to eat this great spread is on shortbread cookies (Walkers makes outstanding gluten free shortbread cookies – I’ll be reviewing them very soon on the food blog),

The Almond Spread is just as fantastic as the Hazelnut spread is, which is really saying something. The only difference is that the subtle but wonderful taste of almonds takes the place of hazelnuts. Learn more about the Almond Spread here.

Cocoa Spread

Cocoa Spread – that’s short and to the point isn’t it??  With the two magic words, you know exactly what you’re getting into: cocoa! I could cover my entire arm with this cocoa spread and lick every inch clean. It’s outrageously delicious. I’ve eaten this one on cookies, strawberries, almonds, and… yes… off the back of a spoon.  I’ve also dipped gluten free pretzels into the cocoa spread with mind-popping results. Read more about the Cocoa Spread on the Endangered Species website.

Whether you have to/choose to/get to eat gluten free or not, the possibilities for these spreads are endless.

  • fruit
  • ice cream
  • pretzels
  • cookies
  • wafers
  • crackers
  • almonds
  • walnuts
  • brownies
  • etc…

I even spread some of the cocoa spread onto some peanut butter fudge once, just to…. I dunno…. sweeten the deal.

In the picture below, you’ll find what has become my favorite way to eat these delicious spreads: with Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies from Walkers. The taste of these spreads with these cookies is out of this world.

{Review continued below…}

Endangered Species Cocoa Spreads

You can find Endangered Species products in most grocery stores as well as on Amazon (click the link to see a ton of Endangered Species candy bars, spreads, and more).

Learn more about Endangered Species wonderful products and program by visiting ChocolateBar.com today.


*** You can also find Walkers Shortbread Gluten-Free Shortbread, Rounds, 4.9 Ounce (Pack of 6) on Amazon!

Recipe: Hershey’s Chocolate Frosting

By

Best Chocolate Frosting Recipe

Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing… Yes, Please!

Like most people who love baking, cooking, and.. let’s be honest… eating – I get a huge kick out of trying new foods and new recipes.  As someone who flies by the seat of her pants most times in the kitchen and is forever coming up with her own recipes and “tricks,” it’s rare that I have a SOLID, “go to” recipe that I use consistently.

For example, I’m not sure I’ve EVER made the same pecan pie recipe twice in a row. Sometimes I’m in the mood for more nuts… sometimes I’m feeling a little extra adventuresome with the crust… to say nothing of the fun I have with the corn syrup.

Yet when I need a cannot miss, has to blow them away chocolate frosting, I look no further than the back of my Hershey’s Cocoa tub. Is it just me, or is the sight of the tub, alone, supremely comforting?

The recipe on the back for the Chocolate Cake was also my “go to” chocolate cake recipe for years (up until my body and gluten became sworn, mortal enemies).  When you pair their cake recipe with their frosting recipe… forget about it. Sheer chocolate Heaven. I always added chopped walnuts to the top for extra deliciousness.

The Chocolate Frosting is equally perfect on cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and brownies – in fact, the brownies won’t know what hit them.


Sally’s Candy Addiction (Review)

By

Sally's Candy Addiction Cookbook

Sally’s Candy Addiction and Peanut Butter Buckeyes (Page 53)

I’ve made myself a Chai Tea Latte and am sitting down to do my best to give Sally’s Candy Addiction the review it deserves. The more I like a cookbook, the harder it is to do a review. I get so excited that my adjectives tend to run around and bump into each other. I’m hoping the Chai Tea Latte will give them some direction.

When I was sent a copy of Sally’s Candy Addiction to review, I didn’t just walk back in the house with book in hand, I flew.  My outside cats never knew I could move so fast. The inside cat knows – after all, she witnesses it each time a chocolate craving hits me.

I have always been a huge candy lover – eating it AND making it. I’m one of those who makes candy year-round. I just don’t understand those people who only make candy at Christmas.

What’s up with that anyway?

I almost always have some sort of fudge or other candy made up for my family to enjoy – a fact that has always set well with my husband, daughters, and sons-in-law and their many sweet teeth. Candy make their days sweeter which, in turn, makes my life sweeter.

Whether you’re a candy addict like me and the lovely author, Sally McKenney, or tend to make candy only a couple of times of year – Sally’s Candy Addiction simply has to be the next cookbook you buy. Actually, it should be the next anything you buy.

I think a lot of people would make candy more often if they realized that it isn’t as tough as they think. When most people think of candy making, they picture temperamental candy thermometers, hard to make fudge, and diva-like divinity.

Okay, okay, I’ll admit it. Divinity can be a real diva, but fudge isn’t remotely hard to get along with and today’s thermometers couldn’t be more agreeable. Many candy cookbooks in the past would lead you to believe that candy making takes endless time, ingredients, and patience.  In her gorgeous, colorful, and endlessly FUN cookbook, Sally McKenney proves that candy making isn’t difficult and it doesn’t require endless time, ingredients, or patience.

One of my favorite recipes from the book (Chocolate Crunch Candy Bars, page 59) only has two ingredients. Two!

In addition to tons of delicious, easy to follow recipes, Sally’s Candy Addiction has an opening section that serves as sort of a Candy Making 101 – whether you’re new to candy making or a sticky-handed pro, you’ll absolutely love this section. You’ll refer to it often as you enjoy the delectable world of candy making.

Some of the topics covered in this section include:

  • kitchen essentials for making candy
  • why you needn’t fear the candy thermometer
  • the difference between chocolate tempering and melting
  • candy cooking stages
  • candy-making basics
  • key ingredients, with Sally’s expert advice on each

Chapters in Sally’s Candy Addiction:

  1. Can’t Beat a Classic
  2. The Chocolate-Covered Chapter
  3. Endless Truffles
  4. Caramel, Toffee, and Brittle
  5. Nuts and Sweet Treats
  6. Oh-So Fabulous Fudge
  7. Just Add Candy

Recipes in Sally’s Candy Addiction Include:

  • Marshmallows
  • Southern-Style Pecan Pralines
  • Easy Vanilla Buttercreams
  • Candy Apples
  • Vanilla Cake Pops
  • Strawberry Buttercreams
  • Chocolate Coconut Candy Bars
  • Strawberry Pretzel Bark
  • Simply Chocolate Truffles
  • Caramel for Dipping
  • Chewy Cream Caramels
  • Easy Pretzel Toffee
  • Salted Honey Cashew Brittle
  • Peanut Brittle
  • Sweet Heat Caramel Corn
  • Pretzel M&M’s Puppy Chow
  • Popcorn Balls
  • Rocky Road Fudge
  • Peanut Butter Fudge
  • Fluffernutter Swirl Fudge
  • Shortcut Chocolate Fudge
  • Birthday Cake Fudge
  • Cookies ‘N’ Cream Fudge
  • The Great Milky Way Cake
  • Snickers Cheesecake
  • Crazy Candy Deep-Dish Cookie Cake
  • And many, many more…

In a candy-coated nutshell, Sally’s Candy Addiction Cookbook is the only candy cookbook you’ll ever need.  Throw out any candy cookbooks you have that make candy making sound as complicated as calculus or as fun as a tooth extraction and replace them all with Sally’s Candy Addiction.

Order your own copy today and (like me!) you can begin testing out candy recipes for Christmas baking and gift-giving. My family loves when that sort of thing goes on.

Not only are there countless candies that’ll be ideal for delicious gift-giving, you might also consider grabbing one or two copies of the book for gift giving as well – paired along with a great candy thermometer, it’d be the sweetest gift imaginable.

The way I figure it, anyone I give a copy of this book to will make some candy that they’d feel compelled to share with me.

Always thinking. Always.

About the Author

Sally McKenney is a food blogger with an enormous sweet tooth. Or should we say… a mouth of sweet teeth! She worked in finance for four years before dedicating herself full time to the millions of fans that follow her increasingly popular website and now books,Sally’s Baking Addiction and Sally’s Candy Addiction. She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with her husband, Kevin, and their rescue German Shepard/Rottweiler mix, Jude. Sally is a food blogger for People.com. When Sally isn’t on the computer, practicing yoga, or spending time with family and friends, you can find her baking in the kitchen or behind the camera.

Sally’s favorite dessert is apple pie, and her perfect weekend would always involve baking something yummy and hiking with Kevin and Jude.

See Sally’s Candy Addiction for more information.

 

Adorable Chocolate Jack O’Lanterns

By

Pritikin Pumpkin Chocolate Mousse

Healthy, Adorable, and Fun!

 

Halloween doesn’t have to be unhealthy. Same can be said for the fast approaching Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, as well. The trick is to have a plan and stick to it.  If you fill your home with candy, make no mistake about it – you’re going to eat until it’s gone!

Plan on healthier alternatives this Halloween. The recipe below above makes a wonderful, healthier alternative… and, come on, how cute is it?!?!

I’ll add a few more healthier but still delicious and fun Halloween treats over the coming days.

Creating these little Jack O’Lanterns is as simple as carving out oranges and filling them with Pritikin’s Chocolate Mousse! When fun and chocolate team up, you have a surefire winner.

Recipe and Photo Credit: Pritkin

Delicious Free for All Kitchen Brownie Thins

By

Free for All Kitchen Brownie Thins

Free for All Brownie Thins: Crunchy and Delicious

Before I get to my review of my newest favorite gluten free snack, Free For All Brownie Thins, I just want to give a huge shout out and thank you to all companies like Partners (the makers of these delicious Brownie Thins) who are making eating gluten free totally painless, beautifully easy, and completely delicious.

Now for the review…

I was sent a couple of bags of the Free for All Brownie Thins to review on Get Cooking. Like all of  the gluten free food reviews I do on the food blog, the opinions and images are my own. No one even suggests what I should or should not say. So, when I say that this chocoholic’s world has been rocked and rocked but good, know this – these are my own words, straight from my own lips and my own feelings, straight from my own heart.

Free for All Kitchen Brownie Thins

 Brownie Thins – a New Favorite Gluten Free Snack

These delicious Brownie Thins do not taste like some gluten free snacks – you know the ones, the snacks that taste as gluten free as their name.  Free for All Kitchen’s Brownie Thins do not have one single ounce of flavor that even whispers gluten free.  The flavor screams CHOCOLATE with echoes of DELICIOUS!

The crunchiness of these brownie thins makes them as fun to eat as they are yummy – it also makes them a dream come true with a glass of milk or a cup of hot chocolate or coffee.

Free for All Kitchen Brownie Thins with Milk

 Brownie Thins with Milk (Perfect!)

The light dusting of sea salt just adds to the addictive mojo of these little beauties. When you think about the most prominent ingredients – Dutch Cocoa, Buttermilk, and Sea Salt.. is it any wonder these Gluten Free Brownie Thins are so uncommonly delicious?

Free for All Kitchen Brownie Thins

One of My Ceramic Pigs is Getting Ideas…

In addition to eating these brownie thins with coffee and milk, I’ve also put peanut butter on them, which is outstanding.  Another favorite spread is good old fashioned, always delicious cream cheese.

Fantastic!

I have also made tiny little ice cream sandwiches with them by placing a spoonful of vanilla ice cream between two – out of this world good on a warm afternoon. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed ice cream sandwiches until I took a bite. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

I can also see using the Free for All Brownie Thins to build a great truffle with layers of brownie thins, whipped topping, and vanilla pudding. Throw raspberries on top and you have a dessert fit for any get together or party!

 

Free for All Kitchen Gluten Free Brownie Thins with Peanut Butter

 

Free for All Brownie Thins with Peanut Butter – YUM!

Basically, the options and ideas are limitless because these little guys are so delicious. I was going to experiment with them by crunching them up in my food processor and making a pie crust with them, but, alas, I could not stay out of them and have eaten them all.

Hey, don’t blame me… they’re the ones that taste so addictive and delicious!

They’re delicious, crunchy, and perfect and there’s no wrong way to enjoy them, but when all’s said and done, my favorite way to eat these brownie thins is right out of the bag. One after the other after the other…

Which is why they are gone.

No problem, though..  I can order more any time I want to. So there’s hope for that chocolate pie crust after all.

I 110 percent urge you to check these brownie thins out for yourself. You will be blown away – they are just do darn good!  Click HERE for all the information you need and to order your own sweet new chocolate addiction.