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RECIPES/ Sweets

No Bake Chocolate Cookie Dough Bites

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August is a great month to use a recipe that does not require heating up the oven, although these No Bake Chocolate Cookie Dough Bites are great to eat any time of the year!

Speaking of August, we are a week and a half away from my 3 girls heading back to school.  I will have 2 girls in high school, a freshman and a sophomore, and one in middle school.

As you might have noticed, the summer got the best of me and I have been pretty MIA when it comes to blogging.  There are many reasons why, of which I will share with you in upcoming posts, but it sure felt strange to step away from the computer and just focus on getting through a very challenging and busy summer. I have had this blog since 2007 and have never taken time off of writing regularly in it. I feel that things are starting to get back to normal, not just myself emotionally, but also with a fall schedule coming.  I do best with a schedule!

One thing that happened this summer was that we got a complete kitchen makeover! I was out of a kitchen for about a month, and we had to get pretty creative with meals around here.  Now that the kitchen is finished (I will show you in a post coming soon!) my youngest has been very eager to get in there and make something! She is my little baker and is constantly surprising me with fun recipes that she finds on Pinterest. Yesterday I was back- to- school shopping with my Colsie girl, and came home to cocoa powder scattered on my new countertops, a sign that my little one had been busy whipping something up and enjoying the new kitchen.

She proudly presented these No Bake Cookie Dough Bites, and let me tell you, they are GOOD! They hit the spot when it comes to a chocolate craving, as the chocolate is pretty intense.  They are almost like a dark chocolate, but still sweet enough for my two older daughters to enjoy who usually don’t care for dark chocolate. They are rich and fudgey and oh so good!

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No Bake Chocolate Cookie Dough Bites

{inspired by this recipe}

¾ c all-purpose flour

6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp butter or margarine, melted and cooled

¼ c unsweetened applesauce

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ c light brown sugar

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, and salt in a small bowl.  In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, applesauce, and vanilla until thoroughly combined.  Mix in the brown sugar, smearing any clumps along the side of the bowl.  Add in the dry flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.

If the dough is too sticky to shape, refrigerate for 20-40 minutes (or freeze for about 10 minutes).

Line a baking sheet or large plate with wax paper.  Roll the cookie dough into 32 little balls, using between 1-11/2 teaspoons of dough 9in each ball.  Place on the wax paper until ready to serve.

Keep the cookie dough bites in the refrigerator.  Their flavors meld over time, and they actually taste best after sitting in the fridge.

RECIPES/ Sweets

Lemon “Larabar” Balls

Another “Larabar” knockoff!  Last time it was Chocolate Coconut Balls, this time it is Lemon.  These are really good and refreshing.  They hit the spot when you are craving something sweet with a bit of a crunch.  They are the perfect snack size and portable.
I am a huge Larabar fan because they are made of just a handful of healthful ingredients.  
The above lemon bar contains:
dates, almonds, cashews, lemon juice concentrate, natural lemon flavor

Do not let the dates throw you if you are not a date lover.  I do not like dates, but I love these Lemon Balls.  The dates job is to sweeten and hold the ball together, which creates the best chewy texture.  Enjoy!
Lemon “Larabar” Balls
1 1b. pitted dates 
1 1/2 cup raw mixed nuts (or 1 cup almonds, 1/2 cup cashews, if desired)
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
______________
Combine all in a food processor.  Your food processor will work hard, so make sure you tell it that you appreciate its effort.  Process until nuts are desired size and ingredients are incorporated.
Coat hands with oil ( I used coconut oil and loved the hint of coconut it gave the balls) and roll into balls.  
Keep balls in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Makes 20, 1 inch balls.
Healthy Eating/ RECIPES/ Sweets

Chocolate Mudballs

Well, Laura at “Heavenly Homemakers” has done it again.  She has taken a simple recipe, used whole ingredients, and provided my recipe box with one more “make often” recipe.

These chocolate mudballs just hit the spot!  They are great when you are wanting a bit of a chocolate treat, but use ingredients like wheat germ and oats to make them a treat that has some health benefits.  Love that!

I whipped them up in literally minutes, right before I left for my Tuesday Night Women’s Bible study group.  These women are often my taste testers with new recipes, I love their honesty and can count of the variety of tastes in the room to know whether or not a recipe is blog worthy! (I made bars that resembled bird seed one week and we all wondered if the birds would even eat them…they were NOT good:) These little mudballs received rave reviews, so here they are!

 

Mudballs
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup 
chocolate chips 
1/4 cup sesame seeds
Cook the peanut butter on honey over low heat until melted. Add remaining ingredients. When cool enough to handle roll into oohey gooey mud balls.
This batch made 12 balls, next time I will double the recipe.
My girls loved these.  They felt like they were eating cookie dough, and were disappointed that we had to share with my group!  I made them yesterday, and plan on going to the store for more sesame seeds so I can make them again today.  
I had a reader send me a recipe she thought I would like (how sweet is that?) and she was right on.  They are balls that are just like these, with just a couple ingredients switched up- they use ground flax seed instead of wheat germ, so it would be a great way to get those Omega 3’s!  Here is the link to that recipe if you want to check it out, the link will take you to a Disney website.  I will let you know when I make them how they turn out.
This post linked to:
Food On Fridays @ann kroeker. writer.
Recipe Swap Wednesdays @ Remodelaholic
Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays @ Blessed With Grace
Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative
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