Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake with Bananas and Chocolate Whipped Cream Icing

Last Weeks Sundays with Joy recipe was Peanut Butter Birthday Cake. I didn't have anyone's birthday to celebrate but who really needs a reason to make a cake. Well we did a have a reason actually it is my foster son's 2nd year anniversary in my home. What better way to celebrate than with cake!

As most of you know by now I am trying to lose weight and get my blood pressure down. So I have been making substitutions in many recipes to make them a little healthier.

Here is my take on Joy's Peanut Butter Birthday Cake. You can find the original recipe in her cookbook Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake 

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup peanut butter

6 tbsp non fat greek yogurt

1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup plus 2 tbsp buttermilk

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8" (or 9") cake pans. Set Aside

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set ASide

In the bowl for an electric mixer, combine greek yogurt, apple sauce, peanut butter and brown sugar, until mixed well.

Add one egg at a time and beat for 1 minute between each egg. Add vanilla.

Add 1/2 flour and mix until combined, scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

Add all the buttermilk slowly while beating on medium speed. 

Add the rest of the flour and mix until combined.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Divide cake batter evenly between the cake pans and tap each on the counter to settle the batter.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing.

Chocolate Whipped Cream Icing

2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted (or more if desired)

1/4 cup coco powder, sifted

1 tsp vanilla

Pour cream into electric mixer bowl. Beat on medium high until cream begins to thicken. Add vanilla, icing sugar and coco powder. Beat until light and fluffy.

To assemble the cake

Place one cake on the platter. Spoon 1/2-3/4 cup of icing onto cake and smooth out over later. Slice banana and place in layer on top of icing. Place 2nd layer on top. Cover cake with remaining icing.

Sundays with Joy - Avocado Pound Cake

I made lunch for over 15 of my coworkers earlier this week. I decided that it would be a good time to catch up on some of my Sundays with Joy recipes. I decided to try the Avocado Pound Cake, because it was the most recommended by the ladies in the group. I also made Pumpkin Black and White cookies and mini pumpkin pies. For lunch I made pulled pork, for the non pork eater I made Buffalo Chicken and the vegetarian got Sweet Potato White Bean Burgers. 

There is not much to say about the Avocado Pound Cake except that it is AWESOME!! Moist and flavorful  a little crunchy on the outside and I didn't have problems with mine falling in the middle (some others noted this issue). Next time I would make my usual substitutions of using 1/2 greek yogurt for butter, apple sauce for sugar( I would prob use 1/2 apple sauce as it may be too moist with the amount of sugar used) and using whole wheat flour.

I did not make any changes to her recipe! So those of you who want to try it will have to check out Joy the Baker Cookbook or Joy the Baker's blog! as it is on there as well.

Sweet Potato Cakies!

So it is Sunday and that means it is time for my Sundays with Joy post! This weeks recipe was Sweet Potato Cookies!

This week was a rough one with a friend/coworker passing away and work was busy also. I have did not do any cooking or baking this week until Saturday, which is unusual for me. I was glad when I had the time to get back in there. My cousin Blair came over on Saturday morning to visit with her daughter Madilyn. I did not judge my timing well and was still baking when she arrived, not that this has ever stopped me before. The smell from the oven was amazing!  Blair had 4 or 5 while over and I sent her home with a bag of them for later. When eating them she called them "Cakies" Cake + Cookies. So that is what I am calling them. My kids also really enjoyed them. I had to put some away so I could have some later.

So as mentioned in last weeks post, I am trying to alter recipes to make them healthier, as I work towards a healthy lifestyle and losing weight. This is my adaption of Joy the Baker's Sweet Potato Cookies. You can find the original recipe is her cookbook Joy the Baker Cookbook.


Sweet Potato Cakies (makes 46 cookies)
Nutrition information: 1 cakie:  58 calories, 1.3g fat, 10.6g carbs, .8g fiber, 4.4g sugar, 1.7g protein.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup mashed sweet potato
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt ( I used Oikos 2%)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Pre Heat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk together Flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking power and baking soda.

In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sweet potato, sugar, apple sauce, yogurt and vanilla until combined.

Dump wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined.

Fold in Chocolate chips.

Scoop dough onto baking sheets, I use 1 tbsp ice cream scoop.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Roasted Cashews

Good Evening Folks! This week has been a roller coaster, had a visit to my doctor's office to get my blood pressure checked by the nurse... which turned into an appointment with the doctor and having to wear a blood pressure monitor for 24 hours... my arm is still sore. So needless to say... need to change my lifestyle and eating habits. So I have been counting calories and exercising every day and hope to make these regular things. So I will be posting nutrition information with most of my recipes as it can be time consuming, so if I share it will save other time.

Getting on to what today's post is all about! Sundays with Joy! As you may recall from other Sunday posts a group of us are cooking our way through Joy the Baker Cookbook! This weeks recipe is Honey Mustard 

Roasted Cashews. I made 2 batches; the ones on the left are Honey Mustard and the ones on the right are Vanilla Chai

Honey Mustard Roasted Cashews

2.5 cups roasted and salted cashews

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp dried mustard

Vanilla Chai Roasted Cashews

2.5 cups roasted unsalted cashews

1/4 cup honey

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a medium bowl combine; honey and seasonings, stir to combine. Toss in cashews and stir to coat. 

Spread cashews onto baking sheet making sure they are in a single layer. 

Bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice. Keep a close eye on them as they can burn quickly.

Remove and let cool! Then Enjoy!

Cranberry Rhubarb Apple Crisp

I have to start off by saying it has been one crazy week and I wasn't even sure I would get to this weeks Sundays with Joy recipe this week. But I managed to squeeze it in and boy am I ever glad a did.
This week is Joy's recipe for Man Bait Apple Crisp. Apple Crisp is my most favourite dessert! Ask my man! Whenever we go out for dinner I always have a hard time resisting Apple Crisp on a dessert menu to try something else.

A while ago I went through my freezers and made a list of everything in them, so I can start using it up.  I have a lot of fruit in them. So I decided to add some Cranberries and Rhubarb to my Apple Crisp! Only one word needed: Delicious.

Cranberry Rhubarb Apple Crisp

Filling
6 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 cups rhubarb, chopped
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup sugar (or more if desired)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves

Topping
2 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cups oats
3/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish and set aside.

Combine apples, cranberries and rhubarb in a medium bowl, sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and cloves and mix well. Place in the baking dish.

In the same bowl, combine Flour, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon and mix well. Add butter and mix with hands until incorporated.

Set aside 1 cup of topping. spread the rest over the fruit and toss to combine. Sprinkle the reserved topping over the top.

Bake for 55-60 minutes until golden and bubbly.

If you would like to purchase Joy's book Joy the Baker: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes.
You can join us here if you would like to bake along with us.

Lemon Lime Poppy Seed Pancakes with Lemon Maple Syrup

I got up early one morning last week and decided to make the bf some pancakes. Unfortunately my kids don't eat breakfast despite my rantings about how important it is to eat in the morning so their brains are ready to learn... Anyways... The bf loves lemon poppy seed cake and I happened to see a post about it on Pinterest, so I thought I would experiment. They turned out great! The have a nice tang and just a hint of sweet. We ate these a few mornings in a row as I made a large batch. These also got eaten as a snack, cold (also very delicious)

Lemon Lime Poppy Seed Pancakes
2 cups of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar (or applesauce)
pinch salt
2 tbsp poppy seeds
zest of one lemon
zest of one lime
2 tbsp lemon/lime juice
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter, cooled

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, poppy seeds and zest. Whisk to combine.

In a small bowl or large measuring cup combine lemon.lime juice, buttermilk, eggs and butter. Stir until well mixed.

Add wet mix to dry and stir until just combined.

Cook in a non stick pan over medium heat, until tops bubble. Flip and cook 1 min more.

Serve with Lemon Maple Syrup

Lemon Maple Syrup
4 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice (or more to suit your taste)

Combine together and mix well.

Sundays with Joy - Chili Cheese Fries

So we have another Sundays with Joy post for you today! This week's recipe was Chili Cheese Fries. When I think of Chili Cheese Fries, I think of crispy fries topped with hearty chili and melted cheese on top. This is not that type of Chili Cheese Fries. This recipe looked really good and I was really intrigued by the addition of Worchestershire sauce! So I stuck with the original recipe. You can find it in Joy the Baker Cookbook! 

I enjoyed these fries, but I think next time I make them I would change the spices up a bit but definitely keep the Worchestershire sauce and probably add a little more. I doubled the recipe but wish I had made even more :)