Skinny slow cooker peanut butter cup blondies

Use your slow cooker to make easy, skinny peanut butter cup blondies, a healthier choice for dessert, snacktime or school lunchboxes.

This is getting sort of crazy, isn't it? Another slow cooker recipe: Maybe I should have made 2016 the Year of the Crockpot.

But come on: I'm giving you a dessert recipe. A skinny dessert recipe. A skinny dessert recipe made in the slow cooker.

You can't blame me for being pretty excited about this one.

Regular readers are by now aware of my penchant for using my slow cooker as a water bath for making yummy things like overnight oatmeal and bread pudding. This skinny peanut butter cup blondie recipe is similar in that it uses the slow cooker in a non-traditional way -- like an oven; all you need is a springform pan that fits inside your cooker.

Chocolate peanut butter blondies (gluten-free)

Lightened, easy-to-make chocolate peanut butter blondies are also gluten-free, thanks to protein-rich quinoa flour.

I told you last week, in the context of my spicy Korean beef bowl, how I've become a big fan of quinoa over the past few years. One of the things I love about it is that, like many other grains, it's quite versatile; you can use it equally successfully in sweet baked goods as you can in savory suppers.

In fact, quinoa flour (basically just pulverized uncooked quinoa grains) is the key to making these chocolate peanut butter blondies gluten-free. Even if you don't need to eat gluten-free, these blondies are still your friend: all of our daily diets could use the extra protein and fiber that quinoa offers.

And how freakin' awesome is it that you can get it in a chocolate peanut butter blondie?

(Yeah, you're welcome.)

No bake trail mix snack bars

While I have been compensated for this trail mix snack bar recipe by #CollectiveBias and its advertisers, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that support The Ninj! #CrispyComeback 

No-bake, low-guilt trail mix snack bars are an easy treat that can satisfy all your cravings at once: crunchy, chewy, salty and sweet.

Yes, I'm a health-conscious food blogger, but I get cravings just like everyone else.

That's why I'm so excited about these no-bake trail mix snack bars: They can pretty much satisfy whatever craving you have, be it salty, sweet, crunchy or chewy.

Oh, and did I mention that they're super easy to make, with no baking required? And since they're packed with oats, nuts, peanut butter, honey and other goodies, they rate low on the treat guilt-o-meter.

Green power smoothie (to share with your dog!)

Love your dogs? Then share this kale, spinach, peanut butter and banana green power smoothie with them for breakfast.

Yesssssss! I'm so excited to share this smoothie post with you because I assume that you, like me, are a crazy dog person. In a good way. Meaning you love dogs. So much so that you may have been known to cook for them.

Chicken jerky, sweet potato chips, doggie meatloaf -- all part of my cook-for-dogs-repertoire. But now I've got a doggie breakfast specialty as well, to round out Smoothie Week: a kale and spinach peanut butter smoothie that is not only for them, it's also for you!

This easy-to-make smoothie is loaded with healthy ingredients that are good for you but also good (and perfectly safe) for your favorite poochie. And the slightly larger portion size accommodates you both: pour a little bit (start with 1/4 cup for a medium-sized dog) into a bowl for your pal and save the rest for yourself.

Gluten-free chocolate peanut butter chip cookies

Quick-and-easy double chocolate peanut butter chip cookies: gluten-free, dairy-free and added refined sugar-free -- with a little salty crunch.

Sometimes you just need a cookie. Am I right? Can I get an amen?

But -- SIGH -- it is still Detox January, so I'm resisting the urge to go mental and make Moonpie cookies or something. I'm trying to keep my healthy-ish hat on.

Behold: double chocolate peanut butter chip cookies -- which just so happen to be gluten-free, dairy-free and added-refined-sugar-free.

Booyah!

I don't need to eat gluten-free, thank goodness, but I've been finding that I enjoy many of the substitutes that make recipes gluten-free. For instance, this recipe uses almond meal (read: pulverized almonds) instead of traditional flour. I love me some nuttiness and I certainly don't care about the flour, as long as the cookie tastes great.

Which is does. Dark cocoa powder gets a double chocolately boost from bittersweet chocolate chips, both of which are made more completely awesome by the peanut butter chips. And the whole thing is goes to 11 with the addition of crunchy salt: given that the cookies don't really spread and change their consistency as flour-and-butter-based cookies do, the salt stays crystallized. Which means you can really taste it -- and it crunches! (You know how The Ninj feels about salted cookies, right? ERMERGAHD. Tip: If you, too, are a salted cookie junkie, use Maldon sea salt flakes in place of the kosher salt for even more crunch.)

Bourbon salted chocolate peanut butter truffles

Dark chocolate peanut butter truffles finished with homemade bourbon salt: a decadent and delicious but also elegant and easy holiday treat.

So, remember last week's bourbon salt? Did you make some over the weekend? I sure hope so, because you are going to want to break it out and use it in today's recipe: bourbon salted dark chocolate peanut butter truffles.

Ermergahd, peeps: These are like peanut butter cups that have gone to eleven.

Talk about an amazing holiday dessert treat. Got a party coming up? Bring these truffles: I guarantee they will be the hit of the dessert table and you'll be asked at which bakery you scored them. (Although some friends these are, if they don't already know you're an amazing ninja-like cook and would never show up at a party with store-bought dessert.)

Now, let's be clear: I am not claiming these bourbon salted peanut butter truffles are one of my normally healthy-ish recipes. They're not. There's a whole lotta sugar, salt and chocolate in here. But it's the holidays, and we all deserve some decadent treats at holiday time (which we make up for during Detox January, remember?).

Yet while these are not the healthiest recipe I've ever made, they certainly meet my other recipe criterion of being easy. Yes, elegant, delicious and decadent yet also easy-peasy. How cool is that?

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (gluten-free)

It's easy to whip up a batch of these gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, even if you only have 20 minutes!

I think these peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are my new go-to cookie recipe. Mr. Ninj says they taste like a smooshed, baked peanut butter cup.

Awwwwwwwww yeah.

I firmly believe that everyone needs a quick and easy, go-to cookie recipe, whether for whipping up a late-day treat for yourself or baking some last-minute goodies for the school party your kid forgot to mention until the night before -- and every other situation in between.

The key is that the cookies have to be wicked good but also wicked easy. These peanut butter chocolate chip cookies are both (I mean, come on: "smooshed, baked peanut butter cup" -- you know it's gonna be good).

I can't tell you how many times I have already made this recipe over the past few months. It's a cray cray number and yet we're still not sick of them. Now that's a good cookie!

Oh yeah, and did I mention they're gluten-free? And not in a substitute-gluten-free-flour-for-regular-flour way -- they are truly grain-free, so you don't even have to worry about the recipient's gluten sensitivity if you gift them to someone.

Nutella peanut butter chip mini muffins

A super-simple recipe for Nutella peanut butter chip mini muffins: I almost feel that I don't need to post anything else other than those words to get you to try this recipe, right?

I have posted before about how I get snack cravings -- like many of you, I'm sure -- in the late afternoon. Since we eat very little processed food around Casa de Ninj, this means that if I want a treat, I have to make it.

This is good in many ways because, if I'm feeling lazy, I just go without said treat. Which is better for my waistline.

However, there are times when the siren call of Nutella is just too great.

(And yes, I realize that Nutella counts as a processed food. Which is why I often make my own Nutella, but I don't expect you to go to those extremes. It's totally fine by me if you have a big ol' jar of Nutella in your pantry at all times. I'm not judgy like that.)

Peanut butter and banana snack cake

Super-easy peanut butter and banana snack cake is perfect for snacking or a quick breakfast.

We're into Week 2 of Detox January 2014 and I'm giving you a recipe for peanut butter and banana snack cake.

Only with The Ninj do the words "cake" and "detox" manage to go well together.

(See? I told you this would be easy!)

Since I'm still on my post-oral-surgery soft food kick, I've been trying to come up with ever-more inventive ways with bananas, as they are filling and a good source of protein. I've been making a version of this snack cake (peanut butter only) for a few years now and realized that, if I took small bites and mixed in some mashed banana, it would definitely be post-surgery worthy -- especially since I have graduated from drinking my meals to chewing them again.

The banana was the perfect addition, lending a bit more moistness and really highlighting the creamy peanut butter flavor. It's a new breakfast favorite around Casa de Ninj.

This cake is also very kid-friendly and would be a nice lunchbox or after-school treat.  And, as with all my favorite recipes, feel free to personalize it; for example, throw in a handful of chopped nuts, if you want to add a little crunchiness, or add a sprinkling of crushed peanuts to the top before baking.

Peanut butter banana oatmeal muffins (from your best girlfriend)

Clearly, I can't get over my breakfast obsession.

But before I even get to these yummy, Elvis-y muffins, I have to tell you about my weekend.

We had houseguests, which gave me a great opportunity to trot out some of my favorite recipes from this blog, some not often sampled by anyone other than Mr. Ninj and me:

• Baked oatmeal
• Crockpot oatmeal
• Pancake muffins
• Nicoise toasts
• Scourtins
• Avocado pasta salad
• Chocolate strawberry quick bread

While planning the weekend menu, it finally dawned on me what a great variety of recipes I have collected and tested. And they are all in one place, online, easily accessible in my kitchen without searching through folders full of scraps of paper.

In a nutshell, I'm using my own blog as a database.

I've been fretting for a while that my blog is not useful because it's not niche-y enough -- that is, it's not easy to label, elevator-pitch style. Some blogs are easy to label, as they focus solely on vegetarian recipes, vegan recipes, desserts, Indian food, gardening, canning, DIY crafts, knitting, "skinny" recipes, toddler-friendly food, Southern food ... you name the niche, there's a blog out there filling it.

It can make the generalist feel a little ... well ... too general. (Akin to my engineer husband not understanding why anyone, ahem, would choose a liberal arts education over a more specialized one.)

But my experience this weekend helped me to realize that it's OK to be a generalist because I'm filling my own niche, both for me and for you, my readers: the what's-for-dinner (or breakfast or lunch) niche, punctuated by the occasional foray into the world of DIY (gardening, pantry staples, crafts).

Black bean chocolate cookies

Black bean chocolate cookies

We are in week four of five and nearing the end of Detox January. How is it going for you?

If you're looking for a reason to join us when we do it all again next year, how about this: Mr. Ninj has already lost nine pounds and I've lost seven by following the simple DJ rules and nothing else: not drinking alcohol, trying to exercise just a little bit (I haven't had much success with this, as I pulled a muscle in my back while shoveling snow, dammit) and eating what you read about right here.

Including cookies!

I have a huge savory tooth, but, when I deny it for too long, my sweet tooth kicks in. That's what happened this week. The post I originally planned to write today was about something with kale and squash but yesterday I just couldn't take it anymore: I needed some cookies.

However, being committed to Detox January, I compromised by searching out a recipe for "healthy" cookies (OK, really, just cookies not loaded with butter or bacon, but that makes them technically healthy in my book).

And, since you know I especially like a stealthy recipe, you can understand why I gravitated toward this one: cookies made with black beans. And no butter (or bacon, sadly). And whole wheat flour.

Keep reading: they are not only not nasty but also wicked good. Really.

(I can see you rolling your eyes, you know.)

Chocolatey peanut butter Cheerio treats

Chocolatey peanut butter Cheerio treats

With the holidays approaching, I think we're all in full cookie-making mode.

(Pffft. As if we need an excuse to make cookies.)

My cousin is even working her way through a book that showcases a different cookie for each day of December (you'll be happy to know that December 5th is NINJA DAY -- clearly an ideal day to whip up some Ninjabreadmen.)

This got me thinking: why the cookie? That is, why did the cookie become the de rigueur holiday tradition for swaps, parties, gifts and Santa snacks?

You know The Ninj: I jump at any chance to do a little food history research.

For once, Wikipedia completely let me down (shocking, I know). But not so the Cake Spy, who  asked these same questions in 2008 and did her own research via Foodtimeline.org. According to The Spy and The Timeline

Cakes of all shapes and sizes (including smaller items such as cookies) have been part of festive holiday rituals long before Christmas. Ancient cooks prepared sweet baked goods to mark significant occasions. Many of these recipes and ingredients (cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, almonds, dried fruits etc.) were introduced to Europe in the Middle Ages. They were highly prized and quickly incorporated into European baked goods. Christmas cookies, as we know them today, trace their roots to these Medieval European recipes. Dutch and German settlers introduced cookie cutters, decorative molds, and festive holiday decorations to America. German lebkuchen (gingerbread) was probably the first cake/cookie traditionally associated with Christmas. Sugar cookie type recipes descended from English traditions. Did you know animal crackers began as edible ornaments?

All very interesting indeed. Apparently we can blame it all on the cookie cutter.

Leave it to The Ninj to throw all that out the window and make holiday cheerio treats.

Detox January, Week 1: Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

Peanut butter-oatmeal breakfast bars

"Mocktail Hour" with a virgin Bloody Mary is not quite the same as the real deal with a chartreuse vodka gimlet, but hey ... otherwise Detox January is not bad at all.

(Sidebar: Except for the annual mob scene at the gym. But I'm not worried: the resolution-breakers will be gone by the end of February. Cynical? Yes. But it's true.)

Take, for instance, these breakfast / snack bars. Wicked, wicked good! And no baking involved -- just some melting. And everyone can find time for a little melting.

Regular readers will recall that I am always on the hunt for good make-ahead, grab-and-go breakfast recipes. I think this one may be the best one yet: sweet yet salty, chewy yet crunchy. Perfecto!

Honestly.

Ninjas don't lie.

At least I don't think so.