Sunday night I realized I needed a secret santa gift in just a few days and that I hadn’t bought anything. Whoops. I raced around the house to see if there was anything I could pass off as a well thought out gift and couldn’t find a thing. Then it hit me: Homemade mixes. They’re easy, thoughtful, and I already had everything I needed. Plus, who wouldn’t want to get what essentially equal gooey brownies only for whenever you want them?

I based the ingredients in my mix off of my almond flour brownie recipe since they’re easily my favorite brownies ever. Theoretically you can use any brownie recipe you love, but if you use this one I promise you the gift recipient won’t be disappointed at all.

For the mix, you need:

• 1 18oz mason jar
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Enough chocolate chips to fill the jar
• 1 index card
• Ribbon to attach the card.

Method:

1. Clean and dry an 18oz mason jar
2. Add in layers the almond flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, sugar, and chocolate chips.
3. Write on an index card the following:

“You’ll need:

1 mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter
4oz your favorite chocolate

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Melt and mix the butter and chocolate together. Work in the eggs and gently fold in the mix until it’s all combined. Pour in an 8×8 pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.”

It’s not quite as fun as baking brownies because you don’t get to lick the bowl. Go ahead and steal a few chocolate chips for yourself to compensate and feel good knowing you’re giving a thoughtful gift.

Tomorrow: Chocolate chip cookie mix!

Well I made it 4 days into December before breaking down and making Christmas cookies. I couldn’t hold up to the pressure any longer.

The truth is I’m not the biggest cookie fan. I have my favorites(like peanut butter cookies) but on the whole would rather have something else. One cookie I love is the peanut butter cookie from Wildflour Bakery which is gluten-free and vegan. It’s so sweet and soft and falls apart in your mouth. I thought I might try to make a cookie like theirs; this isn’t nearly the same, but I like it in its own respect which is why I’m posting the recipe. It’s less sweet but much more peanut buttery; it almost tastes like eating a spoonful of peanut butter in cookie form.

This recipe can easily be made vegan by using a dairy-free butter substitute. I would not recommend subbing in coconut oil for the butter in a 1:1 ratio because they do not act the same in baking and I can’t say for how it would turn out.

Egg-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 16-18 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies):

• 1 cup no-oil added peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch(or corn starch)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a couple baking trays with parchment paper.
2. Beat together all of the ingredients. Put the batter in the refrigerator of freezer to harden until you can handle the dough and roll it into balls.
3. Once the dough has reached that stage, scoop the dough and roll it into balls. Place the balls about 2 inches apart on the baking trays.
4. Bake for 16-20 minutes until the outside is golden. The cookies will still be very soft to the touch when they’re done.
5. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool completely before handling. As they cool, the outside will harden up and make them less fragile.
6. Store sealed in an airtight container at room temperature when not eating.

You’re going to want to bookmark this one; trust me.

I never understood the appeal of mug cakes before recently. It seemed to me that if you wanted something chocolate and delicious you should put in the time and effort to bake some almond flour brownies and the extra hour would be well worth it. It also didn’t help that most mug cake recipes aren’t gluten-free, or—if they are—come out with a weird starchy taste to them.

But now I’ve seen the light and have come around to mug cakes, partly because the oven I use was 3 floors below where I lived at the time I made this and partly because the recipe is so damn good. When I was trying the recipe, I also wanted something that was sort of healthy. This is healthy enough even to be eaten for breakfast, which I’ve done on a few too many occasions.

The original recipe is only 4 ingredients, but you can add in things like chocolate chips, walnuts, candied ginger, vanilla extract, and anything else to shake things up.

Paleo Mug Cake

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 3 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 cake):

• 1 small ripe banana
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons almond butter(or any nut butter)
• 1 egg
• 2 heaping Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons sweetener(optional)
• Chocolate chips, walnuts, dried fruit, or other mix-ins(optional)

Method:

1. With a fork, mash the banana into a smooth puree.
2. Mix the almond butter, egg, cocoa powder, and extra sweetener if using into the banana puree until it forms an even batter.
3. Fold in any mix-ins into the batter that you’d like. Otherwise, our the batter into a mug or other microwave safe container. Be sure to only fill the container up to 2/3rds the way because it will expand in the microwave.
4. Microwave on high for 2 and 1/2 minutes until the center is set. Carefully remove the mug from the microwave and enjoy hot, cold, or at room temperature.

I don’t add sweetener to mine and it still tastes delicious. I’ve only ever made it with almond butter but I’m sure peanut butter would be a nice alteration. The banana flavor is definitely prevalent, especially once it cools, but that only reminds me of a chocolate covered banana which I love. The best things about these cakes are that they don’t have any sort of flour flavor to them and are rich and fudgy like a brownie. The worst thing about this recipe is once you make it you’ll never stop.

Over this weekend I went to Philadelphia and ran a marathon. How did I do? I don’t actually know yet; I’m writing this 2 days before the actual marathon. You can probably check my Twitter. I hope to have an actual recap up by tomorrow.

But whether I hit my goal or not isn’t important(OK, it’s kind of important); what matters more is that I had fun with some awesome people. Madeline and her boyfriend were kind enough to let me crash at their place the night before the marathon so it only seemed fair that I shower them in chocolate. 

Madeline and Boots love gluten-free pretzels and gluten-free chocolate covered pretzels even though neither are gluten-free, which I find hysterical as someone who’s gluten-free and never even bought pretzels before I decided to make these. I don’t know that they like peanut butter, but I’m just going to assume that that’s the case, too. Because—I mean—who doesn’t like peanut butter?

I sneaked a piece before I gave the rest away(because you can’t give something as a present and not taste it first to make sure it’s good, right?) and they were good. I would have added a touch more salt; when I tried the gluten-free pretzels on their own I realized they weren’t as salty as I expected them to be and I think the sweetness is a little overpowering. Otherwise I hope these will be a hit. And if you enjoy things that are sweet and salty I’d highly recommend them, too.

Peanuts And Pretzels Dark Chocolate Bark

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes(allow 20 minutes for cooling)

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate OR 1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup crushed pretzels
• 1/4 cup salted peanuts
• 1/4 cup peanut butter chips

Method:

1. In the microwave or over a double boiler, melt the chocolate until it’s smooth and liquid.

2. Spread the chocolate out on a piece of parchment paper in a 1/2-inch thick layer.
3. Evenly distribute the peanuts, pretzels, and peanut butter chips over the chocolate. Press the ingredients lightly into the chocolate to make sure that they stick.
4. Refrigerate the chocolate for 20 minutes until it has hardened.
5. Break the bark into individual-sized pieces. Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

I hope to have a full marathon/weekend recap up tomorrow morning, but if it’s a little late it’s because I’m going from Philadelphia to Boston to Providence and then back to Massachusetts to cook and photograph and eat Thanksgiving dinner. Basically it’s going to be a bust week and I can’t wait for all of it.

In a perfect world, I’d eat less sugar. But this isn’t a perfect world, and I’m far from perfect. Truthfully my sweet tooth is out of control. I tried to eat less sugar in October and failed(I blame the existence of candy corn). I tried to eat less sugar in November and I’m failing(hello, peanut butter bars). I’ll try to eat less sugar in December and I’ll fail then, too(at least I’m being realistic about it at this point). Maybe I’ll kick the habit in 2012; who knows?

That’s not all to say I haven’t learned anything. One thing I’ve learned is that bananas make a great whole food sweetener. I used to make raw chocolate pudding all the time with avocado and agave, but at the end of the day agave is still another refined sugar like maple syrup and cane sugar. Bananas may have sugar, but also fiber and potassium. And in this dessert you really can’t taste the difference.

The trick is to use bananas that are well past yellow onto brown to get more sweetness and less banana-flavor.

Raw Dark Chocolate Peppermint Pudding

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

• 1 medium-sized ripe avocado
• 2 small overripe bananas(the browner the better)
• 1/4 cup undutched cocoa powder
• Scant 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

Method:

1. Peel the avocado and bananas and throw them in a food processor.
2. Blend the fruits until they make a smooth puree.
3. Add in the cocoa powder and extract and continue blending until they’re entirely mixed.
4. Scrape into serving bowls and serve at room temperature. Keep leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Maybe I could give up sugar if I had an endless supply of this in my refrigerator… right next to a bowl of candy corn and Reese’s.