Just J.Faye

Hiking & Other Adventures

Mocha Energy Bites

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Remember snack breaks in Kindergarten? You know, that magical time in the afternoon to break for treats like milk & cookies, apples, chex mix, or ants on a log?

mocha energy bites Now that you’re past Kindergarten (assuming I don’t have any Kindergarten readers out there) do you still make time for snacks? I loooovvvee snacks and always look forward to these little breaks, or as I like to call them: “mental vacations”.

These days in the peak of marathon training with hills and speed workouts and hours of running I am hungry like all the time, even more than normal. It’s true what they say about EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption), people. It is true.

With that said I need a little bit more than carrots and cucumbers to get me through my afternoon. Yeah sure, I’ll throw in some hummus and nuts every once in while, but I some days I just want more.

I made these little balls of deliciousness, so that I’m not a worthless hangry disaster in the middle of the workday.

mocha energy bites Except I don’t call them “balls of deliciousness” because that would be weird. Instead I went with “Mocha Energy Bites”, which is maybe a little more appetizing? However, you can call them whatever you want. Perhaps something like – I’m just going to throw this out there – Shweddy Balls.

PS – I am already excited for when they play the SNL Christmas Special on TV. My favorite. Who’s with me?!

Ok, let’s take a look at what is actually in these things.

mocha energy bites Oats, dates, almond butter, chocolate covered coffee beans, ground flaxseed, honey, instant coffee crystals (not pictured), and vanilla (also not pictured).

Mix everything together and you got yourself a tasty little snack. Not only are these bites super delicious, they are also good for you and will keep you satiated (and energized!) until your next meal or snack or until the next time you want/need to eat again.

The coffee flavor isn’t overpowering, but if you really aren’t into coffee (who are you?!) you can leave out the coffee crystals and beans and just use dark chocolate chips instead. No biggie.

Besides being healthy and delicious these are ridiculously easy to make. All you need to do is pulse a few things in a food processor, then mix everything together, then form them into balls. I’m talking minutes here. Super quick. Super easy. And then your fridge is stocked with snacks for the rest of the week!

Oh, oh, oh, they are also nice and convenient to pack to bring to class/work/errands. Throw a couple in a little baggie and toss (or gently set) into your purse/gym bag/briefcase/backpack/lunch box for a quick, popable, delicious, healthy treat.

How much do you love that?!

Gaaahhhh I love it so much!! But then again, I get really excited about my snacks.

mocha energy bites So what I want you to do now is schedule a mental vacation for Monday at about 3:00. Ok? Can you do that, please? All you need is a few minutes.

Now what I want you to do in make these. Again, all you need is a few minutes. Ok?

Then when your mental vacation alarm goes off eat 2-3 of these mocha energy bites and happily power through the rest of your day. Mmk? Great. Thanks.

Mocha Energy Bites
 
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These bites are a simple, delicious, and healthy snack that will keep you satiated and energized until your next meal.
Author:
Serves: 16-17 bites
Ingredients
  • ½ cup dates
  • ½ cup almond butter
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • ½ teaspoon instant coffee crystals
  • ¼ cup ground flaxseed
  • 1 cup old fashioned oats
  • ½ cup dark chocolate covered coffee beans
Instructions
  1. Put the dates in a bowl of a food processor and process until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the almond butter, honey, vanilla, and instant coffee until combined. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl.
  2. Add in the flaxseed, oats, and chocolate covered coffee beans. Stir until everything is incorporated. You may have to get down and dirty with your hands here.
  3. Form the mixture into balls that are about 1 to 1½ inches. Store in the refrigerator for about a week or in the freezer for longer.
Notes
You can use peanut butter or sunflower seed butter instead of almond butter. However, if the nut butter you choose is pretty sweet, you may want to decrease the amount of honey or vanilla used.

I pulsed my chocolate covered coffee beans in the food processor a few times to break them down a little bit.

If you don’t want to use chocolate covered coffee beans increase the instant coffee to 1 teaspoon and use ½ cup dark chocolate chips. These would still be good without the instant coffee or coffee beans as well. I would recommend keeping the chocolate though!

Make these gluten-free by using gluten-free oats.

Geezzzz sorry for being so bossy there, I just want you to have snack time like the glory days of Kindergarten.

mocha energy bites

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Frosted Pretzel Shortbread

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Do you and your girlfriends have any silly little traditions? My friends Sarah, Pooja, and I do. We tell sneakrets. We write down predictions. We drink champagne. We snack on pretzels and frosting.

Pretzels and frosting, a salty/sweet mix of deliciousness. frosted pretzel shortbread 5 years ago I moved to Tennessee for work and didn’t know a single soul. This was both scary and exciting at the same time. I was lucky to meet Sarah and Pooja there, two amazing ladies who greatly impacted my life and are two of my best friends.

Our short time (1 ½ – 2 years) living in Murfreesboro together was full of high highs and low lows for all of us. I don’t think any one of us would have survived our time there without the love and support from each other. I have learned so much from these girls and love them so much. I could go on and on and on about how amazing they are, but I won’t. There’s just not enough space on this blog. frosted pretzel shortbread I don’t remember exactly how our pretzel and frosting obsession originated. If I were to guess though, I probably had leftover frosting from a cake or cupcakes lying around. We then probably used pretzels as a vehicle to transfer the frosting from the bowl to our mouths, because spoons are overrated and pretzels are delicious. Don’t judge. It happens.

Now whenever we get together pretzels and frosting are one of our “must have” snacks. Unfortunately geography (Sarah in Arizona, Pooja in New York, and me in Minnesota) and other grown up life things prevent us from getting together as often as we would like (everyday), but we try to have a reunion at least once a year.

On the last day of our time together we write down predictions for each other that we anticipate will come true by our next reunion and read through our predictions from the previous reunion. It’s a fun little tradition. Sometimes our predictions come true, but sometimes we’re way off.

I was super lucky to see Pooja a couple of weeks ago when she was in a town for a work conference. She recently announced that she is expecting her second child, another beautiful little baby girl! I wanted to make her a little treat to celebrate this wonderful news. Champagne was obviously out of the question this time around, but pretzels and frosting definitely were not, so I transformed our favorite treat into some cookies.

frosted pretzel shortbread

frosted pretzel shortbread These are simple shortbread cookies made with pretzel flour (finely ground pretzels) and powdered sugar, giving them a fantastic salty/sweet combination. They are then topped with my absolute favorite buttercream from Magnolia Bakery, which is, of course, colored pink.

I was planning on adding sprinkles, but totally forgot. Huge fail. If you have some I would highly recommend using them for these cookies. Maybe add some sea salt too. Then get crazy and make these little gems.

frosted pretzel shortbread If you have never had the pretzel and frosting combination, you need to try it out. Make these cookies and start some new traditions with your friends!

Frosted Pretzel Shortbread
 
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These cookies are a simple shortbread, but some of the flour is replaced with ground pretzels to make a delicious salty/sweet combination. They are then frosted with Magnolia Bakery's vanilla buttercream.
Serves: 1 dozen
Ingredients
For the Pretzel Shortbread:
  • 1 ½ cups pretzel flour (~3-4 cups pretzels, see note)
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Buttercream:
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3 – 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper or a silpat mat on a cookie sheet.
  2. In a small bowl combine the pretzel flour, all purpose flour, and salt.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer add the butter and powdered sugar. Mix until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add in the vanilla. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
  4. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll to ¼-inch thick. Use the cookie cutter of your choice (I used a glass, because I apparently do not have a circle cookie cutter) to stamp out the cookies.
  5. Put the cookies on the prepared cookie sheet. Baked for 8-10 minutes or until cookies are set. Be careful not to burn them. Let them cool on the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  6. Make the frosting while the cookies are cooling. Place the butter, 2 cups of powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium until smooth and creamy, 3-5 minutes. Add in the remaining sugar ½ cup at a time until the icing has reached your desired consistency (you may not use up the full 4 cups). It should be thick enough to easily spread. Add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly.
  7. Once the cookies are completely cooled, spread a nice layer of frosting on each one. I like my cookies to be heavy on the frosting. Feel free to add some sprinkles and a little bit of sea salt on top!
Notes
Place 3-4 cups of pretzel twists in a food processor until it is finely ground.

frosted pretzel shortbread

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Sprinkle Pudding Cookie Bars

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Find me a person that doesn’t love sprinkles. I want to tell them to their face that they’re crazy. sprinkle pudding cookie bars Sprinkles. They just make everything so much more fun. And couldn’t we all use an extra dose of fun on Mondays?

I think so. That’s why I’m bringing you these sprinkle pudding cookie bars.

And as if sprinkles weren’t enough, I topped them with these cute frosted animal cookies. Because, why the heck not? sprinkle pudding cookie bars

sprinkle pudding cookie bars In case you’re curious: yes, they do taste as good as they look.

The secret here is in the instant pudding mix. A couple of months ago I made these banana pudding cookie bars and discovered how truly amazing pudding cookies are. They are just so… soft. Soft and crumbly and delicious.

From the flavor to the sprinkles to the texture to the animal cookies, I just love everything about these adorable little bars. They appeal to both the eyes and the taste buds. sprinkle pudding cookie bars They are also super easy and quick to make. The dough comes together like standard cookie dough. Cream the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs, vanilla, and our new favorite cookie ingredient (pudding mix). Stir in the dry ingredients. Throw in sprinkles and crushed up cookies, just for fun. Press the dough into a pan.

sprinkle pudding cookie bars Top it off with some animal crackers. Bake for approximately 13 minutes. Wait for bars to cool (warning: this is the hardest part). Then cut them up and enjoy one… or five. sprinkle pudding cookie bars Then go bring some to your friends because they deserve sprinkles on Mondays too. sprinkle pudding cookie bars And because having an entire pan of these around is a dangerous thing.

Sprinkle Pudding Cookie Bars
 
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I love everything about these adorable little bars. The addition of pudding mix into the dough makes these bars extra soft and delicious. The sprinkles and animal cookies make them super fun.
Author:
Serves: 20 bars
Ingredients
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 (3.4 oz) package vanilla instant pudding mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup animal cookies, coarsely chopped (optional)
  • 1 cup sprinkles
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together sugars and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  4. Add the pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
  5. Add in the flour mixture. Stir until combined.
  6. Fold in the cookie chunks and sprinkles.
  7. Put the dough into the prepared pan and press until even. Then press animal cookies on the top of the dough. I did 5 columns and 4 rows (20 total).
  8. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Let bars cool completely before cutting and eating.

sprinkle pudding cookie bars

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Chocolate Cacao Nib Banana Bread

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Let’s kick off this week with some bread. Chocolate Cacao Nib Banana Bread  Brown bananas are a little bit ugly, but beautiful at the same time and filled with so much delicious potential! Chocolate Cacao Nib Banana Bread What to make, what to make… I was brainstorming as I watched these bananas slowly turn browner with each passing day. Then I decided: chocolate banana bread. With some cacao nibs. And a little bit of Greek yogurt. Delicious, yes?

Have you ever heard of or tried cacao nibs? They are basically pieces of cacao beans that have been chopped up and roasted. If you were to grind them up with some sugar you’d have chocolate! Cacao nibs themselves aren’t very sweet, but still have a light chocolate flavor to them. They also have a nice crunch, kind of like a roasted coffee bean. As an added bonus cacao nibs are pretty healthy. They are full of antioxidants as well as magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, and potassium. Plus, they can elevate your mood and give you an energy boost! Soooo… let’s eat some. Chocolate Cacao Nib Banana Bread My mom had given me some a while back to try, but I had stuck them in my cupboard and forgot about them. Out of sight, out of mind, you know? Then when I was in Costa Rica I came across some dark chocolate covered cacao nibs, which led me to remember the long-lost cacao nibs in my cupboard, which led me to buy the chocolate covered ones, which led me to want to make something delicious with them, which is now leading me to this bread with my brown bananas. Chocolate Cacao Nib Banana Bread Isn’t that a nice little chain of events? It led to such a delicious place.

This chocolate banana bread isn’t overly sweet. The melted butter and Greek yogurt give it the perfect level of moist-ness (is that a word?) and density. The cacao nibs add a nice crunch. You can have it for breakfast with some jam or, better yet, some almond butter. Or you could have it for a mid-day snack or a post-dinner dessert. Or you could just eat it all day, every day for the rest of your life, but I’ll let you make that decision.

Chocolate Cacao Nib Banana Bread So the next time you have some brown bananas on your counter staring you in the face, you should probably make this bread. You can track down cacao nibs (plain, chocolate covered, or both) in Costa Rica, but also Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s if that’s more convenient for you. If you aren’t interested in cacao nibs, that’s ok! You can replace them with chopped nuts, chocolate chips, or nothing at all.

Chocolate Cacao Nib Banana Bread

Chocolate Cacao Nib Banana Bread
 
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A delicious chocolate banana bread studded with cacao nibs. Perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack.
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Serves: 1 loaf
Ingredients
  • 1½ cup all purpose flour
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup butter (1 stick)
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed (~1-1 ½ cups)
  • ¼ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cup cacao nibs (I used a mix of plain and chocolate covered cacao nibs)
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.
  2. In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Let is cool slightly.
  4. Whisk in the eggs. Then add the brown sugar, bananas, yogurt, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
  5. Add in the dry ingredients and stir until combined, being careful not to over mix.
  6. Stir in the cacao nibs.
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until you can insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.
  8. Let the bread cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then take it out and let it cool completely on a wire rack.
  9. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
I used a mix of plain and chocolate covered cacao nibs, but feel free to use one or the other.
The cacao nibs can be replaced with a mix of chopped nuts and chocolate chips.

Chocolate Cacao Nib Banana Bread

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Fruit And Nut Chocolate Zinfandel Cookies

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Some of my favorite things: fruit, chocolate, wine, nuts, cookies. I went ahead and combined them and these Fruit & Nut Chocolate Zinfandel Cookies were born.

zinfandel cookies I know, insane. But sometimes insane is a good thing.

You what else is insane? The fact that it is September already! How, how, how in the world did that happen? Did I accidentally hibernate all summer? Where did it go?

I guess I’ll cope by eating these cookies. Let me tell you, a very delicious coping mechanism.

zinfandel cookies I love summer, but I do really enjoy fall as well. The crisp air, the changing leaves, all the varieties of apples, boots and sweaters – so great. Also, the start of school. I always loved the first day of school. I’m a huge dork, but I just really enjoyed back-to-school shopping, school supply shopping, and the first day feeling. I should’ve bought new pens or something to bring into work today. Oh well. Next year.

Anyways, these cookies! Let’s talk more about them.

zinfandel cookies The base is a delicious chocolate drop cookie, but I added in a boost of flavor with some red wine. Why? Because chocolate and wine is always a good idea. And what else goes with chocolate and wine? Fruit and nuts, of course! So I threw those in as well. The nuts add a great texture and additional crunch to the cookies, whereas the dried fruit adds some sweetness.

zinfandel cookies zinfandel cookies Cheese also works very well with this combination, but I didn’t want to go completely overboard. I’ll save that for another day.

For the wine I used Redux Zinfandel from California, which I received in one of my Club W shipments. The recipe calls for a ½ cup of wine. ½ cup < 1 bottle, so pour yourself a glass.

zinfandel cookies Go ahead and have a glass while you bake and maybe another while you taste test. Then invite some girlfriends over to devour the cookies and drink more wine. Maybe you can serve some cheese with it too? Talk about how awesome the summer was and how great the lingering weeks of it will still be. Then start getting excited about fall and having Sunday fundays while pretending to watch football paying really close attention to football games.

That’s just a suggestion. Take it or leave it.

Baking these cookies, though. That is not a suggestion. Use them as a coping mechanism for the end of summer or as a celebration for the beginning of fall. Either way, you need these in your life. You deserve these in your life.

zinfandel cookies

Fruit And Nut Chocolate Zinfandel Cookies
 
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Chocolate drop cookies with Zinfandel red wine, studded with chopped nuts and dried fruit - so many delicious things combined into one little cookie.
Author:
Serves: 36
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup red wine
  • 1 cup mixed nuts, chopped
  • 1 cup mixed dried fruit, chopped
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.
  4. Add the egg, vanilla, and red wine. Beat for another minute.
  5. Add in the flour mixture. Mix until combined.
  6. Fold in the nuts and fruit.
  7. Place scoops of cookie dough onto the prepared pans. Bake for 11-12 minutes, be careful not to overbake. Let cool on the sheet for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
You can use any red wine, dried fruit, and nuts that you have on hand. I used Zinfandel, a mix of dried cranberries and cherries, and a mix of almond and pecans.

Happy Tuesday. I hope you all had as amazing and relaxing of a Labor Day weekend as I did. I was actually fairly productive and finally created an index page. Check it out here.

zinfandel cookies

 

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Plantain Chips

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I’m backkkkkk from Costa Rica. And within approximately 12 hours of landing in Minneapolis I had a batch of homemade plantain chips in the oven.

plantain chips Why? BECAUSE THEY ARE SO GOOD. And I missed them. And they are super easy to make.

plantain chips Plantain chips were our snack of choice in Costa Rica. You know, something to tie us over when hunger struck at the beach or during our 20 minute drive home from the grocery store. I wouldn’t say we were obsessed, but I’m pretty positive we bought at least one bag every time we stopped at the grocery store, which was approximately every 2-3 days. However, they were small bags. Sometimes we shared with each other, but sometimes we just bought our own.

I love going to grocery stores when I travel. It’s like a whole new world of brands and snacks. I thoroughly enjoy them here in Minnesota too, but international grocery shopping is just way more interesting. Plus, if I’m at an international grocery store it means I’m travelling somewhere, which is just fun in general.

plantain chips I’ve always enjoyed plantains, but I fell in love with them in Puerto Rico (Mofongo? So delicious). However, I never buy or cook plantains back in Minnesota. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. This may need to change (and basically already has), because Costa Rica reignited my love.

After getting back home (where my refrigerator was completely empty apart from condiments) I needed to make a desperate trip to the grocery store. I bought plantains for the first time ever. Then I made some plantain chips and chowed down on them while I pretended I was back in Costa Rica.

plantain chips Plantains look like bananas, just like you may look like one of your siblings. Similar, but different.I purchased the sweeter yellow variety, but if you prefer the savory side of things, go for the greener ones.

They are so simple to make. Just toss some plantain slices with melted coconut oil, layer them on a baking sheet, and put them in the oven.

plantain chips The difficult part is trying to resist eating them all instantly. However, they do taste best same day because they lose some of the crispiness factor overnight. So don’t resist too hard, I guess.

I think these would be really good with some additional seasonings sprinkled on too. Maybe some cinnamon or chili powder? I’m going to that next time. Because there will be a next time. A lot of next times.

As a bonus, plantains are great sources of fiber, beta-carotene, calcium, and vitamin c, sooooo… eat up!

Plantain Chips
 
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These are inspired by my recent trip to Costa Rica. A crunchy, little bit sweet, little bit savory treat. They are best eaten the day of, so snack away!
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
  • 2 plantains
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Slice plantains, no more than ¼-inch thick.
  3. Add plantain slices and coconut oil in a bowl. Stir until all the slices are completely covered.
  4. Spread plantains on a baking sheet.
  5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, flip the slices, and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes or until you reach your desired crunchiness.
Notes
I used sweet plantains, but go for the green ones for more of a savory taste!

One day when I get my life in order I will talk more about Costa Rica (side note: IT WAS AMAZINGGG!!!!) and post some pictures. But until that day comes I hope you make a batch of these and pretend you are on a beautiful beach.

plantain chips

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