Know any peanut butter lovers?
If so, I have the perfect treat you can gift them on Valentine’s Day… huge chocolate peanut butter hearts!
These treats are so simple to make but definitely have the ‘wow’ factor. They’re giant in size so perfect for sharing with your loved ones ♥
* This post was originally posted in July 2016. The page was updated in August 2019.
In the hot summer months, nothing beats a cooling bowl of ice cream smoothie for breakfast. It might sound a bit indulgent to eat ice cream for breakfast, however this is no ordinary dairy and sugar-laden ice cream. The base is a blend of frozen banana and plant milk that magically transforms into the creamiest, smoothest soft serve. This is one ice cream that you can indulge in to your heart’s content!
As well as a great warm weather breakfast option, this ice cream smoothie bowl also makes a delicious post-school and exercise snack.
The chocolate version that I’m sharing today is not only one of my personal favourites, but it has also proven to be very popular with kids too! It always feels great to give kids a treat that’s delicious and healthy, and this one is packed with goodness. It contains a whole host of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and is especially rich in vitamins C and E, calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium and phosphorus.
These ice cream smoothie bowls are so quick and easy to make. It’s simply a case of freezing the bananas, then whizzing the ingredients smooth in a power blender or sturdy food processor.
I always like to include a tablespoon of almond butter and ground linseed (flaxseed) in my smoothie bowls for extra protein and heart-healthy fats, including omega 3. Adding these two ingredients also helps to make the bowl a more ‘complete’ breakfast and keeps me feeling full up for longer.
N.B. The above values are estimates. The actual nutritional values will vary depending on the brands and ingredients used.
Ice cream, parfaits, chia puddings, pancakes, waffles…. we love interchanging breakfasts and desserts in our house, and it appears that we’re not the only ones! Here are some more ‘desserts for breakfast’ ideas from some of my favourite bloggers…
– Blueberry Bread Pudding Breakfast Cake by Blissful Basil
– 1-Hour Cinnamon Rolls with Aquafaba by Vegan Richa
– Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins by Minimalist Baker
– Strawberry Cheesecake Mess by Wallflower Kitchen
– Cherry-Strawberry Chia Seed Fool with Vanilla Bean Coconut Whipped Cream from Oh She Glows
– Easy Peasy Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding by Unconventional Baker
If you make this Chocolate Banana Ice Cream Smoothie Bowl (or any other recipes on my blog), I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for adaptations! Tag your photos with #bitofthegoodstuff on social media – I always love to see your creations! You can also connect with me on my social media channels here: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest.
With love,
Sharon xx
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Today I’m sharing a recipe for a delicious chocolate treat that would be perfect for sharing in the upcoming festive season.
Say hello to the Vegan Biscoff Butter Cup…
This mix of melt-in-your-mouth dark chocolate and biscoff cookies in butter form is a match made in heaven. Whether you’re vegan yourself, or looking for a chocolatey gift for a vegan/dairy-free loved one, these cups are bound to impress. And the fact that you made them yourself is sure to win you extra brownie points.
I have always loved those little Lotus Speculoos biscuits that that you get with a cup of coffee on continental Europe (known to our US friends as ‘Biscoff Cookies’). That crisp snap as you bite into it and that unique flavour are two reasons why I’m so fond of it. The fact that it happens to be vegan makes me love it even more.
So you can imagine how excited I was when I spotted Lotus Biscuit Spread (aka Biscoff Cookie Butter) in Waitrose (next to the peanut butter jars). My favourite coffee biscuit… in butter form AND it’s suitable for vegans!!!
Okay, so I know it’s not a health product, but I’m not adverse to the occasional sugary treat especially in the festive season. And I was intrigued to see how it tastes. As soon as I got home, I stuck my spoon in to test it and, oh my word, it tastes JUST like the biscuit!!! A smooth, creamy version of the biscuit 😍
And I knew the perfect recipe to use it in…
… a nut-free alternative to my Giant Vegan Peanut Butter Cups!
They are so easy to make! It’s simply a case of melting dark chocolate, pouring it into a silicone cupcake mould (or paper cases) and filling it with the biscoff cookie butter. The hardest bit is waiting for them to set before you can tuck in.
I’ve made two batches so far this week and they’ve been a big hit with everyone that’s tried them. These treats will definitely have wide appeal. They’d also make a great home-made Christmas gift, packaged in a chocolate box or in a festive cellophane bag.
If you make these Vegan Biscoff Butter Cups, I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for adaptations. Leave a comment below or tag your photos with #bitofthegoodstuff on social media – I always love to see your creations! You can also connect with me on my social media channels here: Instagram , Facebook , Pinterest.
With love,
Sharon xx
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Giant Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups (Vegan | Dairy-Free)
Today I’m sharing my “go-to” recipe for chocolate cupcakes. This recipe has never left me down. My oven can be really temperamental when it comes to cake baking, but these cupcakes always turn out perfectly. They’re light, fluffy and deliciously moist.
I’ve made them numerous times for fundraisers and they always sell in a flash. None of the children at our local school are vegan, but they choose these cupcakes simply because they love them. It also makes me happy to know that the children with dairy allergies are able to join in. I often spot their mums making a beeline for me as I step through the school gate with my cake tin.
Next Friday is the annual Macmillan coffee morning here in the UK, which has now gained the status of the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning. Last year, the event raised a wopping £25 million for people affected by cancer.
s many of you already know, this is a charity very close to my heart and I’m always delighted to join in the coffee mornings and help raise money for the Macmillan nurses (or ‘Angels’ as I like to call them). Some years I’ve baked literally hundreds of cakes, like at this event in Dorset, which was organised by my sister.
Other years, I’ve joined in coffee mornings with friends or in my local community. It’s a great event to be involved in so, UK friends, do check out what’s happening in your local area.
And why not take along a batch of these tasty chocolate cupcakes? Most people don’t realise that cakes can be made free from animal products, so it’s always fun to see the look of shock on their faces when I tell them these cupcakes are 100% dairy and egg free.
So what do they contain? Well, there are no fancy or weird substitute ingredients; just simple ingredients that you’re likely to have as pantry staples, like oil, vinegar, sugar and cocoa powder. The recipe I use is lightly adapted from the Basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe in Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero’s fab little cupcake book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I then add a simple dairy-free chocolate frosting and sprinkles.
To be honest, these cakes don’t really need frosting as they taste amazing just as they are. If you add orange extract to the mix it takes them to a whole new level of deliciousness. Chocolate Orange has got to be one of the best flavour combos ever.
However, for fundraisers, these babies would look a little naked so we need to dress them up. I don’t go overboard with frosting as I find that piles of frosting is not only sickly, but also detracts from the delicious flavour of the cupcake itself. I tend to just smear some on with a palette knife and add a few sprinkles to finish it off.
If you’re vegan, you need to watch out for animal ingredients in sprinkles, including beeswax, shellac, gelatine and the red food colouring cochineal (aka E120, carmine) which is made from crushed beetles. In the UK, some of the supermarket branded sprinkles are vegan-friendly (usually the star sprinkles or other non-shiny ones). Vegan-friendly sprinkles can be also be ordered from online stores.
Are you planning to join in the Macmillan Coffee Morning? If you’re baking, I’d love to hear what you’ve got planned!
With love,
Sharon xx
For this month’s Suma Blogger’s Network entry, I though I’d share one of my latest treat obsessions – Vegan Florentines 💜 I’d been dreaming about Florentines ever since I saw them on display in the patisserie shops of Venice and Florence a few years ago. I’d never seen anything quite like them before. They looked so dainty yet totally decadent with their dark chocolate bottoms! I was pretty sure that they’d be full of dairy and off limits to me, but I was excited about the thought of creating a vegan version one day.
This week I finally got round to a little Florentine experimentation in the kitchen.
After a quick internet search, I discovered that Florentines are typically made with cane sugar, honey, butter, candied cherries, candied citrus peel and almonds. Since I’m not a fan of the first 4 ingredients, and I know a lot of my readers aren’t keen on candied peel, I ended up subbing 5 of the 6 ingredients. The almonds stayed 😉
The cane sugar and honey was swapped for coconut sugar and maple syrup, which gave the Florentines a wonderful golden hue and caramel-like sweetness. Instead of candied cherries and citrus peel, I used dried cranberries and orange zest. This gave the Florentines a fresh, citrussy flavour which I absolutely loved. The butter was exchanged for non dairy spread or organic aroma-free coconut butter.
I’ve done 6 trials so far this week, playing around with different ingredient ratios and combos. All have tasted delicious, but I was striving to bake a Florentine that was super thin with the traditional ‘lacey’ texture on the underside. By the 4th trial, I’d cracked it.
Once cooled, I then added the classic Florentine wavy chocolate bottom.
These Florentines are my new treat obsession. I absolutely love their texture – crisp on the outside, chewy in the centre with a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate bottom. Plus the flavour combination is so lush. The citrus zest gives them a wonderful lift while the dark chocolate makes them feel decadent.
Another great thing about this biscuit is that each one only contains 1 tsp of mixture which, in my eyes, makes it totally acceptable to go back for a second or third 🙂
‘M’ and Lil’ L seem to love them as much as me. I’ve made 72 so far this week, and there are very few left in the biscuit tin! I also took along a sample to my Tuesday night study class and they were a big hit!
If you make these Vegan Florentines, I’d love to hear your feedback and any suggestions for adaptations! Tag your photos with #bitofthegoodstuff on social media – I always love to see your creations! You can also connect with me on my social media channels here: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest.
With love,
Sharon xx
I first shared a recipe for chocolate orange chia pudding back in February 2012 and, to this day, it remains one of my family’s favourite desserts. It’s such a simple pudding to make and, since I originally posted the recipe, I’ve refined the method so that it’s even quicker. Honestly, this recipe could not be more easy! The original photo I took doesn’t do this pudding justice, so I thought it was time for a re-post with the updated recipe and some shiny new photos.
Since that original post, chia seeds have become much more popular here in the UK. You can buy them in health food shops, and even supermarkets have started stocking them. I find they can vary a lot in price, so I always shop around for the best deal. Since I use them frequently in smoothies and puddings, I’ve been buying larger bags lately, which tend to work out much better value.
So why do I love chia seeds so much?
Well, there are two main reasons. The first is their amazing nutritional profile. Chia seeds are very high in dietary fibre, a good source of ‘complete’ protein, and rich in omega 3 essential fatty acids. They’re also hydrophilic and can absorb around 10 times their weight in water, thus helping to keep us nicely hydrated. Their fibre, fat and protein content, along with these hydrophilic abilities, means that the seeds are a great source of slow release energy, they help to balance blood sugar levels, and they keep us feeling full up for hours. Adding a spoonful to smoothies is a great way to keep hunger pangs at bay.
Chia seeds contain a range of trace minerals, and are especially rich in manganese, phosphorus and calcium, which are all important for good bone health. A 28g / 1 oz serving provides 30% of the manganese RDA, 27% of phosphorus, and 18% of the calcium RDA. The seeds also contain a multitude of antioxidants, including the flavonoid quercetin, which has anti-inflammatory and antihistamine properties.
The second reason I love chia so much is that they make the most incredible chocolate puddings! Once blended with some cacao or cocoa powder and a little liquid, they transform into a delicious, silky smooth pudding that will easily rival any shop-bought chocolate dessert. And unlike the shop-bought varieties that tend to be laden with sugar and little nutritional value, these chia puddings are refined sugar free and packed with nutrition.
I used to soak the chia seeds in liquid for an hour or so until they’d transformed into a gel-like substance before blending them up, but these days I literally throw all the ingredients straight in the blender. High speed blenders are best for this job as they’ll blend the seeds smooth in a matter of seconds.
Lil’ L absolutely loves these puddings and sees them as a real treat. It’s great to be able to treat him to something that’s so nutritionally packed and full of healthy goodness.
Have you tried chia puddings before? If so, what’s your favourite flavour combo? If you’ve posted any recipes or pics, please do share the links below x
With love,
Sharon xx
