No Sugar Chocolate Cherry Bar

 With winter on its way, outdoor exercising is not an option to say fit. Instead I am trying to change some of our food habits. Watching how much sugar intake, more veggies and such. Here is a recipe for a raw bar with no sugar, NO SUGAR!!! Yep, just natural sugars. So start out with a cup of Almonds( we sprout ours which makes them even better for your body to digest)

 Blend those in a food processor.

 Next a cup of pitted Dates.

 I had to chop mine a little so that they would work in my chopper.

 Next a cup of Dried Cherries

 Blend those too!

 A 1/4 cup of Chocolate Chips

 Chop those up and add them to your mixture. If you have a large food processor, you can just throw everything in and chop chop!!!

 Now I forgot to get a picture but you need to put in 3 tablespoons of Coco Powder. Next a tablespoon of Coconut Oil( its a little brown cause I used the same tablespoon for my coco :)

 Next pour your mixture out onto the counter and knead it like you would bread dough. If it doesn't come together, just add a couple teaspoons of water( I had too :)

 Press it into an 8X8 pan, I did not use wax paper but if you want to get it out easier that's the route you're going to want to take.

 Put it into your freezer for 10 minutes or so. Let it warm up a little so that you can cut it with ease.

 And their you have it!!!!!!

It is delicious and yummy!!!! It went easily in one day, in my family. Make this and you can give your family a healthy and sugar free bar that everyone will love. Here's the recipe-

• 1 cup almonds

• 1 cup pitted dates (about 12 Medjool or 24 small dates)

• 1 cup dried, organic cherries

• 3 Tbs. raw cacao powder

• 1/4 cup raw carob chips( Chocolate chips)

• 1 Tbs. coconut oil

• pinch of sea salt

Sweet Hawiian Rolls, Homemade style!!!

These are a family favorite when it comes to rolls. They are a copy cat of an actual roll called Kings Hawiian Bread/ Roll. I have had the package kind but truly homemade is the BEST!!!! As if the picture(top) isn't enough to crave for one, I'm going to take you through a step-by-step. Enjoy!!!!

So you're going to start out by warming up 1/3 cup of milk.

 15 seconds was long enough.

 Then you add to your warmed milk 1 scant( which is a little under) tablespoon of yeast.

 Mix it all together...

 And let it work.

 In a bread mixer put in 1/4 cup of oil

 And 1/2 cup of brown sugar

  Next, melt a half a stick of butter, which is about a 1/4 cup. I melted that for about...... if I remember about 20 seconds. If not, you can do it longer, just don't make it too hot. It's better if you have a couple pieces still a little not melted

 Pour that in to your mixer

 Next break 2 eggs and scramble them lightly

 In the mixer go the eggs

 I gave it a quick mix just to blend it together

 Then add in your yeast, milk mixture.

 The secret to the rolls, Pineapple juice!!!! The original recipe said you could use juice or a can of crushed pineapple. Whatever you can find :)

 Mix that in, then start adding in your flour. I used Bread Flour( its helps breads and rolls to be lighter) Here is my dough with 1 cup

 2 cups.

 A quick sip of Pineapple juice, delicious!!!!

 All in all, it is 4 cups. The last cup I used regular all purpose flour. You have to let it knead for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes, take a bowl and pour in some oil.

 Just enough to cover the bottom( you're going to use it to coat the dough in)

 Here's the dough, it was so soft and beautiful!

 Put it in the bowl face down

 And then flip it over to oiled side up.

 Next get a thin napkin or towel and wet it, only till it's damp.

 Cover the bowl and then place it in a warm area. Once your dough has risen, punch it down and form into little balls, I got 12 out of mine so that they would fit nicely in a 13-9 pan. Butter your pan well!!! Unfortunately I didn't see this part on the original recipe, and so I oiled mine :( But they turned out just as great!

 It takes them quite away to rise so don't worry. Mine rose for an entire afternoon(partly because I forgot they were rising)

 When they are done rising heat your oven to 350', and mix together 1 egg, 1/4 of water, and about 3 tablespoons of melted butter.

 Brush on top of the risen rolls and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Yeah!!!!! TADA!!!!!!! They came out sooo beautiful!!!!! And they were scrumptious!!!! We enjoyed them with butter, but today we toasted them and put butter and strawberry jelly on it. Yummy!!!
Hope you can make these, they are totally worth it!

Hawaiian Sweet Rolls 

1/3 cup milk (cold is fine, warm would help it rise faster)

1 scant tablespoon instant dry yeast

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4  cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

An 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, NOT drained (about 2/3 cup)

4 cups bread flour (all-purpose would also work)

1 teaspoon salt

For the tops:

1 egg

1/4 cup water

A few tablespoons melted butter

Mix together the milk and yeast. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Add the oil, butter, sugar, eggs, and pineapple and mix to combine. Add the flour about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add a little more if you need to. It should be sticky, but not gooey. Add the salt. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in a stand mixer with a dough hook. Cover with a damp cloth (or grease the top) and let rise until doubled (somewhere around 45-60 minutes). Punch the dough down and divide into twelve equal balls. Place in a well buttered 9x13 inch pan and let rise again until doubled (again, 45-60 minutes). Preheat oven to 350ºF. Beat together the egg and water for the top and brush the tops of the risen rolls with the egg wash. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the tops are nicely browned. 

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I made some cookies last evening that were easy and delicious. I found a recipe for Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies, in which I wondered about the oatmeal in peanut butter cookies??? But actually it adds some really nice texture. Here is a step-by-step for you all!

So I mixed my "wet" ingredients together, then added my dry.

I love that the sugar content isn't so high. We have a recipe for classic peanut butter cookies which involves a whooping.......2 cups of sugar!!!!!!

Now the recipe doesn't say to include the chocolate chips, but we LOVE chocolate and so I added them. Don't worry they don't change anything, they only add soooo much!!!!!

I put in about a 1 C. and a 1/3 of the chocolate chips.

Dinner was in the oven, so I had to wait to cook them. It can be VERY dangerous to leave cookie dough lying around. So I tried to hide it away, and then remembered the raw egg in the dough and so I threw it into the fridge.

My finished product, TADA!!!!!!!!

The Cookie.........

Below I have given you the recipe. I have done the sandwich thing before, but know that it does take a little more time to fill them. This time I decided to make it simple on myself :) Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

For the cookies:

1 1/2 cups quick oats


1/2 cup flour


1/2 cup sugar


1/2 cup brown sugar


1/2 teaspoon baking powder


1/2 teaspoon baking soda


1/2 teaspoon salt


1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


1/2 cup honey roasted peanut butter (you can find it freshly ground at Whole Foods. all it is is honey roasted peanuts ground into peanut butter, which gives it a slightly sweet, roasted honey flavor)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened


1 egg

For the filling:



1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar


1 cup smooth peanut butter*

Preheat an oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, mix the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix butter, both sugars, egg, peanut butter, and vanilla. Pour oat mixture into peanut butter mixture, stirring until just mixed. Place rounded teaspoonfuls of batter on an ungreased baking sheet, leaving 2 centimeters between each one. Using your finger, pat dough down so they form small flattened circles. Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool completely on cookie sheet.



While the cookies are baking, whisk together the confectioner’s sugar and peanut butter until light and airy, about 5 minutes.



On a work surface, place half of the cookies upside down. Whisk the filling to lighten it. Dollop 1 tablespoon of filling into the center of each upside down cookie.  Place second cookie on top of filling and press together until filling just comes to the edges. Ta-da!