Sticky Bun Swirl Muffins

If a sticky bun and a muffin had a baby....

It would be these ridiculously delicious muffins. These soft and moist muffins are perfect for snack, dessert, a breakfast side...

Well, they're just kind of perfect in general. I can't make them fast enough - they keep getting eaten. This recipe yields four cinnamon sugar muffins with gooey sticky bun centers.

Oh, but it gets better. These are made with high fiber coconut flour, incredibly easy to make, and come in at only 55 calories a piece. Go ahead and eat them all if you want, and you just may want to.

Ingredients
Muffin:

1/4 cup of coconut flour
2 tbsp splenda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup egg beaters
2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup

Cinnamon Swirl:
1 tbsp splenda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp sugar free maple syrup

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Mix the wet and dry ingredients for the muffin in two separate bowls. Whisk both well. Combine ingredients and beat well. Using an electric beater is probably the best way to go, it seems to work best to get all of the clumps out of the coconut flour. Let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes so the coconut flour can absorb the moisture while you prepare your cinnamon swirl mixture.
Divide your muffin batter evenly into four greased or sprayed muffin tins. Then, take one teaspoon of your swirl mixture and plop it in the middle of your muffin batter (there is going to be leftover swirl mixture). Using a toothpick or knife, slowly draw lines and swirl out from the middle of the muffin.
Place in oven and cook for 25 minutes.
Let cool or enjoy warm! They're also really good reheated.

Nutritional info: 55 calories per muffin

Slightly adapted from Comfybelly.com

Chocolate Banana Caramel Chip Muffins

I did something right in the kitchen today. I created not only the most beautiful muffins I've ever made, but the most delicious, moist, most incredible combination of flavors. Who doesn't love banana and chocolate as a flavor combination? These muffins taste strongly of both, but not only that, they ooze delicious warm caramel as you eat them.

Um.. yeah.

Did I mention that these are made with  healthy ingredients? (Though they don't taste like it..)

This may actually be a slight problem, seeing as I kind of want these every day for awhile, now. The only reason I may refrain is so that I create more recipes!

Recipe yields 6 muffins.
Ingredients
    3/4 cups whole-wheat all purpose flour
    1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    1/4 cup splenda
    1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    1/8 teaspoon salt

    2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
    2 tbsp maple syrup or agave
    1/4 cup egg beaters
    2 medium bananas

Topping:
    2 tbsp kraft caramel baking bits or other caramel chips

Instructions 
Preheat oven to 350. Use two separate bowls and mix wet and dry ingredients separately. Whisk together dry ingredients. Mash the two bananas and incorporate other wet ingredients. Use a hand mixer and beat well until there are no clumps left. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and mix until you have a thick better and there is no dry clumps left.
Grease or spray a muffin tin (or use paper liners) and measure 1/4 cup of the batter into each cavity.
Evenly divide caramel bits onto the top of each muffin.
Bake for 25-30 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean in the center and muffin springs back upon pushing down on the top).
At 25 minutes the muffins will be done but moister. Bake longer for desired moistness.
Let cool or eat warm! (Eat warm or reheat for delicious melting caramel topping goodness.)


Nutritional info: 120 calories per muffin

Funfetti Strawberry Shortcake French Toast

This is taking french toast to a whole new level.

How do I even begin? This french toast is soft and fluffy like shortcake, with a vanilla-strawberry topping.

 Tastes like strawberry shortcake, and cake batter..

Breakfast just doesn't get better than this. It can't.

I'm still at a loss for words. I think I'm in love with my french toast.

Ingredients
2 slices of your favorite bread (I used Sara Lee 45 cal/slice)

French toast mixture:
1 tbsp egg beaters
1-2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp vanilla yogurt
1 tbsp Da Vinci Sugar Free Vanilla syrup (optional)
1/4 tsp Betty Crocker decorating sprinkles

Topping:
1/4 tsp Betty Crocker decorating sprinkles
45g fresh or defrosted strawberries, sliced
3 tbsp vanilla yogurt

Instructions
Combine your mixture ingredients (except the sprinkles) and stir well in a shallow dish or on a small plate. Dip each slice of bread in the mixture, covering so that each side of your bread is drenched in the mixture. Sprinkle your first 1/4 tsp of decorating sprinkles over the bread. Heat a greased or sprayed skillet to medium heat on your stove, and place bread slices in the heated pan, flipping every few minutes with a spatula for about 7-8 minutes. Once they start to brown, you can turn them to a lower heat and to keep them slowly cooking and warm while you make your topping mixture.
They take longer to cook than regular french toast because of the yogurt in the french toast mixture makes the bread fluffier and softer than regular french toast, giving it the consistency of short cake.
For the topping, measure three tablespoons (or more, if you want) of vanilla yogurt into a small ramekin or dish and stir in strawberries. Once your french toast is done, microwave your topping mixture for 30 seconds on high heat. Pour your strawberry topping over your french toast and sprinkle with the rest of the sprinkles.

Enjoy your warm and delicious strawberry shortcake breakfast!

Nutritional info: 155 calories

Rustic Strawberry Crisp for one

There's nothing better than a warm fruit crisp on a cold night. This delicious single serving strawberry crisp acts as a light dessert or a great side to a meal.

A sweet strawberry pie like filling with a crispy oat buttery topping..
Do I have your attention yet?
If you haven't tried a strawberry crisp dessert, you really should. You should also top this with whipped cream for added bliss.

Ingredients
90g strawberries (frozen or fresh, if frozen, defrost first)
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp splenda

For topping:
1 tbsp + 1 tsp your favorite flour (I used wheat)
1 tbsp rolled oats
1 tsp unmelted butter (I used smart balance light)
1 tbsp splenda
1/8 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375. Cut up strawberries and place in a small ramekin dish and stir with cornstarch and splenda or sugar. Combine topping ingredients except the butter and mix together well. Stir in butter into the topping mixture until crumbly. If you need to, use your hands. I had to because I used a light butter. Cover strawberries with your crisp topping and cook for 30-35 minutes until the topping is brown and crisp and the strawberry mixture is bubbling. Let cool or eat warm.

Nutritional info: 130 calories

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I just can't stop baking with pumpkin because it's fall.. but today I really wanted peanut butter cookies!

This is a low calorie, healthy guilty pleasure recipe combining fall flavors with an overwhelmingly tasty, very soft, moist, peanut butter cookie.

Ingredients
1/2 cup peanut flour (pb2)
scant 1/4 cup water
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 tbsp sugar free maple syrup
3 tbsp splenda
1 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon  vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and stir well until you have a thick batter. Drop onto greased or sprayed cookie sheet by rounded tablespoon or with a cookie scoop. Gently press down on each cookie two ways with fork. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool or eat warm!

Nutritional info: 35 calories per cookie, yielding 6 medium sized cookies
Or just eat the whole batch for 210 calories.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse Dip

If there's anything scary about Halloween/Fall time, it's how fast I devoured this dip.

What makes it less scary? This one is a single serving recipe. No guilt, no shame, just pumpkin cheesecake indulgence mousse dip for one. It's pretty filling too.

Let's just say I was really craving pumpkin cheesecake and I was too lazy and tired to get out of bed and prepare actual cheesecake, bake it, wait for it to refridgerate... but oh, I am so loving this.

 I've seen a ton of different pumpkin dip recipes out there, but I guarantee you, you'll be glad you made this one. It's lighter, fluffier, and more mousse like, but with the taste of pumpkin cheesecake.

Goes great with sides like apple slices, pretzels, and maybe a few candy corn! (I can't imagine it not going good with anything though..)

Ingredients
1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 tbsp fat free cream cheese
1 tbsp vanilla or plain yogurt
1 tbsp(9g) cool whip free
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp extra nutmeg (optional)
1 tbsp splenda
dash of cinnamon on top

Instructions
Combine wet ingredients and mix well until cream cheese chunks are gone. I used a hand beater. This is easier if you let the cream cheese sit out a few minutes. Then mix in dry ingredients and dash cinnamon on top. It's that easy.
Let refrigerate for about 10 minutes if you want it more cold/a little thicker. I like it better colder, but it's fantastic either way.

Nutritional info: 60 calories per recipe / ramekin full of dip

Fall Into Fall Cornbread

This cornbread has a rich cinnamon flavor, with a hint of molasses and pumpkin. When I made it and shared it, I was told it tasted like fall. I happen to agree..

and I happen to love fall.

This bread is a perfect side to an autumn dinner, particularly soup or chili.

Ingredients
Dry
1/2 cup all purpose flour (I used wheat)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup splenda 

1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Wet

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

3 tbsp egg beater
2 tbsp applesauce 
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1/2 tablespoon molasses

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine dry ingredients and whisk together well. Combine wet ingredients separately and then stir together the wet and dry together until you get a sticky bread dough.

Roll out dough onto a sprayed or greased sheet and cut into 8 equal pieces. The dough should be about a half inch thick. You could also use a scone pan for this that yields 8. Bake for 13-15 minutes at your discretion. Enjoy warm or let cool and reheat later! This bread tastes best warm.
Spread with butter, pumpkin butter, whatever you like!
  
Nutritional info: 70 calories per 1/8th of recipe