Healthy Snacks - Chocolate Chip Cherry Bread

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cherry Bread – please don’t tell my kids it’s healthy!

3 ½ cups whole wheat flour (I usually replace 1½ cups of flour with a whole grain like oatmeal or Bob's Red Mill 5 grain cereal)
½ cup protein powder (I use powdered milk)
½ cup cocoa
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 bananas
1 can beets – drained (I usually use 3 more bananas instead)
2 TBS butter (I substitute fat-free yogurt or coconut oil)
6 TBS Applesauce or fat-free yogurt (I like yogurt as an exact substitute for oil because it bakes lighter and fluffier than applesauce – and of course it’s healthier than oil).
1 1/3 cup brown sugar (I use 1 1/3 cup Splenda and 2 TBS Molasses)
1 cup egg substitute (or 4 eggs)
1 pkg.  (~2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use reduced-fat chocolate chip or Hershey's sugar-free chocolate chips)
2 cups dried cherries (2 pkgs) – rehydrated by boiling in water for a few minutes in the microwave then drained). Dried cherries have a stronger flavor than regular cherries which tend to"dissolve" into the bread and disappear.

• Preheat oven to 350. Coat 2 8x4 loaf tins (or muffin tins) with non-stick cooking spray.
• Mix flours, protein powder, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda – set aside.
• Cream bananas, beets, butter, applesauce and sugar (Splenda/ molasses). Add eggs and mix one minute. Blend with flour mix. Stir in chips and cherries.
• Bake 45-50 minutes (less for muffins).

Yummiest warm with the chocolate chips all melty and messy. I tried it with the beets for the first time and my kids had NO CLUE. I suppose if you didn't use cherries and used walnuts or something else it would taste like brownies.

Bob hates bananas so we pretend this doesn't have any. All you taste is the chocolate and cherries anyway. The beets are totally optional, as are the cherries.  We've tried it with peanut butter too.



Squirrel cookies

Great for a quick breakfast on the go.

1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup white flour, unbleached
1 ½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp sea salt
1 cup pecan halves (I used ½ cup raw sunflower seeds and ½ cup raw pumpkin seeds)
1 ½ cup butter (I used ICBNB)
½ cup (equivalent) brown sugar (Splenda and molasses?)
½ cup sugar
1 ¼ cup splenda
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
¾ cup water (I used water drained from rehydrated fruit)
3 eggs
3 cups Bob’s Red Mill 5-Grain Rolled Cereal
1 cup coconut flakes (unsweetened if you can!)
1 cup cranberries (I substituted part with some dried blueberries) boil in microwave
1 cup golden raisins (I substituted part with some dried cherries) boil in microwave

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets, set aside.

• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.  
• By hand or in a small chopper, chop pecans coarsely, set aside (if don’t use seeds).   
• In another bowl blend butter, sugar, vanilla and water together.  Beat eggs and add to butter mixture; stir flour mixture into egg and butter mixture; add cereal and all remaining ingredients, mix well. 

Bake 10-12 minutes.  Cookies should be soft in center and edges lightly brown.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - Gluten-free, Casein-free, No Sugar Added

When you have a sweet tooth and want to stay on track, here's a nice treat. Sugar is NOT an added ingredient.

• 3 mashed bananas (ripe)
• 1/3 cup apple sauce, 
• 2 cups oats, 
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.


You can make into “squirrel cookies” too

You can add chocolate chips! Here're some other options:

I have a similar recipe but I use 1/3 crunchy peanut butter and chopped walnuts (or any nuts) dried cranberries. Instead of bananas, try a can of pumpkin. And dark chocolate chips. A little shredded coconut is also good. Even a grated apple and 2 bananas. So many variations.

I substituted pumpkin in place of the apple sauce and added a few extra spices.