Healthy German Chocolate Bites

Pin It I'm all about healthy desserts, but they need to taste delicious, not like cardboard.  These are little bites of heaven.  You would never guess that they only have 6 ingredients and NO SUGAR!  Sounds too good to be true, right?  Don't be fooled.  These taste just like a brownie with nuts and coconut... really!  I literally ate the first entire batch in a day.  I just kept nibbling and pretty soon they were all gone.  These turned out so well I'm going to experiment with some new flavors too. 

Healthy German Chocolate Bites
Original Recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie
3/4 cup pitted dates
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 Tbsp shredded coconut
1/2 cup pecans

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor.  Pulse until ground into fine bits.  It will be crumbly.
2. Roll into balls (or any other shape you want - would make a nice bar shape)
3. I store mine in the fridge so they are less sticky, but you can leave them at room temperature if you want.

Mini Donuts

Pin It I got some pretty awesome presents this year, but one of my favorites that is definitely going to get a lot of use is my Babycakes Mini Donut Maker.  Whip up delicious donuts in a matter of minutes.  I'm so excited to use this on one of those days that I really want donuts, but don't want to venture out to get some.  These are also much healthier than your average onut because they are not fried.  This was my first attempt and they turned out pretty good.  I will definitely be experimenting so look forward to new donut recipes soon.  This recipe makes 24 mini donuts.  I know this sounds like a lot, but since they are small they tend to get gobbled up.

Mini Donuts
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp vegetable oil

Powdered sugar
cinnamon and sugar

Chocolate Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 Tbsp milk

1. Turn on donut maker to allow it to heat up.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.
3. Add egg, milk and vanilla and mix unil large lumps are gone.
4. Stir in oil until well blended.
5. Generously coat donut maker with cookig spray.
6. Put batter into a gallon size ziptop bag and seal.  Cut off one corner so the batter can flow out.**
7. Fill each donut mold with about 2 T of mixture.  Work quickly because the machine is very hot and starts to cook immediately.
8. Close lid and allow donuts to cook for about 5 minutes.  (Wait at least 3 minutes before checking on them or the donuts will split in half)
9. Remove from maker to cool.

** My instruction manual recommended using a bag to pour the batter into the molds.  It worked well for filling the donuts, but since the batter is quite runny it would leak out between batches.  I tried to spoon the batter into the molds and ended up with a mess and donuts without holes.  That being said, use the bag to fill your molds, but have a container to rest the bag in so you don't end up with a disaster.**
Topping Options
For powdered sugar or cinnamon and sugar coated donuts:

1. Put sugar mixture of your choice (about 1/2 cup) in a brown paper lunch bag. 
2. As soon as donuts are finished cooking, put them in the bag and shake until they are covered.
3. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

For Chocolate Glazed donuts:

1. Mix glaze ingredients until smooth.
2. Allow donuts to cool completely before frosting.
3. Dip donut tops in glaze and allow to dry on a wire rack.