Skinny Vanilla Glazed Raspberry Swirl Scones

October 1, 2014 by Christine Skari

Stare deeply into your computer screen into the swirly depths of these scones. Vibrant red whirls of raspberry goodness. Are you hypnotized yet? 😯

You take one bite of these and you’re sold. Tender golden scone bites that are punctuated with sweet and tart bits of sugar-coated raspberries. I repeat, SUGAR-COATED RASPBERRIES. OH! And that drippy vanilla glaze. Mhm. It delivers the perfect extra touch of sweetness and just makes them look oh so cute, doncha think? So pretty in pink!

Kyle and I are heading back up to Santa Barbara tomorrow night, so I thought it would be good to get in one last baking session at my parent’s house before getting back to a crowded kitchen. I don’t think I’m ready to jump back into class and studying… what a rude awakening from the last few vacation weeks I’ve had of binge watching Netflix, spending all day in pjs, camping, and scone-making. While the house I’m living in up at SB is gorgeous and has a big kitchen, the temperature knobs on the oven have had their measurements rubbed off from years of use, so we aren’t to sure how hot things are really getting in there. I’ve had more than my share fair of burnt cookies and rock-hard brownies and was not about to risk the lives of my little rosy love bites.

NOT THESE SCONES OVEN. You can’t win this one.

These raspberry scones are deceiving, and not in a bad way. Full of sweet flavor and flaky dough, they seem like they should be packed with tons of calories, but they’re actually much lighter than most baked goods and come in at less than 250 calories each! I love when you can lighten up normally indulgent comfort food so that you feel better about treating yourself everyday! Whole wheat flour and light on the sugar, but still full of flavor! Yummers.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

September 3, 2014 by Christine Skari

These past few weeks I’ve been on a big pancake kick.

I tend to cycle through my breakfasts and lately it’s been oatmeal—>eggs—>PANCAKES. There’s just something about a fluffy stack with golden maple syrup dripping down. I mean, just look at that picture above. Isn’t maple syrup a thing of beauty? So shiny 😯 .

The one drawback of pancakes is that they usually require a sit-down meal at a table and 15-20 minutes to make in the morning. While I love a lazy Sunday morning brunch, on the weekdays I’m usually in a rush and don’t have much time to spend hovering over a frying pan. And then it hit me… the answer to all of my (pancake) problems: pancake muffins! I loved the idea of putting pancakes in an easy-to-grab form so I could eat them on the run. While I’ve been enjoying these with maple syrup, they would be awesome with a smidge of peanut butter!

To ensure that I could eat pancakes on a daily basis without feeling weighed-down from all the sugar and hungry 30 minutes later, I pimped these bad boys out with whole wheat flour and only one tablespoon of butter in the entire batch. Hooray! Each pancake muffin comes out to only 70 calories and a bit of fiber and protein to help fuel you through your day. It’s a great alternative to sugar-filled cereal and will make even the most fussy eaters happy!

Fluffy Chunky Monkey Pancakes

August 21, 2014 by Christine Skari

I’ve had the idea to make these pancakes forever. And by forever I mean 2 months, because they’re basically the same to a young adult like me. What is patience anyways?! I keep a list on the Notes app of my iPhone for when inspiration strikes, and I remember jotting down the idea for this recipe after trying my friend’s Ben & Jerry’s ice cream with the same flavor.

I go to bed every night with food on my mind and always seem to draw my best ideas while trying to get to sleep, hence the needing a handy iPhone app to help me organize my thoughts. My mind doesn’t care that it’s 1 in the morning and I’m exhausted. All it can think about is how I can incorporate chocolate into everything I eat and maybe I should make blueberry biscuits and smother them with a vanilla glaze or make mini chicken teriyaki bites because everything is cuter in mini form and the crunch would be great and, did I mention people love mini things? Also, CHEESE. What was I saying again? My mind = a disaster.

OH RIGHT. Fluffy Chunky Monkey Pancakes.

I mean, can you go wrong with putting bananas, chocolate, and walnuts into a perfectly puffed and super fluffy pancake and smothering it with maple syrup and extra chocolate sauce? I think I’ve discovered the meaning of love. Let me give you a hint. It has the words pan and cake in it. Cake pan? No. Try again.

Good. Very good.

Like these. These are just plain good. The kind of good that gets all of your housemates ooing (autocorrect just changed that to oozing, I hope that’s not the case or else they should see a doctor) and ahhhhh-ing after every bite. These pancakes were especially stubborn to shoot and I spent a good 30 minutes with my camera furiously adjusting things and being unsatisfied with every photo before they got to dig in. And once I was finished with their photo shoot and they were fair game? Think annihilation. It was a pancake massacre.

I decided to add in a portion of whole wheat flour because… HEALTH… and it blends in really well! If you’re feeling especially in-tune with yo’ body and arteries and insides and whatnot, feel free to try going all-in with the whole wheat, but be warned, that wild idea hasn’t been tested in my kitchen. I’ve found in the past that a mixture of whole wheat + white flour gives a bit more nutrition to a dish without compromising taste or texture. What’s the point of healthifying something if it makes it taste like cat food? Not that I would know, of course. You should ask my sister. She tried a bit of kibble when we were 10.

The moral of this story is don’t eat cat food. Eat a plate of these instead.

Just yum, my friends. YUM.

Tangy Vanilla Mango Protein Smoothie

August 19, 2014 by Christine Skari

The mango obsession is unreal right now, you guys. It’s gotten to the point where I’m eating at least 1-2 huge ones everyday and unripe mangoes have become the bane of my existence. This might seem a little drastic, but I think I like them more than Kyle.

I kid, I kid.

Speaking of Kyle, get this. He’s been having these weird allergic reactions to something that cause him to puff up like a chipmunk (don’t worry, he’s a cute chipmunk). We’re not sure what is it, but they sometimes spring up the day after he eats, you guessed it, mangoes. GASP. I think he’s doing it to spite me…

But you know what? This mango-obsessed girl will not be stopped. Scratch that, she CAN’T be stopped. My mindset is eat aaaallll the mangoes and in any way, shape, or form possible. Today’s daily dose of the good stuff? This Tangy Vanilla Mango Protein Smoothie!

I actually did this recipe up before I left for Hawaii since I had this adorbs little vision in my head of posting Hawaiian-themed recipes a few days when I was gone. I did pretty well with my Best-Ever White Chocolate Macademia Nut Cookies, but after that, my enthusiasm tinkered off as I came back exhausted from the chores of swimming on the beach and going zodiac riding with dolphins and pilot whales all day. Did I mention all the delicious food I ate? My jaw got a serious workout and hardly had any time to rest. I think I pulled a jaw-muscle and I had to ice it with ice cream most nights. It’s a hard life 😉 .

My point is I got lazy. So this tangy smoothie is coming at ya’ll a little late and doesn’t have that OMGZ posted-in-hawaii charm to it, but better late than never, no? It’s packed with a base of vanilla greek yogurt that contributes the protein punch and creamy texture, along with mangoes which add all that is good in the world. Not to mention it only has 4 ingredients that you simply throw into a blender and BOOM. Instant yumminess.

Quick note, I’ve tried this with plain greek yogurt before and it was a bit too tangy for my taste. The vanilla adds a perfect sweetness!

Make. Sip. Carry on my mango legacy.

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

July 24, 2014 by Christine Skari

I actually can’t stop eating this right now.

So good. So so so good.

I was skeptical at first, but I have been turned into a healthy fudge believer. Like, do those words even belong together? It’s seems like some sort of food miracle. Hallelujah!

I’ve actually never worked with coconut oil before. The last time I was at my parent’s house, I noticed an unopened jar hiding in the back of the cupboard. It was just taking up space, so ~~I stole i~~t my mom let me take it back to school with me. SCORE. I opened it up yesterday and took a small taste. I was totally thinking it would be, well, coconut-y tasting, but it’s actually super mild and neutral tasting. And guess what? It helps make the most amazing (healthier) fudge ever!

This is one of those recipes where you keep finding yourself taking leeeetle “taste tests” throughout the cooking process. I think I ate a solid 1/3 of the batter before it even made it into the pan to solidify and I walked around the house for 30 minutes before realizing that I had brown fudge smeared all over my forehead. And not like a little dab, either. Full blown poop-face was happening. But it’s okay, don’t stress. It’s a delicious sacrifice that I am willing to make.

This is a one-bowl recipe that I slightly adapted from The Nourishing Gourmet to include honey as the sweetener. The one catch is that it needs to be stored in the fridge or else you’ll be dealing with a (tasty) healthy chocolate mousse instead of fudge.

Enjoy!