Red Velvet Pancakes

Need I say more? Fell in love with them at Cinnamon's Restaurant on Oahu and had to try making some for myself!

Prep Time: 10 minutes


Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (I used whole wheat!)
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups milk (I used almond milk!)
• 1 + 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• red food coloring (your preference on how red you want it!)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• powder sugar

Instructions:

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. Measure the milk in a liquid measuring cup and whisk in vinegar, allow mixture to rest for 2 minutes.
3. Pour milk mixture into a separate mixing bowl and add sugar, eggs, red food coloring, vanilla, and butter.
4. Whisk mixture until well combined
5. Slowly whisk in dry ingredients and mix until well combined
6. Preheat skillet pan before beginning, and then pour about 1/3 cup of batter in
7. Flip pancake once you start seeing bubbles, sooner than regular pancakes, in order to preserve the red color
8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

For those of you who like peanut butter cookies, but not the overwhelmingly present peanut butter taste...these are for you.

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 11-12 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp milk (I used almond milk)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 + 1/3 cup white flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Using mixer, blend sugars, peanut butter, and butter together until light and fluffy
3. Mix in the eggs
4. Add the honey, milk and vanilla. Mix until light and fluffy
5. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda and mix until well combined
6. Place ping-pong ball sized balls of cookie dough on baking sheet and bake for about 11 minutes

Granola Bars

Sorry it's been a while! Finals + driving across the country for an internship = not a lot of time to bake, cook, or update blogs!


I eat a lot of these, and didn't want to keep buying the kind with all those weird ingredients in them, so now I just make a batch every week!

Prep Time: ~15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (I noticed crunchy gives the best texture)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 cups Quick Oats**
• 2 cups crispy rice cereal
• 3 tsp vanilla

** I generally substitute 1 cup with multigrain oats :)

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, stir crispy rice cereal and quick oats together, set aside
2. Prep a baking pan (I use a 8x13) with either butter or parchment paper, set aside
3. In a medium saucepan, combine honey, butter, peanut butter, and brown sugar 
4. Bring to a boil, while stirring, and keep at a boil for roughly 50 seconds, then take off of heat
5. Pour in vanilla and stir
6. Pour hot mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until all ingredients are moistened
7. Press into the pan and place in refrigerator to let harden 
8. Slice into whatever size you want and eat them as you please! **

** I noticed leaving them in the pan until right before you need to take it to work makes them crunchier :)

Balsamic Tofu

Eat it by itself or add it to a pasta dish or salad!

Prep Time: 15 minutes + marinade time (at least 2 hrs for best results!)
Cook Time: ~30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 block firm or extra firm tofu, excess water pressed out
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup water (optional, for more diluted taste)
• 1-2 tsp garlic salt

Instructions:

1. Slice tofu block into six wide slices, place in a dish 
2. Whisk together balsamic, olive oil, garlic salt, and water if using it
3. Pour marinade over tofu, and let sit for 2 or more hours in the refrigerator 
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
5. Place tofu on baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes
6. Flip pieces over and back for another 15 minutes (watch it toward the end so it doesn't burn!)

Pesto, Spinach, and Pepper Jack Cheese Wontons

A perfect snack or light meal

Prep Time: 15-20 min
Cook Time: ~25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 10 wonton wrappers (I have a super easy recipe on the blog if you don't have any!)
• 10 1-inch wide slices of pepper jack cheese
• a small bunch of spinach (to your liking)
• pesto
• red pepper flakes (if you want extra spice!)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
2. Lay wonton flat, place cheese, pesto, spinach, and pepper flakes on it
3. Roll the wonton length wise, then fold over each end
4. Place on baking sheet and cook for roughly 25 minutes, flipping half way through

Sweet and Sour Tofu

Prep Time: 10 minutes (1 day if you haven't pre-prepared the tofu)
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 block firm tofu, frozen and then thawed out (important to get the right texture!)
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh works best)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp red pepper flakes

Instructions:

1. Press the water out of the tofu, then cut into 1 inch cubes
2. Toss tofu in whole wheat flour til the pieces are covered in a thin coating
3. Mix the lemon juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl
4. In frying pan, warm the oil
5. Once the oil is warmed, place the tofu in the bowl and brown
6. Once browned, add the sauce and let it cook down so that the tofu is thickly coated, roughly 5-10 minutes

Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

De-lish. I personally cut mine up and froze it to make it last longer and have a go-to dessert when I wanted one!

Prep Time: ~10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hr 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Brownie Portion:

• 10 tbsp butter
• 3 oz chocolate chips (I guessimated it from a 12 oz bag and it worked out great for me...can't have too much chocolate!)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

Cream Cheese portion:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Prep a 8x8 pan by spraying or putting parchment paper down
2. In a double broiler melt chocolate chips and butter until smooth
3. In a bowl beat eggs, vanilla and sugar, slowly add in chocolate mixture until well combined
4. In a small bowl sift together cocoa, salt, and flour. Then add to the other mixture.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan
6. Beat ingredients for cream cheese portion together until smooth.
7. Pour over brownie batter and use a knife to swirl together
8. Bake 1 hr and 10 minutes, or until set. Poke with a knife to see if done, should come out clean when it is!