Is everyone loving this summer weather?!

We can’t get enough of it. However, summer usually means heat and the weather will probably continue to get even hotter. We want to bake delicious goodies during these months, but who wants to turn on their ovens? We don’t have dehydrators so that option is out. Instead of lusting after our mothers dehydrator, we like to make healthy no-bake desserts! These no-bake cookies are delicious, easy and are the perfect delectable bites for all your family gatherings when things are just busy, fun and crazy!

These cookies were inspired by the delicious baked version from Chocolate Covered katie. We made some changes so anyone can make them in a pinch! And in our opinion, we may like the no-baked version even better because they are so moist and can be eat almost instantly! These beauties are easy to make and overflowing with peanut butter and chocolate!

No-Bake Girl Scout Tagalong Cookies  (vegan)
Print Recipe

1 cup Almond Flour
1 cup Spelt Flour
1/4 teaspoon Sea or Pink Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
5 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup
1 Tablespoon Almond Milk
about 12 Tablespoons Natural Peanut Butter
6 drops Liquid Stevia*
Generous 3/4 cup Chocolate Chips, melted

In a mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients and whisk well. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl at the same time and carefully mix to incorporate. The dough should be a soft play-dough consistency. If it’s too dry, add a few drops of milk until it comes together, but be careful to not add to much liquid! Scoop out about 2 teaspoons amount of dough for each cookie, roll into a ball, press flat, creating a slight indent in the middle. This indent will help keep the peanut butter in place when pouring the warm chocolate over the cookies. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Next, mix the peanut butter and stevia in a small bowl. Place about a teaspoon of peanut butter onto each cookie. Once done, place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips slowly until they are just melted (warm and soft but not super hot).

Remove the cookies from the freezer and dip the cookies in the chocolate or carefully coat with a spoon to cover the cookies. You will want at least a teaspoon for each cookie. Return the cookies to the freezer to firm for about 2 minutes. These cookies are delicious when frozen or when just firm and the chocolate is nice and silky soft! Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Yields 38-40 small cookies.

*If you don’t have a very big sweet tooth, you can omit the stevia to the peanut butter. However, the cookie base isn’t that sweet, so combined with dark chocolate, we thought these cookies needed that extra sweetness! :)

Halfway cookie bars… also known as meringue top brownies… also known as marshmallow top blondies… aka my new addiction!

June is becoming our family’s unofficial family reunion month.

Last year at this time, we all flew to D.C. for Chelsea’s graduation! Time seriously flies. This month, our family is going to the other coast. Our big brother Ben has just earned his MBA from UCLA!  We are so proud of him!

In June, Los Angeles is the best place to celebrate because it’s not humid like the east coast nor swarming with cicadas. Google “cicadas” if you’ve been blessed to not have any idea what those things are! Ben has been in L.A. now for about the last two years and Holly has been there for almost 10 (wow!). They pretty much know the best places to eat and best places for dessert. Aka – the best places to celebrate!

With Ben’s graduation AND Father’s Day this month (AND, holy cow, our blogs 2nd birthday!!!), we absolutely need healthier treats around the house so that every night we are together, it isn’t a “let’s all go get Sprinkles/Dee Dee Reise/Porto’s/the next amazing delicious dessert you can imagine”. That’s where incredibly yummy bars come in.

Before last week, all I knew about Halfway Cookies came from the many pictures on Pinterest taunting me with what I was missing. With those mouth-watering pictures as a guide, I plunged into my coconut sugar, chocolate and egg whites to remake this dish in a healthier way.

These are healthier, but not a soul would know it! Better yet, I knew they would be something my brother and dad would go nuts over. My first attempt at these are extra gooey and less meringue-y than some versions. Based on my Pinterest ideas, they were not what I had envisioned. But when I tasted how sweet and gooey and soft and chewy they were, I knew they were definitely not a fail!

I love these bars and I know my family is going to love them too. Chocolate and meringue!? Yes, they will love them! But I also know they will fully support my quest to experiment with these further. So this month, I’m calling these my new project. I’m going to spend some time trying different chocolates, thicker, chewier meringues and a heartier base. I should probably try all kinds of variations, right? These bars are worth the work for that, trust me. Friends, get your taste-testers ready. You’ll be seeing more of these bars very soon!

Halfway Bars  (dairy free)
Print Recipe

2 cups White Spelt Flour
1 teaspoon Pink Salt
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/3 cup Soy Free Earth Balance Butter
3 Tablespoons Unsweetened Applesauce
1/3 cup Honey
1 1/2 cup Coconut Sugar, divided
2 Egg Yokes
3 Large Egg Whites
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Sugar Free Chocolate Chips

Line a glass 9 by 13 baking dish with parchment paper so enough hangs off the sides and you can easily lift the bars out when baked. Spray with cooking spray. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients. In another bowl, cream together the butter, applesauce, honey and 1 cup of coconut sugar. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the flour to the dry in 3 batches. Press the dough in the prepared pan. Spread out the 1 cup of chocolate chips over the dough.

Wipe out the bowl that was used for the dry ingredients. Place the 3 egg whites in the bowl and begin whisking the whites. Slowly increase speed to medium speed. When they begin to look very frothy and foam, gradually add the remaining 1/2  cup of coconut sugar, a little at a time. Continue gradually increasing speed while doing this and whisk until everything is dissolved. The meringue should hold a soft peak. Spread the mixture over the bars.

Cover the pan with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes. Remove the foil cover and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, lift the parchment paper from the pan to remove the bars from the pan and set in a cool place to allow to cool an another 5 minutes before cutting.

A few months ago, I was involved with a youth activity for our church. Activities like these always, always include dessert. For the treat, we used a recipe for easy banana cream pie cups. A typical recipe found on Pinterest would include bananas, pudding, cool whip and Nilla Wafers layered for a perfect sweet dessert.  As I was helping to assemble these dessert cups for the kids, inspiration stroke for a healthier version.

This Banana Cream Cup dessert uses bananas, non-dairy whipped cream and homemade Nilla wafers for the same effect but with less calories and sugar. Using homemade cookies was a great addition to this pudding for their super soft cookie texture which made them different from these Granola Fruit Parfaits. Soft cookies sure are delicious in the middle of luscious cream and sweet bananas! I can guarantee any store-bought cookie will also be fantastic in this pudding. They would create a nice crunch and would be an easy substitution. But for a healthier dessert, the homemade wafers are fun to make and will satisfy the sweet tooth in a very delectable way!

Banana Cream Cups  ( vegan)

• 3 Large Bananas, thinly sliced
• Dairy-Free Whipped Cream *
• Homemade Vanilla Wafers (recipe halved)

In small bowls or glasses, put a large dollop of cream at the base of the glass. Layer sliced bananas and cookies on top. Continue layering until the dishes are full. Store uncovered in the fridge for 10 minutes or until ready to serve.

Makes 3-4 parfaits

 * I have tried adding powdered xylitol, powdered honey or flour in place of the agave inulin at different times and the cream always turns out delicious! You could also add banana extract for more of a cream pie flavor.