Well you know what?  We’re doing it.  Spring cupcakes.  SPRING.  And you know what we’re doing to celebrate?  Making frozen yogurt that’s what.

Sure, that might read a little more summertime to some, but Abby was in Boston babysitting for the VP and she gets overexcited in large suburban kitchens. 

And then she saw the ice cream maker (which are physically & spatially impossible to own in a Manhattan galley kitchen), and well, the rest is history. 

Plus this recipe has 4 ingredients and comes together in about 2 minutes flat which, when the VP is requesting jumpy, jumpy, jumpy, slowing cresting from a whisper to a scream, time is precious.

So happy spring cookies!  We’re declaring ice cream season officially open.

Peaches & Cream Frozen Yogurt
Adapted from Week of Menus
Makes 1 Quart

Print Recipe 

3 cups frozen, chopped peaches, slightly thawed (or if you have fresh peaches go ahead and use those)
2 cups low fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In a blender, combine peaches, yogurt, honey & vanilla & blend until smooth.  Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and mix for about 20 minutes.  Place frozen yogurt mixture into a plastic container and continue chilling in freezer until set.

I mean, we tried. Sort of. It's just that we can't completely wrap our heads around healthy desserts. Is that like a piece of fruit? Or all-natural ingredients? Or fiber-y snacks?

We just like processed foods too much. Like whipped cream from a can and double-stuffed Oreos and new-fashioned peanut butter (as opposed to the old-fashioned-you-must-stir-it kind). It's not something we are totally proud of, we really should eat healthier, but we kind of think desserts should be fatty and bad for you and chocolatey and sweet and smothered in caramel or frosting and filled with pastry cream and served a la mode.

So, instead of baking healthy desserts last month we just didn't bake at all and then the first chance we got we made this. Salted Caramel and Chocolate Swirl No-Bake Cheesecake. BAM. CARAMEL. SWEET. FAT. CHOCOLATE. DELICIOUS. BOO-YAH.

We made sure to have a sliced apple for dessert the next day. With peanut butter. And Nutella.

Salted Caramel & Chocolate Swirl No-Bake Cheesecake
Serves 10-12
Adapted from Olive 

Print Recipe

13 ounces Oreo Cookies
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 10-ounce jar (-ish) good caramel sauce
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 ounces good dark chocolate
1 teaspoon instant espresso
1 pint heavy cream
20 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
8 ounces creme fraiche 

Blitz the Oreo cookies in a food processor fitted with a metal blade until a fine crumb. Add in the melted butter and whizz again to blend. Press the cookies into the bottom and gently up the sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Chill.

Microwave the caramel until it is just runny enough to pour. Stir in the sea salt. Set aside. Then, melt the chocolate, espresso and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream in another glass bowl in the microwave. Cook for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between until just melted. Cool slightly.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or electric handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese, vanilla, powdered sugar and creme fraiche until smooth. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream and mix. 

Spoon half the cream cheese mixture into the chillled springform pan and spread evenly. Drop giant blobs of the cooled caramel sauce and the cooled chocolate mixture over the cream cheese pan. Spoon the remaining cream cheese mixture on top and then drizzle more of the caramel and chocolate on top to taste. Using a sharp knife, gently swirl the caramel, chocolate and cream cheese together or create a ripple through the top. Don't overdo it. Cover and chill for 4-6 hours or overnight.

Note to self: TAXES!

So once again, we're having to apologize to you cookies.  We're sorry we're slacker baking bloggers.  We promise we haven't been baking behind your back (never!).  We've just had an unfortunately large amount of things going on.

You know, things that make you forget about taxes til APRIL 14.  Sheesh.

And for reals don't even get us started on our DVR.  We're a good month behind on Smash.  A MONTH.  Like, we have no idea who's even playing Marilyn anymore!!  

And what's going on with Angelica Houston's ex husband?!  And that hipster off off Broadway musical thingy they were starting to talk about?!?  

WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!?!

Well no more muffins, no more.  We baked.  We know.  Novel thinking for baking bloggers.

We baked and we baked kinda good (if we do say so ourselves).  

Cookies.  Like really really REALLY excellent cookies.  We went for the peanut butter cups.  And the chocolate chunks.  And just because we're pretty sure we're losing it just a little bit and because we have no idea what's happening in primetime musical dramas, we went for the white chocolate.

We were in a dark place, y'all.

And did we mention our camera has gone MIA??  Rrrrrright.  So these images are coming to you courtesy of a super janky iPhone 4.

But that's ok.  We're ok.  Because these cookies may have revived us.  Given us back our baking mojo.  Made us see the candy coated light.

Now excuse us while we watch 6 hours of Smash.

Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes 12-15 large cookies

Print Recipe 

1 stick unsalted butter, cold & cubed
1 stick margarine, cold & cubed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table or fine sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks 

In the bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars until well blended and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until well incorporated.

Into the bowl, add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and mix until just combined. Gently fold in peanut butter cups & chocolate chips.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap & chill dough for at least an hour.

While the dough is chilling, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Scoop out 2 oz balls of dough and place each on sheet pan lined with parchment paper.  Bake 14-16 minutes on a rack in the upper third of the oven until very lightly browned.  (Be sure not to bake these on the bottom rack in the oven – the recipe has a large amount of brown sugar that could cause the bottoms to burn).

Really?!  What gave it away?  The lack of um...healthy blog posts perhaps!?  Sorry for the absence - we promise we've been being healthy (er....ish)!

Apparently for us to be healthy we just stop baking.  

Clearly that says nothing about our normal recipes.  Riiiiiiight.

Anyway, we're back and we're trying...TRYING...to figure this healthy dessert thing out.  And boy do we have a puzzle for you cookies today.

Chocolate mousse.  With avocado.  We know!  WE KNOW.  

You're all like "whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa are you crazy fake healthy bakers even talking about?"  

And we're all like "DUDE we know, we KNOW."

For reals though, it's apparently all the rage.  Look at healthy baking blogs.  You know, like not this one for example, and see for yourself.  People are doing this.  Healthy people are doing this.  So you know who's gonna do this??

Yeah.  US.

(For a month only obvs.)

The recipe is weird.  Making it is weird.  Typing weird three times makes us seriously question why it's spelling the way it is.

But you know what's not weird?  DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE AVOCADO MOUSSE.

Health.  Booyah.

Chocolate Avocado Mousse
Serves 2 to 4

Print Recipe

2 avocados, seeded and roughly chopped
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup agave syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth, 2-3 minutes.

Sample, adjusting agave as needed.

Chill covered until firm, 2 hours or overnight.  Store covered in the fridge.

Now, of course, we've already established that our health-food standards are fairly low (red wine = cancer-fighting miracle drink) and last week's larabars were largely made of dark chocolate (dark chocolate = cancer-fighting miracle food), but, hey, we're trying. E for effort. 

So, while we continue to sift through the internet, enjoy these healthy baked wonders that are definitely, maybe calorie-free, fat-free, full of fiber and cancer-fighting miracle ingredients and might make Bradley Cooper marry you.  

Almond Milk Granita

This granita is a good way to start the day. When you are full of freshness and will power and before you've broken into the wine and cookies at midday.

Homemade Granola Bars

Universal fact; all granola bars are good for you. Particularly those with seeds and nuts and millet (it's a thing).

Almond Orange Florentines

These cookies are SO THIN! There is nothing to them. It's like eating Almond Chocolate air only delicious.

Banana Soft-Serve

For reals, muffins. This is prolly the healthiest item we have ever and will ever make. 

Blue-Eyed Bakers' Granola

No joke, people are friends with us largely because of this granola. They ask for the recipe and we direct them to our amazing website and they are SHOCKED that it isn't a secret recipe. They tell us we are sitting on a gold mine. Alas, we're kind of lazy, so...now you can capitalize on this granola!

Morning Glory Breakfast Cookies

Er, a bit of a stretch but these cookies have carrot in them! And raisins! Maybe just don't make them into whoopie pies like we did. Whoops.

We said we were making March healthy dessert month here on Blue-Eyed Bakers so....you know....here goes nothing.

(For the love what have we gotten ourselves into??! Panic panic panic.)

So let's define healthy shall we?  Wait no, scratch that, let's define OUR version of healthy.  We're pretty simplistic when we're talking good for us foods actually, we just try to stick to unprocessed foods and less sugar.  

Don't get us wrong, we'd be lying if we said that we don't think Fat Free Cool Whip is like nectar of the gods.  Buuuuut, when we're trying (trying oh so hard) to be healthy, we avoid the deliciously processed stuff.

Soooo, in the spirit of health (yay) and simple foods (yay) we're kicking off with these homemade versions of one of our favorite store bought snacks.  And bonus bonus bonus cookies, there are THREE ingredients!  We mean, who said healthy had to be hard?!  

And yes, we know, dark chocolate is one of the ingredients, but again, this is our version of healthy, we said less sugar, not no sugar AND studies show dark chocolate has numerous health benefits, so we're going with it.  But these bars are fabulous without the chocolate also, so if you're like super duper going for it healthy, then leave it out.  (And also, we're impressed).

Ok whew - so we made it through day 1!  Go us!

We've armed ourselves (and hopefully you lovely things) with lots of healthy & delicious bars to snack on while we contemplate our next move in the name of overall health.

Gym?  Jog?  Yoga on demand in the living room?  Hmm...maybe just one more bar...

Dark Chocolate Cashew Larabars
Makes 8 bars

Print Recipe 

8 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) Medjool dates, pitted
100 grams (about 2/3 cups) raw cashews
2 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon water 

In a food processor, combine dates, cashews & chocolate and pulse until the mixture is combined and very finely chopped - about 2 minutes.  If the mixture has not come together on its own, slowly add in the water - only as much as needed to get the mixture to bind together just a little.

Empty the processor bowl & press mixture out onto a piece of wax paper. Cover with another piece of wax paper and roll out to desired thickness. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours (or freeze for 30 minutes). Once chilled, cut bars and wrap individually.

The endless months with nary a random holiday (thanks, President's Day, btw) in sight to break up the rainy/snowy/cold/windy/blustery weather. The days blend together into a blur of dark clothes and dirty boots. UUUUGGGGHHH!!

Well, it's time to get happy, muffins. Mother Nature may be having a bad few months, but that's not to say we all have to suffer? What brightens a mood more than baking? And snacking? And watching "Pitch Perfect" for the 8,641st time?

And, what sounds happier than Honey Banana Poppy Seed bread? Ok. Maybe Lemon Sunshine Bread but we didn't have any lemons (ew, must go outside, no) and we're not even sure that particular quick bread exists (but, clearly it should, we call dibs).

This lovely loaf is not too sweet and feels sort of healthy with the poppy crunch. Read: this is perfectly appropriate to eat for breakfast because it obviously has lots of fiber in it. We think. Maybe. Hmmm, don't quote us on that. Just quote us on the eat-for-breakfast bit. 

Of course, in typical, Blue-Eyed fashion we also made some Vanilla Cream Cheese spread (aka frosting) to jazz this up, but it isn't totally necessary. We just like baked goods to have accessories. 

On a separate note, we've recently had some requests for healthier desserts. Yikes.

Um, so this will be tough, but we are going to make every attempt to make the month of March "Health(ier) Dessert Month." No promises since we just got done making cream cheese spread for banana bread, but we are going to give it a shot. 

Stay tuned.

Honey Banana Poppy Seed Bread with Vanilla Cream Cheese Spread
Serves 8-10
Adapted from Baked: Elements 

Print Recipe

For the Bread:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large, ripe bananas mashed (at least 1 cup)
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons poppy seeds 

For the Cream Cheese Spread:
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 9-x-5" loaf pan and dust with flour, knocking out the excess. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In another large bowl, whisk together the bananas, oil, milk, honey and eggs until well combined. Then, slowly add the dry to the banana mixture ingredients, folding together gently until just combined. Lightly stir in the poppy seeds. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven for 60-75 minutes until golden brown on top and a cake tester come out with a few moist crumbs.  Let the loaf cool for 15 minutes, then run a sharp knife along the sides to loosen the bread and turn out onto a wire rack to cool further. 

Make the cream cheese spread while the loaf is cooling by mixing all the ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined and smooth. 

The loaf will keep covered at room temperature and the spread should be covered and kept in the fridge.

Valentine's Day is in T minus 3 so no time to dither. 

We're talking about boy bait.  You know, man candy.  If they don't love you they will and if they love you they will WORSHIP you.

Why?

Uhhhh perfectly rich brownies topped with salted peanut butter cream that's why.

But hold up - we don't discriminate.  These brownies are equally as enticing to gals.  Or kittens.  Or dogs.

WAIT - no, NOT dogs.  Dogs can't have chocolate.  So just kittens.  Or like, we don't know, a hamster.  (Sidebar: Do people still have hamsters? Are we the only ones they kinda freak out?  Bueller?)

Although, if we're laying all our cards on the table here, we know from personal experience that dogs actually can have chocolate and be just fine.  So one time, Eleanor Rigby - the canine representative on the Blue-Eyed Bakers team and official blog mascot - ate a pound of foil wrapped milk chocolate Santas (yes, foil and all) and was just fine.  Thank you Petco emergency vet.

Oh and then this other time, when she was vacationing in New York with Abby, she ate 3 king size Hershey bars (and a CD case, but that's not really relevant), and again, juuuuust fine.  Thank you 15th Street animal hospital.

But hey, we're not pet experts (um, CLEARLY), so you know, maybe just stick to people.  Chances are pretty high that there won't be any of these brownies left for the dog anyway.  Warning - they lasted approximately 284 minutes at casa Blue-Eyed. 

So if you're hoping to bait anyone this Valentine's day, we'd suggest making a second batch.

**AND!!  For some even better news (we know we know, chocolate and peanut butter again, what more could you ask for??!) - we have a giveaway winner!  Thank you all so very much for entering but come on down ATHENA R!  Athena - please send your contact info and mailing address to info@blueeyedbakers.com and we'll get your fab pressie in the mail!

Brownies with Salted Peanut Butter Cream
Makes 1 8x8 square pan, about 16 brownies
Adapted from Epicurious

Print Recipe

For brownies:
10 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cold eggs
1/2 cup flour

For Peanut Butter Cream:
6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
Fleur de sel

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 F.

Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8 square baking pan with parchment paper leaving an overhang on all sides, and set aside.

Mix the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth.  Allow to cool slightly.

Once the mixture has cooled slightly, you want warm, not hot (about 5 minutes), stir in the vanilla.  Add the eggs one at a time, incorporating the first egg fully before adding the second egg.  When the batter looks thick and shiny, stir in the flour and until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula.  Spread batter evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes  Let cool completely on a rack.

While brownies are cooling, make peanut butter cream.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer, blend the butter, peanut butter and vanilla until well combined, then slowly add in the powdered sugar until completely incorporated.  Frost cooled brownies with peanut butter cream and sprinkle with fleur de sel.

Lift up the ends of the parchment and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 squares

For the same reason we like to listen to songs on repeat (we definitely listened to "Charm Attack" by Leona Naess on repeat in the car from Lexington, Virginia to Washington D.C. and *maybe* got a speeding ticket because we were rocking out for the 534th time and had no idea we had hit 90 mph in the 240), it seems that when we get a taste hankering for peanut butter and chocolate, we need to indulge it until it's dead. Not that we could ever put an end to our chocolate peanut butter obsession ("Charm Attack" is still one of the greatest songs EVER), but we could give it a shot this month?

And, what a fitting month it has been, no, cookies? To culminate this great flavor profile with a Valentine's Day Giveaway? Perfect. Because, really, nothing says 'I love you' quite like peanut butter and chocolate. As for this cake? This is our way of saying we love our fabulous readers.

Also, the giveaway. Pressies also say we love you and it is about time we gave you a pressie! So, rules to enter, leave a comment on this post and/or like us on Facebook and/or re-tweet our fascinating Twitter feed and you will be entered to win these fabulous red Le Creuset Bakers from our personal fav, Sur La Table. You will have until 11:59 EST on February 10th to enter and we will announce a winner in Monday's post. Just an FYI too, muffins, if you leave a comment please include an email address so we can contact you if you win. We totes hate spam and don't do ads (duh) so trust us that your email is completely private! Also, unfortunately, we can only ship domestically at this point so, to our incredible international readers, we will figure something out for next time. We love you just as much!

We would additionally like to recommend that you bake this cake for a special someone as a Valentine's gift to them and then their gift to you can be doing the dishes. Because, fair warning, while it is TOTALLY worth it, this cake requires about 28 bowls and 26 measuring cups, give or take. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake
Serves 12
Adapted from Elinor Klivans

Print Recipe

For the Cake:
1 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened, Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
7-8 ounces peanut butter cups, divided 

For the Peanut Butter Mousse:
6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (not old-fashioned)
3/4 cup confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1 cup cold, heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Ganache:
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
9-10 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter the bottom and sides of a 10" round cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the parchment.

Melt the unsweetened chocolate in a double boiler over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Set aside. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. And the vanilla extract. On low speed, slowly add the melted and slightly cooled chocolate. Add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and only blending until just combined so as not to over-mix. Using a spatula, stir in half of the peanut butter cups (you can use large peanut butter cups too that have been chopped). Bake until the tops feel firm and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack until cool enough to touch and then invert the cake onto the wire rack to cool completely (use a knife around the edges to loosen the cake if necessary). 

Prepare the ganache next. In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and butter over low heat until hot but not boiling. Add the chocolate chips, let stand for 30 seconds and then stir to fully melt the chocolate and blend the cream. Stir in the vanilla extract and set aside to cool and thicken. 

To make the mousse, in the clean electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend together the cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Set aside. On low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar until incorporated. In another bowl, using an electric whisk, whip the heavy cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the peanut butter mixture to lighten it and then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream using a rubber spatula, being careful not to over-mix and deflate the mousse. 

To assemble the cake, invert the cooled cake (top side up again) onto a serving plate. Leaving a 1" edge all the way around, use a small, sharp knife to cup out the center of the cake to create a cavity but do not go all the way to the bottom. You are basically scooping out the middle bit of the cake. Spread half the mouse into the cavity then break up some pieces of the remaining cake and mound over the mousse piling into the center of the cake. Spread the remaining mouse all over the cake and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Then, using a spatula, spread the thickened ganache (it should have a yogurt-like thickness) over the entire cake and sides. Top with the remaining peanut butter cups. 

Keeps covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. 

Alright quick review for the newbies.  Look alive, this is gonna be fast.

Ok, so one and MOST IMPORTANTLY, biscotti are NOT cookies.  Because if they were cookies you couldn't eat them at breakfast perched so elegantly on the edge of your coffee cup.  

No, if they were cookies, you'd get weird looks.  Weird slash jealous looks.  Like that "who does that girl think she is eating a cookie for breakfast and why can't I have that kind of self confidence and chutzpah?" look.

But they're not cookies.  So don't worry.

Two!  Chocolate and peanut butter should be combined whenever possible, wherever possible.  

Ok so that one is less of a biscotti specific commentary and more of a fundamental life lesson, a mantra, a governing principle that guides us through life daily.

So wait, what more can we really say about an any time of day non-cookie that you can be openly consumed in public sans judgmental slash envious looks that also contains the all powerful and generally most important flavor profile combination ever created?

Um...er...make them.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Biscotti
Makes about 28 cookies
Adapted from Peanut Butter & Co

Print Recipe 

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs