Clafouti. Say that ten times fast. Dare ya. Yes. I tried. Apparently, I have extra time on my hands. If you’ve never eaten a clafouti, you should! The French really know their desserts:-)

Doesn’t this look delicious? I made this last week and I’m tempted to make it again. It still looks good, even today, though I’m feeling lousy from a cold and even worse from some wicked morning sickness. Can I just say, I’m baffled by the term “morning” sickness. It should really be dubbed “morning, noon & night” sickness….but I guess that was just a little too wordy. Oh well, small price to pay, because we are expecting #5!! We are super excited.

And for those that may be wondering, yes, it was on purpose. And yes, I do know how that happens;-)

Back to the food! This dessert is a cinch. No harder than whipping together a batch of cookies. But more elegant. This would be great in individual ramekins as well. Perfect for holiday entertaining. Not to jump the gun, but when I tasted this I instantly thought Christmas. It’s the almond extract….love that stuff. This is also a great gluten-free dish because of the small amount of flour it contains. I made it gluten-free but you could easily substitute all-purpose flour…or maybe almond flour?!

adapted from Martha Stewart via Bowllicking

Oh man. You guys, this pie is so good!! I made this to share with friends and it is a goooood thing because I could have eaten the whole thing by. my. self. I am such a sucker for sweet and salty. And chocolate. This pie is pretty much the best of all worlds.

See those caramelized pretzels on top? That was a last minute epiphany. I will be thinking of more uses for those!! They almost didn’t make it to the pie because they were just that munchable. Sweet and salty perfection.

Oh yes! And those are gluten-free pretzels. Which makes this here dessert totally gluten-free! Did you know that gluten-free pretzels are actually quite good? I used Glutino Pretzel Twists. Believe it or not, I have seen these at Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart is not my favorite place to go, but I’ll brave it for these pretzels:-)

This pie is well worth the few steps it takes to make. Try it. Love it. I know you will!

recipe via Tidy Mom

 

See that plate up there? The one with the most delicious fall dessert ever on it? That, my friends, was my most memorable food moment yesterday. Well, that, and the fantastically amazing omelet my hubby made me at 10 o’clock last night when I told him I was starving. What a guy. Wait….am I the only one who assesses her food moments? That’s totally a thing right?

Want a little behind the scenes of Becky Bakes? Usually, I taste-test desserts before I photograph them. You know, for business purposes (not because I have no self-control….not at all). Really though, I don’t want to bother photographing the food in question if it isn’t truly blog-worthy.

I didn’t taste test this one. I knew it wasn’t necessary. I mean, look at it. How could that not be good? And it really was.

This plate right here. I walked it straight to my couch after its little photo shoot and savored every single last morsel on it.. I was transported. Literally, I think. I realized afterwards that one of my kids had been repeatedly trying to ask me a question. Oops. Fortunately, I think the child in question eventually realized that mommy was having a moment and he better just wait a minute. So there you have it. An irresistible fall dessert….or a three-minute vacation on a plate. However you want to look at it.

 

Some of you may know that I’ve been trying to make some changes in my eating habits. Not that they were horrible to begin with, but I definitely feel better when I eat better, which for me means cutting back significantly on sugar and eating even more whole, fresh foods. Mom…I’ve actually been eating green, leafy foods on occasion!

Some of you may also know that cookies are my all-time favorite treat. I pretty much consider them a food group the same way my 5-year-old thinks ketchup is a food group.  When I started making some healthier changes to my diet, I knew that cookies came first in the recipe makeover line-up!

Here is my disclaimer: these cookies do have sugar, they also have gluten (which is not a problem for me, but I still try not to overdue it). That said, I cut back on the sugar in these by subbing in a little agave and also by reducing the amounts of sugar. I actually think I could cut the sugar back even more because they were still quite sweet.

I also used ground oats along with whole-wheat flour to give them more of a nutritional boost.  Are these health cookies? Nah. But they are definitely healthier and I’m comfortable eating them in moderation (which, I won’t lie…is a challenge with these).

 

Oozing chocolate has to be one of the best things in life….

inspired by Milk and Cookies

I had some leftover ganache. I spoke of this problem (?) when I shared these lovely Ganache Topped Chocolate Cookie Cups with Peanut Butter Filling. A long name for a luscious little bite. I determined that I had better come up with a use for said ganache before it disappeared entirely at the rate of a spoonful here….and a spoonful there…if you catch my drift. I decided on Fudge Chunk Banana Bread. Oh yes. I did. Banana bread is already so good…why not throw a little ganache into the mix and make it even better?!

You know I’m still on a healthy kick too right. Uh…with a little ganache on the side:-)

So, there are no refined sugars or flour in this bread. Feel free to sub your usual ingredients if you’d like, but I would highly recommend subbing at least some whole-wheat flour in for the white flour. Much healthier and I actually love the taste. I used white whole-wheat flour which has a finer texture than traditional whole-wheat. This bread is heartier than its white flour counterparts but it is also still nicely moist. And the ganache, of course, is delightful!

Adapted from Whole-Grain Baking