Spelt and Oat bars

I made these with apple butter instead of fig preserves; they were decent: I made them because I received spelt flour in my CSA box and I was looking for ways to use that up. I probably won't make these again unless I get more spelt flour!

Double chocolate banana bread

Made this a few times this winter; it looks much more chocolate-y and indulgent than it is: Smitten Kitchen's double chocolate banana bread  There is no white sugar, and only 3/4 cup brown sugar (which I typically scale back to 1/2 cup) so it is not too sweet. I think I like this version better than the chocolate chip banana bread I usually make. I confess I do eat it for breakfast...

Valentines Edition: Chocolate Peppermint Bars and Streusel Coffee Cake

Homemade York Peppermint Patties, but better! These are very rich and delicious.

Eric and I usually take turns sleeping in on the weekends, and it was his turn to sleep in on Valentine's Day morning, so I asked him if I could make him a special breakfast. He requested coffee cake, so I used one of mom's old recipes. I did a mix 1/4 cup sliced almonds, 1/4 cup salted pepitas. Came out great. I had to cook it an extra 15 minutes because I used an 8 x 8 pan.

Lemon Tart

Found this recipe in Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking book.

Swedish Visiting Cake

I found this recipe on Dorie Greenspan's site and I am so glad I made it; prep and baking time took all of 30 minutes and like Dorie says, it makes the house smell so good! The amount of butter and sugar in the recipe creates an almost caramelized chewiness that was super yummy. And I loved the lemon flavor.

Chocolate Victory Bars

Last weekend I made these these chocolate victory bars which I had high hopes for. They were described as homemade Luna Nutz over Chocolate bars (yum). I followed the recipe exactly and used brown rice syrup as directed...but I think this ruined the recipe. This is the second time I tried brown rice syrup in a granola bar dessert and each time, the result was almost inedible. That syrup is like a cement that hardens anything that it is used in. I could only eat these bars if I dunked them for a minute or two in coffee first. Oh well!

Apple Butter Oatmeal Cookies

No photo :( but these cookies were super soft and nutty. The apple butter really added an unexpected depth of flavor. No white sugar. Felt very "healthy."