First, off I started my morning by seeing these beauties on the porch:
Not that they were a surprise. I bought them last night but they still made me happy and kicked my day off on the right foot!
Oh desserts, how I adore you.
I know today is “National Peanut Butter Cookie Day” but PB cookies just don’t compare to the recipe I want to share with you!
Before getting to the amazingness of the cupcake below let’s cover a few rules about desserts!
3 Must Follow Rules When Dealing With Desserts
1. They are a “treat” not an expectation. I only eat a dessert once a week on my cheat day. Which is normally either Friday or Saturday. If I am craving something sweet during the week, I might grab a few dark chocolate chips but I don’t expect a full out dessert at the end of a meal. You just ate a meal, a dessert is like eating a meal after your meal.
This is definitely a treat:
2. Even healthy desserts can spell trouble. All the desserts I cook are clean but that doesn’t mean they don’t have calories and sugar in them. It is still important to stick to portion control when dealing with “healthy” desserts. Studies show that people tend to over indulge in foods that are labeled as healthy, by the time they’re done they should have just gone with the full calorie version. Don’t let that be you.
Trust me, 1 is plenty:
3. A dessert is not a meal. Just because my brownies are made of black beans doesn’t mean they are okay to eat for lunch or for breakfast. Avoid allowing the thought of “I am going to skip dinner and get straight to dessert”. You’ll be hungry not long after and either go back for more dessert or end up making the meal you were trying to avoid. Not to mention that you can miss out on eating a balanced, nutritional meal.
Grey Earl Cupcakes With Chocolate Banana Frosting
I simply couldn’t end my Saturday cooking marathon without a dessert. What can I say, I have a sweet tooth and after cooking with veggies all day, I needed to add a bit of sugar to my palatte.
I was inspired to make these because we have so much tea in our pantry. I love the idea of drinking a warm cup of tea at night but in reality, it very rarely happens. It’s one of those things that I want to like so much but I am just not a big fan of hot teas.
But I keep buying them hoping to find one that wins me over.
My latest tea purchase was earl gray. It sounds so European and romantic that I just knew I would love it. But sadly it was not to be. It went where all my other teas end up: in the back of the pantry.
But I was determined to use the earl grey for something! I refused to give up on it. And that’s how this recipe came to be.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Banana
- 2 cup Sugar
- 3 tbsp Flax meal
- 9 tbsp water
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/4 cup chickpea flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup almond milk
- 3 tbsp Grey Earl tea (3 bags)
- 2 tsp finely chopped grey earl tea leaves
Icing:
- 1 cup Earth Balance butter
- 1/2 banana
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Directions:
- In a small sauce pan, heat up milk and tea bags. Bring to a boil, making sure to stir often to not scold the milk. Once at a boil, remove from heat and allow to seep for at least 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, mix together water and flax. Sit to the side.
- In a bowl, stir together dry ingredients: flour, chopped tea, salt
- In a second bowl blend together wet: sugar, banana, flax eggs, vanilla.
- Slowly pour in the wet ingredients into the dry, as well as the “tea milk”.
- Pour into cupcake tins and cook for 14-16 minutes, Check doneness by sticking one with a toothpick. If it comes out clean or slightly moist,you’re good.
- Allow to cool while you assemble the icing.
Icing:
- Blend together all ingredients until fluffy.
- Place in an icing bag or zip-lock bag and ice each cupcake.
QUESTIONS:
- Are you a tea drinker?
- What’s your favorite dessert?
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