Double Chocolate Buns

Are these muffins?  Nope.  Cupcakes?  Nope.  These are in fact what the British refer to as a chocolate "buns".  They are a cross between a cupcake and a muffin. They have a somewhat cake-like consistency, though not nearly as sweet yet are definitely richer than a muffin.  They are also frosting-free.  These are wonderful eaten plain and without any fuss needed at all.

They are named Double Chocolate Buns because of 2 types of chocolate in the batter:  Dark Cocoa Powder and White Chocolate Chips (the latter not really being a chocolate at all).

You can make these all in one bowl and you don't even need your mixer as long as you have some decent upper body strength to blend the butter and sugar.  Everything else gets folded in and blended just until combined then baked up for 20 minutes.

These rise up beautifully and your house will be infused with the smell of chocolate. They are tender, moist and hard to resist.  My daughter inhaled 2 while they were still warm.

Chocolate Shortbread

I love shortbread - plain, lemon, cut into bars or triangles.  I love the crumbly dry texture and the heavy scent and taste of butter.
I get a great thrill out of dipping mine into a cup of hot tea.

I cannot recall the last time I made shortbread.  I am like a lot of you and buy the cookies all packaged up in those sweet, red boxes at the local grocery store.  You know the brand - Walkers. Boxes of Walkers shortbread fill this house at Christmas. Yum, Yum, Yum.

But here we are slowly moving into spring and not a Walkers box to be found in my pantry.  What's a girl to do?  This type of situation is one of the main reasons why I love to bake.  When I really want something, when the craving takes over so bad I can taste it, I know that any sweet treat I truly desire is one I can whip up myself in my own kitchen if I choose to do so. How great is that? What a liberating feeling!

And a few days ago I did just that and created a darn good, if I do say so myself, chocolate shortbread.  Yes, these are exactly the kind that melt in your mouth.

The Perfect White Rustic Loaf

Ok let me begin by being honest - I am not a bread person. To clarify, I could eat loads of it but unless I can make a loaf in my bread machine, I rarely dabble in bread making. Main reason? Kneading. Blech. I get no joy out of manual labor. Sure, I could use the knead cycle of my bread maker but I rarely do.  Then I became the owner of a KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook. I haven't looked back since. It is the best thing next to sliced bread, no pun intended.

Which brings me to the recipe I am sharing with you today for a sinfully good White Rustic Loaf. The crust is golden brown, crispy and somewhat chewy. The inside is like biting into a cloud. Serve warm with a pad of butter and some top-notch jam and you will grin from ear to ear. And trust me, you will come back to this recipe time and time again. Seriously, it is that good.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Muffins

What better way to start off the week than with a fresh batch of chocolate chip muffins. Buttery, cakey, and sprinkled with dark chocolate chips. I absolutely adore these !

Not all muffins are created equal. Some are too dense, don't rise, filled with air pockets or as dry as dry can be. I can assure you these are none of those things. They are perfectly moist, rise high and are a thing of beauty.

I like to sprinkle muffins with coarse sanding sugar right before baking - makes for a lovely shine and delectable crunch. I also recommend topping the muffins with a scattering of chocolate chips too so they stand out really well when baked versus getting hidden in the batter.  A golden top, studded with chocolate chips and shimmering with sugar. You won't be able to resist these when they come out of the oven!

Homemade Almond Milk

Low carb, sugar, gluten and dairy free - how perfect is that?  Sure you can buy store bought almond milk but if you are like me and use it to make protein shakes or smoothies at least once a day the cost can add up quickly.

Why not make your own at home?

Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

I was surfing fellow foodie blogs recently and stumbled across this amazing recipe for Cinnamon Streusel Muffins. They looked simply too good to resist so I filed the recipe away with the intention of making it at a later date.  That "later date" came sooner than I thought when I couldn't get the idea of cinnamon streusel outta my head so without further delay I set about making a dozen of these incredible muffins.

I am so glad I didn't wait longer to enjoy these ones.  OMG, so soft and sweet, spiced just right, and crunchy too thanks to the buttery streusel and the addition of chopped walnuts

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Chocolate heaven in the form of a gluten-free single layer cake. YUMMO!  That is my fancy-dancy description of this sweet treat.  In fact, the family titled it "The Chocolate Monster".  When you take your first bite you are hit with the smooth creamy fudge frosting then your teeth sink into the moist, chocolatey cake.  A double dose of chocolate and who doesn't love that?

The original source recipe comes from my most trusted gluten-free baking cookbook The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook by Cybele Pascal.

As many of you know,  I LOVE this cookbook!