Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Real Food MakeOver: Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake (and Cake Boys Episode 7!)

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Yum
 
Have a recipe you’d like me to try and make over? Submit your recipes on this Real Food Recipe Makeover Submission Page.
 

Remember that cake I tried to make in a crock pot that ended up being tedious and difficult? After that, my friend Jenny emailed me a recipe for Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake, figuring that I could surely make over the ingredients to make this a healthier recipe.
 

I was excited, yet given my experience with cake in a crock pot, I couldn’t help but wonder:  Would this cake be a lot of work? Would it be tasty in the end?
 

The answer to those questions are:  No, this cake is not a lot of work…and YES this cake is incredibly tasty.
 

I actually handed the recipe to the Cake Boys (aka Justus and bros) to make this for Matt’s birthday last week. It was so easy for them to adapt that they did it without any help from me. Yes indeed, this Real Food Makeover is brought to you by the Cake Boys. :)

 
You simply pour the batter into the crock pot, then drizzle over a layer of boiling water/cocoa/sucanat. The cake bakes in a crock pot for two hours, and when it’s finished, the cake has baked over the top and a layer of fudgy pudding is on the bottom.
 

This cake is dreamy, rich deliciousness. We all loved it!
 


Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake

 
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sucanat
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter (or coconut oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

 
Combine flour, cocoa, sucanat, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Make a well in the center and add milk, butter, and vanilla. Stir well, until batter is smooth. Stir in peanut butter (heat if needed, to thin). Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into a well greased slow cooker. Make the topping:
 
Topping:

 
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
3/4 cup sucanat
1 1/2 cups boiling water
 

Mix cocoa and sucanat, whisk in boiling water until smooth. Gently pour over batter in crock pot, but don’t stir. Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, about 2- 2 1/4 hours. Turn off crock pot and let stand, covered for at least 30 minutes. Serve the cake (which is now on top) with ice cream or whipped cream and drizzle the fudgy pudding from the bottom over both.

 
Makes 6-8 servings

 

 
And now, you can enjoy Episode 7 of Cake Boys, which includes a ridiculous commercial break by Asa. Wow, our boys have tooooo much fun putting these together. Also, I should note:  Justus says that he added “shortening” to the cake. He really added butter. He was just reading the original recipe when he recorded. :)  And then we had a little lesson about what shortening is and why we don’t eat it unless it’s Palm Shortening. But anyway…

 

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The Brownie Experiment – Which Takes Longer to Make, Boxed or Homemade?

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Well, bless my heart. The work I have to do around here for you people is sometimes just too much, you know? I mean, after I labored over the mac and cheese experiment, spending thirty whole seconds of extra time in my kitchen to make the good, homemade, whole grain, Creamy Mac and Cheese, several of you got on your knees and begged asked me to experiment next with brownies to see which took longer – brownies from a box, or homemade brownies. Really. Asking me to bake two pans of rich, gooey, chocolatey brownies? I seriously had to muscle up on this request, you know? Sometimes you all can be soooo demanding.

It’s okay though – {she says, with the back of her weary hand placed pitifully on her forehead} – I love you all enough that I was able to find the strength to serve you in this way. If someone must make two pans of brownies to help prove a point, I will rise to the challenge.

What? I suppose next you’ll ask me to make chocolate cake, or pudding, or fudge or something? Who do you think I am anyway?

Okay. I’m all done pretending to whine now. Seriously, anytime you want to ask me to make brownies, I am alllll over it. I’m happy to “take one for the team” anytime chocolate is involved.

So here’s a little something that hasn’t been in my kitchen for several years now…

Why yes, it did feel a little funny pouring that into a bowl. And then, because I haven’t made brownies from a box for such a long time – I actually had to take the time to read the directions. I felt a little silly and was glad no one was in there watching me struggle to remember and figure out how to make brownies from a box. Except now I just told you about it, so I guess you get to make fun of me anyway.

From box to pan, before going into the oven, it took me right at 4.5 minutes to mix up these brownies. Quick and convenient? Yep, they sure were. (I used Olive Oil in case you were wondering.)

Next, I started to mix up my Homemade Fudge Brownies that I have been making for several years now. I already had some whole wheat flour ground and in the freezer, but I totally don’t feel like that was cheating in this experiment because I almost always have flour ground and in the freezer for brownie emergencies baking. It’s a little something I call “kitchen efficiency” and it totally works for me.

How long did it take for me to mix up the homemade brownies and get them into the pan? 5.5 minutes. Why did it take me an entire minute longer to mix up homemade brownies than it took to mix up the boxed brownies? Because I had to wait for my butter to melt on the stovetop. Yes, the butter was taking its sweet time to liquify. But never fear. While my butter was melting, I got out my other brownie ingredients, washed a few dishes, and talked to my children. All was not lost in that extra minute of brownie preparation time.

Can you tell which pan is homemade and which pan is from a box?

The blue dish holds the homemade brownies, in case you were wondering which pan to dig into first.
Not that you can, however, because they are sort of gone now.

So, did making brownies from a box save me any time? Yes. One whole minute. Score one for boxed brownies.

Did I feel better about using an extra minute of my life to melt some butter and mix up brownies with sucanat and whole wheat flour? Well, of course I did. Plus I got some dishes done while my butter melted.

By the way, do you know why it only took me one extra minute to mix up the homemade brownies? Because I have made homemade brownies so many times that I don’t even have to think about it anymore. Truly, the more you cook from scratch, the easier and faster it becomes. If you’re new to baking and cooking outside of the box, don’t lose heart! It gets easier the more you do it!

And then, it won’t be long until you’re like me and have to cock your confused head to one side while you try to read the directions on the back of a box.

Crazy but true. ;)

I’ve got more experimenting to do, so stay tuned for more fun updates. I think muffins are the next on my list.

So tell me – do you make homemade brownies or boxed brownies? If you haven’t attempted to make them homemade, I encourage you to give them a try. Yes. That’s an order. Hey, it’s chocolate. Who’s going to argue with that? :)

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Chocolate Mint Soother

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Chocolate Mint Soother – one of life’s best comfort foods.

My friend Emily is always full of good ideas. She’s often sending me fun links, or sharing her creative inspiration with me while we visit after church. Last week, Emily did it again. Since I’d recently shared about my Warm Vanilla Soother and Warm Chocolate Soother recipes, she suggested, why not adding some mint extract to those?

After reading that comment, I think it may have taken me a grand total of five minutes to go into the kitchen and try out this idea. (Good thing she didn’t share this idea with me in the church foyer – I may have left Emily standing alone and driven home without my family.)

This recipe is just like the Warm Chocolate Soother recipe, except that you add peppermint extract instead of vanilla. Sounds like we’re coming up with some great ideas for using our peppermint extract, aren’t we? :)

Chocolate Mint SootherYum

Chocolate Mint Soother
 
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Author:
Serves: 3-5
Ingredients
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • ¼ cup real maple syrup
  • 3 Tablespoons sucanat
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 2 Tablespoons arrowroot powder or corn starch
  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Instructions
  1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, egg yolks, maple syrup, sucanat, cocoa and arrowroot powder.
  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (I use a whisk) until mixture begins to thicken.
  3. Remove from heat and add butter and peppermint extract.
  4. Stir until creamy.
  5. Pour into mugs and serve warm.

Chocolate Mint Soother

Aren’t you glad I have such smart friends? :)

If you like this, you might also enjoy:

Make them all and see which is your favorite! These drinks are filling and comforting, not to mention delicious. They are a perfect way to warm up on a chilly day!

If you put the leftovers into the fridge, this drink turns into a tasty pudding. It’s a win-win!

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The Chocolate Fix

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Matt and I were right in the middle of writing love letters to each other. We were at The Art of Marriage conference last weekend, sitting quietly in a room by ourselves, doing our assigned project. I was writing my heart-felt thoughts to him, reliving on paper about the time we met and about the qualities he had that attracted me to him. It was beautiful. I was teary eyed and feeling nostalgic.

And that’s when it hit me.

I’d forgotten to put the sucanat in the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins I had baked for the kids to wake up to that morning. 

Why? Why does my brain work this way? We will probably never know. But somewhere in between writing “I love what a great daddy you are to our boys” and “Thank you for showing your love to me in so many ways” my brain shifted all the way back home and I began thinking about what the boys might be doing and if they were okay and if they’d found the muffins I’d made for them for breakfast. 

And somewhere within those few seconds of thinking about muffins, I thought through the steps I’d taken and recognized that I had not gotten out the jar of sucanat (sugar), opened it or measured it out. The muffins were made of flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, milk, eggs and coconut oil…no sucanat. I’d thrown in a few chocolate chips, which may have added a little bit of sweetness, but probably not enough.

I didn’t mean to gasp, right there while we were writing our love letters. I didn’t mean to take Matt away from his “You’re so beautiful, I’m so glad God put you in my life” phrases. But I couldn’t help it. 

Our sweet silence was shattered as I blurted, “I forgot to put sucanat in the muffins for the boys!”

There was obviously nothing we could do about the muffins during that moment, so we had a little chuckle together about how quickly the boys might have realized that the muffins weren’t at all sweet and what else they’d found to eat. Then we carried on with our letter writing.

At home later we found exactly what we had expected:  Four muffins with one bite taken out of each of them and all of the rest of the muffins still on the tray.

So the next question of course was, “What should we do with all of these muffins?” We just didn’t have the heart to throw them away. Surely they could be salvaged somehow.

Matt was the one who had the brilliant idea. He’s always the brilliant one (and I may or may not have told him that in his love letter). He suggested that we make my yummy hot fudge sauce recipe to drizzle over the top of the muffins to add some sweetness.

Perfect.  I made some hot fudge, whipped some cream, and we had one of the most delicious breakfast treats ever.

It was a perfect chocolate fix, making us all hope that I will forget the sucanat in these muffins again sometime. :)

Oh, and by the way…all that love letter stuff I put in this post for you to read? All those phrases were cheesy ones that I just made up off the top of my head. What? You really think I’d tell you what we wrote in our love letters to each other? Yeah, I don’t think so. :)

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Stocking Stuffers for Moms

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As I’ve mentioned before, my friend Anne and I stuff each other’s stockings each year. It takes the pressure off of our husbands and we have a lot of fun. Several of you have asked for ideas of what we put in each other’s stockings. I’m posting this to answer that question AND so that if you want to, you can print this off and leave it dangling (innocently) in front of your husband if you would prefer that he stuff your stocking instead of having a friend join in the fun.

Anne is very creative and frugal. She’s put some pretty cool and interesting things in my stocking before including fire starters she made from egg cartons, saw dust and melted wax. I loved these for our fireplace! Yes, you are only limited by your imagination when it comes to stuffing a stocking. If you know a person well enough, you know exactly what she needs or loves.

I happen to know that Anne loves Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips, making that perfect for her stocking. I also gave her homemade vanilla last year and a jar of Homemade Ranch and Homemade Italian Dressing Mixes. Oh so practical. And tasty.

Here are more ideas for a lady’s stocking!

  • Pens  – because the stub of a crayon she finds in her purse or by the phone just won’t cut it. She needs pens.
  • Paper Clips – she’ll never think to buy them for herself and she needs them
  • Small (and pretty) note pads – because they’re more fun to make lists on than the back of a school math paper
  • Kitchen Towels – because all of her other ones are stained or torn…or in the hamper
  • Lotion Bars from MadeOn – this stuff works miracles on my dry skin!
  • Wooden Spoons and other Kitchen Utensils – so she can bake you something
  • Warm Fuzzy Slipper Socks – for the same reason she needs Kitchen Towels, plus her feet are cold
  • Flexi-Clip from Lilla Rose – because they’re beautiful and SO easy to use and inexpensive and pretty and…
  • Cake Decorating Supplies – because they’re just fun!

Ladies, fill in the gaps by leaving comments of suggested stocking stuffers you’d have fun finding in YOUR stocking Christmas morning!

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Chocolate Fudge Frosting – the Healthier Way!

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I won’t take up space talking about the loveliness of this recipe because well…it’s CHOCOLATE FUDGE FROSTING. Even if I thought of some cute words to write, you would likely be saying, “Yada, yada…show us the recipe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” And so…without further ado or ANY ado…here is the fudge frosting recipe made with homemade powdered sugar from sucanat I’ve been promising you…

Chocolate Fudge FrostingYum

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 (+) cups of powdered sugar (I suggest either making your own powdered sugar from sucanat, or using an unbleached powdered sugar)

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add water to the butter and bring it to a boil. Pour the boiling butter/water into a bowl with the cocoa and powdered sugar. Add vanilla and mix with beaters until thoroughly combined. Add a little more powdered sugar if the frosting is too runny, but keep in mind that it does thicken up just a little bit as it cools.

This recipe makes enough frosting for a two-layer cake or for a big sheet cake or for a nice thick layer of frosting on brownies or a 9×13 inch cake. Actually, it’s almost too much frosting for the brownies and 9×13 inch cake, so save some of it in your fridge and put the leftovers on homemade donuts another time. :)

Here’s our Buttermilk Chocolate Cake recipe! :)

 

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Family Vacation, Part 3

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Okay, okay…we didn’t really get to go to a U-Pick Chocolate Farm after our U-Pick Blueberry Farm and U-Pick Peach Farm visits. Chocolate doesn’t grow on trees, ya know. (And if you are one of my sons, you will now say, “Well actually Mom, cocoa beans grow on trees which means that chocoate really does…”)

Anyway, we DID stop at the next best thing! Right along the way to the peach farm, we spotted Vineyards Gourmet Chocolate. Matt looked over at me in the van with his eyebrows raised as if to say, “You want to stop there next don’t you?” Who am I to say no an offer like that?

vineyards_gourmet_chocolate_1

Vineyards Gourmet Chocolate is family owned and operated. We had so much fun with the gals there!

vineyards_gourmet_chocolate_3

Ooh, and they kept giving us samples to try. We are now friends forever.

We got to watch one of the owners make a HUGE chunk of fudge. It was so cool.

vineyards_gourmet_chocolate_4

They were featuring a new item:  Chocolate Covered Bacon!!! We figured that the chocolate draws in the women…the bacon draws in the men and everyone wins!

vineyards_gourmet_chocolate_5

For the record…we tried some Chocolate Covered Bacon and it was rather tasty! Who knew?

Next up…we go to the beach!

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Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

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I’m not sure if you are a chocolate lover like I am, but any recipe that has the words chocolate and chocolate written side by side makes me very happy and excited.

Chocolate_Chocolate_Chip_Muffins

My biggest hint on this recipe is to use sour cream instead of milk. (The recipe lists either one.) Sour cream makes these super moist.

This recipe is a definite family favorite. They taste amazing with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip MuffinsYum

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sucanat
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter
2/3 cup milk or sour cream
1 egg
1/4 cup chocolate chips (I recommend these organic chips without soy lecithin)

Stir together dry ingredients. Mix in coconut oil, milk and egg. Fold in chocolate chips. Scoop into 9-12 paper lined muffin tins. Bake at 400° for 20  minutes. Makes about 9 muffins. (I double the recipe for my family of six.)

5.0 from 1 reviews
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
 
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Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 9 muffins
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups whole wheat flour
  • ⅓ cup sucanat
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ cup melted coconut oil or butter
  • ⅔ cup milk or sour cream
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Stir together dry ingredients.
  2. Mix in coconut oil, milk and egg.
  3. Fold in chocolate chips.
  4. Scoop into 9-12 paper lined muffin tins.
  5. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.

If you have some good quality coconut oil, I highly recommend using it in this recipe. The coconut flavor with the chocolate is SO GOOD.

How about Chocolate Chip Bread?

Don’t mind if I do. Indeed, you can also make this recipe into a quick bread instead of muffins. Just spread the batter into a buttered loaf pan and bake at 350° for 50 minutes! Get all the details here.

chocolate_pumpkin_bread_2

 

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What to Do With the Cocoa in Your Kitchen Ebook

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cocoakitchencover

Are you a chocolate lover? If so, this -book is for you! The recipes are very simple to make and the results are very simple to eat!

It includes recipes for delicious homemade cocoa treats like:

  • Fudge Brownies
  • Fudge Frosting for Brownies
  • Hot Cocoa
  • Hot Fudge Sauce
  • Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Sauce
  • Hot Fudge Cake
  • Cocoa Cookies
  • Peanut Butter Fudgies
  • Chocolate Pudding
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
  • Chocolate Cheesecake
  • Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake
  • Chocolate Pie
  • Chocolate Muffins
  • Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
  • Chocolate Milkshakes
  • Chocolate Ice Cream
  • Death by Chocolate
  • Orange Chocolate Fondue
  • Chocolate Pound Cake
  • Giant Triple Chocolate Cookies
  • Cinnamon Chocolate Nachos

12 pages

$3.95

Add to Cart

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My Favorite Chocolate Recipe

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deathbychoco2sm.JPG

Today I’m sharing my favorite chocolate recipe with you. It is SO GOOD. 

I guess that’s why it’s called Death By Chocolate. What a name. I didn’t name it. I’d have named it something like A Little Piece of Chocolate Heaven. Or Just When You Think It Can’t Get any Chocolatier. Or Chocolate Covered Chocolatey Chocolate. 

Well…anyway. Death By Chocolate is a recipe my mom found somewhere when I was a teenager. I remember her serving it when she wanted to make something special for company. She always put walnuts in hers…and I always picked ’em out. :)  I’m not a fan of nuts in my food. But you can put walnuts in yours if you want to. I’ll just pick ’em out if I come over and share it with you. (Which I’d love to do…come over and share it with you.)

As I remember also…the original recipe called for a box of brownie mix…a box of chocolate pudding…and a container of cool whip. The way I make it now…it is all made from scratch. And Oh. My. Goodness. Do try it. You won’t be sorry.

Death By ChocolateYum

Recipe for Creamy Chocolate Pudding
plus
Recipe for Fudge Brownies (with or without the chocolate chips)
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
½ t. vanilla
1 t. sugar or a few drops of stevia
1 cup pecans or walnuts, optional

Bake Brownies according to recipe. Allow to cool. Make Chocolate Pudding according to recipe. Allow to cool.

In a large glass serving bowl, begin to layer your Death by Chocolate. 

deathbychoco4sm.JPG
Cut or crumble brownies into small crumbs or pieces. 
I usually cut mine into one inch squares. 
Place one third of them into serving bowl.

deathbychoco5sm.JPG
Pour one third of your pudding over the brownie pieces.
Continue this brownie – pudding layering twice more.

deathbychoco6sm.JPG
Choose the cutest person you can find to whip your cream. 
With beaters, whip cream until soft peaks form. 
Add vanilla and sugar or stevia. Mix in with beaters.

deathbychoco3sm.JPG
Spread the whipped cream on top of your brownie-pudding layers. 
If you’re talented and have time…put something fancy on top like put chocolate shavings. As you can see…I’m not that talented.

deathbychoco1sm.JPG
Oh, but look how pretty that is!! 

This is the very bowl my mom always made Death By Chocolate in. I’m so thankful to have this bowl in my own kitchen now. 

Okay…chocolate lovers! Come up with some excuse to make this!!! Invite someone over. Have a party. Invent a new holiday. You HAVE to make Death By Chocolate!! (Ooh, someone should invent a new holiday…JUST to celebrate CHOCOLATE!)

Anyone else a chocolate lover like I am?!
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This post is linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap.

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