CCK Recipes

I am a big fan of trying out recipes from other blogs. Besides something that just looks or sounds really delicious, I'm particularly enticed when something seems really unique, really healthy, and, when I'm lazy, really easy. Chocolate Covered Katie's recipes are pretty much always really easy, and often healthy and unique as well. I wanted to share a few variation successes (and ones that have not been so successful).

Above: I made her Healthy Lemon Squares, but altered by splitting the recipe in thirds and making a lime version (with lime juice and lime zest instead of lemon) and a blueberry version (with about 1/2 cup fresh blueberries for about 1/3 of the recipe). My favorite was definitely the blueberry version (or blueberry-lemon, which I've also made in the past!) Another great variation is to do layers: make half lemon and half lime, and when you are spreading it in the pan, put in the lime first, followed by the lemon, for pretty little layer bars with refreshing zest. Finally, one last variation that works well: the crust calls for coconut oil- you can easily cut back on the amount of oil by using banana. Since I was running low on coconut oil and only had about a teaspoon, I added 1/2 of a medium banana, melted, to the dough, and it worked great!

Read on for more CCK recipes (and variations) I've tried!

Top left corner: Healthy Lemon Squares and variations (in the middle left picture you can kind of see the lemon/lime layer version- I recommend! Not only is it visually cool, it tastes refreshing and complements the coconut-flavored crust well).
Bottom left: Strawberry Shortcake pancakes
Bottom right: Crazy Ingredient Chocolate cake
Top right row: Variations of Deep Dish Cookie Pie
Other CCK recipes I've made: healthy chocolate chip cookies, cookie dough dip, and carrot cake for one. 

Here's my take and tips:

• The lemon squares are good. The primary base is tofu, though, and if you don't drain it weel enough, it comes out tasting too tofu-y. The recipe does also rely on extracts and sweeteners to "cover up" the tofu taste. And if you use too much stevia, it comes out tasting fake. That's why I like the blueberry version: all-natural sweetness plus a little bulk from the blueberries.
• The pancakes and I've blogged about before; see link above- they are a little doughy, but yummy.
• Cookie dough dip also previously blogged about - see here; good but maybe not as an appetizer.
• The carrot cake was pretty good as a "single lady" treat, and nice and quick, but didn't rise that well. The original recipe called for canned carrots; since I don't like canned veg (ick- NOT so healthy either!), I used fresh shredded carrots.
• The deep dish cookie pie is really good. Made with chickpeas, and you'd seriously never know- although a large part of this may be because the recipe uses a lot of chocolate chips- and, well, melted chocolate chips are always good! I've also made variations: oatmeal raisin, and mini muffins.They were fine, but without the melted chocolate, you get a little more of the "chickpea flavor."
• Healthy chocolate chip cookies- really easy and quick to make. Plus, you can easily make them non-fat by just subbing mashed banana for the oil. Yes, they don't taste completely like regular chocolate chip cookies, but it's a small batch, and satisfies that cookie craving. I wouldn't take these to a party and expect people to rave they're the best cookies ever, but they are good for those nights when you just need a cookie!
• And, finally, that crazy-ingredient pie. When I saw the post, and read that it was made with cauliflower, I got really, really curious. This wasn't a recipe where you look at the ingredients and say, wow, that sounds delicious; it was a recipe where you go: "Huh. I wonder if that actually works. I wonder what it tastes like." So, I had to know.

Welllllll..... the cake tasted like chocolate cauliflower. It was really odd. But before we go blaming CCK- I didn't have any chocolate chips. And she says in the recipe: DO NOT omit the chocolate chips (she rarely says DO NOT OMIT, so you know it was an important component). I tried to compensate by adding more cocoa powder, plus 2 dates, 3 prunes (yes, prunes- they work in truffles don't they?!), and a little agave and maple syrup. The cake was deliciously moist, and the texture was perfectly velvety. But the flavor was off. I'd be willing to try again according to the recipe next time, although I do think you might be able to get away with using less chocolate chips and adding the dates/prunes for a natural sweetening option. Just a thought.

CCK's recipes are really quick and easy to make, and while they don't usually rely on fresh, natural ingredients shining, I do like to make them every now and then for myself as away to satisfy my sweet tooth. Thanks to Katie for being inventive and fun!