Choco Coco Granola

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Choco Coco Granola

I used to make granola all the time in college thanks to acquiring the recipe of my favorite granola made at a local cafe. Strangely, I rarely make it now though, despite eating granola every day with yogurt. I have been wanting to develop a granola recipe for the site for a couple years now, but I always seem to fail whenever I attempt to develop one. I had a difficult time getting the perfect dry to wet ratio, and achieving the flavor and level of sweetness that I desire. I’m wondering if it is because I am being too critical of the recipes I have made, because after all I have sampled A LOT of different kinds of granolas. When I lived in Hawaii after college, my friend and I would frequently visit the local Whole Foods store with the sole intent to sample all of the granolas that they had in the bulk section. We did this nearly every day…

When reviewing my failed attempts, I realized that I was attempting to recreate granolas that I have enjoyed in the past. But I think that was my problem. No matter how good the recipe was, I was never going to be able to exactly recreate the flavors that I was attempting to recreate. So I decided to develop a recipe for a type of granola flavor that I had never had before in order to bypass my hypercritical granola taste buds.

Pulling inspiration from summer and our trip to Asia, I really wanted to incorporate a coconut flavor. After a couple variations, I landed on pairing the coconut with chocolate to create a rich and subtly sweet taste, which balances wonderfully with the creamy tang of a Greek yogurt. The best part about granola recipes are that they are easy to make. And one of the best things about THIS recipe is that while this granola is baking in the oven, your kitchen will smell like a coconut paradise! Seriously!

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Vegan Coconut Chunky Monkey Smoothie

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Vegan Coconut Chunky Monkey Smoothie

We went to Shady Shack, a very popular vegetarian restaurant, because I saw online that they had smoothie bowls. I had their Cacao Dreams Smoothie Bowl, which had a base of cacao, dates, bananas, cashew butter, and coconut milk. I loved it so much that I just had to share a copycat version with you guys! The dates gave the smoothie a perfectly thick texture, and when combined with coconut milk, it was extremely filling. The coconut milk also lends itself to creating a creamy and rich taste. The recipe only requires a few ingredients, and only takes a couple minutes to make. Like I mentioned already, the smoothie is rather filling, so feel free to save any remaining amount in the refrigerator for a treat later on!

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Belgian Coconut Liège Waffles with a Coconut Cream Topping

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Belgian Coconut Liège Waffles with a Coconut Cream Topping

If you have never had a liège waffle before, trust me when I say that they are wonderful. What makes a liège waffle so different from a regular waffle? Well, not only are liège waffles made from a yeast based dough, but that dough also has small pearl sugars infused throughout, so when cooked, the pearls create a lovely crunch and burst of sweetness. That being said, you will typically find liège waffles half the size of a normal waffle as they are much richer and sweeter.  Like I mentioned already, this waffle recipe is made from a yeast based dough. You will need to allow the dough to rise for 2 hours prior to cooking, or you can let the dough rise overnight so that it is ready the next morning. The strong coconut flavoring of these waffles comes from both coconut milk and coconut oil in the batter, and is further enhanced with a coconut milk based cream topping….

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German Chocolate Millionaire Bars

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German Chocolate Millionaire Bars

Alright let’s talk about these German Chocolate Millionaire Bars. So, if you don’t know what a millionaire bar is, it is essentially a Twix bar. It has a shortbread cookie base, with a caramel middle, and topped with chocolate ganache. I made a few adjustments to this combo though by moving the chocolate ganache layer to the middle, and switching the caramel for the coconut pecan filling of German Chocolate cake. And it turned out, GREAT. The cookie base provides a nice crunch, while the chocolate and topping will simply melt in your mouth. The chocolate ganache is made with evaporated milk, which helps keep the chocolate soft and easy to bit into. I added a sprinkle of sea salt onto the chocolate ganache layer, providing the perfect amount of sweet and salty to the overall taste. To be extra fancy, I added a chocolate drizzle on top…

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Matcha Pistachio Coconut Macaroons

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Matcha Pistachio Coconut Macaroons

Since graduating college almost 4 years ago (how has it been that long already?!) I have started Kayla’s Itsines’ BBG workout program about 5 times. I tend to always stop around week 8. It either happens because I am busy doing something else and lose endurance or simply because I become disinterested in it. So, I made it one of my new year’s resolutions this year to finally complete the entire program! Anddddd right at week 8 again, I stopped ahah. But it’s because

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Coconut Honey Granola

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Coconut Honey Granola

Happy Monday, friends! This past weekend was one for the books. My husband was on spring break from medical school, which means that we got to go on errands together, cook together, sleep in, snuggle (practically all day, oops) - and this past Saturday he decided to plan a surprise date day for me - full of fun activities and delicious foods. When school is in session, Alex's studies take up almost all of his time. So our quality time together during this stage of life looks different than other married couples, but I found the key is to not compare our relationship to others, but rather to do what is right for our own relationship. One of which, includes taking advantage...

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