“Literally the best dessert I’ve had, EVER.” 👏🏼 Frozen chocolate covered stuffed dates aren’t new to the gram but they are new to the Plotnik home. Those were Joel’s exact words after first bite and he’s not wrong. These frozen chocolate CHAGA covered stuffed dates (with crunchy coconut cashew almond butter) and topped with flakey himalayan salt are the best desserts ever. Don’t save them for just dessert though, eat them anytime of day or night.
Pit your dates and split them in half. Scoop in as much of the nut butter as you can and close the dates back up.
Melt your dark chocolate in a double boiler over medium heat (or in a microwave safe dish in 30 second increments). Once melted, stir in Four Sigmatic chaga elixir. Pour chocolate chaga mixture into a small ramekin.
Roll, or dip, the dates in the melted chocolate chaga mixture, sprinkle flakey pink salt on top, place the date on a plate covered with parchment paper, and place in the freezer to harden. Let harden for 30-60 minutes and enjoy!
I’m so torn. 😫🍓 I thought my cashew butter cacao mug cake was the best thing I’ve ever made… but then I made this vanilla grain free cake. It’s moist (not mad about this word) and topped with a peanut butter chai frosting, my strawberry chia seed jam, and Driscoll’s strawberries. Don’t knock the combo until you try it.
Vanilla Grain Free Cake:
* 2 + 1/2 cups almond flour
* 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
* 1/2 cup maple syrup
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp Himalayan pink salt
* 2 eggs
Frosting:
* 1 + 1/4 cup powder peanut butter
* 2 scoops vanilla chai lactation booster (may omit and add 2 more tbsps powder peanut butter)
* 2 tbsp manuka honey
* 1/2 cup nut milk (may need more depending on desired consistency)
Toppings:
* Strawberry chia seed jam (made with fresh Driscoll’s strawberries, recipe below)
* Chopped Driscoll’s strawberries (would taste great with blackberries too, Driscoll’s berry of the month)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare your 8-inch pan by cutting a circular round of parchment paper to fit the base of your pan. Spray the pan with nonstick spray and place circular parchment round inside the cake pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla until well incorporated. Add almond flour, himalayan pink salt, and baking soda. Mix until batter is formed, then pour into prepared pan.
Bake about 25-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool, completely before frosting.
Prepare the frosting while the cake is baking. Combine all frosting ingredients in a medium size bowl (you may need to add more nut milk depending on your desired consistency). Frost cooled cake, top with chia seed jam, and fresh strawberries. Enjoy!
Tooting my own horn here because this, THIS, is the best thing I’ve made to date: cashew butter cacao mug cakes. They’re grain free, super moist (why do people not like that word?), and perfect for anytime of day. I just ate this second one after spin this morning. Dollop on extra Yumbutter superfood cashew butter, vanilla dairy free gelato (or homemade cocoyo), and sprinkles of cacao nibs. Or you can simply add some vanilla ghee on top to give this more of a brownie feel.
Dash of nutmeg (can omit, I just love nutmeg with cacao powder!)
Instructions:
1. Whisk together coconut flour, cacao powder, dash of salt, and baking powder in a small bowl.
2. Add egg, Yumbutter superfood cashew butter, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, nut milk, cacao nibs, and vanilla. Mix until combine.
3. Divide evenly into 2 small mugs (or ramekins) sprayed with nonstick spray and microwave on high for 60 seconds, or until cake is puffed up.
4. Add an additional scoop of Yumbutter superfood cashew butter, vanilla gelato, cacao nibs, and enjoy!
What would you add on top of this mug cake? I added a dairy free key-lime ice cream on mine this morning. Is there anything that wouldn’t taste good on these?! The answer is no.
Another month has flown by and I cannot believe it. As of yesterday, Poppy is TEN MONTHS old. You better believe I’m already planning her first birthday party because the closer it gets the more my brain becomes total mush. My sweet little gal is growing up!
A new month means I have a new top five for my monthly series. I’m thinking of calling it #whatrobinfavors, thoughts? Shoutout to everyone who suggested names for this series, they were all so creative but this one stuck out to me most.
Food: Cinnamon Snickerdoodle Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies, do I even need to explain? I’ll be honest, I was SO bummed when I pulled these bad boys out of the oven. They were flatter than flat and I didn’t think they’d be worth tasting. Joel begged to differ and said they looked good to him so I let them cool to at least take one bite. At first bite my mouth was salivating and my tastebuds went straight to a bakery cookie I’ve had in the past. Lesson learned: don’t judge a cookie by it’s cover. Click here for the recipe!
Drink:If you’ve been following me over on the gram then you know I’m hooked on my cold brew chagaccino. I had my first chagaccino at Alfred last month in LA and was really sad to know I couldn’t go to Alfred everyday to get one. After a couple test recipes I finally got it right! I might be biased but I think my Chagacchino is better than Alfred’s.😊
Exercise: When we left LA last year I was really bummed to be moving away from FlyWheel. I had been spinning at FlyWheel for the last four years and couldn’t imagine enjoying spin as much anywhere else. That is until I took a RushCycle class. I had heard great things about the class and all the instructors so I thought, “why not?!”. It’s free for your first ride so I wasn’t losing anything taking one class. Five minutes into the class I knew this was my new FlyWheel. RushCycle has a tech pack so you know your gear and speed, the ambiance during class is so fun with the blacklight feature, and the instructor was killing it! The workout was challenging but not too hard where you weren’t able to keep up. Anyone at any fitness level can step into RushCycle feeling confident that they will have a good workout. I now go four times a month and all the instructors I’ve taken are great. I highly recommend taking a RushCycle class at least once!
Item to wear: My postpartum body has been all over the place. A month postpartum I had lost a lot of my pregnancy weight (thank you breastfeeding!) but my hips had expanded a solid 2 inches from giving brith. I’ve been avoiding purchasing new jeans up until this last month. It felt so good to get rid of the jeans and jean shorts I’ve been holding onto because I really don’t see my hips going back anytime soon. If they ever do I’ll deal with that when the time comes, but I bought new Levi’s 501 high rise shorts last week! It feels SO nice to wear jean shorts that fit. If you’re waiting for the time to purchase new jeans/jean shorts, the time is now! Go to an outlet store or utilize apps like Poshmark. I’ve purchased three pairs of Madewell jeans for less than half the price on Poshmark and sold a lot of my clothes there too. You can shop my closet here!
A favorite of Pop’s: Bath time with Poppy is becoming so sweet as she grows but now that she’s growing her sink baths aren’t possible anymore. Joel did some googling and found the PRIMO EuroBath. It fits right in the tub and has a little section for 0-6 months and another section for 6-24 months. People have asked how we store if and we just leave it in our second bathroom tub. Poppy loves being able to sit up and play with her farm animal bath toys. She can stop growing now, k thanks.
What are you loving this month? Have a drink you’re obsessed with or an item you can’t stop wearing? Comment below because I need to know. Happy Tuesday friends!
You gals, I was SO bummed when I pulled these cookies out of the oven. I’ve failed at cookies over 50 times so seeing these as flat as they were made me feel defeated yet again. 🥺😫 Instead of tossing right away I decided to let them cool so I could at least have a bite. First bite sent my tastebuds straight to a bakery. #whatrobinbakes lives on!
Cinnamon Snickerdoodle Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies (Recipe adapted from @themindfulhapa’s PB Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies):
Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Using a hand mixer, mix together cinnamon snickerdoodle cashew almond butter, coconut sugar, coconut oil, and collagen peptides. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, mix again.
Stir in the remaining dry ingredients: rolled oats, baking soda, sea salt (not the flakes!), and chopped dark chocolate bar.
Use an ice cream scoop to form equal size balls, place on cookie sheet, and slightly press down so they are flat.
Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until cookies have started to brown.
PS: I took this photo myself using a tripod. I held one of the legs between my teeth and the other two were resting on my belly. That was a sight to see for sure. 😂👋🏻 #doitforthegram
BONE BROTH GLUTEN FREE BANANA PANCAKES | perfect for parents and baby. No nut butter syrup & crunchy seeds for Pops though, one day!
Bone broth gluten free banana pancakes: (Makes 8-10 pancakes)
1 cup gluten free oats
1 overripe banana
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened nut milk
1/4 cup bone broth (chicken, beef, or veggie works)
1/2 tsp baking soda
Nut butter syrup drizzle:
1 tbsp melted nut butter (natural is best)
1/4 cup maple syrup
Topping:
Cocoyo or yogurt
Banana slices
Mixed seeds/chia seeds
Directions:
Place all pancake ingredients in a Vitamix or another high speed blender. Blend on medium/high until smooth.
Heat a flat skillet on medium heat and coat the pan with non stick cooking spray. Use a 1/4 cup measuring spoon to ladle pancake batter onto the heated skillet. Cook for 3-5 minutes on one side, then flip. Repeat until batter is gone.
While pancakes are cooking, make nut butter syrup drizzle. Melt nut butter in a microwavable ramekin for 15 seconds. Mix in syrup and 1/2 – 2 tsp water if needed.
Top pancakes with cocoyo, banana slices, mixed seeds, and nut butter syrup drizzle. for yourself and served chopped for your little one plain. Enjoy!
SAUCY. That’s all I can think about when I see this plant based creamy, spicy, turmeric probiotic mac and cheese.
Mac and cheese is my favorite childhood food. I didn’t love pizza (only ate the crust), peanut butter weirded me out (yeah, I was that kid who didn’t eat pb&j), and chicken tenders were just there for me to pick the breading off and eat. Mac and cheese was my go-to. I learned how to make it myself at an early age and there was no stopping me once I knew how to boil some water. Since I’m all advanced now and everything 😉 I made this plant based cream, spicy, turmeric probiotic mac and cheese. It’s packed with Plantiful coconut vanilla (a plant based probiotic by Lifeway Kefir), nutritional yeast, cayenne pepper, and even a little lactation boosting powder because why not?
Coconut Turmeric Probiotic Mac and Cheese: (makes four servings)
Handful sautéed kale (sauté over medium heat in some EVOO or avocado oil)
Directions:
Prep pasta as directed on the box. Drain and set aside (keep warm!)
Using the same pot you cooked the pasta in, add the Plantiful Coconut Vanilla Kefir, nutritional yeast, kefir cup, ghee, lactation boost, and water. Mix until completely combined with a silicon spatula. Add in spices and continue to mix.
Add cooked pasta and sautéed kale to “cheese” sauce and gently mix until combined. Be careful not to break the pasta.
Dish into four different bowls or refrigerate the leftovers for later. Add some cracked pepper and sriracha on top if you’re feeling extra spicy.
