The Viral Olympic Village Chocolate Muffins

PHOTO: Lorraine Elliott

These muffins from the Olympic Village went viral in Paris. Now it’s your turn to channel your inner Olympic hopeful and swoon over a village favorite.

Summer Strawberry Cake

Photo: Unsplash

Seasonal strawberries and cake, what’s not to love?

PS: Yes, I put this in the breakfast category, because it’s delicious for breakfast.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate

• 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour (can swap 3/4 cup or 94 grams all-purpose flour with 3/4 cup or 75 grams of barley flour, see Note)

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon table salt

• 1 cup (200 grams) plus 2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1/2 cup (118 ml) milk

• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract

• 1 pound (450 grams) strawberries, hulled and halved

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter a 10-inch pie pan or 9-inch deep-dish pie pan (what I used). This cake would work, however, in a 9- or 10-inch springform or cake pan. The 10-inch would make a thinner cake.

2. Whisk flour or flours, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes.

3. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

4. Pour into prepared pie plate. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer (though I had to overlap a few to get them all in).

5. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

6. Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes. (Gooey strawberries on the tester are a given.) Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with lightly whipped cream.

This is a favorite from Smitten Kitchen.

Tom Brady's Favorite Protein-Charged Smoothie

In honor of Tom Brady's TB12 nutrition brand & his Brady Brand apparel company ​merging with NoBull​, this week's Tailgate Treat is Tom's favorite smoothie.

Ingredients

• 1/2 tbsp hemp seeds

• 1/2 tbsp chia seeds

• 1/2 tbsp flax seeds, ground

• 1 handful of walnuts

• 1 tbsp almond butter

• 1 scoop TB12 Vanilla Plant Based Protein OR your favorite protein powder

• 1 cup frozen organic blueberries

• 1 banana, medium-sized

• 3/4 cup oat milk
  

Instructions

1. Combine ingredients in a blender and enjoy.

Skinny White Chicken Chili

We’re slightly obsessed with all things Lillie Biesinger (@lillieeatsandtells), as her recipes are good for your waistline and full of flavor.

Ingredients

• 3 medium bell peppers diced 380 g

• 2 medium onions diced 540 g

• 2 medium zucchini chopped 355 g

• 5 cloves minced garlic or frozen dorot cubes

• 1 tbsp cumin

• 8 oz 2 small cans mild diced green chilis

• 400 g green enchilada sauce half a huge can

• 550 g rotisserie chicken breast, about 1.25 lb shredded and/or chopped into bite-sized pieces.

• 3 cups chicken stock

• 1/4 cup 44 g Greek yogurt cream cheese

• 128 g corn

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat a large pot over medium, high heat, spray with cooking spray.

2. Add peppers, onions, and zucchini, sprinkle with a hefty pinch of kosher salt and cook for 5-7 minutes till soft.

3. Sir in garlic and cumin and sauté for a few more minutes, then add green chilis, green enchilada sauce, chicken stock and chicken. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on your chicken. Turn to low and simmer for about 15 minutes or until you’re ready to eat.

4. Stir in Greek yogurt, cream cheese, and corn and simmer for five more minutes just until corn is no longer frozen. All done!

5. Top individual bowls with cheese, sour cream (we use low or non-fat), avocado, fresh cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and tortilla chips or Fritos!

Go check out the original recipe for the macros (nutritional value) and variations. Do yourself a favor and pick up one of LIllie’s cookbooks. (One more time is our favorite). You won’t regret it.

Homemade Copycat Perfect Bars

Photo: Eat The Grains

We love to grab these at the store for an on-the-go meal, but they’re so expensive, so why not pack a little extra protein in your life without having to fire up the oven?

Ingredients

• 1 cup natural peanut butter (256 grams) (you can use smooth or chunky)

• 1 cup egg white protein powder (80 grams) - see notes for substitutions

• 1/4 cup maple syrup (see notes)

• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (60 grams)

• Flaked sea salt, for topping

Instructions

1. Add your peanut butter, protein powder and maple syrup to a stand mixer and use the paddle attachment to mix until a dough forms, about 30 seconds to one minute. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use a food processor or just mix by hand with a fork in a medium-sized bowl.

2. Add in 3 tablespoons of the chocolate chips and mix again until combined about 5 seconds. Be careful not to overmix as the dough will become crumbly.

3. Line an 8x8 glass baking dish or bread pan (an 8x8 will give you 8 thinner bars and a bread pan will give you 6 thicker bars)* with parchment paper (this makes for easy removal) and press mixture into the bottom of the pan until evenly distributed. Top with the remaining chocolate chips and a little bit of sea salt. Cut into 8 equal-size bars. To firm them up a little, you can place them in the fridge. Store in the fridge for up to a week.

Thanks to Kelly with Eat the Gains for this fabulous recipe. Make sure to check out the original for tips, tricks and other mix-ins. There are so many versions of this recipe out there, but we chose this one because of its’ high protein and low sugar content.

Calories: 292kcal

Protein: 16g

Carbs: 20g

Fat: 19g

Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Protein Muffins

Photo: Unsplash

If you love healthy, high-protein meals and don’t follow Lainie Cooks on social media, stop right now and follow her. Here’s one of our favs out of her kitchen.

Ingredients

• 1 cup natural peanut butter

• 1 cup pumpkin

• 1/3 cup maple syrup

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp pumpkin spice

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 -2 scoop vanilla protein powder

• 1/2 cup choc chips (+ more for topping)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• In a bowl, mix all ingredients except chocolate chips.

• Add in chocolate chips and mix again. Spray the muffin tin with some oil, then use a cookie scooper to add the mixture to the muffin tin.

• Top with more chocolate chips and bake for 15 minutes.

• Let cool completely, then remove from muffin tin and store in the fridge or freezer.

Vanilla Dutch Baby

Photo: Unsplash

Who knew breakfast could be this good and this easy?

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter

• 3 eggs

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup milk, heated 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

• Pinch salt

• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Put the butter in a large, ovenproof, nonstick saute pan and place in the oven.

3. Meanwhile, in a blender, combine the eggs, flour, warm milk, sugar, vanilla extract and pinch of salt, and blend on medium-high speed until uniform. (If mixing by hand, combine the eggs with the milk until the mixture is light yellow and no longer stringy, about 1 minute. Add the flour, sugar, vanilla, and pinch of salt, and whisk vigorously to remove the lumps, about 30 seconds.)

4. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. The butter should be melted. Swirl the butter around the pan to coat completely, and then pour the remaining butter into the batter and pulse to blend. Pour the batter into the hot pan and return the pan to the oven. Cook until the pancake is puffed in the center and golden brown along the edges, 20 to 25 minutes.

5. Using a spatula, remove the entire Dutch baby from the pan and place on a cooling rack for a few minutes to allow the steam to escape without condensing along the bottom and rendering the pancake soggy. Dust with confectioners' sugar when cooled slightly. Slice the pancake into 8 wedges on a serving platter or cutting board.

Thank you the Food Network for this gem of a recipe. If you’re interested in cooking but are maybe new to the craft, check out all of the easy recipes the Food Network has.

Monkey Bread

Photo: Unsplash

Serve it for breakfast, lunch or dinner (we’re not judging).

Ingredients

• 3 cans of buttermilk biscuits (the non-flaky ones)

• 1 cup of granulated sugar

• 2 to 3 tsp. of cinnamon

• 2 sticks of butter

• 1/2 cup of brown sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. Open up all three cans of biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters.

3. Next, combine the white sugar with 2 to 3 teaspoons of cinnamon. (3 teaspoons of cinnamon gives it a fairly strong cinnamon flavor. If you're not so hot on cinnamon, cut it back to 2 teaspoons.) Dump these into a 1 gallon zip-up bag and shake to mix evenly.

4. Drop all of the biscuit quarters into the cinnamon-sugar mix. Once all the biscuit quarters are in the bag seal it and give it a vigorous shake. This will get all those pieces unstuck from one another and nicely coated with cinnamon sugar. Spread these nuggets out evenly in the Bundt pan.

5. At this point, you're going to want to melt the two sticks of butter together with 1/2 cup of brown sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. This can be light or dark brown sugar. Cook butter-sugar mixture, stirring for a few minutes until the two become one. Once the brown sugar butter has become one color, you can pour it over the biscuits.

6. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes until the crust is a deep dark brown on top. When it's finished cooking, remove it from the oven. If you have the willpower, allow it to cool for about 15 to 30 minutes before turning it over onto a plate.

Who doesn’t love The Pioneer Woman? Thanks to Mrs. Drummond for this crowd-pleasing recipe. Make sure you check her out for more goodness served up on a plate.