Wordless Wednesday: Pour Some Sugar On Me

Zucchini Kill Bakery – Hot Chocolate Cupcake
Zucchini Kill Bakery – Rebel Swrrl
Unicorniverse – Speculoos Chocolate Mousse
Unicorniverse – Lemon Blackberry Macaron
Rison & Lott’s – Banana Pudding
Pressed – Freeze

Flower Child – Chocolate Pudding

Top Notch

Dogs; man’s (and woman)’s best friend. Our constant companions, protectors, and lovable fluff balls. My fur baby is so much more than a mere pet, as I’m sure most dog mamas and daddies would agree, which is why you’ll always find at least one recipe intended for our four-legged friends in each of my cookbooks. Even when I’m tired of cooking for myself, I’ll never get bored of sharing that passion with my little boy, Luka. He’s the kindest critic I know, wolfing down even the craziest creations with gusto. No matter that he would just as soon eat snails off the sidewalk- it’s still a compliment I’m happy to take at face value.

Recently, I was lucky enough to join forces with Wild Earth, makers of innovative plant-based dog food and treats, to introduce a few toppers to whip up for your own canine gourmands.

What’s a topper, and why do you want one? Think of it as a dog’s answer to ketchup with French fries. Sure, the fries are great by themselves, hot and crispy with a light touch of salt, but they would be even better with a velvety pool of ketchup to dip them in. Beyond the immediate gratification of a delicious dinner, though, you’re introducing a rich array of whole food nutrients in every bite. It’s a treat, it’s a condiment, and it’s a multivitamin supplement, all in one!

First up: Fur Baby Furikake! On the Japanese dinner table, furikake is an essential seasoning even more important than mere salt and pepper. Plain white rice becomes a crave-worthy meal with just a sprinkle, and that not even the beginning of its full-flavored potential. Toasted seaweed meets golden sesame seeds and a diverse palate of spices, depending on the blend for this savory staple. Deeply umami, lightly crunchy, and endlessly customizable to suit individual tastes, furikake deserves a place in every pantry.

If your pup is kind enough to share, there’s a universal appeal to this savory sprinkle. When my own good boy isn’t looking, I’ll admit to using this over freshly popped popcorn, warm sticky rice, and even baked tofu.

Puppy Peanut Sauce may very well become a new staple in your pantry, too. Creamy, sweet, salty, savory and sometimes even spicy, peanut sauce is the Swiss army knife of dressings. Every culture has their own distinctive approach, but it always comes down to a small handful of pantry staples. This recipe for Puppy Peanut sauce combines smooth, creamy peanut butter with a well-balanced combination of spices, a bit of sweetness, and just a touch of acid for an infinitely adaptable formula. Even though this might sound like a recipe for us humans, we’re not the only ones that find this indispensable condiment irresistible.

For those with opposable thumbs, you’ll want to keep a firm grasp on this bottle of liquid gold because it sparkles on everything from salads to stir fries, spring rolls to satay, and beyond. Add a touch of heat with sriracha to appease human palates, along with a splash of soy sauce to round things out. Alternately, take it in the opposite direction with a dab of maple syrup, and you’ll have a dynamite dessert sauce for lavishing on top of ice cream, or dipping into with cut fruit.

Sit, stay, get your Good Boy Gravy! What’s the secret sauce that makes homely biscuits remarkable meals and covers a multitude of sins should you burn the roast on Thanksgiving Day? Gravy, that simple, savory sauce, has got your back. By definition, the word itself also means “something additional or unexpected that is pleasing or valuable,” which is an equally appropriate description for this classic pan sauce.

Speed through this recipe by simply blending a can of cooked, drained lentils with the remaining ingredients if you don’t have time to start from scratch. To be worthy of the dinner table, consider adding 2 tablespoons of soy sauce for a bit of an umami boost, and don’t be afraid to dabble with seasonings. Rubbed sage is a distinctive taste that immediately tastes like a fall feast with just a pinch, and a touch of smoked paprika does wonders to warm the overall flavors. Though this batch yields a generous amount for one pup, I have a feeling your good boy (or girl) won’t be the only one tempted to partake.

Fill up your fur baby’s bowl with some serious good eats. Get 20% off your first purchase of Wild Earth food or treats by clicking through my link, and don’t forget to check out those topper recipes on the Wild Earth Dog Blog for a special treat!

Do the Monster Munch

There’s certainly no shortage of sweet treats this time of year. Mountains of glittering, foil-wrapped candies adorn office desks and kitchen counters alike, tempting passersby to indulge at every turn. Though the abundance of goodies excites my sweet tooth, the wide range of offerings all too often prove disappointing to my taste buds; throat-searing sugary centers enrobed in waxy chocolate coatings are more common than not, each morsel putting on a festive facade to mask its flat flavors. Time and again, each new crop of bewitching confections fails to satisfy. Stop the madness, I say! Step away from the shiny packages and seek solace in a far more satisfying popcorn snack experience.

Matcha Munchies Green Tea Popcorn Snack

Popcorn, the crisp, fluffy kernels that boast an impressive serving of fiber in each handful are the savior of peckish healthy eaters everywhere. This workhorse snack provides the perfect blank canvas for a Halloween treat that’s a far lesser evil than those frightful mass-produced candies.

Tinted a monstrous shade of green thanks to the bold addition of green tea powder, each bite of this popcorn snack recipe rings with the complex interplay of sweet and bitter tastes, each in perfect harmony. Crunchy clusters of pumpkin seeds round out the mix with a subtly nutty flavor. Drizzling dark chocolate over the top really gilds the lily, but for an event as flamboyant as Halloween, it seems appropriate to pull out all the stops.

Matcha Munchies Green Tea Popcorn Snack

Though little trick-or-treaters may not appreciate this more mature, sugar-coated delight, that only means there’s more of this delicious popcorn snack to go around for the rest of us. It may appear to yield an intimidating amount of glorious green kernels, but don’t you dream of reducing the recipe. Not even the most sour ghost or ghoul could resist its wicked charm.

Yield: Makes About 7 Cups; 6 – 8 Servings

Matcha Monster Munch

Matcha Monster Munch

Tinted a monstrous shade of green thanks to the bold addition of green tea powder, each bite of this popcorn snack recipe rings with the complex interplay of sweet and bitter tastes, each in perfect harmony. Crunchy clusters of pumpkin seeds round out the mix with a subtly nutty flavor. Drizzling dark chocolate over the top really gilds the lily, but for an event as flamboyant as Halloween, it seems appropriate to pull out all the stops.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 Cups Freshly Popped Popcorn
  • 1 Cup Pepitas
  • 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 2 Teaspoons Matcha Powder
  • 1/4 Cup Brown Rice Syrup
  • 1 Tablespoon Vegan Butter or Coconut Oil, Melted
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 4 Ounces (About 3/4 Cup Chopped) Bittersweet Chocolate, Melted

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and lightly grease a jelly roll pan or any rimmed baking sheet. Combine the popped corn and pumpkin seeds in a large bowl and set aside.
  2. In medium saucepan with high sides, combine the sugar, matcha, rice syrup, melted butter or coconut oil, and salt. Whisk vigorously to break up any small clumps of matcha before proceeding. They can be tricky to disperse, especially in hot liquids, so don’t be afraid to really beat the mixture up while you have the chance. Set the pan on the stove over medium heat.
  3. Periodically stir as the mixture heats up, until the sugar has dissolved. Once it reaches a full boil, stop stirring and allow it to cook at a lively bubble for 5 minutes. Don’t rush it!
  4. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Working quickly but carefully, pour the hot sugar syrup over your bowl of popped corn and gently stir to coat. Transfer the entire thing over to your prepared baking pan, spreading it out into an even a layer as possible, and move it into your oven. Bake, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour.
  5. Let cool completely before drizzling all over with melted chocolate. Allow the chocolate to fully set before breaking the popcorn into large clusters. Store in an airtight container in a cool place for 3 – 4 days, maximum.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 333Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 135mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 4gSugar: 23gProtein: 7g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on BitterSweetBlog.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimates.

Scary Good Sweets

’tis time! ’tis time!
Round about the caldron go;
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

Fear not, dear readers. The bubbling hell broth on my stove on this crisp October evening is not poison, nor calls for such unpleasant inclusions as eye of newt or baboon’s blood. Quite the contrary, the glowing orange brew cooking away on my fire lands distinctly on the opposite end of that spectrum, farm from poison, or similarly tricky “treats.”

Forget the laundry list of obscure magical inclusions. Candy is possible not only with simple everyday ingredients, but wholesome staples that wouldn’t spook the healthiest of goblins- Or their parents.

Pumpkin spice, straight to the point, possesses these gummy morsels with more than a merely haunting flavor. Spirited seasonal sweetness rings true in each chewy bite, casting an impossibly enchanting spell. Quantities may look small, but each batch produces a bountiful harvest of tiny pumpkin pieces, so there should be plenty to appease any hungry apparitions that arrive as the witching hour approaches. That said, they’re so quick and effortless to whip up, it may not be such a bad idea to stock up, before those charming costumed creatures turn into ravenous monsters.

Yield: Makes About 60 Mini Pumpkin Gummies

Pumpkin Spice Gummies

Pumpkin Spice Gummies

Sweet and chewy, light spiced, and full of pumpkin goodness, these little morsels are truly a mouthful!

Prep Time 6 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Additional Time 30 minutes
Total Time 41 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Puree
  • 1 Cup Apple Juice Concentrate
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons Agar Powder
  • 1 Teaspoon Pumpkin Spice Extract or Pumpkin Spice Blend

Instructions

  1. Have four mini pumpkin candy molds at the ready, or a comparable shape. Alternately, you can line an 8 x 8-inch square baking pan with foil and plan to simply cut out gummy squares. Just be sure to lightly grease the foil before proceeding.
  2. Whisk all of the ingredients in a small saucepan until smooth and set over medium heat. Stir gently but consistently; you should start to feel the mixture thicken almost instantly. Continue scraping the bottom and sides of the pan as you stir to prevent sticking or burning, until the mixture is sticky but spoonable. It will be so dense that it doesn’t quite come to a boil, but should bubble up around the edges quite a bit.
  3. Smooth the mixture into your molds as quickly as possible, is the candy sets up very quickly. Let stand at room temperature until fully set; at least 20 – 30 minutes. Pop the pumpkins out of the molds and trim away any excess, if necessary. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 5 – 7 days… If they don’t mysteriously disappear first…

Recommended Products

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

60

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 3Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on BitterSweetBlog.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimations.