Monkey Bars

Thanks to my wonderful friends, family and your lovely comments, I ended up having a great twentieth birthday! Let me recap the highlight of the night for you...

A group of friends and I went to this mexican restaurant for dinner. My best friend Melissa decked me out in obnoxiously glittery necklaces saying "happy birthday" and a birthday goblet. When the servers of the place noticed this, one of them came over and said "It's your birthday? I make you something." 
About 20 minutes later, out came this huge plate of deep-fried something covered in whipped cream with a trail of servers following. They put a sombrero on my head, sang me happy birthday and tried to spoon feed me whipped cream and couldn't understand why I wouldn't just eat it. I'm pretty sure I was bright red the entire time. 

Lesson learned? Birthdays are really just excuses for your friends to embarrass the hell out of you :)

Anyway, the day after my birthday I had a huge sugar crash, so I decided I had to bake some other treat to have around. I called them monkey bars because of the super yummy banana and coconut combo- monkeys eat those things, right?

These really don't have too much sugar in them and with oats and whole wheat flour I decided I could justify eating one for breakfast! Although they are so delicious, it's really hard to eat just one.  I pawned a couple off on my friends and they absolutely loved them. 

Friend tested, friend approved. 

Monkey Bars

makes 9 bars

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp agave 
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 ripe bananas
1 1/2 tsp energ-G egg replacer mixed with 2 tbsp water or 1/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Topping:

1 tbsp agave
2 tbsp oats
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut

1. Preheat your oven to 350º and lightly oil an 8x8" pan.
2. Mash the bananas in a large bowl. Whisk in the oil, brown sugar, agave, vanilla and egg-replacer. Stir until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Fold in the coconut and chocolate chips and pour the batter into your prepared pan.

4. Make the topping by placing all of the ingredients in a small bowl and crumbing them together with your fingers. Sprinkle evenly over the batter and bake the bars for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool at least 15 minutes before cutting, then dig in and enjoy!

Chewy, crumbly, chocolate-y, with a hint of toasted coconut. Does it get any better?

Twenty.

Hey guys.
Hey guys.
Guess what. 

It's my birthday. 
That's right, I have finally said good riddance to those teenage years and jumped into my twenties!

I try not to hype my own birthdays up too much in general, because, well, nothing can ever beat my pirate birthday party when I was 5, so might as well not raise the expectations. My friends and I will celebrate tonight, but for now I'll take this birthday morning to reflect.

I won't pretend to be a life expert. Twenty years is nothing in the grand scheme of things. But you can learn a lot in twenty years, so I thought I would share these little gems of wisdom and advice with you. You can take it or leave it :)

Twenty Things for Twenty Years

1. You can try to ignore it, but no matter what, family will always be the most important influence in your life.
2. Friendships, like any relationships, take a lot of work. If you’re not willing to work for it, it’s probably not worth having.

3. Never underestimate the power of heels and a little lipstick.

4. Boys are not as complicated as girls make them.

5. Not sleeping enough = getting sick. It may be un-cool to actually sleep in college, but sleep is good. Get some.

6. You should never feel like you to have to be anyone other than yourself around your best friends.

7. Things are only awkward if you make them awkward. Usually a smile solves it.

8. If you want something from someone, ask for it. No one can read minds. Except Voldemort.

9. You never know what will happen if you put yourself out there, but it’s worth the risk. Starting this blog was definitely putting myself out there and it has paid off so far!

10. If you have a really great idea, don’t just keep it in your head. Tell someone or write it down somewhere- then at least it’s out there, waiting to become something real.

11. Never shop for anything on an empty stomach.

12. If you have a stressful day ahead of you, wear a cute outfit. It helps, I promise.

13. It’s nice to have friends outside of your age range. Younger people bring you optimism and older people bring you wisdom.

14. No one can make the big decisions for you. In the end babe, it all comes down to your gut feeling.

15. Most people like meeting new people. So go ahead and chat up that guy that serves you coffee every day, you might make a friend.

16. If you’re not happy, change something. No exceptions or excuses.

17. Never be embarrassed about the music you listen to. Why yes, I do listen to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack while I do my homework sometimes.

18. Always always always make lists.

19. People will always question why you want to be an artist. As long as you  know the answer, nothing else matters.

20. You should never feel guilty about indulging yourself once in a while. So go make these cupcakes- now.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Cookie Dough Frosting (adapted from Recipe Girl)

makes 1 dozen cupcakes

Cookie Dough:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegan margarine, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cupcakes:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer mixed with 2 tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Cookie Dough Frosting:

1/3 cup margarine
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour 
1 tbsp soy milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

extra chocolate chips to decorate

1. Prepare the Cookie Dough Filling: Cream together the margarine and sugar. Whisk in the soy milk and vanilla, then mix in the dry ingredients until smooth and creamy. Fold in the chocolate chips. Scoop rounded tablespoons of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet and stick in the freezer for about 30 minutes, or until completely hardened.
2. While the dough freezes, prepare the cupcakes. Preheat your oven to 375º and line a cupcake tin. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add in the wet and stir until combined. Pour the batter evenly between 12 cupcake cups. Take out the frozen cookie dough and press a ball of dough into each cupcake.
3. Bake the cupcakes for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (from the cupcake part, not the cookie dough).
4. Prepare the frosting: In a medium bowl, cream together the sugars and margarine. Add in the soy milk, vanilla and flour and stir until smooth and fluffy.
5. Let the cupcakes cool for at least 30 minutes, then frost them generously. Decorate with chocolate chips.

Oh my.

Okay I'll admit, these cupcakes weren't actually made for my birthday. I baked them last weekend for my friend's 21st and I think they might be the best cupcakes I have ever made. Three people asked me to marry them after taking a bite. These are sinfully delicious.

Time to go celebrate my day!