Homemade Chocolate Chips

1 cup coconut oil (or any solid healthy fat)
1 cup cocoa powder
5 Tbsp sweetener (liquid or granulated work fine. Use as healthy an option as possible. If using stevia extract, substitute 3 scoops, or to taste. I used honey)
2 tsp vanilla

Melt coconut oil over a very low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in cocoa, sweetener, and vanilla. (If you heat over too high of a heat or don’t remove from the heat, the coconut oil will separate from the cocoa when cooling. You can still eat it, but it won’t be as smooth.)
Pour mixture into a pan (8×8 works well).
Place in refrigerator or freezer until solid. Remove from pan, and cut into chunks of desired size with a good, solid knife.
Store in a cool place until ready to use.
Yields approximately 3 cups of chips. Has a similar taste to dark chocolate, depends on how much sweetener you use!

* when using this for chocolate peanut butter cups (see previous post) don't freeze first, use the liquid chocolate as required for the cups and freeze and make into chips whatever is left over! *

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I used homemade peanut butter made from only peanuts and nothing else)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips * see note below
2 Tablespoons shortening

Cut 15 full size foil cupcake liners to about half their height. (I used silicone baking cups and did not cut them. Once the dessert was solid I peeled the silicone cups off and stored the chocolate cups in the freezer)
In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter, powdered sugar, and salt. Knead it slightly with your hands until all the sugar is moistened.
Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave according to package instructions. Or, put them in a microwave safe dish and heat on 50% power for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir, and heat in 15 second intervals, stirring after each, until melted and smooth.
Put one teaspoon chocolate in each foil liner and tilt the liner so that the chocolate covers the bottom and a little bit of the sides.
Place them on a plate or in a muffin pan and put them in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Roll 1 1/2 teaspoons of the peanut butter mixture into a ball and flatten it with your hands. Place it in the bottom of a chocolate lined cupcake liner. It should not touch the edges. Repeat with all 15 liners.
Add 2 teaspoons of chocolate on top of the peanut butter and spread it with the spoon out to the edges of the liner, letting it fill in around the peanut butter.
Store in the refrigerator. Eat cold or at room temperature.

*Instead of melting chocolate chips and shortening I made my own homemade chocolate - see next post*

Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice and zest of one lemon (I think next time I may even do juice from 1 1/2 lemons)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
Blueberries fresh or frozen

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mix sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream mixture. Mix well. Spread in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Sprinkle blueberries on top of batter according to taste. We like lots of berries on top. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until cake tests done.

I think this would also taste good with raspberries instead of blueberries!

Icelandic Baked Fish

1 tablespoon butter
6 fish fillets or 6 cod fish fillets I used both cod and Alaskan Pollock (we preferred the Pollock but both were good)
1 lemon
salt , pepper to taste
200 g emmenthaler cheese or 200 g tilsiter cheese , grated (I used emmenthaler)
1 tablespoon mustard (I used dijon mustard)
1 cup cream
½ cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven at 180° celsius. Butter a baking-dish. Put the fillets into the baking-dish. Season the fillets with salt, pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Cover the fish with ground cheese. Mix mustard with cream and pour it over fish fillets. Cover with breadcrumbs. Bake the fillets for 35 minutes. Serve with rice or noodles.

Maple Muffins

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening or butter
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup real maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease the cups of a 12-cup muffin pan.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in oats. Add egg, milk, and syrup. Stir only until dry ingredients are moistened. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and let stand a few minutes before removing muffins from the pan.

Swedish Meat Pies

1 tablespoon butter
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
2 large red potatoes, grated
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup shortening
12 tablespoons sour cream (i needed a little more than this)

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble in the ground beef and add onion, parsley, dill, and grated potatoes. Cook and stir until the meat is browned. Drain any excess grease. Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese until melted. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Mix in the shortening with a fork or pastry cutter until only pea sized lumps remain. Stir in sour cream a little bit at a time until the dough holds together. Knead briefly on a lightly floured surface. Divide into eight equal portions, and pat into balls.
Roll out each ball of dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Place a heaping 1/2 cup of filling onto each one. Fold over into half circles, and seal by moistening the edges with warm water and pressing together. Place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Makes 8 LARGE meat pies.

We made these while studying Sweden during a unit study on Vikings and the areas around where they lived.

Buttermilk Honey Wheat Bread

1 1/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Dissolve baking soda in the buttermilk. Put rest of ingredients into bread maker pan in order given. I baked it on the light crust setting and basic bread setting. A very yummy, light and fluffy bread!