"Healthier" Cake Pops/Balls

"Healthier" Cake Pops/Balls

For my friend Alex's birthday, a few friends and I decided to get a little creative and make cake pops. Of course, I had to attempt to remove some of the guilt factor and make a few substitutions. To make cake pops, first you bake a cake! Any cake you like, then crumble and combine it with mass amounts of icing, dip it in chocolate, and decorate it with other sweet treats. As delicious as they are, one pop can contain anywhere from 150-200+ calories! While cake is a requirement for "cake pops" and, for me, chocolate is a must have in any dessert...the icing I could do without. (Also, I didn't think diabetes was a good birthday present) Therefore, I decided to make an easy substitution that gives the cake pops the same texture and flavor but takes out a lot of fat and sugar from the icing. Of course, the recipe could be made even healthier by making a cake from scratch, but I have never claimed to be much of a baker so I took it one substitution at a time. Also, I am not much of a decorator but we tried! Here goes....

(Makes ~45 pops/balls)

Ingredients:

1 box of store bought cake mix and ingredients listed on box, any variety you like

1 bag white chocolate chips

1-2 cups honey greek yogurt

coconut or canola oil

food coloring

sprinkles or any other toppings you like

Tools:

cake pan

lollipop sticks (if you are making cake pops, we couldn't find any so we just make cake balls)

your hands

The recipe is quite simple...

1)     Bake the cake according to box instructions

2)     While cake is cooling, melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave very slowly with 2-3tsp of oil

3)     Once cooled, crumble cake into large mixing bowl

4)     Add 1st cup of yogurt and mix thoroughly with hands, adding more yogurt until the mixture has a very thick "batter" consistency 

5)     Roll "batter" into balls in your hand, about 1" or 1.5" in diameter

6)     If making pops, dip one end of the stick in the chocolate and push about 1/2 way through the cake balls

7)     Place cake pops/balls in freezer for at least 30min

8)     While in freezer make sure chocolate remains melted, divide into separate bowls and place 2-3 drops of food coloring in each bowl

9)     Once cake pops have set, dip in chocolate to coat and top with desired treats

10)   Stand pops upright in Styrofoam or place balls on wax paper/plastic wrap and allow chocolate to harden for a few minutes

Once the chocolate has hardened, they are ready to enjoy!

I have to admit I had lot of help on this one, so thanks Nako, Josh, and Colin!

Grilled Almond Butter and Banana Sandwich

Grilled Almond Butter and Banana Sandwich:

• 1 Multigrain English Muffin (I like Thomas's Light (100 calorie) Multigrain)
• 2 Tbs Almond Butter (Brand and texture of your choice, I like Trader Joe's Creamy Unsalted)
• ~1/2 Large Banana, Sliced
• Grill press or panini press (optional)

Place English muffin in microwave for about 30 seconds to pre-warm and soften even more.
Spread 1Tbs of almond butter onto each side of the English muffin.
Place desired amount of banana slices on each side of the English muffin (I usually try to get as many as possible on there)

Wrap in aluminum foil and place in pre-heated press for about 6-8 min or until you can hear sizzling.
(If you don't have a press, wrap in aluminum foil and place in oven with broiler pre-heated. 10 minutes on each side usually works for me.)

Once ready, cut in half and enjoy with whatever else you like!

(I like to shop less frequently so I usually buy a couple packages of English muffins at a time and freeze a portion of them. To thaw, put frozen muffin on a plate and defrost in the microwave. I do a timed 2min defrost and it comes out perfectly.)

My Comments:
This is a healthy version of comfort food that should average out to around 350 calories a sandwich (depending on the English muffin used and how much banana you decide to put on). You get the benefits of filling fiber from the English muffin, iron and protein from the almond butter, and potassium from the banana. People are generally scared of nut butters because of the fat content, but the fat in almonds is healthy for your heart and beneficial to the body so in small quantities it is very nutritious. Also, almond butter is less processed than peanut butter and thus does not contain extra sugars (just check the label).

I have one of these for breakfast almost every day and I can stay full for hours!

Hope you enjoy!