Chocolate Sun Butter Cups

Chocolate Sun Butter cups are what happens when I look at food blogs 30 minutes before I go to bed. I dream about them and wake up with a craving so intense I get my butt out of bed and directly to the store for the ingredients a 6 in the morning. I am frequently up by 6 in the morning but I am seldom dressed and out the door for anything at 6 in the morning which tells you how badly I wanted these.

These cups only took about10 minutes to put together and most of that was setting the chocolate in the freezer. I don’t have a microwave so I melted my chocolate chips in the air fryer set on the lowest temperature possible. It took about a minute and a half, stirring occasionally. You could also melt the chocolate chips on the stove with a double boiler.

In interest of full disclosure, I received the Sun Butter I used in this recipe from my friend, Steph, who works at Sun Butter. I have received no compensation for this post. I just really liked the recipe.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted From The Primal Palate Blog

3/4 semi sweet or milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 tsp coconut oil

2 TBS Sun Butter

3/4 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

Place 6 mini cup cake liners in a mini muffin pan; set aside. In a heat proof container combine the chocolate chips and coconut oil. Microwave the chips on low power, stirring every 30 second until melted. Fill each mini muffin cup half way with chocolate. Place in the freezer for 5 – 10 minutes to set the chocolate.

Meanwhile, combine the Sun Butter, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl; mix well. When the chocolate has set, divide the Sun Butter mixture over the 6 mini muffin cups. Make sure to spread the Sun Butter mixture to the edges of the chocolate bottom. Use the remaining chocolate mixture to cover the Sun Butter mixture, again make sure you spread the chocolate all the way to the edge. Place in the freezer for another 10 minutes or until the chocolate is set.

Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies

My friend, Christina, posted this recipe for two perfect chocolate chip cookies on her Instagram feed last week.  They sounded so good but with heat in the high 80’s and no air conditioning I wasn’t about to turn on the oven to make them.  After  mourning my cookieless state for a while, I realized I could probably bake these in the air fryer so I tried it and it worked great.

I used a 7 quart Gourmia air fryer for this recipe.  The time and temperate  in the recipe are based on what it takes to get done in that air fryer.  If you have a different size or brand start with the temperature at 350 degrees and check them every 3 minutes until they are done to your liking.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

From Christina Lane’s Dessert For Two Instagram feed

2 TBS butter, melted

3 TBS packed brown sugar

1 egg yolk

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup flour

1//8 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup chocolate chips

In a small bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla, until well combined.

In another small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt, mix well.

Sprinkle the moist ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until all the dry ingredients are combined.  Divide mixture into two mounds and press to flatten slightly.

Baking in the air fryer: Put the cookie dough in the air fryer basket.   Bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing the cookies from the air fryer basket.

Cooking in the oven.   Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the  cookie dough onto a baking sheet. Press slightly to flatten.  Bake 17-18 minutes.  Eat.

Instant Pot Mini Pumpkin Pie Pudding

This morning I hadn’t even got to my station before I heard the store manager say “Julie, could you come here for a second?  I need to talk to you.”  My heart sank.  It’s never a good thing when your boss comes to the floor and says that.  I couldn’t, for the life of me, think what I had done or said to a co-worker or a customer that would get me a talking to.  I don’t get talked to often but when I get called to the office for a talking to I usually have a pretty good idea why before I get to the office.  The store manager took me aside and told me that on Saturday a customer pulled him aside and told him how awesome Julie on lane 5 was.  I was friendly, talkative, and really good at my job.  She would come back to the store and get in my line anytime.  She appreciated how hard I work for her and the other customers.  That was so totally NOT!!! what I was expecting to hear.  It really made my day.  I don’t often hear the positive things my customers think about me so it means the world to me when I hear them.  It means as much to me that my store manager heard them too.   So today I challenge you to take a minute or so out of your day and let your favorite cashier, hair dresser, nail tech, server, or others in service to you, know they are doing a good job and you appreciate them and what they do.  You will never know how much it can mean to those in service.

This recipe is like eating the pumpkin part of a pumpkin pie.  Originally, the recipe was keto but I am not so my adaption uses cow’s milk and real sugar.  I like the recipe a little less sweet so I used 4 tablespoons of sugar.  Add the other 2 tablespoons of sugar to the filling if you like it sweeter.

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted from The Keto Instant Pot Cookbook (note:  My adaption is not keto)

1 egg

1/4 milk

4-6 TBS sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp vanilla

Grease a 5 inch pan well, get all the surfaces.   In a small bowl, whisk the egg.  Add the milk, sugar, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, and vanilla.  Mix throughly.  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and cover with foil.  Add water into the liner and place the trivet in the pot.  Place covered pan on the trivet.  Lock the lid.  Cook on high for 20 minutes.  Naturally release for 10 minutes and then quick release the remaining pressure. 

The Dessert for Two Cookbook — A Review

Contrary to what my mom thinks, I am pretty particular about the cookbooks I buy for my collection. I have a rather strict set of criteria a cookbook must meet before I buy it, the most important being will I actually use it. If it fails to meet two or more of my criteria it stays on the shelf.

I have been looking forward to Christina Lane’s Dessert for Two cookbook since she announced it last summer. I finally got to pick it up a few weeks ago. It meets every one of my criteria and it has the added bonus of being a small batch cookbook. Something I don’t get to see very often and recommend even less.

Here are some of the things I like about Christina’s cookbook.

1. The majority of recipes in her book have not appeared on her blog. There are some recipes like her chocolate chip cookies and her sugar cookies that have appeared on her blog but there are just enough repeats to make the cookbook feel homey and familiar to those of us who have followed her for years. There are more than enough new recipes to make those of us who have followed her for years curl up on the couch with our sticky notes and book mark page after page. Oh, maybe that is just me but I don’t think so.

2. Christina’s desserts use common, easy to find ingredients. I bet you have all or the majority of ingredients for at least some of the recipes in your kitchen right now.

3. Christina’s recipes are 100 percent reliable. I am a fairly competent cook and baker but I have had cookbooks where recipe after recipe I have tried fails and fails spectacularly. If you follow Christina’s clear, concise directions you will always have a great end product.

Just so you know, I have received no compensation of any kind for this review. I am just a big fan of Christina’s blog and book. She has inspired everything I do here on A Solitary Feast. I just wanted to let you all about an awesome blog.