breakfast|Sparkles and Sprinkles

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins {gluten-free, low-sugar}

by sparkle | Sep 29, 2023 | Breakfast Recipes, Snack and Dessert Recipes

Enjoy these healthy gluten-free pumpkin muffins with a cup of tea or coffee for a treat on a cozy fall day!

For this recipe, we simply modified our healthy gluten-free cupcake recipe. If you would like the kid-friendly, visual instructions, follow our cupcake recipe, with these modifications:

reduce Greek yogurt from 2 to 1.5 cups
use 4 Tbsp. maple syrup
add 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
add 1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
add 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
add 1 cup dark chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips

P.S. We love light buckwheat flour for gluten-free baking. Light buckwheat does not have the strong taste of regular buckwheat, and it has a nice light color. We order our light buckwheat directly through Bouchard Family Farms (with a quantity discount), but if you would like to try just one bag, it is also available on Amazon.

Enjoy!

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Beautiful Sunday Waffles {gluten-free, high protein, low-carb}

by sparkle | Sep 21, 2022 | Breakfast Recipes, Snack and Dessert Recipes

When we first started making these waffles, we named them “beautiful Sunday waffles” because the whole family loved them… and they were so delicioulsy filling that no one complained of being hungry all through Sunday Mass. We were even able to come home after Mass and not feel rushed to get lunch on the table. Hooray!

Only 3 simple ingredients are needed for these protein-packed waffles:

natural salted peanut butter
eggs
vanilla extract

Of course these waffles can be made any day of the week! We find they are great on school days too. I like to make a large batch on the weekends, and reheat them in the microwave for quick and nourishing weekday breakfasts. Waffles can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days on a plate, covered in plastic wrap. Waffles can also be placed in a Ziplock bag and kept in the freezer for a number of weeks. We use 15 eggs in this recipe simply because that is the largest quantity our blender can hold. However, the recipe could be scaled down to use 10 eggs and 1 cup of peanut butter, or 5 eggs and 1/2 cup of peanut butter.

We use peanut butter in our waffles, but salted almond butter can also work. Be sure that the nut butter you use is natural and very drippy. Our favorite drippy natural peanut butter is Welsley Farms Organic Peanut Butter from BJ’s. We have not tried sunbutter, but we would love to hear in the comments below if that is something that works for those with nut allergies.

Because these waffles are naturally full of protein and low-carb, they can be topped to your delight with toppings you love! Yogurt and berries? Maple syrup or honey? Whipped cream, chocolate and bananas? What toppings do you love? Our children love to have waffle decorating contests… stay tuned… we might just have a Sparkles and Sprinkles waffle decorating contest in the coming months!

We typically use a Belgian waffle maker or our Cuisinart griddle fitted with waffle irons. However, we recently tried out a little waffle maker by Dash. Our daughters think it is just too cute! It also comes in a fun variety of colors. If you like thinner, smaller waffles, the little Dash waffle maker is great. A little warning if children are helping in the kitchen, though: the handle is very small and can get hot, so use a hot pad when lifting the handle. We also found it was helpful to use silicone tongs to remove the waffles from the maker. If you are making waffles for a crowd, you may want to have a few of these small waffle makers to make more than one waffle at a time.

While most of our recipes on Sparkles and Sprinkles are great for children to help in the kitchen, this waffle recipe is probably best for adults and older children (due to the many eggs to crack and the hot waffle iron). If your little ones need a fun activity for while you are making this delicious breakfast, we recommend the Learning Rescources Waffle Time play kitchen set. Our children continue to play with this delightful set year after year.

One final note before we get started. Though it may not be necessary, we usually butter our waffle iron before pouring the batter. However, if the waffles do happen to stick, we find that the handle of a silicone spoon can help to remove any stuck bits of waffle.

Let’s make waffles!

Gather your ingredients:

15 eggs

1 1/2 cups natural salted creamy peanut butter (if your nut butter is unsalted, add a dash or salt to your batter)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Butter (optional – to grease the waffle iron if needed)

Gather your kitchen supplies:

Waffle maker

Blender

Silicone spatula

1 cup measuring cup

1/2 cup measuring cup

1 teaspoon

large (4 cup) glass liquid measuring cup

plates (for finished waffles and for serving)

forks (for removing waffles from the maker, and for serving)

silicone baby spoon (optional – helpful for removing any bits of waffle that might stick to the waffle maker)

silicone tongs (optional – for removing waffles from the maker without the risk of scratching the maker)

Measure, blend, cook, and enjoy!

Step 1

Crack 15 eggs into a large glass liquid measuring cup.

Step 2

Carefully pour the eggs into the blender. (Hold the blender jar at an angle over the sink while pouring in the eggs from the measuring cup to reduce the risk of spilling the eggs. Then place the blender jar on the blender.)

Step 3

Measure 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Step 4

Pour vanilla extract into the blender jar.

Step 5

Measure 1 1/2 cups peanut butter.

Step 6

Add the peanut butter to the blender jar.

Step 7

Place cover on the blender.

Step 8

Plug in the blender. (Wait until the cover is on to plug in the blender, to avoid any accidents.)

Step 9

Blend until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Step 10

Butter the pre-heated waffle iron. (Be sure to use a long stick of butter so that your hands do not get too close to the heat.)

Step 11

Pour the batter into pre-heated waffle iron. Be careful not to overfill the waffle space.

Step 12

Use a silicone spatula to spread the batter evenly. Add more batter if needed.

Step 13

Close the waffle iron. Let the waffles cook, according to your waffle iron instructions. We find about 4 minutes works for our Belgian waffles.

Step 14

Open the waffle iron. Waffles are cooked when lightly golden brown.

Step 15

Remove the waffles from waffle iron. Use a fork (without touching the waffle iron) or silicone tongs.

Step 16

Place waffles on a plate. Repeat waffle cooking steps until all batter is used.

BON APPETIT!

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Creamy Strawberry Energy Smoothie

by sparkle | Feb 12, 2022 | Breakfast Recipes, Snack and Dessert Recipes

We are writing this in February, when it might be too cold where you live to enjoy a smoothie, but we find we sometimes like to have smoothies even on cold days. They are super fast to make for a healthy breakfast, and they can be a great snack to give you the energy you need to make it through a busy afternoon.

Our cream strawberry energy smoothie is packed with vitamins and protein... and it's pink... so enjoy on Valentine's Day or any day of the year. We give guidelines for measurements in the recipe, but once you have made this a few times, you don't really need to measure, you can just add approximate quantities of ingredients to your liking. We often make our smoothies quite thick (not much almond milk) and eat them like ice cream in a bowl, but you could add more almond milk to be able to drink them from a cup or sip with a straw.

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this page for some fun strawberry-themed activities too!

Let's make a smoothie!

Gather your ingredients:

Frozen strawberries
Almond milk
Natural peanut butter
Plain Greek yogurt

Optional:

Chia seeds
Protein powder

Gather your kitchen supplies:

Blender or food processor
1/2 cup measurer
1 Tbsp
Large spoon
Cups or bowls to serve
Spoons or straws

Time to measure and blend!