no bake recipes Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Frosted Donuts (No-Bake) + Tempering Chocolate Tips

Frosted donuts are delicious and fun… and you may remember them from childhood. Or maybe just saw them at a grocery store. They’re still around.

And these homemade frosted donuts you can make easily with a smooth, shiny dark chocolate coating, known as tempering. And with no baking at all. The filling is a no-bake healthy cake recipe.

These are all the steps… here we go!

For starters, you’ll grab the ingredients. And I mean grab. You don’t need to remember to bring butter out to room temps. Because there is no butt-ah!

The ingredients are room temp pantry items: flour, olive oil, chocolate, and extract.

How’s that for ease?

And for a healthy and happy donut (that’s the only kind I like to make).

The filling is an all almond cookie/cake (or frosted donut) that again is no baking or cooking. It’s one-bowl and hand mixing easy. No fuss, no muss.

Almond cookie no bake Cookie: and 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/8 cup light EVOO and 1 tsp almond extract

It’s the same one I used in a gluten-free rainbow cookie. 🌈

Over the rainbow, it’s good for everyone and you decide if the cake filling is more of a vanilla-almond or pure almond tasting one.

And you can bring out the ligher tastes with a contrasting dark chocolate shell like a healthy 70% or more darker chocolate that’s reminiscent of a frosted donut.

The fun part is tempering dark chocolate from dark chocolate morsels or baking squares. And it’s worth the small extra effort, as you get this nice shiny finish no matter what shape your donuts are.

Which btw, you want to find chocolate molds to shape that have a top and a bottom so you can fill the middle with cake filling. So no ice trays.

And how I found you best do it consistently without burning chocolate is in the double boiler method.

To get the heat, you make a double boiler setup on the stove with a heat-proof bowl that can fit ontop of and fully cover a cooking pot rim. This way you keep the chocolate away from the steam by blocking the steam.

I actually setup up a triple boiler. I put a bowl inside of a bowl that sat ontop of the pot rim.

And that worked great as the chocolate got heated but was shielded from the elements of burning (🔥) and steam (💧). Neither of which are good earthly touching elements for chocolate.

…Maybe chocolate is heavenly?

And if you can keep the chocolate to intense summer tan heat and room air only elements, chocolate rewards you by giving a shine at the end.

Like shined leather shoes that gets looks for all the right reasons. 👀

It’s chocolate magic since you needed no buffing tools or additional ingredients. With just the right temps, you have tempered chocolate ready to use for you donuts. And an acquired chocolate whisperer skill. You in?

How to Temper Dark Chocolate (Frosted Donut) - Double Boiler Method

Tempering chocolate is an easy way to make a frosted donut.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

pot
heat-proof bowl that can sit not the rim of the pot
kitchen-use temperature gauge
chocolate molds

Ingredients

dark chocolate morsels
cake filling

Instructions

Set 1/3 "seeding" chocolate aside and put 2/3 chocolate into heating bowl.
Heat the chocolate: Using your stove top, heat chocolate using a double boiler method, so you don't burn the chocolate. Set chocolate inside the heating bowl that is best to sit ontop of the rim top of a pot filled with water 1/4 to 1/2 way up in the pot. Be sure to prevent the chocolate from getting wet or steam coming in contact, or the chocolate could seize up (turn grainy and the opposite of shiny). Heat chocolate to ideally 118°F/47°C
Cool the chocolate: Finish tempering the chocolate by adding "seeding" chocolate and letting it cool to ideally 86°F/30°C or slightly lower (but not lower than 80°F/26°C).
Use the chocolate immediately. Pour into top and bottom molds. Leave enough unused tempered chocolate for piping or "glue-ing" the two halves together after the filling is added.
Refrigerate molded chocolate for at least 30 minutes.
Pull out chocolates out of molds and add cake filling in both halves.
Glue the two chocolate halves with a piping bag with the tempered chocolate or smear with a decorating spatula.
Refrigerate again until chocolate halves are sealed and dry.
Enjoy right away or refrigerate for up to 2-3 days.

Rocky Road Energy Snack Bar (No-Bake)

Rocky road is a good name for a lumpy and bumpy chocolate, marshmallow, and nut blend. This one has crystallized ginger and a few hidden bears that can make a challenging road over-bearing (!) and even more slippery.

Imagine driving over this rocky road.

And gratefully this is the edible kind… so the rockier and more challenging the better! 😊 One that you can make today.

An easy way to make your rocky road snack is with a setup where you have an easy Silpat (silicone sheet) set in a deeper baking pan that you can easily pull out. You don’t need baking paper or baking spray. This way ensures no sticking and no messy oils. It’s the easy road (if that pleases you).

In mine, I added some of my favorite plain salty satiating snacks like almonds and pretzels. And this one can be more healthy than a nutritional bar because there’s less sugar.

And you can sub or add in popcorn that’s fiber-rich as a whole grain. And that helps offset the happy food like marshmallows or anything with sugar.

But you can keep it low-sugar like I did… where most the sugar added is the healthy kind… dark chocolate and coconut. Sure, there are a few hidden gummy bears, but those surprises are worth the add!

And trail mix blending this all up in a tasty rocky road bar may just be the energy that’s needed to get you through to your next meal or dinner… and especially good for growing people with lotsa burning energy. 😊

In any event, a rocky road bar is a fun afternoon snack. And can be a colorful one that mimics colors and styles that can be found in nature.

Like rarely do you see straight lines in nature. Not even trees. Everything has some bends and swerves because they weren’t created with a straight edge.

A seemingly messy look is natural, as are beautiful curves.

And even man-made roads and steps aren’t straight as they’re built over nature’s bumps and curves.

And that’s okay!… nature is comfort and provides us with the natural (healthy) foods we can use to make a mimicking rocky road or tiffin bar.

They both are “kitchen sink” snacks as you can throw everything in the kitchen in them.

The one here is oozing with ingredients from nature:

Chocolate melted is like pitter patter rain in the mud tracks.

Cacao tree that produces the bean that cocoa is from. And then cocoa (paste) butter is used to make chocolate that looks a lot like the color of tree trunk and logs.

Almond trees provide almonds and almond flour.

Flowers like dried rose flowers after their season has ended.

Palm trees that produce (shredded) coconut and coconut oil that was used to easily melt the chocolate.

Pretzels, oh well are not natural but you can turn into a natural pretzel in your home yoga. And you can keep your rocky road all-natural if you sub in nuts and seeds.

Peanut butter is one you may have to think about… because we see it creamy in a jar, but nature provides peanuts from the ground up. Unlike tree nuts like almonds that grow from drupe seeds, peanuts come from pods that make them legumes. 🥜

Beans and peas are other different types of legumes. They share healthy in common. Plus, a garbanzo bean and a chick pea are one in the same.

I also added some bears to shake things up. This is a happy snack. 🎉 The happy bears at least fit in the nature theme. They add color, fun and texture when you bite into your rocky road bar.

…’Da bears add to daily comfort too (like stuffed bears 🧸).

And after you’re happy with your trail bar, you can take your rocky road bar and make a trail mix by breaking up the bar into smaller, uneven pieces.

They’ll fit right into your natural activities.

You can take them on your hikes in cooler months when chocolate won’t melt.

That helps remind us of season changes and autumn cooler temp relief is near.

Fall btw is Vata season, so it’s common that you crave sweet and salty more. This is when squirrel are gathering nuts. 🐿️ And us peeps are making trails.

With opposable thumbs you can take it a step further and make many one-of-a-kind rocky road bars. The kind that Rocky and Bullwinkle would love.

Look at these oozing delights read to dive into.

Oh, and if you want to amp up your healthy snacks with all-healthy ingredients, then try this chocolate chip coconut bar made with dates, oats, applesauce, and honey.

No-Bake Rocky Road Energy Snack Bar

A snack that's sweet and salty, with texture and the perfect afternoon snack for some energy

Course Snack

Prep Time 20

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

2 oz cocoa powder (or healthy cacao powder)
2 oz natural peanut butter, creamy
1 oz shredded coconut
1 oz pretzels, broken small
2 oz nuts (almonds, peanuts, pine nuts) and/or seeds
4 oz melted chocolate
1 oz gummy bears (optional), marshmallow or healthier dried fruits
2 oz almond flour

Instructions

Add a baking sheet where the sides will come over the deeper baking pan so you can easily pull out. Use a pan at least 2 inches deep (e.g. a bread loaf pan).
Add a layer of almond flour for the base (or a dry powder like cocoa to absorb the more wet ingredients to come).
Pile a layer of the salty ingredients (nuts, seeds, pretzels, etc.). Drop spoonfuls of peanut butter randomly. You can leave looking rustic (like mud in nature) or smear in as another layer with a knife/offset spatula.
Pour melted chocolate.
Add some of the sweet ingredients (shredded coconut, gummy bears, dried fruits etc.) before the chocolate melts. Reserve some of the colorful sweets for the visible top later.
Add more salty and zhugh ingredients you want to see popping out of the bar.
When you're happy with your bar, refrigerate until set at least 20 minutes.
Pull out of the fridge, break or cut into rectangles or pieces. Enjoy! Store in fridge so the chocolate remains solid.

Matcha Cookie (No-Bake) – Low-Sugar

Matcha cookie is hard to match-ah. This one you don’t have to bake, tastes great and is low sugar. And sweet tooths, you don’t have to love green tea.

And the healthy benefits are BIG and green:

Matcha green powder comes from the chlorophyll pigment that’s anti-inflammatory (along with EGCG catechin found in green tea, some other teas, fruit, wine, cocoa, and most coffee, to name a few sources).

And matcha powder has L-theanine that’s also found in black, green, oolong and white teas that come from the same Camellis sinensis tea plant shown to be good for calming, sleep, and productive mental focus.

The downfall is matcha green powder is not naturally a sweet ingredient, so if you’re not a fan of the bitter and earthy taste… you’ll love this matcha cookie that turns out sweet as honey!

But is low-sugar.

There’s actually healthy honey in the cookie (but less than 2 tsp per cookie).

And you can make this without butter that most cookies are made with.

Coconut oil is a good healthy fat to use instead and is used in the recipe below.

It’s a recipe that fits the easy and fun mold.

And in the mold, you can simply refrigerate and enjoy.

These matcha cookie shaped-as-donuts are delicious on their own (and dare I say more satisfying than a donut! 🍩). But you can try for yourself.

And you can add a strawberry glaze with jam if you like (but is not needed especially if you’re counting low-sugar grams).

…Now we’re jammin’! 🍓

Oh, and if you want to pop these cookies (…yes, they’re cookies!) in the low temp oven and bake these for a little crunch, you can.

But I like ‘em (taste and texture) just as they are as a low-sugar sweet bite with healthy ingredients.

You can also make this matcha cookie gluten-free with buckwheat, coconut, tapioca, or all almond flour as substitution choices.

Since gluten-free flours usually make a more crumbly dough, if you find that happens, simply add a little more coconut oil and/or honey and you’ll see the crumbly bits come together when you press into the dough.

This is as easy as playing with dough and as fun as edible Play-doh!

Low-Sugar Matcha Cookie - No Bake

These are cute healthy cookies that you don't have to bake... matcha that!

Course Dessert

Prep Time 10

Servings 2 cookies

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free flour substitute)
1 tsp almond flour
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp coconut oil, melted
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp green matcha powder
1/4 tsp green matcha powder (for dusting/zhughing)

Instructions

Add flour to a bowl. Make a well/hole in the middle.
Add and combine honey, extract, and matcha to make the dough mixture. Tip; Combine with a spoon starting in the middle and moving out so the liquids are incorporated. Make another well.
Heat or microwave coconut oil (for 20-30 seconds) into liquid (if not already). Add coconut oil to the dough mixture warm.
Use spoon and fingers to make a dough. The dough should be a little wet and like Play-doh. The small pieces should stick together easily.
Press into silicone mold (if using).
Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
Dust with additional matcha powder. Add a a glaze if desired and/or enjoy!

Notes

Tip: If the dough is too dry and pieces aren't combining fully, then add a little more liquid (coconut oil, honey, or extract).

Chocolate Mint Biscuit (No Bake)

Chocolate mint biscuit is one of my happy cookie memories. They were the Girl Scout Cookies that I grew up with. And Thin Mints were my favorite… Hands down (and up)! 🙌

I’ll show how you can get similar tastes below that I made in my weekday NO-bake kitchen tent…

Where I have all the ingredients. And I laugh when people say peppermint flavors “taste like toothpaste.”

…Like I did watching The Great British Bake Off where one of the contestants said that on Biscuit Week where a peppermint chocolate technical biscuit challenge was presented on the gingham table under the tent. 🎪

…And if you agree and a Girl Scout Samoa cookie is more your taste, then you might like this energizing and healthy Chocolate Coconut Bar.

BUT, if you’re okay with Thin Mints or peppermint is your chocolate vibe… what makes the mint chocolate biscuit cookie so enticing is that it melts in your mouth with a magically good crunch.

And if you leave them in their sleek cellophane sleeve in the freezer for a few hours, the crunch is even more pronounced.

Inspired by them, I made my own cluster of chocolate peppermint treats.

They look a wee-bit like chocolate popcorn, yes?… but you’ll never guess what they are made of…

It’s NOT popcorn… they’re oyster crackers.

Yep, the kind you buy from the soup aisle in the grocery store or that is served with a bowl of restaurant soup.

This bowl was a homemade oyster seafood broth that looks like it’s adorned with a strand of classy oyster (cracker) pearls 🦪

Before you laugh at or dismiss the sweet biscuit idea, consider it as a snack…

Rather than a salty or Saltine one, you get a sweet bite that satisfies your sugary hankerin’. 😋

If you like a crunchy biscuit, and the chocolate-mint flavor pairing duo, then this simple way could do the trick.

And if you’re like me and appreciate a perfect cookie shape but prefer to spend your time on other baking or non-kitchen projects, then these bites are time-savers when you look at it that way.

And they don’t have the long list of processed ingredients you find in packaged goods (that aren’t simple crackers).

These will get gobbled up too… before Thanksgiving. 🦃

And without guilt… I mean, have you ever made something too good you didn’t want eat it or give it away? I know you have and I know I have.

But these you don’t have to think twice about because you can make plenty of these in no time like a Keebler elf.

…Remember, they’re NO BAKE so there’s no oven wait.

So you can make these in minutes, and maybe seconds… ⏲️

And Voila! you have a low-fat, low-calorie tasty chocolaty snack.

You can also add these to your EASY snack list for road trips, hikes, and lunch bags.

Recipe below. 🧡

And if you’re still on the idea fence… these cracker snacks are light compared to buttery baked goods, so they won’t weigh you down.

Saltine cracker ingredients are simple: unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour enriched with thiamine, niacin and riboflavin B-vitamins), palm/canola oil, salt, malted barley flour, baking soda, and yeast.

…That’s pretty much the same type of healthy-style bread baking ingredients that you’d use if you were baking healthy at home.

Many store bought crackers use a ‘lil oil for the fat and in moderation that’s all good. And for the chocolate you can melt with a coconut oil healthy fat that gives a nice glossy shine.

This mint chocolate biscuit recipe uses a healthy no-taste coconut oil that doesn’t compete with mint. More on that below. Keep reading…

And so mint is the flavor we want to be the star. 💫

Plus, peppermint is calming…

If you have a tummy ache, reaching for a peppermint tea is good to have in your food-as-medicine pantry cabinet.

Peppermint relaxes the muscles along the gut that runs from your mouth roof top all the way to your bottom.

It’s your GI tract but I like to say gut as I think it gets to the heart of the matter, as it helps our happiness (where most of the happy hormones are made in the gut).

…And maybe that’s why we consult our gut for answers… often asking what does our gut say? 😁

And along those lines, peppermint food and drinks are good for our Vata and Pitta sides because we’re getting warmed and cooled by the menthol effects.

That also helps us blend in better with these climate change days.

Plus, peppermint always give the holiday vibes that warms the spirit and gives us a pep in our steps…

A peppermint cocoa blend moves into artisanal drink territory.

It’s NO B-E-a-k-e.

…Just like these easy, No FAFF biscuits (as they would say in the GBBO tent). 🎪

And the contestants would love this as a challenge where they can skip the shortbread dough step, subtract baking, and head straight to the tempered chocolate stage. 😉

These are made with low-salt Saltines.

And decorated with peppermint candy canes (that were saved from last holiday season for this very special purpose of getting hammer-crushed one warm day).

I also made one with a sandwiched mint cream reminiscent of Grasshopper cookies that mysteriously hopped away.

And if you wanted to use animal crackers, that would be fun. Elephants, bears, and tigers… OH MY! 🐘🧸🐯

…Or go more classic with round crackers reminiscent of Thin Mints.

And brings us back full circle! 🟢

The point is: these will work on any plain cracker (how smart!)… and you’re guaranteed a crunch (unless you dunk them in your drink or soup).

…then you’d have a soggy bottom issue that we learned is no good 😕 from The Great British Bake Off.

And we don’t want to get on the bad side of Judges Paul or Prue.

The Great British Bake Off is all about whimsical baking antics and creative baking. — This is my graphical representation of the GBBO show 🍰

…Especially since we won’t be baking this time.

Melting the chocolate right is the best way to stay in their good graces… and get a decent peppermint flavor that comes through.

So for these chocolate mint biscuit crackers, I used MCT oil because it’s coconut oil without the coconut taste… brilliant!

MCT stands for medium chain triglycerides that help weight management and burning body fat.

MCT oil is often used for optimizing ketone energy (and not for making biscuits 😊). If you’re fasting, you can prolong your fast with MCT oil without feeling zapped of energy.

MCT oil is also good for health and inflammation prevention. We know that chronic inflammation leads to the chronic diseases that are still the #1 causes for mortality.

And if you like what you’re hearing (and get curiously hooked), this is a healthy habit you can habit stack with your coffee or fasting routine.

🎉 So here we go: these are the 4-easy ingredients that will bring the simple chocolate mint biscuit cracker recipe together.

Chocolate Mint Biscuits

These are No-bake and recipe is enough to make a dozen 2" size biscuits like square Saltines that can be enjoyed year-round and spruced up for the holidays.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

12 Saltines (low-salt or animal crackers)
1 tsp MCT oil
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 tsp peppermint oil
peppermint candy (optional)

Instructions

Melt the chocolate with oil and peppermint oil. It will take about 5 minutes with warm-hot water (not boiling hot) with spoon stirring. You can see how to best melt chocolate: https://healthyhappylifesecrets.com/recipes/best-way-to-melt-chocolate-coconut-oil/
Dip the crackers front and back in the chocolate mixture while warm. Set them side-by-side flat on a tray.
Zhugh with crushed peppermint (optional)
Refrigerate or cool the tray.
Enjoy!