Lemon Brownies

Have you noticed the ridiculous amount of lemons that I've been using for No Butter Baking? Well, it's because I have a friend who always give me fresh lemons from his lemon tree! Since I'm not too familiar baking with lemons I followed the generic cookies, lemon bars, lemon cake, etc. but I wanted something different - which led me to baking Lemon Brownies. Now, these are "brownies" but obviously, there are no specks of chocolate in this recipe, which may confuse some people. When I baked these for my family, they were like "These aren't brownies!!" So I like to describe them as "lemon desserts that have dense texture like brownies" - which I won't use for the actual name because it's too long! Anyway, these lemon brownies are literally just like brownies without the chocolate. It's not too rich but the right "dense" like brownies. I hope you enjoy them!

Vegan Mexican Wedding Cookies

I love how many people in this country love love to celebrate or have a party. I think it just brings a lot of excitement and something to look forward to! Growing up, I never was aware of any Mexican desserts. Even now, I can only think of not even a handful of desserts: flan, torta de tres leches (tres leches cake), dessert empanadas...are the only ones that I'm aware of which was kind of sad! So in spirit of Cinco de Mayo, I'm hoping that I can learn other Mexican desserts in the near future!

So, the story behind the vegan Mexican wedding cookies is that one day, I noticed that every holiday, I see these "powdered sugar ball cookies" so one holiday season I baked some and then my friend, who is a true Latina told me that it's a Mexican Wedding Cookie which got me so excited. Now I don't have to call them "powdered sugar ball cookies"! I also read that some people call them Mexican Wedding "Cakes" instead of cookies but they're cookies. I'm sure there's deeper history behind these lovely cookies but the point is, they're absolutely delicious!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I honestly can't remember when I started baking - I remember that it was sometime in high school but my hobby just grew with age the more I started to bake for other people. This recipe is my absolute favorite! All bakers have their "best" recipe and I must say, I am always proud of my banana breads. It's not too sweet, not too dense, not too fluffy...just the right amount of bananas and chocolate which makes it so delicious. I actually have family and friends who are not fond of bananas - and they said that they can eat my banana breads! Not only do I like the taste of it, but whenever I bake these banana breads, my entire house smells so good. It's the perfect blend of banana, vanilla, and spice and it makes me feel like I'm in banana bread heaven :)

Lemon Muffins with Chocolate Chips

Want to make these deliciously fluffy lemon muffins with chocolate chips? It's so easy! Just use the recipe from the Lemon Muffins with Lemon Glaze and take out the glaze part and add some chocolate chips!

I have a friend who always give me a bag full of lemons from his lemon tree. It's amazing how different the lemons look compared to the ones at grocery stores. The shape is not "perfect" but what's so great about perfection right? And no joke, those lemons are juicier and the scent is incredible! Times like this is when I appreciate gardening and those who garden. It's truly amazing how something that grows in your own backyard can taste and smell so good. So if you have a lemon tree - I highly encourage you to take advantage of it ;)

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Dairy-Free)

I tried to step outside of my comfort zone and decided to bake gluten-free chocolate chip cookie bars! Here's to all of my family/friends who have celiac disease or have a specific gluten-.free lifestyle.

I thought it was so interesting that one of my friend asked me whether gluten-free is considered "healthy" - well, to answer that question, it really depends how the product is being made. There are many ways to make a positive lifestyle with gluten-free eating habits; however, there's certainly negative lifestyle that's associated with gluten-free eating habits - very similar to your ordinary lifestyle right? I'll explain more later in my post with some helpful information!

Lemon Muffins with Lemon Glaze

When I think of lemons, it reminds me of the time when my sister used to enjoy nibbling on a lemon wedge when she was a little girl. I don't remember this but I constantly hear this story from my family - one time at a restaurant, my sister was nibbling on a lemon wedge (no sugar, no added flavor!). Since she was eating the lemon so pleasantly, this little boy who was sitting in the booth next to us begged his mom that he wanted to eat a lemon wedge as well. Apparently, the mother warned him that it's going to be very sour. Obviously, he didn't listen and took a huge bite of the lemon. The result? He started crying because it was sour (just like his mom warned him - so listen to your mom!) The mom said "I told you so!" but he was upset, pointing at my sister saying, "But hers look so good!!" because my sister was minding her own business eating her "delicious" lemon. That story is always a fun one to bring it up especially when we're at a restaurant that serves water with lemon wedges!

When it comes to lemons, you either love it or hate it. For me, that sour taste gives that particular flavor and scent of lemon that I absolutely love. Especially when I bake, I try to make sure that flavor and aroma is still contained within the baked goods - it's my biggest pet peeve when extracts, sugar, and "other" ingredients ruins the natural flavor of certain ingredients.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Rolls

I'm not going to lie... I get a little lazy girl when I bake - it's very hard to really dedicate my entire life to baking when I have a non-baking career, when I volunteer, and spending time with family and friends. (Does that sound familiar to anyone?) But, I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing that we're busy. I think it's ok to have limited time and still manage to do something you love. In my case, baking! Sometimes, I wish that I can just twirl my magic wand and bake at an instant! (Really, I wish!) But in reality, I know I can't - that's why I find this recipe helpful when I'm busy!

I've always loved cinnamon rolls - I remember going to the mall or the outlet and going to Cinnabon but, did you know that ONE classic Cinnabon contains 880 calories?? I'm not surprised, but still, if my caloric intake is 1200-1500 calories per day, that's more than half of my daily caloric intake... what else am I suppose to eat after I eat ONE Cinnabon? Although I am a true believers of not completely eliminating specific type of food, if I can bake something similar to the commercialized desserts with more than half of the calories and preservatives, that is just an ideal dream of mine!

The reason behind my vegan cinnamon rolls is because, most cinnamon roll recipes have yeast, which not only takes time to let it rise, but also yeast is not "vegan". I wanted to see if I can make cinnamon rolls while still cutting back on the calories, dairy (I'm slightly lactose intolerant), and cutting back on time.

Here's one of my favorite vegan baking - vegan chocolate chip cinnamon rolls! Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

Although I enjoy creating my own recipes, I also love to look at other bakers whom I admire and try to add my own "twist" to make it "No Butter Baking". I also alter some of the amount of ingredients so that it won't be too packed with sugar and oil! Today's recipe reference is Averie Cooks. I've been an active follower of Averie Cooks because her recipes are amazing and it actually works!

As many of you are aware, I'm a complete sweet tooth - especially chocolate chip cookies are one of my favorite classic dessert. I've actually never heard of chocolate chip cookie cups so it's kind of a dense version of a chocolate chip cookies in a muffin form. So it's cookie + muffin = absolute heaven! 

Chewy Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

As you can tell, I love desserts - I'm a complete sweet tooth; which is why I need to be extra careful what I eat because if it's something sweet, I can easily eat an entire batch! Going back to the topic of cookies, but when it comes to cookies, I LOVE chewy cookies; however, most of the chewy cookies contains a lot of butter. Although I am not against butter (they certainly are flavorful) but whenever I eat something that contains high amount of butter, my throat starts to itch, which is an uncomfortable feeling. Therefore, I was very very excited when I figured out a recipe that can make chewy cookies without using butter! It was quite an exciting discovery for me :)

Diabetic-Friendly Banana Muffins with Mini Chocolate Chips

Sadly to say, I know many people who are diabetic. Diabetes has become such an epidemic in many different populations. In fact, diabetes has become a very popular type of conditions on not only older adults but for children as well. There are many different causes of diabetes from genetics, to lifestyles. Once you have diabetes, it is very difficult to regulate your blood sugar and there are many limitations on what you eat. When you already have the chronic condition, the only thing that you can do is to manage it well so that the condition will not get worse.

What's unfortunate about the condition is that the limitation, that can be difficult, especially for those who are new to the condition. But, what's great about today's world is that there are so many resources available for diabetic individuals!

Vegan Chocolate Pie

Hello everyone! It's been a while - I am very sorry about the delay on my recipe posts... Things have been very crazy with work and my life in general, but now I have some time to get back on my NBB recipe grind! (: I am sure I mentioned this to my previous vegan posts but I am very interested in vegan baking. Although I do not follow a restricted vegan diet, I am interested in the concept of not using animal products when baking. It's kind of going out of my baking comfort zone and I really enjoy that.