Whenever I make something from "FIXATE" cookbook, written by Autumn Calabrese, I think "fixate it and forget about it!!" Sounds funny, but she is the one that designed the every popular "portion controller contain system" with Beachbody. So when you make anything in her cookbook you have the exact container portions per serving. She also lists the nutritional info (carbs, fat, etc) but if you're doing Beachbody programs popular....YOU WILL NEVER COUNT CALORIES AGAIN! SERIOUSLY, you won't! I lived by My Fitness Pal app and scanned in all my food to be under 1300 calories a day and I never look at the label now exact to check that the ingredients are clean because I know I'll measure out what's right for my husband and I and it's no different than measuring for any other recipe. So the stress is gone and it's super cheap ($20!) You can get it HERE if interested.
I made this yesterday with Matthew and I know I'm biased, but I think ours turned out even better... Here are my takeaways...
1) do this with your kids. Matthew made the whole thing. Is that bad I let him use the mixer? He knows to keep hands out and doesn't let it spin out of control and I'm right there, so I feel OK about it. He cracked the eggs and all and so far, we've found no shells! Maybe I should eat a few more to make sure :)
2) Dark chocolate chips are fun add on. White Chocolate chips could be good too, but dark chocolate is the best for you, so there you go, but we are eating dessert...so...
3) Use creamy PB as instructed 🙄!!! I don't like to deviate from recipes and was stressed that all I had was crunchy so I went to Wooly's to get creamy and then grabbed my dark chocolate chips and left, totally forgetting the reason I went. Chocolate has that effect on me :/ It's not bad, but I'd like it better without the crunch.
4) This would go great with ice cream, esp if slightly warm. Of course you need to chose wisely if you're doing 21 day fix for restuls, but if you're on the 80 / 20 maintenance plan, then have a spoonful and call it a day. Otherwise, I think the tartness from plain .5%-2% fat Greek yogurt would be good and then you'd stay on track!
5) This makes 16 servings and they're big. Counts as 1 yellow & 2 tsp. Worth every bit of it!! I think I could chose this over wine and live with myself. :)
6) I undercooked them by 2-3 min. since I"m still getting adjusted to celsius vs fahrenheit and was so worried I'd burn them. Nothing is worse than overcooked or burnt desserts, esp PB flavor, so these were extra gooey, but I'm ok with that.
7) DON'T SHARE. GET YOUR OWN!!!
Fixate picture: as recipe is written (creamy PB and no chocolate chips)
Ingredients:
-Nonstick cooking spray (I prefer Olive Oil and it didn't change the flavor at all)
-1 1/2 C clean creamy peanut butter
-1/2 C honey or maple syrup (I chose honey, get the cheapest kind since you'll go through a lot if you follow my recipes, same with maple syrup. I prefer Costco for both of these staples)
-2 eggs
-2 tsp vanilla extract (if you don't have vanilla extract you can sub almond extract, but do not do 1 for 1 as Google says you can. It's way too strong and overpowers it. I'd do 1/2-1 tsp tops!
-1/2 tsp baking soda
Directions:
-mix everything together in a mixing bowl
-spread evenly into lightly coated 8x8 pan
-bake for 20-25 min in preheated oven (350 degrees). it will continue cooking once you take them out and you can't cut them or remove them till they cool, so take out a little earlier than how you want them to look when done. (esp if you added chocolate to them)
-cool and cut into 16 squares
21 day fix count: 1 yellow, 2.5 tsp, 182 calories, 7g protein, 1 g fiber, 10 g sugar, 13g fat