Honey Cocoa Iced Tea

I typically make iced coffee in the summer but I just started making good iced tea. Since I have way too much tea and it's far too hot outside to drink it warm, I needed an alternative.

Here are some simple tips for brewing your own iced tea with loose tea leaves:

1) Use more tea leaves then you would for hot tea (rather than 1 teaspoon use 1 1/2 teaspoons)

2) Let your tea steep for a good chunk of time. Depending on how strong the tea is, I usually let it steep for about 20-30 minutes

3) Sweeten your tea while it's still hot- this way the sweetener fully dissolves. I like to use honey rather than sugar so my drink is sweet, but not entirely bad for me!

4) Make tea ice cubes so the tea does't get watered down. Like watery iced coffee, it just isn't pleasant.

Ok enough tips, here's how I made this delicious Cocoa Iced Tea!

Honey Cocoa Iced Tea

4 cups of hot water
5-6 teaspoons of cocoa tea leaves (I used this tea: http://www.ambrosiaherb.com)
1 Tablespoon organic honey
2-3 teaspoons caramel sauce (Optional- this is for more of a dessert iced tea)
1/4 cup almond milk, milk or half & half (I prefer a mix of milk and almond milk)

1) Add tea leaves to almost boiling water

2) Add honey and caramel sauce

3) Let leaves steep for about 20 minutes

4) Strain tea into container and set in fridge until completely chilled

5) Pour chilled tea into glasses with ice

6) Add a touch of milk/cream

Enjoy!

Iced Mango Matcha Latte

I've been making myself this drink all the time lately!

Three reasons why I love it:
1) It requires only 3 ingredients
2) The matcha gives me an energy boost
3) It's dairy and gluten-free

Apart from these reasons, it's also relatively good for you! Matcha boosts concentration,  burns calories, and is full of antioxidants.

Iced Mango Matcha Latte 

For one person.... 

1 cup almond milk (any kind! I prefer Silk unsweetened)

1/2 cup mango juice (you can also use any kind- the sweeter the better)

1 1/2 teaspoon matcha powder (use less if you want less caffeine) 

Blend all ingredients in blender until mixture becomes frothy. Pour over ice and enjoy!

If you want this drink a little sweeter, consider using coconut sugar for a healthy option. 

Butterscotch Cookies (GF)

After making many batches of delicious chocolate chip cookies, I decided to switch up my recipe and do butterscotch cookies. The lovely thing about these cookies is that you can't even tell they are gluten-free. I have tested this on multiple people- all of whom said that they couldn't tell!

All I can say is that these are magical. If you love butterscotch than you'll love these cookies with all your heart.

Butterscotch Cookie Recipe (Gluten-Free)

Makes about 2 dozen

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed 

1 1/2 Tablespoon water 

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cup oats (oat flour)

1/2 bag of butterscotch chips 

1) Mix softened butter and sugar until smooth

2) In blender, mix flaxseed and water together 

3) Add flaxseed/water mixture to the butter and sugar- mix until combined. 

4) Add egg and vanilla to butter/sugar and mix until combined 

5) Mix the oat flour, baking soda, and salt together 

6) Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. (Add little bits at a time and stir) 

7) Mix in the butterscotch chips 

8) Put dough in fridge for 15-20 minutes while oven preheats to 350F 

Bake for 10 minutes - until edges become golden grown 

*Note- if you desire, you can use chocolate chips for chocolate chip cookies 

Iced Strawberry Mocha

After picking some fresh strawberries last week, I have been dying to create some delicious strawberry recipes. This week I experimented with strawberries and coffee. Here's the delicious result!

Iced Strawberry Mocha Recipe

(Serves two)

2 cups cold coffee

1 cup milk

1 1/2 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup frozen/fresh strawberries

Ice cubes 

1) Brew 2 cups of coffee and chill in fridge

2) Heat your strawberries on the stove or in the microwave

 3) Strain the strawberry juice into a sauce pan

 4) Add the sugar 

 5) Add the milk

 6) Add the cocoa and vanilla

 7) Heat the mixture in sauce pan until steaming. Transfer to container and chill

 8) Prepare glass with ice 

 9) Fill glass 3/4 full with iced coffee

 10) Fill rest of glass with chilled strawberry/milk mixture 

Enjoy!

Caramel Coffee Ice Cream

A few days back, when the summer heat was pretty unbearable, I made this wonderful coffee ice cream. It's so refreshing!

I followed this recipe: http://www.indochinekitchen.com/recipes/coffee-ice-cream/
I ended up adding caramel syrup to the recipe and it was a great combo.

GF Lemon Blueberry Muffins

These gluten-free lemon blueberry muffins are seriously the best muffins I've made in quite a while! A while back I made lemon poppyseed muffins which turned out...awful. I also made blueberry muffins a few months ago and they came out super dry. These, on the other hand, are magical. They are so moist and delicious!


If you love lemon and blueberries then you will love this recipe whether you are gluten-free or not!

GF Lemon Blueberry Muffins 

6 1/2 tablespoons softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons milk (or almond milk)

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 lemons zested 

1 1/4 gluten-free all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1 cup of frozen blueberries 

(you will also want one more lemon for zest on top of the muffins) 

preheat oven to 350 degrees

line cupcake tin with liners 

1) whip the butter and sugar in a mixer until smooth

2) add in egg, vanilla, sour cream, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest

3) combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients

4) lightly stir in blueberries until just combined (or else all your batter will be blue!)

5) Spoon batter into cupcake tin 

Bake for 20-25 minutes 

sprinkle lemon zest on the top of the muffins once cooled

Lemon Cake

Yesterday I just had a longing to bake a cake. I ended up making this delicious gluten-free lemon cake.

Here's the recipe that I followed: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes
The only thing I did different was add a teaspoon of vanilla! I pretty much put vanilla in everything.

I rarely make gluten-free cakes but I love how this one turned out. It's very soft and spongy- which is rare for a gluten-free cake. Normally gluten-free cakes are super dense.