The holidays are crazy and sometimes the extra treats are just too much! We all love to indulge and sample all the holiday treats but they can leave you feeling blah and thats where these come in. They are not fully woo woo healthy just high in protein and will help you feel fuller and ready to keep going through all your end of the year celebrations! Darcy knocked it out of the part this time!

Level-1 Peppermint Bark Cake Pops

Cake Ingredients:
1 box cake mix of your choice
1box instant pudding mix 3.4 oz (if you’redoing chocolate cake mix, then choose chocolate pudding mix)
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil4 eggs1 cup water

Frosting Ingredients:
6 scoops Level-1 Peppermint Bark
2 boxes sugar-free cheesecake puddingmix
3 Tbsp Swerve Confectioners Sugar
1 Cup water- Pan Spray (helps for rolling)- Corn Starch

Coating ingredients:
Candy melts (colors of choice, we used white and brown)
Crisco (used to thin our candy melts only,may or may not need depending on whatbrand melts you use)
Top with whatever sprinkles, crushed peppermint, or edible glitter of your choice!

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix cake mix as instructed on the cake box, cook thoroughly until testing fork comes out clean, then let cool until you are able to safely touch it
2. Once cake is cooled, peel off outer edges and eat or dispose. With remaining cake, crumble with hands until they’rein tiny crumbles
3. In separate bowl, whisk together pudding mixes and swerve confectioners sugar. Once combined, add water and continue tomix until it develops a “”frosting”” like consistency
4. In mixer, or by hand, combine cake crumbles and all of frosting mixture. Once combined, continue to add Level-1 Pepp Bark, one scoop at a time. This dough will be EXTREMELY sticky as it combines. Once all protein is combined, leave in a mixing bowl and place in the fridge or freezer until stiffened as it will be easier to work with.
5. Remove batter from fridge. Wrap your food scale in a piece of parchment paper (easier to weigh). Place a piece of parchment paper on cookie sheet as well. Spray your hands with non-stick cooking spray so they are lightly shiny. You will have to reapply to your handsthroughout the process. Weighing the dough into 1oz blobs, plop onto parchment paper with small amount of space between.I have found that it is easier to measure it all out and then roll all.
6. Once you have 1oz dough balls, grease hands, and begin to roll all blobs into balls. Once rolled, lightly dust in cornstarch and re-roll.This will make it MUCH easier to work with later. Once dough is rolled and lightly dusted, place back into fridge.
7. Create double boiler on stove and begin to warm candy melts until fully melted. If you need to thin out the melts, add smallamounts of Crisco and mix together until correct consistency to dip cake pops in. Once fully melted, remove cake pops from fridge,and one at a time, dip a cake pop stick into melted chocolate and stick directly into each cake pop. Let harden in fridge between steps,once stick is hardened into place, remove from fridge then coat entire cake pop. Decorate as desired.
Recipes makes about 32 cake pops

Macros for one cake pop: 7 P. 22 C. 11.75 F.

Protein Cookies – Christmas Style

Note: these are not the traditional Christmas cookie and are doughy bread like protein cookies. I think it is a great activity to have the kids join in!

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 Cup almond or regular flour
1 tsp sea salt1 tsp baking soda
1 Cup Level-1 Protein (Vanilla or Ice Cream Sandwich)
2 Eggs1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 Cup honey or agave sweetener
1/2 Cup butter (traditional recipe can sub applesauce but this does not work when rolling)
1 Cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Use a hand mixer to combine wet ingredients to dry. It is a very sticky recipe so needs to be chilled for 1 hour before rolling. After Chilling – Add flour to the countertop and rolling pin (you will need more as you go). Try to not over work the dough as this will increase toughness after baking. Roll to 1/4 inch thickUse cookie cutters as desired for festive shapes.
Place onto lined cookie sheet – use parchment paper. Bake at 350 for about 6-8 minutes (does not get golden brown until over-cooked).
Chill completely before decorating. I used regular icing and sprinkles.

Macros are difficult due to different cookie cutters, and decorations, etc – with chocolate chips: makes 30 cookies. 5P. 8C. 6F. Fiber 1.5.

XO

Racquel