Matcha-white chocolate rice crispies

Leftovers today.. Making it double, matcha snack with green tee... Uhh, this cake just made me realize how much I miss matcha mochies, matcha ice cream, and anything matcha from my, too few, days in Osaka and Kyoto. Now that I have my treasured matcha powder in the pantry, I will have to make things with moooore matcha, and mooore matcha :D.

I have greatly over estimated the brick needs for my cake and ended up with ingredients for just another almost same size Minecraft cake.

I munched on the bits through the whole week, just to give opportunity to my handyman to ask "dieting again"? How kind..

Yesss.. I was "dieting", and I'm kinda happy these are the last bits, 'cause it will help to keep my sugar intake under control, but I had to take the opportunity to snap a picture. Last opportunity.

Simple snack, ready really quickly, and edible by adults and kids alike, not to mention lactose intolerant friends, too.

Ingredients (makes enough :D, ok, a 30x40 cm tray, about 2.5 cm thick or 12"x16"x1"), you might want to make half for the family only
350 g white chocolate

50 ml organic blue agave syrup (add more if you like it very sweet)
5 tbsp condensed milk
1 stick butter
1 tbsp matcha powder, flat or humpy, up to your matcha preferences. If you are unfamiliar with the taste of the green tea powder add less, it has a bittery taste.
300 g rice crispies

Cover the bottom of the tray with parchment paper, leaving the two shorter ends longer, so it would be sticking out from under the rice crisps to be easier to remove them.
Melt the chocolate over a water bath, stirring only occasionally. When melted cut the butter pieces and drop them into the chocolate, leave it to melt, and combine in. Add the agave syrup and stir lightly.

Mine looked like a disaster, the chocolate looked like it fall into pieces due to the syrup, I suppose, so no worries if it happens to you too.
Add the condensed milk and the matcha powder, mix well. It becomes kinda gooey, which is great!
Now add the rice crisps, and combine until the rice crisps are covered with the chocolate mixture.
Pour the mixture in the tray, and place it in the fridge for about 2 hours.

Remove, cut in squares, and enjoy.. There is really not too much to say anything else about it :).

Light chocolate muffins/mini cakes

So many things going on right now.. Number one priority is the house, but no matter what else is on my plate I still have a family to feed. And they like goodies..
On top of all there is Easter, and making plans ahead wouldn't hurt.. so I kinda try.

I decided to make some Easter egg nests, and combine some idea prototyping with a "light" chocolate/baking therapy to accompany a hot rum tea on a late afternoon. One additional reason for choosing muffin was the cooooooold weather, it is not the most convenient to bake yeast based goodies when I can't heat my kitchen.

Instill don't have my triple chocolate muffin recipe, which was THE best, but I thought I'm gonna use my friends' recipe as a base.
I didn't haven measuring cups at hand so I just threw things in the bowl, but cupcakes are NOT rocket science, so one can hardly go wrong if there are enough moisturizers.
The original recipe I used is from Ripaus ja hyppysellinen, without the cream, 'cause I just simply don't like creams unless absolutely needed.
I used mini cake forms because they reminded me of little nests, and I will use these as a bases to decorate for Easter.

Ingredients
200 g grated chocolate, preferably on the darker side, or roughly 1 1/2 cups small semi sweet chocolate chips. It would be even better to mix and match dark and milk chocolate chips, or even white one.. next time.. 
1 1/3 stick butter (150 g)
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
2 eggs
3-4 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar, can be humpy
2/3 cup yogurt
1 tbsp oil, something with no flavor

Preheat oven to 430 F, 225 C. Prepare about 18 smaller (not the mini though) muffin forms any eay you want. I like to lightly
Mix butter with sugar until creamy. Mix in the eggs, one by one, blending in each properly.
Mix the dry ingredients, except chocolate and start adding them to the buttery mix. Mix in the yogurt, the tbsp oil,  and last just fold in the chocolate.
Divide the dough in the baking form, filling about 2/3.
Bake for 15 minutes, and let cool.
Next, you can do as wish, decorate with melted chocolate wiggles, add butter cream, castor sugar..
I will most probably make various decorations before Easter, for Easter, so check back if interested..
Bon appétit!