No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Drops

What's a chocolate-obsessed and sugar-addicted girl to do without an oven? Well, bake muffins on the barbecue... but also whip up some no-bake cookies that are ready in minutes. 

If my oven had to break down, this is the perfect time of year. It's actually warm in Vancouver! (You know, by our standards...) and with such sunny days the last thing I want to do is turn the oven on anyway. 

These cookies are the perfect summer treat, and pack really well as a picnic snack for trips to the park or beach. They passed the son and boyfriend test (okay, most things do...) and barely lasted the day around here.

The boyfriend reeeaaally wished they had coconut, but agreed he likes me being alive more, so I left it out.  That being said, this is a pretty forgiving recipe, so feel free to add coconut, crunchy peanut butter, chocolate chips, or other ingredients you feel will give it the right blend.

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Barbecued Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Yeah, you read that title right. These bad boys were cooked on the grill.

Okay, so it wasn't planned that way. Mid-bake of the first batch, my oven crapped out, filling my kitchen with a noxious gas smell and that irritating clickclickclick of a busted ignitor. As luck would have it, my boyfriend and I purchased a new BBQ over the weekend, and waste not want not, the muffins were completed on the grill.

But they turned out amazing! The perfect crunchy top with a sweet and refreshing lemon flavour. I've included instructions on baking the muffins both on the bbq and in the oven, although if you're able, I recommend giving them a try on the grill, if not just for the hell of it.

Spiced Rum Chocolate Bundt Cake

This cake right here? A boozy, chocolatey creation like no other.

I hadn't made a cake in quite some time, stupidly thinking I needed an excuse to go through the effort of making one. But bundt cakes can be very simple, and this one is no exception.

This cake went from ingredients to baked in just over an hour. It has the perfect texture, too-- velvety and rich, but overly sweet or overwhelming. Neither the rum nor the coffee were too strong, although if you prefer a more subtle rum flavour, you can replace some of the rum in the recipe with more coffee.

(This is what happens when a 5-year-old and 29-year-old boy help you take pictures...)