It’s Spoil Your Dog Day and we’re celebrating with this Pupcake! Do you want to know a secret? Its really just a banana bread cake decorated with dog treats..but they don’t know that!  This recipe is super duper easy to make and you probably already have the ingredients in your pantry. 

All of the ingredients are natural but let’s talk dog-safe ingredients. We want to make sure your puppy pawty doesn’t take a wrong turn.

1 - Apple Sauce. A lot of apple sauce on the market today contains hidden ingredients like added sugar and food dyes. Make sure you are getting pure apple sauce only to ensure no gastrointestinal issues arise!

2 - Peanut Butter. This one you probably know by now, but we never mess around with the health of our besties. Many brands use xylitol to sweeten their PB, but this ingredient is highly toxic to dogs. Generally speaking, you always want to get unsweetened peanut butter for your canine collaborators.  

3 - Greek Yogurt. Yogurt is another item that often contains added sugars and artificial colorants. Make sure to get plain yogurt and, even better, opt for the whole milk variety. 

Now that you’ve checked that your ingredients are both tasty and safe, you’re just a few simple steps and 25 minutes to bake time away from becoming even closer to your furry friends!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup PRI Manuka Honey 100+
• 1/4 cup apple sauce
• 1/4 cup mashed banana 
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 egg 

Frosting:

• 1 cup greek yogurt
• ½ cup unsweetened peanut butter

Toppings: dog treats

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flour and baking powder. Then set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together manuka honey, apple sauce, banana, peanut butter, oil, and an egg. 
4. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry until a thick batter forms.
5. Grease 2 - 4 inch pans and transfer the batter close to the top.
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes on a drying rack.
7. While the cakes are cooling, make your frosting by whisking greek yogurt and peanut butter with an electric hand mixer until you have a thick frosting.
8. Place the cake layers on top of one another and frost your cake with an offset spatula. Use the remainder of the frosting to pipe on frosting and decorate with dog treats.
9. Let your pup enjoy!

Before you go, we’re going to let you in on another fun way to use this recipe that is perfect for the dog days of summer. Simply combine all of the cake & frosting ingredients EXCEPT for the baking powder and flour.  Spoon the mixture into silicon molds and freeze for individual treats. 

If you didn’t know, July is National Watermelon Month, and August 3rd is National Watermelon Day. You might also not know that we LOVE watermelon…like, a lot. 

Watermelon and summer go together like tea & honey or peanut butter & honey or….well, you get the idea. It is also a super healthy treat that helps you beat the heat. In fact, watermelons are, on average, 92% water!  It is also a great source of vitamins A & C and Lycopene.

Fun fact: watermelons are classified as both a fruit AND a vegetable! 

What do you think? Should watermelon be the official fruit of summer? No matter if you are already on team watermelon or still thinking it over, we think you’ll love our watermelon recipes!

Let’s dive in….

1 - Patriotic Honey Pops: fun & delicious no matter the month! Whether you like a more traditional popsicle or a creamier version, you can easily customize this recipe!

2 - Fruit & Jello Stuffed Watermelon: fruit salad, but make it portable! This recipe has been on repeat since we first made it a couple of months ago. Stuff it with your favorite fruit and jello flavor or go really crazy and make it adult-style with the help of your favorite clear alcohol. 

3 - Manuka Watermelon Crush: mocktail or cocktail, drinkers' choice! There’s nothing like a slushy on a hot day, agreed? Geared towards a more adult palette, this refreshing tipple combines watermelon, cucumber, mint, and honey.

Vietnamese Coffee Cake: Gluten-free, dairy-free, sweetened with honey.

National Coffee Cake Day is one of our favorite food holidays! It combines two of our favorite things coffee and cake. This time we threw all of our favorites at it by sweetening it purely with honey and putting a Vietnamese coffee twist on it.  

Vietnamese coffee is a big favorite over here. If you’ve never heard of it, the drink comprises very strong drip coffee paired with a spoon or two of sweetened condensed milk. 

We’ve made the frosting dairy free with the help of our Manuka Honey Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk recipe. Since creating it, we always keep some on hand for our coffee and tea. 

However, in the true spirit of the drink, the cake is very heavy on the coffee. You’ll get a good caffeine buzz, but that’s half the fun, right?

Use decaf if your answer is a resounding no!

If your answer is YES, try cold brew, which is even higher in caffeine.

We love sheet pan cakes because they require practically no skill in the cake-baking or decorating arena. We can’t all be Katherine Sabbath. Fun fact, our recipe developer had never baked a cake before this one. It looks impressive, doesn’t it?! 

So, let’s hear it. Would you make this cake? If you do, show it off by sharing it on Facebook and tagging us @shoppri! 

Vietnamese Coffee Cake

Prep Time: 25 mins

Cook Time: 50 mins

Serving: 9 slices

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour, sifted (we used Bob’s Red Mill)
• ¾ cup cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 tbsp espresso powder, sifted
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice
• 1 cup PRI Manuka Honey 60+
• ½ cup olive oil or avocado oil
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup coffee (make sure it’s boiling, this will bring out the flavor)

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups raw cashews (soaked overnight)
• ¾ cup coconut cream (refrigerated overnight, only use the cream scrape off the top). You will need two cans
• ⅔ cup manuka honey-sweetened condensed coconut milk
• ⅔ cup dairy-free cream cheese
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp espresso powder (or more to taste)
• 1.5 tbsp lemon juice
• ⅛ tsp PRI Fine Sea Salt 

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F and line a 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper.
2. Sift flour, cocoa powder, and espresso powder in a large bowl. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk until combined.
3. Combine eggs, almond milk, manuka honey,  olive oil, and vanilla extract in another bowl. Whisk until combined and honey is incorporated well.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir well until a thick batter forms. 
5. Next, pour hot coffee into the batter and stir well. Don’t be alarmed if the batter is watery-thin.
6. Pour the cake batter into the parchment-lined pan and fill almost to the top. 
7. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes. Check periodically after the 45-minute mark with a toothpick until it comes out clean. Place aluminum foil over the top and lower the rack if the top begins to burn.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool before making the frosting, if using.
9. Place all the frosting ingredients into a food processor and blend until the mixture is smooth. If the batter is too thick, water it down with 1 tbsp of milk at a time, and if it’s too thin, add more cream cheese or coconut cream. Place it in the fridge to firm up, do not let it sit at room temperature, or it will begin to melt.
10. Frost the cake with icing after the cake has completely cooled, and top with sifted cocoa powder or espresso powder, coffee beans, or sprinkles of choice.
11. Enjoy!

Real talk, we can chow down on a pint of Ben & Jerrys with zero guilt added… but does that mean we’re going to stop searching for the perfect, nutritionally-packed alternative that won’t make us miss the original? Never.

We think we found a real winner with this one and you don’t even need an ice cream maker!! The only negative is you have to serve it immediately, as it does melt a bit faster than the standard stuff. An OK trade-off in our opinion, do you agree?

To kickoff National Candy Month, we incorporated our Coffee Manuka Honey Patties & ground coffee for a classic mocha flavor , but you could make a tasty version out of any of the five chocolate flavors.

We can’t wait to hear what you think about this divine creation! 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sweet potato (2 large sweet potatoes)
• 2 bags PRI Coffee Chocolate Patties (sub out 5 salted caramel patties if you want added caramel flavor too)
• 1 can lite coconut milk
• ½ cup PRI Manuka Honey 200+
• ½ tbsp vanilla 
• 1 tsp ground coffee (for a strong coffee flavor add 1 tsp at a time until desired flavor)
• ½ tsp PRI Flaky Sea Salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Clean the sweet potatoes, pierce them with a fork all over and then slice them in two halves. 
3. Place the sweet potatoes flesh side down on the baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes until they start to bubble and caramelize.
4. Remove from the oven and let cool.
5. While the sweet potatoes are cooling, melt two bags of chocolate patties in a double boiler until fully melted. Then let cool.
6. Once the chocolate and sweet potatoes are cooled, add them into a blender with one can of coconut milk, manuka honey, vanilla, ground coffee and flakey sea salt.
7. Blend on high until smooth.
8. Transfer the batter into a glass bowl with a lid and freeze for at least 30 minutes.
9. Then transfer the batter into an ice cream maker and churn until desired consistency and thickness, then freeze overnight, or for 2 days to get extra firm and cold. (If you don’t have an ice cream maker, freeze and stir every hour or two until solid. Then freeze overnight.)
10. Remove from the freezer right before you want to enjoy, scoop and serve immediately!.
11. Enjoy! 

We found out that you can make your own ACV using leftover apple cores and peels!! Minds blown, we immediately tried it ourselves, but using manuka honey instead of sugar…of course 😉

Replace your usual ACV shot with this manuka honey version to add even more benefits.Use this as a tasty base to your own teas, shrubs or cocktails like this immune & digestive supporting drink made by our friend Colleen: https://www.growforagecookferment.com/manuka-honey-vinegar-elixir/

You can even incorporate it into your beauty routine. Later this month we’ll share one of our favorite ACV cuticle oil recipes using our homemade vinegar so make sure to stay tuned!

No matter how you use it, this homemade ACV is another great way to easily incorporate manuka into your routine.

Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar with Manuka Honey

What you need:

• Apple cores, peels, or chunks.
• PRI Manuka Honey 200+
• Mason Jar (a quart or half gallon)
• Filtered Water

Instructions:

1. Fill your mason jar 3/4 of the way with apple peels and cores.
2. Stir 2 tbsp of manuka honey into 2 cups of warm filtered water in a mason jar. Secure a lid and shake vigorously until the honey is dissolved. (If you’re making bigger batches 1 cup of manuka honey per gallo of water, or 1 tbsp per 1 cup of water)
3. Pour sweetened water over the apples and leave 2 to 3 inches of room at the top of the jar. How much water you need depends on the amount of apples used and the size of your container
4. Once the apples, water, and sugar are all combined, cover your container with a breathable material like a tea towel or cheesecloth. 
5. Set the mason jar in a location around 70 to 75°F, if possible. As this is the ideal temperature range for fermentation. The container of fermenting apples should also be kept in a dark location. Keep it out on the kitchen counter or by a window and cover it in a dark towel.
6. Stir the fermenting apples everyday for the first two weeks! In the first few days add some more honey to the mixture if needed. This part is very important as it ensures apples are rotating at the top and not exposed to air too long to grow mold. Stirring prevents mold. It’s okay if you miss a day or two but try to remember everyday during the first week.
7. You’ll notice the apples will start to turn brown and the liquid will become cloudy. Small bubbles should begin to appear like a carbonated drink, and it will start to smell a bit like hard apple cider. A layer of sediment may collect on the bottom of the glass and this is totally normal during the fermenting process. It’s pretty obvious what is mold and what is not. 
8. After two weeks you can stop stirring. Then, you can strain out the apple scraps from the liquid with a sieve and cheesecloth. You can then transfer the liquid to a smaller jar to ferment if you wish.
9. Cover the jar with fresh cheesecloth and then set the fermenting cider in a warm, dark place for about 4-6 weeks. The apple cider vinegar is complete when it has a strong apple cider vinegar smell and taste. Allow to ferment longer, if not. Don’t be alarmed if you notice a mother culture forming on top. This is normal and part of the fermentation process and is like a SCOBY in kombucha.
10. Once the apple cider vinegar reaches the perfect vinegar taste, secure the apple cider vinegar in a jar with a tight fitting lid and refrigerate or store at room temperature. Use as you would store bought apple cider vinegar: for cooking, baking, cleaning or anything you desire! 

Is dessert hummus still cool? We have no idea, but we do know it’s delicious! 6 ingredients, no cooking needed, this recipe features even more health benefits with the addition of our Lemon Twist Manuka Honey.

Whip up this hummus for any occasion, or no occasion at all, either way it’s a tasty way to satiate your sweet tooth and healthy enough to have for lunch. 

Lemon Dessert Hummus

• 1 Can Organic Chickpeas (Skinned, for extra creamy hummus)
• 1/4 Cup Tahini (Use good quality tahini!) 
• 1/4 Cup + 1 Tbsp PRI Lemon Twist Manuka Honey
• 3 Tbsp Meyer Lemon Juice
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 Tsp Almond Extract 

Instructions:

1. Strain chickpeas and rinse with water. Skin the chickpeas, it’s time consuming but worth it for extra creamy hummus! 
2. In a food processor, add skinned chickpeas, tahini, lemon manuka honey, lemon juice, vanilla extract and almond extract. 
3. Blend until creamy and smooth and serve with your favorite fruit, pretzels, cookies or crackers.

Notes: Add more honey if needed for more sweetness. You may also try adding a scoop of vanilla protein for an extra cakey dessert dip!