Dark chocolate molasses cookies

I've been wanting to make these cookies or a slightly lightened version of these bars for a while now. I totally planned to make them over the holiday break -- it went zooming by. Alas.  I finally got these made.  I made the first recipe because I forgot about the second.  Now the two recipes are documented in this post together and with pictures!  I hope to make them again soon.

Thanks Natalie for helping!

 

On another note, Nick and I went back to our bodypump class after 3 weeks off.  YOWCH is all I can say.  I love doing cardio and dance, but I don't enjoy weights.  I hope to get to that class 2x a week.  I need to do more weights.  Natalie is old enough (on Tuesday) to go with me to the gym and do the class.  Maybe she'll help me achieve my 2x a week goal.  I can see it happening over summer, but not sure it will happen before then.  
 

Happy Valentine's Day

My first sweet daughter made me this lovely peanut butter filled chocolate covered bites for Valentine's Day!  She knows the way to my heart!  Recipe soon.  (But don't hold your breath, it won't be that soon.) 

Blended Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Pudding

I love the idea of chia seeds and all the great nutrients they contain (google to learn more), but I like my puddings to be smooth.  I don't like chia seeds stuck in my teeth.  I LOVE this pudding!

2-3 Tablespoons Peanut Butter
3-4 cups non dairy milk
1 cup chia seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2-2/3 cup cocoa Powder
1/2 -2/3 cup Maple syrup

(Yes, I give ranges of ingredients... It's 'cause I started with the first amount and then sample/taste and add some more of the ingredient in question, but I don't measure that carefully.)

Put it all in your high speed blender---blend until smooth.  Pour into 8 serving cups and chill overnight (or stick it the freezer so you can enjoy it in a couple of hours).

Makes 8 servings.  Probably 250-ish calories per serving if you use flax milk (this is what we're using most of the time for "milk" now).

Enjoy!
 

(Yes, we eat this for dessert and breakfast.)

so many things to blog...

I need to blog about our plum tree and how many plums it gave us.  I need to blog about how I finally learned how to do something with the plums!



Back in 2013, we made a plum crisp... http://veryveryverygreen.blogspot.com/2013/07/from-trees.html I called it tart, and initially I thought I just needed more sugar, but as I thought about it, I realized it was BITTER.  I also realized that no matter how much sugar I added, it wouldn't solve the problem.

I don't remember if we had many plums in 2014, but in 2015, we barely had any so I didn't think about how to use them.  However, this year, we had a bumper crop and I needed to do something with them. Even if one likes plums, you can only eat so many a day!

One friend (with four kids) took about 50 of them (in two batches). I gave another 30-40 or so away at work.  I think I lost about 20-30 letting them go bad on the counter... And that just left me about another 200-250.

Sigh.

We let a lot fall off the tree 'cause we didn't pick them fast enough ('cause I didn't know what to do with all the plums).  (You have to pick our plums when they are still sort of red.  They turn deep purple when ripe, but too many fall off the tree when you let them ripen all the way so you have to pick them a day or two early.)
I finally turned to my friend google and googled bitter plums...

I learned that it was most likely the skins that were causing the problems.  I learned a good trick to getting the skins off.  Roast 'em!

Rinse plums, remove any stems that might still be on them, and place plums on a baking tray (with sides 'cause the juice will run off if you don't and will make a mess if you don't have sides).

Stick in the oven at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Let 'em cool until you can handle them and peel the skins and pit them.  The skins will totally slip off.  You do have to do some work to get the pit out.  I was covered in plum juice (very red!) and I won't talk about how I accidentally went to the store with plum juice splattered on my face.  (And yes, I did have some dribbled down by my mouth 'cause I was eating some of those roasted plums -- you know, for quality control!)

Some one suggested a food mill and someone else suggested a poor man's food mill which is a colander and a spatula.  (Note, I might invest in a food mill someday... Any suggestions or favorite brands, let me know.)

I am happy to report that google (and all the people who posted about their experiences with bitter plums) was right.  Skinning the plums made a difference and now our plum crisps are awesome.  They are a little tart, but they aren't bitter.  I even made sour plum (but not bitter) jam!  Fun!

I plan to use this roasting trick on our tomatoes -- they are just about getting ready to burst forth!  (I think the roasting trick will work better than the boiling a peeling method I did last year.)
 
Okay, I can cross off my need to blog about plums, but I still need to blog about many other things:

I need to blog about my workout and twice a week at Body Pump!

I need to blog about getting ready for the fourth of July!

I need to blog about our awesome new granola!

I need to blog about vegan friendly treats at Baskin Robbins!

I need to blog about getting a deep freeze for all the wonderful foods from our garden and trees! (We're still looking!)

Working on a new recipe

 
My girls can cook!  All of them!  This summer we'll share more of their cooking.  This is Natalie working on perfecting a chocolate chip muffin. I think she got it just the way she wanted it.  I'll have to share it with you all soon -- or maybe she will blog it here.

Oh!  Here's a photo she took of cupcakes she and her sisters made one day. Yum!

High fiber breakfast cookies

We like cookies...  Here are some that aren't too bad that we often make and eat for breakfast (and other times...).

Wet ingredients
½ cup (or 8 Tbsp) nut/seed butter (almond, peanut, tahini, or sunflower  etc.) We like peanut butter!
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1 t vanilla extract
½ cup liquid sweetener maple syrup (I sometimes do slightly less and add a little water)

Dry ingredients
½ cup  ground oats flour 
½ cup  ground almond flour
3 tablespoons flax
½ c rolled oats (not ground)
½ c fiber (either oat bran or whole flakes psyllium husks) You can choose how fiber-y you want them.
½ t baking soda

1/4 cup chocolate chips mixed in at the end (could be raisins or dried fruit if you wanted, but we like chocolate).   

Preheat oven to 350. Mix wet ingredients with a mixer.  Mix dry ingredients and add to wet. Batter will be thick (and delicious!).  Make into tablespoon sized balls and then flatten a bit.  Bake for 9-12 minutes.

Warning, if you use psyllium husks, I wouldn't eat more than 2 or 3 cookies in one day; plus, drink lots of water with these cookies (regardless of which fiber you use, but especially with psyllium)!   

P.S. If you make these with psyllium, you may need to add 2-6 tablespoons of water to get a good cookie dough consistency.  (I had to add 6 yesterday, add 1 tablespoon at a time until it looks good.)

 

 

 

 

Natalie and I make these often.  They freeze really well, too.  Pop them out of the freezer and into the microwave for 30 seconds (or so) and they are awesome.  Photos by Natalie.

Sunday morning Banana Muffins

Sunday mornings are usually pancake morning, but this morning I made these Banana Muffins (GF).  Of course, I can never make them exactly as the recipe says, but I was close.  I didn't want quite as much almond flour, so I added tapioca flour ~1/2 a cup and a 1/2 cup of oat bran.... Oh, I doubled the recipe 'cause making just 8 muffins is kind of silly around here.

• 4 flax eggs (4 tablespoons of flax and ~10 tablespoons water)
• 3 large ripe bananas
• 6 Tbsp maple syrup
• 6 Tbsp unsweetened flax milk (could be any nondairy)
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt (I like a little salt in everything.  I think it brings out the flavors better)
• 1 cup almond meal (ground from raw almonds - not almond flour or pre-ground storebought)
• 1 cup oat flour (ground from GF oats or not if you're not really sensitive)
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour
• 1/2 cup oat bran 
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips ('cause we love chocolate)

1. In mixer add water, flax, and bananas. Mix while doing step 2.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line muffin pans with 18 paper liners.
3. Add maple syrup, vanilla, non-dairy milk, and salt.
4. First mix the flours and baking powder in a separate bowl and then add to mixer, and mix a little, but don't mix thoroughly.
5. Finish stirring the muffin batter by hand as you add in the chocolate chips.
6. Put in lined muffin pans.  I got 18 muffins.
7. Bake for 25-34 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and they feel somewhat firm to the touch with a just little give.  (Feeling the done-ness is fun.)  Mine baked for 28 minutes. 
8. Remove from oven and let cool in the pans for 5 minutes. Remove and cool completely on a cooling rack. They can be tender when they're warm.  

(#8 is Minimalist Baker's directions, but I say, whatevs... just eat when you want and try not to burn yourself!  See how long you can keep your vultures away from fresh muffins.)

Sunday equal Funday

 

These are basically these... (original recipe) except we used these incredible chocolate chunks, made 1 batch of PB and 1 batch of Sunflower butter, and didn't use coconut oil.  (One batch is kind of small for 5 people--especially with 3 growing girls.)

What we did:

WET INGREDIENTS:
Flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons water mix and let set for 5 minutes)

2/3 cup sunflower seed butter (or PB)
3/4 cup brown sugar for sunflower seed butter cookies (1/2 sugar cup for PB cookies)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DRY INGREDIENTS:
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1.5 cups gluten-free rolled oats, processed into flour (or 1.5 cups oat flour)
1-2 teaspoons non-dairy milk (only if needed to moisten batter--we needed more, but pour slowly!)
100 grams finely chopped dark chocolate (1 chocolate bar)

Mix all the wet ingredients together (very well) with an electric mixer.  Mix all the dry, except chocolate chips, and then pour into wet.  After mixed, add the chocolate.

Make into cookies--we made about tablespoon scoops and patted them down.  Bake at 350 for 13 minutes.

I love baking with my girls!

Making this soup for dinner... (but I'm too full of cookie dough to eat anything else.  Oops.)

p.s. raise your hand if you remembered a song because of the title.

A new cookie (gluten-free)

A while ago, I made these delicious apricot cookies.  Today, I'm making them gluten-free for my niece.  It's fun to bake on Christmas!  Merry Christmas!

End of the year reflection:  I remember a long time ago when vegan baking seemed hard.  Then I started learning about gluten-free baking and that was hard, and now, while I'm not an expert, I don't find it hard anymore.  (Learning is fun!)  (I learned I really like tapioca flour/starch!)


Here's what I did:

Wet ingredients
1/4 cup almond butter (I'm really bad at measuring almond butter... I just kind of scoop it out of the jar and eyeball it 'cause I don't like to clean it out of measuring cups)
3/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoon flax seed meal (I mix it in with the wet ingredients but don't add water to make a flax egg)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup apple sauce (I've been leaving this out lately)

Dry ingredients
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup almond flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon 
2 cups gluten free whole oats

(If you aren't doing gluten free, then replace the oat flour with whole wheat.  I still recommend a mix of flours as I think it makes a more interesting cookie!)

1.5 cups chopped apricots  (I bet these cookies would also be good with peaches or any fruit!)
Mix the almond butter, maple syrup sugar, maple syrup, flax egg, and vanilla. Mix well and then add the apricots to wet ingredients.

Mix the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, salt, oats).

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones. The batter/dough will be pretty wet. (If it looks too wet--wetter than my picture, add a little more oat flour--not more than 1/2 a cup.)


 

I made HUGE cookies.  I didn't just place scoops of the cookie dough on the sheet, but I patted the batter down so it was a little flat.  This recipe made ~16 cookies.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. (Bake for less time if you make smaller cookies.  One tray of my larger cookies took more like 21 minutes, but I think my oven had cooled and needed to preheat again.  My oven is really bad about that!)  

Note, you can also make cookie bars if you're feeling lazy.  Recommend 9X13.  Recommend checking at about 20 minutes.



 

\
Yum!

Pumpkin Pillow Cookies and variations

I found this recipe http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2014/10/pumpkin-pie-pillows-low-sugar-vegan.html.  I love finding gluten-free recipes that look interesting.  I thought this recipe looked interesting, despite the coconut. One thing, you may or may not have noticed, on this blog, coconut oil is not used.  I don't like coconut.

I've tried cooking with it in the past but my veggies tasted like suntan oil.  (That's what I think of when I smell coconut--around here, we say I taste the beach when we taste coconut.)

Despite the prevalence of coconut in that recipe, I knew I could fix it.  I added a little more almond butter than she called for (instead of coconut oil) and used maple syrup instead of coconut sugar.  The cookies were very moist; I want to get some maple syrup sugar, but alas, I don't have any still and I'm making the recipe for a second time.

One other thing, the first time I made the recipe I put in A LOT of pumpkin.  I doubled the recipe ('cause 3 hungry girls around here PLUS one hungry husband). On the doubled recipe, I did math and came up with a whole can of pumpkin in the cookies.  Oops.  Really, I should have only used about 3/4 a can for a double recipe... The cookies, with my extra moisture still came out pretty tasty, but they weren't pillow like--chewy and moist, yes, but I expect pillows to be lighter and fluffier. They were good enough to warrant trying again!

This time I used (about) the right amount of pumpkin with maple syrup (so still extra moisture).  I thought the batter looked better and am pleased with how the cookies look and taste. They aren't very sweet, but that's just the way I like them! I added chocolate chips to half the batter (today and the first time). The chocolate chips do sweeten them up and I like them better without chocolate chips (shocking!).

Here's the recipe with my modification, but not doubled.  It made ~24-25 small cookies. 


Ingredients

1 1/2 cups rolled oat flour
1/2 tsp dried ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon (I used 1 tablespoon)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon chia seeds


2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 medium apple, chopped
1/4 cup maple syrup
1.5 tablespoons almond butter (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

topping: cinnamon sprinkled on top before baking (Note, I only did this for the cookies without chocolate chips.)



 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add the oats, chia seeds and spices to a high-speed blender. Blend until the oats are a fine powder.  Pour the dry oat mixture into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the salt and baking powder.

Add all the wet ingredients to the blender container, apple, vinegar, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, ginger, almond butter, and vanilla. Blend until the apple is not apparent and the mixture is smooth.

Pour the wet into the dry bowl and stir until combined and a soft dough forms. Place the dough bowl in the refrigerator or freezer for 5-10 minutes to firm so the dough is less sticky (it is very sticky dough!) I made about 24 little cookies.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes on a cookie pan lined with a silpat baking sheet. 

The cookies with 1 full can of pumpkin (in the recipe doubled) were good and I might make that variation again, but the batter was REALLY sticky--even with less pumpkin, it's still sticky! The original author said they make a good breakfast cookie.  I agree. I think she also thought they would be good for snacking on at ANY time--again, I agree!

     

a new cookie

I found this recipe for strawberry oatmeal cookies this past summer. When I saw it, I thought, I must make it with apricots.  I have a ton of apricots in my freezer from this past spring.  I've been meaning to make apricot jam, but I haven't done it yet.  I've been chipping off pieces of the frozen apricots and using them in my oatmeal and they are so yummy.  I decided to try to recreate the apricot oatmeal yumminess in a cookie.

 

Here's what I did:

Wet ingredients
1/4 cup almond butter
1/2 cup maple syrup sugar (it's crystalized maple syrup)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax seed meal + 3 tablespoons water)
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Dry ingredients
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups gluten free whole oats

1.5 cups  chopped apricots

Mix the almond butter, maple syrup sugar, maple syrup, flax egg, and vanilla. Get it as creamy as you can. Add the apricots when mixed well.

Mix the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, salt, oats).

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ones.

Scoop into cookies and bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.

My husband and oldest daughter LOVE them.  I like them a lot. They are a great breakfast cookie. I want to add more apricots next time.  Maybe, I'll add 2-3 cups of apricots.  I'll keep you posted.  I probably have enough apricots for 6-8 more batches of these. (Unless I make apricot jam.)  Also, next time, I might use almond flour instead of whole wheat.  (I'm not gluten-free, but I find gluten-free flours more interesting than whole wheat.) Also, I don't need to use maple sugar, this recipe was very dry and needed a little more moisture (hence the maple syrup in addition to the maple sugar).

Another note, I might use less almond butter... (File this recipe under still in progress.)

 

(Oldest daughter liked them--she couldn't keep her hands out long enough for me to get a picture!)

Grapes

Frozen. My favorite way to eat them. We call them grapesicles!

Lemon delight cupcakes

 
Natalie and Kira made these on Sunday.  They are yummy.

from:  http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/cupcakes/r/VeganLemonCupcakes.htm

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/3 cup oil
1 cup soy or almond milk (we put a little lemon juice in here so it would make it "curdle")
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup and
1 T. lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another large mixing bowl, whisk together the  oil, soy milk , sugar, and lemon juice. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until just combined.

3. Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 full and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes emerges clean, about 18-20 minutes.

(They got 10 cupcakes out of the recipe.  They ate quite a bit of batter.)

They made a frosting with vegan butter, powder sugar, lemon, and soy milk, I think.  I wasn't really part of the process so I can't tell you about it.  Natalie may blog about it, too.

They are pretty yummy.  (Not healthy, but every now and then it's okay!)

New! Modified! Dark chocolate molasses cookies (still gluten free)

You may remember these wonderful cookies.  Thank you Vegan 8!  I decided to lighten them up a little (and I love them even more...).

PLUS, I made them into cookie bars--that means I am more likely to make them 'cause they are EASIER. We all need EASY,  right?



What did I do?

1 cup almond flour
1 cup oat flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch/flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (use a little extra like 1-2 tablespoons if you like it darker)
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoon ground flaxseed
2/3s cup pure maple syrup (use up to 3/4s of a cup if you like it a little sweeter)
2 tablespoons almond butter (sunbutter for nut-free)
2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup dairy-free dark chocolate chips 

(I basically doubled the recipe, but instead of doubling the almond flour, I added the normal amount and then added a cup of oat flour. I didn't double the chocolate chips--they are good, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and I was trying to lighten these a little.)

(Also, I made my own almond flour and it was pretty coursely ground so there were a few (small) almond pieces left.)

1.Pre-heat an oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone pan liner (I love the reusable nature of silicone!).

2. In a small bowl, add the syrup and whisk in the flax seed and set aside for 5 minutes to thicken.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, oat flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, cocoa, and salt together. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Next, stir in the molasses, almond butter and vanilla into the  flax seed mixture and mix well. Pour over the flour mixture and stir for a couple of minutes until it all comes together and thickens up. It should be sticky and thick. If it is on the runny side, add a touch more flour (your choice--mine was super thick so I didn't need to worry about this at all).

5.  You can either make into cookies (see the original recipe) or roll it out into a nice rectangular shape on your cookie sheet. Roll it to about 1/4 inch thin. Bake for 9-11 minutes, let cool, and then cut into bite size pieces. (Or whatever size you prefer.)

6.  Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Molasses Cookies

See the other very similar recipe, too.  

My niece came to visit. Whenever she comes we cook a lot! She likes good food and I like to cook. She likes to cook, too. Win, win, win!


I found this recipe right before she arrived and I knew I had to make it!  I love molasses.  I love it with dark chocolate!!  And ginger!  (Hrm, is that foreshadowing a change I might make to the recipe in the future?) My niece is gluten-free so I love finding fun new recipes to try with her!

Here's the recipe as Vegan 8 created:

Ingredients

    • 1 cup blanched almond flour (for a nut-free option, see note below)
    • 1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
    • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

    • 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
    • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
    • 1 tablespoon + 1 tsp creamy almond butter (sunbutter for nut-free)
    • 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

    • 1/2 cup dairy-free dark chocolate chips

(Note
To make this recipe nut-free, you can use raw, unsalted sunflower kernels and grind them up in a food processor into a fine flour and use that in place of almond flour. For this option, increase the flour amount to 1 1/4 cups sunflower "flour", as it tends to be lighter in baking. Use sunbutter in place of the nut butter.)

Instructions

1.Pre-heat an oven to 375 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, add the syrup and whisk in the flaxseed well and set aside for 5 minutes to thicken.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour (or sunflower), tapioca, baking powder, cocoa and salt together and whisk well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Next, stir in the molasses, almond butter and vanilla into the reserved flaxseed mixture and mix well. Pour over the flour mixture and stir for a couple of minutes until it all comes together and thickens up. It should be sticky and fairly thick. If it is on the runny side, add a touch more almond flour.  Add chocolate chips.

5. Drop by large spoonfuls onto the prepared sheet pan and slightly smooth/spread out the batter with the back of the spoon to about 2 inches wide, about 1/4 inch tall. This will ensure even baking. Make sure to space each cookie 1-2 inches apart from each other, as they will spread a lot when baking. They will be large and beautiful! Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cracked on top and slightly firm. I took mine out at around 9 minutes. They will crisp up while cooling. If you prefer them a bit crispier, cook for another minute or two. Cool 10 minutes on the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack.

The original author recommends making them into sandwiches with almond butter (sunbutter for nut-free) in between 2 cookies. Keep them stored in the fridge to hold the sandwich shape best!

My notes:
The cookie dough is VERY sticky. I only was able to bake about 10 cookies per sheet. I doubled the recipe. I used almond butter.  I did not use blanched almond flour, I just made almond flour in my blender with regular almonds. Next time, I may try using a little oat flour by adding another 1/4 of a cup of flour to the recipe.

(Some other thoughts) I may use some of the almond "goop" that is frozen in my freezer and adding a little oat flour to counteract the extra liquid. I would like to add some dried ginger to these cookies as I think it would give a nice zing. (I probably won't put ginger in all the cookies as my husband and one of my daughters don't like it.)

I doubled the recipe and I'm glad I did. We loved the cookies!  I'll definitely keep doubling it! Next time, hopefully I'll get some pictures. I made the cookies really fast on Sunday morning before we went to the beach and I forgot to take picts. Note these are EVEN more awesome when they sit in a container and get warm and then you take them out at the beach and they are very soft and the chocolate is melt-y! We liked these so much we never got around to making them as little cookie sandwiches.  I bet they'd be awesome!

Zucchini

 

Houston, we have zucchini.

This is our 4th about this size.  We made some lovely zucchini bread with the others, gave two smaller ones to a friend, and there are more coming.  I'll need to post the zucchini bread recipe that we've been using, but in the mean time, check out the Zucchini Muffin Recipe from a couple years back. It was yummy then and now.

I roasted some zucchini in the oven; I put on a light brushing of olive oil, baked at 350 for about 20 minutes and then turned it to broil for about 10.  They came out very nicely.  I put some of my marina sauce and some field roast sausage with the zucchini and OMG it is good.  I'll try to get a picture!  

I do love our zucchini!

It's Summer: Chocolate "fudgesicles"

Or it's nearly, officially, summer!

I love summer!

I love the laid back, no-school thing.  I love school and learning, but by the time summer gets here we all need a break.

Okay, on to the important business, I've been meaning to post this recipe for a couple years.  This winter, I found these great molds and asked for them for Christmas.  

http://www.amazon.com/FoodWorks-Silicone-Maker-Molds-Popsicle/dp/B00D9HQ30W

What I did:

2 packs of tofu (I used this brand)
1/2 cup cocoa
5/8-3/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon arrowroot starch flour
1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter (I didn't really measure) (Next time I'm going to make some cashew cream and use it.) (Note, we made this with almond butter and it tasted like dark chocolate!)

Blend until mixed and smooth.  Pour into silicone molds and freeze. After frozen, run the molds under hot water for a minute. (Or leave out for 10 minutes or so... like any one has the patience to do that.)

I like the molds 'cause the popsicle/fudgesicle comes out much easier 'cause you can squeeze them up!  The molds make BIG popsicles.  If you have little kids, you might want to get smaller molds.  (Not sure if they are smaller ones, but I think there are.)

You can also use dark chocolate chips (vegan) if you want, instead of the cocoa.

Here's the nutrition facts on these wonderful treats!

 

Garden update

 

This was the garden at the end of May!  It's gone crazy since.  I'll need to get a new picture, today. 

We ate our first zucchini from the garden, last week. It was HUGE.  I'll post a picture.  (It's not good to let them get so big, but it worked out okay 'cause it makes awesome zucchini bread--Nick made and I'll share the recipe.)

And.... we have APRICOTS. 

 

We did pretty well picking this year.  We lost some because we had a heat wave on Thursday and we didn't pick Thursday night. (They got ripe and fell off the tree on Friday.) We still got 75 -100 pounds, I'm guessing.  Our first picking session gave us 25 pounds. We had two more picking sessions where we got at least another 25 pounds--maybe more. I didn't weigh the apricots from the second and third session because we didn't pick them into bags.

I learned to pick them into smaller containers and store them in baking pans so they are only two levels deep.  That way, they don't get too ripe too quickly and turn into mush in the bottom of the bag.  I have learned this trick a couple of times, so I'm writing it down so I remember it.  (In paper bags, they ripen VERY quickly.)

We've made 2 apricot crisps so far. I'm sure I'll make another two, today and then we'll make (OMG so good) Apricot Jam! We've cut a lot of apricots and frozen them (for a few days/weeks) so we can make jam at our leisure. Our Super Nanny returns from her vacation, tomorrow and I'm sure she'll be excited about the apricots!  Here's hoping she wants to make jam.  (Chelsea, we've missed you!)

Oh Fudge! I mean "not oat fudge!"

I found a recipe on a new (to me) blog. The blogger, Kate, described it as an accidental recipe. I love it when accidents turn out great! The recipe caught my attention as she called it "Easy Salted Oat Fudge." (I love salt in desserts! It's my weakness.) I'm calling the recipe "not oat fudge" because of my modifications.

Here's her recipe (modified because that's what I do). This is super yummy; everyone who has tried this has loved it. (My youngest doesn't like the pecans, but the next time I make this, I'll make her some without the pecans.)

I don't think of this as "fudge," but I don't have a better word to describe it.  It's not as soft and moist than fudge, but it kind of melts in your mouth, so it's very nice. Thanks, Kate for the happy accident of a recipe! (See below for the world's worst photo of my version. Click over to Kate's blog to see nice photos.)

3/4 cup almond butter
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/8-1/4 cup maple syrup
2-4 tablespoons cashew butter
1.5 teaspoons vanilla
3/4-1 teaspoon salt

~3/4 cup of oat flour (a bit more, maybe, but probably not a full cup--see note below)
~1 cup of toasted pecans


(To toast the pecans, stick them in a 300 degree oven on a silpat or parchment paper for 10-15 minutes. Easy-peasy, yum!)

(To make oat flour, stick as many oats as you need to be flour in your food processor or blender and watch them fly as you turn it on! I love making oat flour. You can buy it if you'd rather.)

Melt the almond butter, chocolate chips, maple syrup, cashew butter, and vanilla in a double boiler or regular sauce pan (keep the heat low if you use a regular pan). Stir in the oat flour (this will be hard 'cause the mixture is super thick already). (Add 1/2 cup of oat flour at first and mix it in, and then add as much as you can--probably another 1/4-1/2 cup, but add it kind of slowly. Your arm will get tired from all the mixing (but then you can eat more of this recipe since you worked out while making it).

(Note: the second time I made this I discovered that 1 cup was too much oat flour.  I had to add a little more almond butter to counteract the flour.  So, since the original post, I changed the oat flour amount in the ingredients to 3/4s of a cup--maybe a tiny bit more, but not a full cup.)

The "dough" will be very dry. Add the pecans. Next, put the dough in an 8X8 pan and pat it down so that it all sticks together.  (Again, you'll be using muscles and working out!)

After it's in the pan, stick it in the freezer for a while (1/2 hour or so), or just in the fridge to cool.  It will slice (with a little breakage), and taste excellent. The warm "dough" also tastes great! 

The recipe is delicious, but not moist like fudge (because of my modifications--my leaving out the butter makes it dryer).  Kate described it as a cross between a no-bake cookie and fudge... I think of it more as a cross between a no-bake cookie and a baked cookie with fudge-y flavor.

Whatever! It's a winner! (Unless you don't like chocolate.  I'm looking at you, LindaX.)

Enjoy the heavenly, not oat fudge!

 
(you can see the frost on the glass from the freezer.)

For 12 servings cut in the 8x8 pan (that's a decent size):

Another dessert: Brownie Bites

This time from Dreena Burton. I love all the recipes she's created (that I've tried). They contain whole foods, no added oils, usually not too much sugar, and are EXCELLENT.

Kira took this picture on her Dad's birthday. He requested these for his birthday treat. (I had made them 3 or 4 times since finding the recipe.) The recipe has been approved by several non-vegans, so if you're looking for something healthy and tasty, I highly recommend it.  It's gluten-free using oats and almonds as the flour. We don't avoid gluten, but it's nice to have some delicious recipes in your back pocket for times when needed. We all seem to really like the combination of almond and oat flour.

Here's the recipe copied from Dreena Burton's site with my (very slight) modifications. (I increased it to make slightly more dough and changed some of the proportions. For example, I cut some of the almond flour (proportional to the recipe), increased some of the oat flour, and decreased the sugar slightly. I probably increase the chocolate chips, too with my method of making the bites. I also just use my food processor, no mixer like she does, to make this recipe so my instructions are different from hers.)

3/4 cup pitted dates
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
2 tbsp almond butter or other butter of choice (cashew butter, peanut butter, etc)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup almond meal
1 1/4 cup oat flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp (rounded) sea salt
3-4 tbsp non-dairy chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (not 350). In your food processor, place dates, maple syrup, almond butter (or other), and vanilla and process thoroughly so it's a smooth mixture with very few date chunks. Next, add almond meal, oat flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Process until mixture comes together. The mixture will be sticky, and that’s the idea. These are dense, brownie-like cookie bites. 

I made VERY big brownie bites with this recipe and got 18 that were probably 2.5 tablespoons of dough. I put in 2-3 chocolate chips (actually mine are chocolate chunks) in each bite as I form the bites (I have to actually form the bites with my hands to get them to stick together).  I baked for ~14 minutes.

If you make smaller bites (1 tablespoon or so), then bake for less time ~12 minutes. Make sure to use a slightly cooler oven (325 is recommended) so that the more delicate almond flour doesn't burn. 

 
A picture from an earlier batch with gooey chocolate!