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!  

Carmel Apples!

So it's not exactly the season for carmel apples... I will be so READY this fall!

2 cups pitted and packed medjool dates (I used 22 dates)
2 tablespoons earth balance butter
1 tbsp creamy cashew butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp sea salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup water (makes it smoother)

Place all the ingredients except the water in the food processor.  (Maybe soften your vegan butter a little.) Process away.  If you want a creamy carmel, add water.  I added probably 1/3 a cup, but I didn't measure.  Add water (a tablespoons at a time) until you get the desired texture.  I wanted a "dippable" carmel.

We spread it on apple slices. Then we ran out and put it on graham crackers. It is so good.  Hint: quit eating before you feel ill.  Next time I make it, I'll take a picture.  Tonight we all (all 5 + a kid here on a play date) were standing around the food processor fighting over the knife to spread it on our apples.  Seriously YUMMY.

Spicy!

Someday I'll get back to blogging.  In the meantime, enjoy the video.
Here's a link to a write-up.  Maybe you should drink some tumeric tea while watching the video (or right after).

A yummy birthday present

 

Wow, in February, you'd think I could have managed to post this, a picture of one of my tastiest birthday presents! Thank you Audrey and Don!  

Nope. Apparently the ski trip took all I had.  (Oh, and a big meeting for work.)

OMG it's March

I only posted once in February. Whoa. I'm sure I made more new things than just the breakfast cookies. Oh, I know! We went skiing. We stayed in a condo so we could cook and not eat out that much. I was going to tell you about that and document (for myself and you if you want to know) what works (and doesn't work) for next time.

We had 3 nights in the condo.

One of the Amazing Greens canisters. The kitchen at the condo had a blender (the wimpiest blender you've ever seen), but I was able to blend soy milk, the powder, ice, and a banana. The girls drank this every night. We didn't finish the whole canister. Next time, I'll order the single serving packets for short trips.

I took spices (a little jar of the salt, cumin, and garlic) to make pinto beans. We had 5 cans; next time, I'll just buy 4 cans (for 3 nights).

We bought whole grain pasta and a jar of organic pasta sauce.
Lots of bread (my girls and husband love the stuff. I don't.)
Chocolate covered almonds.
1 bag frozen Kale and 1 of frozen broccoli.  Next time, maybe just one bag total, or two smaller bags.
Pre-made hummus from whole foods (2 kinds--Kira and I ate them both! I'm not sure if any one helped us.)
Pita chips (1 bag, but don't buy a HUGE one next time.)
One 16 ounce tub of fresh salsa

A jar of PB.  Sadly, this was the biggest fail and we didn't eat much of it at all.  Next time, get individual serving packs.

A jar of honey. We used it up! I made hot soy milk with honey drinks for the girls. I bought 5 boxes of soy milk and we really only needed 3-4.

We bought lots of other chips and snacks, and we ended up bringing home a few bags on the plane.

This summer, we have a trip planned to France and England and I'll post about what I plan (and then actually do) to keep my vegans fed on that trip. (If you have any suggestions, let me know!)

 

More cookie recipes coming soon!

More breakfast cookies

I had some bananas to use up... I turned them into these.

 



Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup spelt flour
2-3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (Optional)
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons ground flax
2 small bananas mashed well
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup maple syrup 1/4-1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup)


Directions
Preheat oven to 325.
Mix dry ingredients.
Mash bananas add 1/3 cup of water to the bananas as you mash them so they have more liquid.
Add wet ingredients.
Mix well (by hand).
Add chocolate chips.

Form cookies. (I used my new scooper.  Thanks, Kristina! Scoop then flatten the cookies a little.) (I got 23 cookies out of the batter.) Bake for 12-15 minutes. (I baked for 14 minutes.)


They are good.  They are very easy to make.  All 5 of us liked them! Nick and the girls liked them a lot (more than I did). I think they are probably better with a little PB on them. (That's how I plan to eat them next time. They were slightly sweet in my opinion.)

Note: I still haven't figured out if I like cinnamon in banana bread or not. More research will need to be done.

Lettuce!

Lettuce from our garden!!!
I love our garden!

Tia made this!  Kira made the dressing!  Collaboration!