Oooooh man! The universe is testing my dedication to this cookie challenge. First it was the peanut butter cups yesterday that turned out not to be vegan and now it’s the disappearance of my memory card reader. Well you know what Universe? Challenge accepted!
This whole post will be done on my phone. So take that!
Today’s recipe is my vegan take on a Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookie. I thought peanut butter cookies were good but ‘Nutella’ cookies may have trumped them.
Chocolate Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies veganized from American Heritage Cooking; makes approximately 20 cookies; 2 hour chilling required
Ingredients
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
½ cup vegan butter such as Earth Balance, softened
heaping 1/3 cup Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut spread
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 Ener-G egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life morsels)
*For those of you new to vegan baking, you can find Ener-G egg here or I have found it at Whole Foods and Stop and Shop. It’s becoming pretty common. Don’t be put off by the price. It will last you forever! I bake a lot and have had mine for over a year. Earth Balance butter can also be found at most grocery store chains now.
** For non-vegans, you can substitute real butter, eggs and chocolate chips in place vegan version at a 1:1 ratio across the board.
Instructions
Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
Beat together butter, Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut spread, sugars, egg, and vanilla on medium-high speed in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until well combined, about 4 minutes, scrapping down the sides of necessary.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until well combined, scraping down the sides if necessary.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350° . Roll into 1 inch balls and place dough 1 inch apart on a parchment line baking sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes or until the edges are set and the tops have just started to brown.
Let cool 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool.
I was a little worried about this recipe and that the Justin’s would produce a drier cookie then those made with Nutella. I did not have any problem at all, though. These cookies are moist and fluffy with just a hint of hazelnut. Definitely a nice change from a traditional chocolate cookies.
Today I learned a very important lesson about veganism that I should have learned long ago- Read food labels closely. In an attempt to make this cookie challenge fun, I wanted to try lots of new recipes with new ingredients. I had had my mind set on using these mini peanut butter cups that Justin’s recently released. I had tried them as a free sample at Whole Foods one day (after I checked with those handing them out that they were vegan). So, when I made my list of cookies I wanted to make, peanut butter cookies stuffed with peanut butter cups were high on my list.
I decided to give a peanut butter cookies recipe a whirl this afternoon. As the dough was chilling and I was unwrapping a million Justin’s mini peanut butter cups, I happened to glance at the ingredients list and smiled. No dairy listed. Oh wait, what is that note at the bottom? “Contains: peanuts, soy and milk”? Well, crap.
And that wasn’t even the first time I did that during this challenge. I had found a recipe for chocolate peppermint cookies that sounded delicious but it had chocolate pudding in it. I had my heart set on a chocolate peppermint recipe so I started poking around to find a dry vegan chocolate pudding mix. Come to find out, Jello Chocolate pudding is in fact vegan, if I just took the time to read the ingredients. I know right?! No dairy or gelatin! Much like Oreos, which are always accidentally vegan, it’s mostly just chemicals and sugar. Not exactly something you want to eat on the regular but makes for a great once-a-year holiday cookie.
Chocolate Peppermint Pudding Cookies veganized from Chef-in-Training
¾ cup vegan butter such as Earth Balance, softened
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup sugar
1 small package (3.9 oz) Jello Chocolate instant pudding mix, dry (or any other dry pudding, such as European Gourmet Bakery Pudding which is a bit more natural then Jello and also vegan)
*For those of you new to vegan baking, you can find Ener-G egg here or I have found it at Whole Foods and Stop and Shop. It’s becoming pretty common. Don’t be put off by the price. It will last you forever! I bake a lot and have had mine for over a year. Earth Balance butter can also be found at most grocery store chains now.
** For non-vegans, you can substitute real milk, butter, eggs and chocolate chips in place vegan version at a 1:1 ratio across the board. As mentioned above, the Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips can be used in place of the Peppermint Sprinkles)
INSTRUCTIONS
Cream together butter and sugars.
Beat in dry instant pudding mix.
Add Ener-G eggs and vanilla and beat until well incorporated.
Add baking soda and flour and beat until well incorporated.
Stir in Peppermint Crunch and semi-sweet chocolate chunks.
Roll into 1″ balls and place on a greased baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will firm up when they cool so don’t over cook them. Cook until the centers are set.
Chocolate and peppermint aren’t my normal go-to but it’s just so perfect during the holidays. These cookies are fudgy with just the right amount of peppermint. They would be perfect with hot chocolate, coffee or for Santa on Christmas morning!
Today, I flipped my countdown calendar and there was 7 days until Christmas. 7 DAYS!! I panicked. Then I doubly panicked when two of the gifts I ordered were cancelled or suddenly backordered. What is happening with the world when people are cancelling Christmas orders a week before Christmas?!
It just really hasn’t been a good day for Christmas cheer. On the plus side, I got some excellent Christmas movie suggestions from a bunch of you.
Elf
It’s a Wonderful Life
Muppet Christmas Carol
A Wish For Wings That Work
Love Actually
The Holiday
The Family Stone
Edward Scissorhands
The Vicar of Dibley episodes when she marries Richard Armitage
How I Met Your Mother Christmas episodes
The Night They Saved Christmas
Holiday Inn
I’ve never even heard of some of these! I started with Love Actually last night but promise I will attempt to see them all before Christmas. I love the challenge of working through a list!
Today’s cookie combines my two favorite things- Coffee and Chocolate. God knows I will need coffee in whatever form I can get it in if I’m going to get everything done before Christmas. If it happens it come with a side of chocolate, even better!!
1 tsp instant coffee powder (wv note: I didn’t have instant coffee so I used regular coffee ground really, really fine and it was fine)
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp milk of choice
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
just over 1/16 tsp salt
melted chocolate chips
Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips in a tall dish. If using a microwave, heat two minutes. Stir, then microwave one more minute or until firm enough to scoop out into ball shapes. (Or cook on the stovetop until it’s firm enough to scoop out.) Scoop into balls on a cookie tray—I used a cookie scoop. Cook at 360 F for 14-16 minutes. Let cool before removing from tray.
Line a plate with wax paper. Dip each cookie in melted chocolate, place on the wax paper, and let set (you can refrigerate or freeze them if you need them to set faster) Makes 12-22 cookies, depending on the size cookie scoop you use.
I’m a fan of these. I love coconut macaroons, I love chocolate/coffee and I love how easy they come together. Just dump everything in a bowl and bake. If you are looking for something more festive for a holiday party, you could add seasonal sprinkles before the chocolate dries. As I am normally not a Christmas girl, I have amount a million halloween sprinkles and zero Christmas ones. But definitely go crazy with the Christmas cheer!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some serious Christmas movie watching to do!
The last few weeks have been hard. Like, I’m-not-even-sure-how-I’m-awake-and-functioning-right-now hard. In an attempt to make ends meet when moving back to Boston, I took a job at a cafe, which was part-time, and worked as a temp through a temp agency. This worked out well for a while but then I landed a 9-5, M-F desk job through my temp agency. Yeah! But since it’s a temp job, I still needed to keep the cafe job. Which is how I ended up working every single day for the past 30 days- Desk job Monday through Friday, Cafe job Saturday and Sunday. Surprisingly, it’s the cafe job that has been the most exhausting. 8 hours on your feet running around, making sandwiches and coffee and being ‘on’ for the customers is a long day. This is why the recipes haven’t been pouring out. Mostly when I come home, I’m putting my energy toward seeing all my friends that I have missed over the past nine months…or I’m sleeping. Ok, it’s mostly sleeping. Energy for dinner? Does an apple with peanut butter and chocolate chips count? How about left over chips and salsa and pumpkin beer? There’s veggies in salsa! Despite the hectic, hectic schedule I’ve been leading, I have had time to consistently make one thing: Cold brew coffee. Yes, please! It took me a little while to get used to and to work out the proportion of water to coffee I like but it’s so easy. I can prep it on Saturday night, strain it on Sunday night and have coffee all week. It’s perfect. Because clearly, I am running on nothing but caffeine at this point. So here is the thing about cold brew coffee: there are a lot of different ways it can be made and everyone seems to have a different strategy. Some people suggest freshly grinding your beans but leaving them fairly course- others say to grind them super fine. Some say let your grinds sit in water at room temperature, others say in the fridge. You have to find what you like best. The below recipe is a combo of everything I read and found online and what works for me. What you have to remember though is that this is a concentrate. It doesn’t have the bitter, acidity that traditional coffee has so it may be easy to mistake the smoothness for it not being “strong”. So not the case. There was definitely a day when I didn’t cut the coffee and boy was I jittery at my desk! Another thing to note is cold brew coffee is naturally sweeter. American Test Kitchen suggests replacing your sugar with a pinch of sea salt to bring out that sweetness. I haven’t tried that but I can tell you that when I’m not using the below flavored sweeteners (which I use a very little of!) that I’m not adding any sweetener at all. It’s a great way to cut that morning sugar rush out. OK, Enough Talk! Here’s the coffee and flavored syrups I’m loving right now :
Option 1 for filtering out your grinds: Fine Mess Sieve and coffee filter over a bowl
Option 2 for filtering out your grinds: Single-serving coffee cone and filter over your storage container. My preferred option.
Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate with Pumpkin Spice Syrup or Chocolate Syrup
Coffee:
1 cup of whole coffee beans, medium roast is ideal
4-5 cups of water depending on your preference (American Test Kitchen recommends 1 cup of grinds:4 cups water. I like 5 just as much and it’s a little cheaper. Stretching that buck!)
Directions:
Grind your coffee beans to a “fine” consistency* (To grind my coffee, I use something like this)
Transfer grinds to a large bowl, french press or mason jar. I use a large 1/2 gallon mason jar
Add your desired amount of water. Give it a quick stir to make sure all the grinds get mixed in. Cover.
Let sit for 24 hours, preferably in the fridge.**
Strain out coffee grinds. If you are using a french press, the french press does the bulk of the work for you. Depending on how fine your grinds are, though, you may still need to filter them. For everyone else, you can line a strainer with a coffee filter or you can use a single-serving drip coffee cone, which is what I use. So cheap and so effective. I’ve also done the mesh strainer/coffee filter combo over a bowl as well and both work fine. See the two photos above for these two options.
Serve over ice or heat up. Either way, Enjoy!
*”espresso or turkish” consistency is how everyone describes it online but seriously? My coffee grinder is the cheapest out there and there aren’t settings. Just grind it really well. According to American Test Kitchen, the fine grinds release more flavor **You can let it sit for longer. I’ve left mine for 36-48 before in the fridge and it was totally fine. Just don’t go less then 24 hours or it will be too weak. Some will argue that letting it sit at room temperature produces better results but I like mine in the fridge because I almost always drink my coffee iced. Try both ways to see if you have a preference. Chocolate Syrup from Vegan in the Freezer
1 cup of water
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp of vanilla
Directions:
Bring the water to a boil and add the sugar.
Stir until the sugar dissolves, which should be about a minute.
Stir in cocoa and salt. Reduce heat so the mixture is simmering. Continue to let it simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
1/2 tsp ground cloves (I used 1/4 cause I don’t love the taste of cloves)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 TBS vanilla extract
Directions:
In a medium saucepan, add water and both sugars. Simmer on medium-low until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes
Turn the head down to low and whisk in cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and pumpkin puree. Simmer for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil.
Remove from the heat and strain through a mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth or a very thin, clean tea towel. If you are too lazy/too busy for this (um, me!), then skip this step. The spices and the pumpkin will sink to the bottom of the storage container leaving the syrup at the top to scoop out. You could also give the syrup a stir before using and include the pumpkin and spices in your coffee. I actually don’t mind it like that. I think it’s more flavorful! Just make sure you don’t forget step 4 below.
Allow the syrup to cool to room-temperature before stirring in the vanilla extract. Store in a mason jar or airtight container. The syrup with last for 1 month at room temperature or 3 months in the refrigerate.
So there are 3 recipes for you! Does that make up for the fact that I have been negligent for the past month? Probably not but I just gave you Pumpkin Spice Simple Syrup so that should count for something! Seriously, these recipes are so versatile! I use the chocolate syrup in hot and cold coffee (though I prefer it in hot I think), drizzled over ice cream or really, drizzled over anything! As for the Pumpkin Spice Syrup, come on! This is about 10x better then that crap you buy at Starbucks. 1. It taste better. A confession for you: I really hate Starbucks PSL. And I love Starbucks and Pumpkin. It taste so chemically to me! This stuff does not, 2. There is actual pumpkin in it! 20 bucks says the PSL does not have real pumpkin and 3. You can also use it in black tea, which is delicious, or over ice cream. Really, you can’t go wrong with either and I think you should go ahead and make these now. Also, if you could send a jar my way that would be awesome. God knows, I can’t get enough coffee lately!
Happy Friday, everyone! I’m made you something with fun sprinkles to help you celebrate the end of your week. I hope you have some awesome plans for this weekend. I think I have not 1, but 2 fun things in the works that I am looking forward to sharing with you on my next Travel Tuesday-Staycation post.
Ok, now let’s get down to business. The family I nanny for often has chocolate chip cookies in the house. They are good. Real good. Like, I’m pretty sure in one day, the Dad and I can make a fairly large dent before the kids even know I restocked. They aren’t vegan and they aren’t healthy. Thus, they are my worst enemy. They whisper to be from the very top of the cabinet saying “psst, Erin. You worked out this morning. You can totally have 1. Or 3. I’m yummy and chock full of chocolate chips…”
It’s the worst.
peanut butter + maple syrup
So I’ve been trying to make some cleaner, healthier-sorta-kinda, desserts that I can keep around the house that I don’t have to worry about sharing. This way, when I’m being taunted by store bought chocolate chip cookies, I have a better option.
peanut butter/maple syrup + coconut flour
Healthy-ish Peanut Butter Balls from Oh She Glows
serving 20-25
Ingredients:
1 cup 100% natural peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, I used Teddy’s. You want it to be the all natural kind that is kind of drippy.)
3.5-4 tablespoons pure maple syrup, to taste (I only tried maple syrup so I can’t vouch for other liquid sweeteners like honey and Agave Nectar)
2-3 tablespoons coconut flour (I used 2.5)
fine grain sea salt, to taste (I used 1/8 teaspoon because by PB was already salted)
6 tablespoons rice crisp cereal
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
Instructions:
Combine natural peanut butter and the maple syrup in a medium bowl and stir vigorously for about a minute until the mixture has thickened.
Add the coconut and stir until well combined. The amount of the coconut flour will depend on the consistency of your peanut butter. Start with 2 TBSP, combine and let sit for a minute or two. The coconut flour will continue to absorbed the moisture in the mixture and will continue to thicken. Add a bit more if the peanut butter remains sticky. You want to be able to roll the peanut butter into a ball without it sticking to your hands (add more flour if this is the case) and without cracking or crumbling (add more maple syrup). See my picture below for a reference on what your dough should look like.
Add salt and combine.
Add cereal and gently combine.
Shape into balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (I was able to make 20 but I would suggest going smaller for a better Peanut butter/ chocolate ratio). Place in freezer while you prepare the chocolate.
On medium heat,melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler. Once the chocolate had begun to melt, stir the chocolate around until it becomes smooth then remove from heat.
Remove the peanut butter balls from the freezer. One at a time, drop them into the melted chocolate, roll around until it is covered, then roll it gently up the side to help remove excess chocolate.
Place in the fridge or freezer for another 10 minutes or so for the chocolate to harden. Keep chilled.
I had been eyeing this recipe since I received two large jars of Teddy’s peanut butter from home for Christmas. I sort of forgot about it with the craziness of the holidays but the other day, I realized I was down to my last 1/2 of a jar and knew I had to make this before it was too late.
The filling is straight up peanut butter goodness! The rice cereal adds a nice texture but the best part is, because it’s so peanut buttery, I’m good with one. It’s the perfect little afternoon snack!
AND peanut butter is a very American thing and most of the family doesn’t particularly like them so they are all for me! Yesssss!
PS. did you notice in the first picture the condensation on the Peanut Butter Balls because it was SO hot here when I was photographing them? It reminded me of this skit. LOL! Happy Friday.
Oh Valentine’s Day. You are here again. For all those couples out there, you put pressure on them to buy awesome things. For all those single people, you just make them feel like crap for being single! It’s a lose, lose situation.
Fortunately, these pancakes are here for you. If you are looking to gain a few extra points with your significant other, you can double this recipe and serve breakfast in bed. If you are single, then these are perfect to whip up quickly and then eat while snuggled in bed with your favorite book/movie and their leading man. Mr. Darcy? Edward? Noah Calhoun? Aint nothing wrong with that!
Optional- Red food coloring or beet juice for a red velvet pancake
* I also made this with whole wheat flour and Stevia for a healthier option and though it was edible, I would recommend the above version instead. The whole wheat/stevia version came out kind of rubbery.
Mix dry ingredients. Add wet and mix. Then make your pancakes!
Speaking of Noah Calhoun, I accidentally discovered that the local cinema near here is playing the Notebook on Valentine’s Night. I quickly recruited a friend and bought those tickets ASAP! So, I’m a mere few hours away from seeing Mr. Ryan Gosling on the large screen. Happy Valentine’s Day to me!!
I am SO happy it is Friday! It’s week two of the new school year and waking up early again is hitting me hard. I’ve been in grumpy zombie mode all week. I’ve wanted nothing but a serious nap. I went to bed one night at 9:30 and I still can’t shake it! This weekend I will be lounging in bed late every morning and soaking up the laziness! I think I may also work on some Valentine’s Recipes and check out Wolf of Wall Street. Has anyone seen it? Thoughts?
ok, Friday Favorites:
New Music: New Taking Back Sunday (duh!):
Favorite new exfoliant: Lush‘s Let the Good Times Roll. This was one of my Sydney Lush purchases and I can’t get enough of it. It smells amazing, like caramel popcorn, and leaves my skin so soft. The lady at Lush told me to use it every other day or every three days. It nearly kills me not to use it every night. Ob-sessed! I think it’s seasonal, though
Picture from Lush.com
Favorite New Make-up: Garnier’s BB cream. I’m not going to get into a big make-up rant because I sound like a commercial. I will say getting up early, working with kids and living in a sunny, hot climate has resulted in me almost never wearing makeup during the day. When I do, I wanted something much lighter and gentler on my skin. This meets all those requirements. Plus, my skin actually looks better after I wear it. True story. Downside- it’s not all natural. Leave a comment below if you have a good all natural foundation you use.
Favorite Beverage: Boost’s King William Smoothy. It’s just cold, liquid chocolate. Perfect thing to kick my chocolate cravings. To make vegan, I switched the milk for soy milk and the yogurt for sorbet. In this case, I’m pretending all chocolate is vegan. I’m the worst vegan ever.
Favorite Treat: Popsicles. When I can’t afford the above smoothie, I reach for these. It’s been hot here and I’ve been on a cold treat kick. I made these fudgesicles a few weeks ago and had to force myself to keep them to a snack. A hot meal for lunch and dinner? Nah, bring on the frozen chocolate!
1/2 T- 1 T sugar, depending on the chocolate used (my chocolate chips were sweet enough so I used 1/2T)
Place the coconut milk, chocolate, and espresso in a saucepan and heat until chocolate is mostly melted. Set aside for 5 minutes for the coffee to steep. Stir in salt, vanilla, and sugar. Taste and add more sugar to taste. Pour into popsicle mold and freeze for a few hours or over night.
If you do not have popsicle molds (like myself), pour into small paper or plastic cups, cover with tin foil and poke your popsicle stick through the tin foil. Freeze for a few hours or over night.
When ready to eat, run the mold under warm water. If you pull a stick out sans pop just run it under water and place back in the popsicle to freeze.
These were so creamy and delicious. I definitely hoarded them from the children because I didn’t want to share. I mean… because they don’t need the caffeine. yeah…we’ll go with that.
So today I’m sharing with you Peanut Butter Triple Chocolate Cookies, aka, The Resolution Breakers. These can be eaten in cookie format OR in cookie dough format. They have three kinds of chocolate, they have peanut, they have sugar, they are basically everything that people give up when they start the New Year and swear to eat health. I’m sorry but they are just too good not to share.
But first, Friday Favorites!
This commercial, which has me dying to know where my pogs went and if we can make them a thing again
This Full House Reunion, which begs the question ‘Has Uncle Jesse been living in a bubble because he looks EXACTLY the same’:
This song and the entire Save Rock and Roll album by the Fall Out Boys. I’ve listened to it every day this week during my work outs and I can not get enough. For some reason, I just really love FOB when I am in a foreign country. I can’t explain it
Sally Hansen- Golden Rule nail polish. It’s gold and glittery and nothing like the normal nail polishes I wear, which are black or red. But I’m half way through my Golden Rule bottle and I still love it so that speaks volumes. I tried to take one of those fancy pinterest photos of my nails and the nail bottle and honestly, it just wasn’t happening. Google it. You’ll find pictures a thousand times better then mine.
from Sallyhansen.com
and finally, these Peanut Butter Triple Chocolate cookies. I’ve been craving chocolate like there’s no tomorrow lately and these seem to hit the spot. I threw in some peanut butter on a whim. My all time favorite peanut butter is Teddy’s and I received two jars from the states for Christmas. I’ve pretty much been eating it on everything which may or may not be a good thing. So, when I was making these cookies I thought, why not throw some peanut butter in? And then I thought, why not dunk the thing in even more chocolate. Yeah…I think I have a problem.
1 cup of vegan chocolate chips for dunking (optional)
1. Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Whisk in “egg” and vanilla. Stir in flour and Cocoa then fold in the chocolate chips
2. Roll into balls and place on greased baking trays. Bake in oven at 320°F/160°C for 10-15 minutes or until cooked. Cool on a wire rack.
3. Once cool, melt your chocolate chips in a double boiler (my preferred method) or in the microwave. Dunk half the cookie in the chocolate and place on wax paper to dry.
These also make DELICIOUS cookie truffles. To make, just skip step 2. Instead, roll your dough into balls, chill and then dunk in melted chocolate. This is equally delicious and you can save yourself 10-15 minutes if you are UBER craving chocolate. Or you can just mix the dough and eat it straight out of the bowl. I’m not judging.
This recipe is a huge cop out. Like, I don’t even know if it’s considered a recipe. But here we go.
As I mentioned last week, I’ve been in a HUGE food funk. These overnight oats are what I have for breakfast, followed by some sort of toast with hummus for lunch and leftovers for dinner. I’m just not feeling food. It’s too hot here! Add to that the fact that the kids are now on summer break so I no longer have all afternoon to myself and there goes my cooking time! I did try to make some M&M cookies last week with the kids. The M&Ms weren’t vegan but I had leftovers from when I was making cookies for the kids’ teachers. The results were these colorful, flat-as-crepes cookies. Yeah…one of the kids put 1 1/2 c. of flour in instead of 2 1/2 c. of flour. Whoops.
So basically, my cooking time slot has been narrowed down to the 30 minute reading time I force upon the kids each day. Well, it’s supposed to be 30 minutes but after taking out the 10 minutes I spend telling them to “focus” and “stop talking” and “stop making faces at each other” and “stop kicking each other!” and “Oh my gosh if I have to tell you one more time to read your book…!”, it’s usually only about 20 minutes. That’s why this recipe is perfect. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare, you pop them in the freezer and the result is a little bite sized cold, chocolately/salty treat that you can grab in between activities. It’s hot here so they are perfect as an alternative to bites of ice cream. As for those in colder weather, they may be a healthier alternative to munching on holiday cookies?
Either way, I thought these were a great little treat for myself but silly me, I made them in full view of all three kids. Which means I had to share. And they loved them. Which means they didn’t last nearly as long as I thought they would. I don’t know if that is a good thing because they were clearly tasty or a bad because now I have to use my precious 30 20 minutes of free time to make a much larger batch tomorrow.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bites
from Nom! Nom! Nom! Blog serves 1-2, but can easily be doubled
1 banana
1/8 c. of peanut butter, approximately
1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips
Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper and set aside.
Cut your banana so you have round discs that are about 1/2″ thick. Top the discs with peanut butter.
Melt your vegan chocolate in the microwave or on the stove with a double burner. I prefer the double burner method but whatever you find easiest. If your chocolate isn’t melting smoothly, add a little bit of shortening. Once your chocolate is melted, remove from heat. Dunk your banana into the chocolate. I found the easiest way to be with a fork. Pierce the side of the banana with the fork, then dunk it into chocolate. Use another fork to slide the chocolate-covered banana off the first fork and onto the wax paper.
Freeze until the chocolate hardens. Remove from wax paper and place in a baggy or container and return to the freezer.
I feel like the directions for this are really wordy. It could also read “Cut banana. Put PB on top. Dunk in Chocolate. Freeze.” 3 ingredients, 10 word instructions, and we’re done!
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go secretly make another batch of these and hide them where the kids can’t find them. Why can’t they just be satisfied with messed up, flat M&M cookies? Sheesh!
I have a problem. (And it’s not that I ate about 800 of these cupcakes in one day.)
It’s hard to admit but, you know, I just have to come clean.
*deep breath* ok. here we go…
I’m addicted to the song Cruise by Florida Georgia Line. Like, addicted.
UGH! It’s just so damn catchy. I’m currently watching the CMT awards live on my laptop, which is literally slowing everything down to a crawl, in anticipation of seeing the song live. If I’m lucky and the Gods are smiling down on me tonight, Nelly will make a guest appearance. I mean, Ed Sheeran and Lenny Kravitz made appearances so why not Nelly??
I mean…I’m also watching it for Kirsten Bell, cause she’s awesome!
psst…but it’s really for Cruise.
Know who does NOT like Florida Georgia Line? My temp, Emily, at work who is going on week 3 of me randomly singing this at the drop of a hat. She must just love me getting this stuck in her head every other day. That’s a lie- she must have dreams at night about ending my life in an attempt to shut me up.
Know who else isn’t amused by my recent obsession? My friend, Melinda. We had a little picnic shindig for her birthday this past weekend and amongst bubble blowing and hoola hooping, I tried to whip out this song. I pulled this up on Spotify and tried to start a little dance party but I was met with hostile looks and head shaking. Come on guys!
Thankfully, these cupcakes were greeted with a whole lot more warmth then my country singing. As they should have been. Melinda requested them specifically for her birthday!
3 sticks unsalted vegetable margerine, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 Ener-G “Eggs” (or the egg replacer of your choice equivalent to 5 eggs)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract (*this is mandatory–it really makes the cake that much better!)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I have used the Coconut milk that comes in a carton in the refrigerated milk section and Light Coconut Milk from a can. Both work great. I think I’m partial to the light coconut milk from the can. I have not tried the full-fat version of canned coconut milk)
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Preheat oven to 350.Line cupcake tins with liners.
In a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature margarine and sugar and beat on medium speed for about five minutes until the mixture is very light and very fluffy.
Next prepare the dry ingredients in a separate bowl–the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk well to combine. Set aside.
Next, mix together the egg replacer powder with the water. Now, add this to the sugar mixture and beat on medium speed for another two minutes. Add the extracts to this and mix well.
Now you add the milk and flour mixture in the following manner: first add a third of the flour and then a third of the milk to the sugar/egg mixture. Mix well after each addition–about fifteen seconds of mixing–then add another third of the flour mixture, another third of the milk and repeat this step until the flour and milk are all used.
Remove the beaters from the bowl and fold in the shredded coconut to the batter with a spoon. Don’t overmix it! (Note: if you use the canned coconut milk, your batter will be very fluffy).
Next, fill the cup cake tins 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a knife/toothpick stuck in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 5 minutes. Move to cooling racks. Cool completely before frosting.
Melted Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
from Chow.com
INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound vegan chocolate, finely chopped (about 1.5 cups) (I used a little more then 1.5 c. of 365 brand vegan chocolate chips)
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted nonhydrogenated margarine, at room temperature (I used Earth Balance)
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons coconut milk (I had a bit of Light Coconut milk from the can left over so I used that)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
optional: toasted coconut and toasted almonds
INSTRUCTIONS
Using a microwave or double boiler, melt the chocolate in a medium bowl; set aside to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the margarine on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn the mixer to low, add the sugar and salt, and mix until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
With the mixer on low, gradually add the cooled melted chocolate and beat until incorporated. Stop the mixer and add the cocoa powder, coconut milk, and vanilla. Beat on low until incorporated, then beat on medium high until the frosting is airy and thoroughly mixed, about 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
My roommate’s friends liked the left over cupcakes, too. I found this little message waiting for me on the fridge.
I’d say these cupcakes are winners. Unfortunately, can’t say the same for my singing. Sooo, I’ll just leave you with a little video…
Why do I love Nelly so much in this video?! I’m so wierd…
wickedvegan.com 