Vegan Chocolate Silk Pie

I was seven when my dad switched to an entirely raw food diet. Being seven, I ate what he ate, which included raw tomato sauce (ick), zucchini noodles (love ’em now, but with a quick sauteé please), and different types of dehydrated flatbreads. Needless to say, his diet changes prompted me to learn how to cook and bake.

In the past years my dad has relaxed his diet and now will eat soft-boiled eggs, cooked fish, and yogurt occasionally, but he still shies away from most desserts. This chocolate silk pie was my father’s day gift to my dad and the rest of my family. By the end of dinner, there wasn’t a single slice left. Success.

As I mentioned in my last post, college has been pretty chaotic and I haven’t had time or the supplies to cook, but I did make a pretty delicious pistachio smoothie the other day, so I’ll try to remake it and share that soon. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Vegan Chocolate Silk Pie

Easiest pie ever. So silky, so delicious.

Makes 1 pie, which is about 12 normal servings (the cake is super rich ah) or 8 super generous servings.

Crust:

• 1/2 cup dates
• 2 1/2 cups assorted nuts (I used: half almonds, quarter pecans, quarter walnuts; salted nuts are ok, but will introduce a sweet salty element to the crust)
• 2 tbs coconut oil

Filling:

• 2 cups cashews, soaked overnight or boiled for 4 minutes
• 1 3/4 cup unsweetened cashew milk
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 6 oz dark chocolate, melted
• 2 tbs dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extact
• 1/2 tsp salt

To prepare the crust, pulse the dates, nuts, and coconut oil in a food processor until the mixture is crumbly, but beginning to stick together. Press into the bottom and sides of a greased springform pan. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

To make the filling, combine all the filling ingredients in a high-power blender and blend until completely smooth (no lumps or chunks!).

Pour into the crust and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. If desired, press fresh raspberries into the top of the pie before serving. Serve as is, or to be extra fancy, add a dollop of coconut cream to the top of each slice.

 

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Everything Strawberry S’more Bars

Soon I’ll be headed off back to college so my current goal is emptying out my fridge, freezer, and pantry of anything perishable. It’s taken a lot of self control, but I’ve shied away from the grocery store for the past few weeks. Yesterday was a friend’s birthday, and I wanted to bring something sweet, so I decided to throw together whatever leftover ingredients I could find.

These bars are truly a strange assortment of ingredients . They have graham crackers, speculoos cookies,frozen bread crumbs from making these vegan sandwiches, gelatin-free marshmallows, salted premium butter, earth balance, aquafaba, toasted pecans, frozen Upick strawberries, homemade chocolate shell, flour, brown sugar, and baking powder. Granted, it’s hard to mess up a combination like that. 

The slight acidity of the strawberries brings a welcome freshness to the sweetness of the marshmallows and graham crackers. They’re a little chewy, a little gooey, a little crispy, and tasty all around.

Everything Strawberry S’more Bars 

Crispy chewy soft cracker cookie bars – good enough to make by itself tbh

In a food processor pulse until crumbs:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 8 oz cookie crumbs (I used 5 oz, aka 1 sleeve, graham crackers, 2 oz plain bread crumbs, and 1 oz speculoos cookies)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder

Add:

• 3/4 cup premium salted butter and/or earth balance (I used 1 stick earth balance & 1/4 cup premium salted butter)

Pulse until sandy textured. Add:

• 1 egg or 3 tbs aquafaba(I used aquafaba)

Pulse until large clumps start to form.

Press 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of an 8×8 pan. I recommend lining the pan with parchment paper by cutting 2 strips of parchment, 8 inches wide and 12 inches long each, and laying them perpendicular in the pan. This prevents the marshmallow filling from sticking.

On top of the batter, scatter:

• ~1/2-3/4 cup good quality chocolate chips or chunks
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped (I toasted them in a nonstick pan for a few minutes)

Store the 1/3 remaining dough in the fridge while preparing the strawberry marshmallow filling.

Strawberry Marshmallow Filling* 

Note: Alternatively, heat up 2/3 cup strawberry jam and proceed to the marshmallow step.

In a saucepan, combine:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 8 oz frozen or fresh strawberries

Cook until most of the water has been boiled away, about 15 minutes. Stir in:

• 3/4 cup large or small marshmallows (~6 oz)

Stir until the marshmallows are mostly melted. Little chunks are ok and will add nice variation to the final bars.

Spread the strawberry marshmallow filling over the dough. Scatter the remaining dough on top in ~2 tsp chunks.

Bake the bars at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until the top dough is lightly golden brown. Let the bars cool completely before removing from the pan, and refrigerate before cutting. Enjoy!

 

 

Sweet Potato Brownie Adventures

Want a tray of brownies without my delirious rambling?

Click here for my melt-in-your-mouth sweet potato brownies recipe.

Otherwise, prepare to read about my adventure in sweet potato brownies™.

Earlier this year I posted a recipe for Sweet Potato Brownies. It was an on-the-whim type of recipe that I made once, decided was good enough, and posted. They were good brownies, super melty and soft with lots of chocolate flavor, but they had a notable starchiness from the sweet potato that I couldn’t get over. Eventually I put the post on private and forgot about it.

Then yesterday I was hit with an uncontrollable and explainable desire to make the damn best sweet potato brownies, so I picked myself off the couch and went to the store to buy sweet potatoes.

Batch 1:

• “These taste really good but they’re a bit…I don’t know…gummy?” my mom says

My motivation grows stronger. I decide some kind of fruit puree might add moistness, better yet, carrot puree which I find more mild than applesauce, and that the food processor likely overworked the sweet potato. Fork mashing it is.

Batch 2:

• Much better texture….but what was that I tasted…..a hint of….gumminess?

They are good, but I am on a quest for the best. By this point I am also running out of maple syrup. I decide to start making half batches.

I go to sleep, dreaming of sweet potato brownies.

The next day I start immediately after work. I double the oil to 2 tbs (1/4 cup if I were making full batches), and mash the sweet potatoes with it, like when making mashed potatoes, thinking this will prevent the starch from “developing”.

Batch 3:

• The dough has that characteristic starchy pull to it. ‘Oh no’ I think.
• Maybe there’s too much sweet potato in the batter?
• I am pleasantly surprised, despite 3.5 ounces of sweet potato in the batter, the final brownies have a great texture: soft, fudgy, and a bit chewy (in a good non starchy way)
• “Oh I like these ones”my mom says

But I’m not finished yet. I decide to see what happens when I reduce the amount of sweet potato. I reduce it from 3.5 to 1.5 ounces and mash the sweet potatoes with a tsp of oil. I reduce the oil in the batter back down to 1 tablespoon.

Batch 4:

• The dough is much more liquid-y than the other batches.
• The middle still looks wet after baking for 10 minutes, so I have to bake it about 5 minutes more.
• The brownies are just the way I like ’em. Soft, melty, and gooey. Probably too gooey for the average joe. Was it a fluke? Why was the dough so liquidy?

I decide to recreate a new version of Batch 4 to see whether I screwed something up that led to its liquidy batter consistency. I’ve made so many sweet potato brownies that I’m not even sure I remember how exactly to make them.

This time I add 2 ounces of sweet potato, which I mash with 1/4 tsp of oil. Probably not necessary, but who am I to question this convoluted method I’ve developed? I’ve run out of good chocolate chunks and am using shitty chocolate chips. I learn that chocolate quality really matters in brownies.

Batch 5:

• The batter is liquidy, but slightly less than batch 4. Does .5 an ounce of sweet potato make that much of a difference? Fairly believable.
• I add 1/4 tsp of apple cider vinegar to the sweet potatoes. I’m not sure why.
• It’s also 10 pm and I’m too impatient to let the sweet potato fully cool so most of the (shitty) chocolate chips melt
• I decide to go to Trader Joe’s the next day and buy some chocolate chunks because Nestle chocolate chips taste janky, which I try to rectify by adding a splash of vanilla extract
• They’re less gooey than the last batch, but still very fudgy…it still might be a bit too much for the average person.

Is this what obsession is? Will I ever make the perfect sweet potato brownie? That day I go to the store to pick up a new bottle of maple syrup. It reads “16 1/4 cup servings”. I read “16 potential attempts at sweet potato brownies”.

I want to determine if 2 tablespoons of oil are necessary for 3.5 ounces of sweet potato, or whether I can get away with only one. But I’m going to be a bad experimenter and reduce the sweet potato to 3 ounces at the same time. I’m starting to think this is a concave problem with no absolute maxima, but I’m still hoping to stumble upon a local maxima. If only I could apply stochastic gradient descent to cooking.

The fridge has been taken over by brownies. I eat sweet potato brownies for breakfast. I’ll probably eat sweet potato brownies for lunch. I get back from work and begin measuring out ingredients. It feels like muscle memory.

Batch 6:

• I’ve developed a batter intuition. Glossy is good. Dull means too much starch. The thinner the batter, the more gooey the brownies.
• 3 ounces of sweet potato and 1 tbs of oil gives the most beautiful batter I’ve ever seen. Angels are singing in my head, but maybe that’s from the past restless nights of sleep.
• After I remove the brownies from the oven (they’ve lost their shine and are matte now, I take a nap to clear the angels from my head. Post nap hunger leads me to the brownies. Cold from the fridge they’ve regained glossiness. I hesitate before I take the first bite, but as soon as I taste chocolate I realize I had been nervous for no reason.
• The brownies are soft and fudge-y with a complex chocolate taste, and there is exactly zero gumminess to be found. They don’t taste healthy in the slightest, despite being low-fat, vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free.

I’ve found the recipe, the quest isn’t quite over. Perfection is one thing, but repeatability and scalability (I had been working with half batches) is a whole ‘nother beast.

The next day I prepare for the final and most intense battle: baking a full pan of sweet potato brownies.

Batch 7:

• The batter looks as it should: pourable and glossy, but thick enough that I have to scoop out the last bits of batter with a spoon. The batter is a bit less glossy than batch 6, which I blame on some chocolate chips melting (hey you, let the sweet potatoes fully cool).
• I bake them for 22 minutes. They’re matte when I take them out of the oven but I’m not too worried. I leave them on the counter to cool and transfer them to the fridge before I go to sleep.
• The next day I try them. Angels are singing again.

In conclusion, I’m completely nuts, but hey, I have the most incredible tray of sweet potato brownies in the fridge right now. I’m going to go hibernate for a very long time, only waking occasionally to stuff my mouth with brownies (maybe not a good idea considering the instant espresso, but based on what I’ve written, it’s safe to assume my judgement’s muted). Meanwhile, you should go make some sweet potato brownies so we can bask in their glory together.

You can find the full recipe here.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I consider myself a bit of a chocolate chip cookie aficionado. Once, my friend and I made 7 different chocolate chip cookie recipes in the span of 2 days because we wanted the find The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie (our winner? Serious Eats chocolate chip cookie).

The point is, I’m not speaking lightly when I say these chocolate chip cookies are indistinguishable from their non vegan counterparts. They have the soft, melty centers, crispy edges, and lightly caramelized flavor that I originally thought were inherent to the egg-and-butter cookies.

This recipe makes 20 massive bakery-style cookies (or approx 4 dozen more reasonably sized cookies), but I’m fully in support of double-batches if your mixer/arms/health can handle it.

The secret to these cookies is aquafaba, otherwise known as the liquid found in cans of garbanzo beans/chickpeas! Aquafaba is actually a fairly recent fad in the food blogging world, because it turns out that aquafaba can imitate egg
whites almost perfectly.  In this recipe, aquafaba is used to replace entire eggs, but it steps up to the job with zero hesitation.

One tip I have is to cream the shortening and sugar at medium to low speed. I’ve found that creaming butter and sugar until extremely fluffy works well for making light batters, but can make cookies a bit cakey and dry. In my opinion, it’s an absolute tragedy when this happens so I tend to err on the side of gentle creaming.

Besides that, these cookies are very simple to make, and follow the exact same process as most chocolate chip cookies. The dough was a little crumbly, which I was originally worried about, but baked up just fine. For gooey middles I baked the dough for 13-15 minutes, and for more chewy cookies I upped the time to 17 minutes. Both were delicious.

Anyhow, onto the recipe!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

• 1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks, 10 ounces, 280 grams) earth balance shortening, slightly colder than room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups (240 grams) light brown sugar
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225 grams) white sugar
• 6 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from can of unsalted garbanzo beans)
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 3 ½ cups plus 2 teaspoons (445 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 ¼ pounds (565 grams) vegan dark chocolate, chopped into pieces

1) In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2) Combine the shortening, light brown sugar, and white sugar at medium speed. Cream for 1-2 minutes, but be gentle since over-beating can lead to cakey cookies.

3) Whisk in the aquafaba and vanilla extract.

4) Fold in the flour mixture, and add the chopped chocolate when only streaks of flour remain. Stir the dough until there are no more streaks of flour; the dough might be a bit crumbly, but don’t worry.

5) Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 12 hours, but ideally 24-36 hours.

6) Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, divide the dough into ~18 portions. If the dough is a bit crumbly, gently mold the cookie dough balls into compact spheres so that they won’t fall apart. At this point, you can freeze the dough and bake individual portions as desired, or go ahead bake the dough right away.

7) Bake the cookie dough balls at 350 degrees for 13 minutes (15 minutes for frozen dough). They might look a bit underbaked in the middle, but will continue to cook for a bit even after they’re removed from the oven. Enjoy!

Chocolate, Fig, & Roasted Walnut Milkshakes (dairy free. refined sugar free)

I almost got in a fight over milkshakes once.

You see, in my humble and objectively correct opinion, milkshakes should be thick. Creamy enough to stir, but almost too thick to drink from a straw.

Apparently there are other ways to make “milkshakes” because a while ago I was sitting at lunch as my friend sloshed together milk and vanilla ice cream in a ratio that could only produce cold, barely sweet liquid with icy chunks. I asked him what monstrosity he was making, and he tried to tell me it was a milkshake. I (only half facetiously) called him a liar. I take frozen desserts very seriously.

This started a table-wide discussion on what makes the perfect milkshake, and also the start of my disillusionment with the world as I realized that most people I know prefer slurpable vs spoonable shakes.

So in a sort of compromise, I’m providing a milkshake recipe that can be tuned to your own preferences. Add more or less liquid, and the shake will be more or less thick. Magic.

These milkshakes are far from traditional, but they’re delicious, and not in a health food substitution kind of way. If you’re a classic chocolate milkshake kinda person, just leave out the figs and sub in cashews for the walnuts, and it’ll be just as tasty. Sprinkle with granola to add the perfect crunch, and enjoy poolside or computer-side; I’ve done both.

Chocolate Fig & Walnut Milkshakes

Makes 4 large milkshakes

Note: To make classic chocolate milkshakes, increase the cashews to 1 cup, and leave out the walnuts and figs. 

In a pot bring 2 inches of water to a rolling boil. Add:

• ½ cup raw cashews
• ½ cup dried figs

Boil for 3 minutes, then drain. Add to a blender along with:

• 3 cups non-dairy milk*
• ½ cup toasted walnuts**
• ½ cup dates
• ¼ cup coconut palm sugar
• ½ tsp stevia, or 2 tbs coconut palm sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa powder***

Blend until completely smooth and creamy.

To make milkshakes, there are 2 options:

Option 1: Chill the mixture, and then churn in an ice cream maker for 20 minutes. This should create the perfect milkshake consistency. Thin with non-dairy milk as necessary.

Option 2: Pour the mixture into an ice cube mold, and freeze. Once completely frozen, add about half of the cubes to a blender with ~½ cup of non-dairy milk, and blend! Thin with milk as necessary.

Enjoy!

*The consistency of the final milkshakes will reflect the fat content of whatever non-dairy milk you use. Use canned coconut milk for very creamy (and a bit coconut-y) milkshakes, or unsweetened cashew milk to lighten them up. Rest assured that the milkshakes will be plenty creamy regardless of what milk you use; the whole cashews and walnuts guarantee this.

**Toast the walnuts in a saucepan at medium heat until fragrant, being careful not to burn them.

***I prefer dutch-processed, but any type should do. Reduce to 2 tablespoons for a fainter chocolate taste.

On a side note, I built a lightbox over the weekend to help me take more pictures. One of the problems I’ve encountered is that I do most of my cooking early in the morning or after the sun has set, both awkward times to take photos. With this lightbox, I have pretty good lighting regardless of the hour. Expect more recipes as a result.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake with Flour Peanut Butter Frosting

My motto for this cake was “go big or go home”. I can’t say I wasn’t tempted to add zucchini and applesauce to the cake, but I resisted because some times call for copious amounts of peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache, and 21st birthdays are one of those times.

My favorite component of this is the peanut butter frosting, which I created with a technique that I’ve been using for the past five or so years. The frosting uses a flour, milk, and sugar roux which is cooled and then whipped with butter to create an incredibly fluffy and flavorful frosting.

I prefer this technique over traditional buttercream frostings which I find to be overly sweet, and swiss meringue frostings which I find to be overly buttery. Flour frosting combines the best aspects of both. I’m normally pretty iffy about frosting, but I could eat this frosting by the spoonfuls. It’s that good.

Chocolate cake recipe: this chocolate cake recipe

Ganache recipe: this recipe for ganache

Peanut Butter Flour Frosting 

Makes enough to frost 1 small 5 inch cake. Double the recipe for full-sized cakes.

In a medium saucepan combine:

• 2 tbs flour
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup 2% or whole milk

Bring the mixture to a bowl, stirring constantly, and then cook for 1 minute. The mixture should be thick and slightly translucent. Scoop the mixture into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap to the surface of the roux.

Place the bowl in the fridge until cold.

In a medium bowl, cream with an electric mixer:

• 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Add the frosting roux and continue whipping until a thick and fluffy frosting forms.

Add:

• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter (I used processed peanut butter because that’s the smoothest kind that exists. I’m not sure how natural peanut butter would fair.)

Whip until the peanut butter is fully whipped in. Now, eat a giant spoonful to “quality test”. Continue “quality testing” periodically.

Melt-in-your-mouth Sweet Potato Brownies (gf. vegan. refined sugar-free)

7/28/16 edit: I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d make this recipe again. Go read about my sweet potato brownie adventures. It might (will definitely) make you question my sanity, but you can at least have confidence that this recipe is tried and tested.

If you prefer cakey or brownies with a lot of chew, these are not for you. They are so soft, fudgy, and just melt-in-your-mouth, even straight out of the fridge. If you love chocolate and want a damn good brownie that is healthy enough to eat for breakfast, these brownies are your calling.

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Today I texted my friend “sweet potato oatmeal cookies, sweet potato brownies, or sweet potato crumble cake?”. Without missing a beat, she replied “sweet potato brownies”. Two hours later, I can confidently say she made the right choice.

When it comes to brownies, I am a firm believer that brownies should be fudgy, soft, and very chocolatey. Little is more disappointing than a dry or cakey brownie. These brownies are equally delicious warm from the oven (soft and melty) and straight out of the fridge (rich and fudgy).

Maple syrup provides caramel undertones that pair perfectly with the chocolate. The sweet potato adds natural sweetness, though its earthy flavor is completely masked by the chocolate.

I was wary while baking these brownies because over the summer I tried to make avocado brownies that were unbearably avocado-y (I keep seeing avocado chocolate cake recipes and even though the pictures look gorgeous, I am so damn skeptical), but I am happy to say that this is definitely a recipe that I will make again.

 

Sweet Potato Brownies (vegan. gluten-free. refined sugar free)

Ingredients:

• 6 oz raw sweet potato, sliced in 1/2 inch thick slices*
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbs vegetable or coconut oil
• 1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder**
• 1/4 cup carrot puree***
• 40g oat flour (1/2 cup quick oats blended until powdery)
• 1/2 tsp espresso powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Prep process:

To prepare the sweet potato, place in a microwave-safe bowl:

• 6 oz raw sweet potato, sliced in 1/2 inch thick slices

Fill the bowl with water until the slices are fully submerged. Microwave for 6-8 minutes or until the slices are soft and can be pierced with a fork easily.

Drain the water, add a small drizzle of oil (only 1/4 to 1/2 tsp necessary; I gave them quick spray of cooking oil), and mash with the fork until no chunks remain. Be careful not to overwork the sweet potato while mashing, or the brownies will be gummy. Let the sweet potato cool to room temperature.

In a clean bowl stir together:

• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbs vegetable or coconut oil
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbs dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup carrot puree*

Add:

• 40g oat flour (1/2 cup quick oats blended until powdery)
• 1/2 tsp espresso powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Stir until smooth and glossy. Fold in in the cooled sweet potato.

Spread the batter into a greased 8×8 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Allow to cool before cutting into squares and serving. Serve warm with ice cream (soft and melty brownies) or chilled (soft and super fudgy brownies).

One last tip: These brownies are best treated like fudge. They can be kept at room temperature, but for clean cuts I recommend freezing the brownies for several hours and using a well greased knife.

Notes:

*I’ve tried this recipe with 3 oz to 7 oz of raw sweet potato. 3 oz produced super super fudge-y brownies that barely held their shape, which I loved, and 7 oz made brownies with a bit more bite, which was my mom’s preference. I felt the brownies with 6 oz of raw sweet potato was the perfect compromise, but feel free to vary the amount of sweet potato based on how much you available.

**I usually add an addition 2 tbs because I love the taste of dark chocolate.

**To make carrot puree, cover 4 ounces of 1 inch thick sliced carrots with water and microwave for 5 minutes, or until soft. To save time, microwave the carrots in the same bowl as the sweet potatoes and separate after. Strain the carrots, transfer to a blender or food processor with 1/2 cup of water or non-dairy milk, and blend until smooth. Measure out 1/4 cup for this recipe. I suspect pear sauce (the baby food kind) will also work well.

Vegan Peanut Butter Crumble Bars, Two Ways

Two years ago I posted a recipe for Peanut Butter & Jelly bars.

At the end of the post I wrote: “If you’re gluten free or vegan, I’ll post a similar recipe that you can enjoy soon!”

Tada! It’s here.

I’ve made these bars three times to work out little kinks in the recipe, and can say that for someone who generally doesn’t love peanut butter cakes or cookies, these bars are good.

One of my latest baking goal is making health(ier) desserts that are good enough to share, and not just something I can enjoy–looking at you super avocado-flavored brownies.–and these fit that criteria.

They’re soft, super peanut butter-y, and melt in your mouth…kind of like a cross between blondies and shortbread. I brought them to a fourth of july gathering with friends and they were all eaten, so that qualifies as a success to me!

Peanut Butter Bars (Vegan)

In a medium bowl combine:

• ¼ cup almond flour
• ¼ cup spelt flour (replace with oat flour to make gluten free)
• 2 tbs sugar or erythritol
• 1 tbs ground flax seeds
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 tbs peanut flour (optional–can replace with 2 tbs almond flour)

In a small bowl, microwave for 20 seconds and then stir until smooth:

• 2 tbs maple syrup
• 3 tbs peanut butter (decrease to 2 tbs if you added peanut flour)
• 1 tbs melted coconut oil

Stir in:

• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir until combined. They should form a crumbly, but cohesive dough.

PB&J Option: 

Set aside ¼ cup of dough and press the rest of the dough into a small cake pan (about 6″ diameter) or ramekins.

Meanwhile combine in a microwave safe bowl:

• 1 tbs strawberry jam
• ½ cup frozen or fresh berries

Microwave, stirring every 20 seconds, until thick and gooey. It should take around 3-5 minutes. Spread on top of the dough, and then sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes. The very top of the bars should be lightly golden, but the bars shouldn’t appear totally baked through.

Chocolate Fudge Option:

Add to the dough:

•  2 tbs chocolate chips

Set ¼ cup of the dough aside, and press the rest of the dough into a small cake pan (about 6″ diameter) or ramekins.

On top of the bars spread:

• 3 tbs chocolate fudge sauce (I used this sugar free, fat free fudge sauce, but if you’re aiming for a purely vegan recipe, feel free to use otherwise)

Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of dough on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes. The very top of the bars should be lightly golden, but the bars shouldn’t appear totally baked through.

3 Ingredient Fudge Sauce (Sugar-free & Fat-Free)

I’m a firm believer in drowning all ice cream in hot fudge sauce.

In fact, I believe that most things should be drowned in hot fudge.

Bananas, strawberries, oreos, chocolate chip cookies…I think all of them could use a generous dousing of fudge sauce to be honest.

The problem is that most hot fudge is probably not something you want to use as a dip for any and everything, for health and sanity reasons.

This hot fudge is different. It’s sugar and fat free, yet practically indistinguishable from regular fudge. Really, really. (I’ve even had others confirm so I know it’s not just me.)

I honestly feel weird referring to it as sugar and fat free, because really it’s just damn good fudge.

Sugar-free, Fat Free Hot Fudge 

• ¼ cup fat free evaporated milk
• 2 tbs sugar free vanilla syrup*
• 1 tbs cocoa powder (2 tsps if you use Hershey’s dark cocoa)

Optional add ins (I can vouch for all!):

• dash salt
• ¼ tsp extract (I’ve used butter extract and vanilla extract)
• 1/8 tsp molasses (adds caramel notes)
• ½ tsp coffee concentrate (intensifies chocolate flavor; add more to make mocha flavored sauce)
• 1 tbs chocolate chips – yum

1. In a microwave safe bowl, whisk together the evaporated milk, sugar free vanilla syrup, and cocoa powder.
2. Microwave at high for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 5 seconds, or whenever the fudge bubbles up and threatens to spill over the sides of the bowl. The hot fudge should thicken to a nice pourable consistency. It’ll thicken even more as it cools.
3. Remove the hot fudge from the microwave, stir in any of the optional add-ins, and whisk for one minute as it cools.
4. Serve immediately, or reheat as desired!**

*I recommend Monin since I haven’t tried the recipe with any other brands, but I think any sugar free vanilla syrup should work. Note that if the sugar-free syrup has a strong artificial aftertaste, it will likely be present in the final product, so use a brand with minimal aftertaste.

** If you plan to store any remaining fudge sauce (although it’s a small batch so there probably won’t be much left over), I’d recommend adding ½ tsp corn syrup.

Looking for a more traditional recipe? I can personally vouch for this hot fudge.

Healthy Vegan S’more Cookies (made with…?)

A few weeks ago I was mindlessly scrolling through /r/food when I realized that I genuinely miss posting recipes. I am always playing with ideas for new foods in my mind, but I’ve seldom had the time and motivation to create them.

This is in part because college makes time feel like a luxury, but also because I have had an unlimited supply of dining hall food.

Well, summer has nullified both these things, for better or worse, and I have been itching to cook and bake the weird ideas that I’ve accumulated this past semester, starting with these vegan s’more cookies.

They’re soft, sweet, and delicious despite containing no cane sugar, eggs, or dairy. What do they have instead?

Garbanzo beans.

It sounds weird, I know, but trust me, garbanzo beans are incredible.

Blended garbanzo beans create the perfect cookie base, and the liquid that comes with them can be whipped into a delicious (and vegan) marshmallow fluff. I promise there’s no catch. I’m still a little blown away myself.

Vegan S’more Cookies 

Marshmallow Fluff:

• liquid from 1 13.4 oz can of garbanzo beans (~½ cup liquid)
• ¼ cup coconut sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

1. To create the marshmallow fluff, beat the liquid from the can of garbanzo beans with an electric mixer or blender until foamy
2. Slowly add the coconut sugar and keep beating for around 10-15 minutes, until the mixture thickens and looks like meringue.
3. Try not to eat the entire bowl as you prepare the cookies 😉

Cookie base:

• 1 ½ cups cooked garbanzo beans
• ¼ cup sugar or coconut sugar (increase to 1/3 cup if you prefer sweeter desserts)
• ¼ cup liquid sweetener such as agave or maple syrup
• ¼ cup + 2 tbs unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tbs oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup spelt flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt

1. In a blender or food processor, combine the garbanzo beans, coconut sugar, liquid sweetener, unsweetened almond milk, sour cream and oil.
2. Stir in the spelt flour, baking soda, and salt. Tada, that easy!

Assembling the cookies:

1. Scoop 1/8 cup portions of the batter into a greased whoopie pie or cupcake pan. I used the former because I had one lying around, but I’m sure a cupcake pan would work too!
2. Create an indentation in the middle of the batter and add a dollop of marshmallow cream on top.
3. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
4. Bake the cookies at 350 degree for 12-15 minutes.
5. Try and fail not to burn your tongue as you eat one straight out of the oven, then eat another ten minutes later when it’s semi cool-ish.
6. Eat another one–just to make sure it’s still good (it is). Repeat.