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Raw Walnut Brownies

Written on October 12, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. I don’t think that’s true always, but certainly in this case it is. It’s amazing what you can make with just dates, walnuts, and cocoa powder.

This is something I’ve been making for years now. I think I learned the originally recipe from a food blog that no longer exists; it’s simple enough that you don’t have to write it down or bookmark a page to remember it. The trick to making these well is recognizing what consistency the dough should be; thankfully these are very forgiving and it’s easy to figure out after making a few batches(and you’ll want to make a few batches).

You can use any nut for this but I think walnuts are the best both for flavor and texture. They also pack a lot of omega-3s which are great for anyone’s diet. I’d suggest adding crushed walnuts into the batter dough after processing to give these a crunch.

Raw Walnut Brownies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 8 squares):

2 cups pitted dates
1 cup walnuts
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1-2 Tablespoons water

Method:

Blend the dates in a food processor until they are pulverized and start to stick together.
Add the walnuts and continue blending until the dough starts to stick to itself. Add water as necessary if your ingredients are too dry to clump.
Lastly add the cocoa powder and continue blending until it’s mixed in.
Dump the processed ingredients onto a piece of parchment paper. With your hands, clump them together into a square or rectangle.
Freeze the dough for 5-10 minutes until it’s firm and cut it into even sized squares. Store in the refrigerator for freshness.

You can add chocolate chips or other dried fruit to make this a little more exciting, but I think this is a perfect snack or pick-me-up for after a meal all on its own.

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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Written on October 5, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Pumpkin manages to find its way into everything this time of year. I haven’t quite figured out why it belongs in a latte; cookies make a lot more sense to me.

You really can’t go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie recipe. Pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice add a little bit of fun flavor and color and let you cut back on the butter while still making something delicious.

These are definitely cakey cookies. I find that most pumpkin cookie recipes turn out that way. If you don’t want to make them gluten-free, use cake or all-purpose flour so that they’ll still come out light and airy.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 14 cookies):

1 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose gluten-free flour(I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
6 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a lined baking tray.
Sift together the gluten-free flour, sugar, spice, baking soda and salt.
Mix in the butter and pumpkin puree well.
Beat in the egg until the batter is evenly wet.
Add the chocolate chips and fold them in.
Taking the dough between your hands, roll it into 1 1/2-inch balls and place them on the baking tray about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until the bottoms begin to brown and the top is firm. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before moving them.

‘Tis the season for delicious treats. These would also be excellent with walnuts mixed in, too, or made into cookie sandwiches.

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Homemade Peanut Butter Pumpkins

Written on October 3, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

The seasonal candies are always my favorite part of the holidays. I’ll usually wait until the day after each holiday to go to the store and buy it all half-off, but why wait when you can make your own? I’ve made my own peanut butter cups before and it’s never been a hassle. Pumpkins seemed like a bit more of a challenge but oh so worth it.

This recipe is also my entry in a Smart Balance recipe contest that starts today. They’ve asked 20 contestants to make a recipe using one or more of their products and put them on their Facebook page for fans to vote for. I love the Smart Balance peanut butter because of its rich, amber flavor. It has added plant-based omega-3s which are always good for a vegetarian diet.

Besides peanut butter, this recipe is super simple and uses only 4 other ingredients you probably already have: buttery spread(or butter), powdered sugar, and chocolate chips. The process doesn’t take much time at all even though there are quite a few steps. Just make sure to have room in your freezer to cool these quickly so you can move from one step to the next without waiting too long.

I found the pumpkin cookie cutter on Amazon and got it along with some other shapes; they also probably sell them in most craft stores around this time, too. You can use different cookie cutters for different holidays and keep the recipe year round. The basic steps will always be the same.

Homemade Peanut Butter Pumpkins

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 16 pumpkins*):

1 cup Smart Balance creamy peanut butter
1 Smart Balance buttery stick(1/2 cup), melted
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
Pumpkin shaped cookie cutter
Wax paper

*The yield will vary based on the size of your cookie cutters. I used a pretty standard 3-inch cookie cutter and got 16 pumpkins.

Method:

In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter and melted buttery stick until it’s homogenous.
Sift in the powdered sugar stirring it in until it’s completely mixed in.
Get out 2 sheets of parchment paper and place the peanut butter dough between the two. Press down until the dough is about 3/8-inch thick.
Cut out as many pumpkins in the dough as you can. Put the dough into a freezer for 10-15 minutes until the dough is stiff.
While the dough is in the freezer, melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler until it’s smooth.
Take the dough out of the freezer and remove the pumpkins from the extra trim.
On a separate piece of parchment paper, spoon tablespoons of melted chocolate about 3 inches from one another.
Take each pumpkin and place them on top of the melted chocolate, pressing down and moving them around to cover the bottom. Repeat with all the pumpkins.
If you desire, decorate the pumpkins by making faces or lines with a toothpick.
Place the pumpkins back in the freezer until the chocolate is hardened. Take off the parchment paper and keep these in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
Keep repeating this process with the extra dough and melted chocolate until it’s entirely used up.

The peanut butter parts holds its shape but stays pretty soft so you can bite straight through it into the thin chocolate. I handed these out to friends last week and even though it was still September it definitely stirred some Halloween excitement. These would definitely be a hit at any party this time of year. If you like the recipe, too, don’t forget to vote!

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Pumpkin Pie Spice Almonds

Written on October 1, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

The nice thing about Fall and cooler temperatures is that it gets me to use the oven more. During the Summer I’d much rather make ice cream than cupcakes but recently I’ve been using my oven more and more. The kitchen is quickly becoming my favorite room again.

Roasting nuts is something I make time to do every year. You can come up with the most fun flavors using different spices, and they always are a healthier treat, too. A lot of the time I think I like pumpkin pie spice more than pumpkin itself. These almonds have all the right flavors to make you think of Fall in a portable, no-mess snack.

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, there are plenty of recipes online to make your own. If you don’t feel like looking up a recipe, just toss together cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg to get a range of flavors.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Almonds

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup raw almonds
1/2 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients until the almonds are coated well.
Lay out the almonds on a non-stick baking tray.
Bake for 15-20 minutes disturbing the almonds halfway through until they’ve roasted to a darker brown. They should still be slightly sticky when you take them out.
Let the almonds cool, break any that are stuck together apart, and store them at room temperature.

These are a great snack to leave out at a party. Clean out a mini-pumpkin and serve it in that for something festive.

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Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Cookies

Written on September 26, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Reese’s have always been my favorite candy for as long as I can remember. They were always the hottest items on Halloween. Their new minis unrwapped peanut butter cups seemed like the perfect candies to bake with—the perfect size and no fussy wrappers.

Obviously a peanut butter and chocolate candy deserves a peanut butter cookie. These cookies are my favorite simple recipe to whip together; you can memorize it and take it wherever you go. You can drizzle these with extra chocolate or making them into ice cream sandwich cookies; and of course they’re gluten-free.

If you can’t find mini Reese’s you can always buy the regular sized candies and chop them up, or swap in a different candy altogether.

Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 14 cookies):

1 cup no-stir peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 King size Reese’s peanut butter cups mini unwrapped

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Combine in a large bowl the peanut butter, egg, sugar, baking soda and vanilla and mix.
Add and fold in the mini Reese’s.
Roll the dough into balls about an inch in diameter in between your hands and place them on a non-stick baking tray.
Press down lightly on the dough in a criss-cross pattern with a fork.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before moving them or otherwise they will break apart.

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Tri-Pepper Quinoa

Written on September 24, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

The easiest place to get inspired for recipes is the grocery store. Just going to the produce section and seeing the huge displays of vibrantly colored fruits and vegetables makes you want to eat that much more. My grocery store had a display of different colored peppers and I knew I wanted to use them for a recipe.

The colors fade from the peppers a little once you sauté them but it brings out a much sweeter flavor, too. They add the perfect touch with some seasoning to quinoa to make it a much more interesting dish.

If you want to dress this up, you can purchase some extra peppers, roast them until they’re cooked, and serve the quinoa inside the cooked peppers.

Tri-Pepper Quinoa

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup quinoa
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 yellow pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
3/4 salt
1/4 tablespoon black pepper
1 Tablespoon honey(optional)
1 15oz can chickpeas

Method:

Combine the quinoa with the appropriate amount of water(about 3 cups unless the brand you’re using says otherwise) in a pot over the stove. Bring to a boil, cover, and turn off the heat. Leave undisturbed for 15 minutes.
While the quinoa is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large pan over a separate burner.
Sauté the onion and the peppers until they start to turn color and char a little.
Add the salt and pepper to the vegetables in the pan and remove from the heat.
Remove the lid from the quinoa and add in the chickpeas, honey, and sautéed vegetable. Mix well with a large spoon and serve hot.

Biting into the peppers and onions reminded me of a meatloaf. If you’re not a vegetarian you can always leave the chickpeas out and serve this with some ground beef and I think it’d be excellent.

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Grain-Free Pumpkin Muffins

Written on September 21, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast

A lot of people debate what the difference between a muffin and a cupcake is. Some say it depends on whether it’s frosted or not while for others it’s about the texture. For me it’s about nutrition. Is it healthy enough that you’d want to eat it for breakfast? Then it’s a muffin. If it’s a sugar and fat bomb even without frosting, you’re probably looking at a cupcake.

These muffins are dense, chewy, and hearty. The best way to eat one is warm with some peanut butter or cream cheese smeared inside. It’s not incredibly sweet but has a nice flavor from all of the pumpkin spices. It definitely passes the breakfast test.

If you don’t have 3 cups of almond flour, you can make your own by grinding 3 cups of almonds in a food processor like I did. Make sure to run it for a really long time to avoid getting larger pieces of almonds.

Grain-Free Pumpkin Muffins

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 10 muffins):

3 cups almond flour or meal
1 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup maple syrup
6 eggs
2 Tablespoons tapioca starch
2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, pumpkin, vegetable oil, maple syrup, and eggs until there are no clumps left.
Mix in the tapioca starch, spice, salt and baking soda.
Pour the batter into lined muffin tins.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn the oven off and let the muffins cool in there with the door slightly cracked open.
Store at room temperature for 2-3 days or freeze them to make them last longer.

Don’t skimp on the pumpkin spice blend; that’s where all the delicious pumpkin muffin flavor is.

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Salty-Sweet Halloween Chex Mix

Written on September 19, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

Fall is really a much better season for foodies than Winter. You have your candy corn, your pumpkin spice, fresh apples—what more can you need? Besides, can you ever remember anyone making a recipe with fruitcake or ribbon candy that you just loved? Didn’t think so.

I’m not typically a big snacker but when I do feel like something to nibble on I have the hardest time deciding. Salty or sweet? Nutty or candy? Healthy or… not? There’s a lot to consider.

Lately I’ve been digging this Chex mix since it hits all the marks. It has candy corn—my all-time favorite candy—, spicy Chex cereal, salty gluten-free pretzels and sweet almonds. It’s a little healthy with whole grains and nuts and a little not. It’s easy enough to make for yourself but also fun enough to bring to a party.

If you don’t feel like making your own almonds, you can buy honey roasted or cinnamon sugar almonds and use those instead.

Salty-Sweet Halloween Chex Mix

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 5 cups)

2 cups cinnamon Chex cereal
1 cup salted-maple almonds(recipe below)
1 1/4 cup pretzel sticks*
3/4 cup candy corn

*I used Snyder’s of Hanover gluten-free pretzel sticks

Method:

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and enjoy.

Salted-Maple Almonds

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 cup):

1 cup almonds
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon coarse salt

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.
Pour the almonds on top of a non-stick baking try in a single layer.
Roast for 20 minutes, disturbing the almonds about halfway through. Don’t worry if they still look sticky after 20 minutes; as they cool down they’ll become less wet.
Break the almonds apart while they’re warm. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks at room temperature.

A note about candy corn: Last year I found out through error that most name brand candy corns are not vegetarian because they have gelatin in them. However, CVS store brand is vegetarian so if that’s a concern you can still go ahead and enjoy this.

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Peanut Butter Granola

Written on September 14, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast

Sometimes I get sick of food. Kale, potatoes, eggs—all things I usually love—just don’t seem as appetizing lately. There are a few foods I never get sick of like peanut butter, oats, and yogurt. When that’s all you want to eat, what’s better to do than make granola?

This has been my go-to lunch as of late. I’m usually hurried and granola and a container of yogurt are convenient and easy to pack; add a banana and you’re all set. I’m also a huge fan of GORP and ants on a log so raisins add the perfect touch to round out the recipe.

This granola doesn’t have an in-your-face peanut butter flavor; instead, it’s a lighter, sweeter nutty flavor. It’s also chewier than most other granolas I’ve made and reminds me of a crumbled up granola bar on top of yogurt.

Peanut Butter Granola

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 3 1/2 cups):

2 1/2 cups oats
2 Tablespoons peanut butter
2 Tablespoons peanut oil*
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup salted roasted peanuts
1/4 cup raisins

*You can use any type of oil but peanut oil will have the best flavor

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix together the oats, peanut butter, oil, maple syrup and vanilla.
Spread the oats out in a thin layer on a non-stick baking sheet.
Bake for 35 minutes breaking up the oats with a utensil every ten minutes or so until the oats are toasty and golden.
Let the oats cool before mixing in the peanuts and raisins. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.

Of course you could (and probably should) add chocolate chips as a mix-in. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of that; I must have been tired that day.

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Vegan Honey Mustard Dip

Written on September 12, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Sauce

Last week I moved back to Providence. Now that everything’s been unpacked and I’m settled, there are really only two things I sorely miss: HGTV and the Food Network. While they aren’t my favorite channels, they’re certainly my favorite to have playing in the background when I’m working on other projects. And even better they’re perfect to get ideas from.

One of the last shows I watched was Melissa d’Arabian’s cooking program where she made an easy honey mustard dip. It instantly reminded me of the type of sauce you’d get from McDonalds with an order of chicken mcnuggets and knew it’d be good. However I wanted to make it more like something that I’d eat.

Instead of mayonnaise this recipe uses a vegan mayonnaise substitute that’s tofu based. While I’m sure that doesn’t sound appetizing, I actually prefer the flavor of it to traditional mayonnaise. Instead of honey I used two non-animal based sweeteners: maple syrup and agave. The maple syrup gives an earthy flavor while the agave makes the dip taste a little bit fruity.

Vegan Honey Mustard Dip

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise
1/4 cup stone ground mustard
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
1 Tablespoon agave nectar

Method:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.
Add more or less sweetener to taste.
Keep cold in the refrigerator when not eating.

This dip has been great with pretzels, apples, and carrots. You can also eat it with chicken or tofu. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about pouring this on a salad even though it’s not quite a dressing; it’s just too good to ignore.

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