cashew butter – Wait…are those…cookies?!

June 4, 2015June 2, 2015

All things legume

Apparently I’m on a roll with the barz here… this isn’t intentional (and they do get a little redundant to photograph after awhile), but I guess legume-based dessert barz are my jam these days. Who knew.

BECAUSE THEY’RE AMAZING!

Or maybe because I’m obsessed with all things legume. Whatever, one of my nicknames is Lentil for a reason…

Also, I inadvertently had ice cream for dinner last Friday night. Sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do. See below for photographic evidence. I’ll give you one measly guess which one is mine…

But back to barz. I’ll address your concern: no, you can’t taste the lentils (much like the time I made red lentil coconut ice cream — you get the earthiness from the lentils but once they’re hangin out with cashew butter and maple, your tastebuds don’t go LENTILS?! WTF?! No no. They’re actually a very neutral flavor. What’s more (because, there’s always more; just like parenthetical asides within a parenthetical aside; redundant much?! Jeez), the lentils add a whambam, no nonsense, whole food protein punch to your dessert, which is just winning in my book). I have other lentil barz on the blog but these are my favorites. They present kind of like an oatmeal cookie, with a similar texture, and I’m all over it.

ALSO. By virtue of the fact that these are… virtuous… they qualify for breakfast-snack-lunch-snack-dinner-dessert; or some combination to that effect. You know, because LENTILS and OATS and CHOCOLATE. Which also happen to be three of my very fave things. I’m reserving them for dessert, for now… but I may have evened off a sliver to go with my breakfast. I mean, come on… the edge was uneven. You can’t have uneven bar cookies, it’s a crime. Luckily I am very adept (I learned this skill from my similarly-adept mother) at trimming and neatening all baked goods. It’s an essential skill, right up there with smoothing and leveling off the ice cream (though that one, I learned from my gram who was extremely wise in these kinds of things).

So, barz. Sorry this is pretty much the umpteenth bar recipe on here and about the elevendyith that is made with a legume of some sort, but I’ve just been too lazy for indivudual cookies lately, and big chewy squares of bar cookie with a fork have been very appealing (they’re also fast, excellent when you’ve been out of the house for 12 hours including a workout, you’re famished and a nutrient-dense, satisfying sweet treat is necessary).

Oaty Cashew Butter Lentil Bars

Vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, soy free. And delicious! They are lightly sweet and satisfying (both taste testers concurred, and one of them likes really sweet things — I’m looking at you, Vacuum Vati!), so they appeal to a broad range of tastes. Recipe yield is one 8 by 8 pan, and is inspired by Ambitious Kitchen, here.

1/2 c red lentils (dry), rinsed
1/2 c cashew butter
1/3 c pure maple syrup
1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water; let sit 5 minutes)
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 c rolled oats
heaping 1/4 c cashew meal
heaping 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 c extra dark chocolate chips

In a small saucepan, combine red lentils and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes. Lentils are done when soft and all of the water has been absorbed. Set aside to cool. Once they’re cool, puree them with a tablespoon or two of water in the food processor, until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350, and lightly grease an 8 by 8 pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together cashew butter, maple syrup, and vanilla (if your cashew butter is cold, arm strength is necessary… think of it as part of your workout). Once combined, stir in flax egg and pureed lentils. On top of all that, toss in the oats, cashew meal, sea salt, baking soda, and chocolate chips. Stir until combined. Pour the batter into your prepared pan, and smoothy smooth out the top if that’s your thing. Pop them into the oven for 28-35 minutes — 28 will give you gooey bars, and more like 33 will give you dense and chewy ones (I prefer the latter). For the chewy, dense bars at about 33 minutes, the top should be firm to the touch, and a tester should come out nearly clean with a few crumbs.

Store covered in the fridge for extra chewyness (my fave).

May 31, 2015

Messy blobs of Jackson Pollock ice cream

Trashed up desserts are the best kind of desserts.

I usually find that ice cream and rainbow sprinkles are my preferred trashing-up methods of choice… and once the ice cream starts melting, you can go all Jackson Pollock on your dessert. This method is especially fun when there is drizzly caramel involved, obviously.

Apologies for the lousy photos… Realized this was too good not to share when I was in the process of annihilating it. Let’s just go along with the Jackson Pollock theme, hooookay?! And actually, I’m kind of loving the messy blobs of ice cream…

And yes, this ice cream does contain eggs and dairy. If you follow me regularly, you’ll know that over a month ago I was told I had an intolerance to a bunch of different foods (after feeling like garbage for three months), so I went cold turkey and stopped eating all of them for a month. And I felt exactly the same (ie, crappy) for that whole month. So, I am a) back to eating those things and b) in the process of being tested for a bunch of other stuff to find out what’s going on. Which means that as it doesn’t make me feel any worse than I already do, ice cream is back on the table. Because it makes me happy, and until I have a better idea of what’s causing this unceasing bout of crappy, I will eat things that make me happy. Le sigh. Ideally answers will be forthcoming, and SOON.

But enough of that, because I don’t like wallowing, I like dessert. Let’s indulge instead in some messy delicious photos of dessert. Because dessert is way more fun than wallowing, and messy food is sometimes more fun to photograph than perfect food. Even when it’s lacking sprinkles (I know, I don’t know what I was thinking. Obviously I wasn’t).

So here you have some chickpea oatmeal cashew butter bars… because I took all the delicious things and crammed them into one bar. Because I can. I’m definitely a fan of bean-based desserts— it’s a great way to get a little extra protein boost in your dessert, besides the fact that they’re naturally gluten free and delicious. AND THEN you throw ice cream all over the top of it and pat yourself on that back for a job well done.

A word of caution to the super sweet fans out there: these bars are lightly sweet, but definitely not overly so. The maple could be increased, depending on your preference; I like them less sweet though so a 1/4 c was fine for me.

Cashew Chickpea Oat Bars

Gluten free, dairy free, vegan, refined sugar free, and full of good carbs and healthy fats. Lightly sweet and cakey Quick to make, and minimal clean up (especially if you bung the food processor into the dishwasher as I’ve become fond of doing… more a slightly more drought-friendly option than trying to hand wash the stupid thing). Recipe yields one 8 by 8 pan, or somewhere in the neighborhood of 9-12 bars. Lightly adapted from the Natural Nurturer, here!

1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 c pure maple syrup
1/2 c hemp milk (or other non dairy of choice)
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c unsalted cashew butter
1 heaping tsp vanilla
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 tbsp water, let sit for 5 minutes)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 c rolled oats
heaping 1/4 c extra dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350, and lightly grease an 8 by 8 pan.

Add garbanzo beans to the food processor, and pulse until they’re mostly broken up but still slightly chunky. Add maple, hemp milk, applesauce, cashew butter, vanilla, flax eggs, baking powder, and sea salt, and process until mostly smooth. It won’t be completely smooth, but a few chunks are okay. Add in oats, and pulse to combine, but leave the oat pieces intact like an oatmeal cookie (in other words, don’t let it go until the oats are completely smooth— you want texture!). Stir in chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top (and eat the extra off your fingers, bonus points for being vegan). Bake for 27- 30 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the top is lightly browned.

Store any leftovers (ha, you’re funny) in the fridge, either in the pan covered in foil or a sealed container (I usually move them to a tupperware after a day or two).

May 10, 2015

I think you need some cashew blondie barz in your life

Barz. I’m all about the barz lately… they’re like cookies only faster and more bing bang boom. Which is great when I’m out of the house for 12 hours and get home and a) am starving and have to wrangle dinner and b) need something sweet besides chocolate.

And actually.

I think these might be some of my best barz ever. They taste like graham crackers, kind of!!! And I do have a nostalgic fondness for graham crackers, which is undoubtedly why I find these so spectacular. Except that when I go to eat actual graham crackers, they are NOT as good as they used to be (cardboard, anyone?). Ugh. Processed food is gnarly… which means I don’t really eat graham crackers anymore (sad!) BUT WAIT! I can eat these bars instead and not only are they better tasting with WAY better ingredients, they are also fatter and chunkier than graham crackers and require a fork so I get more bang for my buck. Win win win.

Not only do these barz have that great graham cracker taste, but they develop an excellent crust and this great dense, cakey texture. Too many superlatives. Just make these and eat them, promise you won’t be sorry.

Also, Mother’s Day!! Happy happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful, strong mama. I love you to the moon and back!!

Cashew Blondies

I call these cashew blondies, but really they are much more graham-crackery than they are cashewy. Definitely in a widlly good way. These can be gluten free if you want to sub out the whole wheat flour — I do tolerate wheat and I have enough restrictions right now, so I went the whole wheat route. They are, however, vegan and dairy free, soy free, refined sugar free, and full of healthy fats. Recipe yields 9-12 bars, depending on how largeish you cut them (I recommend large, these are too good to share), in an 8 by 8 pan. A Wait are those Cookies original!

1.5 c cashew meal*
1 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
scant 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 c cashew butter (creamy, unsalted)
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 tbsp water; let sit till gelled, about 5 mintues)
1/2 c pure maple syrup
1 runneth-over tsp of vanilla
1/4 c avocado oil
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1/3 c extra dark chocolate chips

*I make my own in a food processor. This one was roughly 1 c dry roasted, lightly salted cashews + 1/4 c raw cashews; check the saltiness of your particular batch and adjust recipe salt accordingly.

Preheat the oven to 350, and lightly grease an 8 by 8 pan with avocado oil.

This is as easy as it gets. Make flax eggs and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together cashew meal, whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, and sea salt. Toss in cashew butter, flax eggs, maple syrup, vanilla, avo oil and applesauce, and stir until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread batter (it will be thick) into the prepared pan, smoothing out the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a tester comes out clean and the top is firm (unless you really really like goopy cookie dough consistency, in which case take it out at 30. I did… bu then reheated the oven and stuck it back in for 10. Too goopytastic for my taste that night). Let cool completely in the pan, and store covered with foil in the fridge.