Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Hummus

I am a lover of peanut butter, especially with chocolate.  So, the other day when I was in the mood for a healthy snack that would satisfy my sweet tooth - I came up with this dip for my sliced apples.  This tastes especially good with graham crackers also.  I am thinking I might try celery next!  Garbanzo beans/chickpeas are a good source of fiber, folate, protein and iron, among other things.  And as I have discovered in the last couple of years, they don't have to be used in just savory dishes.  They are delicious when used in a sweet (or desert) dish.  If you have kids - this is a great way to put something healthy into a fun and sweet snack. 

P.S.  You don't have to be a kid to enjoy this!  In fact you might want to ditch the apple slices and just eat this with a spoon!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Hummus
Prep Time:  10 minutes
Makes: 1 1/2 - 2 cups

Ingredients:
1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp agave syrup or maple syrup
1/2 cup vegan miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
a pinch of salt

Directions:
Place the chickpeas, peanut butter, agave syrup and salt in a food processor;  blend until creamy and smooth.

Transfer to a bowl and stir in chocolate chips.  Serve with apple slices, crackers, cookies, etc.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

I haven't put a recipe on here for a while but I've been trying!!  I have been having the hardest time getting good pictures at night.  I can't seem to get very good lighting now that the sun goes down SO early!  I guess I need a better camera...a girl can wish! 

Anyway, my girls heard this morning the magical words they have been longing to hear for a while.  SNOW DAY!  NO SCHOOL!  My youngest daughter really wanted to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, I wanted to make peanut butter oatmeal cookies.  So we made the only logical decision...we made both!!  And we made them while the sun was out which equals decent pictures!  YAY!

These are vegan of course, which to some of you might sound a little iffy, but the cool thing is they taste just like any other cookie, possible better!  And if you ever want to make cookies and you have no eggs in the fridge (and you are snowed in like we are today), now you know how!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 4 dozen cookies

2 Tbsp ground flax seeds
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp water
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup vegan butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the flax seeds and water with a wire whisk in a small bowl and set aside.  (As is sits it will become thick like and egg.)

In a large bowl combine the shortening, butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar and mix well.  Whisk the flax and eggs again real quick to mix in any water that may be sitting on the top and pour into the peanut butter mixture.  Blend well.  

In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Stir into the peanut butter mixture.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop dough in 1 1/2" balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for about 10 minutes.  Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then place them on a wire rack to cool.

TO MAKE PEANUT BUTTER OATMEAL COOKIES:

Use the same recipe but leave out the chocolate chips and only use 1 1/2 cups of flour and add 2 cups of oatmeal (I used quick oats).  Stir in the oatmeal last to keep it from breaking up too much.

Apple Nachos

It is apple season time and my family loves apples.  This year I spotted a recipe for some apple nachos and just had to try them!  My family kept having me repeat that I was going to make them "apple" nachos.  They thought they must be hearing me wrong.  Anyway it was a big hit!  You really can't go wrong making these - and the fun thing is you can really get creative with what you put on these.  You definitely want crispy apples and the slightly tart goes really well with all the sweet things you put on them - so keep that in mind.  This is what I did with my nachos - but feel free to be creative and put your favorite things on it.

Apple Nachos

3 crispy and slightly tart apples
3 tbsp creamy natural peanut butter
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 chopped pecans
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips

Slice the apples thin enough so it would be easy to eat the slice in one or two bites.
Then melt the peanut butter, until it is runny, and drizzle it all over the apples. Next, top the apples and peanut butter with sliced almonds, chopped pecans, coconut flakes and chocolate chips. Then go nuts!

Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

While my girls and I were away visiting my parent's buffalo ranch in northern Idaho, my husband was very sweet and bought me a new cookbook I had been wanting - Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.  I have been home for a week now and was very excited to try a recipe this morning.  I have tried various recipes out of the book already after checking the book out of the public library and the cookies have been delicious.  So far our family favorite is Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows which I will post in the near future.  Today I was on a peanut butter kick so I went for the classic peanut butter cookie.  These cookies are so delicate they almost just melt in your mouth.  If you like peanut butter cookies - here is an easy vegan one to try.
 

Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

1/2 cup nonhyrdogenated vegetable shortening
1/2 cup natural smooth peanut butter (try to get the no-stir kind if you can find it.  If you can't then stir like crazy so that the PB isn't clumpy).
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons light molasses (not blackstrap)
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 tablespoons nondairy milk (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  Lightly grease two cookies sheets.  We prefer dark cookie sheets to get the cookies browned and crispy.

In a  large mixing bowl, beat together the shortening, peanut butter, and sugar until light and fluffy.  This can take up to 2 minutes with an electric mixer at medium speed or 4 minutes just using a fork.  Mix in the vanilla and molasses.

Add half the flour along with the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt and mix well.  Add the remaining flour and mix.  Use your hands at this point to really work the ingredients together.  The dough should hold together when squeezed; if it does not, then add a tablespoon or two of nondairy milk until it does.

Roll the dough into walnut-size balls, flattening them a bit with the palms of your hand.  The dough may crack on the edges and that is fine.  Place the dough balls on the cookie sheets.  Flatten them further with the bottom of a coffee mug.  Use the underside of fork tines to press cross hatches into the cookies, one horizontal and one vertical. 

Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are very lightly browned.  Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the sheets for 10 minutes - any less and they might crumble.  Use a thin, flexible spatula to transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.