Chocolate PB & J Pillow Cookies

A few months back, I received a shipment of jams and jellies from Uncanny Preserves and I promised Lindsay that I would make something using them.

But... you know... then they were too delicious and I just kept eating the jams directly out of the jars. The chutneys disappeared in a flurry of cracker crumbs and tidbits of cheese.

In spite of myself, I managed to restrain myself from opening the last remaining jar of sweet goodness until a few weeks ago. The blackcurrant jelly sat in my cupboard while I waited for divine inspiration to strike.

And then, voila: in my google reader feed over the weekend I spotted Angela's, from Oh She Glows, peanut butter chocolate cookies (she adapted them from Post Punk Kitchen - another great vegan resource) and I thought to myself, sure you could have chocolate and peanut butter, but what if you took it up a notch and threw in some sweet, tangy blackcurrant jelly.

Oh.

My.

God.

The jelly addition was a revelation. It took a recipe that was good and elevated it to a whole new level by balancing out the sweetness found in the two doughs.

Next time, I'm totally trying this with hazelnut butter and orange marmalade. Can you imagine?


Chocolate PB & J Pillow Cookies

(adapted from Post Punk Kitchen)
makes 24

Ingredients

Chocolate Dough
 
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup finely ground oats
1/3 cup cocoa powder
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
scant ½ cup canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
3 tbsp non-dairy milk (I like almond)
1 oz dark chocolate (72%), melted
½ tsp vanilla

Peanut Butter Filling
 
½ cup natural peanut butter
2/3 cup confectioner's sugar
½ tsp vanilla
2 tbsp non-dairy milk

6 tsp blackcurrant jelly


Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour and oats. Sift in cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix together oil, granulated sugar, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, chocolate and vanilla. Stir dry ingredients into wet. Mixture should form a smooth ball. If not, add additional flour, 1 tbsp at a time. Set chocolate dough aside.

2. In a small bowl, mix together peanut butter, confectioner's sugar, vanilla and non-dairy milk. Mixture should be smooth and malleable.

3. Preheat oven to 350º. Line a large baking tray with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.

4. Divide doughs into 24 balls each, rolling to making a sphere.

5. Take a chocolate ball and flatten it out to form a circle.

 Place ¼ tsp jelly on the centre of the dough and then top with a peanut butter sphere. Pull the chocolate dough up over the filling and pinch to close.

 You make want to roll (gently!) the ball in your palms to smooth everything out. Repeat with remaining dough and jelly. Bake, 8 cookies at at time (they spread a lot - leave 2" clearance around each) for approximately 10 minutes.

Let cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Cooking with Leftover Ingredients

First off, let me say thank you to all who commented here, on my facebook account or on my message boards wishing me good luck with the interview. My name was put forward as the candidate they want, but we're still waiting on approval from the school board. So right now, we're in a holding pattern.

I can deal with a holding pattern for a little while.

A little while.

Now, this recipe relates to impatience.

You know those days when you buy an ingredient but the recipe only calls for some of it, so you end up with some left over that has to be used RIGHT NOW or else it'll go bad.

I had that experience earlier this week with half an avocado. I don't even remember what I used my first half for. But the second half? Oh, yum.

Now, I won't blame you if you run screaming in the other direction right now, but before you do, let me assure you that this is delicious dessert. It has four ounces of the finest dark chocolate, and crushed hazelnuts and hazelnut butter.

With me so far?

It also has... uhm... half an avocado.

What? You couldn't read that? That's okay, just drool over this picture and never you mind what it said.

Frosty, nutty, and deeply, deeply chocolatey. It's an all round winner.

And frankly, if the avocado (yes, avocado) weirds you out too much, replace it with two small bananas.

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Torte

(inspired by Oh She Glows)

Ingredients

Crust

1 cup whole hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract


Mousse

½ large avocado, pitted and flesh scooped out or 2 small bananas, peeled
3 tbsp soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp hazelnut butter
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp cocoa powder
4 oz dark chocolate, chopped and melted

Directions

1. Line the base of  a small 5-6" springform pan with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse the hazelnuts together with cocoa powder, until crumbly. Add in oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Pour into springform pan and pat in place to create a crust.

2. To make mousse, add all ingredients except melted chocolate to a cleaned food processor bowl. Process until totally smooth and creamy. Add in melted chocolate and process again. Pour mousse onto crust, smoothing the top.

3. Freeze for at least 2 hours to set up. Allow to sit on the counter for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Makes 6 small but totally decadent pieces.

Chickpea and Swiss Chard with Wheat Berries and Tahini-Lemon Dressing

A couple of weeks ago, I read a post from Cooking Light's facebook page that asked if people did a meatless Monday and, if they did, why they chosen to do it. After reading a lot of the responses (good for the environment, want to cut costs, have been vegetarian for years, their family will only allow them on meal a week that's meatless), I realized that our transition (and by our, I mean my husband and I) into more meatless meals has been less about making a conscious choice. Whenever we make vegetarian or vegan meals, I don't think "I'm going to have a vegetarian or vegan meal", I think "this looks good for dinner, I think I'll go with that".

We've just kind of naturally bent into it. When I think about it, I think this attitude (at least on my part) can be attributed to the parents of an ex of mine who were very much flexitarians. His mother was the first person to introduce me to the joys of eggplant, tomato and black olive stew (a recipe I've since lost, so if you ever read this Penny, I'd love to have it again!) about a decade ago. In their house, it wasn't about the fact that meat was missing from the table, it was about celebrating whatever was there.

And that's where the idea of Meatless Mondays doesn't work for me. There's this implication that some integral part of the meal is missing. I'd say, for us, there is no integral part of the meal. As long as there's protein in there, I don't care if it's black beans or flank steak. If it's prepared right and tastes good, I'm a happy camper. I just don't think we appreciate non-animal forms of protein enough, you know?

You're probably tired of hearing me ramble. Let's get to the point.

This recipe, like yesterday's, was born out of a need to empty out the cupboard and the laziness of avoiding the grocery store.

Chickpea and Swiss Chard with Wheat Berries and Tahini-Lemon Dressing

(adapted from Oh She Glows)

Ingredients

1 cup wheat berries
1 15oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 cups sliced washed swiss chard, stems separated from leaves
1 cup washed, stemed spinach leaves
Lemon-Tahini Dressing (recipe below)


Directions

1. Cook wheat berries in 4 cups water (the ratio for cooking wheat berries is 1:4) for 60-70 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat oil over medium heat and sauté onion and garlic for 6-7 minutes, or until onion is tender and beginning to colour slightly.

3. Add cherry tomatoes and Swiss chard stems. Sauté for another 5-7 minutes, or until tomatoes begin to burst. Add Swiss chard and spinach leaves. Let cook for about 1 minute. Add in Lemon-Tahini Dressing and stir to coat. Mix in cooked, drained wheat berries and chickpeas.

Serves 5-6.


Lemon-Tahini Dressing

Ingredients

¼ cup tahini
2 cloves garlic, bitter stem removed
juice of one lemon (about 1/3 cup)
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp water
optional: grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor. Add salt and pepper to taste.

That was easy, wasn't it?

Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie Bites

I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty much madly in love with this recipe. The best, best, BEST thing about batter without eggs in it is you don't have to have your Mum's voice in the back of your head going "there're raw eggs in that! Don't eat it!"

So, when it tastes awesome when cooked too, that's just a win-win.

Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie Bites

(adapted from Oh She Glows)

Ingredients

1 cup oatmeal
½ + 1/3 cup flour (either whole wheat or all purpose)
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
½ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp hazelnut butter
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
¼ cup chopped dark chocolate (or chocolate chips)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. In a large bowl, stir together first 8 ingredients (oatmeal through salt). In a separate bowl, mix together wet ingredients (milk through extract). Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir, just to combine. Stir in chopped hazelnuts and dark chocolate.

3. Divide batter into 20 balls (roll with your hands), and place on parchment lined baking sheets about 1" apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Do not overcook these! You want them to be nice and chewy.

4. Remove from pan and let cool on rack. Keeps in an airtight container for 3-4 days.