Recipe: Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

I wanted to bake something for book club this week, and since one of our members is vegan, I always like to make something she can eat. I found this recipe on the Three Little Chickpeas blog, and since I love peanut butter desserts, I thought this was worth trying.

Ingredients

• ½ cup (120 g) unsweetened natural peanut butter (with salt) (measure after stirring)
• ¾ cup (130 g) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (125 ml) dairy-free milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1  ½ cups (180 g) whole-wheat flour, spooned and leveled
• ½ cup (90 g) vegan chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons (13 g) ground flax seed
• 1  ½ teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt (if your peanut butter doesn't contain salt use ¼ teaspoon)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
2. Line an 8x8 inch glass baking dish with parchment paper.
3. Mix together the peanut butter and sugar with the back of a fork until the sugar is mixed into the peanut butter.
4. Then to peanut butter mixture, whisk in the dairy-free milk and vanilla extract until smooth (a balloon whisk works well here).  Make sure there are no large clumps, a few tiny lumps are fine.
5. In a large bowl whisk together the whole-wheat flour, chocolate chips, ground flaxseed, baking powder, and salt.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and mix together with a rubber or silicone spatula. The dough will be thick.  
7. Press the cookie dough into the glass baking dish and spread it out to the corners. Use a silicone spatula to help spread the dough out (Use damp hands to pat down and smooth out the top).
8. Bake for 16-18 minutes.  To test lightly press the top of the cookie dough (careful it's hot), if your fingerprint stays, cook for another 1-2 minutes. The top should look set, puffed up, and spring back slightly when touched.
9. The cookie bars need to cool completely to set, if you cut the bars while they're too warm they'll crumble. I let them cool for around 15 minutes in the dish, then lift them out with the sides of the parchment paper to a cooling rack to cool completely.
10. Store in the refrigerator and they'll firm up more once chilled.

As usual, I didn't stick to the ingredient list as written. I didn't bother trying to find vegan chocolate chips, so I just went without (same with the flaxseed). I used regular flour, and my non-dairy milk of choice was plain soy milk. 

At first mixing the peanut butter and sugar was a little tricky, but eventually the peanut butter did absorb all the sugar. And it wasn't too hard making sure the wet mixture wasn't clumpy. I appreciated the tips about using a fork for mixing and damp hands for pressing the dough into the pan. Speaking of which, I don't have a glass square pan, so I used a metal one; when making this switch, you always want to shorten the bake time (I did 12 minutes and maybe could have gone a minute or two longer).

I think I've made both better peanut butter desserts and vegan desserts before, but this one isn't bad. These bars are quite dense and rich, so a small square is plenty! These probably would be better with the chocolate chips to add a little change in the texture. I'll remember that if I make them again!

Recipe: Double Chocolate Banana Bread

As usual, when I have some overripe bananas, I choose to make banana bread. I hadn't made a chocolate one in a long time (I have made many different kinds of banana breads*), so I thought I'd try that. I found this recipe on the Baking with Dan blog, and I was ready to go!

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ¾ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• ⅓ cup dutch process cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas, about 2.5 medium bananas
• ½ cup plus 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup chocolate chunks or chips

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8"x4" loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium mixing bowl add the flour, light brown sugar, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Whisk to combine and set aside.
3. In a blender or the bowl of your food processor, add the mashed bananas, oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Blend on high for 15 seconds to emulsify the liquid ingredients. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and then pour the batter into the prepared pan. Top with more chocolate chunks if desired (I always do!) Bake in the center of your oven for 60-70 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Check earlier if using a larger loaf pan. Allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then remove and place on a cooling rack to cool completely.

Some of the steps in this recipe are a little much. Do you have to spray the pan AND use parchment paper? I did because Dan said to, but I think either one on its own would work fine. And I was not about to break out a blender or mixer to make banana bread. Just mix it by hand with a spatula! I don't think everything needs to be "emulsified" to make good banana bread (I like the bigger banana chunks!), and that extra step adds more items to clean anyway. I also blended the dry ingredients into the wet instead of the other way around, since that's how most baking recipes work. 

I didn't have too many chocolate chips left in my pantry, so I just sprinkled everything I had on top, like a chocolate shell. Yum! I would definitely make this one again!

*Here are some blog posts of other banana breads I have made (determined by flavor or supplies):

• Cream Cheese Banana Bread
• Dark Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread
• Chai-Spiced Banana Bread
• Banana Peanut Butter Bread
• Strawberry-Banana Bread
• Buttermilk Banana Nut Bread (scroll down the page!)
• Easy Banana Bread
• One-banana Banana Bread
• Eggless Banana Bread

TWO Ballets over Christmas!

Over the holidays, I got to see not one but TWO ballet performances. How awesome is that!

The first one was when my friend and I saw the Sarasota Ballet and their "Masters of Movement" performance at the Sarasota Opera House. This was the second show of our subscription, and we both agreed we liked it better than the first one we saw. The "Masters of Movement" performance was a nice mix of class ballet and modern dance (and I usually don't care for the latter).

Image found here (photo credit: Frank Atura)

Divertimento No. 15

This first piece was choreographed by George Balanchine, a legend in the ballet world, and set to music by Mozart. It premiered in New York City in 1956, so it's been around for a long time. I totally forgot that I had seen the piece years ago at the Kennedy Center, that time performed by the New York City Ballet (read that blog post here). There is no story or plot, but rather is just meant to appreciate the "elegant and inventiveness" that is "playful, refined, and surprising" (notes from the program). I tried to watch it just to appreciate the movement of dance and the inherent fun in dancing. I really liked it!

While the video below features the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, you can get a taste of the piece:

Mozartiana

The second piece was also choreographed by Balanchine, and while the dancing is set to Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 4, that music is actually the Russian's orchestration of works by Mozart (so I guess kind of like a medley or remix?). This was also a classic piece, and the Sarasota Ballet's version featured some child dancers, too. This one felt a little less fun than the previous, but still just as beautiful.

This video was filmed in 1983 soon after Balanchine's death (he choreographed the piece in the early 80's just a few years before he died). But this is the full thing, so you can really appreciate it.

Image found here (photo credit: Frank Atura)

Jazz Calendar

Even though this was the modern dance piece, my friend and I liked it the best! It was so fun, so creative, and just very different! Sir Frank Ashton choreographed the piece in the late 1960's and based it on the nursery rhyme, "Monday's Child," creating a dance for each day of the week set to jazz music from the era. I had actually seen the Friday dance at the Sarasota Ballet's gala last year, but I didn't know that at the time! So it was cool seeing it again along with all the other "days." The music, written by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, is so lively, and each part was exciting with all the colorful costumes. It kind of reminded me of the "sweets" featured in the Nutcracker: each one is unique but just as fun as the others.

Here is a preview video from the Sarasota Ballet so you can see the awesome costumes and some of the artwork/structures that went along with the dancing:

What a great show! The next performance from our subscription isn't until March, so I'm glad I got to see another ballet show so soon. Just a few days later, my mom and I saw the Sarasota Ballet School perform The Nutcracker (I LOVE the Nutcracker and had not seen it the past two years, so I was really looking forward to it, especially because I got to see it with my mom!). 

There were 130 students (!) in the production from multiple studios, and we were so impressed! Their ages ranged from teeny tiny girls, maybe four years old, to the Sugar Plum Fairy (played by Kerry Shannon, a new member of the Sarasota Ballet Studio Company, and she was SO good!), who is probably in her early 20's. Because there were so many dancers, they had to get creative with the roles. For example, the Arabian Coffee dance (what they called the "desert dance" for some odd reason) featured three boys and three girls (six dancers total), when usually that piece is performed by only women or is featured as a pas de deux. But it's so nice that all the students could be included. 

Along with Shannon, we also thought Violet Olson, who played Clara, and Gregory Dempsey, who played the Nutcracker prince (Nathaniel?) did a great job as well. It was nice that, because they are both teenagers, they seem age-appropriate as a couple, as opposed to the traditional Nutcracker in which Clara, a young girl, is with a grown man prince. 

Here's a little video from a few years ago. These kids are really talented!

And you can check out this article in The Sun about this year's production, too!

Recipe: Toll House Nestle's Chunky Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

My mom bought me the Toll House Nestle's "3 Books in 1" more than 10 years ago, and it's my go-to cookbook for baking cookies. Over the holidays, I knew I wanted to make peanut butter cookies, and this recipe was a no-brainer.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I probably used half a cup, whatever I already had left.)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped peanuts (I used peanut butter chips instead.)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Beat butter, both sugars, and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stire in morsels and peanuts.
3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Press down slightly to flatten into 1-inch circles.
4. Bake for 7-10 minute or until edges are set but centers are still soft. Cool on baking sheets for 4 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

These cookies ended up being a lot bigger and more fragile than I expected. So I think I made them too big and underbaked them (for fear of having crunchy cookies, I'd rather them be too soft than too hard!). My scoop was probably bigger than a tablespoon, so that could have been the problem; our peanut butter is also very oily, so that might have made them spread more, too. Next time, I would make them smaller, and I'd make sure I saw some browning on the bottoms of all the cookies before taking them out of the oven. These still tasted delicious, but they broke apart so easily, so they didn't look as good as I would have hoped. Certainly worth trying again!

Recipe: Easy Pumpkin Pie

 

I have made many a pumpkin recipe (I love all things pumpkin!), but I wanted to try a pumpkin pie recipe that I had never made before. I found this recipe on the Cooking Classy blog, and with only six ingredients, I knew this would be a piece of cake... or pie rather ;)

Ingredients

• 1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust (store-bought)
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions

1. Set oven rack in lowest position of oven and heat oven to 425° F.
2. Thaw the chilled pie crust according to package directions, unroll and then fit into pie dish. Decorate edges if desired.
3. In a mixing bowl whisk together pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk (scrape in any excess from can), eggs, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until well blended.
4. Pour mixture into pie crust then wiggle to level. Set on a baking sheet. If you don't want the crust edges to get overly dark you can cover them with a ring of aluminum foil.
5. Transfer pie on baking sheet to oven and bake on lowest rack in preheated oven 15 minutes. Leave in oven, reduce temperature to 350° F and continue to bake until pie is nearly set (filling no longer jiggles when moved), about 35 to 40 minutes.
6. Transfer to a wire rack and let pie cool at least 2 hours before slicing. For a chilled pie rest 1 hour at room temperature and then 2 hours in the fridge.

Unfortunately I did not actually have any pie crusts. My sister and mom went out shopping, and they only bought ONE box of pie crusts (2 crusts each) instead of TWO boxes, and I knew I had to use two pie crusts for the apple pie later (find that recipe here). So I used a Pillsbury dough sheet instead; since that cooks a lot faster, the edges of the crust burned almost immediately. I tried to salvage it but putting aluminum foil around the edges, but the damage has been done, and then the foil ended up tearing little holes at the top surface. So this pie (like my peanut butter cookies) did not look, but at least it tasted yummy! I usually make pumpkin pie with evaporated milk instead of condensed milk, so this version was creamier and thicker. I would certainly consider this a traditional pie, great for the holiday season!

Recipe: Coconut Curry

I had never made this recipe before, but it sounded delicious and I wanted to try it. I found the recipe on the Minimalist Baker blog (not baking, but still!). 

Ingredients

Curry

• 1 Tbsp coconut or olive oil
• 1 small onion (diced)
• 4 cloves garlic (minced // 4 cloves yield ~2 Tbsp or 12 g)
• 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger*
• 1/2 cup broccoli florets (diced // or sub green bell pepper)
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1/4 cup diced tomato
• 1/3 cup snow peas (loosely cut)
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 pinch cayenne* (optional // for heat)
• 2 14-ounce cans light coconut milk (sub full-fat for richer texture)
• 1 cup veggie broth (DIY or store-bought)
• Sea salt and black pepper

Coconut Quinoa

• 1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
• 1 cup white quinoa (rinsed in a fine mesh strainer*)
• 1 Tbsp agave nectar (optional)

Directions

1. If serving with coconut quinoa, begin by washing thoroughly in a fine mesh strainer. Add to a medium saucepan over medium heat and toast for 3 minutes. Add light coconut milk and 1/2 cup water (amount as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the quinoa is light, fluffy and the liquid is absorbed. Set aside until serving.
2. In the meantime, heat a large saucepan or pot to medium heat and add coconut oil. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, broccoli and a pinch each salt and pepper and stir. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened – about 5 minutes.
3. Add curry powder, cayenne (or chili pepper), veggie stock, coconut milk, another healthy pinch of salt and stir. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat slightly and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes.
4. Add the snow peas and tomatoes in the last 5 minutes so they don’t overcook.
5. Serve over coconut quinoa and garnish with fresh lemon juice and herbs (optional).

My main problem with this recipe was the quinoa. Maybe my quinoa has it expired and it's old, or it's the fact that I didn't use light coconut milk but instead mixed cream of coconut with water. But my quinoa did not get light and fluffy. The water did not absorb! But the quinoa was not hard, and it did have a coconut flavor, so I went with it. I also changed a lot of the ingredients. I added cauliflower, shrimp, and bell pepper, while I didn't use broccoli, carrots, or snow peas (I used frozen peas instead). So I kind of made this recipe my own. I did use full fat coconut milk (mainly because I could not find the light version) for the curry itself.

Maybe it was because of the quinoa, but this felt more like a soup. Maybe if I made it again, I would make it more traditional with just rice. But it did taste good, and this makes A LOT of food, so you're guaranteed to have leftovers!

Recipe: Chicken Crescent Casserole

I love Pillsbury crescent rolls, but I usually eat them plain or fill them with something sweet (jam, etc.). Of course there are pigs-in-a-blanket, but I had never thought to make a chicken casserole with them until I round this recipe from Allrecipes. 

Ingredients

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 2 (8 ounce) packages crescent roll dough, unrolled and divided into triangles
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
2. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium heat; pan-fry chicken until no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes per side. Shred chicken.
3. Spread chicken over crescent roll triangles. Roll triangles, starting with the wider end, around chicken. Arrange rolls on prepared baking dish with the seam sides down. Place rolls into prepared baking dish.
4. Mix cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, milk, and cheddar cheese in a bowl; pour mixture over crescent rolls.
5. Bake in preheated oven until bubbly and rolls are golden brown, about 40 minutes.

The hardest part about this recipe is trying to fit the chicken into the crescent rolls and not let any fall out! But other than that, this recipe is super-easy to make. I even diced up the chicken and cooked it in the air fryer, which I think is a faster option. The photo online shows broccoli in the casserole, which clearly is not listed in the ingredients. So instead I made broccoli on the side so that we had a green vegetable with dinner (because otherwise, this dinner is not healthy AT ALL). But it sure does taste good!