Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Some days I am very, very happy to live in Texas. Today is one of those days. While Facebook is filled with posts of how ridiculously cold everyone else is in the rest of the country, I'm enjoying a bright, sunny, 70 degree day. Which is great because I've been craving my favorite dessert smoothie lately and it doesn't taste quite the same when you're bundled up in the blanket. 

The other day I mentioned how my New Year's resolution is to consciously include more greens in my diet. Last year I made a point to make sure I had greens at least once a day, this year I'm doubling that; it's my goal to consume greens at least twice a day. This smoothie is perfect for helping achieve that goal. After indulging in holiday treats for the last few weeks we have the tendency to quit treating ourselves cold turkey. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes that leads to back-sliding and never sticking with our goals. It's my belief that we should never deprive ourselves or stop treating ourselves. We work hard and life's too short to cut out all indulgences. Instead I like to find healthy ways to incorporate the things I love that way I can stick with my goals for the long haul. Whether you love dark, leafy greens like me or hate them, but know you should eat them, this smoothie is perfect for you. Assuming you love chocolate, bananas and peanut butter of course. 

I love this smoothie for many reasons:

1) It's chocolate.

2) It tastes like dessert.

3) It blends up in minutes.

4) It's filling and satisfying, yet gives you a burst of energy.

5) It's loaded with good stuff like magnesium, antioxidants, protein, healthy fats, potassium, fiber, iron and other important vitamins.

6) Its basically the perfect PMS smoothie (not that you have to be a girl or experiencing those symptoms to enjoy it).

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

• 1 frozen banana
• Giant handful of your favorite greens (I did a mix of spinach and kale)
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
• 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter (or your favorite nut butter)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 dark chocolate chips

Makes 1-2 servings.

Place all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth (you may need to stir or add more almond milk depending on how powerful your blender is). Pour into your favorite glass, pop in a straw, sit back and enjoy.

*Notes:

-If you don't have any frozen bananas on hand, feel free to use a fresh, ripe banana and add 4-6 ice cubes to make it colder.

-Feel free to adjust the amounts to your specific tastes, most times I make this I don't measure the ingredients I just toss in whatever looks good. 

Fun fact: Today is my 100th post! So I'd just like to say thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who reads this blog and for all the comments and feedback both on here and Facebook. It means so much to me! If there is anything you'd like to see more of on the blog, please don't hesitate to ask!

Pumpkin Biscotti (Vegan)

I follow a lot of really great blogs that are constantly inspiring me both in the kitchen and in life (click the link on the left for a full list). Last week I stumbled upon a new blog: A Baking Girl. I instantly loved Rossi's site and all her delicious-looking recipes. One recipe for Cranberry Biscotti stuck out to me particularly. Biscotti are one of those things that I love and always forget about (which seems ridiculous since I make coffee for a living and coffee and biscotti are BFFs). I hadn't made any in years and I certainly had never made them vegan.

I also wanted to make something pumpkin because, well, it's pumpkin season and I'm a food blogger so it just seemed like something I should do. I had tried several recipes (scones, chia pudding, ice cream, bars...), but nothing ever tasted right. (Turns out it was the type of pumpkin I was using, or at least I can assume that since as soon as I switched the pumpkin everything I made tasted great). I had 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree left when I stumbled upon Rossi's biscotti recipe which just so happened to call for 3/4 cup of applesauce. Hmmm... I bet I could switch out the applesauce for pumpkin and have pumpkin biscotti, I thought. And Voila! That's exactly what happened. 

Pumpkin Biscotti

Adapted from A Baking Girl

• 3 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 3/4 Cup Coconut Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Pumpkin Puree
• 1 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil, Melted
• 1/2 Cup Pumpkin Seeds, Shelled

Makes 8 Biscotti.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In a second bowl, mix the sugar, pumpkin puree, vanilla and coconut oil. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until just combined. Mix in the pumpkin seeds. 

Turn the dough onto a baking sheet and form the dough into a flat log that's about 4 inches long and 3/4 inch thick. Using a butter knife, score the lines of what will be the individual cookies (about every 1/2 inch). Bake for 25 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Allow the dough to cool for 5-10 minutes then cut the cookies along the score lines and place them on their sides, cut side down. Return to oven and bake another 10 minutes until golden brown, then flip the cookies and bake another 5-10 minutes or until hard and crunchy. 

Allow to cool and then serve with your favorite hot beverage. 

What's your favorite cold weather drink?

Raw Blackberry Crumble Bars (Vegan, Gluten Free, Grain Free)

Happy Monday Everyone!

And a happy Monday it is- Spring has finally decided to arrive in Colorado. Forget spring, I think we may just bypass to summer. It's supposed to be sunny and almost, if not 80 degrees everyday this week! I cannot explain how excited I am... well maybe I can. I'm so excited that I've set up a new office for myself today (and everyday this week if I have anything to say about it)....

This set-up is perfect! Yes, I had to bring the vase of lemons along to support my decrepit computer. Yes, the only extension cords we have are two-pronged and I need a three-pronger to charge my computer. And yes, it's really sunny so it's hard to see my computer screen. But you know what? I don't care, cause it's warm and sunny and I want to be outside so I declare it perfect!

But you know what really was perfect? Our little Sunday night dinner party last night. Molly does such a good job making the space look beautiful.

Complete with Christmas lights and candles, it was absolutely lovely. Perhaps a little too feminine for the boys who had to prove their masculinity by talking about cars and poop during dinner (boys will be boys, right?), but Molly and I thoroughly appreciated the ambiance. Molly found the chairs and table at a thrift store on Saturday- 75 bucks for all 5 pieces! Not too shabby. The chairs we'll be using inside so we're going to refinish those once we decide on a color, any suggestions? (Our dining table is a deep chocolately-espresso brown). Dinner was delicious (my favorite pizza of the evening being tomato basil) and afterwards we walked downtown to Josh and Jake's for some homemade ice cream! Is it any surprise that I got the Oatmeal Cookie flavor? So good!

Anyway, moving on. Let's get talking about these Blackberry Crumble Bars. They're raw, vegan, gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free and delicious. Don't believe me? Make them for yourself and try them- it'll only take you about 15 minutes. You can totally eat them for breakfast, for a snack or for dessert. They'd be delicious topped with some coconut ice cream! And now that summer is finally here, it'd be a great dessert to bring to a potluck or cookout!

Raw Blackberry Crumble Bars

For the crust and topping:

• 1 Cup Raw Pecans
• 1 Cup Dates, Pitted
• 1/2-1 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut (depending on how much coconut flavor you'd like, I couldn't taste it with just a half cup)
• 1/2 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• Pinch Sea Salt

For the center:

• 6 Ounces Fresh Blackberries*, Rinsed and Organic if possible
• 2 Tablespoons Chia Seeds
• Sweeten to taste using Raw Honey or Raw Agave

Makes 9 Bars.

In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients for the crust. Pulse until it starts to stick (I'll usually pinch some of the mixture together to test to see how well it'll hold together, if it's still a little crumbly continue pulsing). Once it's reached the desired consistency, set 1/2 cup of the mixture aside. Place the rest in a square container (I used a rectangular 6-Cup Pyrex dish). Press the mixture firmly and evenly into the dish creating a crust, place in the freezer to set. Now wash and dry your food processor. Place the ingredients for the blackberry center into the processor and blend until it's an even consistency. Remove the crust from the freezer and evenly spread the blackberry filling over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture over the filling to create the crumble topping. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 15 minutes before slicing. As always, enjoy!

*If blackberries aren't your thing, feel free to make this recipe substituting any of your favorite berries.  

I promise this will be the last recipe I post for awhile using chia seeds, I know you guys are probably getting sick of seeing them pop up on the ingredient list. What can I say, I love those little seeds!

What did you do this weekend?

Oh! and P.S.- Today is the last day to enter my giveaway. Click here to enter.

Raw Mango Fruit Tarts (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Have you guys met Em over at This Rawsome Vegan Life? I haven't either, but I always leave her blog drooling with a brain full of new ideas. These fruit tarts were inspired by her recent post Just the Bare Fruit. In an attempt to keep my sweet tooth in check, I try to only have raw desserts (I said try!). They're sweet enough to sooth my cravings, but are usually chock full of nutrients so that I feel satisfied after indulging, not reaching for another cookie. 

These tarts are so easy to make it's almost laughable, yet you'll leave your friends and family impressed, with a full serving of fruit and no sugar high. The mango is pureed with chia seeds to give it an almost custard-like consistency. The crust is nothing but fruit and a few nuts for texture. From there you can get as creative as you like, topping it with whatever strikes your fancy. Since I had strawberries, blackberries and shredded coconut on hand, that's what I used. But you can use whatever fruit you'd like. You could also garnish it with lemon or lime zest, chocolate shavings, goji berries....the list is endless. 

Apart from making a custard out of mango and chia seeds, another cool trick I figured out is using mason jar lids as mini spring form pans for the crust. Just press the fruit and nut mixture into the lid and place in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to set. Then pop up the bottom of the lid and peel off the crust. Viola! A perfectly circular base for your tarts!

Raw Mango Fruit Tarts

Inspired by: This Rawsome Vegan Life

Makes 4 Tarts.

For the Mango Custard:

• 2 Ripe Mangoes, peeled and pitted
• 2 Tablespoon Chia Seeds
• 1 inch Fresh Ginger, grated

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until a smooth consistency is reached, about one minute. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate. Clean and dry food processor for the next step.

For the Crust:

• 1 Cup Dates, pitted
• 1/2 Cup Dried Apricots or Figs
• 1/2 Cup Raw Pecans, Cashews, Mac Nuts, or whatever other nut you fancy
• Pinch of Sea Salt

Place all the ingredients in the food processor and pulse until it starts to create a sticky consistency and all the pieces are a uniform size. Press the mixture firmly into the mason jar lids (or whatever you decided to use), splitting the mixture evenly between the four lids, creating a smooth and even layer. You can either make a flat layer or press the mixture onto the sides to create more of a pie crust, both methods work. Place crusts into the refrigerator to set. 

While the custard and the crust are setting, prepare your garnishes. Slice any fruit, shave any chocolate, whatever you need to do. After about 10 minutes, or once you're done with your preparations, pull the crusts from the refrigerator and pop them out from the mason jars. Next, take out the mango custard and spoon it onto the crusts, splitting it evenly between the four crusts. Finally, garnish your tarts however you like. Take a step back, admire your beautiful creation. Serve and consume with a smile.

Do you guys have any fun plans for the weekend?

It's supposed to be warm and sunny here. I'm psyched!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Growing up I can hardly remember a time when ice cream wasn't present in my parents' house. There were always at least two cartons of ice cream in the freezer and we all knew the flavor with nuts was for Dad; whether it was Pistachio, Rocky Road or Butter Pecan. If it contained nuts, it might as well have Property of Dad stamped across the top. Mom would take turns getting us kids our favorite flavors. Mint Chocolate Chip for Dan. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for me. Anything with caramel for Sherie. Occasionally she'd get some Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup frozen yogurt for herself. Now when I say we had ice cream just about every night I don't mean we each had a scoop, we each had a bowl...with multiple scoops. Delicious? Of course. Healthy? Not so much.

Over the years as I've become more health-conscience and less able to digest dairy, I've sought out ways to appease my cravings for something sweet, cold and creamy. Banana ice cream has come to my rescue time and time again. It's fast, it's easy, it's cheaper than regular ice cream, healthier than regular ice cream and most importantly it tastes great! 

This particular flavor is one of my favorites. Inspired by the Ben & Jerry's flavor Oatmeal Cookie Chunk (which fortunately I can no longer find in stores), it combines the tasty, comforting flavors of cinnamon and chocolate. Plus, it's a bowl full of fruit that looks like cookie dough!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

• 2 Frozen Bananas
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tablespoon Almond Milk
• 1/4 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips (Vegans, make sure they're dairy-free)

Makes 2 scoops.

In a food processor, blend bananas, almond milk, cinnamon and vanilla extract until the bananas have become smooth and creamy (you may need to scrape down the sides occasionally). Once, the mixture has reached the consistency of soft serve ice cream, add the chocolate chips and pulse a few times to break up the chips (this is optional, feel free to just stir in the chips, I like to have them shaved down into smaller chunks). At this point you can either enjoy the ice cream as soft serve or place in the freezer for about a half hour or so if you prefer a firmer texture. Whatever you decide, be sure to savor this guilt-free treat with a smile on your face.

Do you have an ice cream habit you're tricking to kick? 

If you've had success, share your secrets!

Vegan Banana Cake

Bread? Cake? Bread? Cake?

This was the debate going on in my head as I tried to determine what to call this banana deliciousness. I originally came up with this recipe while I was living in Maui. My friend, who was vegan, loved banana bread, but as it's traditionally made with eggs and butter he was unable to partake of it. Being the oh-so-compassionate *read always up for a baking challenge* person that I am, I took it upon myself to create a tasty vegan banana bread. I believe I have done just that (and I think the whole loaves that were consumed within the day they were made stand as proof).

Fast forward to this morning. 

I had not made this recipe since I left Maui in February. Now for those of you a little rusty on your geography, Colorado Springs is slightly higher in altitude than Wailuku, HI where this recipe was born. And for those of you unfamiliar with baking, altitude affects baking results. So as you can imagine, I was slightly nervous that this banana bread would be a giant flop.

As you can tell from the pictures, it came out just fine, if not just more cake-like. However, I am unsure if the cakiness (yes, I've decided that's a word) is more of a result of the altitude or the fact that neither Molly or I have a loaf pan anymore so I had to use two cake pans to bake it.

 It would have been totally awesome if i had a food processor and some cashews. Then I could have made some cashew cream to smear in between and on top of the cakes to make a layered banana cake. That would have been really tasty. But I'll just throw that idea out there for you guys to try and hopefully sometime in the near future I'll be able to make it too. 

Okay, I'm done rambling now. On to the recipe! 

Vegan Banana Cake

• 3 Ripe Bananas
• 1/3 Cup Coconut Oil, melted or at least softened
• 2/3 Cup Pure Cane Sugar (Date, Palm or Coconut are fine, too)
• 1/3 Cup Almond Milk (2/3 Cup for muffins or cupcakes)
• 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 Flax Egg (1 Tablespoon Ground Flax seed dissolved in water)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
• 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

Makes 1 loaf or 2 6-inch cakes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flax seed with 3 tablespoons water and set aside. In a medium bowl, use a fork to mash the bananas with coconut oil and sugar, mix well. Add flaxseeds, vanilla and milk, mix well. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add the dry mix to the wet and stir until just combined, do not over mix. Pour batter into loaf or cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly. 

One thing is for sure, this recipe has been tested at various altitudes and always comes out dense and moist. Whether you decided to make it a bread or a cake, I will leave that up to you.

So what would you call this recipe? Cake or Bread?

Have you had much experience baking at different altitudes?

Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Freezer Fudge (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Warning: This fudge is not for the faint of heart.

 Do not let the simplicity of this recipe trick you into believing that the richness suffers due to the fact it takes all of ten minutes to make this. Yes, you heard correctly.

TEN MINUTES TO DELICIOUS, RICH FUDGE.

That also happens to be vegan and gluten-free.

No, it's not too good to be true. Allow me to explain:

You simply take some coconut oil and mix it with peanut butter, vanilla extract and agave. Once it's thoroughly mixed, spoon it into a loaf pan lined with wax paper. 

Next, do the same thing again, but this time add some cocoa powder (in the pictures, the peanut butters were made in opposite orders, chocolate first, then peanut butter, but I think making the plain peanut butter first is best because you can reuse the same bowl). Or if you want to keep it really simple, you can use this brand of peanut butter which we happened to have lying around the house:

If you do use Peanut Butter & Co. I suggest not adding the agave, or very little as this brand is already sweetened. Next, layer the second kind of peanut butter on top of the first and smooth it out. You can leave it at that or use a butter knife or toothpick to create a swirl effect by dragging it through the two layers.

Lastly, place it in the freezer to set for at least five minutes. Once it's set or once you are ready to serve it, slice it up into squares and enjoy!

Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Freezer Fudge:

Inspired by: Detoxinista 

• 1 Cup Peanut Butter, divided
• 2 Tablespoons Agave (or other sweetener such as pure maple syrup or honey for non-vegans), divided
• 2 Teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract, divided
• 4 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, softened, divided
• 2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder (more or less depending on how rich you want it)

In a bowl, combine half the amount of the first four ingredients. Mix until fully combined and spoon into a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat combining the rest of the first four ingredients and all of the cocoa. Once, fully mixed spoon on top of the first layer of peanut butter. Smooth and swirl, if desired. Place fudge in the freezer for at least five minutes or until it has hardened. Slice into squares, serve and enjoy.

What are some of your favorite easy dessert recipes?

Peace & Love,

Joy