Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Soft, rich and chewy. All the things one would want in a cookie that accompanies chocolate x2 and peanut butter!

1/4 Cup butter

3/4 Cup peanut butter

1/3 Cup of cocoa powder

1 Cup of flour

1/2 Cup brown sugar

1 Tsp baking soda

1/8 Tsp salt

1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 Tsp cinnamon, nutmeg and ground cloves

1 Tsp vanilla

1-2 Eggs

I know people say you can't bake without proper measurements but I do it all the time. My grandpa requested I bake chocolate chip cookies so I though okay, double chocolate. And throw some peanut butter in there! From other recipes I do stay semi-true to consistencies of okay, this needs that much of  a buttery substance and that much of a dry ingredient. I almost always cut the sugar in half and sometimes the batter is too dry so I need to add in an extra egg to make it mix. I have yet to hear complaints.

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs then dry ingredients. This batch does have a tone of spices (1/2 tsp in total of all combined) just because I though I could go without spices but it's so nice in baking, right? Your call.

I like making cookies in quite small balls, flatten a bit then they only seem to take 7 minutes to bake on parchment paper at 350.

Also, the light coloured cookies in the picture are from a much earlier blog entry: White Chocolate and Oatmeal Spice cookies. (May be my favourite kind… and The Good Cookie… okay they're all good)! 

Feel free to pin some posts, as I just learned how to use pinterest over the weekend so most recipes are on a board there! 

Roasted Jalapeño and Cumin Hummus

Red pepper, avocado, kale… I'm finding you can really put anything with tahini, chickpeas, garlic and lemon and it'll taste fab on veg or other dip vehicles.

This batch is a little spicy! Not too much, don't be scared.

1 Can of chickpeas
 (or equal portions cooked)
3 Cloves of garlic
1 Large jalapeño
1 Tbsp tahini
1/2 Tsp cumin
1 Lemon juiced
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Warm water

Roast garlic and halved jalapeño (seeds and stem out) in a bit of olive oil at 350 for 25 minutes. I wrap the garlic cloves in tin foil with the tips cut off and a little olive oil.

In a blender add the lemon juice, tahini, chick peas, garlic, jalameno (chopped), cumin, s&p and about a 1/3 cup of olive oil. I add 2-3 tbsp of warm water just to help it blend nicer. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of stopping the blender and mixing by hand, then blending, then mixing by hand and repeat. Always taste before you put in a bowl then you can make adjustments. This was a big hit at my end of school-year party so it's tried and true.

Chunky Southwest Yam and Celery Soup

This recipe needs something, I'm thinking cilantro but it's still pretty darn satisfying! If you don't blend this soup then don't roast the garlic. Otherwise give it a couple pulses in the blender and keep it chunky. Completely pureed has a unpleasant texture.

3 Yams
3 Cloves of Garlic
3 Veg stock cubes
1 1/2 Cups of corn
1 Can black beans
1 Can chick peas
1 Yellow onion
1/2 Bunch of celery (8 stalks)
1 Large carrot
2-3 tbsp of cumin
1 Tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp of cinnamon
2 Tbsp of tomato paste
Salt and pepper
12 Cups of water

Roasted the yam in cumin and oil. In the pot I first softened the onion then added the other veg, water and rest of the ingredients. Partially blended. Next time I feel like I should add an extra yam, take out the chick peas and less water. Hope this inspires and let me know if you have any suggestions! Don't get me wrong, it is tasty, I just can't put my finger on what's missing… maybe cilantro,
like I said.

Green Lentil Coconut Curry Bowl

What?! Never cooked with Coconut milk or made lentils before. Are you seeing a theme here? This blog is my excuse to experiment - it's going well.

This dish is light and filling at the same time. I even made cauliflower rice! (graded cauliflower heated in a pan in a bit of olive oil). Seriously… WHAT?! Ok…

1 cup of dried green lentils cooked
1 can of chick peas
2 tsp of curry powder
3/4 tsp of cumin
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
2 gloves of finely grated garlic
2 inches of finely grated ginger
1/2 yellow onion diced
1 can of coconut milk
2 cups of chicken stock (or veg)
2 carrots diced
2 stalks of celery diced
1 cup of frozen peas
1/4 head of cauliflower chopped into small pieces.
1 tsp corn starch
Salt and pepper

Directions: soften the diced onion in a pan with some olive oil salt and pepper. Add chicken (or veg) stalk, corn starch, graded ginger, garlic, curry powder, cumin, cinnamon, diced carrots, celery, cauliflower.
Then add chick peas, cooked lentils, coconut milk.
I sliced the carrot and celery and cauliflower pretty small so it really didn't take long for it to be ready.

Serve on cauliflower rice (or regular rice).

Movie Night Delight Crunch Bars

No-bake + Sweet & Salty = Deadly.
This recipe came to me in a vision, (while walking home from the gym). A class potluck tomorrow finally provided me the opportunity to make them.

Melt in a pot:
1 Cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 Cup butter
Small bag of milk chocolate chipits  (2 cups?)

Take off heat

Mix in:
250g bag of Caramel + nut popcorn

Place: put in a 9x13 baking pan lined with parchment paper. Refridgerage for at least 3 hours before cutting (or freezer).

Toping:
1/2 Cup of slivered almonds
-roasted at 350 for 7 minutes with a bit of olive oil and sea salt


I think if you added in some 1 Cup of chopped pretzels to the bar you would only be doing yourself a favour. AND cut small squares - these are a sugar/flavour bomb. Bring to a gathering - just get them out the door!

The Good Cookie

You can see why I didn't title this cookie: Fresh Ginger Oatmeal Peanut Butter Raisin and Cinnamon Cookies, right? Keep it simple stupid. Mwah!

Mix by hand and you'll feel even better about these! I always bake to give-away, but obviously there's quality control involved.

1 Cup of peanut butter
(I used crunchy here)
3 Cups of rolled oats
1/4 Cup butter
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Tsp baking soda
1 Tsp of fresh finely graded ginger
1/2 Tsp cinnamon
3/4 Cup of raisins (I used the dark variety)
1 1/2 Tsp vanilla
2 Eggs
pinch of salt

How I did it: mixed peanut butter and butter with vanilla, added brown sugar, mixed, added two eggs and mixed, added fresh ginger, cinnamon and baking soda, salt and mixed, added raisins and mixed. Finally I incorporated the oats 1 cup at a time.

I baked on parchment paper at 350 for approximately 9 minutes. Now, my cookies were very small. Regular sized cookies would be 12-14 minutes. Small is best, these are hearty cookies! I pressed the cookies a bit before baking as well.

OMG so good and your house will smell like heaven for hours :)

Grapefruit Balsamic Dressing

Why not?

Refreshingly scrumptious and simple! I personally haven't bought dressings for salad since September - part of my pledge  to only use sauces that are scratch-made.

You can really make as much as you want. I think the measurements are about 1/3 balsamic, 1/3 citrus and 1/3 olive oil.


For this recipe:
1/2 grapefruit juiced
1/2 lemon juiced
equal parts balsamic oil and olive oil
1 Tsp liquid honey


Tonight I had it on my salad on the side of my simple mexican vegan plate (rice, beans, salsa, avocado).