Tag Archives: coconut

February 12, 2011 · 4:43 am

SWEET VALENTINE – Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Molten Cake

Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Molten Cake

In daily life we really do want to minimize / eliminate sweets, but who can resist a little chocolate on Valentine’s Day? Make this raw molten cake with peanut butter lava for your honey and I guarantee they will be feeling the love. This is sooooooo yum!

INGREDIENTS – Makes 6 individual molten cakes

Cake

2 cups raw pecans (best result if frozen)

2/3 cup raw agave

1/2 cup raw cacao powder

1/2 cup coconut flour

Filling

1 Tbs. organic peanut butter for each cake

Toppings

Fun Fresh Foods chocolate agave nectar

powdered sugar for dusting

fresh sliced bananas

Take the frozen pecans and place them in the food processor (I use a Cuisinart I purchased at Costco). Turn on the processor and process until the nuts become meal. Do not process too long or it will turn into nut butter.

Frozen Raw Pecans

Process Into Meal

Pour the raw agave into the nuts while processing. The nuts and agave will turn into batter.

Batter

Add the raw cacao and process to incorporate. The processor will begin working very hard…you may have to stop and scrape down the bowl.

Add the Cacao Powder

Scrape Down the Sides

When well mixed, take the batter out and transfer it to a bowl. Wearing latex-type gloves (to avoid sticking), mix in the coconut flour with your hands.

Transfer to a Bowl

Add the Coconut Flour

Use Hands to Incorporate

Line your mini cake molds with saran wrap.

Mini Bundt Molds

Line With Plastic Wrap

Once mixed well, use a 2 Tbs. ice cream scoop to fill each of the 6 molds. Wrap the remaining cacao batter in Saran Wrap and place it as well as the filled molds in the fridge for 30 minutes to harden.

Scoop in Batter

Wrap-up Remaining Batter and Chill

Once hardened take the molds out and wearing gloves press the batter into the molds making a well in the middle. Make sure you spread the cacao mixture as evenly as possible so it dehydrates evenly. Fill the wells with 1 Tbs. of organic peanut butter (or chocolate sauce).

Press Into Molds Evenly Then Create Wells

Add Filling (Peanut Butter or Chocolate)

Take the remaining batter that was in plastic wrap out of the fridge and pinch off enough (approx. 1 Tbs.) to make a disc that will cover the bottom of each PB filled mold. Gently press the disc onto the bottom of the filled cakes.

Shape Disc for Bottom

Ready to Chill Again

Put the cakes in the fridge for another hour to harden. Keep the cakes in the fridge until 2 hours before you plan on serving them.

2 hours before serving time place the cakes on your dehydrator’s mesh tray and dehydrate for 2 hours (It takes longer than that for the Excalibur dehydrator get to 115°, so rest assured those enzymes will still be alive and kicking).

Place on Mesh Dehydrator Trays

Dehydrated Cakes

When the 2 hours is up you will notice that the cakes are no longer shiny, they will look matte as if they have been cooked. Top each cake with some chocolate sauce, a very thin sprinkling of organic powdered sugar, and sliced bananas. Serve IMMEDIATELY since these cakes are best warm…it will allow the peanut butter to ooze out when cut into.

Raw Chocolate Peanut Butter Molten Cake

I also made an all chocolate version using the Fun Fresh Foods chocolate agave nectar as the filling…topped with powdered sugar and strawberries!

Raw Chocolate Molten Cake

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

3 Comments

Filed under Dessert, Gluten Free, Holiday, Nuts, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tagged as agave, banana, cacao powder, coconut, peanut butter, pecans, raw, raw chocolate cake, raw molten cake, recipe, strawberry, Valentine's Day, vegan, vegetarian

February 8, 2011 · 2:51 pm

PEANUT BUTTER CRISP BARS

Peanut Butter Crisp Bars

These bars are favorites in our house for the occasional treat…my nephew ate three of them the last time I made them and was going for a fourth when I had to rain on his parade and say “NO MORE” (while inside I was secretly jumping for joy that they were such a hit!). Since they are sweetened with brown rice syrup, they are technically healthier than other bars, but please remember that they are still treats.

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup brown rice syrup

2/3 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)

2 Tbs. coconut oil

4 cups Arrowhead Mills puffed cereal (I used puffed millet and rice)

1/3 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup carob chips (or vegan chocolate chips)

1/3 cup chopped nuts

cinnamon to taste (optional…I left it out this time)

Ingredients

Lightly grease a bread pan or casserole. You can really use any pan you’d like. If you like to have thicker bars, use a smaller pan. I chose to use a large casserole so I would have thinner bars.

Grease the Dish

Pour the puffed cereal into a large mixing bowl.

In a saucepan combine the rice syrup, nut butter, coconut oil, and cinnamon (if using). Whisk the ingredients together on low-medium heat until everything melts together to form a sauce. You do not need to bring the sauce to a boil, simply warm it.

Coconut Oil, Nut Butter, & Brown Rice Syrup

Sauce

Pour the sauce over the puffed cereal and stir to combine.

Pour Sauce into Puffed Cereal

Mix to Combine

Once evenly combined, add the shredded coconut and combine well.

Add Coconut & Mix

Next, add the nuts and do the same.

Add Nuts & Mix

Finally, add the carob chips and combine well (the mixture should be cooled enough by this point to prevent the carob chips from melting).

Add Carob Chips & Mix

Pour the mixture into the greased casserole and press firmly to pack it in evenly throughout the casserole.

Pour into Casserole

Press Firmly & Evenly

Place the casserole into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm-up.

Refrigerate to Firm

Once firm, cut into bars. I often make a large batch and wrap each bar separately for storage in the freezer.

Peanut Butter Crisp Bars

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

1 Comment

Filed under Dessert, Gluten Free, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tagged as almond butter, bars, brown rice syrup, carob chips, chocolate chips, coconut, coconut oil, dessert, dessert bars, nut butter, nuts, peanut butter, shredded coconut, vegan, vegetarian

January 26, 2011 · 6:52 am

CRUNCHY CANDIED NUTS

Crunchy Candied Nuts

These are the candied nuts that I use in my kale salad recipe. The other night I ran out of candied nuts and put roasted nuts in the kale salad we were having with dinner…my family made it very clear to me that the candied nuts are an integral part of the kale salad! So, today I needed to make some more candied nuts.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups assorted raw nuts

1/3 cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup shredded coconut

2-3 Tbs water

1 tsp cinnamon

First measure out the raw nuts.

Raw Nuts

In a separate bowl put the coconut sugar, shredded coconut, cinnamon, and water. Mix well.

Sweet Coating Pre-Mix

Mixed Sweet Coating

Combine the sweet coating with the raw nuts. Mix well to coat.

Sweet Coating on the Raw Nuts

Place the nuts on either a cookie sheet (I also use a silpat) or on a dehydrator tray with a ParaFlexx lining.

Place On A Baking Sheet

Or a Dehydrator Tray

If you plan on baking the nuts, put them in the oven at 200 degrees. You will need to watch the nuts carefully to make sure they do not burn. The candied nuts will be done when the coating is no longer wet. When you take them out of the oven to cool they will harden. If they are not crunchy enough for you, return them to the oven for some additional baking time.

If you will be using the dehydrator (I used my Excalibur), put the tray of nuts in the dehydrator at 115 degrees for 8-10 hours. Check the nuts after about 3-4 hours, take them off of the Paraflexx, and place them directly on the Polyscreen tray. Once you remove the nuts from the dehydrator they will crisp as they cool.

Into the Dehydrator

When the nuts have cooled, put them in a bag and store them in the freezer.

For a printable version of this recipe click here.

10 Comments

Filed under Gluten Free, Nuts, Raw, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tagged as candied nuts, cinnamon, coconut, coconut sugar, hazelnut, nuts, pecan, raw, shredded coconut, vegan, vegetarian, walnut

January 20, 2011 · 3:33 am

MY FOOD JOURNAL – Tuesday

Food Log

Early morning – 16 ounces of green juice made with lots of kale stems, 1 head of romaine, 1 GIANT cucumber, 1 red bell pepper, 2 pears, and a huge handful of parsley.

Breakfast – 1/2 cup Barbara’s High Fiber Cereal, 1/2 cup Fiber One, 3 Tbs Salba, 1 stevia, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, 4 strawberries, sprinkle of dried cranberries, 4 chopped walnuts, and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

Barbara's Fiber Cereal Fiber One Cereal

Salba Seed

Lunch – I brought lunch to my son at school, so we had a “special” lunch… I had 1/2 of a large cucumber and avocado Togo’s sandwich on whole wheat with mustard, lettuce, bell peppers, pepperocinis, onions, pickles, olives…piled real high (no mayo)!

1pm – Young Thai coconut (I drank the coconut water)… I would have eaten the coconut meat then too, but ran out of time since I needed to pick-up my daughter from school.

Young Thai Coconut

2pm – I made a green smoothie with the coconut meat, Spirulina, chlorella, 2 cups spinach, 2 stevia, 1 scoop Plant Fusion vanilla protein powder, 2 dates, 1 cucumber, 1 zucchini, 1/2 avocado. I drank 24 ounces (it made about 40 ounces)

4pm – I drank the rest of the green juice I made this morning (16 ounces more)

5:45pm – Dinner tonight was kale salad and veggie lasagna (I made it a few nights ago and it is yummy! ). Sadly tonight we ate the rest of the lasagna. I will need to post my lasagna recipe the next time I make it.

After dinner snack – this evening I will sip on the rest of the green smoothie I made this afternoon, though at the moment I am pretty full.

I’d say this is a pretty typical day for me food-wise with the exception of the Togo’s…I usually cook/make something simple for lunch.