Peanut Butter Truffles

One more day until Valentine's Day, and you know what that means....sweets! Though, to be honest, it doesn't have to be a holiday to want sweets. I get cravings for sweets all the time. And when I say “all the time” I really mean ALL THE TIME. Thankfully, I can restrain myself so that my indulging-to-craving ratio is relatively low. In an effort to reduce the guilt that sometimes accompanies those indulgences, I’ll try making treats that are a little less unhealthy (like these blueberry banana muffins made with whole wheat flour) or have some benefit to balance the sweet (such as these protein-packed peanut butter oat balls).

This recipe is based on the peanut butter and oat balls. I was actually aiming for a cake-pop type treat - a chocolate covered peanut butter ball on a stick. But, the consistency of these didn’t like the sticks very much, so I turned them into truffles! They are a little bit like buckeyes, but not as sugary-sweet, and they have flaxseed for a little extra fiber.

Ingredients: (makes ~20 truffles)

1 cup oats (I used ½ cup quick oats and ½ cup old-fashioned oats)

½ cup all natural creamy peanut butter

¼ - ½ cup ground flaxseed

⅓ cup honey or maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

~½ cup dark chocolate chips for coating

~¼ cup crushed peanuts for topping

In a large bowl, combine oats, flaxseed, peanut butter, honey, and vanilla, and mix well. Refrigerate for about half an hour to let the mixture firm up. Form balls about 1 inch in diameter.

Heat the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for about 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until all the chips are melted. Dip the balls in chocolate and place them on a plate covered with plastic wrap. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts. Refrigerate the balls to let the chocolate coating set. Serve the balls in individual mini-cupcake liners for a festive flare. Happy indulging!

~Karla

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Saturday, February 13, 2016

Peanut Butter & Oat Balls

A couple years ago I found several recipes for no-bake “energy bites,” all including peanut butter and chocolate (two great flavors that are perfect together). I took what I liked from those recipes and experimented making my own, quickly settling on a simple set of ingredients (only 5!) for an easy-to-make, any-time treat. I like to consider these somewhat healthy since they pack a lot of protein and fiber, but they do have an added touch of chocolatey goodness. Also, they are gluten-free! But, they are quite easy to pop in your mouth, so you might find yourself over-indulging :)

Ingredients: (makes about 24 balls...estimate depends a great deal on your powers of restraint to keep from eating too many as you make them)

1.5 cup oats (I usually use 1 cup quick oats and ½ cup old-fashioned oats)

½ cup all natural creamy peanut butter

½ cup dark chocolate chips

⅓ cup honey or maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional: replace ½ cup quick oats with ½ cup flaxseed

In a medium-sized bowl, mix all the ingredients together until a crumbly dough forms. Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Roll into balls roughly 1 inch in diameter.

These can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week...if they last that long!

~Karla

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Monday, October 12, 2015

Apple Millefeuille (a.k.a. Leaning Tower of Fruit!)

Growing up I’ve always had a sweet tooth, and I can hardly recall any meals from my childhood without a dessert. If nothing else, I used to have a little bit of jam, jaggery, or sugar with ghee on my plate. Over the years I’ve consciously tried to reduce my refined sugar intake, which is not very easy when you like to bake cakes ;-) … but I now enjoy the healthier desserts with a lot of fruits, so I can occasionally indulge in the more sugary delicious baked treats.

This recipe is for a simple dessert which can be made with fresh fruits such as apple or pear. I like calling it Millefeuille because it is a layered tower. Millefeuille is a French pastry with several thin crispy layers stacked up with creamy filling in between. This version doesn’t have any pastry but it does have thin and crunchy layers of apple! The dish is not just visually pleasing but it also really elevates the taste of the simple everyday apple. It uses very few ingredients (things you might already have in your pantry) and takes hardly any time and effort to put together. It’s a healthier dessert too - in addition to the vitamins and fiber from the fruit, you can also get your protein fix with your favorite nuts and nut butters.

Ingredients: (Serves 1-2)

1 apple (any kind - I used the Gold Delicious variety)

~2 Tbsp peanut butter (or any other nut butter)

1 Tbsp dried cranberries/raisins (or chopped fresh berries)

1-2 tsp chopped nuts (I used pecans and pistachios)

Cinnamon, nutmeg (optional)

Any seeds such as sunflower or chia, nuts, granola etc. can be used in this recipe.

Sauce

1-2 tsp honey

¼ - ½ tsp lemon juice

Water

A pinch of ground cardamom

Salt (optional)

Thinly slice the apple. Mandolin slicer would work great for very even slices, but I just used a knife. Core the slices with a small cookie cutter or a knife. Start laying down the slices from the bottom up. After every 2-3 slices spread a thin layer of nut butter, sprinkle chopped nuts and cranberries. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg if using. Continue till you reach the top.

To make the sauce, mix honey, lemon juice and cardamom powder. Thin the sauce to your liking with water. If your nut butter doesn’t have any added salt, a little bit of salt in the sauce would taste great! Drizzle the sauce on the apple tower.

I’ve been asked how to eat this tower of fruit , so here are the 'instructions' ;-). I like to gently push it over so the apple slices fan out nicely onto the plate. That makes it easy to cut into only a few slices at a time. Dip in extra sauce if desired and enjoy as a (relatively) guilt free breakfast or dessert!

~Gayatri

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Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Monday, August 17, 2015

Peanut butter stir-fry

I like to make more elaborate meals on weekends when I have a lot of time, but try to keep my weeknight dinners simple. There is a variety of such speedy dishes like sandwiches, pasta, soups etc., but one of my favorite quick and easy dinners is a stir-fry. Not only are stir-frys simple to make, but they could also be made healthy by picking the right ingredients. Also, there is a lot of room to play with different flavors, colors and textures by choosing different combinations of vegetables as well as sauces, and you can use as many ingredients as you want! Heres a recipe for a vegetarian stir-fry with a peanut butter sauce. Along with vegetables, I’ve also used seitan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_gluten_(food)), which is basically wheat gluten, so it is a good source of protein. You can use any vegetables you like, as well as other proteins including meat, fish, tofu. For the sauce, I used peanut butter and soy sauce as the base, with other ingredients that help enhance the flavor. But the proportions of all these ingredients can be adjusted according to personal preference.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp oil

1 medium onion, chopped (~1 inch pieces)

1 orange/green bell pepper, chopped (Try to keep the size of all the chopped vegetables approximately the same so that they cook evenly)

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1.5 cups broccoli florets

1 cup seitan

5-6 basil leaves, chopped

1/4 cup roasted cashews

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 inch ginger, finely chopped

3 Tbsp peanut butter

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar (or lemon juice)

1 tsp honey

1/4 tsp paprika

1 tsp crushed red pepper

salt

water

Blanch the broccoli florets by dropping them in boiling water for about a minute and then immediately drain them under cold running water. If using other denser vegetables like cauliflower, carrots etc., blanch those as well.

To make the sauce, mix the peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, honey, 1 Tbsp water, paprika, ginger, crushed red pepper flakes. Taste and adjust any ingredients to your liking. Add more water if required.

Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl around.

Once oil is heated, add onions, chopped bell pepper and sauté for a minute. Add mushrooms, broccoli and seitan. Saute for another minute. Add roasted cashews and chopped basil.

Add the sauce and give a quick stir. Add salt according to taste (DO NOT add salt before the sauce since soy sauce is pretty salty).

If required, deglaze the pan (loosen and dissolve the bits of food stuck to the pan) with a little water. Remove from heat and serve hot. The stir-fry goes really well with rice, but is just as good by itself.

~Gayatri