Homemade Cookie Butter

You’re rolling your eyes.

Yes, cookie butter is so last year, I mean, I really did post about it last year.

But you see, it’s a rare thing that I visit one of my best friends in NYC.

And it’s a rare thing that I find someone else in my small circle that knows what cookie butter is. Or sends me a picture of it smeared on her plate during the dessert course at every holiday meal.

She just gets cookie butter like I do.

Now I realize Biscoff is much easier to find these days (I’ve seen it at Christmas Tree Shop, Walgreens and the supermarket), and you can get the Speculoos spread at Trader Joe’s, no problem. But homemade is always more special.

Ingredients

• 1 package almond windmill cookies (Biscoff cookies or the like will obviously do)
• 1/3 c melted and cooled coconut oil
• 2 T Turbinado sugar (feel free to use brown sugar or molasses too)
• 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 t cinnamon
• 1/3 c unsalted cashews
• 2 t vegetable oil

Put your cookies and cashews into a food processor and process until they are a powder and no chunks remain. Add coconut oil (I melted mine to measure it and then let it cool for a few minutes – you want it in its liquid form), sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Continue to process until it starts to form a butter. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times. Add vegetable oil by the teaspoon as needed to thin out the butter… I used 2 teaspoons but you may need more or less.

Note: You may need less coconut oil depending on the amount of cookies you use. You can add the oil gradually until the butter is the consistency desired.

As a rule, I store most homemade things in the fridge but know that the coconut oil will harden in there so you will want to remove the butter from the fridge about a half hour before using for ease of spreading.

Cookies + cashews…

Butter!

Put it in a cute little jar and give as a gift, or do like me and put it in a small Rubbermaid container.

Enjoy with fruit, in recipes (google cookie butter – you will find a TON) or straight out of the jar!

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Life. is. so. crazy.

Eat pancakes, for dinner.

With chocolate chunks.

And coconut butter.

And then get back to your crazy life.

Why is life crazy? Oh, let me count the ways…

I had 7 days, yes 7, off between grad school semesters. And I still had to work, all-day, every day.

Then my (rented) house went on the market, and in the midst of starting up with classes again (3 more credits than past semesters – what.am.i.thinking?) I have to temporarily relocate every few hours, every day.

Including today (I took a “vacation” day to get things done around the house which is now a bust since I can’t).

So I relocated, to the beach… (to read my neuro text, of course.)

And then to the gym.

And then made these before forced to relocate again.

Sweet Potato Pancakes (vegan)

Ingredients:

1/2 c coconut flour

1/2 c unbleached ap flour

1 scoop vanilla protein powder (optional—I used a sample of a vegan protein)

2 T turbinado sugar (this is a raw sugar—you can use brown sugar if you wish)

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1 1/2 t cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice if you wish)

1 1/2 c almond coconut milk (I accidentally bought sweetened, if yours is unsweetened you may want to increase sugar by a tablespoon or 2)

1 heaping cup of shredded sweet potato (I shredded mine in the food processor, did you know you could do that? I didn’t. No more hand grating for me!)

oil for pan

coconut butter, for topping (optional—but really not)

vegan chocolate chunks, for topping

maple syrup, for topping

Instructions:

Mix all listed ingredients through the almond milk, create “well” and add sweet potato. Mix thoroughly but don’t over mix (I don’t know why but that’s what the pancake pros say). Batter will be thick. Add additional almond milk by the tablespoon if you prefer working with a thinner batter but it’s not necessary.

Heat oil in your skillet (or whatever you use to cook pancakes) to med-high.

Drop batter by 1/4 c onto heated surface. You may want to use the back of your spoon to flatten a bit as the batter is thick and doesn’t spread on the pan. Cook pancakes until done, not sticking to pan and can be flipped. I usually “eyeball” the doneness of my pancakes but usually a few minutes on each side.

Top with a drizzle of coconut butter, sprinkle of dark chocolate chunks and syrup.

Serves 4.

Coconut and Crispy Kale Millet Bowl

I’ve had Heidi Swanson's Supernatural Every Day on my reserve list at the library for months. Unfortunately, the one time it became available I didn’t make it in the allotted 7 days to pick it up and haven’t gotten a second chance yet.

I was thrilled back in January when Joy posted the recipe from Heidi’s book for the crunchy kale and coconut bowl. (I call mine ‘crispy’ because it seems more appropriate for my rendition.) Back in January when she posted the recipe, I immediately made it twice in the same week. And though I’ve thought about this dish every single time I’ve had kale in the house since, I’ve only just made it again, for you loyal readers. Since that day was today, I can say with authority that it is definitely worth turning my oven on for (even on crazy March days when the temperature reaches 80 degrees outside).

 

Coconut and Crispy Kale Millet Bowl

serves 2 as a main, from here and here

Ingredients:

• 2 T tamari or soy sauce
• 1 t rice vinegar
• 1 t sriracha
• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
• 5 c lacinato kale, ripped into bite size pieces
• 1/2 c shredded coconut
• 1/2 c millet, uncooked
• 1 1/2 c vegetable broth (or water – for cooking millet)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking sheet with parchment or tin foil. Begin cooking your millet (or other grain). Lightly toast millet in saucepan over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and allow to cook (without stirring) for 15 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Don’t stir the millet, it will get mushy if you do (I know this from experience!) When it’s done, lightly fluff it with a fork.

In a small jar, or bowl, mix tamari, rice vinegar, and sriracha. If using a jar with a lid, add olive oil and shake vigorously until mixed. If using a bowl, pour in olive oil and whisk to emulsify. Put aside.

Tear clean kale off stems and rip into bite size pieces. Add coconut and about 1/2 of dressing. Toss and then spread onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes (check every few minutes after 10 to prevent burning – it happens fast!) Kale is done when it is crispy to the touch, if still soft, keep it in the over for 2 minute intervals until crispy.

Serve kale atop prepared millet and top each portion with 1/2 of the remaining dressing. Enjoy!

Vegan Lentil Pâté

If you’ve had pâté before, the animal kind, and enjoyed it – then you will most likely be a fan of this vegan version. As you may know if you eat lentils, they almost mimic meat in that they are protein rich and super filling. While the flavors in this create a pâté that is unique, it is remarkably reminiscent of it’s animal-based counterparts.

If you’re skeptical, I don’t blame you. There are a bunch of less common, perhaps even intimidating, ingredients in this recipe. Finding Umeboshi paste (plum paste) took a trip to the local Asian Supermarket where I could not find it, a trip to my local health food store where it was too expensive for my wallet and finally a trip to Whole Foods where I splurged on it because I had a gift certificate. The Mirin (sweet cooking sauce) and Miso I picked up at the Asian Supermarket for quite a bit less than the regular supermarket/health food store. The French lentils I picked up in the bulk bins at Whole Foods and they were even cheaper at my local health food store. So all in all, it’s not a cheap dish but you’ll only be using a bit of the more expensive ingredients so you can make it many times (and I suspect after one taste you will want to) over.

If it’s the actual idea that this is pâté that makes you reluctant, perhaps you are vegan, don’t let that deter you. It doesn’t taste “meaty” by any means, it is reminiscent of pâté in that it has great depth of flavors.

Vegan Lentil Pâté

from Bojon Gourmet

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c dried green lentils (sometimes called “French lentils”)
• 3 c water
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 T olive oil, divided
• 1 med yellow onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1 T Mirin
• 1 1/4 c walnuts (I used a combination of walnuts, pecans and cashews – what I had on hand), toasted in oven at 350 for 10 minutes and cooled
• 1 T fresh thyme, chopped
• 3 T miso (I used the yellow/brown variety)
• 1 1/2 T Umeboshi paste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil for drizzling

Add water, lentils and bay leaf to a sauce pan. Bring to a boil then cover partially and reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes until lentils are tender but not mushy. Stir occasionally to ensure lentils don’t stick to bottom of pan. When lentils are done, drain and allow to cool completely. I suggest putting them in the refrigerator, spread on a plate, to speed up the process.

While lentils are cooking, add 2 T olive oil to another pan heated over medium heat. Sauté onion and garlic until onions are golden, about 15 minutes. Stir in the Mirin and remove from the heat. Allow to cool completely, I put mine in the refrigerator to speed this up.

Add the toasted and cooled nuts to the food processor and process until they have become the consistency of nut butter. Add the lentils and onion-garlic mixture and process until smooth. Add in the remaining ingredients and process until smooth.

Drizzle with olive oil and additional fresh herbs for serving. I served mine with a baguette cut into thin slices.

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Hopefully some of you stuck around…

I know I’ve been absent but I haven’t done a lot of cooking lately. Unless making soup on Sunday and eating it until Thursday, counts. Between traveling to Maine for one of my best friend’s weddings, school projects and laziness, there hasn’t been much to share with you.

But I feel that might be changing. I hope so anyway. Life seems to have slowed down a bit. (As if I’m saying that going into the holiday season!!)

So anyway. This bread. I will NOT be making it again. Why? Because I cannot stop eating it.

Okay, so I lied, I most definitely will be making it again. It’s addictive and it PULLS APART! It’s just begging for me to take “one more piece” before I walk away from it.

I hope it lasts the weekend.

Actually I don’t because then I can make more.

Okay, so this photo is heinous. I have some explaining to do. In the recipe (to follow) for the frosting, you will see that I used coconut oil. My intentions here was to create a bread with a glaze rather than frosting. And I was successful, as you will see, so consider this a “before” picture if you will.

I couldn’t resist pulling a piece off while it was still warm… and eating it while I still had my camera in my hand. I may or may not have dipped this piece in the extra glaze.

This is the aforementioned “after” photo. As you can see, the “glaze” is now (mostly) clear. If it’s any indication to the deliciousness of this bread, know that the reason this picture is cropped like-so is because 1/3 of the loaf is already gone. Truth.

Make. This. Now.

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast
• 3/4 c warm water
• 1/2 c quick cooking steel cut oats
• 1/2 c white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c packed brown sugar
• 2 T Earth Balance coconut spread, melted (or butter)
• 1 T chia seeds mixed with 3 T water (or 1 egg)
• 1 t salt
• 2 c all-purpose flour

For filling:

• 3 T Earth Balance coconut spread, softened (or butter)
• 1/3 c sugar
• 2 t ground cinnamon

For glaze:

• 1 c confectioners’ sugar
• 6 1/2 t unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 4 1/2 t coconut oil, softened

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the oats, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, coconut spread, chia egg, salt and 1 c AP flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).

2. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.

3. Punch dough down. Toll into an 18-in. x 12-in. rectangle. Spread with coconut spread. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough to within 1/2 in. of edges.

4. Cut into 36 (approximate) 3-in. x 2-in. rectangles. Make 2 stacks of 18 (approximate) rectangles. Place, cut sides up, in a greased 9-in x 5-in. load pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. Make glaze and drizzle over warm bread.

Serves one I mean, 12. Enjoy!