5-minute Peanut Butter Cups.

Valentines Day. It is not like I need another reason to eat chocolate. Frankly, I happily eat chocolate whatever the occasion. Or lack of occasion. But for a calendar event that literally screams Cho-co-late like the 14th of February, who am I to contradict?

So I made these teeny peanut butter cups, using an ice cube mold. Pretty genius if you ask me! (In particular considering how one can store the entire mold at handy distance in the fridge, and pop some pralines out whenever that old familar chocolate crave kicks in!)

VEGAN PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

→ a block of dark chocolate, like 100-200 grams depending on ice cube mold size (the more the merrier though, right??)
→ a dollop of peanut butter
→ a tablespoon coconut oil
→ finely chopped nuts (opt. for decoration)

In a bain marie, melt the chocolate along with your tablespoon or so of coconut oil. Once melted, pour enough chocolate into your ice cube mold to cover the bottom. Then add a little dollop of peanut butter into its middle, before covering with more melted chocolate. Leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours.

I never got around to shoot the actual final product, as the sun has already set and by the time it has risen again I was held hostage at work during those few precious hours of day light. After that they were of course all in my belly!

But you know what the very best part of Valentine’s Day is? All the chocolate that will be on discount tomorrow onwards.

Frozen Nana Snickers.

As a break from all of the Asian+inspired dishes that has flourished the blog as of late, I figured it was time for something sweet! A something that includes peanut butter, bananas and chocolate – with those three components you can hardly go wrong, am I right?

This is another one of those recipes found floating through what seems to be my main internet hangout, a Swedish facebook group for vegans, thus I am unsure who to credit but it goes like this ↓ and it is just one of those perfect snacks that can easily be made at home whenever (because if you are anything like me bananas, chocolate and peanut butter belong to the standard staples!!)

FROZEN BANANA SNICKERS.

→ 1-2 ripe bananas
→ peanut butter (or any nut butter of choice)
→ salted peanuts/almond flakes/something for extra crunch (opt.)
→ melted dark chocolate

Peel and split the banana into two, then continue to cut into suitable snickers base size. Spread an even layer of nut butter on, then dip onto a plate with chopped, salted peanuts/flaked almonds/crunch creator of choice. Now you can either bring them into the freezer at this stage, or after they have gotten a coating of melted dark chocoalte. Either way, allow approximately 30 minutes to set in freezer before the munch fest starts!

(Yes, those chocolate stains on my hands may indicate an ongoing test run- quality checking is important you know!)

Ta-daa! Do you have any good hacks for snacks to share?

Vegan Satay sauce | Quick & Simple Dinner Ideas.

Fellow nut butterists, this one is for you. A simpler-than-ridiculously-simple dinner. From chopping board to table in less than 30 minutes. Let’s go.

QUICK AND SIMPLE VEGAN SATAY SAUCE.

→ 1 can coconut milk
→ 3 tbsp peanut butter
→ 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
→ 1 yellow onion
→ 3-4 garlic cloves
→ 2,5 cm fresh ginger
→ (opt.) ground turmeric, cayenne pepper, cumin – to taste

Chop onion roughly before sauting in a pan on medium heat until softened, add ginger + garlic and fry for another minute. Add in tamari, peanut butter and coconut milk and bring to a boil. Let simmer on medium heat whilst the sauce thickens.

Serve with one, plenty or all of the following:

⋅ stir fry-vegetables
⋅ diced tofu
⋅ diced vegan quorn fillets
⋅ rice
⋅ fresh coriander
⋅ spring onion

Vegan Nutella.

Sometimes I can just long to be at home, in front of my laptop in some odd looking fleece jacket and a big mug of coffee. #introvertlyfe

Today is one of those days. And luckily for me, yesterday I made some vegan nutella so this quality me-time just got a whole lot more quality-full (is that a word? well with a hyphen involved we can pretend that it is) with some peanut butter + nutella + banana toast crumbling over the keyboard as we speak.VEGAN NUTELLA

→ 200 grams hazelnuts
→ 1 dl cacao powder
→ 3/4 dl icing sugar
→ a spatula tip of vanilla powder
→ a pinch of salt
→ 3-4 tbsp oil, like rapeseed or coconut (unless you mind a bit of coconut flavour – use rapeseed!)

1. Start by roasting the hazelnuts, about 15 minutes on 200° C should do – but make sure you keep your eyes open as the time may depend on your oven etc.
2. Place the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel, cover them and rub over the towel using your hands to get the skin off the nuts. Try to get as much as possible off, as your nut butter will have a much more bitter taste with the skin left on.
3. Crush the hazelnuts in a food processor until a creamy butter starts to form. Then blend some more.
4. Add in cacao, vanilla, salt and sugar – mix evenly.
5. Whilst the blender is running, add in oil a little at a time until desired creaminess is accomplished.
6. Store in an airtight container. Or eat it all in one go – saves you some washing up! 😉

 

Vegan Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cheesecake | with Oreo Crust.

I have such an intense urge to carpe the heck out of my days off. There are so many things that I want to make time for knowing that evenings after I have finished a shift at the cafe I will be in full on zombie mode for the entirety of the evening.

So despite waking up with a sore throat yesterday telling me “mate you should really rest in bed today”, I completely ignored that and went off to town to run a few errands… Buying silken tofu being one of them.

Today I am paying for it, but at least I have this delightful creation below in my freezer which makes staying in the house a little less dreadful.I present to you: The Vegan Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cheesecake! (or “a series of close-ups featuring my food processor”)

As I pulled the cake out of the freezer my boyfriend asked whether there is actual cheese in it whereby I basically laughed and said why, of course not! After he had finished his first piece and seemed very approving, I revealed the secret ingredient – silken tofu! I am just not sure Silken Tofu Cake sounds as an equally appealing as a title, but you tell me!

Crust:

→ 1 pack Oreos
→ 1 tbsp melted dairy free butter/coconut oil

Filling:

→ 349 grams (1 pack) silken tofu
→ 1 dl peanut butter
→ 1 dl coconut cream
→ 1 dl syrup (I used agave)
→ a pinch of salt
→ ½ tsp vanilla paste
→ 50 grams dark chocolate

Topping: 

→ a handful salted + chopped peanuts
→ chocolate sauce (equal parts hot water, sugar + cacao powder)

How to:

1. Drain the tofu, by wrapping it up in a few layers of kitchen roll/towel and adding a weight on top to gently press the water out.
2. Start the oven at 175°C.
3. Crush the oreos in a food processor, before adding the melted dairy free butter in there and mix it once more. Place in oven proof dish and bake for about 5 minutes. Once baked, place to cool down in fridge.
4. Once tofu has been drained, add it to a food processor along with the peanut butter, coconut cream, syrup, salt and vanilla paste. Run for a couple of minutes, until you have a smooth paste.
5. Divide the paste into two parts and add your melted dark chocolate in one of them.
6. To layer your cake, spread the chocolate part evenly across your oreo-base and leave to set in the freezer before applying the remains of the paste.
7. Leave the entire cake in the freezer for a few hours alternatively in the fridge over night before serving. Top it off with some chopped salted peanuts and chocolate sauce – not merely to make it look pretty but the combination salt + sweet is divine!! 

Other things you can make using tofu:
» Green Tofu Quiche with a Chickpea Crust.
» Scrambled Tofu. 

My staple foods.

Way back in February, Frida made a post on her staple foods and I figured it was such a great concept of a post that I wanted to make one myself. (Thinking slightly of this Banksy)

So these are the groceries that are most likely to end up in my shopping basket.

The fantastic four of vegetables for me are definitely zucchini, avocado, sweet potato and mushrooms. I also tend to by plenty of broccoli (cheap, tasty, full of goods), bananas (favourite fruit) and of course ginger, onion and garlic for cooking.

I also down a pint of hot water with half a squeezed lemon each morning, so I like to stock up on those too.

I am not a big salad fan, but I adore spinach and we always have a big bag ready in the fridge for salads or working undercover in smoothies.

To bunker up on coconut cream and canned plum tomatoes are like the first aid kit for me. Not knowing what to cook? Just throw together a curry with those poor carrots that have been laying at the bottom of the fridge for the past weeks!

Same goes for rice and lentils. I also bulk buy dried chickpeas from the Asian supermarket, and use it to make hummus or blend into flour for nuggets or peazza.

A fresh basil plant often gets to adorn the kitchen window sill during the warmer months. We pinch off the full grown leaves and let the teeny ones keep growing, making sure to water it of course.

Oats are of course a must, as they are part of my daily regime and perfect to use for cookies or flapjacks when the sweet tooth kicks in.

We also get whatever plant based milk is on special, oat or soy most often.

Rice cakes and corn pasta are pretty dope to have around for us with sensitive to wheat bellies.

Soy sauce, coconut oil and vegetable bouillon to lively up the cooking…

… along with red curry paste and peanut butter aka the love of my life.

Finally, I always make sure to have some syrup, tahini and the second love of my life nutritional yeast.

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What is a must in your grocery bag? ♥

The No Bake Snickers Cake.

I was pondering whether I should use “gâteau” in the translation for this cake, from Swedish food-magazine Vego, simply because it sounds like such an un-French thing to do… Frozen Snickers Gâteau? Hmm…
Personally, this cake is one of my favourites. I mean, chocolate and peanut butter?! Need I say more? …

I will anyway.

I adore this cake! Heck, even my fussy brother likes this cake. It is not sickly sweet, as one may have thought from the name, and the salted peanut topping is such a de-li-cious combination for the sweeter mousse. Best of all is in combination with a fresh cuppa coffee. Okay, rant completed – go make this cake now!

Crust 
→ 300 g. digestives
→ 150 g. dairy-free butter

Peanut butter-mousse
→ 100 g dark chocolate
→ ½ dl milk of choice
→ ½ dl cacao powder
→ 1 dl peanut butter
→ 1 dl syrup
→ a pinch of salt
→ 2½ dl dairy-free whipping cream (like alpro)

Topping
→ Chocolate sauce (I make my own – equal parts cacao, sugar + water)
→ 1 dl salted peanuts

Digestive crust: 1. Melt the butter. 2. Crush the digestives in a blender. 3. Mix the two together and press out in a cake or pie dish. 4. Place in freezer while you make the mousse.

Mousse: 1. Chop the chocolate roughly and mix with milk, cacao, peanut butter, syrup and salt in a saucepan. 2. Melt together on low heat until you have a smooth and shiny cream. Leave to cool a little. 3. Whip the cream until it is light and fluffy. 4. Carefully turn down the chocolate mixture in to the whipped cream using a spatula. 5. Fill the digestive crust and leave the mousse to set in the freezer for at least 3 hours.

Remove the cake from the freezer about half an hour prior to serving. Sprinkle with chocolate sauce + roughly chopped salted peanuts.

Chocolate Baked Oatmeal with Dates, Peanut butter & Banana.

Alternative title ‘A Chocolate Lovers Brekky‘. I used to make this circa all the time back in 2013 – a dish filled with everything I love: dates, cacao, peanut butter, banana and oats.  (All that is missing is sweet potato and avocado, but surely there is a way to include them? Haha)

These days I am not too keen on having a big breakfast as soon as I wake up, so this is pretty neat as it needs to bake for about 20 minutes in the oven. Or just a nice way to start a weekend morning!

You will need, for ca 2 portions:
→ 2 dl oats
→ 1-2 ripe bananas
→ ½ dl milk of choice
→ 1 tbsp sweetener of choice (opt.)

And “fillings” of your choosing, I used:
→ 2 tbsp cacao
→ 3 dates
→ 1 tbsp peanut butter
→ walnuts

1. Cover the oats in boiling water. Let soak for 10 min. 2. Start the oven at 190ºC. 3. Chop/slice your fillings into bite size. 4. Once water is absorbed, stir the rest of the ingredients with the oats. (I like to put “lumps” of peanut butter into the mixture – for a little peanut surprise!) 5. Place mixture in a ovenproof dish. Decorate the top with a few banana slices and nuts if you fancy! 6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the top has started to brown.

Vegan Truffles w/ Chocolate + Peanut butter

Last Christmas, I did not give anyone my heart like Wham, but I did make these really tasty vegan truffles… However, I did not save a recipe to make the same ones again this year (stupido! This is where a blog would have been handy) nor does Google seem to be able to help me out. This kind of emergency  calls for *drumroll* KITCHEN IMPROVISATION!

Today’s post is from the kitchen of my parents, as probably most posts will be until January 7th. Oh, how I love it here – tonnes of kitchen appliances and cupboards full of ingredients! I kept catching myself smiling broadly just watching the food processor do its magic… One of the very best things about Sweden is that you can get a whole box of fresh dates for the same price as like maximum 7 or 8 single ones in the UK… (Why cruel world?!) I will be sure to munch as much as I can the upcoming weeks I am here, starting with this truffle recipe that uses dates as a base. Enough rambles, back to the truffles please!

What you’ll need:

• 4 dl nuts of choice (I used 50/50 hazelnuts and cashews)
• 10 pitted dates
• 1 tbsp cacao powder
• 1 tbsp strong espresso (opt.)
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of vanilla powder
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 100 g dark chocolate
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

First mix the nuts to a fine meal in the food processor. Put the meal aside, and blend the pitted dates into a gooey lump. Add cacao powder, coffee and vanilla powder, if using, along with the nut meal a little at a time while the food processor runs. After a while you should have a smooth dough.
Scoop about 1 tbsp to roll into balls that you place on baking paper. Make a little pit on the top using your finger; this will be filled with peanut butter, as seen on the photo below. I quickly microwaved the nut butter to make it easier to work with. Once this step is finished, put them the freezer for circa 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate with some coconut oil. The oil will make the chocolate thinner and thus easier to dip the balls in.
Once the bases have cooled, simply swirl them around in the chocolate and make sure they are fully covered. If you wish, you can sprinkle some sea salt on top of them because chocolate + sea salt = ❤

Leave the chocolate to set, back in the freezer for a while perhaps. And that is it, really! Hope you enjoy.