P.S. Pics of yummy treats (and some comments)

In the last post I mentioned that I had tried some new recipes. Rather than updating that post, I figured I'd just add a new post highlighting them.

Here are the recipes I've tried that don't already have pictures on the previous post:

Healthy Chocolate Chip Blondies 
Into a food processor goes:

• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas (1 can, drained and rinsed)
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• heaping 1/8 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (I used 1/2 c. and I thought that was plenty--I might even use less next time, or maple syrup/agave)
• 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup ground flax 
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter, or even oil)

Once it's very smooth, you mix in 1/3 cup chocolate chips, then spread into a greased (or foil-lined) 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 38-40 min. They will look dry on tip, but that's ok. They are delish!

Homemade Oatmeal-Raisin Larabars

The original recipes says that it makes about 3 bars.

I made a double batch of these, but it was tricky to figure out how to make 6 equally-sized bars, so I formed the mixture into balls instead.

(For a double batch) In a food processor add:

1 c. raisins

1 c. walnuts

12 Tbsp. oats (next time I'll figure out how many cups that is!)

heaping 1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used a little more)

Blend until uniformly pulverized, then press together into bars or balls (chocolatecoveredkatie recommends forming the bars inside a sandwich bag or saran wrap).

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I also tried out some recipes on my community group, which came out really well.

These were:
"Pick-a Fruit Crisp", which was a yummy combination of various fruits that I had available (pears, apples, fresh cranberries, and frozen berries), topped with an oat-nut crumble mixture. The recipe called for butter to cut into the oat-nut topping, but I used coconut oil instead and it was perfect. It was especially good, however, topped with creamy and delicious:

 **drumroll**

 Vegan Cool Whip!!! (coconut milk instead of heavy cream! mmm!) I am going to put this on everything!!!

The Fruit Crisp, since it has no added sugar, made a really great breakfast this morning, to, topped with almond milk, a couple spoonfuls of oats, and some fresh blackberries. Yum!

Finally, I had been really wanting to try out Vanilla Avocado Banana "ice cream", so I made that too... =)

shown here topped with the Coconut Cool Whip (so hard to stop eating!)

 

The consensus: YUM! I also think it would be really good with a squeeze of lime, and maybe light coconut milk instead of almond milk.

I know it's good, too, because Mike liked it, and her would tell me if he didn't. =)
Note: Once you take it out of the freezer, you need to let it thaw for at least 20 minutes, and it's best when it's a little melty, so you get the nice creamy texture back (otherwise it can be a little icy, more like sorbet).