Avocado Brownies, No-Bake

Avocado no-bake brownies

In my never-ending search for the perfect chocolate recipe, dairy-free of course, I decided to try something new.  There were two brownie recipes that I really liked.  One was baked, the other no-bake.  One used avocado, the other didn't.  Hmm.  How could I mash up the recipes?  I had recently purchased coconut flour because the store I frequent was out of flaked, which I use regularly so why oh why did they have to run out?  In any event, I had on hand avocados, coconut flour, an assortment of raw nuts, and my usual 5-pound bag of dairy-free dark chocolate.  With my I-Pad open to both recipes I mentally mashed up the ingredients and came up with this.  Viola.  It's so yummy.  

INGREDIENTS:
2 Haas Avocados
coconut flour
cacao powder (preferably organic and not cocoa powder)
espresso powder
raw honey (if you're a purist vegan, substitute Agave)
hot water
2 Majool dates
raw cashews
dairy-free dark chocolate chips

2 bowls, 4 x 4 pan, plastic wrap, food processor

First:  In the first bowl, mash or puree 2 avocados. Add one cup of coconut flour and 1/2 c cacao powder.  Stir well.  Heat 1/2 c water to very hot, not boiling.  Add 1 TBS of espresso powder.  Once dissolved, pour into bowl and stir well.  Add 1/4 c honey.

Second:  Grind 2 large Majool dates with 1 cup of raw cashews.  Put this into bowl #2.  Then, grind 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips.  

Third:  Add 1 TBs of the date/cashew mix & 1 TBS of the chocolate chips (ground) into the first bowl.

Fourth:  Add the remainder of the ground chocolate into bowl #2 then add 1/4 c honey.

Mixing crust and filling of brownies

5th:  Line your pan with plastic wrap.  Make sure you have enough to cover all sides.  

Pan for avocado brownies

Spoon bowl #2 onto the bottom of the pan and press firmly.  This is your crust.  Spoon bowl #1 on top of that.  Cover with plastic wrap and press until the mixture is flattened.  

Line with plastic

Place mixture into refrigerator for 2-3 hours or the freezer for 30 minutes.  Cut into bars.  Keep remainder covered and in refrigerator or freezer.  

Yummy Avocado Brownies

A close-up of delicious Avocado no-bake brownies

One more photo just to get your mouth watering.

Rhubarb. Is it a fruit or a vegetable?

It's colorful, it's tasty, and it makes a great desert.  So, fruit or vegetable?  According to Wikipedia, who knows everything:

Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) is a species of plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizomes. It produces large leaves that are somewhat triangular, with long fleshy stalks and small flowers grouped in large compound leafy greenish-white to rose-red inflorescences.

In culinary use, fresh raw leaf stalks (petioles) are crisp (similar to celery) with a strong, tart taste. Most commonly, the stalks are cooked with sugar and used in pies and other desserts. A number of varieties have been domesticated for human consumption, most of which are recognised as Rheum x hybridum by the Royal Horticultural Society.

Rhubarb is usually considered a vegetable. In the United States, however, a New York court decided in 1947 that, since it was used in the United States as a fruit, it counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties. A side effect was a reduction on imported rhubarb tariffs, as tariffs were higher for vegetables than fruits.^[1]

But seriously, who cares!?  It's delicious.  The other day my husband informed me that he loves rhubarb pie.  I had never eaten rhubarb in any form or even cooked with it so I didn't give it a second thought.  That is, until I saw it in the freezer section in my grocery store.  I bought two bags, just in case.  He added vanilla ice cream to the cart to make a simple rhubarb smoothie.  

To prove that I'm a good wife (that's a joke, he knows I love him), I did a little digging.  I found a good smoothie recipe (see below) but I also found something better - BROWNIES.  Who knew.  Now you do, too.

INGREDIENTS:

1 c raw honey or agave

1/2 c coconut oil, softened

2 eggs or 2 flax eggs (2 TBS ground flax seeds soaked in 1/2 c water)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1/3 c cacao powder (not cocoa), raw cacao powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 c finely chopped rhubarb (measure after chopping)

1/2 c dark or semisweet dairy-free chocolate chips

PROCEDURE:

Preheat oven to 375.  Line an 8x8 or 9x13 or similar pan with parchment paper. 

Mix wet ingredients then add dry.  

Bake for 20 minutes or slightly less if your oven runs hot.  

Chill before cutting and removing from parchment. 

ENJOY!

Rhubarb brownies hot out of the oven

Rhubarb brownies

I don't have a photo, but here is a smoothie recipe and variations.

1 c milk

1/2 c frozen strawberries

1/3 c frozen rhubarb

1 TBS ground flax

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp honey

Puree until smooth.  Variations:   Use almond milk or chocolate cashew milk.  Add a banana.  Leave out the flax seeds.  Use agave instead of honey.  If you use a banana may not need the honey.  

Here is a link to my granola bar recipe:  http://colleenwaitwrites.blogspot.com/2015/01/fruit-and-nut-bars.html 

Carrot and Zucchini Nut Bread

Valentine's Day is right around the corner.  It's a day where tradition and the card companies tell us that we must show people how much we love them by buying cards, flowers, and candy.  An expensive dinner out is usually a plus.  I say, why wait?  Why not tell the people you love every day? Why not show them acts of kindness and give expressions of love as often as possible?  Showing someone love doesn't have to be expensive.  Oftentimes, it's the little things that say I love you so much more than jewelry.  My husband tells me he loves me every day by going to work, coming home, and genuinely wanting to spend time with me.  His greatest act of love was when he married me - a broken, insecure woman who felt worthless and unworthy.  His next greatest act of love was when he made it possible for me to retire from a job that was sucking the life out of me.  I do my best to reciprocate and show my appreciation.  One of the hardest things I did for him was get on an airplane.  I used to be terrified of flying.  I would have anxiety attacks and use all available air-sickness bags.  That being said, it took great courage on my part, and his, to get on a plane for a 13+ hour flight to S. Korea.  He now has me hooked on travel.  (see some of my travel videos on YouTube).  

What has this to do with bread you ask?  I'm getting there.  After writing and publishing 11 books (Amazon.com) I decided to take a break and focus my attention on photography, and baking of course.  I've become a bit of a food mad scientist as you've probably seen with my previous recipes.  It's been fun looking up ingredients and adding them to a bowl to see what happens.  Below are two recipes.  One is Carrot and Zucchini Nut Bread and the other is my gift to my husband - Bacon Chocolate Cheesecake.  Enjoy:

CARROT AND ZUCCHINI NUT BREAD
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 c ground rolled oats
1 TBS ground flax seed soaked in 2 TBS water
1 TBS chia seeds
2 TBS amaranth
1/4 c ground raw nuts:  almonds, cashews, sunflower, pistachios
1-1/2 c ground carrot (grind or grate before measuring)
1 to 1-1/2 c ground zucchini (grind before measuring)
1 tsp each baking soda and baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c unsweetened plain almond milk

1.  Put ground flax in water and set aside.  Set oven to 350 F.
2.  Grind oats and nuts.  (I use a Ninja chopper but you can hand chop the nuts or use a food processor)
3.  Grind or grate the carrot and zucchini, very fine.  
4.  In large bowl add all ingredients 1-3 and stir.  Add the soda, powder, and salt.  Next, stir in the almond milk.  Once incorporated, shape into a ball and let sit for 20 minutes.  
5.  Spray a large bread tin with nonstick spray.  Alternatively, you can hand shape and bake on a silicone mat.
6.  Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.  Cover with foil, lower temp to 300 and bake another 10-15 minutes.  Cool  for 10 or so minutes before slicing.  It will be slightly soft in the center.  Best not to over bake or the crust will be too hard.  If you prefer, slice then toast.  

Hot out of the oven, Carrot and Zucchini Nut Bread

Carrot and Zucchini Nut bread ready for eating

Bread

Did I mention it's vegan?

Now for the husbands, and other bacon lovers.  Bacon Chocolate Cheesecake.

Step 1:  Bake 4-6 strips of thick bacon in the oven.  Time and temp varies.  350 for 10-12 minutes is what I did.  Bake it crisp and flat.  Pat off the fat and dry on paper towels.
Step 2:  Melt 4 squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate and 1/4 tsp coconut oil.  Double this if you want more chocolate.  In a double boiler, melt the chocolate.  
Step 3:  Get your baking pan out.  I used a cupcake tray.  Cut your bacon to the size of the bottom of the tray.  Next, put the bacon into the bowl of chocolate, using a fork to coat well.  Line a flat plate or cookie sheet with plastic wrap or foil.  Using your fork transfer individual pieces of bacon onto the cookie sheet.  Put into freezer or refrigerator to set.  Reserve the remainder of the chocolate for later.
Step 4:  Make the cheesecake.  I used the Philadelphia 3-step cheesecake recipe.  This part is up to you.
   1 package Philadelphia cream cheese
   1/4 c sugar
   1/4 tsp vanilla
   1 egg

   Blend on high until creamy.  Take strips of parchment paper and make an X in the baking pan.  This will help remove the cheesecake.  Put in about 1 inch of batter.  Bake 25 minutes if using cupcake tray.  Remove from oven and allow to cool until warm.  Don't cool all the way.

Step 5: Line cookie sheet with plastic. Place bacon pieces on top of warm cheese cake and immediately invert onto plastic.  The bacon is now your crust.  Drizzle the top of the cheesecake with more chocolate and add an additional piece of bacon, if desired.

Bacon Chocolate Cheesecake

Bacon Chocolate cheesecake

P.S.  I am still in training for my upcoming races.  Saturday and Sunday the 20th and 21st I am running at Disney.  September I'm headed to Montreal for a marathon and finally the TCS NYC Marathon.  I will keep you posted on the fundraising efforts for New York.  I also am loving my new camera zoom lens.  Check out some of my photos for sale Twenty20 and FOAP.

Who's Hungry?

I woke up hungry this morning.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  I've been in the kitchen all day and for some odd reason, the theme is 'green'.  Below are the recipes for Spinach Crackers, Edamame Hummus, and Chocolate Zucchini bread with pumpkin seeds. I also made granny apple chips, but you don't need a recipe, only a dehydrator.  Do you know what tahini is?  

Spinach Crackers:
1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup water, plus 1-2 tsp as needed
2 cups fresh spinach
1/4 c raw sunflower seeds

Step 1:  Puree the spinach and water until liquid. Add the sunflower seeds and pulse for a few seconds to grind. (alternatively, chop the seeds coarse separately).
Step 2:  Put the dry ingredients in a bowl then add the wet plus evoo.  Mix then knead the dough until well incorporated.  If the mix is dry, add water a drop at a time until you get a bread-dough consistency.
Step 3:  Roll the dough out on either parchment or a silicone mat. Make it thin as possible not more than 1/8th inch.  
Step 3:  Using a serrated plastic knife (don't cut your mat!) score the dough into squares.
Step 4:  Bake 20 minutes in a preheated 400F oven.  Keep watch and don't burn!  If the sides start to brown, they are done.  If the edges are done but not the center, break off the cooked crackers and bake the center a minute or two more.

Edamame hummus with Spinach crackers

Edamame Hummus

1 cup cooked edamame (I bought frozen then warmed)

1/4 cup tahini*

3 tsp +/- lemon juice (to taste)

1 garlic clove

1 tsp +/1 herb of choice (I used rosemary)

2 TBS extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

Put all ingredients in small food processor and blend until smooth. Chill and enjoy.  If it is too much of a paste, add a few drops of evoo.
* You can also add chopped sun dried tomatoes.  Yummy.  

*tahini - 

2 1/2 c raw, unsalted sesame seeds

3/4 c olive oil

puree until smooth.

THAI COCONUT CURRY HUMMUS:
One 16 ounce can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
3 cloves of garlic
2 TBS tahini paste
3 TBS line juice
2 TBS red curry paste
1/4 cup plus 1 TBS coconut milk
1 TBS olive oil
salt to taste

Put all ingredients in food processor and blend until very smooth.  Chill.  

Ingredients for Thai Coconut Curry Hummus

Put ingredients into food processor

Enjoy on a Spinach cracker

Chocolate Zucchini bread with pumpkin seeds

This is a take on my other zucchini bread.  Same basic recipe. More chocolate.

3 eggs

1 cup natural applesauce

1 cup raw local honey

2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 large)

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup rolled oats, coarse ground

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup chopped pepitos (raw pumpkin seeds)

1 1/2 cups dark dairy-free chocolate chips

1 TBS espresso powder

Step 1:  put all the wet in a bowl, in order

Step 2:  put the zucchini in a food processor and coarse grind, add pumpkin seeds, pulse for a few more seconds until seeds are coarse ground, pour into dry

Step 3: Coarse grind oats then chocolate chips, add to dry. Add remainder of ingredients

Step 4:  Spray a large muffin tin or mini loaf tray (holds 12) with Pam or other nonstick spray.  Fill 3/4 full and bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 350F oven.  Remove from baking pan immediately and let cool.  If you want large loaf, increase baking time to 45 to 50 minutes.

Chocolate zucchini bread

Granny Smith apple chips

For the apple chips, slice with a mandolin slightly less than 1/8 inch.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and dehydrate for 8-10 hours at 135F.  

BONUS:  Cherry non-dairy ice cream

1 cup coconut milk

2 ripe bananas

2 cups frozen cherries

3 TBS cacao powder

Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.  Pour into a dish and freeze.  It may be a bit 'icy'.  If you like it a bit premier, add half of an avocado.  Just add the avocado anyway, it's really good!  Top with a few dairy-free chocolate chips.  

Dairy-free cherry chocolate ice cream

Goji Berry Muffin

Do you know what a Goji Berry is?  I had never heard of it until recently.  According to Wikipedia:  

Goji, goji berry or wolfberry is the fruit of Lycium barbarum (simplified Chinese: 宁夏枸杞; traditional Chinese: 寧夏枸杞; pinyin: Níngxiàgǒuqǐ) and Lycium chinense (pinyin: gǒuqǐ), two closely related species of boxthorn in the Nightshade family, Solanaceae. The family also includes the potato, tomato, eggplant, belladonna, chili pepper, and tobacco. The two species are native to Asia.^[1]

I've only eaten them dried. They have a mild flavor somewhere between a raisin and a dried cherry.  They are quite chewy all by themselves.  I've started incorporating the berry into my granola, #Runergy bars, pancakes, and muffins.  They are brightly colored, and mixed with pistachios or pumpkin seeds remind me of Christmas.  

Below is my Goji Berry muffin recipe.  Enjoy!!

1/2 c all-natural applesauce

1/2 c raw, local honey

1/2 c canned coconut milk

1 ripe banana

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1-1/4 c rolled oats (I use Quaker old fashioned)

1/2 c raw cacao beans

1 c dried Goji berry

Put all of the wet ingredients in a large bowl.  Grind the oats and cacao beans.  Chop half of the Goji berries (optional).  Add all the dry to the wet.  Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray.  

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

Options:  Use chocolate chips instead of cacao beans.  Add 1 to 2 tsp Espresso powder.  Leave out the chocolate/cacao and add another fruit like blueberries or apples.  Go vegan by using Agave, add chopped raw nuts such as almonds, pistachios, or pumpkin seeds.  

Goji Berry Muffin

Goji Berry Muffin hot out of the oven.

Cookie Please...

I have been doing a lot of baking lately.  Perfecting older recipes, trying out new ones.  I'm getting ready for my 6th marathon and I want to make sure my energy bars are 'just right'.  I also want to see how they travel.  On my recent mission trip to Panama I took several of my Fruit and Nut granola bars and they were delicious from home, to airplane, to El Valle, and back on the plane.  I'm sure my recipes aren't 'new' or 'revolutionary', however, I do know they are delicious! 

My newest endeavors have included spaghetti squash, a pineapple and coconut desert that's not quite ice cream, not quite pie filling - but YUM, and cherries.  Have you ever tried to pit a half-dehydrated cherry?  Still working on figuring that out.  Long story short, I didn't want to buy pre-dehydrated cherries because they are coated with sugar and other junk I don't want.  The grocery store I use featured cherries one day so I bought a big bag.  They were not pitted.  I've dehydrated frozen and they seep juice everywhere.  To prevent loosing any goodness I dehydrated them with the pits in, for 10 hours, then cut them in half, dehydrated another 2 hours, then removed the pit.  There's got to be an easier way!! 

Below are pictures and a few of my newest recipes. The explanations are pretty quick because I've gone into greater detail on similar blog posts.  If you'd like more details message me and I'll be glad to do a step-by-step how to.  If you want a cook-booklet, send $6.00 to my Paypal account (freedspirit05@me.com).  It's not fancy, but all the recipes are in one place.  

Spaghetti Squash

First up - Spaghetti Squash.  I've always wanted to make it but was a little afraid. I'm not a huge...okay so normally I dislike squash.  Avoid it at all costs.  However, in the attempts to broaden my horizons I tried it.  Simply cut the squash down the middle, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, maybe a little garlic, turn upside down (opposite of this picture) and bake at 350F for an hour.  Turn over and scrape the flesh with a fork and it looks like spaghetti.  It does have a bit of a crunch and needs salt.  I like to put my favorite red sauce on top, just like regular spaghetti.  It's good! Filling, too.  

Flat bread

Whole wheat flat bread

I bought a handy, dandy tortilla press to help me make flat bread.  You can make with any type of flour, white or wheat, with our without yeast. (the one on the left has yeast).  Simply mix together 1 coup flour, 1/4 to 1/2 cold water, 1 tsp olive oil, and a pinch salt.  Knead, roll into 1/2 inch sized balls, cover the press with plastic wrap and press.  Not too hard, you don't want it paper thin.  For a cracker bake at 225F for 45 minutes.  For a softer bread bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes.  If  you use yeast, use my whole wheat bread recipe and let proof twice. Once in ball form, and once after pressing.  It will rise a bit and get a big air bubble in the center.  Make a pita type pocket bread. 

 

These are my post-run smoothies.  I do a wide variety, depending on my mood.  First take a dozen or so ripe bananas, peel, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.  Use one banana, and fruit of choice, add a handful of raw nuts.  Optional - a handful of raw spinach, 1/4 cup cacao powder, 1 Tbs natural peanut butter.  For the liquid add about a half cup of unsweetened regular almond milk.  About to the middle of the blueberries in the picture, enough to get the blender moving but not so much the smoothie is runny.  

 Apple muffin.  I had an apple and wondered what to do with it.  Did I want pancakes? No.  So, I took whole wheat pancake mix, added a cup of ground oats, an egg, some almond milk.  Then I took an apple, chopped it up fine.  Put some in the grinder and made apple sauce.  Ground up some almonds, threw that in.  Yummy!  Don't be afraid to get creative with your food.

Coconut delite

Coconut delite

I don't remember where I got the base recipe for this one.  I had a whole coconut and wanted ice cream.  Since I'm allergic to dairy I decided to make something yummy and cold.  Not quite a smoothie, not exactly ice cream.  Take a whole pineapple and cut it in circles.  With a paring knife cut just inside the rind to get rid of all the hard stuff.  Keep the center.  Put half the pineapple in a blender with 1/2 cup canned coconut milk, 1/2 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut flakes, and 1 tsp vanilla.  Puree until relatively smooth. The coconut flakes will remain chunky.  Pour into two bowls and chill/freeze until the edges are frozen but the center is firm but not hard.  So delicious! If you have them available, add some fresh coconut flesh.

#Runergy bars

#Runergy Bars

These are my new favorite #Runergy bars.  It's a similar recipe as before but I put them in a silicone chocolate mold.  They are raw, not cooked, not even dehydrated.  I don't give this recipe away.  If you're in Florida (or Utah week of 7/19) message me and I'll sell you some! I eat them before and during my long runs (greater than 10 miles).

Pumpkin chip cookie

This is my son's favorite cookie.  It's on the blog. Type it in the search bar to find the recipe.  It's pumpkin and chocolate chip, dairy-free.

Fruit and Nut and Everything granola bars

These are the granola bars I travel with.  Fruit and nut and 'Everything' or Fruit and Nut plus cacao.  I don't give this recipe away either.  I sell them for $5.00 for the F&N, $7 for the 'Everything'.   I will say the Everything has espresso powder and is so good, I could eat nothing else all day every day for the rest of my life!

Cookies!! 

Cookies please!!  I love cookies.  On this blog I have a lot of cookie recipes.  I mix and match all kinds of ingredients.  That's the fun thing about food and baking.  Take a little of this, a little of that, start with a base dough and have fun.  I mentioned earlier that I wanted to make something with cherries.  I also had some avocados I needed to do something with.  The lighter cookie on the left is made with the 2-ingredient base - 2 ripe mashed bananas and a cup of oats, ground.  I then added my dehydrated cherries, chopped up, and chocolate chips.  Baked at 350F for about 10 minutes.

The darker cookie, doesn't it look red?  Well, it's the cherries.  
1 mashed avocado
1 egg
1/4 cup cacao powder
1/3 cup honey (or agave if you want it vegan)
1 TBs (or a little more) ground oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup dried cherries

My cherries weren't completely dried because I plan on making more granola bars.  The original recipe that I found called for apple juice.  Since my cherries were juicy, I didn't add it.  

Put all the ingredients, except the cherries in a food processor and blend until smooth.  Add the cherries and blend another 30 seconds or so.  Now, here's the tricky part.  I put the first batch on silicone baking pad.  Nope. They stuck.  Use a non-stick pan and spray with cooking spray - liberally!  Bake at 350F 10 minutes, cool, the put in the fridge.  I also added 1/8 cup of ground cacao beans for a little crunch.   You could add chocolate chips, espresso powder, nuts, coconut, etc.

All of these recipes need to be refrigerated.  The granola bars will keep longer if they are dehydrated until crunchy.  I like them a little softer.  To be quite honest, they are so good they won't last long enough to worry about spoiling!  I tend to make a huge batch of everything then freeze.  I hope you enjoy making fun, delicious, and healthy recipes.  Message me with any questions.  If you try a recipe and you loved it, tell me.  If it didn't work for you, message me and we'll figure out what to do to make it yummy.  

Happy Eating.  Be sure to check out my book sale on Amazon!