Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies (vegan, paleo) And a cute gift idea!

Happy National Cookie Day 2015!

In honor of National Cookie Day and all of the holiday baking that's happening right now, I wanted to share my newest recipe with you all.  These Double Chocolate Pecan Cookies are rich, decadent, perfectly chocolatey and they happen to be loaded with healthy fats and fiber, too!   A little crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, they feature ground pecans in place of flour, maple syrup instead of refined sugar and they get their richness from coconut butter.  The ingredients are quite different from traditional cookies, but they are just as delicious and I find them to be far more satisfying.  They are a fantastic way to treat yourself to something sweet this holiday season without that feeling of total sugar overload.

And if you are looking for a fun gift idea for friends and family, why not make an extra batch (or three!) to give away?  Once your cookies have completely cooled you can stack them in these adorable jelly jars, and seal them off with some cute fabric and a handwritten label.  I don't know anyone who doesn't love receiving a handmade, from-the-heart gift during the holidays- I know I certainly do!

Prep time: 20 minutes  Bake time: 8 minutes  Yields: about 20 cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 cup ground pecans, lightly packed

2 tbsp tapioca starch

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

1/4 cup coconut butter or coconut manna (not coconut oil)

3 tbsp maple syrup, room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Grind pecans in a food processor or dry container of a Vitamix.  It doesn't need to be ground as fine as flour, and some little chunks are fine.  Set aside.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the tapioca starch, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt.  Stir in the ground pecans and mix well.  I like to use a fork or whisk for this step.

In a separate bowl, mix the maple syrup, coconut butter, and vanilla until smooth.  Be sure to stir the coconut butter before measuring it out, and also make sure that the maple syrup is at room temperature.  If your mixture is a little chunky, you can warm it up by setting the bowl in a larger bowl of hot water, or by placing it in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Use a round tablespoon measure to scoop out the dough.  Use your fingers to pack the dough into the measuring spoon, then gently nudge it out of the spoon and onto the baking sheet.

Use your fingers or palm to gently flatten the cookies.  If some of the chocolate chips try to escape (they always do with this recipe), just tuck them back into the dough or press them onto the tops of the cookies. If you are planning to package your cookies in jelly jars, you'll want the cookies to be no more than 2 inches in diameter.

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees, then let them cool completely on the pan.  The bottoms should be slightly golden brown, but not burnt.  My gas oven does the job in 8 minutes- if yours runs a little below temperature then you might want to leave them in for 10 minutes.

These are my all time favorites!

Enjoy!

SALTED DARK CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY CUPS (vegan)

Love is in the air, my friends. And with Valentine's Day just a couple of days away, I couldn't help but to feel inspired to come up with a new chocolatey treat to share with my loved ones (including you!). I dreamt up this simple, yet indulgent recipe as I was falling asleep last night... Salted Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cups.  Irresistibly cute, divinely delicious, and so easy to make that you'll feel like a culinary super star when you're done, and your recipients will love you forever.  Mission accomplished!

You don't need any fancy equipment or hard-to-find ingredients to make these tasty, three-ingredient chocolates.  In fact, everything you need can be found at your neighborhood grocery store.  If you don't have a mini muffin pan, don't fret- you can just place the paper cups on a baking sheet or tray, and since you'll be doubling them, they will hold up just fine.

Makes 16 chocolate cups

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz high quality bittersweet dairy-free dark chocolate (at least 60% cacao)

Scant 1/4 cup of raspberry preserves, room temperature

Himalayan pink salt, fleur de sel, or Celtic sea salt (I used a Himalayan pink salt grinder from Costco that I ground on a medium setting)

32 mini muffin cups

DIRECTIONS:

Line a mini muffin pan with your muffin cups, placing two cups in each so that they are doubled up.  Locate a teaspoon measure and a quarter teaspoon measure- you'll need them to measure out your chocolate and raspberry preserves.

Note: The larger measuring spoon pictured below is actually a tablespoon measure, which is why it looks so much bigger than the teaspoon measure that you have in your kitchen.  I just want to clarify that you are, in fact, using a TEASPOON measure for the chocolate and NOT a big old tablespoon!

Roughly chop the chocolate into smallish chunks, to make for quicker melting. Place 2/3 of the chocolate in a microwave proof bowl and set the remaining 1/3 aside.

Microwave the chocolate in 30 second spurts until it has just melted. This should take only about a minute to 90 seconds total. You don't want the chocolate to get too hot.  Add in the remaining chopped chocolate and stir until all of the chunks are melted and the chocolate is smooth.  If you need to zap it for another 15 seconds in the microwave, that's fine.

Using your teaspoon measure, scoop up one rounded teaspoon of the melted chocolate and pour it into the first muffin cup, using your finger to empty the spoon.  Repeat this step for all of the remaining cups, then gently jostle the pan to even out the chocolate and place the filled cups in the fridge for about 20 minutes, until the chocolate has set.

Remove the filled cups from the fridge and spoon a quarter teaspoon of raspberry preserves onto the middle of each chocolate filled cup.

Use the teaspoon measure to spoon another rounded teaspoon of melted chocolate on top of the raspberry preserves.  Gently jostle the pan again to even out the chocolate.

Sprinkle the top of each chocolate cup with a generous pinch of salt.  Use more or less depending on your taste.  I've found that a more generous sprinkling of salt really helps to balance the sweetness of the chocolate, and to bring out the flavors of the chocolate and raspberry.

Place the filled cups back into the fridge to properly set up for about 3 hours or so.  Once they are set you can remove them from the muffin pan and store them in an airtight container in the fridge until you're ready to enjoy them yourself, or share them with others.  I prefer these straight from the fridge for the best flavor and texture.  They will get melty and smooshy if left out at room temperature for too long, especially if you live in a warm climate.

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!  I love you and love you.

XO

Fauzia

Banana Lime Magic Bars (raw, vegan, paleo-friendly)

Aloha Everyone!

It has been almost 3 months since I last posted.  Yikes!  We've had a very busy (and beautiful) spring here in Honolulu, but now that it's almost officially summer, it feels like things are starting to slow down a bit.  I created this recipe yesterday evening while my littlest one was taking an unexpected nap, and I am super excited to share it with you.  Sweetened only with fruit, these tangy freezer bars are the perfect summertime treat for the whole family, and they are so easy to whip up.  Ben and I each enjoyed one for dessert last night (they weren't ready until after the boys had gone to bed), and he loved them so much that he called them "magic."  I think you'll feel the same!

PREPARE THE CRUST:

1 cup raw cashew meal (I bought mine at Trader Joe's, but you can easily grind raw cashews in your food processor to make your own)

or use 1 1/4 cup raw pecans or walnuts and grind them in the food processor or blender

7 soft Medjool dates, pits removed

2 tbsp virgin coconut oil, melted and cooled, plus more to grease the pan

1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Drizzle a little bit of coconut oil into a dry, 9x5 inch loaf pan.  Spread it around with your fingers, then line the pan with a piece of parchment paper, allowing for extra paper on the sides (you will use the excess to pull the frozen mixture out of the pan).  The coconut oil on the pan prevents the parchment from slipping around while you're trying to line the pan.  Do your best to press the paper into the corners of the pan, making it as smooth as possible.  Don't worry if it looks a little awkward.

Place all of your crust ingredients, including the 2 tbsp virgin coconut oil, into a food processor fitted with an "S" blade, and pulse until the ingredients are all well incorporated and you have a sticky, crumbly looking "dough."  If you are making your own cashew meal, first grind the cashews, measure out exactly one cup, then add that back into the food processor with the rest of your ingredients.

Turn the dough out into your lined loaf pan, then use your fingers to press the dough into the bottom of the pan, creating your crust.  You want to get the crust as evenly thick as possible.  Put the pan into the freezer to allow to the crust to firm up, and get started on your filling.

FOR THE FILLING:

3/4 cup mashed ripe banana (I used 2 white apple bananas from my local farmers market, but regular bananas will work just as well).

3-4 tbsp fresh lime juice (you may want to add a bit more if using regular bananas, as apple bananas tend to be more tart)

1 tsp (packed) lime zest

1/2 cup raw coconut butter (I love the Artisana brand)

1 tbsp virgin coconut oil, melted and cooled

tiny pinch of fine sea salt

To prepare the filling, first mash the bananas with a fork until you reach a pureed consistency, then measure out 3/4 cup.

Place all ingredients into a bowl and process with a hand immersion blender until smooth.  You can also use your regular blender to achieve the same result.

Remove the crust from the freezer.  Pour the filling onto your prepared crust, then use a spatula to gently spread it out so that it's evenly distributed over the crust, taking care to avoid thin or thick spots.  When you cut your bars after freezing, you want them to have a uniform thickness.

Put the pan into the freezer and let it all set up for at least 3 hours (it may take longer depending on how cold your freezer is).  If you are going to leave it to freeze overnight, I suggest covering the pan tightly with plastic wrap to avoid freezer burn.

These bars are best served straight from the freezer. When you are ready to indulge, remove the pan from the freezer, let thaw for about 20 minutes then pull up on the sides of the parchment paper to remove your slab of goodness onto a cutting board, keeping the parchment paper intact.

Use a large, sharp knife to slice it into uniformly sized bars.  You can make them as big or as small as you'd like.  I cut mine into about 2X3 inch rectangles.  I think it would also be fun to make them into little 1 inch squares for smaller fingers.

Store your Banana Lime Magic Bars in the freezer in an airtight container, and separate the bars with sheets of parchment paper to prevent them from sticking together.  For the best flavor, allow them to sit at room temp for a few minutes before serving.  Enjoy!