Sunday, November 24, 2013

Homemade Vegan Butterfingers






Who doesn't miss being able to grab a candy bar in the check out aisle? I know I do it's almost routine every time we check out I ask the wife if the butterfingers are vegan, which the answer is always NO!! 

So the wife did the next best thing and found me a recipe so that I can make them at the house. Now I found no need to change this recipe at all other than the amount it's safe to say that a double batch is the only advice to give. 

We found the recipe here, now remember when melting any sugar to watch very close cause it burns very easily. These are the ingredients that I used but I followed her step by step instructions to the letter to create these awesome little bars.

Vegan Butterfingers

1/4 cup agave nectar syrup

1 tbsp molasses

3 1/2 tbsp vegan cane sugar
 

1 cup peanut butter- I used Earth Balance Creamy Peanut Butter

1 1/2 cups bran flakes - I used Nature's Path Heritage Flakes

1/8 tsp salt

Chocolate Topping

2/3 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup cacao powder

1 tsp vanilla  extract


Combine first three ingredients in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil on medium heat. Boil about a minute, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Add the peanut butter and salt, and stir until it makes a paste. Add the cereal and stir very well to coat, partially crushing the cereal flakes as you stir. Make sure the flakes are very evenly coated. Press into an 8×8 pan—either lined with wax or parchment paper, or greased very well—and freeze until completely hardened. (Cut into bars while only somewhat frozen, or thaw the block a little before cutting.) If you wish to cover in chocolate (they’re good even without it), you can cover them at any time—either pre-cutting or post-cutting. Simply melt the chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth, or mix the coconut oil with the sweetener and cocoa. Then spread over the bars with a spatula and re-freeze to harden.
































Have Fun and Enjoy.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Potato Pancakes and Chickpea Veggie Scramble Recipe

For years and years after my grandma passed away I have been trying recreate some of her recipes. Most of the recipes died with her and it's a shame because her cooking was out of this world. I have some recipes that compare to hers, but none are the same. These potato cakes are very close to her recipe.

Now these original recipes come from here, I only had to make a few small changes to bump up the flavor. The original recipe called for a chickpea omelet, but I made it into a scramble just for the simple fact as it's way more simpler to make.

After you shred your taters and onions, it's very important to place both in a colander and press out any extra water this will help the cakes stay together better.






Ingredients for the Potato Pancakes
  • 2 1/2 pounds white potatoes, peeled, grated into enough cold water to cover
  • 1 large white onion, grated
  • 3/4 cup of green
  • 4 tablespoons of dried cilantro
  • 1/2 cup chick-pea flour
  • 2 egg replacements (I used Bob Red Mills 2 tablespoons + 6 tablespoons warm water)
  • 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons (or more) olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Preparation

Place grated potatoes and onion in large colander and drain well. Using hands, squeeze mixture to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Mix in green onion and next 8 ingredients.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds and turmeric and stir 30 seconds. Stir into potato mixture. Cover and let stand 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
Preheat oven to 250°F. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over medium heat. Add scant 3 tablespoons potato mixture to skillet for each pancake; using spatula, flatten to about 4-inch rounds. Cook until golden, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer pancakes to ovenproof dish; keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining potato mixture, adding more oil to skillet as necessary. Serve warm.






























Ingredients for Chickpea Omelette or Scramble (1 serving below, I doubled this for two people)

1/3 cup chickpea flour (1/3 cup = 2 "eggs")
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 tsp baking powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 tsp of tumeric
1/2 tsp of cumin
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp water
1/2 tbsp coconut oil (for cooking)


For your scramble you can choose any veggies that you want just make sure that they are washed and dice the same size for even cooking. I went with:
Mushrooms
Onions
Carrots 
Green Peppers
Spinach 
Grape tomatoes
(But you can put in what ever you like even some vegan meat. )


Start by sautéing the veggies on medium heat with coconut oil. Once cooked through, combine rest of ingredients and stir until a batter forms. Pour batter into pan, cook for 5 minutes or so, (you can even add some more nutritional yeast flakes on top before folding for a cheesier centre) then fold "omelette" in half and continue cooking for another minute or until cooked through. You want it to be slightly soft in the middle though, so don't cook it too much! Makes 1 omelette.


















Have fun and enjoy!