Namely Marly

Have I told you yet how much I love peanut butter? It’s ridiculous, really. I even eat peanut butter spread on a banana for breakfast. When I was nursing my daughter I thought (mistakenly so) that I must be burning a ton of calories (I mean, my body WAS creating food for another, growing human being) so I made myself oatmeal cookies (that’s healthy, right?) and topped them with a thin (or thick) layer of peanut butter before eating them. Oh, those were the days!

I think peanut butter tastes great on just about anything. Ice cream. Cookies. I’ve even had a pasta dish made with (you guessed it) peanut butter. So hopefully it won’t come across as too much of a surprise when I tell you that I like cinnamon rolls made with peanut butter. I like to amuse myself by thinking that they’re healthier than the average cinnamon roll because peanut butter has protein in it. That’s good, right? (Please agree with me because if you don’t, I’ll just sing “La, la, la” loudly, put my hands over my ears and squeeze my eyes shut in order to stay in my own little, happy peanut butter world).

Peanut butter is just a common progression of ingredients in food anyway. Snickers did it. So have Twix bars. I say if its good enough for Oreo’s, it’s good enough for cinnamon rolls too.

Oh, and I like icing too. And lots of it. May you enjoy this recipe with abandon (meaning: without concern for your hips…you can always work-out later!).

Cinnamon Rolls

(Adapted from a recipe by The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients
½ quart Soy Milk
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
1 package active dry yeast
4 (plus 1 extra cup) cups Flour, I use approx. 1/3 whole wheat
½ teaspoon baking powder, (heaping)
½ teaspoon baking soda, (scant)
½ tablespoon salt, (heaping)
½ cup margarine
½ cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Frosting:
½ bag powdered sugar
¼ cup soymilk
⅛ cup melted margarine
pinch salt

Instructions
Mix the soymilk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute or so. Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Combine margarine and peanut butter together in a microwave-safe dish and heat until the margarine is just melting. Stir together and drizzle over the dough. Next, mix together the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle sugar over the margarine/PB.

Starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spray a seven inch round cake or pie pan with cooking spray. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the greased pans.

Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees about 20 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Prepare the frosting by mixing together all ingredients and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.

As you can tell from my recipes, I love sweets. I love preparing them, the aroma of a baking cake in the oven, and the happy faces of those who eat them (at least most of the time).

My friend Stella wrote recently on her blog the Witchy Kitchen about the dangers of excessive sugar. I took her words of caution to heart and although I don’t plan to stop baking, I do want  to make sure we have some healthy sweet alternatives on hand.

I’ve also been inspired to feel my best by Victoria Moran who has been discussing her voyage into raw foods. I’m intrigued by the way she describes her new lease on life as a result of her improved diet.

That’s when I decided I needed a quick and easy recipe for a raw cookie. As luck would have it, I found this tasty recipe for Energy Orbs on My New Roots. The first time I made them, I followed the recipe to a tee and then proceeded to eat them all (not at one sitting). The second time, I made a few adjustments (because I just can’t help myself).

These raw cookies are still sweet, but they’re free of white processed sugar and they scratch that itch for something a little sweet after lunch. Just like any cookie, though, it’s hard to eat only one so be sure to make plenty!

Delicious Date Balls

(Source: My New Roots)

Ingredients:
2 cups dates, chopped
2 cups nuts (I used Brazil nuts, but walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, cashews, and/or macadamias also work well.)
¼ cup cocoa
⅛ cup coconut flakes
Sesame seeds for rolling (optional)

Directions:
1. Set out a few sheets of parchment paper and a storage container
2. Place the dates in a food processor. Pulse until processed to a paste. Transfer paste to a medium bowl (don’t clean processor).
3. Add the nuts to the processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the nuts, along with the cocoa and coconut to the bowl with the fruit paste. Use your hands to ground nuts into the paste.
4. Shape the dough into small balls. You can roll the balls in sesame seeds, which will prevent the balls from sticking together.
5. Store in parchment-lined containers in the refrigerator.

If you haven’t guessed by now, I love making cookies. I especially love making cookies that cause my family to groan with delight. It’s music to my ears. I can always go with the traditional chocolate chip cookie, but every now and then, I’m looking for a cookie that really stands out from the crowd.

I think I have found my show stopper. My super star of the Cookie Hall of Fame. Her name is Whoopie. See? Even the name elicits a sense of fun and excitement!

That must be one good cookie! Well, actually, it’s two cookies with a layer of sweet, creamy peanut butter filling in between. Whoopie!

Here are my top 5 reasons to make these cookies:

1. They look like a lot of work, but really aren’t (that’s my favorite kind of food to make!)
2. They have peanut butter in them (that makes them healthy, right?)
3. They have chocolate in them (any explanation needed?)
4. Some assembly is required which makes them more fun to make (the family can even help)
5. They elicit groans of pleasure from those about to devour them (refer back to #1, #2, and #3)

The weekend is coming up, so get out the cocoa and the peanut butter and make some whoopie!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Cookies (Vegan)

(Adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart)

Ingredients
Cookies:
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, not Dutch-process
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon margarine, softened
¼ cup vegetable shortening
½ cup white sugar
½ cup dark-brown sugar, packed
¼ cup applesauce
1 cup soy buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Filling:
⅔ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup margarine, softened
¾ cup powdered sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt, optional

Directions

Cookies:
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl; set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, use a mixer to blend together margarine, shortening, and sugars. Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add applesauce and continue mixing until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in half the flour mixture, then the soy buttermilk and vanilla. Mix in remaining flour mixture.
3. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool for a minute or two and then transfer to wire racks; let cool completely.

Filling
4. Put peanut butter and margarine in a medium-size bowl. Mix on high speed until smooth. Reduce mixer speed to low and add powdered sugar; mix until combined. Raise speed to high, and mix until fluffy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Season with salt, if desired.

Assembly
5. Spread 1 tablespoon of filling on the bottom of 1 cookie. Sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Cookies can be refrigerated in single layers in airtight containers up to 3 days. You can set them out to bring to room temperature before serving, but it’s not necessary – these cookies are good cold too!

There are all kinds of fiestas in this word. There’s the Fiesta Bowl. The Ford Fiesta. Fiesta Casinos. Oh, and there’s the Fiesta Familia! Yes, our family fiesta. That happens just about any time we fix this completely delicious, utterly addictive Vegan 7-Layer Dip.

Vegans and non-vegans alike dive into this dip because each layer of flavor is delicious and there are seven of them! It’s ridiculous. And that’s why I love it so.

Mostly we make this dip for parties. But every now and then we’ll just make it to have here at home. And when we do? I dine on nothing but 7-Layer Dip for days. It’s heavenly.

As you can see from the recipe below, this is really more of a 8 or 10 layer dip, depending on how you want to define a layer. I think 7 just has a much nicer ring to it, so I’m going with that.

I encourage you to make this dip, make it often, and to be sure to call for reinforcement if you don’t make it back out within a given timeframe!

Vegan 7-Layer Dip

Ingredients
1 package soy crumbles, (We use Boca)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package taco seasoning
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
½ cup salsa
1 package Soy cheddar cheese, (We use Follow Your Heart or Daiya)
1 8 oz container soy sour cream (We use Tofutti Sour Cream)
1 cup guacamole (We use Wholly Guacamole)
1 cup salsa
1 2.25 oz can black olives, chopped
½ cup tomatoes, chopped
½ cup green onions, chopped

Directions

In a large skillet, brown soy crumbles in olive oil. Add contents of taco seasoning. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Place the beans in a blender or food processor with 1/2 cup of the salsa. Blend for about 15 – 20 seconds, until the beans are the consistency of refried beans.

Here comes the layering part.

Spread the beans into the bottom of serving tray that is about 1 1/2 inches deep.
Sprinkle 2 cups of shredded soy cheese on top of beans.
Sprinkle taco-flavored soy crumbles on top of cheese.
Spread sour cream very slowly on top of soy crumbles.
Spread guacamole on top of sour cream.
Pour salsa over guacamole and spread evenly.
Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese.
Sprinkle black olives

That completes your seven layers, but it’s not “really” complete until you garnish it with a sprinkling of chopped tomatoes and green onions. This part is completely optional, but highly recommended. We serve it right away, but you it’s also good cold too.