chickpea chocolate chip cookies

i always enjoy trying new types of food and making new recipes.  i absolutely love traditional chocolate chip cookies.  they were a staple dessert growing up, and they always remind me of my family.  you just can't go wrong with a classic like that.

so, i was intrigued and curious (and even a little bit skeptical) when i came across this recipe for chickpea chocolate chip cookies.  this recipe doesn't have any flour, eggs, butter, or milk in it, making it vegan, dairy free, and gluten free.

since i have been exploring cooking/baking more vegetarian and vegan lately, i thought i would give them a whirl.

it always amazes me how ingredients can come together.  i would have never thought of making a cookie out of chickpeas, but it actually worked.

these cookies have a look and a texture that is surprisingly similar to that of a traditional chocolate chip cookie.  (although they are a bit more moist than traditional cookies.)

i have tried several vegan and gluten free recipes that ended up tasting like cardboard, so i was pleasantly surprised that the flavor of these cookies was so good.

i certainly won't be replacing my traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe with this recipe any time soon, but it is a great alternative if you are watching what you eat or if you have to whip up a dessert for friends on restricted diets!

chickpea chocolate chip cookies
prep time: 5 minutes
baking time: 18 minutes
yields: 14-15 cookies
adapted from eating whole

ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

directions:
preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  in a food processor, combine the chickpeas, almond butter, coconut, oats, maple syrup, baking powder, and salt.  puree until smooth.  fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.  scoop the cookie dough by the tablespoon onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat.  flatten the dough balls to look like traditional cookies.  bake for 18 minutes.

enjoy!

love, laurie

all wrapped up!

it has been mighty cold this winter.  our local meteorologists keep saying that the temperatures have been way below normal this season.  (although you don't need a degree in meteorology to figure that out.)  i just can't wait for spring to come!

we're not the only ones who have been bothered by the extra cold temperatures this winter.  poor leko has been cold lately too.  when we leave for work each day, we leave a fleece blanket on our bed for him.  he loves to sleep on top of it.  (usually we come and find a deep dent right in the middle of the blanket where he has been sleeping.)  but, when it's extra cold, he makes himself a little fort inside the blanket.  it is the cutest thing.  the other day i walked into the room and all i could see was the tip of his tail sticking out from the blanket.  i guess he decided to wrap himself up in the blanket but forgot to bring his tail in with him.  it was so hysterical.  i moved the blanket away to make sure that he could breath in there, and he just looked at me as if to say, "peekaboo, mom!"  of course i couldn't resist snapping a few pictures on my phone . . .

silly kitten!

love, laurie

arugula, mint, and pistachio pesto

i absolutely love all types of pesto, from simple and traditional basil pesto to fancy sun dried tomato pesto with toasted almonds and italian parsley.  you just can't beat it.  it's so delicious and so versatile.  you can put it on pasta, chicken, sea food, grilled meat, sandwiches, pizza . . . just about anything.

arugula, mint, and pistachios are some of my favorite things, so i was really excited when i found a pesto recipe that combined all three of these ingredients.

the flavor of this pesto is just out of this world.  the arugula and mint make it bright and bold, and the pistachios give it a nice nutty balance.  it has a great underlying garlic flavor too.  this pesto is now one of my new favorite recipes.  a winner for sure!

when i made this recipe, i used half right away and froze the other half to save for later.  it's so nice to have some frozen pesto on hand to use at another time.  we put it on some pasta and it was so delicious.  i can't wait to put it on other things too.  i'm thinking it would be great between two slices of nice bread with some fresh mozzarella and tomatoes.  yum!

arugula, mint, and pistachio pesto
total time: 5 minutes
yields: approximately 3 cups
adapted from not without salt

ingredients:
3 cups arugula, tightly packed
3-4 tablespoons fresh mint
1 1/2 cups pistachios, roasted and salted
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

directions:
in a food processor, combine the arugula, mint, pistachios, garlic, cheese, and lemon zest.  pulse until everything is well pureed.  scrap down the sides of the bowl as needed.  with the food processor running, gradually pour the lemon juice and the olive oil into the mixture in a steady stream.  blend together until smooth.

enjoy!

love, laurie

happy mardi gras!

happy mardi gras / happy fat tuesday / happy fasnacht day!

no matter what you call it, it's a great excuse to eat a doughnut today!  

here is the recipe i used to make the doughnuts pictured above, and here are some of my other favorite doughnut recipes too:

~ baked mocha cake doughnuts with coffee cream cheese glaze

~ baked strawberry cake doughnuts with strawberry glaze

~ baked apple cider doughnuts

have a great day!

love, laurie

parmesan truffle popcorn

popcorn is synonymous with movies, so it seemed only right to make some popcorn to eat while we watched to oscars last night.

instead of making traditional movie-theatre style popcorn, we decided to jazz things up a bit.  after all, the oscars are a classy event so our popcorn needed to be a bit classy too.

we gave our popcorn a rich flavor with black truffle oil and himalayan truffle salt (both of which we bought at trader joe's).  then we added freshly grated parmesan cheese to the popcorn to take it to a whole new level.

the combination of the black truffle oil, himalayan truffle salt, and freshly grated parmesan cheese was decedent.  it was a great snack, worthy of an oscar for sure!

parmesan truffle popcorn
prep time: 5 minutes
baking time: 10 minutes
yields: 2 servings

ingredients:
1/4 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon black truffle oil
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
himalayan truffle salt to taste

directions:
preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.  using an air popper, pop the popcorn into a very large bowl.  be sure to remove any unpopped kernels from the bowl.  pour the melted butter and the truffle oil evenly over the popcorn, and toss well.  toss in the cheese, and season with truffle salt to taste.  line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and evenly spread the popcorn on the baking sheet.  bake for 10 minutes to melt the cheese.  once baked, allow the popcorn to cool completely.

enjoy!

love, laurie

mr. turtle and mr. beaver

if you look around our house, you'll notice that leko has a lot of toys.  (he's just a little bit spoiled by us and by his grandparents.)  it's funny, because leko likes to keep certain toys in certain rooms of our house.  each toy seems to have its own domain.  some stay in our living room, some stay in our kitchen, and some stay in our office.  there's even one particular pink ball that he dunks in his water bowl in our bathroom each day.  but, there are two refillable little plush cat nip toys that always seem to stay in our bed.  (one is a turtle and the other is a beaver.)  they are the cutest things, and he just loves to play with them in bed.

the other day, i sat down in bed for a few minutes, and leko jumped up in bed with me.  he started playing with mr. turtle and mr. beaver, and then decided to take a nap on top of them.  i guess they made good pillows.  it was just too cute.  of course, i couldn't resist taking a few pictures.  that furry little guy sure knows how to melt our hearts!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

kitchen basics: baking soda vs. baking powder

next in our kitchen basics series, we're taking a look at the difference between baking soda and baking powder.  baking is a science, and different ingredients react in different ways.  so it's important to know what chemistry is happening in your recipes.

although baking soda and baking powder may look similar, they are not interchangeable.  in fact, they each work differently in recipes . . .

baking soda is sodium bicarbonate.  when sodium bicarbonate is heated, it produces both carbon dioxide gas and sodium carbonate.  the carbon dioxide gas is a good thing because it is what makes cakes and other baked goods rise.  however, the sodium carbonate is not so great because it can give baked goods a metallic taste.  luckily, that metallic taste can be neutralized with an acid.  therefore, baking soda is often found in recipes with acidic ingredients (such as lemon, buttermilk, or yogurt).  the acid helps to eliminate the metallic taste while still allowing baked goods to rise.

baking powder is a mixture of baking soda, acid, and cornstarch.  any baking powder that is labeled "double acting" will release a small amount of carbon dioxide gas when stirred into a batter or a dough, and then will release more carbon dioxide gas when heated.  therefore, baking powder is often found in recipes with non-acidic ingredients (such as whole milk).

simply put: baking soda needs an acid and baking powder has an acid.

see, science can be fun (and tasty)!

. . .

are there any kitchen tips/tricks that you would like to learn?  leave a comment or send me an email to let me know what you would like to see next in the kitchen basics series.

happy cooking!

love, laurie

a historic red caboose

we absolutely love the little town where we live.  it is so quaint and charming, and there is so much history here.  while we were out walking on sunday, we noticed that there was something new sitting on the railroad tracks outside of the train station in our neighborhood.  a 1959 red train caboose was just recently donated to our little town by the canadian pacific railway.

a local man in our town, who retired from the railroad company, found out that the historic caboose was scheduled to be scrapped.  so, he pushed for our town to get involved.  after a bunch of campaigning and negotiating, the canadian pacific railway agreed to donate the caboose to our town.

our town plays a pretty historic part in the delaware and hudson railway, because the first steam line came from our town back when the railway changed from gravity to steam.  our town plans to restore the historic caboose.  once restored, it will be used for public events and put it on display for kids to learn about its history.  i can't wait to see how it turns out!

love, laurie

a walk along the river

the weather has been cold and gross lately, and the forecast is calling for it to continue being cold and gross this whole week.  however, we did manage to get two nice days this weekend where the temperatures actually rose above freezing for a little while, and the sun came out to melt some of the snow.  it was glorious!  spring, i'm ready for you!

since it was so nice outside on sunday, we took advantage of the break from the winter weather and took a walk along the river.  we absolutely love the river that runs behind our house.  it's so peaceful and serene.  the river banks were so pretty all covered in snow, and the river glistened in the sunlight.  there were even a few ducks out and about too.  

it was so nice to get outside and breathe some fresh air.  we stayed out as long as we could until we started to freeze, and then we headed home to cuddle up on the couch and watch a movie with leko.

love, laurie

national cupcake day! (and confetti cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting)

i'm not one to follow all of the "national _____ days" but i was pretty excited when i found out that today is national cupcake day.  what a great excuse to eat a cupcake, and a great way to start off the week!

cupcakes are sweet all the time, but they are extra sweet when they support a good cause.  today our neighbors in canada are celebrating national cupcake day today by holding cupcake parties and bake sales in order to help raise money for animals in need.  all of the profits from the cupcake fundraisers go to SPCAs and humane societies around canada.

what a great idea!  we love cupcakes and we love animals.  talk about a match made in heaven.  you don't have to be in canada to participate.  if you want to get involved, you can find out more information here.  (i bet leko is going to want a tuna flavored cupcake to celebrate today!)

if you want to make some festive cupcakes of your own to celebrate today, here's a great recipe for confetti cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting.  i just recently made these cupcakes last week for a co-worker's birthday, and they were a huge hit.  you can't go wrong with a classic!

. . .

confetti cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting

prep time: 10-15 minutes

baking time: 18-20 minutes

yields: 24 cupcakes

adapted from annie's eats

cupcake ingredients:

1 cup whole milk

6 large egg whites

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup salted butter, softened

1/2 cup multi-colored sprinkles

frosting ingredients:

1 cup salted butter, softened

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

3-4 cups powdered sugar

directions:

preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  line two cupcake pans with 24 cupcake liners.  to make the cupcakes, in a measuring cup whisk together the milk, egg, whites, and vanilla.  set aside.  in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and sugar.  add the butter and mix at low speed until the mixer resembles wet sand (about 30 seconds).  gradually add in the wet ingredients.  beat until combined, but do not over beat.  gently fold in the sprinkles. pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pans, filling each about two-thirds of the way full.  bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.  allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.    

to make the frosting, combine the butter, vanilla, milk, and half of the powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and whisk together until combined.  gradually add more powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency.  use a piping bag to pipe the frosting on top of the cooled cupcakes.  decorate with additional sprinkles.

enjoy!
love, laurie