Oh My Amaranth!

I have had a package of amaranth in my cupboard for a couple of months now - I had heard about this iron-rich, gluten-free supergrain and decided to give it a go in a recipe that called for it to be cooked in a chowder-like soup. I have to admit, I thought it was disgusting. I then wondered - how on earth am I going to use this stuff up?

Enter my issue of Fresh Juice! It mentions to pop it - like mini popcorn! I was pumped! I found a great video tutorial online (I'd link to it but mobile blogger sucks) - the technique was beyond putting kernels in a brown paper bag and microwaving, like I do for popcorn. The instructions in the mag seemed to suggest topping it with a little oil and eating by hand. Perfect! I thought. Except maybe these people have miniature fingers since there's no way you can shove this popped stuff in your mouth without making a giant mess - the puffed kernels aren't much bigger than the grain itself!

But the taste is much better - I've found myself sprinkling the puffed grain on steel cut oats, salads, and on pasta. But it was begging for something more.

I remembered seeing something on the Fresh Juice blog about mixing it with chocolate. Kyle sold it to the kids as a 'chocolate bar'. I fear that this sort of trickery is like a form of mini tree-hugger child abuse. But seriously it's so good, and the kids were none the wiser and begged more more! It's a new staple in this house.

Chocolate Amaranth Bars

(Gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free)

1 cup melted chocolate (Enjoy Life)

1 1/2 to 2 cups popped amaranth (google search it!)

Mix! Spread onto parchment lined cookie sheet and spread to same thickness as if you were making bark. Chill in the fridge at least one hour, then break into pieces. 

Plan to make this often - it doesn't last long!

Surprise Cookies

I really like cookies. They are easy to grab, less crumby than muffins and have a certain appeal as their namesake is often synonymous with a 'treat' of sorts. 

But I have a real issue making or eating a cookie that contains unnecessary vegan margarine and loads of sugar. Yeah, I get that it's supposed to be a treat and all, but if the last two years dealing with my son's food allergies have taught me anything, it's to make the most nutritionally sound choices for anything that goes into our mouths. So what that a cookie is vegan because it contains Earth Balance and organic sugar - you're no further ahead!

Well, these cookies stick to my principles, but you would never know it. As a result, I had to call these Surprise Cookies. If you've read any of my blog posts over the past year, although sparse, any recipe seems to involve hemp. So I'm being sarcastic alluding to the 'secret' surprise ingredient. But what's more surprising is what else is in them, and even more so, what's not!

Those avoiding wheat could enjoy these since they use oat flour and rolled oats (Only Oats brand could be used). Sweetness comes from puréed raisins and a few chocolate chunks (dark chocolate would also be a great sub), while body comes from puréed hemp hearts and shredded coconut. Iron-rich cocoa powder, hemp milk, vanilla, a touch of coconut oil and baking soda round out the rest of the ingredients. Take that, recipes that call for mounds of butter, sugar and wheat flour.

The key to making these look like regular cookies is to purée the crap out of the hemp seeds and raisins. I used to do this in my Vitamix, but its hard to scrape everything out away from the blade. Since getting my Breville Sous-Chef food processor, I've had a much easier time scraping out the mix while getting everything just as blended as I would have in the Vitamix. I can't vouch for regular blenders or food processors as to whether or not they have the power to pulverize the ingredients.

Surprise Cookies

(Wheat-free, nut-free, soy-free)

Makes about 3 dozen

2 cups hemp seeds (I use Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts)

1 1/2 cups raisins

3 tbsp coconut oil

1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4-1/2 cup hemp milk

2 1/2 cups oat flour

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups rolled oats

1 1/4 cups chocolate chunks or chopped dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Place the hemp seeds, raisins, coconut oil, vanilla extract and 1/4 cup hemp milk in a high-powered blender or food processor. Purée until a smooth brown blob forms, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl or to the bowl of a stand mixer (preferred! It's tough to mix this stuff by hand!). 

Add oat flour, cocoa powder, coconut and baking soda and mix. Add a little hemp milk if the mixture is dry. Carefully add the oats and chocolate chunks and mix until well-incorporated.

Drop by medium-sized scoops (heaping tablespoon) onto parchment, leaving 2 inches between blobs. Flatten with the palm of your hand, then bake for 10 minutes. Let cool completely on pans.

Baked Yeasted Vegan Doughnuts

I have owned my donut pans for quite some time. I have excitedly made lots of vegan baked doughnuts, but all definitely on the 'cakey' side. While they were good, they just tasted like a cupcake in a different form. I wanted something that didn't taste like a grocery store donut, but rather like something from Tim Hortons, but vegan, not fried and of course, allergy-safe!

I finally got around to making these:
http://vegandad.blogspot.ca/2012/02/baked-yeast-donuts.html?m=1

I subbed in rice milk, used coconut oil instead of shortening, and ground chia instead of flax. The result? A delicious, moist dough. I separated into 12 pieces and pinched tubes into my ungreased pan. I followed the same baking instructions but put two pans in at once on convection (I had two very eager kiddos!). Worked perfectly!

We topped with vanilla and chocolate glazes, allergy-free natural sprinkles, hemp seeds and coconut flakes. Lots of fun for the kids to decorate! Too much fun to eat :)

Hempella!

Being vegan is great these days with so many cookbooks and convenience foods, but dealing with life-threatening allergies with your kid sucks.  I've been in a rut lately trying to find ideas for lunches that would appeal to the world's pickiest 2-year-old...the same kid that has several life-threatening food allergies.  It's not fun.  And I like to cook. 

Lately I've been extra bitter that I can't just whip out peanut butter (life-threatening allergy to peanuts and tree nuts), or the supposed allergy-safe Sunbutter (severely allergic to sunflower plus it may contain soy, which is life-threatening), nor pea-based butters (despite growing out of legumes, some pulses bother him).  How I long to just make a quick sandwich with one of those, with some fruit.  I remembered how as I kid I ate Nutella sandwiches in ridiculous quantities - so much so, that my mother ended up with a complete set of drinking glasses (they used to be packaged that way - great recycling idea back in the day!).

And then I had an epiphany today - I use hemp for everything under the sun!  Surely I could make a spread with it!  And this is pretty much what I did: I threw all of this stuff in the Vitamix and blended.  Easy!  And somehow, it doesn't have that grassy hempy taste...somehow it tastes like hazelnuts!  It's totally weird!

Hempella (Nut-free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Gluten-Free)

1 cup shelled hemp seeds (I use Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts)
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup rice milk powder
2 tablespoons coconut oil, room temperature
Optional: piece of vanilla bean or scraped seeds

Put liquids in Vitamix jug first, then dry ingredients, ending with hemp seeds.  Blend, using the plunger to help mix everything up so it's consistently smooth, about 1 minute.  If mixture looks a little dry, add a little more agave until it gets running more smoothly. Scrape into a jar with a lid. 

I used this as a spread on a wrap with bananas, but can also see this plopped into homemade ice cream in the last few minutes to make fudge chunks, or to sandwich two cookies together.  It's pretty rich and nutty tasting! 

Holy Hannah!

Ever since I received Vegan Desserts by Hannah Kaminsky for Christmas, I knew we had to throw a pool party just so I could make the Watermelon Bombe. Well, those parties were this weekend!

So this isn't a last minute dessert idea...it requires planning to make the avocado-mint, coconut vanilla and watermelon-chocolate chip sorbet layers. But every ounce of planning was worth it! Sooo yummy!

Btw - shameless plug for my biz...if you are in Ottawa, you can follow my BetterSweet Treats on twitter! @bettersweet613 - I'll embed a link when I get to a PC!

Diner Dinner

I've been feeling a bit retro lately - not sure if the logo design for the new biz influenced that or not - but I've been craving healthy junk food.

Dreena Burton's Spicoli Burgers (sans bun) with Chloe Coscarelli's Oven-Baked Fries and Sweet Tomato Ketchup are hearty and filling but not in a heavy, bloated way! A serving of crispy kale chips rounds out the meal.

Except I'm forgetting dessert! Thanks to a recent promo through VegNews, I got ahold of Mr. Nice Guy's recipe for vegan Lemon Meringue Pie. Check out the pile of vegan (no eggs!) meringue! Insane! This tasted great! Came together so quickly!  Might add this to my BetterSweet Treats lineup!  Although I might have to change my tagline to Cupcakes and Cookies and one super yummy Lemon Meringue Pie!

BetterSweet Treats...now open!

My little home business is now taking orders! Vegan, allergy-friendly cupcakes and cookies! Made in my soy-free, peanut-free and tree-nut free kitchen!

Check out my website!
www.bettersweettreats.ca