Double Hemp Bars

Wow, it's been awhile! 

I've been busy making lots in the kitchen - I have a toddler that is happy to sample anything that prevents me from giving her undivided attention; two kids in school that need an endless supply of snacks; a better half with a wicked sweet tooth and myself - always looking for something quick to grab that is also healthy.

I devised these bars as a cross between a granola bar to pack in lunches, a protein bar after a workout (ha! When does that happen these days?!) and a fancy square that could be served at a bridal shower. 

If you've read this blog, you will see how over the last few years, I've become a major fan of the hemp products from Manitoba Harvest. A 3 tbsp serving of hemp hearts offers a whopping 10g of protein, never mind a slew of vitamins and minerals. Their hemp protein powders offer a similar nutritional profile, and I love how the Hemp Pro Fibre can substitute for much of the flour in many baking recipes!

Now onto the bars - the crust is thin and hearty, and the filling almost melts in your mouth. The hemp hearts offer a delicious nutty taste without the nuts - obviously - making them ideal to send to nut-free functions or school events. 

They do remind me of the sickly sweet, condensed milk creations my mom would craft when I was younger, but without all of the sugar, dairy and guilt! I'm looking forward to sharing these at a family function and surprising them with treats that don't have to be sinful to be enjoyable.

Double Hemp Bars

Crust:

1 1/2 cups oat flour (I like Only Oats brand...GF!)

1/2 cup Manitoba Harvest Hemp Pro Fibre hemp protein powder

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp coconut oil

3 tbsp agave nectar

Filling:

1 cup full-fat coconut milk, stirred before measuring

1/4 cup agave nectar

2 tbsp tapioca starch or arrowroot powder

1 tsp vanilla extract or seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (I like Enjoy Life, or chopped dark chocolate would be fab)

1/3 cup Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix oat flour, coconut, Hemp Pro Fibre and salt. Add coconut oil and agave, mixing with a pastry blender or your fingers until a nice crumbly texture is achieved that holds together when pressed. Press evenly into a glass 9x13" pan.

Wipe out bowl with a paper towel. Add coconut milk, agave, tapioca, vanilla and salt and whisk until no lumps remain. Pour over crust mixture in pan. Sprinkle coconut on top evenly, then chocolate chips then hemp hearts. Gently press these into the coconut milk mixture just slightly. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until edges are slightly browned and centre is bubbly. Cool, then chill in the fridge until very firm. Slice into bars or squares. Store cut bars in the fridge until ready to serve.

Tell me - what family favourite would you love to see given a healthy makeover?

Lazy Arrowroot Cookies

My allergic son attends preschool where a variety of snacks are served. I, of course, provide his food and find myself crafting allergy-safe replicas of what the other kids are having.  Every week I check the calendar for what I need to prepare; sometimes remembering to check at 10pm the night before and realizing I need to make safe noochie crackers to complement the Goldfish crackers that the others will be eating.

I was ahead of the game this week. Arrowroot cookies are on the menu! These are ridiculously easy - hence the name I gave this recipe!The only way to make these even lazier would be to buy them off a shelf...but taking a look at the ingredients of Mr. Christie's version, who would want to?

Ingredients: Enriched wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oil shortening (soybean or canola, modified palm, modified palm kernel), arrowroot flour, glucose-fructose, salt, cornstarch, baking soda, glycerol, soy lecithin, diammonium phosphate, sulphites, natural flavour. Contains wheat, soy and sulphite.

Now, these are targeted to kids - mainly babies! I'm perplexed as to why anyone would want their 10-month-old sucking on these, after reading the list of crappy ingredients. But I digress...

I looked on the web everywhere for a vegan version that also didn't contain soy, one of my son's allergens. I found one that included coconut oil and agave that was dense and revolting; almost like a sugar cookie gone bad. It was missing that starchy taste too. Plus, it required that you roll out the dough, cut out shapes, transfer them to a sheet, roll dough out again...blah, blah, blah...I loathe cookies that require that effort.

Again, enter Lazy Arrowroot Cookies! Now I should disclose that I didn't even use arrowroot. I just can't seem to find one that hasn't been processed with soy or tree nuts. I did spend some time searching online then gave up. So I used a safe tapioca flour. You could even use cornstarch if desperate! Just try to be good to yourself and find one that is non-GMO, but good luck with that.

Lazy Arrowroot Cookies

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup arrowroot starch (or like me, tapioca flour)
2/3 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup hemp milk
1/2 cup oil (I used light olive)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut 3 equal lengths of parchment paper, large enough to line a cookie sheet with. 

This is easy. Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Combine wet ingredients in a glass measuring cup and whisk to combine. Add wet to dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until dough forms. Divide dough in half to make two balls. Place one ball on a piece of parchment paper and top with a second piece of parchment. Roll out to an even 1/8"-thickness (don't worry about the shape if you can). Remove top parchment and make vertical then horizontal slices in the rolled dough using a pizza cutter. Prick dough with a fork, or a tool like I have that I think is for pricking pastry (it's awesome!). Pick up the parchment and transfer to a cookie sheet. Repeat process for other ball of dough. Discard the parchment topper sheet...it just saves you from having to scrub the rolling pin, and not having to dust flour around!

Once dough is rolled and cut, transfer sheets to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. I like to turn the oven off at this point and leave the cookies in there to hang out for a 5-10 minutes to ensure they are crispy. I then remove them and let them cool completely on the cookie sheet. Since they have been pre-scored with the pizza cutter, they are a cinch to break apart and devour. 

Of course I have pics of all of my steps but getting them on my PC is too much work for someone who is too lazy to make real arrowroot cookies. And of course, mobile blogger is acting up.

Happy 2014 & Update

Happy new year! Hope this year is full of good times and great food!

A little update - I had to close my bakery biz to new orders as the demand for vegan, allergy-friendly cupcakes and cookies far exceeded what I had planned as a stay-at-home mom of three young kids. I hope to resume baking in the fall with more healthy options too!

But the good news is that I will soon be offering an e-book that feature my original vegan and allergy-friendly recipes! I'm really excited and will share more in the coming weeks!

So my publishing my own ebook is one of my resolutions...what are you planning as a new year's resolution?

Vegan MoFo - Day 30

Wow. This is it! 30 days (minus a few here and there...I'm a mom of three and was out of town!) of hempy foods...never thought I'd be able to blog about so many!

Smoothies, dips, bread, cookies, seitan...the possibilities are endless! 

Today I have an ultra hempy post. First up is dinner - Chloe Coscarelli's Avocado Pesto Pasta. Being nutfree here, and free of many other foods that are allergens to my son, pesto is normally off-limits due to pine nuts. But swap in hemp seeds and you not only have a safe dinner, but also a much healthier one too! Blended with an immersion blender with avocados, garlic, olive oil, basil and my touch, a big handful of spinach, and they are magically transformed into creamy deliciousness. After mixing with hot pasta, I topped with sundried tomatoes.

Next up is a healthy and yummy energy bar. I love this recipe because the combos are endless because it's based in ratios - you can read about it here: http://www.nomeatathlete.com/homemade-energy-bar-recipe/

Here's my combo:

• 1-pound can of beans - black beans
• ½ cup binder - chia/water
• ¼ cup sweetener - agave
• ¼ cup soft sweet fruit - applesauce 
• 1 teaspoon of extract (optional) - vanilla
• 1 teaspoon of dry spice (optional) - cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 1.5 cups of oats
• 1 cup dry base ingredient - hemp pro 70/ some cocoa
• 1 cup stir-ins - choc chips/coconut/hemp seeds

I then topped the baked and cooked bars with 1 1/2 times the recipe of frosting from Dreena Burton's B-raw-nies. I could just make it and eat it out of the mini food processor. Thick and fudgey!

Vegan MoFo - Day 29

It's breakfast time!!!

Great way to use the many apples we picked last week + get in lots of hemp!

My fave waffle recipe is actually a Dreena Burton pancake recipe from Let Them Eat Vegan. I always double the recipe and use hemp milk as the nondairy milk of choice. It's great because the only sweetener in the waffle is the apple (which I grate) and hemp milk...so I feel a little less guilty about that drizzle of maple syrup. And each waffle gets about two tablespoons worth of hempseeds...what a healthy way to start the day!

I would have embellished with more fruit but I had to snap a pic, gulp it down, then feed a little hungry 4-month-old...

Yum...

http://books.google.ca/books?id=KqvMu7ipYzYC&pg=PT91&lpg=PT91&dq=dreena+burton+apple+hemp+pancakes&source=bl&ots=dEsuqF8OsD&sig=uws5cjkZK33BEhphdx_KYXOGj74&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IC5IUvKuObOs4APZq4DIDQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAw

Vegan MoFo - Day 28

Here's another salad dressing...this one is way more 'hempy' than the last one...to be honest, I didn't really like it. I just found it was missing something. 

I think you could have made this, then tossed in a big handful of sundried tomatoes. Would have made something like a 1000 Islands style dressing, but it would have given it more punch!

http://ohsheglows.com/2013/09/23/ultra-creamy-hemp-salad-dressing-nut-free-oil-free-delicata-squash-salad/

Vegan MoFo - Day 26

I love adding hemp seeds to baked goods...can you see them in my crackers?

Look hard...How about now?

I always double a batch of Chloe Coscarelli's Goldfish Crackers (I use homemade marg and whole wheat flour as subs) then add in about 1 cup of hempseeds to the dry ingredients. So noochy and flaky! 

http://chefchloe.com/on-the-side/vegan-goldfish-crackers.html

Vegan MoFo - Day 25

There are times that you think you have a great recipe already, and then you get schooled.

Take, for instance, my vegan French toast: I was completely happy mixing up rice milk, flour, nooch, vanilla and cinnamon. That is, until I tested Dreena Burton's recipe for Cinnamon French Toast from her forthcoming new cookbook. 

I, of course, followed her instructions to make it nut free by using hemp instead of cashews, but her recipe also calls for chia...BRILLIANT! I'm not yet completely sold on the chia pudding thing yet, but it's application in French toast is perfect! The hemp plus chia combo (plus my own toss-in of nooch!) really bumped up the nutritional profile and tasted awesome! And I used my homemade Quinoa-Hemp-Oat Bread (blogged about earlier) so it made this an even more healthy dinner!

Vegan MoFo - Day 24

Boost bread dough AND pizza dough with hempseeds!

Sprinkle in 1/2 cup per batch!

Adds pretty flecks!

Yum!

Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water

1 tbsp yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp agave

1 1/4 cups unbleached flour

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup hempseeds

Mix water and yeast in stand mixer bowl and set aside 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed using dough hook for 2-3 minutes. Remove hook and bowl from mixer, swirl in a little more olive oil to coat dough, then cover bowl with a towel and set in a warm place for 1 hour. Divide dough into 6 pieces, flatten and brush each side with olive oil. Ready to bake or BBQ!

Vegan MoFo - Day 21

I love subbing hempseeds for nut butters when they are intended for thickening things...like this Sugar-Free Brownie Batter Dip from Chocolate Covered Katie!

Hello...nice boost of complete protein and omegas to boot! Love serving it with Farm Boy Cinnamon Chips and some cool coconut whipped cream and cocoa nibs.

Ps - I use black beans instead of chickpeas:

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/11/16/dark-chocolate-brownie-batter-dip-sugar-free/

Vegan MoFo - Day 20

How else to use hemp in a way that you'd never guess?

In bread!

Based on Vegan Lunch Box's Blue Ribbon  Bread. Makes three loaves, but I double batch it to make 6 loaves at a time! Thank goodness for lots of loaf pans and a double wall oven :)

Quinoa-Hemp-Oat Bread

2 cups warm water

2 tbsp yeast 

1 tbsp salt

1/2 cup agave

1/2 cup light olive oil

2 cups cooked quinoa, room temp

3 cups whole wheat flour

3 cups unbleached flour

1 cup gluten flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup hemp seeds

Coconut oil for greasing pans

Mix water and yeast in stand mixer bowl and let stand 10 minutes. Add salt, agave, oil, quinoa and whole wheat flour. Stir, cover with tea towel and let sit in a warm place for 2 hours. 

Add unbleached flour, gluten flour, oats and hempseeds. Mix in stand mixer on lowest setting until dough forms a ball. Add a little olive oil to the bowl and swirl loaf around. Cover again and let sit 1 hour. 

Grease loaf pans and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough into three sections, flatten, then roll each into loaf shape and place in pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover again and let rise for 30 minutes. Place loaves in oven and bake 40 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool on a cooling rack then slice!

Vegan MoFo - Day 19

Well, I missed another day but I was distracted by a big bus-train crash in my community that has been major national news. My condolences to those who lost their loved ones, and I wish a speedy recovery to the many injured. 

I just can't be too lighthearted about today's entry...again testing for Dreena Burton and this time it was for Healthy Caramel Apple Sauce (Dip? Can't remember the exact name and recipe isn't close). It's meant to be a healthier version of the caramel on a caramel apple:

Clearly this is not smooth and glossy. But man, is it ever tasty! And I don't have to worry about the kids burning themselves on a hot syrup as they decorate. Now I've never tried a caramel nor candy apple, but these were yummy. This sauce/dip would be great to dip any fruit into.

The toppings were the fun part - chocolate chips, coconut and candied hempseeds! Just combine 1 cup hempseeds with 1 cup sugar in a frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of water. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until sugar is almost dried and mixture doesn't seem overly wet, then pour onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment and cool. Makes a great snack too!

Pretty

Vegan MoFo - Day 17

Add hempseeds to cooked rice or risotto to bump up the protein, plus to add a little extra colour.

Vegan MoFo - Day 16

Warning: This is an epic post!!!

Here is my recipe for cookies chock full of hemp. Forget those other cookies that pretend to be healthy because they call for 1 cup of oats to go with the piles of butter/margarine and sugar. I don't feel all that guilty for eating these, and they are allergy-friendly to boot!

These require a high speed blender or food processor to pulverize the hemp seeds, as well as a stand mixer to blend the thick dough (unless you really want a sore arm).

Best Chocolate Chunk Cookies Ever

2 cups hempseeds

2/3 cup maple syrup

3 tablespoons oil (I use light olive; coconut is yummy too)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups oat flour (use Only Oats brand for wheat-free)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cardamom

2 1/2 cups rolled oats (use Only Oats brand for wheat-free)

1 1/2 cups chocolate 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (I like my convection bake setting foe this, so i can bake them all at once). Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a high speed blender or food processor, blend hempseeds, maple syrup, oil and vanilla until thick and smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides if necessary. Scoop mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.

With the mixer running on low, add oat flour, soda and spices and mix until combined. Alternate adding in oats and chocolate chips. 

Use a medium scoop to form mixture and place onto prepared cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between mounds.. Once the sheet is full, wet the palm of your hand and flatten each cookie. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

You can also shape them into bars! Spread mixture on parchment lined cookie sheet and shape to a rectangle. Score lightly into bars with a pizza roller and bake for 25-30 minutes. Once golden, remove from oven and slice deeper along score lines. Let cool and slice along lines into bars.

Don't feel like making these? Check out my biz (http://www.bettersweettreats.ca) to order some for pick up here in Ottawa!

Vegan MoFo - Day 15

I'm tired.

I have a 4-month-old who is now waking in the night more than ever, so forgive me for this short post.

I'm even too tired to really cook anything.

Enter my version of fast food! From nothing to done in 15 minutes :)

Fast Pasta

1 375g box pasta (I like fusilli - hemp seeds stick well!)

2 tbsp olive oil

4 shallots, chopped

1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained

1 28oz can diced tomatoes, drained

1 19oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

3/4 cup hemp seeds

Add pasta to pot with boiling water. Cook to package directions. Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and cook 2 minutes. Add artichokes, tomatoes, chickpeas and seasonings. Bring to a boil then lower heat to a simmer and cook until pasta is cooked. Drain pasta then add to sauce and mix. Turn off hear and add hemp seeds and serve...easy! I like mine with a little balsamic vinegar.

Vegan MoFo - Day 14

What is wrong with this lunch?

Ah, chips and salsa. I normally snack on this but felt like eating it for lunch today. The problem? I don't find it to be all that nutritionally sound. How to fix it? 

Ta-da! Toss in a serving of hempseeds and you add great protein, omegas and fibre to help feel fuller! Although its not authentic Mexican, it is super tasty and was easier than opening a can of beans, with a greater health punch!

Vegan MoFo - Day 13

Here is a not-so-guilty pleasure:

You may be totally wondering what on earth these are...but if you like whole foods à la Dreena Burton like me, then you would know that these are Cocoa Cookie Dough Balls - delicious mounds of dates, cocoa, raisins, oats, chocolate and - standing in for almonds - hemp seeds! As I mentioned many times before, hemp seeds are a perfect stand in for ground nuts!

These are a wonderful treat without all of the refined sugar and can be dolled up by rolling the soft dough in any coating before chilling. Or you can be like me and count yourself lucky that some of the soft dough can actually be rolled and not all eaten straight out of the food processor bowl :/

http://kokoskitchen.com/vegan/let-them-eat-vegan/

Vegan MoFo - Day 12

Yes, this is another recipe-tester-teaser post.

I tested the tangy Mango-Hemp Dressing recipe from Dreena Burton's upcoming cookbook. This dressing is remarkable because there is no added oil! But it's also remarkable because there are hempseeds!!! It's so smooth and rich like a creamy salad dressing, but with a great added dose of protein! Try adding hempseeds to any creamy salad dressing!

Vegan MoFo - Day 11

I totally missed Day 10 :( 

Anyways, on to Day 11! This is my fave fast food! Wonder Pasta! Everything cooks in one pot in less than 15 minutes!

I modify the original recipe by adding piles of baby spinach to the mix, then, once cooked, I toss in a can of rinsed beans and top with...hempseeds!

http://www.apronstringsblog.com/one-pot-wonder-tomato-basil-pasta-recipe/?fb_source=pubv1

Vegan MoFo - Day 9

Ok, I've been a little behind...and my ideas haven't been super out-of-this-world since I had to skip out of town.

But what are out-of-this-world are Dreena Burton's recipe for No-Bake Granola Bars from her upcoming cookbook, for which I am a lucky recipe tester. These are delicious, easy and allergy-friendly - hooray! I had to make these again after my first batch was devoured and this time added goji berries, cacao nibs and of course, hemp seeds!