Sharing is caring

Overall, I would say I am a pretty giving person. I'd give up a seat or a close parking spot for the elderly. The shirt off my back if you ask. You get the point.

The one time though I DO have a problem with sharing is when it comes to dessert. I cringe a little on the inside when someone wants to have a bite of the delectable dessert I am trying to eat.

I have eyed Mama Pea's dough ball recipe many times. So many I could probably recite the ingredients by heart. Then she posted a new version of the recipe. Sadly, I had no juicy story to tell nor could I even think of a decent lie to enter her giveaway. I had come to the conclusion it was time to finally make my own.

Oh so delicious. Everything I could have dreamed of. But when it came time to follow through on my idea to share some of these yummy morsels with my coworkers (after I cooked a fresh batch on my lunch break) I couldn't. I'm too greedy.

At least i'll share my recipe.

Adapted from Mama Pea's recipe you can find here.
Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Dough Balls
Serves: Me (hehe just kidding I got about 30 from this batch)

* 1/2 c. Earth Balance
* 3/4 c. peanut butter
* 1/2 c. brown sugar
* 3/4 c. powdered sugar
* 1/2 t. vanilla extract
* 1 t. baking powder
* 1/2 t. baking soda
* 3/4 t. salt
* 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
* 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
* 1/2 c. all purpose flour
* 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
~Beat margarine, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla until fully incorporated.
~In a separate bowl, combine baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder & flours.
~Add dry mixture to the "wet" ingredients in 3 stages. Mix until you have a dough.
~Add chocolate chips. Combine & chill for 30 minutes.
~Scoop dough with a large soup spoon and place balls on a cookie sheet.
~Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest/cool before trying to eat them all.

They will look like this.



or this..


Hopefully your clean pan will look better than mine. Let's call it "seasoned" shall we?

Once they've cooled, it's fair game.

I thought i'd be less tempted to eat them if I cooked them in small batches. Too bad I ate the raw dough as I was making them :) I suggest cooking them in 1 batch though as they were a little too crumbly by bake time #3. It's all good though, a splash of almond milk and they were morphed from dough ball to tender "normal" cookie.

Once I came to my senses that I wasn't being "nice" I took some dough balls to work to share. One for each of my coworkers.

Two for me.

I have a problem.

I am a hoarder.

Of recipes. Cookbooks. DVDs/DVR'ed cooking shows. Some say it's an obsession. I think it's perfectly normal. I have a medium sized library of cookbooks. Buuuuuut my e-folders are overflowing with "to be tried" recipes. So what that I have a least a half dozen regularly pre-set cooking shows to be recorded throughout the week? Or that I enjoy spending my Sunday mornings curled up on the couch enjoying some down time with Giada, Nigella or Aarti? Nothing wrong with this..

At least I don't think it will get me hauled off to the loony bin or aired on TLC. Right?

I've been *attempting* to check off two of the many recipes in my e-folder for the last two weeks. Each time I open my laptop, there they are. Staring at me. Begging to be made. Since I had to bake a cake tonight, I figured 'hey, kitchen will already be a disaster, why not make more mess?'

Two down. One million to go.

I chose these two recipes as I will be going camping in a few weeks and while i'm no novice to camping, I AM newly vegetarian. Read: Camping meals of the past included burgers, hot dogs, eggs, bacon, sausage, chips & pretzels. No, i'm not joking. So, i'm starting out now, so I won't be scrambling at the very end. Packing, for me, is hard enough lol.

1) Mama Peas Baked Oatmeal Squares



I followed her recipe exactly EXCEPT I subbed golden raisins in for some of the cranberries. Mine did not seem to set as well as hers. I did bake them at 375 degrees for 30 minutes though instead of 350 for 45 min (was baking recipe #2 and I didn't want to waste electricity by having to bake yet another item). Perhaps that made the difference? Either way, will be trying these at least 2 more times before camping--1) I will make the recipe, refrigerate overnight & then bake & 2) Follow her baking instructions :)

2) Ashley @ Edible Perspectives Buckwheat Bread

I did adapt her recipe some as a) I didn't have millet & B) I was craving pizza when I started baking :) The spices need a tad more tweaking but delish first time 'round!



"Pizza" Buckwheat Bread
1/2 c + 2 T raw buckwheat flour [ground from raw buckwheat in a blender – not Kasha or toasted buckwheat]
1/2 c + 2 T whole wheat pastry flour
2 T chia seeds
2 T ground flax meal
3/4 c nutritional yeast
2 T dried oregano
1 T dried basil
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t sea salt
LOTS of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c +2 T unsweetened almond milk
3/4 c water
1/2 t baking powder
1 T unsweetened apple sauce
1 T olive oil
Sesame seeds, for topping

1) Preheat oven to 375* and grease bottom + sides of a 9×9 square pan.
2) Stir together buckwheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, chia seeds, flax, baking powder, nutritional yeast, and all spices in a medium sized bowl.
3) Add in water, nut milk, applesauce + oil and stir until just combined.
4) Pour into pan, and evenly spread. Sprinkle top with sesame seeds.
5) Bake for about 42-46 min, until golden brown + cracked all over the top.

Perrrrrrrfect with a schmear of tomato paste.


All in all two very successful yummy trial recipe runs. Very pleased to have 2 checked off! What are two recipes you have been wanting to check off? What's stopping you?

Veggies + Dessert= Yummmmmmy

Of all the ways i've come to appreciate veggies, none will ever stand up to the addition of veggies in a dessert. Yes, that's right. Dessert. For those who think veggies do not belong in dessert obviously never had a delicious piece of carrot cake or zucchini bread.

Go ahead. Argue with me that there is no nutritional value of veggies in something loaded with sugar. I don't care. Let me eat cake!

Dilemma though. While those two delectable treats have two of my favorite veggies they are also LOADED with the bad for you stuff I am trying to avoid. So, what does one do when they want something so yummy and delicious but don't want the garbage that's usually in it? Experiment, of course.

Enter Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread.


With melted earth balance...oh my (BF thought it was real butter..ha!)


So moist, so delish. It was so good, we have polished off 3/4 of the loaf (in one day!). I was forced to put the second loaf in the freezer. So as not to be forced to make more.

Pretty delicate though. Might need to try another flax egg. Hmm.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread Makes 2 loaves
Servings: Depends on how restrained you are ;)
1 c AP flour
1 c whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
2 c shredded zucchini
3 T flax eggs
1 c sugar
3/4 c brown rice syrup
4 T earth balance, melted
4 T canola oil
1/2 c applesauce, unsweetened
1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, sift dry ingredients together (except sugar). Mix in chocolate chips. Set aside.

3. Using a box grater, shred enough zucchini to make 2 c (about 1 1/2 zucchini). Squeeze out any liquid and set aside.

4. In another bowl, mix together sugar, brown rice syrup & flax egg until incorporated. Add oil, earth balance, applesauce & mix until combined.

5. Add liquid to dry ingredients, stir to combine. Fold in shredded zucchini~be careful not to overmix.

6. Pour batter into loaf pans coated in cooking spray OR earth balance & flour. Bake for 45 min or until knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

*Ideally I would rather have used all whole wheat pastry flour, but I just barely had 1 c left.
*You could completely omit the white sugar and use all brown rice syrup or agave nectar.
*I think this would work equally as well with shredded carrots.
*Side Note: I was kinda surprised to see that dark chocolate has dairy. Whereas semi-sweet chocolate did not. Hmm.

Don't get me wrong, this probably isn't a whole lot better than any other zucchini bread as far as calories are concerned. But it's homemade. With better ingredients than I would find in those at the grocery store. And who else would use Ghirardelli chocolate chips in their zucchini bread?? :)