Peanut Butter Marbled Rocky Road Brownie bars

Five half pence (two and a half pence?) to the first person who can guess what the above picture is of. No cheating and reading the title before hand!

Oops, probably too late for that, isn't it? So these are tasty, decadent, rich, happy little things. Like many things the recipe I am posting isn't exactly what I did. So first I will post the recipe I originally intended to go with... And then I will have a discussion about my dance

with these bars...

Peanut Butter Marbled Rocky Roads

• 2 1/4 c vegan graham cracker crumbs
• 2 T firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2/3 c butter sub*
• 15 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 light corn syrup
• 1 c soyatoo cream or cashew cream**
• 20 halved vegan marshmallows***
• 1/2 C whole, salted peannuts****
• 1/2 C to 1 C smooth peanut butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar, then add the butter sub. Stir gently until combined. Pour and evenly distribute into the prepared baking pan, pressing down with your hands along the bottom and up the sides of the pan.

Bake the crust for 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Remove the plan, let cool on a rack.

Set up a double boiler. In the large heatproof bowl, toss the chocolate together with the corn syrup. Place over double boiler, add "cream" of choice. Cook, stirring, until everything is melted. Fold in the marshmallows and whole peanuts. Pour the mixture into the pan and spread as evenly as possible (using an off-set spatula helps).

Now lay down horizontal 'stripes' of peanut butter on the oozy yummy top, then drag a knife up and down vertically to create a marbling effect.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or until set. Cut into triangles and serve. The bars freeze well, and will keep for about 3 days.

Asterix!

So my notes... I hate letting food go to waste, so a few things I did to illustrate alternative uses for things...

So...

*Butter sub. I used a mix of canola oil, coconut oil, and about 15% water. There was no need to use more expensive vegan butter for the task at hand.

** I used a failed cashew-based raw ice cream with touches of cinnamon and raisen for the cream. It had decent flavor, was good, rich, but didn't quite click right as an ice cream.

*** I used a failed batch of vegan marshmallows and swirled it in the chocolate mix, rather than getting some vegan marshmallows. I know I've said it before and I'll say it again. I try not to get fairly narrow-use ingredients, especially if they are unnecessarily expensive.

**** Other nuts are usable. I tossed some yummy walnuts in there!

Dominos - Luxury Brownies and (Coconut) Milk Fudge

I seem to have a chocolate and vanilla thing going on... It is late, sleep soon, the recipes always need tooling, but this is what I did, and I still ended up with a tasty end product.. Both products are best served chilled, particularly the fudge... I am not sure if I made an error in the confectionary process, or the veganized recipe needs tooling (or both). Ah to the recipes.

Coconut Milk White Fudge with Nuts

4 cups sugar
2 cups coconut milk (I used a 14 oz can plus 2 T water)
1 stick cinnamon, preferably Mexican canela
1⁄2 cup light corn syrup
1⁄4 tsp. baking soda
1⁄4 tsp. fine salt
8 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1⁄2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1⁄2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1⁄2 cup chopped toasted pine nuts

1. In an 8-qt. pot, whisk together sugar, milk, cinnamon, corn syrup, baking soda, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat; do not stir the milk. Use a metal spoon to skim off and discard any foam or solids that rise to the surface, rinsing the spoon in water after each use. Simmer, brushing the sides of the pot occasionally with water to prevent the sugar from crystallizing, until the mixture thickens and a candy thermometer reads 240°, about 30–35 minutes.
2. Remove pot from heat. Add butter and vanilla; do not stir. Remove and discard cinnamon. Let mixture cool to 180°.
3. Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan; line bottom with greased parchment paper. Stir milk–sugar mixture with wooden spoon until no longer glossy, 5 minutes. Add pecans, walnuts, and pine nuts; stir to combine. Transfer to baking pan; smooth surface with a rubber spatula. Chill until set, about 8 hours. Turn fudge out onto a cutting board and cut into sixty-four 1" squares.

The brownies... I have been seeking a good, dense, fudgey low flour vegan brownie recipe... the kind you get for flourless chocolate brownies. Sadly I have yet to find something that can lend the structural integrity necessary needed for flourless chocolate brownies, and the rest turn out cakey... My efforts at flourless brownies with vegan egg replacers thus far have been fairly tasty but utter failures as far as brownies are concerned. Then I saw this recipe from Coco&Me which looked promising... a low flour brownie, and my veganized effort showed it had enough flour to lend structure but not enough to dillute the quality chocolate used... The butter was replaced with a blend of water, oil, and lecitin, the eggs were replaced with Bob's Red Mill egg replacer. The final recipe could still use some work, but getting closer and leagues better than the flourless varities.

oh man, I need to sleep... More recipes and concepts coming soon.

Black Bean Brownies and Blueberry Pie Ice Cream

The ice cream is not blueberry, but rather blueberry pie. The blueberries are cooked with the flavorings you find in pies, rather than focusing on the taste of the blueberries alone. This requires two steps (three if you count making your own almond cream), making the 'pie filling,' and making the almond cream base. I think it still needs some work, it is a little chalky. Next time I make it I am going to try one of two things; blending the cooked blueberries and strain them to remove the skins et al. OR I may make the cream base, and just stir in the pie mix rather than blend it in. Also, the base will probably be good for any number of other ice creams, particularly if they are fruit-based. Re: The carrageenan, I am still figuring it out. In the recipe I used carrageenan (or Irish moss) that had been soaked overnight, drained, then stored in the fridge with enough water to cover it. So here is what I made this time...

Blueberry Pie Ice Cream

Pie filling

1 1/2 c fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen. If using fresh, wash and pick over)
1/2 c sugar
1/8 t cinnamon
1 small lemon, juiced + 1 lemon rind
1 T orange juice
heaping 1/8th t powdered valhrona chocolate (any powdered chocolate should work)
pinch nutmeg
pinch clove
pinch salt

Almond Cream
2 C raw almonds (soaked overnight then drained)
3 C water

Cream base:
Liquid from Almond Cream
1 T lecithin
1 T carrageenan
1/2 t vanilla
1/4 C ground chia seeds

Cook the pie ingredients in a small saucepan, over medium heat stir until sugar dissolves, and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for about 5 minutes, remove from heat and let cool down.

To make the almond cream: Blend the almonds and water until the rattling stops, then strain through fine cheesecloth, a nylon nut milk bag, or other.

Mix the almond nutmilk with the rest of the ingredinets, blend until smooth. Let the milk sit for about 10 minutes, blend again, let sit for another 10. This is to allow for the chia seeds to absorb the water.

When the pie mix cools, add to the cream base and blend (or stir in). From there, prepare as you would according to your ice cream mixer directions. I try to get mine as cold as possible, without it freezing, before putting it in my ice cream maker.

Black Bean Brownies

So I had been seeing some interesting recipes, like these black bean brownies, from Baking with Agave Nectar. I figured I would give them a try, only a few problems... the listed recipe includes butter and eggs. Nah gonna fly with vegan baking, mang. Anyway. The first variation I made of these things was far too 'gummy.' I was displeased with it, but my friend really loved their earthy quality. I told him "OK, I'll make you a tray for 10 bucks to cover ingredient costs."
Deal made. Friend has brownies. I have an improved recipe. These brownies are earthy and moist, nice but not decadent. Suggestions are welcome, but all in all the recipe is solid.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9x13 inch pan.

Wet ingredients:
2 c cooked, drained blackbeans
1 c water
1/4 c instant coffee
1/4 c psyllium
2 T lecithin

1 C canola oil
4 oz baker's choco

Dry ingredients:
1 C sugar
1/4 c powdered chocolate
1 t carob powder
1/4 t salt
1/4 c Bob's red mill egg replacer
1/4 t stevia
1 c chopped walnuts

Blend the black beans and waters until smooth. Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium heat, melt the chocolate into the oil. Add the melted chocolate and the rest of the ingredients, mix until consistent.

In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix until consistent.
Pour into greased 13x9 inch pan, bake for 30-40 minutes, until brownies are set. Take down, let cool overnight in the refrigerator or freezer. I prefer them frozen, but hey, your call.