Friday, March 5, 2010

Coconut chocolate success plus almost raw protein cookies

Happy Friday everyone!


I've got a lot to be happy about today! The weather is stunning, I've got an amazing recipe to share with you, my new batch of coconut oil chocolates turned out fantastic, and I WON a contest! Wahoo!


So, let me start with the contest! I entered Bitt's chia contest and won a 2lb bag of Chia Seeds Direct chia seeds. I'm so stoked and it was perfect timing as I just ran out of these "little bladders." Thanks Bitt for the giveaway:)


Last night the hubby was thinking that maybe he wasn't getting enough protein ( I know, I know). He eats what I make so lots of veggies, seeds, nuts, healthy oils, quinoa etc! I know that he eats enough because I make sure we eat a lot of foods that contain protein. Plus he takes Vega everyday. But to tame his worries I decided to make an uncooked protein cookie. I took inspiration from Ani Phyo’s Oatmeal Raisin recipe. I had some cooking oats so I used to food processor to grind them into a flour-like consistency.





Then I blended in the dates with a little bit of water. Next I added the almond butter and vanilla. Its starting to come together!




The next ingredients were the raisins and cinnamon. As my food processor is really small and it was starting to make angry sounds, I decided it was time to use some elbow grease to mix in the remaining ingredients.




The final touch was the Vega . We had the berry flavor which didn't exactly compliment the other flavors in the cookie but we actually really liked the final product...yumm!



Here they are ready for the freezer. You could dehydrate them too if want:) I was really impressed at how versatile this "dough" turned out to be and so now I have a million ideas on how to change up the flavors of these wicked cookies. Maybe add in some goji's or chocolate chips or hemp?? I'm just starting to feel comfortable enough in the kitchen to experiment so I'm pretty proud of these cookies (pat myself on the back haha).


The healthy cookie jar! Hopefully grandma would be proud:)

The hubby gobbling a cookie! I barely had a chance to take the pict.


Here's my very easy recipe
1 Cup Oats ( I used regular cooking oats)
2 Tablespoons Almond Butter
1/2 Cup Dates
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Raisins
1/2 Scoop Vega Sport (or your favorite protein)
Water as needed

Process the oats in a food processor until you get a flour-like consistency. Add the almond butter and dates. Then combine the remaining ingredients. Add water if the mixture is too dry.

I then placed them on wax paper and placed them in the freezer. I froze mine overnight and then placed them in an airtight container in the fridge. You can dehydrate as well if you wish.


Now for some chocolate!! As I said in my last post, I tried Averies Coconut oil chocolate but mine ended up being a little on the soft side. Averie suggested that I should try it with the agave as that is what she uses. Why did I deviate from this recipe?...I really should have known better..lol! So, I picked up some agave today and gave the recipe another shot. And?? SUCCESS. This chocolate really is amazing! Thanks again Averie for your guidance! The hubby thinks this stuff is deadly and that we will never have to buy chocolate again:) A total winner!




Hope you have a great Friday night and the rest of the weekend:)

8 comments:

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

oh i am sooo glad that these worked for you. yes, honey has some properties in it that defy freezer and setting up logic. that's why true chefs cook with butter and sugar and raw unchefs like me use agave. honey is fine to TOP things with or for an imprecise application, but for candy making, heck no. Rambling but glad u figured it out. I have a version of ani's cookies too. I never dehyd them. I only run that thing if absolutely neccesarry :)
http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2009/11/5-minute-raw-vegan-oatmeal-raisin.html

Melissa said...

Hey Averie! I learned my uncooking lesson haha! It's crazy how each sweetener works differently. Thanks for your recipe link:) yum!

Nikki said...

Yum, cookies & chocolate! Both look delicious.

bitt said...

little bladders! you crack me up! love my chia. :-)

yummy yummy cookies. i gotta put some protein powder into mine next time. good idea. btw, i have checked my protein levels with websites like fitday or something and it's always good. without even trying.

i have seen people use stevia as a sweetener in chocolate. haven't tried it yet but i would like to do some experimentation along those lines. i'll keep you posted.

Melissa said...

Hey Nikki- It was a delicious weekend:)

Hey Bitt- love the chia too..little bladders is their new name though haha! Let me know how your cookies turn out with the protein powder:) And thanks for the tip on checking i on fitday. Definitely keep me posted on the stevia chocolate experiments...yum!

shannonmarie said...

Those are my kind of cookies :-)

Melissa said...

Thanks Shannonmarie..I'm loving the raw foods:)

Ashlei said...

I really like the idea of throwing some Vega into Ani's raw cookies!