Vegan Peanut Butter Dip

I love smoothies, and one of my favorite smoothie ingredients is silken tofu, it makes them impossibly creamy. But, I feel like whenever I buy the tofu, I end up getting smoothie-d out and throwing half of it away. When I bought tofu this week I was determined to find other ways to use it, and not to let any of it go to waste. While I was perusing ideas I decided that I would blend some peanut butter in and see what happens, I wasn't sure exactly what I would end up with when I started this, but it is delicious. I started throwing things in the food processor, and ended up with an easy, creamy dip, that is absolutely perfect for dunking fruit into. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Dip:
4 oz silken tofu
3 tbsp of creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup of light coconut milk
1 tbsp of maple syrup
1/3 cup of mashed acorn squash (or canned pumpkin)
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of ginger

In a food processor puree the tofu until smooth. Add the coconut milk, peanut butter, squash and spices and process until well combined. Makes about 1 cup of dip, serve with apple slices or other fruit for dipping.

Happy Eating.

Coconut Peanut Butter Giveaway + Coconut Granola

After such a wonderful giveaway last week, my friends at Tropical Traditions, decided to host another one! Today I have a 16 oz jar of delicious coconut peanut butter to giveaway to one lucky reader. Tropical Traditions was kind enough to send me a jar of their all natural Coconut Peanut Butter to try and it is delicious. It's only got two ingredients, coconut and peanuts! I love all nut butters, but I try to stick to the all natural varieties for my snacking, and the fewer ingredients the better, so I was delighted to see only two on their label. It's amazingly smooth and creamy for a natural peanut butter and unlike most natural nut butters, you don't have to keep it in the fridge. It's very temperature sensitive, in fact when drizzled on ice cream, it forms a shell coating, like magic shell (do you remember that stuff? Yum!), it also melts beautifully. It's delicious on a PB&J plus I used it to whip up a batch of delicious Coconut Granola (I also used Tropical Tradition's Coconut Oil in this recipe too). You can order your own jar here, if you don't win the giveaway. Good Luck!

This Giveaway will be open until Wednesday, September 14th. This giveaway is open to people in the US only.

First: Like me on Facebook, follow me on twitter, or subscribe to blog (if you already do so that counts too)

Second: Follow Tropical Traditions by one of the following 3 options
Subscribe to our email Sales Newsletter here: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/subscribe_for_special_sales.cfm
follow us on Twitter @troptraditions
“Like” Tropical Traditions on Facebook (Please no, “I was sent by…” posts or posting a link to your blog, they will be removed)

Finally: Just post a comment here letting me know that you completed steps one and two and your entered.

Good Luck! My recipe for Coconut Granola is below, plus you can check out more great ways to use the peanut butter on Tropical Tradition's Recipe Page.

Coconut Granola:
1 1/2 cups of rolled oats
1/4 cup of quinoa
1/4 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup of almonds
1 tsp of cinnamon
2 tbsps of Tropical Traditions Coconut Peanut Butter
1 tbsp of Virgin Coconut OIl
1 tbsp of honey

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium size bowl, mix together the oats, quinoa, coconut, almonds, and cinnamon. In a small bowl put peanut butter, oil, and honey, microwave for 30 seconds, then stir together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil, and spray with non stick. Spread the granola over the sheet and bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 2 1/2 cups of granola.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product. I was under no obligation to review it, nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review in return for the free product.

Happy Eating.

Peanut Butter Cookies

When I was little, I really disliked peanut butter. I was never a picky eater (and certainly am not now), but I can remember being at camp and demanding plain jelly sandwiches for lunch. Now, I eat peanut butter everyday, I love it and I can't get enough. Maybe because of my youthful aversion, I never really got into peanut butter desserts. But after how much I loved those Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies, I new I had to try some more peanut buttery treats. So, my expansion of the cookie horizon continued as I whipped up a batch of these peanut butter cookies. I baked the extremely delicious Malt Chocolate Chip Cookies for the same BBQ, but to my surprise it was the peanut butter cookies that I kept me running back to the cookie plate.

Peanut Butter Cookies:
3/4 cup of creamy peanut butter
1 stick butter, softened
1/3 cup of light-brown sugar
1/3 cup of sugar, plus more for rolling
1 large egg
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups of flour
Pre Heat the oven to 350 degrees, and position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. In a large bowl, mix the peanut butter and butter on low speed until combined. Add the sugars and mix until smooth and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour and mix until just combined, do not over mix. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, and spray with non-stick. Put some sugar in a small bowl for rolling cookies. Scoop dough by the tablespoon and roll into a ball, roll in the sugar and put on the cookie sheet. Space 12 cookies evenly throughout the sheet. Bake until cookies are golden brown, 15-17 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen. (adapted from Martha)

Happy Eating.

Peanut Butter Snickers Cookies

I have been experimenting with new cookies, branching out if you will. I could eat a crispy, buttery cookie every single time, and be perfectly happy, if it weren't for the my kitchen pride. I want to be able to do anything in a kitchen, please any preference. So the quest for soft and chewy cookies continues, and the more that I make them, the more I am loving them I have to say. The first of these cookies I tried, I was like these are pretty good, no crispy chocolate chip, but pretty darn good. About a day later, the bag of cookies and I were inseperable, and I literally could not stop eating them they were so delicious. So if you are a soft and chewy cookie lover, or trying to convert a crispy cookie person, these are the cookies for you.

PB and Snickers Cookies:
1 stick of salted butter, softened
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp half and half
1 tsp of almond extract
11/4 cups of flour
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 a bag of mini snickers bars, chopped
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Beat the butter and peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth, add in the sugars and mix until fluffy and well combined, about 5 minutes. Add the egg, half and half, and almond extract and mix until combined. Add the flour, baking soda and baking powder and mix until just combined. Stir in the snickers and chocolate chips. Line 2 cookie sheets with partchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Drop by rounded tablespoon, and then flatten each cookie slightly. Bake until golden, 9 to 11 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from partchment. Makes about 3 dozen. (adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)

Happy Eating.