Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars (adapted from Healthy Seasonal Recipes by Cristie Mabey)

Ingredients

•    1 ½ rounded cup whole-wheat pastry flour

•    1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

•    ½ teaspoon baking soda

•    2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I used Speculaas spice mix King Arthur Flour)

•    ¼ teaspoon salt

•    ½ cup aquafaba (juice in a can of white beans, original used 2 eggs)

•    1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree

•    ½ cup applesauce (original used oil)

•    ½ cup dark pure maple syrup

•    2 tablespoons oil

•    2 teaspoons vanilla extract

•    ½ teaspoon buttery sweet dough extract (King Arthur Flour)

•    ¾ cup mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life or other brand)

•    1/3 cup dark chocolate for topping

Instructions

1  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously coat a 9 by 9-inch pan with cooking spray.

2  Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a large bowl. Whisk eggs, pumpkin, applesauce, oil, maple syrup, buttery sweet dough extract and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until moistened. Add chocolate chips and stir until just combined.

Spread the batter out into the prepared pan. Bake until the bread has risen and the center springs back when lightly touched, 40 minutes or until the cake is set and pulling away from the edges. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire cooling rack. To make topping put small pieces of chocolate into a zip-lock sandwich bag. Microwave for 30 seconds, squish bag, return to microwave if needed. When chocolate is soft cut tip of corner off of the bag and stripe the cake. Let harden and serve.  Better eaten the same day as it’s made or frozen into individual pieces. Makes 16 bars.

Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar, Cristie Mabey

2/3 cup lime juice                   

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ teaspoon chili powder                

1 ½ teaspoon cumin                                          

1/2 teaspoon salt                    

                                   

1 can each red, black, and white beans

1 small sweet potato, cooked and diced small

1 orange pepper, diced small

8 oz frozen corn

1 small onion

¼ cup chopped cilantro

1 tomato, diced small

1 avocado, diced small

Mix dressing together.  Drain and rinse beans and corn.  Mix together and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Before serving cut up tomato and avocado.   Serve with chips or on a bed of lettuce.

Santa Rosa Rice Salad

1 box long grain and wild rice, cooked

1 cup brown rice (yield 3 cups of cooked rice)

juice of 1 lemon

2 chicken breasts, cooked, cooled and chopped, optional

4 green onions, chopped

1 1/2  red bell peppers, sliced in thin julienne slices, then diced

1- 1 ½ cups Pea pods, diced on an angle

2 avocados diced small

1 cup pecans, toasted and large chopped 

1 pound of spinach, chiffonade style

Cutting ingredients into small consistent pieces makes for a nice salad. The nuts should be bigger in size so the flavor stands out.

Dressing:

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon salt, optional

¼ teaspoon black pepper

½ cup rice vinegar

Mix together all ingredients except avocado and pecans the day before or at least several hours before serving.  Stir in avocado and pecans and serve on a bed of chiffonade spinach or other leafy green.

Chocolate Zucchini Banana Muffins 
(OR chocolate spinach, green apple banana muffins) 

1 ½ cup mashed bananas

3 tablespoons oil

1 egg

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups zucchini, grated and drained

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup flax meal

¼ cup cocoa

1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional

1 teaspoon baking soda

1  teaspoon baking powder

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine bananas, oil, egg, vanilla, zucchini and honey. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients then mix the two bowls together stirring in chocolate chips.  Spoon batter into greased muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes and release. Makes 2 dozen muffins.

Candace has made these muffins replacing the zucchini with spinach and a green apple. She makes a double batch, uses a total of 7 cups of puree (4 bananas, green apple, spinach in blendtek) and leaves the chocolate chips out.

Chocolate Plant Based Gluten-Free Spinach Muffins (Cristie's version)

1 lb organic spinach

2 organic green apples

4 ripe organic bananas

½ cup water

3 tablespoons flax meal

1 ½ cup oat flour

1 cup almond flour

1 cup gluten free flour (or any flour of choice if gluten free isn’t an issue)

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ cup flax meal

½ cup cocoa

2 teaspoons espresso powder

½ cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup mini chocolate chips, dairy free

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix flax eggs in ½ cup water and 3 tablespoons flax meal, set aside. In a high-speed blender mix spinach, cored and chunked green apples and the bananas, blend until smooth. Mix dry ingredients together (not the chocolate chips). Add the remaining wet ingredients to the blender and stir.  Pour the wet into the dry and mix well.  Mix in the chocolate chips.  Spray muffin tins (medium size), using a medium size ice cream scoop fill muffin tins.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Repeat.  Should make about 4 dozen muffins.

For a higher loft, add 2 eggs.