Tag Archive: Nuts

Raw Chocolate Fudge Pie

Rich raw chocolate fudge pie

If there’s any way to make peace after 2 weeks of not posting it’s this recipe.

Spending the weekend with friends or family is great but usually leads to a week without recipes. Last weekend was the exception. My friend Eury visited and stayed with me and insisted(she’s going to hate that word–“suggested”) we make the raw fudge pie recipe she’s been working on.

Whether you’re gluten-free or gluten-full, vegan or a meat lover, there’s no denying raw desserts are just better than regular ones. They’re always fudgier, creamier, more flavorful, and easy to convince yourself they’re healthy so you can go back for seconds.

Rich raw chocolate fudge pie

With permission I’m sharing Eury’s recipe which’ll easily win over the staunchest crowd. The cashew filling has the same taste and texture as any milk chocolate fudge.  If you do not care about the health benefits of eating raw and only make this because raw desserts have amazing flavors and textures, feel free to substitute the maple syrup for honey, corn syrup, or simple syrup. 

Raw Chocolate Fudge Pie

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 16 servings):

For the crust:

  • 3/4 cup almonds
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

  • 2 cups cashews
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

Method:

  1. Pulse the almonds and walnuts in a food processor until finely chopped.
  2. Add in the syrup, cocoa powder, and vanilla for the crust and continue processing until it forms a mixed dough.
  3. Press the dough into a 9-inch pan until the bottom’s about 1/4-inch thick.
  4. For the filling, process the cashews into a fine powder. Make sure not to over blend them into cashew butter.
  5. Add in the maple syrup and water and continue blending until smooth.
  6. Add in the rest of the ingredients and process until it forms a smooth liquid filling.
  7. Pour the filling over the crust and spread into an even layer.
  8. Refrigerate for ~4 hours until the center has set. Cut with a sharp knife into servings. Refrigerate when not enjoying.

Homemade Honey Roasted Cashews

Homemade Honey Roasted Cashews

I’m not sure when but at some point nuts became one of the most expensive items in the grocery store. It’s a shame. They’re one of the healthy foods that are naturally delicious, but dressing them up never hurts.

These have become my go-to afternoon snack. They’re perfect for a slight sweet craving or to throw on yogurt or even a tofu stir-fry.

I’m not sure if the egg white is completely necessary for this recipe but I love the texture of the sugar on the cashews after they’re baked. You can spice these up easily by adding in some cinnamon.

Homemade Honey Roasted Cashews

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups cashews
  • 1 Tablespoon egg white
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Homemade Honey Roasted Cashews Roasted

Method:

  1. Preheat you oven to 325 degrees.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the egg white, honey, sugar and salt until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
  3. Mix the cashews with the wet ingredients until they are covered.
  4. Lay the cashews out on a non-stick surface in a single layer.
  5. Roast for 15-20 minutes until the edges begin to darken slightly, taking care not to burn them.
  6. Remove the cashews from the oven and let them cool completely.
  7. Break the cashews apart and store them in an air-tight container at room temperature.

Homemade Honey Roasted Cashews Yield

Purely addicting.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Almonds

Pumpkin Spice Almonds

The nice thing about Fall and cooler temperatures is that it gets me to use the oven more. During the Summer I’d much rather make ice cream than cupcakes but recently I’ve been using my oven more and more. The kitchen is quickly becoming my favorite room again.

Roasting nuts is something I make time to do every year. You can come up with the most fun flavors using different spices, and they always are a healthier treat, too. A lot of the time I think I like pumpkin pie spice more than pumpkin itself. These almonds have all the right flavors to make you think of Fall in a portable, no-mess snack.

Pumpkin Spice Almonds Serving

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, there are plenty of recipes online to make your own. If you don’t feel like looking up a recipe, just toss together cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg to get a range of flavors.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Almonds

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cup raw almonds
  • 1/2 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/4 tablespoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients until the almonds are coated well.
  3. Lay out the almonds on a non-stick baking tray.
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes disturbing the almonds halfway through until they’ve roasted to a darker brown. They should still be slightly sticky when you take them out.
  5. Let the almonds cool, break any that are stuck together apart, and store them at room temperature.

Pumpkin Spice Almonds Yield

These are a great snack to leave out at a party. Clean out a mini-pumpkin and serve it in that for something festive.

Bark, Bark, Bark

Yesterday I was supposed to go to the store and pick up ingredients to make bark last night. Before I could it started raining, so that never happened. Sure, it stopped raining and the sun came back out but by that time I was home and too comfortable to do more than look at bark recipes online and drool a little.

As I was looking through the bark recipes I have on this site, I realized I only had 4. That’s a shame since it’s one of my favorite things to make and it’s so so easy. I’ll be sure to improve on that from now on; you can never have too much bark.

Peanuts-And-Pretzels-Dark-Chocolate-Bark

I made this peanuts and pretzels bark back in November when I was staying with friends for a few nights, but I stole a taste before I gave it away and I have to say it’s one of my favorites ever. You just can’t go wrong with peanut butter chips, especially in salty-sweet desserts.

Roasted-Hazelnut-And-Candied-Ginger-Bark-serving

Roasted hazelnut and candied ginger bark is definitely the most elegant bark I’ve ever made. I also used high quality baking chocolate instead of chocolate chips for these and I have to say that brought the recipe to a whole new level.

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I have weird tastes; I love bitter things. I’ve even eaten coffee beans whole on their own. That being said, they definitely taste better with chocolate. That’s why I love espresso bark. It’s also a hell of a lot cheaper than buying chocolate covered coffee beans, which are also amazing.

triple-nut-bark

My body’s two main food groups are probably chocolate and nuts, so this is practically like taking a vitamin. You could really use any nuts you like but I like making this triple nut bark with peanuts, cashews, and almonds and a little salt for extra flavor. But you really can’t go wrong as long as there’s chocolate and nuts involved.

I’ll be sure to make it to the store today. I might spend a mini-fortune on chocolate chips and crazy mix-ins, but I can tell that will be money well spent.

Any particular favorite bark recipes? Recipes and links are welcome!

3 Healthy Foods For College Cooking

Even though I’ve been cooking at college for almost 3 years now, this is only my second semester being completely off meal plan. Last semester I spent a lot of time figuring out what was “reasonable”; sure, it’d be nice to cook dinner from scratch every night, but when the kitchen is 3 floors away and you’re tired from classes that’s just not happening. So I learned how to plan better and what the right foods were to keep around. And I also learned you can cook just about anything in the microwave. That was a pretty damn important life lesson.

But back to the food. I found out which foods worked best for me and on a budget. Whenever I seem to talk to people about going off meal plan, they have it in their head that they could eat out for every meal. I tell them the same thing each time: “That’s just not affordable.” But here’s what is.

3-healthy-foods-for-college-cooking-eggs-2

Eggs:

Since I became a vegetarian I’ve been eating more and more eggs. They’re versatile enough for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and a great source of protein. Best yet is that they’re cheap. I tend to get the 18-count pack at Whole Foods since I know I’ll go through them. I don’t worry about the cholesterol of the yolks since most science shows that it’s the saturated fats—not cholesterol—in foods that raises your own cholesterol and eggs are fairly low in saturated fats.

3-healthy-foods-for-college-cooking-eggs-1

There’s also a million ways to cook eggs, so you’ll never get tired of them. They’re an easy way to add calories to breakfast oatmeal or make into a meal scrambled and combined with sauce. And if you’re feeling really lazy, you can always scramble them and pop them in the microwave.

For more ideas take a look at the egg recipe page.

3-healthy-foods-for-college-cooking-grains

Whole Grains:

Gluten-free whole grains are one of my pantry staples. They last forever so you can save a lot by buying in bulk. I’ll usually cook a pound at a time ration it out through the week so I don’t need to keep cooking more every day. And since there’s a huge variety, you’ll never get bored with what to eat. My favorites are oatmeal, quinoa, popcorn, and brown rice, which are all full of fiber and nutrients.

3-healthy-foods-for-college-cooking-quinoa

These are great for college students because grains are budget friendly and all you need to cook them is a standard rice cooker(I use a Zojirushi), which makes it a dorm-room friendly food.

For ideas, look at the quinoa recipe page or learn how to season rice to make it tastier without much effort.

3-healthy-foods-for-college-cooking-trail-mix

Trail Mix(or nuts and dried fruit):

Calorie for cost, dried fruit and nuts are some of the best things for your budget. And they’re healthy, too! Just be sure to avoid ridiculously priced ones like goji berries or raw mammoth pecans; good old raisins and peanuts will treat your body just as well.

3-healthy-foods-for-college-cooking-eggs-raisins-peanuts

You could just grab a handful and eat it as a snack, or use Ziploc baggies and portion them out into servings to take around with you. That way they’re much cheaper than most portioned snacks.

If you happen to have a food processor, I love mixing them into homemade Larabars and energy balls for something with a different taste and texture. Some good recipes to try are raw salted almond brownies, PB&J balls, honey peanut butter, and homemade Nutella.

If you have any other healthy bargain foods to add to the list in the comment section, I’m sure others(not to mention myself!) would love to hear!

Raw Zucchini Noodles With Pumpkin Seed Pesto

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When I had the raw lasagna at Wildflour reminded me of a way to “cook” I forgot I knew. During the Winter I’d roast anything and everything and make heavy sauces for food to add flavor. I don’t like to cook as much in the Summer; I can’t remember the last time I even turned our oven on. It’s just too hot. And when the produce and herbs are so flavorful, they even taste better with less done to them.

Raw food is perfect for the Summer because the flavors are clean and powerful. While this could seem complex it takes less than 10 minutes to put together. The only tools necessary are a standard vegetable peeler and a food processor. It’s a little more complex than a salad, but completely worth it. 

Raw Zucchini Noodles With Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Ingredients for 2 servings

For the noodles:

  • 2 zucchini
  • Vegetable peeler

For the pesto:

  • 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1 1/2 handfuls basil
  • 0-2 cloves of garlic(depending on how much you love garlic)
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2-3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

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For the noodles, simply peel long strips of zucchini until reaching the center. Discard the seedy core.

For the sauce, combine the pumpkin seeds, basil, garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor. Turn the processor on and slowly pour in the olive oil until the ingredients blend into a smooth paste.

Toss the pesto with the noodles. Serve cold or at room temperature with extra veggies.

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I wasn’t sure how the “noodles” would hold up, but they twisted and twirled just like any good pasta. The zucchini held on to the sauce well, too, and since it has such little flavor let the pesto shine. It’s not something I’d eat every day because I like my eggs and beans, too, but it’s fun for a change.

Maple Roasted Nuts

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I should warn you before I share this recipe that these are like crack. They might even be more addictive than Pringles; the lab tests haven’t come back yet. I do know that about half of the batch was “missing” later on the day that I made these. Since I was the only one around, you can be the jury on that case. But really, these are very good, and dare I say “healthy”? They’re sweet but not too much so that they feel like dessert; and who doesn’t love the flavor of roasted nuts? You can think up your own joke there…

Maple Roasted Nuts

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups nuts(I used 1/2 walnuts, 1/2 cashews)
  • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

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Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Gather your nuts in a large bowl for mixing.

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Pour in the maple syrup and add in the sugar. Toss to coat with your hands, making sure all of the sugar mixture gets used up(if you’re wondering why my maple syrup bottle has a red and green ribbon on it, it’s because it was a Christmas present; doesn’t every family give each other maple syrup for Christmas?).

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Line a tray with parchment paper and lay the nuts out in a single layer. Roast for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally and making sure not to burn them. Once the nuts have cooled enough to touch, separate and move them to a container to make sure they don’t stick to the pan.

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If you’re like me, then you’re going to burn a few of these because you’re easily distracted and don’t bother checking on these at all. That’s OK because the ones that aren’t burnt taste terrific. I loved the walnuts in here; next time I would try adding in some almonds, too, for more flavor. Just don’t leave the jar open next to you when you’re all alone and have no will power; that’s a dangerous combination.

Nut Lover’s Dark Chocolate Bark

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Recently, I’ve picked up an addiction for chocolate covered nuts that somebody gave me as a gift. It combines two of my favorite things: Chocolate and nuts(so many jokes, so little time). Even though I’m not through with the bag, I’ve been thinking about how to make my own, because “fancy” nuts(again, so little time) are some of the most overpriced foods at the grocery store. Instead, I made my own in the form of bark. Bark is festive, cheap, and the perfect personalized gift. This tastes like it should cost twice as much as it took to make, and it was so simple, too! Put this under the tree for the nut lover in your life.

Nut Lover’s Dark Chocolate Bark

Ingredients(Makes 15-20 servings)

  • 1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules(optional)
  • 3oz(3/4 cup) peanuts
  • 3oz(3/4 cup) almonds
  • 3oz(3/4 cup) cashews
  • Sea salt

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Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Lay out all the nuts on a baking tray and roast them in the oven for about 15 minutes, jostling the pan every 5 minutes or so to make sure they don’t burn.

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While the nuts are roasting, melt down the chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave. When the chocolate is smooth and melted, add in the cocoa powder and instant coffee and stir(note: These don’t change the texture of the chocolate; they just add a rich, dark flavor that make this taste much better than regular chocolate chips would).

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Line a tray with parchment paper and spread the chocolate into a smooth layer about 1/4-inch thick.

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Add the nuts onto the chocolate and press down firmly with your palms to push them in. It’s OK that the chocolate will spread a little more. Lastly, sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over the bark. Stick this in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to harden. Break into individual pieces.

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This was delicious. It would have made the perfect gift if I could part with it; instead, I ate 3 pieces the afternoon I made it and just said Merry Christmas to me. This tastes so much more decadent and expensive than it has a right to. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

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What would your favorite bark have in it?