Peanut Butter and Almond Butter Cups (Vegan)

Ever miss Reese's peanut butter cups, but can't stand the thought of eating them with all their sugar, dairy, and overall unhealthiness. 

Well, now you can make your own peanut butter, or any nut butter, cups! 

Original recipe form My New Roots, found here: http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2013/03/superfood-nut-butter-cups/

Ingredients: 

Basic Raw ChocolateMakes about 1 ½ cups

• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp. melted cacao butter (I omitted this and they turned out fine)
• ¾ cup raw cacao powder
• 1/3 cup raw honey (sub. maple syrup or agave for vegan)
• 2 Tbsp. lucuma (optional – add 2 Tbsp. of maca or cacao powder if not using) (Again I omitted and used cocoa powder) 
• ¼ tsp. sea salt
• extra sea salt for garnish, if you want

Nut Butter Filling:

I did peanut butter and almond butter to experiment! I used store bought peanut butter and almond butter so I didn't really add any sweetener or salt to my filling!

• 1/2 cup almond butter (or any nut butter: cashew, pecan, hazelnut…) 
• 1 Tbsp. raw honey (maple syrup or agave)
• 1 Tbsp. lucuma powder (optional – add 1 Tbsp. of sweetener if not using) (I didn't use any extra sweetener as I used store bought peanut butter and almond butter)
• sea salt to taste

Instructions: 

1. Start with mixing together the chocolate. I melted my coconut oil for a few seconds in the microwave and then whisked in agave, but you can melt it over a stove top!

2. Once mixed, shift in the cocoa powder, salt, and the lucuma, if using.

3. Add about 1/3 of chocolate mixture into cups and place in freezer to set up, about 15 minutes. It's best to use silicone or paper cup molds so you can easily remove the cups when done!

4. While freezing, make nut butter filling. Again I just put the nut butter in with no add-ins as I thought it would be too sweet and salty.

5. Spoon nut butter on top of set up chocolate. Original recipe says to roll into balls and flatten, but that wasn't working for my store bought as it was too gooey so I went with just straight spooning nut butter into cups.

6. Immediately spoon remaining chocolate on top of nut layer. Make sure to cover nut butter and then return cups to freezer for final freeze.

7. Allow cups to fully freeze so when removing cups there should be no problem separating them form the molds. 

8. Enjoy! Store in container in freezer or fridge!

Vegan Cookie Dough Snack Bites

Okay so these may not be the healthier, but considering what's in it it's definitely better than any packed sweets you can buy at the store. I don't know how, but these honestly taste like raw cookie dough minus the whole salmonella issue. (It's the little vegan wins in life.) 

Again another really great recipe for college students. It requires 5 simple ingredients, no bake, just need to rest in the fridge or freezer, and are super fast and easy to make!

Originally posted by Primally Inspired, found here: http://www.primallyinspired.com/cookie-dough-snack-balls/

Ingredients: 

1-1/2 coconut flakes
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted or softened)
1/2 peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 chocolate chips

Instructions: 

1. Add everything except the chocolate chips together. My tip here is when you melt the coconut oil, melt the peanut butter with it to make it mix easier. 

2. Stir in the chocolate chips. I used chips that were 67% cacao. Usually chocolate high in cacao is vegan. 

3. Roll batter into 1 inch balls and freezer for a few minutes

4. Ta-da! Warning these melt easily so I'm keeping mine in the freezer! 

Almond Butter and Chia Seed Jam Bars

Spontaneous late night no-bake treats! Easy to make and quick! I think these are a great treat without tons of sugar! 

Original recipe from This Rawsome Vegan Life, found here: http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/2014/10/almond-butter-chia-jam-bars-with.html#.VGdkuktU1g0

Ingredients: 

Almond butter base:

• 1 cups rolled oats 

• 1/2 cup almond butter

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup 

• 1/4 cup flax seeds

Jam: 

• 1 cup berries

• 4 tablespoons chia seeds

*I cheated and used pre made jam and added chia seeds to it. But do as you please! 

Chocolate topping:  

Also from This Rawsome Vegan Life, found here: http://www.thisrawsomeveganlife.com/2012/01/health-by-chocolate.html

• 1/2 cup coconut nectar or date paste (I didn't have as much date paste, but it worked out fine)

• 3/4 cup cacao powder

• 1/3 cup coconut oil or cacao butter, melted

Instructions:

1.  Start with the base and grind the oatmeal into a oat flour in a blender/food processor. Mix the oat flour with the remaining ingredients for the base layer. I put my oat flour and almond butter back in the food processor to have it mix easier. 

2. Press the base mixture into a lined pan and place in the freezer to firm up. 

3. While base is setting, make the jam layer. If making homemade, mash or blend berries until smooth and then add in chia seeds. Allow the jam to sit for 10-15 minutes as the seeds gel and thicken up. 

4. Place jam on top of oat base and place back in freezer as you mix the chocolate layer. 

5. Make date paste in a food processor after softening the dates in warm water. Mix paste with cocoa powder, and melted coconut oil. Immediately spread onto the bars as it will harden up. 

6. After spreading chocolate onto bars, place bars back in the freezer and allow to firm up for an hour before cutting. 

7. If still crumbling when cutting, like mine, place back into freezer for a few more hours, or overnight like what I did, and then more then to storage in the fridge. 

Vegan Chai Zucchini Muffins

I've been wanting to make these muffins for a while now!
When planning to bake these I didn't realize they weren't vegan! A quick and easy substitute of coconut oil for butter and 3 tablespoons of water with 1 tablespoon of chia seeds per egg! Instant veganization!
Original recipe from Live Simply, found here: http://livesimply.me/2014/08/07/chai-zucchini-muffins/

Ingredients: 

• 8 TB softened butter (substituted coconut oil 1:1)

• 1/2 cup honey (substituted maple syrup)

• 1/2 cup sucanat (I substituted brown sugar)

• 3/4 cup whole milk (almond milk substituted)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract 

• 2 beaten eggs (3 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of chia seed per egg)

• 3 cups spelt flour or white whole wheat (I used plain white flour)

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp ground cardamom 

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 cups shredded zucchini

Instructions: 

Preheat oven: 350 degrees F

Bake time: 25-28 minutes 

1. Mix the coconut oil, honey substitute, and sucanat. 

2. Add in vanilla extract, almond milk, and chia seed eggs. 

3. Add in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and salt.

4. Lastly, mix in shredded zucchini!

5. Spoon mixture into muffin pan and bake for 25-28 minutes.

6. Allow to cool before removing or storing. 

Store in the fridge. 

Enjoy with latte or an almond milk chai latte!