Peanut Butter and Chocolate Rice Krispie Treat Bars

Mouthgasm. 


I stole this recipe from Jaclyn's Vegan Yumminess, who stole it from The Joy of Vegan Baking.  Yep, it's vegan. 


These are really easy to make, and they're no-bake!  They taste better after they've chilled overnight, though.  I made the mistake of eating one after it cooled only for an hour or so...they were very rich and not sweet enough.  I thought they were so-so.  But by the next day the flavors had fully developed and WOW!  These are party for your mouth.

Ingredients

2 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1 1/2 cups natural peanut butter (the kind where peanuts are the only ingredient...no additives)
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. margarine (I used Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks), melted, divided
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips

1. Grease an 8 x 8-inch square baking dish with margarine (double the recipe if you want to make enough to fill a 9 x 13-inch baking pan...but you probably don't have to double the chocolate, I used 1.5 bags of chips).   

2. In a large bowl, combine the cereal, peanut butter, confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup of the margarine, and vanilla. Press the mixture into the prepared baking pan.

3.  Melt the chocolate chips and the remaining 2 tbsp. of margarine in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.  (If the chocolate seizes up and becomes a dry clump, lower the heat and add a tablespoon of vegetable or canola oil until it becomes nice and liquidy again).

4. Spread the chocolate mixture over the top of the peanut butter mixture.

5.  Refrigerate! I recommend letting it cool overnight...but if you only have a few hours, I'm sure that'd work, too. 

Peppered Tofurky and Red Pepper Vegetarian Panini

I love sandwiches and paninis, and Press 195 in NYC is one of my favorite places to get one.  When I can't go there, I make my own!  Here's a quick and easy recipe for one of my favorite panini combos:

Ingredients: 

6 slices of Tofurky Peppered deli slices
1/2 avocado, cut into 4 equal slices
Trader Joes Red Pepper Spread
Cheddar Cheese (I used Veggie Slices, because it's only 40 calories per slice)
Trader Joes Tuscan Pane bread

I like Trader Joes sliced Tuscan Pane bread because it won't get soggy and really toasts up well for a great crunch.  I have a panini press, but I'm sure a grill pan or toaster oven would work well, too.

Directions:

Pre-heat the panini press to 350.  Put cheese, deli slices, and red pepper spread on the bread.  Spray the top and bottom of the panini press with non-stick spray and put the sandwich on.  Heat for 5 minutes, until grill marks start to form and the cheese is all melty.  Once it's ready, open it up and put the avocado slices in. 

Vegan Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Mushroom and Sage

So a while back I tried out the Reboot diet, which is featured in the movie Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  The diet wasn't for me, mainly because of the amount of time it took to shop for ingredients and prepare each meal, juice and snacks for each day.  I regularly make the recipes from this diet though, since it's just plain tasty with the side benefit of actually being good for you.

My favorite Reboot recipe so far is Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Mushroom and Sage.  It's a cinch to make, and it's astonishingly flavorful and delicious.  I modified the recipe by adding crunchy panko bread crumbs to the top.  If you try it out, please leave a comment and let me know how you like it!

Click the read more button below for the recipe:

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

I love to bake, and cupcakes are the perfect size for portion control (I can't be trusted to slice my own size piece of cake).  After tasting the sinfully delicious vegan cupcakes from Sticky Fingers Bakery in DC, I was inspired to make my own!  So I bought a copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, the same authors of Veganomicon and The Post Punk Kitchen blog.

There were so many recipes I wanted to make: S'Mores cupcakes, Banana Split cupcakes, Tiramisu cupcakes...but for my first try I made a peanut butter cupcake with chocolate ganache frosting.  Then I made Oreo cupcakes.  This time, I made a chocolate cupcake with chocolate chips and peanut butter frosting.  They were a big hit with my hubby's bandmates who gobbled them right up, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

Click "read more" to view the recipe: