Blendtec Fun! (And Peanut Butter Cups!)
Warning: I'm a little loopy and stuffy-nosey as I type this. There might be some nonsensical stuff goin' on here. Please ignore! :)
I am so spoiled! Mr. Wing-It wanted to buy me an end-of-our-exhausting-travels present and after much research he decided to buy me a Blendtec! YAY! Do I have the bestest husband or what?! A Blendtec! I am one of the cool kids now! :D
Perfectly smooth peanut butter
Doesn't that peanut butter look perfect?! My first attempt at making peanut butter with my new toy was kind of a disaster. The end result wasn't really peanut butter, it was more like a peanut paste. Odd. It was my fault because I added some maple syrup to the peanuts before they were *completely* butterized (yea, that's a word now) and the peanut paste never became smooth. That's cool, I used the peanut paste to make peanut butter blondies (same recipe as the almond butter blondies but with peanut butter... or paste) and they were grrrreat!
Wanna see my Blendtec in action, turning roasted peanuts into peanut butter? Watch this video! Don't ask me why I decided to end it with a curtsey though. Too much Austen, I guess! :P
Awesome stuff! Can't see the video? It's OK, don't feel left out, you can watch it on flickr.
*EDIT: The video is one minute and thirteen seconds, but the actual peanut butter making process took longer! Roughly about eight minutes, including all the stirring that happened in between cycles.
One pound of roasted peanuts made about nine ounces of peanut butter, and I turned some of it into peanut butter cups! These are nonconformist cups, because the filling is not the traditional one made with powdered sugar, this one is gooey and it's made with maple syrup.
Nonconformist Peanut Butter Cups (makes 12 mini cups)
2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp full fat coconut milk
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt (or more if you like it sweet *and* salty)
2 tbsp ground almonds
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
(You will also need 12 candy cups or mini cupcake liners)
1. In a small mixing bowl combine the peanut butter, coconut milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Mix well and thoroughly stir in the salt and the ground almonds. Set aside.
2. In a dry glass bowl, microwave the chocolate chips on medium power for 45 seconds. Stir the chips around a bit and microwave again, on medium power for 30 more seconds. Stir and repeat until the chippers are completely melted.
3. Separate your candy cups or mini cupcake liners and use a butter knife (or any small knife with a rounded point) to coat the bottoms and sides of all the cups with the melted chocolate. A generous layer is best to keep the peanut butter cups from breaking. Freeze for five minutes or until the chocolate is hard and solid. *
4. Fill each cup with the peanut butter filling, but don't fill them all the way up to the top, leave a couple of millimeters for the chocolate topping. The filling should be quite sticky.
5. Top all the little cuppies with the rest of the melted chocolate. Spread the chocolate so that all the cups are nice and brown on top. You might need to reheat the chocolate if it's not soft anymore. Just 30 seconds in the microwave on medium power should do it. Freeze or refrigerate the cuppies until firm. I froze mine because I *wanted* them right away! :D
* I placed the cups in a mini muffin pan so they would have a nice even shape, but that's just my OCD talking.
Chocolate topping with a swirly top
My new toy also makes super smooth hummus! Although the first time I used it to make hummus it was also a disaster. That's what I get for following the recipe that came with the recipe book! I forgot to wing it! :D
Perfectly smooth hummus. Yes, I eat hummus with potato chips.
The Blendtec is fairly easy to clean, which is always a plus! I use a long brush to wash it and unless I make something super sticky (like peanut butter!) cleaning it is no big deal. This thing has some serious power, and it gets very loud! Not loud enough for me to complain about it, especially because it doesn't need to run very long to destroy whatever you throw in there. And it makes smooth smoothies, unlike my old rinky-dink blender that made chunkies! And I have made elebenty batches of dairy-free milk. Oat milk, white rice milk, brown rice milk, millet milk...
Millet milk. I don't drink plain milk of any kind. This picture is a sham!
And as if I weren't spoiled enough, the mailman just delivered an awesome package from Alisa of One Frugal Foodie (and Go Dairy Free!) Oh yes, Alisa had an awesome giveaway and I was the lucky winner of four cookbooks! Four!! The contents of my bounty: My Sweet Vegan, Vegan Brunch, The Urban Vegan, and Ani's Raw Food Kitchen! Whoooo! Thank you again, Alisa! I am psyched!!
Don't be jealous, you can also have an awesome new cookbook, and the best thing is that you can have it right now! Alisa has created an amazing eCookbook with 125 recipes and over 100 photos - all donated by lots of stellar food bloggers and cookbook authors! Oh yea, and it's free! This communal gem is called Smart School Time Recipes: The Breakfast, Snack, and Lunchbox Cookbook for Healthy Kids and Adults and you can download it here! Not all the recipes are vegan, but most recipes can be veganized these days. I will be doing a cookbook spotlight for this awesomeness very soon! :)
PS: Is anybody interested in a millet milk post/recipe, complete with creamy aerolatte foam and all? Or maybe a brown rice milk? Or both? :)
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