Chris is not a huge dessert person, but there are a few things I knows he likes.

Are you seeing a theme here? Basically, any chocolate peanut butter combo works for him. Hopefully this latest recipe will be added to his list. I’m about to leave to pick him up from the airport and in lieu of gifts for our anniversary I made him no-bake macaroons.

I could not think of anything at all to get him, so why not bake!? And by baking I mean stir things in a bowl, form them into balls, and then refrigerate.

Super intense.

First, I made a batch of drippy peanut butter. You can use store bought or make your own. I like to buy roasted + unsalted Valencia peanuts, put them straight into the food processor, and let them whirl around for about 5-7 minutes. I never even have to scrape the bowl! Then I add a few pinches of salt + a drizzle of honey.

Drippy, delicious, peanut butter results.

And about 5 minutes later these were complete!

Print this!

Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Macaroons

vegan, gluten-free // yields ~20

1 1/4 cups finely shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons almond meal
3 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons raw honey/maple syrup
4 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix together the honey, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt.
In a large bowl mix together the coconut, almond meal, cocoa powder, and chopped peanuts.
Add the honey mixture to the dry ingredients and stir [or use your hands] until a dough forms.
Using a Tablespoon, press the dough firmly into the spoon and lightly push the dough with your finger along the edge help it come out. OR, roll tightly into small balls.
Top with a sprinkle of sea salt if desired.
Refrigerate and keep stored in the fridge.

notes: Make sure your peanut butter isn’t the “oil on top” kind. If it is, make sure it’s very well incorporated or drained off. If your peanut butter is thick that should be fine. Use maple syrup to make vegan. To make almond meal at home, grind raw/unsalted almonds in your blender, food processor, coffee grinder, etc. until a fine meal forms. Be careful not to over-process. If they’re not sweet enough add pure cane sugar, not extra honey [or they may get too soft].

On my way out the door! Happy weekend!

Ashley

FIRST.

A few updates on the new blog:

You may experience issues accessing old posts. They’re all there but links from other sites to my site are currently not working.
Also, on my recipe page, at least 1/2 of the links don’t take you to the actual post. You’ll get a message saying “page not found.” You can try to search for the recipe in the ”search” box in the right sidebar with quotes around the recipe title. ie: “black bean crema”
- Both of these linking issues should be resolved, but I can’t promise when. I really appreciate your patience and am sorry for the problems. If there is a recipe you’re looking for but can’t find or a recipe link that isn’t working, feel free to contact me via facebook or twitter. I’ll shoot you the direct link as soon as I get the chance.
I’ve made the “search” tool a bit more user friendly. At first, it wasn’t sorting by date and pulling from comments as well as posts. It’s now sorted by date and only searches my posts, faq page, and about page.
Comments work pretty differently through Sqaurespace, my new host + blogging platform. I’m no longer using Wordpress and don’t have access to the widgets and plug-ins we’re all used to. At this time SS does not offer comment reply capability.
- I’m still deciding the best way to go about answering comments. For now, when you have a specific question, you will have to check back for my response. Look for a comment from me with “@ your name” followed by my response. I may answer multiple questions in one comment reply box. While there are many plusses to using SS, this is probably the biggest con.
I have updated my Feedburner [RSS] link and it seems to be working properly. From there, you can subscribe by email, Google Reader, etc. When I subscribe by Google Reader I’m experiencing some issues. Hope to have that fixed soon as well. Let me know if it’s working for you.

Update! I had to create a new Feedburner feed with you can subscribe to here. You can also access this with by clicking the RSS icon under the “follow” section of my sidebar. It’s the one to the right of the “P.” When you click over to Feedburner you can subscribe a multitude of ways, including by email.
If you want to subscribe through Google Reader directly, here’s what to do: unsubscribe from your current subscription to my blog [hover over the down pointing arrow that is to the right of your subscription to my blog –> click “unsubscribe” –> click “ok”] then –> click the large red “subscribe” button –> copy and paste this link into the search box http://feeds.feedburner.com/EdiblePerspective –> click “add” –> done!
If you type in “www.edibleperspective.com” when trying to subscribe in Google Reader it will not link properly. Please make sure to use the feed link I provided above. Thanks!!

SECOND.

And more importantly. Food.

My sister-in-law Natalie inspired this next recipe. She’s inspired quite a few of my recipes actually. I created it for her birthday, as she is a huge fan of chocolate + peanut butter especially when mixed together.

How I don’t already have a recipe for this combination is baffling.

It’s kind of like a melted chocolate peanut butter cup! Can you picture it?

I’m going to get straight to the point since I’ve been staring at a computer screen for nearly 18hrs.

PRINT this!

Chocolate Peanut Butter

vegan, gluten-free

2 cups raw peanuts [or dry roasted/unsalted]
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
0-2 Tablespoons sucanat/pure cane sugar/honey/maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon fine grain salt

If using already dry roasted and unsalted peanuts, disregard the roasting information. If using raw peanuts, preheat your oven to 300*. Make sure the peanuts are de-husked.
Roast for 20-24 minutes, stirring 2x during the roasting, until golden brown. The peanuts will darken slightly once removed from the oven.
Let cool for 5-10min, then pour into your food processor and turn on.
Scrape the bowl as necessary to keep things moving and process until smooth.
Once smooth, process for another 1-2min until drippy.
Add the cocoa powder + salt and process until drippy.
If using a sweetener, add that next and process for another few minutes until it smoothes out again. [When using a liquid sweetener, it could take another 2-3min to thin out.]
Store in a sealed jar in the fridge.

notes: 2 cups works well for an 11 cup food processor. If using larger or smaller food processor adjust ingredients accordingly. I do not recommend using a mini food processor. Add more cocoa powder if desired.

And a little behind the scenes action…

On Wednesday I’ll have a recipe involving this chocolate peanut butter. Oh yes. Stay tuned!

Ashley