Happy summer, foodies! Today’s guest post, #2 in a series of 3, comes from our friend Seattle Mary. Mary (pictured left), a NY native and A-Tooch’s former foodie partner in crime, has been living in Seattle for a while now. She also has been living a vegan lifestyle for a while now (a big shocker, you can imagine, to someone who spent the better part of one summer consuming burgers and pizzas with this girl!) We asked her to convince us that vegan is delish with a sweet and a savoury recipe, as well as a remake of one of our favs.
Seattle Mary: Being veganish and living in Seattle is effortless. We have so many options and places that cater to this choice. I’ve still yet to explore and try all of them, but some of my favorites are Mighty-O Donuts in Wallingford; Thrive in the Green Lake/Ravenna area for a mind-blowingly fresh and delicious meal; and Araya and Chaco Canyon in the U District. There’s even an entirely vegan pizza place in the U District, not to mention nearly every restaurant in Seattle has a veggie option on the menu or will work to try and accommodate your preferences. The husband’s and my all-time favorite restaurant in Seattle is Tutta Bella, a Neapolitan pizzeria that is certainly not vegan, but happily accepts my “no cheese, add kalamata olives and artichokes” request on my perpetual order of the “Mediterranea” pizza. I belong to our local co-op called PCC Natural Markets, and I often get salads, sandwiches, soups, take-and-heat veggie pizzas, dips, etc. from their fantastic deli. They always have fresh baked vegan cookies and cupcakes that are top notch.
It’s no secret I’ve got a serious sweet tooth, and dinner is never usually complete until I’ve followed it with something sweet for dessert. One of the easiest and most heavenly tasting desserts is a vegan version of Peanut Butter Cups that I found in a book called The Kind Diet. I swear to you, these are better than Reese’s.
Peanut Butter Cups
¾ cup or about 5 or 6 sheets of graham cracker, processed to crumbs
½ cup Earth Balance buttery spread (or whatever buttery style spread you use)
¾ cup peanut butter (crunchy is best, but use what you got, girl!)
¼ cup maple sugar or other granulated sweetener (I usually use succanat)
1 cup semi-sweet (non-dairy) chocolate chips
¼ cup soy, rice, or nut milk (I’ve been using rice lately)
¼ cup chopped pecans, almonds or peanuts
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners, and set aside. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and sugar and mix well. Remove the mixture from heat, and evenly divide among the muffin paper cups. Then, combine the chocolate chips and mild in another pan. Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted. Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture in the cups. Top with chopped nuts, and place in the refrigerator to set for about 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!!
These are so heavenly. I think next time I’m going to make my own personal batch to store in the freezer and take one out for dessert each night.
2 Comments
These look taaaasty. Chocolate peanut is definitely one of the best combos when making a vegan dessert. I’ve never been to Seattle and I so badly want to go.
*whoops, meant to say chocolate and peanut butter
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