As American as Apple Pie

We are a nation of deplorables and nasty women. This is what makes America great. We are a huge country and thus come from a diversity of backgrounds. From our farms, to our universities, to our cities, and our businesses, our differences make us great. For those of you who were "shocked" that Trump won: look around you. We tend to surround ourselves with those who think like us, but you don't have to look far to find someone that's different that you. If diversity and a difference of opinion makes you uncomfortable, that's bigotry too.

Now, perhaps I'm biased. Let me explain where I come from. I am a liberal. Note that I say that I'm a liberal, not a Democrat. I am so far left that I know that this nation will never elect a President that accurately represents my political views. I've decided that I'm ok with that. I believe that safety, food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care are all basic human rights: I am a socialist.

I am also from Allentown, Pennsylvania. My hometown entertains a weird political microenvironment that has accurately predicted the results of every single Presidential election since the Great Depression or something outrageous like that. We have urban poverty, farmers and cornfields, immigrants, high school pregnancies and drop outs, and a suburban middle class that often doesn't take note of (or worse, fears) those who don't see the world the same way they do. As a scientist, it's my job to be observant, and I like to think that I grew up with my eyes open. Like I said, I'm a flaming liberal and my best friend was a conservative. Just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't make them wrong.

On to this election...

I will be honest with you. I cried the day after the election. I cried because of what Hillary stood for to me. I cried because our country made a public declaration to me that as a woman, I am still a second-rate citizen.* As long as you are a man, when it comes to leadership, it is more ok to be black than it is to be a woman. But, that wasn't the only issue at stake.

If she had won, how many other hundreds of thousands would have cried instead? Cried because they felt the same frustration of being the backbone of the country and still being told that they are second-rate? Cried because they didn't want more of the same: they wanted their voices heard and they want change.

If we're all honest with ourselves, the frustration is not with each other. Our mutual frustration is a product of a faulty political system. The 2016 Presidential Election presented us with an impossible choice between two flawed candidates. We chose to see the best in the candidate we voted for, which meant that we had to overlook some serious problems. For me, Hillary's presidency would have represented affirmation that women are equals in this country.* Unfortunately, sexism is still a reality and as much as I wanted to believe it, having a woman as president won't make that disappear.

#imstillwithher, but I'm terribly disappointed in the liberal response to this election. We were aghast when in the 3rd debate, Trump said that he wouldn't accept the results if he lost. But suddenly, it's ok for us to protest democracy? Because we are "right"? In observing this election, there has been so much hate. Trump has been spewing hatred and intolerance, but actually his supporters (the ones that are friends with me, at least) have not. Ironically, Hillary was very civil, but Hillary supporters have been calling Trump supporters every nasty and deplorable name in the book. Apparently, this scolding, name-calling, and belittling was supposed to shame Republicans into thinking our way?

Let's go back to what we've identified ourselves as in this election: "deplorables" and "nasty women." Insults thrown at us by the opposite party. We are all an integral part of the web here, people. I'm scared too, but instead of "unfriending" people because they are different, let's stick together. We've been scared before, we've disagreed before, and in the end we are the great nation that we our today. Our differences were what made this country strong: it's time to embrace them. Let's stand together for love and tolerance. It's as American as apple pie.

Yes, I used a filter. Turns out, that even though brown sugar is tastier in the crumble, it's less photogenic.

Easy Apple Crumble Pie

Crust

1 1/3c flour
1/2t salt
1/2c chilled butter Crisco (yes, Crisco is vegan. Not healthy, but vegan)
4T ice cold water

Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until combined. Roll out and then flip into pie pan. Cut down to size. It's that easy!
(To make this even easier, buy a crust. But a crust made with butter Crisco will really rock your world. Or, to make it gluten free, just skip the crust)

Crumble Filling

4 apples, sliced and cubed. I like to leave the skins on.
1/2c rolled oats
1/4c Earth Balance buttery spread (or vegetable oil)
1/2c brown sugar
1/4c flour (omit if making gluten free)
1T cinnamon

Cube apples. In a separate bowl (or perhaps the one you made your crust in, dish economy!) combine oats, Earth Balance, brown sugar, flour & cinnamon.

Putting it together...

Preheat oven to 400F. Put apples into crust, top with the sugary oats mixture. Create a "shield" with aluminum foil and place it over the crust to prevent it from getting burnt. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until apples are tender. Enjoy one of the great parts of being an American!



*Gross oversimplification of a very complex election. This is a blog post though and if I went into detail on all of the issues I felt were represented, no one would read it.

#keepitkind Comments of love and tolerance only, please.

Chocolate Banana Walnut Muffins

Bananas... the original super food of endurance athletes. Renowned for their potassium and easily digestible sugars, bananas are also packed with C and B vitamins and micronutrients. Unfortunately for me, even after repeated attempts to make myself like them, I've never been a huge fan of bananas. With my quest for recipes with that minimize added sugar, I decided that I should give bananas one more go. Last week, bananas were on sale for $0.29/ lb at our local grocery store so I committed to experimentation by purchasing two pounds. I've become pretty good at using applesauce in my recipes (like my chocolate peanut butter muffins last week) so I decided that I'd take it slow and try for a chocolate banana muffin, substituting banana puree for applesauce. The result was these muffins, which are like a new and improved banana bread. Adding cocoa powder, which is rich in flavanols, can improve circulatory function and enhance recovery. I did add sugar to these, but I think if you are really against it, you can substitute the banana for apple sauce in last week's make a really portable and balanced breakfast treat. Alternatively, these are decadent enough that you can go the other direction, whip up some icing, and make these into full-fledged cupcakes. Enjoy!

Chocolate Banana Walnut Muffins

2c flour
3/4c sugar
1/2c unsweetened cocoa powder
1t baking soda
2t baking powder
1c crushed walnuts
1 flax egg (1T ground flax seed plus 2T water)
2 ripe bananas
1c almond milk
3/4c water
1T apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Mix flax egg and set aside.
3. Mix dry ingredients, then add crushed walnuts.
4. Add bananas and almond milk to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. (I hate the texture of bananas, so this helps eliminate banana chunks in the muffins.)
5. Add flax egg, banana & almond milk, and water.
6. Stir in apple cider vinegar.
7. Add ~1/3c batter of greased muffin tins.
8. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Yield: 18 muffins

Chocolate Cranberry Walnut option:
Substitute 1/2c applesauce for the banana and add 1c dried cranberries when you add the walnuts. My husband loves these!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins

Happy Galentine's Day! Well, technically, I think that the day before Valentine's day is Galentine's day but I'm late, as I am with every holiday these days. Today, I'm going to share a quick, easy, and surprisingly delicious recipe with you. Chocolate peanut butter muffins! I don't know what's wrong with me, but for the past few months I've been really, really wanting chocolate in the afternoon. And it's killing me because chocolate is for after dinner! Also, anyone who knows me knows my deep love of peanut butter. Seriously! When I had to drop weight for crew in college, I would just stop eating peanut butter for a few weeks. These days, I subject myself to no such torture. I will confess that I have 8 different types of nut butters open and in circulation in my kitchen right now. My new favorite these days is PB Trimmed Powdered Peanut Butter. Powdered peanut butters are great! They have creamy peanut taste, but all the oil removed, so that you can eat 4x as much peanut butter. (See how I suggested that you can just eat more rather than cut calories with it? Ha! This is the way I do nut butter...) Plus, while TSA confiscates peanut butter, you can take the powdered stuff on airplanes with you. This is a real bonus for a traveling vegetarian who wants to ensure quality protein is accessible... airport food is questionable, and even more so when you don't eat meat!

Anyways, these breakfast cupcakes are a real treat. I used a sweetened chocolate protein powder, so besides the apple sauce, no additional sugar is needed! I chose to top these with honey flavored PB Trimmed, but any nut butter that tickles your fancy will be awesome. With PB Trimmed, each muffin delivers 135 calories, 3g fat, and 12g protein. Yum!

Mmm... chocolate peanut butter muffins! And what's that in the background? Oh, just my Super Simple Peanut Butter Cookies

Chocolate Protein Muffins

1/2c whole wheat flour
1/2c chocolate protein powder (sweetened)
1/4c cocoa powder
1t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1T flax egg (1T flax seed meal soaked in 2T water)
1/4c apple sauce
1c almond milk
For Topping: 1/2c peanut butter or PB Trimmed

1. Preaheat oven to 375F.
2. Mix flax egg and set aside.
3. Mix dry ingredients, then add wet.
4. Add batter to greased muffin tins. Top each with 1T peanut butter.
5. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Yield: 6 muffins (Yes, there are only 5 in the picture. I had to taste test to be sure they were worth writing about!)

2015 Reflections & Gingerbread Cookies

On new year's eve, I like to take some time to reflect on everything that's happened that year. This year I'm starting early because of all of the big changes that have gone on in my life in 2015. Personally, it's felt like my life has been slammed into fast forward ever since I was offered my job at Carnegie Mellon early in 2014. You'll note that this was around the same time that the blog posts started to be less regular... So here are the highlights of 2015.

1. Marriage. On 05/31/2015, I got married! The wedding was fun: we got married in the MIT chapel, and then headed up to spend the weekend celebrating by Squam Lake in New Hampshire. I had obsessed over every detail to make sure that everyone had fun and I think it paid off. In hindsight, despite a rainy wedding day, my wedding photos are my only complaint-- the ones from the chapel and by the Charles river are still MIA and the ones taken at the rain location for our big ceremony are lack luster. (Oh, and if you were there... thank you notes are on my "To Do" list for tomorrow. I was hoping to have all the photos before I sent thank yous, but since half of them still haven't showed up...)

2. Move. Three days later, on 06/02/2015, two moving trucks showed up early in the morning in Providence RI and Somerville MA to pick up our and belongings to take to our new home in Pittsburgh PA. Because of the conflicting geographies of Brown & MIT, my husband and I had never lived together before our wedding, so we did the moving in together thing old school: after marriage! There has been a lot to get used to: living in a house instead of an apartment (3 floors to lose things on!), living with each other (whose sofa should we use? whose pots and pans? when do we go to bed?), and simply Pittsburgh. My husband has never lived outside of New England and we had both been in the Boston area since we graduated from college so it was a big change for us.

3. Thirty. On 07/29/2015 I turned 30! Given all these big life changes going on, it felt "right" that I should be starting a new chapter of my life chronologically. On my 30th birthday, I watched the sun rise over the ocean at Revere Beach with my best friend and the loaded up the last of my office/ books/ lab supplies that I left at MIT in my car to drive west. All in all, I spent 8 years in Cambridge at MIT and I will say that it was a fantastic place to spend my 20s. I was given so many opportunities and was challenged constantly over that time. Without these years, I would not have become the person/ scientist/ athlete I am today. For the first week I was 30, I was excited about it. Stable adult life, with a house, husband, and paycheck, yay! But after a week, I grew to resent what stability responsibility cost.

4. Professor. My official start date at CMU was 08/01/2015. I had been going back and forth for a nearly a year, but this was when the reality hit. I hired two postdocs and taught sophomore organic chemistry this fall. I have to sign emails Professor Sydlik. The grant writing is ok, but I have to show up to lecture 4 times a week at a specific time and prepare problem sets and exams!  Fortunately, I have excellent colleagues and mentors who were able to remind me that being a professor is about as good as it gets: you have the perks of stability and such but still about 90% of the freedom you had as a student (and perhaps even more freedom in some aspects).

5. More bikes. To complete the most eventful 10 weeks of my life, I got my Cat 1 road cycling upgrade on 08/08/2015! I had been doing well early in the season, but after moving to Pittsburgh, I suddenly got a lot faster. Over the course of a few weeks, I won the PA Elite TT title, two more local RRs, and then shocked myself at the Tour of the Catskills. After a disappointing TT, I launched a vicious attack on stage 2 but then got a flat that relegated me to 4th. On stage 3, it all came together and I beat some pros who came down to race to win the Devil's Kitchen RR. That stage race is my favorite and I am sad to see it go. I also traveled to Ireland to compete in a stage race, found that I absolutely loved it, and made some history winning Pittsburgh's Dirty Dozen bike race. After 3 years of local racing and moving up the categories, I am excited to train hard (with the help of Finish Fast Cycling) and try my legs at some big races in 2016.

Well, that's the highlights of 2015. New Year's Resolutions to come tomorrow (and you already have my recipe for vegetarian pork and sauerkraut). For now though, I'll leave you with an awesome gingerbread cookie recipe that I developed to take to New Year's parties with me. These are gingersnaps that don't really snap... instead, they have a crispy exterior and chewy interior that is downright amazing. And it's all accomplished in a recipe that doesn't even have any oil!

Gingerbread Cookies

2.5c (whole wheat) flour
2.5c dark brown sugar
5t baking powder
1T ginger
1T cinnamon
1t cloves
1t nutmeg
1c molasses
1/2c almond milk

1. Mix dry ingredients, the add the wet.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes. (This just makes it easier to shape into balls for a nice even circle.)
4. Shape chilled dough into balls.
5. Bake 13 minutes, then remove from oven. Let cool at least 5 minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.

Enjoy!

Salted Caramel Cupcakes (GF!)

It's been a crazy summer thus far, but moving day is almost upon us! Tomorrow I will move out of the Cambridge apartment in which I've lived for the majority of my time at MIT and into a new apartment in Somerville. I'm most excited for my spacious bedroom and the lack of central AC. Seriously! I'm chronically cold and it's such a bummer to have to sleep in thermal long-sleeved flannel pajamas under 4 blankets in the middle of July. Hurrah for short-sleeves and one quilt! I have also really enjoyed the space in my 8' by 9' prison cell room that has happened by trading in my queen bed for a twin air mattress. I'm excited to set up my full bed in a 10' x 13" space. I may even have some space to do core and work in my bedroom now.

One thing that I definitely wanted to do before moving, was celebrate my roommate/ best friend's birthday that was on July 1st. While I'm looking forward to the warmth of the new apartment, using the oven in a non-air conditioned home in July is just crazy. So I've been on the lookout for a good gluten free cake recipe to make before we move. The first year she found out she was gluten intolerant, I used a gluten free box mix and then in subsequent years I've used store-bought gluten free flour. This year though, I wasn't really feeling the $10 for a 1lb box of flour. So when I saw this recipe for Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes on Hungry Curious, I got really excited and knew I had to make my own version, since I hate bananas and that's what is used as the binder. This recipe calls for only oat flour, which is by far my favorite gluten free flour: since it's made by simply food processing rolled oats, it's almost a cheap as wheat flour and it's nutrient dense to boot since it's a whole grain. The one problem that I've had with making cakes from oat flour though is that the center of the cake will fall once the cake is cooled, since the elasticity of gluten is what lets it keep that shape. This has happened without fail, no matter how much binder or leavening agent I add! This recipe cleverly disguises and makes use of the central divot in the cupcake by filling it with salted caramel. Genius! 

The other critical part of the birthday celebration is the trip. Last year, we took an amazing trip up to Cape Ann and saw 4 lighthouse, visited a beach, and also had lunch and salt water taffy in our favorite town (Rockport). This year though, we opted for a lower key adventure with a sunrise trip to Revere Beach. If you haven't been, this is a great weekend to check Revere Beach out because it's hosting it's annual Sand Castle Competition! This morning though, The sandcastles weren't very far along due to a rain storm last night. Instead, we took the opportunity to revel in the calm before the storm and enjoyed the waves crashing on a pristine, empty beach. Although it was overcast, we still enjoyed the beautiful views.

Salted Caramel Cupcakes (GF!)

Cupcakes

1c rolled oats, food processed to oat flour

1/3c almond meal

2/3c cocoa powder

1tsp baking soda

2tsp baking powder

3T brown or raw sugar (optional)

pinch sea salt

1T flax seed + 3T warm water

1c almond milk (unsweeted vanilla)

1/4c maple syrup

2T coconut oil

1t vanilla

1T apple cider vinegar

Salted Caramel

1/2c salted almond butter

1/2c maple syrup

1T coconut oil

1t vanilla

sea salt to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. In a food processor, food process 1c rolled oats to a fine flour.

3. Add 1T flax seed to 3T warm water and set aside to soak.

4. Add oat flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar to a mixing bowl and stir to combine. The original doesn't call for sugar and I rarely use it but a birthday is a special occasion!

5. Add flax seed, almond milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. (Note: you don't need to use an electric mixer like most cakes, just a spoon will do)

6. Stir in apple cider vinegar.

7. Fill 10 cupcake tins with the batter and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

8. While the cupcakes are done baking (or the next day), add all the ingredients for the salted caramel to a sauce pan. I chose to be conservative with the salt and add additional salt crystals on top once I tasted the caramel to make sure I didn't make it too salty.

9. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.

10. Once the edges start to bubble, keep stirring an additional two minutes. (Or: stop when it first starts to bubble for a runny caramel, or boil up to  four minutes for a stiffer caramel. Just keep stirring!)

11. Drop a generous spoonful of the caramel on the top of each cupcake. Wait until the caramel is cool so that you don't burn your mouth! It's tough, I know, but it's only 10 minutes... Enjoy!

Nut-free version: Replace almond milk with soy milk, almond butter with sunflower butter, and the almond meal with an additional 2T cocoa powder and 2T oat flour.

More sandcastles to come at Revere this weekend!

Tropical Chocolate Sorbet

Whoa. Three days in a row this week. Crazy, I know! However, my big confession as to the reason that I haven't been posting as frequently is that I haven't had time to find pretty plates to make my food look delicious. So this has been inhibiting my writing. However, we all know that I'm not a typical food blogger. When I read other food blogs, I scroll impatiently through the dozens of pictures until I finally find the recipe. And today's recipe, a chocolate sorbet, is a particularly non-photogenic food. So instead, I will share a beautiful picture that I do enjoy looking at from one of my adventures.

Top of the Teton Pass looking down on Jackson Hole WY, June 2013

This is a picture from the top of the Teton Pass in Wyoming that I had the privilege of taking last summer. It was actually shot from the bike path that goes up and over and not the highway. It is such a joy and wonder to be able to witness nature from these points of view! This particular picture was taken the first time I traveled with my bike: my fiancé was unable to come to the wedding with me, so I took my bike as my "date." Riding has enabled me to see things from an unparalleled point of view, and while descending mountain passes is one of my weakest skills on the bike, I will never forget the view as I crested and started my first switch-backing descent in the Tour of the Catskills last summer. Incredible!

Anyways, back to the chocolate sorbet. I've made chocolate sorbet in my ice cream maker quite a few times and found that it's quite delicious. I followed this recipe from about.com and was definitely pleased: I especially recommend adding in cinnamon or mint. While I gave up sugar for lent though, I experimented with no-sugar-added fruit sorbets and found that they could be quite pleasing! My favorite sorbets have been using a mango base. Mango is creamier and sweeter than many fruits, and they are also a good source of fiber as well as vitamins C, A, and B6. Processed sugar can't compete with that! Combining it with cocoa powder makes this recipe a sure win. Unsweetneed cocoa powder is a good source of many micronutrients and antioxidants and actually is a fairly high quality source of protein.

Tropical Chocolate Sorbet

1 1/4c frozen mango cubes
1/4c cocoa powder
3T unsweetened coconut milk (the kind that comes from a carton)

Food process mango & cocoa powder to a fine powder. Add coconut milk and blend until a creamy, just churned, sorbet consistency is achieved. (Add more milk if necessary.) Enjoy! This recipe yields enough for two or a very generous bowl for one (190 calories, 3g fat, 5g protein, 10g fiber)

Nut Butter Matchup & PB Sorbet

In recent months, almond butter has stolen the place in my heart reserved for my favorite nut butter. But between the almond butter in my pre-ride breakfast, and almond milk in my post-ride smoothies, and the almonds that I like as a snack, I started wondering if I was missing something by devoting so much attention to almonds. Instinctually, I knew the answer was "yes" as variety is the spice of life and the secret to good nutrition and health. But how do the different nut butter stack up? Doing a little research, here's my Final Four nut butters, ranked on the quality of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and micronutrients in a 2T serving. It's a bit qualitative, but hopefully it gives enough data that you can look further into it yourself!

4. Peanut Butter. 

190 calories

16g fat (8g monounsaturated/ 3g saturated fat, 25mg omega-3, 5406mg omega-6)

8g protein (protein completeness score: 66, deficient in lysine & the branched amino acid threonine)

14% Vitamin E, 21% Niacin, 9% Vitamin B6, 12% Magnesium, 23% Manganese, 3% Selenium

3. Almond Butter.

200 calories

18g fat (12g monounsaturated/ 2g saturated fat, 135mg omega-3, 2802mg omega-6)

5g protein (protein completeness score: 66, deficient in lysine)

42% Vitamin E, 12% Riboflavin, 8% Calcium, 6% Iron, 24% Magnesium, 28% Manganese, 2% Selenium

2. Sunflower Seed Butter.

185 calories

15g fat (3g monounsaturated/ 2g saturated fat, 22mg omega-3, 1056mg omega-6)

6g protein (protein completeness score: 81, deficient in lysine)

12% Vitamin B6, 18% Folate, 8% Iron, 30% Magnesium, 24% Phosphorous, 12% Zinc, 30% Copper, 34% Manganese

And the Nut Butter April (seriously, it was in April this year!) Madness winner is...

1. Cashew Butter. 

190 calories 

16g fat (10g monounsaturated/ 3g saturated fat, 55mg omega-3, 2614mg omega-6)

6g protein (protein completeness score: 105)

14% Vitamin K, 8% Iron, 20% Magnesium, 12% Zinc, 36% Copper

Surprised that cashews are the only one of the four to offer a complete source of protein? I sure was. I feel like cashews are the least flavorful nut which is why they nicely add creaminess to things like vegan magic cheese. Despite this high quality protein, I probably won't start buying cashew butter, but I will start making a concerted effort to use cashews in more of my recipes. Meanwhile, sunflower seed butter offers the widest variety of micronutrients, almond butter offers the best quality fat, and peanut butter offers the most protein. So while there may not be a clear-cut winner in this challenge, you are the winner since now you know the nutritional differences between the most popular nut butters!

Peanut Butter (Mango) Sorbet

1.5c frozen cubed mango

4T PB2 powdered peanut butter*

3-4T vanilla almond milk

Food process mango & PB2 to a fine powder (best done in a high speed blender, but food processor also works!). Add almond milk 1T at a time, food processing after each addition until your desired consistency is reached. This recipe yields two servings of creamy deliciousness with 125 calories, 5g protein, and all natural sugars. Just like Arctic Zero except made of all natural ingredients instead of fake junk!

*PB2 is interesting stuff. Basically, peanuts are dehydrated, defatted, and ground to produce a fine powder. A 45 calorie serving of this stuff offers most of the nutrients of regular peanut butter, with only 1.5g fat and 5g protein. Another tasty peanut butter alternative!

Spring has finally sprung here in Massachusetts! At least for this week...

Figgy Cookies

I won't lie... the lack of sugar in my cupboard hasn't stopped me from my engaging in my life-long passion of designing new cookie recipes. I really enjoyed my PB&J cookies and these figgy cookies (you know... like figgy pudding!) are a variation on my dried fruit cookie theme. Here though, I use figs to carry the flavor and accent it with cinnamon and vanilla. The result is like a delightful cross between fig newtons and oatmeal cookies. I hope you enjoy them!

Figgy Cookies

8 dried figs
1/4c raisins
1/2c vanilla almond milk
1 heaping cup oats
1T cornstarch
1/2t baking soda
1T cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Food process oats, cornstarch, baking soda, & cinnamon to a coarse powder.
3. Add raisins, figs, and almond milk and process until the mixture balls up like a dough.
4. Drop rounded spoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Enjoy!

Sorry for the short post today! My bike race starts about 40 hours so we are in crunch time!

Ice Cream for Dinner!

We've all had those days. You know, where the day has been so stressful that you don't feel like making anything and all you're in the mood to eat is ice cream. Ok in all honesty... sometimes even when it's not "one of those days" I find that all I want for dinner is ice cream! I'll confess that I occasionally do eat ice cream for dinner (sorry Mom!) and actually when I was rowing on the national team, the US lightweights would go out for frozen yogurt for dinner together. Of course not always, but Twist in Princeton NJ was our dive!

Well, this is the last week leading up to XPot 4.0, the collegiate cycling race weekend which I organize. Anyone who has planned a big event knows that even with the best planning, this week is crunch time. On top of that I have a lot of work to do in lab and am dealing with trying to get a particularly frustrating instrument fixed. (Thank goodness I'm not an analytical or physical chemist! I don't have the patience for fixing instruments.) After a nuts day, I came home last night and didn't feel like making anything for dinner. I wanted chocolate, but since I gave up sugar for lent, that wasn't an option. I have however, been making a fantastic mango-bluberry-vanilla sorbet in my Ninja blender so I decided I'd try to pack a little more nutrition into that. Well, with 2 servings of fruit, a serving of vegetables, and 15g of protein I'd say that this sweet, cold, creamy bowl of goodness delivers in the nutrition department! I'd say this "ice cream" may actually be better than many other dinner options. I hope you enjoy it!

Ice Cream for Dinner!

3/4c frozen cubed mango
1/2c frozen blueberries
1/2c frozen spinach (or 1.5c fresh)
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use this because it provides a complete complement of amino acids)
~1/2c vanilla almond milk

1. Add frozen ingredients and protein powder to your high speed blender. Process until your mixture resembles a fine powder. I stir every 20 seconds or so to make sure nothing is getting stuck at the top or bottom.
Note: Unfortunately, a food processor or regular blender will not do! Best to wait and try this with a Ninja or the like. If you want to try it in a regular blender or food processor, I'd omit the spinach as it will stay too stringy to be enjoyable
2. Add 1/2c almond milk and continue to process until mixture starts to flow with a viscosity like freshly churned sorbet. Add a bit more water or almond milk until you get the texture right.
3. Enjoy! This recipe yields one generous dinner-sized bowl.
Note 2: Since I've given up sugar for lent, this seems plenty sweet to me. The mango is quite sweet and really carries it. However, after 21 long days without sugar my tastebuds may be desensitized. Feel free to add some brown sugar if you feel like it would benefit from it.
Note 3: I bet this would also be delicious if you added in a few T cocoa powder. Chocolate sorbet for dinner!

Meet Biscuit, the new furry addition to my family!

PB&J Cookies

I mentioned last week that I gave up sugar for lent. I feel really good about this choice, and as with most times I give up something, I see it as an opportunity to try new things. Up until recently, I've seen fruits as basically equivalent to slimy table sugar (i.e. I've never been a fruit fan.) However, with my new knowledge of antioxidants and micronutrients in fruit, I've started to come around to the idea that fruit may offer things that table sugar does not. I've been intrigued by the raw dessert movement: most of these recipes use dates as a sweetener. I love this idea, but dates are really expensive! $6 for a container that I'm sure I could use up in one recipe. Instead, I challenged myself to make a cookie using only raisins for sweetness. At 1/4 of the cost, raisins fit my budget much better than fancy dates and in this recipe, I think they give a flavorful hint of grape jelly that dates just couldn't emulate. These cookies are gluten free,  (of course sugar free,) and would be out of this world with almond or sunflower butter as well!

PB&J Cookies

1 1/4c raisins, soaked
1c rolled oats
3/4c peanut butter
1/2t baking soda
1T cinnamon

1. Soak raisins in warm water for a few hours, until soft. Be sure to check raisins for stems and other debris.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. In a food processor, process oats to a course flour. Add baking soda & cinnamon and give it another whirl to mix it in.
4. Add raisins and food process until a smooth paste starts to form. Add peanut butter and keep processing until you have a ball of dough.
5. Form dough into balls and press onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes at 350F. Enjoy!

Fastnachts & Ash Wednesday

Well, lent has officially started. And for me this is a great thing, because I definitely need a chance to reset! The craziness of grant applications and job interviews crowded out a place for prioritizing my New Year's Resolutions in January and February. Fortunately for Christians (and really anyone who wants 40 days of reflection), lent rolls around just after the holiday buzz slows down so it's an excellent time for a second chance.

This year for lent, I'm planning to go to church every week (check for getting ashes on my head on Wednesday!) and I'm also giving up a lent classic: sweets. Specifically, I'm giving up sugar & chocolate. So be prepared for a dearth of recipes based on those ingredients for the next 40 days! Don't worry, I already have some date-sweetened cookies in mind. I decided that fruit sugars (and molasses with it's high iron content) don't count; basically I am just looking for a chance to tone down my sugar addiction. My coffee addiction, however, will remain in full swing until the hours on the bike start to come down! I am also planning to keep the recipes strictly plant-based for lent.

Anyways, the day before lent is the day we call Fastnacht's Tag in the Pennsylvania dutch part of the country I come from. This roughly translates to "donut day" or "fast night's day" and aligns with my family's Polish Catholic celebrations. Fastnachts are a bit different than normal donuts, in that they are made with a potato dough on the night before the lenten fast. The idea with these confections is the same as that behind the Polish paczki: traditionally you were trying to use up all of the delicious butter, eggs, and lard in the house before the austere season of lent. While most days of the year, donuts are not my thing there is an old Polish proverb that roughly translates to "If you don't eat at least one doughnut on Shrove Tuesday, you will no longer be successful in life." Since I want to keep up my luck, my friends and I have made homemade fastnachts on Shrove Tuesday for the past several years. This year I was lazy and only made up a gluten free version, (and used baking powder and soda instead of yeast) but the verdict was that these are a success! I hope you enjoy them.

Gluten Free Fastnachts

cooked flesh of 3 medium potatoes
2.5c oats, processed into a fine powder
2T cornstarch
1T baking powder
1t baking soda
1T cinnamon
1/2c brown sugar
2/3c vanilla almond milk
1/2 bottle canola oil, for frying pot
powdered sugar for coating (optional)

1. Potatoes can be cooked in the microwave by poking some holes in the skin with a fork and microwaving for 5-10 minutes (based on the strength of your microwave), until soft. Then, the flesh can be scooped out with a fork. Alternatively, you could peel, cube, and boil the potatoes.
2.. Pour a good volume oil into a pot (depth of at least ~3 inches). Heat on medium heat. If you have a thermometer, the temperature should be 350F, but I always just wing it.
3. Food process oats into fine powder. Set aside in a bowl. Add cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. Mix.
4. Food process potatoes and add to the bowl. Mix thoroughly to get a thick, sticky dough.
5. By now, your oil should be ready to go. Shape a handful of dough into a flat patty and carefully place it in the hot oil. Flip when it starts to look brown, ~2 minutes. Cook an additional ~1 minute on the other side.
6. Wrap in paper towel to blot off excess oil. Then roll in powdered sugar, if you desire. Enjoy warm with a cup of coffee.

Chocolate Chip Buckwheat Scones (GF)

Buckwheat, hemp seed, coffee, and chocolate. This odd combination has been my culinary obsession in the past week or so (in addition to cinnamon, of course!) while I've been scurrying to write a grant application last minute. And then trying to get caught up on everything that I had planned to do instead of writing that grant. And then starting to get the ball rolling with officially accepting my professor job! I still haven't signed the paperwork, so I'm just going to continue insinuating. Once the paperwork is signed, I'll officially confess...

Anyways, back to the buckwheat. Before the last week, I had never experienced buckwheat, except once fondly in childhood, as part of buckwheat pancakes. However, I recently found buckwheat in the bulk food section, which has been allowing me to experiment with this great grain. Buckwheat (ironically) is a gluten free grain. For every 100 calories, you get 3g complete protein and 3g fiber. Buckwheat is also rich in magnesium, manganese, B vitamins, and potassium. Give buckwheat a try in this gluten free scone recipe!

Chocolate Chip Buckwheat Scones

1/2c buckwheat grouts
2c water
1T cornstarch
2T brown sugar
1c rolled oats, food processed + 1/2c oats
2/3c chocolate chips

1. Place 2/3c buckwheat in a pan with 2c water. Bring to a boil until all water is absorbed. (Let cool if you don't want to chocolate chips to melt into the batter)
2. Preheat oven to 425F.
3. Place 1c oats, cornstarch, brown sugar, and baking powder into a food processor. Food process until smooth.
4. In a bowl, combine all other ingredients, saving the chocolate chips for last.
5. Shape dough into 3 balls, flatten onto a greased baking sheet. Cut into quarters for the scone shape.
6. Bake for 20- 25 minutes, until the edges just start to brown. Let cook & enjoy!

Cinnamon Cupcakes

Hmm, well. Much like the pumpkin craze back in October, it seems that there was a cinnamon burst in February! Today I'm sharing a recipe for cinnamon cupcakes with peanut butter icing that I recently developed. I've had a life-long fear of baking cakes from scratch, simply because the first time I tried to make a cake from scratch was for one of my best friend's 16th birthday. It tasted  like cornbread. It was very perplexing, as there was no cornmeal in the recipe. None the less, it took another decade for me to attempt my next cake from scratch. This is the first cake recipe that I ever dared to devise. I decided to top it with a peanut butter icing, which turned out to be quite the delightful combination! I hope you enjoy it.

Cinnamon Cupcakes

1 2/3c flour

1c brown sugar

1T baking powder

2.5T cinnamon

1T ground flax seeds + 3T warm water

2/3c +2T soy milk

2/3c water

1/3c canola oil

1t vanilla

2t apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350F. Add water to flax seeds and let soak. Mix dry ingredients, then add wet, except for the vinegar. Using an electric mixer, beat for 2 minutes. Fold in vinegar. Add batter to cupcake tins. Cook for 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, then frost.

Peanut Butter Frosting

2T earth balance buttery spread
1/4c peanut butter
1/4t vanilla
2c powdered sugar
4T vanilla almond milk

Using an electric mixer, cream vanilla, peanut butter, and earth balance. Beat in sugar, 1/2c at a time. Add 1T almond milk to thin as necessary. Once the desired consistency is obtained, frost the cupcakes. Or, keep frosting in a closed container for up to a week before using.

(GF) Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Life still hasn't settled down quite the way I hoped that it would... this week I'm working on writing an intense grant application for over a million dollars with a couple of my postdoc labmates. This was sprung on us last minute, but we seem to have a good plan in place to get it done. Procrastination is my nemesis and since most people work well last minute, I always worry when working in a new group that the others may want to take away my bike-time or weekend fiancé-seeing time. I work very hard during the week playing schedule-tetris to make sure that I get my work done and still have enough time for sleep, cycling, and the people in my life. Although I will confess that on weekdays when a deadline is near, my friends can get ignored. (Sorry guys! You know who you are.)

While I work hard to schedule every moment and stick to the plan, more often than I'd like, procrastination creeps in when my ADD-brain gets overwhelmed with things. Sometimes it's easier to just go with the flow of thought, which is why I am giving in and jotting off a quick blog post to blow off some mental steam. Here's a recipe for some cinnamony gluten free muffins. You might be able to tell that cinnamon is my flavor of the season, my new spice obsession which seems to help me stay warm and cozy in a winter that just won't end! (Seriously. Every day it's either precipitating or frost-bitingly cold. I've only been able to ride outside once since returning from California. The excessive trainer time is killing me!)

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins

For the Muffins

2c finely ground oat flour (ie food process quick cook rolled oats until powdery)

1T cornstarch

1T baking powder

1/2 T cinnamon

dash salt

1/4c brown sugar

2T ground flax seeds

1t vanilla

2c apple sauce

1c almond milk

1T apple cider vinegar

For the Topping

1/2c oat flour

1/2c quick cook rolled oats

3/4c brown sugar

cinnamon to taste

~1/2c Oil or buttery substance (Enough to make sure the topping clumps and sticks together)

Preheat the oven to 425F. Mix the muffin dry ingredients thoroughly, then add the wet, saving the 1T apple cider vinegar for last. Add batter to greased muffin tins and let them bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the topping ingredients, adding just enough oil to wet the dry ingredients, making them clump together. Remove muffins from oven and add topping (you could also try to add the topping before pre-cooking, but this is the way I did it!) Reduce heat to 350F and let it cook for an additional 20- 25 minutes, until a fork comes out clean. Let the muffins cool and enjoy!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Bread

While out in California, most of the time off the bike was spent dealing with food and cooking. (Favorites of my own devising were lentil loaf and pumpkin curry.) Towards the end of the week, we had a surprising surplus of two amazing ingredients: cinnamon and chocolate chips. Looking for a portable manner in which to allow easier consumption of these ingredients, a friend and I brainstormed the idea of a cinnamon chocolate chip quick bread. Unfortunately for the other MIT cyclists out in California, I was too tired and the single oven was overbooked for our last evening, so this cinnamon chocolate chip bread was not realized until last week, when I was back in my Cambridge kitchen. Cinnamon is a real gem among ingredients and I have been known to throw it in everything from salads to chili to chocolate chip cookies. I am a real fan of it's flavor and it turns out it has great health benefits as well! Cinnamon is potently anti-inflammatory and may help stabilize blood sugar too. So give this quick bread a try, I'm sure you'll like it as much as I do!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Bread

2 1/2c wheat flour
1/2c brown sugar
3T freshly ground cinnamon (or if your cinnamon is old, up to 1/4c)
1t baking soda
1 1/2c water
1/2c almond milk
1/4c maple syrup
few drops vanilla
1c chocolate chips (Raisins could be good in this recipe as well)
1T apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, and baking soda. I used freshly ground cinnamon for it's kick so you may need to add more if you're using a pre-ground bottle from the store.
3. Add water, almond milk, maple syrup, and vanilla.
4. Fold in apple cider vinegar, then chocolate chips. A cinnamon raisin bread could also be really good!
5. Bake for 1 hour in a greased loaf pan. Bread is ready when a toothpick or fork comes out of the center clean. Enjoy!

Gingerbread!

Merry Christmas! If you celebrate, I hope you are having a wonderful day, surrounded by those who mean the most to you. If not I hope you're also having a great day and getting to enjoy your family & friends!

For the holiday, I'm sharing a classic Christmas favorite... gingerbread. I made up a big batch before leaving Boston and have been taking a plate with me as a housewarming gift for my Christmas visits to friends. The flavors of ginger and molasses are two of my favorites, and from the looks of my Gingerbread Blondies, you agree that they are worthwhile!  Molasses is rich in iron, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Ginger has potent anti-inflammatory properties, which can translate into reduced recovery time and therefore improved athletic performance. I think I'm going to take some of this quickbread on my next bike ride, I'll let you know how that works out! 

Gingerbread

2 1/2c wheat flour
1/4c brown sugar
1T white sugar
1T ground ginger
1T cinnamon
1T pumpkin pie spice
1t baking soda
1/2c almond milk
1c water
1/2c molasses
1T apple cider vinegar
Few drops vanilla

Preheat oven to 325F. Mix wet in or glass (I use my measuring cup to mix them). Then mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix thoroughly. Add to a greased loaf pan and bake for one hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. 
As a bonus, I bet it would be good to use the candied ginger from Trader Joe's like the Gingerbread Blondies. Use 1/4c, chopped up in a good processor or blender, and add it with the dry ingredients. Depending on your preferences, you could omit the white sugar if you add the candied ginger. 

Enjoy! Have a great holiday!

Chocolate Peppermint Mini Whoopie Pies

My fiancé and I finally finished our Christmas shopping this weekend. Well, we have a few tiny things to do last minute and we have to cross our fingers that the mailing gods are smiling upon us so that our nephews' toys arrive in a timely manner. But other than that, we are done! Either way, it got me to thinking it might be fun to share some last minute gift ideas for people like me.

Last Minute Gift Ideas for the Cyclist (or Outdoor Enthusiast!) in Your Life

Face mask: It gets cold out there and research shows that windburn can age your skin just as much as sunburn! Well, you get the wrinkles, but not the cancer. Either way, you can avoid this by covering as much skin as possible on the bitter days.

Heavy Duty Lotion: Same idea as the first one, except to help their face recover when they come indoors. Good face cream is expensive though, so it makes a great gift! You could also go with gifting some coconut oil, which is a great skin protector. I haven't gotten windburn once while wearing it!

Neoprene Booties or Socks: Every cyclist north of the Mason-Dickson line, or heck... even the tropic of cancer can use a good pair of neoprene booties! If they already have one pair, chances are they are ripped somewhere or your friend has been hoping for the chance to double-up. Yes, two pairs are really better than one! If you're buying for a runner/ rower/ skiier, I have and highly recommend these neoprene socks. Especially for the booties, choosing at least 3mm thick neoprene will give optimal warmth.

Coffee/ Tea Thermos: Having a hot beverage around is a game changer for long days in sub-freezing temperatures. My personal favorite is this one, which keeps the coffee hot for hours and can be purchased at Walmart for <$10. (Mine broke a month ago. Just as it was getting cold, sad!) Some of my friends swear by this one, that fits in a water bottle cage and features a one-finger trigger to open, which means that warm coffee can be consumed while you're rolling.

Gloves (for cyclists or runners), a sweat-wicking winter hat, and good wool socks will all also be appreciated!

Anyways, back to business... remember these Gluten-Free Oreos? Well, I revisited them with some peppermint. I was going to do my Christmas cookie tins this year as standard chocolate chip, but these turned out so well that I changed my plans and decided to pass this goodness along instead. The number of chocolate peppermint recipes in December is still trailing the number of pumpkin recipes I posted in November, but I am trying hard!

Chocolate Peppermint Mini-Whoopie Pies

Chocolate Cookies

1c quick cook rolled oats

1T cornstarch

1/3c cocoa powder

1/4c brown sugar

1/2t baking powder

1/2c vanilla almond milk

1/4c canola oil

1/8t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F. Food process rolled oats and cornstarch to make a fine powder. In a large bowl, mix oat flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, brown sugar, and baking powder. Add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Drop spoonfuls onto a grease baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are set through (i.e. the middle of the cookie is solid to the touch).

Peppermint Icing

1/4c Earth Balance soy-free buttery spread

1/8t vanilla

1T peppermint schnapps (or 1t peppermint extract)

2 candy canes, finely crushed in a coffee grinder

1 candy cane, coarsely crushed

2c powdered sugar

2T vanilla almond milk

Cream earth balance, vanilla, and schnapps using an electric mixer. Add candy canes, then sugar in half cup increments miming thoroughly after each addition. After last 1/2 cup of sugar is added, add the almond milk to thin it out. 

Put it Together: Don't be impatient... let the cookies cool! Then spread one cookie with a generous amount of icing and top with a second cookie. Enjoy immediately, or wait a few hours to let the icing set.

Final point of business...  the winner of the Chocolate Cinnamon Sunflower Seeds is...

Commenter #4, Becky! Thanks to everyone who participated, I hope to give you something soon!

Gifts from the Kitchen: Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

'Tis the season for gift giving! And what says happy holidays better than homemade cookies? So Day 1 of my Thrifty Gifts From the Kitchen series will feature just that: a delicious, simple chocolate peppermint cookie recipe and a suggestion for a cute, DIY presentation of the gift. The end product? A thoughtful gift for only $1.

This summer, my fiancé started saving any jar that came with a pre-made food. Salsa jars, pasta sauce jars, olive jars-- you name it, he kept them. When his cupboard started overflowing, I asked him to throw them out, but he did not. So instead, I got to thinking of ways I could get rid of them. Soon enough, I realized that with a little TLC I could use these jars to present the same gifts that would normally come in mason jars and more! The best part is, these jars are free. To further add to my cute, thrifty presentation I use the holiday-themed Trader Joe's paper bags, creatively cut to feature holiday designs or plain brown paper. I've been using these bags to wrap my presents for years now, because nothing looks more classic than a package tastefully decorated and wrapped in brown paper. Some of the jars have plain metal or white lids, so those work as it. Others, such as the Travel Cookie Jar above, had some sort of product label. To cover this, I covered the outside of the lid with a small piece of aluminum foil, tucked under. I could have gone one step further and decorated the lid with glitter or something else like that, but I figured Sam would prefer I keep it simple.

The contents of the jar are worth a blog post in and of themselves. These are a new, super simple, super healthy chocolate peppermint cookie recipe. I've obviously been on a bean kick for desserts: they are super easy to work with, very nutritious, and very cheap! It doesn't get better than that. These days, you can buy chickpea flour for a pretty penny and many gluten free recipes call for it, but you usually end up adding wet ingredients anyways. So I figured I'd give chickpeas a shot in cookies! Ok, it's not totally original... I was inspired by this blog post that I found last week. The result is just phenomenal. You don't even need to add leavening or binding agents to this cookie... it's that easy! Chickpeas are a complete protein, and for 24 cookies from the recipe below, each cookie will have 70 calories, less than 1 gram of fat, and 3 grams of protein. The antioxidants from the unsweetened cocoa powder and the peppermint tea make this recipe a hidden gem. I also tried peppermint green tea for a batch and that was  amazing... and then the cookies also pack the added health benefits of green tea. With all of those compounds that promote cell regeneration and an ideal carbohydrate to protein ratio of 4:1, I bet these cookies would do really well as fuel on a long bike ride! These cookies are definitely a gift that will keep on giving.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

2 cans chickpeas ($1.20)
1c cocoa powder ($1)
3/4c brown sugar ($0.20)
3/4c strong peppermint tea (two tea bags) ($0.25)

1. Boil water and brew an extra strong cup of peppermint tea or peppermint green tea by adding 2 tea bags to 3/4c boiling water. Let steep for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Food process for several minutes, until smooth.
4. Use hands to roll dough into 1 inch balls. Flatten onto greased cookie sheet. (Or if your chickpeas were extra moist, drop rounded spoonfuls onto the sheet. They will still come out well!)
5. Bake 15- 20 minutes, until cooked through. Enjoy!

To make the Travel Cookie Jar

1 medium sized wide-mouthed (salsa) jar (free)
4 inch circle of aluminum foil ($0.04)
plain brown scrap and and patterned scrap from Trader Joe's paper bag (free)
Elmer's glue ($0.01)
curling ribbon ($0.02)
candy cane ($0.08)
1/3 of cookies from the recipe above ($0.85)
Total cost of gift: $1!

1. Clean out jar very well. Remove label. If it won't come off, or come off cleanly, don't worry! We can fix that with our repurposed brown paper label.
2. If you want to cover the lid, place lid inside up on a circle of aluminum foil. Fold edges under.
3. Cut a small card out of the TJ's bag that has a festive print on the outside. I used a paper cutter to make sure my edges were straight. Fold in half. Inside, write the recipe on the one side and your message on the other!
4. Cut out a plain brown square to make a label for the jar. If you couldn't get the label off, just measure, and make your new label so it covers the old one! Use Elmer's glue to attach your new label.
4. Load jar with cookies and cap.
5. Punch hole in recipe/ card. Thread curly ribbon through. Add candy cane and tie the curly ribbon off, either in a bowl or just in a knot and curl the ends.

Stay tuned all week for more ideas for thrifty DIY gifts from the kitchen!

Chocolate Peppermint Pie

Happy Cyber Monday! And with that, it's official... we're into the holidays, aka peppermint season! This also should be when Starbucks reveals its red cups and peppermint mochas. These days, they do it far too early, but even a few years ago, they would wait until an appropriate time to reveal these and peppermint mocha would signal the start of the holiday season, finals, and the end of the fall semester. This year, I'm a little less excited than normal for peppermint season. This is because I finally found a deep love for pumpkin. I mean, who wouldn't love a warm, cozy baked good or dinner that's based on a highly nutritious vegetable?? Also, I recently learned that 90% of the worlds canned pumpkin is made by Libby's in a plant that is only open from August to October every year. So they've already stopped producing! I need to go on a shopping spree to hoard all of the pumpkin to get me through the long winter and summer.

To usher in this season properly, I put down the pumpkin and made a chocolate peppermint pie. My taste testing committee has informed me that this is the best thing that I have ever created. Basically it's a super moist, gooey peppermint brownie contained in a chocolate crust. The crust isn't the best part though, so you can also use the silicone baking cups and cook your filling in there to make a gluten free treat. Perhaps the best part is the secret ingredient... of course, I made it with white beans! With the blood sugar stabilizing power of legumes,  this decadent treat will not surprise you with a sugar rush and subsequent crash.

Chocolate Peppermint Pie

Filling

2 3/4c white beans
1c cocoa powder
1/2c brown sugar
5T white sugar
2 candy canes, crushed to a fine powder in a coffee grinder
1T peppermint schnopps (or 1t peppermint extract)
1/4c vanilla almond or soy milk
dash cinnamon
to top: 1 candy cane,  coarsely crushed with a rolling pin

Crust (optional)

3/4c flour
1/4c brown sugar
1T brown sugar
2T vegetables oil
2t baking powder
1/3c warm water

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. To make the crust, mix the wet ingredients and then the dry. Kneed it a few times. This crust is difficult to roll, so I ended up just pushing it into the greased 8 inch pie pan. The crust isn't exceptional, so feel free to leave it out for a gluten free recipe.
3. Clean out your coffee grinder, and add 2 candy canes broken into chunks. Grind for a few seconds and you should be set! If you don't have a coffee grinder, your food processor should work as well.
4. Add all filling ingredients to the food processor (except the last candy cane). Food processes for several minutes until smooth. As usual, make sure it's smooth because bean chunks kill the chocolate vibe!
5. Pour filling into crust or into cupcake cups. Use a pinch of sugar to coat the edges of the crust. Top with the coarsely broken candy cane (it will melt, so leave chunks larger than you think you want!)
6. Bake for 50 minutes (pie) or 30- 40 minutes (gluten free cups). Serve warm and enjoy! The center will still be soft and kind of melty, but it's ok! The crust will keep it together.

You choose... make a gluten free crustless cup, or try out the crust and make a whole pie!