Raise your hand if you are prepared for the onset of fall. I see no hands. Now although there is no literal audience in front of me, and thus that may be the only reason I see no hands, can we really expect to see an audience full of students eagerly flailing and shouting? Hardly. A few words of comfort for you, though: The beginning of autumn falls on September 22nd.
To help savour the last few days of summer, as though they were the lingering sweet drops of My Dog Joe’s peachy green iced tea, we have prepared for you a couple recipes that are guaranteed to satisfy a sweet tooth. First up, the BBB’s. Brownies at their absolute finest because they are, as they say, “guilt-free.” It’s easy to scoff at the concept of guilt-free treats. There is no justice system surrounding calories. But all brownies are most definitely innocent until proven guilty. Regardless, these bad boys will stand the test of justice, or any test for that matter, as easily as you could eat the whole batch.
Their street name? Bad boy brownies. Their good girl name? Black bean brownies. This secret ingredient, hiding in the vegetable aisle, is a small but mighty miracle when it comes to maintaining a dangerously fudgy quality.
Now this second recipe is a childhood favourite turned “inside out”. Literally. Take a peanut butter cup, wait until the opposite day, and ogle at the magic bringing the peanut butter to the surface and the chocolate to the center. What better use could magic have? And if you fear putting anything into an oven, this is the sweet for you. Because all it requires is multiple episodes of freezing! If you’re afraid of the freezer though, I would suggest checking out the swanky student wellness lounge and talking about it.
Inside Out PB Cups
Level 1/2 cup powdered peanut butter or PB2 (48g)
•1/4 cup virgin coconut oil or cacao butter, melted (40g)
•4 tsp pure maple syrup (20g)
•heaping 2 tbsp melted semi-sweet chocolate of choice (or full-sweet to up the bad boy vibes) (32g)
•1 tbsp of butterscotch chips
•mini cupcake liners or candy molds
Mix the powdered peanut butter, coconut oil, and maple syrup in a bowl, and stir well to form a paste. Smooth a little under 1 tsp into each of ten mini cupcake liners, going up the sides just a bit. Put the cupcake liners into a mini muffin tin. Freeze 10 minutes. Divide the chocolate evenly among the liners and freeze again. Then sprinkle the butterscotch chips over top. Finally, top with remaining peanut butter paste. Freeze again until solid.
BBB’s
•1 1/2 cups black beans (1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well) (250g after draining)
•3 tbsp cocoa powder- dutch or regular (10g)
•1/2 cup quick oats (40g)
•1/4 tsp salt
•1/3 cup honey (75g)
•2 nunaturals stevia packs or 2 tbsp sugar (or omit and increase maple syrup to 1/2 cup)
•1/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil (40g)
•3 tsp pure vanilla extract
•1/2 tsp baking powder
•2/3 cup chocolate chips (115-140g) (Not optional. Omit at your own risk.)
•optional: more chips, for presentation
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients except chips in a good food processor, and blend until completely smooth. Really blend well. (A blender can work if you absolutely must, but the texture—and even the taste—will be much better in a food processor.)
Stir in the chips, then pour into a greased 8×8 pan.
Optional: sprinkle extra chocolate chips over the top. Cook the black bean brownies 15-18 minutes, then let cool at least 10 minutes before trying to cut. Makes 9-12 brownies.