Cookie dough pops...on ice!
Hello hello!! My first post on my new-look blog!
I'm still a little bit excitable, just because it's been such a long time coming and now it's finally here. Just a few little bits left to smooth out and of course any feedback from you guys very welcome. I hope you found me ok and have reconnected from where we left off :-)
On to today's recipe...getting in on the summer act as it's been so hot these last few day (not that i'm complaining!) We have an Including Cake classic...chickpeas!! I've experimented with chickpeas in sweet things so many a time before… I've even experimented with cookie dough concoctions a long time ago back in the days of this blog... though my efforts (and photography) have come a long way since then!
More recently I came across this recipe for cookie dough fudge… It used chickpeas so of course I was immediately intrigued! Last weekend I had a quick go at whipping up a batch. It tasted okay but I just wasn't quite sold on it's texture, I think in part due to the fact that I found it tricky from the point at which you freeze and defrost to hit the spot for the right consistency- it was either a little bit too hard or too soft for that real fudgey feel.
However, I loved the idea so much I had a re-think. I worked with the texture and turned it from an issue into a opportunity! I added a little extra milk in the form of coconut milk for richness and and some agave syrup so that it was slightly more liquid than the original mix, then I froze it in mini muffin trays with lolly sticks to make my very own frozen 'cake' pops! Add in choc chunks, or nuts etc...turn them in to trail mix pops if you so fancy!
Result!! They have been the perfect nibbly chilled snack this last week! I generally let them thaw for 5 mins before eating for the perfect edge of creaminess.
Recipe: cookie dough ice pops
Makes approx 8-10 pops
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups chickpeas
1/4 cup peanut butter (or nut butter of choice)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 tbs agave syrup
15 drops stevia
1 tsp vanilla and a pinch of salt
1/4 cup flax
2 tbs melted coconut oil
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1/3 cup dark chocolate chips or cacoa nibs (I used nibs) you could also use nuts/dried fruits
Method:
Blend all ingredients together until smooth adding chocolate chunks etc last to maintain their texture.
The mixture should be thick but creamy. Spoon/pour into ice pop moulds or silicone mini muffin cases and add a stick.
Freeze until solid. I left mine in the muffin tray but once frozen you could remove and store as you wish in the freezer. Defrost for a few minutes prior to eating for optimum eating experience!
‘Half-baked’ cookie dough balls
Well, I’d barely finished devouring the cookie dough dip when the urge to create a ‘half-baked cookie' version overwhelmed me!
My favourite flavour of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream was always Half Baked, with its big globs of dense chewy cookie dough and chocolate chunks thrown into the mix….yummmm! I wanted to create a healthy vegan equally moreish ‘crispy round the edges’ but ‘soft in the centre’ half-baked cookie.
Eager to get on whilst the idea was fresh in my mind, out came my baking boxes filled full of goodies and inspiration. The final outcome was a fairly simple twist on the original recipe. By taking the principles of the cookie dough dip I combined this with some more robust flours and oatmeal to create a firmer dough ball ready for baking.
This recipe was very experimental and I wasn’t sure how long to bake the balls for. I allowed them to begin to go golden at the edges but you may well want to try taking them out even earlier than that. The chocolate chunks really add to experience so I’d suggest keeping the chunks quite large and the dough balls not too neatly scooped to get a few crispy whips around the edges. I used an ice cream scoop that was approx. 3cm in diameter and scooped out balls so that they had a flattish bottom.
I can imagine further experiments in coming weeks- chocolate dough with white chocolate chips, fudgey varieties, fruit and nuts….. just think of a cookie dough recipe, scoop it and ‘half-bake’ it?
Has anyone tried this idea before? Let me know how it worked for you.
Recipe: ‘Half-baked’ cookie dough balls
Makes approx. 12 balls
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup brown rice flour
- 1/3 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup ground oats
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 100g cooked or canned chickpeas
- 1 tsp ground flax pus 1tbs hot water
- 3 tbs peanut butter
- 1 tbs coconut butter
- ¼ cup agave syrup plus ¼ tsp stevia
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Approx. ¼ cup soy milk (more or less depending upon consistency of dough)
- ½ cup dark chocolate chunks
Method
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Blend wet ingredients together until very smooth. Pour/spoon the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together well adding as much soy milk as needed (the dough should not be too sticky but hold together well). Add choc chucks last and ensure well mixed through. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Scoop balls of dough usingan ice-cream scoop making sure the ‘scoop’s are not too perfect (and not too large) with some dough falling over the top to get uneven edges, carefully lift the ball out of the scoop and lay on the parchment placing balls fairly close together as they won’t rise much at all. Bake at 180C for 12-15 minutes until only just going golden around the edges to ensure the ‘half-bakes’ centres.
For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.
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