vegan chocolate peanut butter spread

Hello friends!

Mmm, it feels so good to be back writing a new post.  I can’t wait to catch up on all the new recipes everyone’s posted while I’ve been gone!  Has it really been over a month?  It’s gone by quickly.  Summer is finally starting to act convincing up here in Alaska.  Spring was very late this year, with the last snowfall coming on May 15th!  Thankfully there have been a few sunny days since there and in the last week the trees have all leafed out.  Now it’s finally green & gorgeous outside!  Today the sun is shining, and I’ll be guiding a full day glacier hike.  I couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day!

Joe & I have stayed busy since being out in McCarthy/Kennicott.  It took a while to get moved into the little 10×12 cabin we’re living in, plus we had lots of garden work to do, then my sister came out and visited for about 5 days, and then Joe’s parents were out for about a week.  It’s been great, but I didn’t feel ready to start blogging again (plus there wasn’t much internet access!) until now.

I’ve gotta keep this brief, since I do have a glacier hike to get ready for, but this is a recipe I discovered while at my Mom’s last month.  I was canning chickpeas, and had some extras that I’d cooked but didn’t fit in my jars.  Of course, I love chickpeas, and especially when they’re combined with chocolate, and so I did some brainstorming and recipe searching, finally coming across the perfect idea over at BitterSweet’s gorgeous blog.

I changed a few things in the recipe, mainly using maple syrup instead of refined sugar, and really upping the peanut butter flavor.  This was a total hit!  I was able to share it with my two sisters, plus a couple cousins and friends, and everyone gave it great reviews.  (Oh, and Joe was pretty excited too!)  Soooo, if you’ve got some chickpeas, here’s an awesome way to use them up!  It’s delicious on bread, crackers, apples, and I’m sure there’s a bunch of other options I haven’t gotten to yet…

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread
(inspired by this)
makes about 3 cups

2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I used crunchy because it’s what I had…. Smooth would be just as wonderful!)
2-3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
4-6 TBSP water

This is pretty easy: Combine all ingredients (start with about 3 TBSP of water) in a food processor or blender, and mix until smooth!  Scrape down the sides as necessary to make sure that everything is mixed in, and add more water until it reaches the right consistency.  Spread on whatever you like!

Enjoy!!!

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