Vegan 'Puppy Chow'

Super easy to make, cheap, and delicious. Plus, it makes a ton! You can't go wrong with this stuff. It's a finger food, it's a kid food, it's an ice cream topping, it's a popcorn add-in, it's a pretzel mate, it's everything you dream of and more. There's no baking involved so feel free to let your kiddos get in on the preparation.

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup nut or seed butter of choice (I used sunflower seed butter)
1/4 cup vegan butter
1 12.8-ounce box of rice chex or crispix-style cereal
1 cup powdered sugar

• In a double boiler, or in a metal or ceramic bowl placed over an inch or so of water, melt the chocolate chips, nut or seed butter, and vegan butter. Stir gently until smooth and well-mixed. 
• Pour over cereal and gently stir, folding chocolate into the cereal, coating each piece. If you have a large Tupperware container with a tight-fitting lid, you can gently shake the mixture until everything is evenly coated. 
• Once the chocolate has cooled slightly, go ahead and toss in the powdered sugar. Gently stir or shake again.
• That's all there is to it. Enjoy!

P.S. We're experimenting with a hybrid of the gluten-free and Feingold diets to try to curb my daughter's ADHD symptoms before school starts back up. So, you'll be seeing lots and lots of gluten-free and low-salicylate recipes over the summer. If it works, you'll be seeing them indefinitely! Wish us luck. 

Three-Ingredient Chocolate Haystacks

No joke! Three ingredients. And they are soooo delicious!
I'm a busy gal right now, so I'm looking to pare down my go-to recipes to just the quickest and easiest stuff I can find. These haystack candies fit the bill perfectly when I crave a sweet. Check it out...

1 1/2 cups vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
4 cups corn flakes, or your favorite "flake" cereal (I used organic 7-grain flakes)

• In a double boiler (or in a heat-safe bowl placed atop a saucepan half full of water), melt your chocolate chips over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. 
• Add peanut butter to the chocolate chips, and continue to stir until everything is melted and completely mixed together.
• In a large bowl, dump out your corn flakes. Use a spatula to scrape chocolate and peanut butter mixture over the flakes. 
• Lick the spatula.
• Gently stir everything together until corn flakes are evenly coated with chocolate.
• Use a large spoon or cookie scoop to form "stacks" by placing them on a cookie sheet. Then put the cookie sheet in the fridge until they've hardened. 
• Store in a Tupperware bowl in the fridge.
• Enjoy!

P.S. You may have noticed that things are a bit slow on the Bankrupt Vegan site right now. Well, I'm back in grad school, my daughter started preschool and my husband began college full-time while also continuing to work full-time. So, we are an incredibly busy family! On top of that, I have been asked to test recipes for an upcoming cookbook, and to take photos for it as well! I'm incredibly honored to have been asked, and I can't wait to give you guys all the details when the book comes out. Stay tuned! Until I have completed that project, I will be tied up quite a bit, but I will post as often as I can. Stay groovy!

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Full O' Peppermint Cups

Merry Christmas! These peppermint candy cups are so amazing, they don't even really seem from this earth. I mean, if you even kind of enjoy an occasional peppermint and chocolate flavor mix, you will practically start a new religion around these. Trust me! They are amazing.

1 12-ounce bag of vegan semisweet chocolate chips
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Earth Balance butter, softened
1/3 cup light corn syrup
3 teaspoons unsweetened soy milk
3 teaspoons peppermint extract
24 mini muffin cups

• Use a double-boiler, or a heat-resistant bowl perched on top of a saucepan full of water (which is what I do) to gently melt your chocolate chips over medium heat. Stir them frequently. Don't let them clump or burn.
• Reduce your stovetop to the lowest heat setting and keep your melted chips where they are.
• Pick up a muffin cup and use a teaspoon to dribble a bit of chocolate into the bottom. Then, take your pastry brush and sweep the chocolate up onto the sides of the cup. Go all the way to the top and make sure you're filling in all the crevices. Now, do this 22-24 more times!
• Place all of your prepared muffin cups onto a small cookie sheet and into the freezer . Leave them there to harden while you make your peppermint mixture.
• Okay, this part is super-complicated... Dump your powdered sugar, butter, corn syrup, milk and peppermint extract into a bowl and stir together with a spoon. Whew! 
• Take your cups out of the freezer and evenly divide peppermint mixture into them.
• Use your teaspoon to fill the cups all the way to the top with the remaining chocolate. 
• Place in refrigerator or freezer to harden.
• You'll probably want to store in the fridge or freezer because they are quite messy at room temperature.
• Pulling the paper off will be tricky the first couple of times, but you'll get a groove down and become a pro. I promise!

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Full O' Peanut Butter Cups

My husband is peanut butter's biggest fan. Mix peanut butter with chocolate and he turns into a crazed lunatic, bent on the ingestion of his sweet ambrosia. Before we started flirting with veganism, he would lose his mind for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I once made an entire birthday sculpture for him that consisted of nothing but Reese's cups...

Needless to say, it was imperative that I either create or find a vegan version of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup! And it wasn't nearly as challenging as I thought it would be. Here's the recipe...

1 cup natural non-hydrogenated smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups (12-ounce bag) vegan chocolate chips
20 mini paper muffin cups
small pastry brush or paintbrush

• Use a double-boiler, or a heat-resistant bowl perched on top of a saucepan half full of water (which is what I do) to gently melt your chocolate chips over medium heat. Stir them frequently. Don't let them clump or burn.
• Reduce your stovetop to the lowest heat setting and keep your melted chips where they are.
• Pick up a muffin cup and use a teaspoon to dribble a bit of chocolate into the bottom. Then, take your pastry brush and sweep the chocolate up onto the sides of the cup. Go all the way to the top and make sure you're filling in all the crevices. Now, do this 19 more times!
• Place all of your prepared muffin cups onto a small cookie sheet and into the freezer . Leave them there to harden while you make your peanut butter mixture.
• Okay, this part is super-complicated... Dump your peanut butter and your powdered sugar into a bowl and stir together with a spoon. Whew! 
• Take your cups out of the freezer and evenly divide peanut butter mixture into them. I used a little cookie scoop filled only halfway for each one.
• Use your teaspoon to fill the cups all the way to the top with the remaining chocolate. 
• Place in refrigerator or freezer (my husband actually prefers them frozen) to harden.
• You'll probably want to store in the fridge or freezer because they are quite messy at room temperature.
• Pulling the paper off will be tricky the first couple of times, but you'll get a groove down and become a pro. I promise!

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