When I arrived in the US at the tender and sheltered age of 20 I was horrified to be informed (by someone who believed she knew better) that I was not possibly South African. Sorry? What?!! The next shock was being introduced to Hershey's kisses - chocolate and peanut butter in one bite? My conservative South African mind could not comprehend it. Peanut butter with chocolate? At the same time?! Preposterous. And then I took that bite...and the next one....and the next....
A couple decades down the line I blew the not South African theory out the water - many times over. I also got over my shock at combining chocolate and peanut butter - many times over. So much so that it is one of my favourite flavour combinations. Yup. There I said it! I make vegan and vegetarian, raw and cooked chocolate and peanut butter cookies. I also love making dark chocolate cake with a peanut butter topping or more simple chocolate with thick lashings of plain chunky peanut butter.
Because my dehydrator is working around the clock dehydrating various fruits and fruit leathers I've had to shelve the raw cookies and fire up the pizza oven.
Here is the yummy recipe:
PEANUT BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE NIB COOKIES:
1 Cup Cassava flour
1 Cup Rolled Oats (I grind them)
Dash of salt
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of gluten free baking powder
Dash of bicarbonate of soda
Dash of vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup coconut blossom sugar
1/3 cup cacao nibs
1/2 apple sauce
This recipe was made by the kiddos under mama supervision. It ticks all the homeschooling boxes. Quick. Easy. Nutritious. Delicious. You need two separate bowls. In one measure out the peanut butter, apple sauce and coconut blossom. Beat well. In the other bowl sieve all the remaining ingredients. Mix the wet with the dry, adding the cacao nibs in right at the end. So simple!
The cookie dough is slightly sticky but easy to handle. Form your desired size cookies. Our Pizza Oven was hot. Well over 200 C so we literally did a 10 minute bake. Flipping cookies and swiveling the tray a couple times to prevent burning. In a regular oven - which I no longer have - you'll bake for about 20 minutes at 160 C or until lightly browned. Allow to cool. If you can resist!
Fireside cooking conjures childhood memories of scorched marshmallows, hot chocolate and mosquitoes. Cooking an edible meal over fire is not something I had ever imagined - successfully - or gleefully - achieving. And yet, months down the line, we are creating surprisingly amazing dishes, cooked over fire!! Strictly speaking we aren't cooking over but beside the fire. Our Pizza Oven has surpassed our wildest food fantasies. And all these years later, slightly more educated and with a wilder sense of humour, I still love chocolate with peanut butter.