Choco- Carob Hummus

"What on earth?" you might say, "Sweet Hummus??"
What is there not to love? Protein, chocolate, carob, a perfect snack for when a choccy craving hits!

This particular recipe is vegan, but you can alter it to suit your own preferences

1 can (15oz) Chickpeas, drained & rinsed - save a little of the water they were canned in ( aquafaba)

• 4 tbsp Coconut Milk ( or any other milk you prefer)
• 3 tbsp Carob Powder 2 tbs Cocoa Powder ( or use all cocoa or carob)
• 2 tbsp Honey 1 tbs carob syrup ( or all honey or even maple syrup)
• 1 tbsp aquafaba
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Simply blitz everything together till blended

Serve as a dip or a spread.

keep in the fridge

Try freezing for an icy treat!

Gluten free Carob Cookies

Continuing my experimentation with Carob my latest try was Carob Cookies. These are gluten free. 

I took an everyday recipe for biscuits and substituted the flour for 2/3 carob flour and 1/3 carob powder

I found they needed a little longer to cook and needed careful removal from the baking sheet.

When they had cooled they had a lovely  fudgy chewy cookie texture and good carob flavour. Quite rich so one goes a long way. The coarsely ground carob flour gives them a certain nuttiness.

Why not give it a try?

225g Butter

175g sugar

1 egg

200g carob flour

100g carob powder

Mix together thoroughly, form into balls the size of walnuts and place on the baking sheet, flatten each ball slightly.

Bake gas 4, 180 C for about 10 mins

( You may need to experiment with timings depending on your oven)

All things Carob, part two!

After a visit to "Creta Carob" I decided to experiment with carob Pasta

Low in gluten, not gluten free, as the carob flour is mixed with semolina.

I decided to boil a little plain first to test the taste

It was not a strong carob flavour so ideal for any recipe. Had the flavour been strong it would have lent itself to more sweet recipes rather than savoury.

Tuna and broccoli pasta

onions, cheese, milk, tuna, broccoli, tomato and pasta

delicious 

All things Carob

A visit to Argyroupolis and to the Carob mill and store

Crete has many Carob trees and this ancient treasure was nearly lost through lack of use,

Here you can see many items made of Carob

Pasta - Not just animal feed then!

Carob powder - use it as you would cocoa

Jam, sweet and fudgy

"Tea"

Balsamic vinegar

Carob "coffee" Caffeine free

Tea

Raw carob

A new, strong, thickening agent made from the beans

Samples

Soap

An excellent source of calcium

Energy bar

"Chocolate" bar

Cookies and paximadia

Time to try out some recipes!