Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken AND Chocolate Chunk Brownie Cookies

 
   Hellllllllo Friday! To welcome this fabulous weekend, I have a double whammy for you! A dinner recipe as well as a dessert. You can thank me later.

   I was not feeling so great yesterday and was hanging around checking out new recipes. I came across the brownie-cookie recipe and it looked SO damn good, I seriously could not resist. Here's the killer part, the base is made of....wait for it.....black beans! Now, before you go off gagging, ( ahem..Heather Chabun) let me assure you that you can't taste them at all.You would literally never know they were there. Have I led you astray so far??? No. Trust mama on this one. They are soft, chewy, gooey and chocolate-licious. I made a double batch yesterday and they are all gone. The batter comes together so amazingly I think I'll try it in the future as an icing recipe. A friend form work had shared a post a few weeks ago about black-bean brownies, so they had been on my radar already. And this recipe is so easy it pretty much sold itself!

   I love dark chocolate. Like, super dark. 90% dark . I used the "Enjoy Life" brand chocolate chunks in these, but you can use whatever kind your little heart desires. I also like the crunch of the chips mixed inside the cookie. If you prefer them just op top, (or not at all, because you're crazy) just skip the step of stirring them through and sprinkle on top before they go in the oven instead. I'll be making these again for sure. I think they will be on my regular rotation!

 Let's start with the cookies then go to the sweet and sour chicken.....Turn your oven to 375..........

Chocolate Chunk Brownie-Cookie

You need:
1 can organic black beans
2 Tbsp whole milk
2 tbsp natural peanut butter (or any nut butter)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup honey OR 1/3 cup brown sugar  (less of either for if not as sweet is preferred)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
pinch cinnamon
pinch sea salt
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips plus a bit more for sprinkling

Drain your can of black beans into a colander and rinse WELL. Pat dry.
Combine beans, milk, nut butter and olive oil in the food processor and process until smooth and no pieces at all.

Add remaining ingredients except the chocolate chips. Process until you get a thick, mousse like mixture. Scraping down the sides with a spatula once or twice.

Pass the spatula to any little minions that are stalking you....carry on........

 Take the blade out of your processor bowl and stir in your chocolate chips. Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. One thing I didn't do is smooth the cookie out on the sheet. I kind of assumed they'd flatten out a bit while cooking but they stay as is. So form them a bit how you like before they go in because what you see is what you get! I pressed one little chip onto each cookie before baking.

 Cook at 375 for 8-10 minutes depending on your oven. Mine were perfect at 10. You want them still slightly soft but not falling apart. Cool, then transfer to a wire rack. The original recipe calls to store them covered in the fridge. Because of the beans, I'd assume. Mine didn't last long enough to find out! I know you will love these! Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

    Okay, now that you have dessert, you need a main course! This sweet and sour recipe is one of the very first Paleo/clean recipe I ever tried. It was a hit and has been a regular around here ever since. Whenever someone is just starting out or asks for a sure-fire winner, I always go with this one as my suggestion. I made this last night and Shane actually said he thought it was my best yet! I think the key is not crowding the pan and making sure to flip at least twice. You don't want the crispy outside to stick. OH! And lots of sauce. My people like lots, where as I don't. I make sure there is extra to pour on their's after.

   I served it with Chinese fried cauliflower rice, in trying to keep up with the Chinese food sort of theme! Yum and yum. Annnnnnnnnnnnd go!!!!!

Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken

You need:
3-4 chicken breasts, trimmed into smaller chunks (little bigger than bite sized) seasoned with sea salt and pepper
1 cup arrowroot powder (cornstarch will work)
1-2 eggs

Sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup honey
2-4 tbsp soy sauce (depending on taste)
1 tsp garlic salt
oil for frying

Place eggs in a small bowl and whisk. In another small bowl add arrowroot.
Make an assembly line- chicken, arrowroot, egg.

Heat up your oil in a deep pan over medium-high heat.
Coat each piece of chicken in the arrowroot, then dip in egg.
Place the coated chicken into the hot pan and brown on each side. (a few minutes each side-not cooking through)  Do in batches if needed. It took me two batches for 3 larger chicken breasts.                             Get a nice crispy crust on each side.

Once chicken is browned, transfer to a greased casserole dish, using 2 if needed. No crowding!!
Pre-heat oven to 375 and make your sauce.

Sauce:
Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Doubling if you like lots. Once combined, pour over your chicken. Make sure it's all coated.

Cook for 35-40 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken. Flip after 15-20 minutes, and maybe one more time to prevent sticking. Done when no pink remains in the middle.

Like I said, I made a cauli fried rice with it. Just rice a head of cauli in your processor (or with a grater if you have no plans until Easter). Add to a deep pan with a few pads of butter or coconut oil, over medium heat.
In a smaller side pan, saute some carrots and onions. Cook until tender, stir in some peas. Set aside. Crack 2 eggs into the same side pan and scramble into big pieces. Add to veggies. Once rice is tender and the texture you like, add in the egg/veggie mixture and heat through.
In a small bowl: whisk 1 tsp fish sauce, 5 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil. Pour over rice mixture and stir to combine. Heat through and BOOM! Done.

 Egg:

Egg/veggie added:

 Sauce added:

And there, my friends....is dinner!  :))

You can obviously serve it with regular rice or whatever you like. Just thought I'd add the rice pic's because I have them to help a friend trying it this weekend.

Please feel free to comment on my posts! I love the feedback and I love to hear if people liked things or if you tried it a different way. Have a great weekend! :)

Original brownie-cookie recipe pingback to "elizasedibles.com"