The 10th Great Cookie Exchange!!

/ olivia

It’s here! Drumroll, please…. the 10th Annual Great On-line Cookie Exchange!! Thanks, Jz, for making this happen again!!

I love the Cookie Exchange. The first year Jz did it was my first year blogging and I failed to read the directions thoroughly. I didn’t email her that I was participating, and the day of the exchange, my name wasn’t on the list. I was crushed. And Jz kindly added me in, and asked everyone else to do the same. Sweet.

Anyhow. I get particularly excited about it because I’m not actually much of a cook, or baker. For example, once upon a time, I used to actually make Christmas cookies, but in recent years, I just slice and bake. So I typically choose something that’s really easy. And these days, I’m going for healthy too.

So – without more ado – introducing the incredibly simple, versatile and yet delicious –

Chocolate Hummus

Ingredients
1½ cup cooked garbanzo beans* (how to soak and cook dry beans) OR
1 can of garbanzo beans, strained and rinsed 3 times (Yes, it’s made with beans. it’s ok. Hang with me…)
3½ – 4 Tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
4 Tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa (regular or dark)
2 Tbsp water (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a blender or in a food processor, combine all the ingredients except water, using just 3½ Tbsp of maple syrup. (Notice this recipe says blender or food processor – for those of us who are not actual owners of a food processor.
  2. Puree until the mixture is smooth, about 30-60 seconds. Add water 1 Tbsp at a time to create the desired consistency.
  3. Taste the chocolate hummus and add remaining maple syrup if desired

That’s it. Once you have the hummus to your taste, there are all kinds of things you can do with it. You can use it for a dip, with fruit, crackers, and pretzels.

You can spread it on a Graham Cracker and top it with blueberries. Or slices of strawberry or banana. You can use it on a peanut butter sandwich instead of jelly. You can mix it into vanilla yogurt and have chocolate yogurt.

If you have children, they can spread it on a Graham Cracker and use fruit or nuts to decorate it – they could make a face, for example. Think strawberry slices for eyes, a banana slice nose, and blueberries for the mouth. Or blackberry eyes and a strawberry mouth.

But the dip is really what I was thinking about for a Christmas dessert option. Or maybe it’s a whole course to itself – like the fruit and cheese course that you can have before dessert.

So there it is – versatile and fun. It really is delicious, and you would not think it was made with beans. Full disclosure – you can also buy it at Kroger, at least here where I live.

18 thoughts on “The 10th Great Cookie Exchange!!”

  2. First off, I LOVE that you gave us a drumroll – thank you for that. 😀
    Secondly, thank you for this fun recipe. Despite my rant against chickpea-based “healthy cookie dough”, a simple “chocolate hummus” actually does sound appealing. (Call a spade a spade and I’m happy.)
    I *might* even consider sneaking in a little tahini, just because I love chocolate and sesame…

    Thank you, sunshine! For posting, and for reminding me in the first place! (Somebody had to take over for Ryan, after all!)

    Yy

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Lol, Jz, the 10th annual deserves at least a drum roll!! And I’m glad the recipe appeals to you – that’s a win in my book. I did see that some of the recipes for it called for tahini, so go for it!

      Thank you for keeping this going! It’s such a part of my Christmas tradition. (And if I’m taking over a role, you know I take that seriously!)

      yY

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