Last weekend I held my first Food Demo. I had 22 ladies and two cute little babies come to taste a while host of plant-based dishes. I had a great time and I think they did too! I’ve even been invited to do similar Demo’s at a couple of the ladies homes.
There was so much to do I didn’t get much of a chance to share the “why” of adopting a plant-based diet, I focused more on the “you can eat real, delicious food” on a plant-based diet.
Dinner was Mexican food; it’s something that we really like and seems “normal” to people who don’t normally eat Plant-based. I had wanted to prepare a lot of different kinds of foods but as more ladies RSVP’d I knew I wouldn’t be able to prepare/store/serve that many dishes in quantities large enough for everyone to enjoy. I had a few more ladies RSVP that were not able to come. We enjoyed:
- Quinoa Taco “Meat”
- Unfried Beans
- Mexican Rice (recipe near end of that post)
We also had lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, and faux cheese sauce served with a choice of organic chips, corn or flour tortillas. I demonstrated the faux cheese sauce for the group. One of my friends has been dairy-free for years, she LOVED it! There was also the obligatory veggie tray and hummus trio.
I also had a wide selection of desserts:
- Watermelon Cakes
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Peppermint Brownies (recipe below)
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Gluten-Free Banana Mini-Muffins
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Mini-Muffins
- Chocolate Mousse
- Chocolate Chia Pudding
- Strawberry Short Cakes
- Strawberry Short Cake Cupcakes
I had two ladies coming who are mostly gluten-free so I wanted to have at least one more gluten-free dessert. I came up with these brownies.
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Peppermint Brownies
Ingredients
- 1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2-3 very ripe bananas
- 1/3 cup agave
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp peppermint extract (I spilled it and add way too much)
- 1/4 cup raw sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks)
Do
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Process beans in food processor.
- Add the rest of ingredients except flour and chocolate chips.
- Process until smooth then transfer to a large bowl.
- Stir in brown rice flour then chocolate chips.
- Pour into non-stick pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until done.
Serve
I cut these into bite size pieces for easy eating. They could also be cut into big pieces and served with non-dairy ice cream or even blended into a shake or other ice cream treat. I think these will be a go-to recipe at Christmas paired with candy canes or even red and green sprinkles.
Looks absolutely amazing, Holly!! Good for you! Hope it’s the first of many such events.
Thank you! I hope so too!
You did a great job! I know how long it takes to prep for events like that….kudos to you. Wonderful menu.
It was definitely a fun evening and I’ve been enjoying the leftovers too!
It was awesome! We are still enjoying some left overs:) Luke loved the muffins ( he calls them cupcakes) . And Dale loved the brownies, Aly too! Thanks so much!
Thank you for coming! You were a huge help!
Great idea! I would love to do something like this…vegan power!
These peppermint brownies look great how much cocoa? Says 1/2 but not sure if 1/2 cuo or 1/2 tbsp?
Hi Missy,
It is 1/2 a cup of cocoa powder. Sorry about that missing measurement. I haven’t made this recipe in years. Once we started making my other brownies recipe this one got forgotten. 🙂
Hi Holly,
I love your recipes – thank you for you work with them!
We aren’t able to eat bananas, do the bananas in your recipe substitute for eggs? If so, how many eggs would be in the recipe…I’m actually thinking of the directions for an egg replacer.
Thanks, & I know you haven’t had comments on this recipe for a couple years – so if you don’t see this comment, no worries!!