Saturday, January 29, 2011

The Savory-to-Sweet Switch

Converting a savory food to a sweeter variation is something my brain has a hard time with.

For example, onions have no place in a dessert.

Marshmallows do not belong in a dinner salad.

And for heavens' sake, please keep the chocolate off my pizza.

For these reasons, among many others, I was skeptical of dessert hummus. You want me to add sugar to my....beans?

Friends, after making a batch of dessert hummus earlier this week, I now recognize myself as its #1 fan. Seriously. I gobbled up a bowl-ful of this sweet, beany dip with a sliced apple and a bowl of banana soft serve for my Thursday night dinner. It was truly like eating dessert for dinner.

The creator of dessert hummus--Evan Thomas--suggests using it as a dip for graham crackers, fruit, animal crackers, or a sandwich spread.

Or, you can simply eat it by the spoon-ful (which I may or may not have been doing at my desk at work this week. What can I say? This girl needs bean-powered fuel to get through the day).

I'm now a savory-to-sweet believer. Just don't ask me to pour hot fudge on my garlic bread.

Cinnamon Dessert Hummus
(recipe adapted from The Wannabe Chef)

The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup pure maple syrup. I eliminated most of this because, well, I did make my dessert hummus for dinner. But by all means, if you don't mind the sweetness and you're looking for a truly desssert-y dip, go all out with the maple syrup!

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups butter beans
  • 1/4 cup almond butter
  • 2 TBSP brown sugar
  • a drizzle of pure maple syrup (the recipe called for 1/4 cup, but I used far less)
  • 1 - 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • For dipping: apple slices, banana soft serve, graham crackers, and a big ol' hungry spoon
Directions:
Process ingredients in a food processor until desired taste and consistency have been reached. Go crazy with your dipping items :)


16 comments:

  1. Ive made dessert hummus twice, and became slightly addicted to it. I think it is such a great idea!

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  2. Hannah at Bittersweet posted a chocolate hummus a long time ago, but I never tried it. This version looks good too!

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  3. haha if you and Evan say its good i'll totally have to take your word on that one! I'm trying soo hard to phase out ze sugars! but omg does this sound good! =)

    btw - if you like smoke flavor you'll heart smoked paprika. It makes a very fragrant vinaigrette and I remember once liking it yearrrrrrrrs ago -- but now the smell of smoke anything makes me want to faint. so weird!

    I am really digging quinoa plain and vegan. It just seems like an uber perfect combo <3

    Happy Weekend love!

    xoXOxo
    Jenn @ Peas and Crayons

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  4. This looks delicious - right now, I need to be converting dessert foods into savory foods - at least until the sugar detox is over!

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  5. I've seen Evan's dessert hummus and I just don't know if I can get behind it...

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  6. I have such a sweet tooth- if I can make a savory food sweet, I will :)

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  7. I've never had it as a sweet condiment, thanks so much for sharing this recipe, the photo, and back drop look lovely = )

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  8. a dessert hummus!!?!! and made with butter beans!?!! ok, now this i REALLY love! what a fantastic little creation <3

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  9. I don't think I have tried dessert hummus before. This looks wonderful.

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  10. I'm also tres skeptical when people are all like, My whole dinner tonight was covered in cocoa powder...OR Coconut flakes on everything!

    ?

    I'll take your word on this one, but only because with those flavor combos going on, I'm already licking the spoon.

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  11. Ooh, that looks delicious. I wonder if peanut butter hummus would be good?

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  12. I'll definitely have to try this- I just can't imagine a sweet hummus, but it sounds interesting! Did you use the tiny green butter beans or the larger white limas?

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  13. Sweet hummus, what? Beans and sugar are weird combo, but I do enjoy those black bean brownies...so this would probably work!

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  14. Oh this looks fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. I am so excited to try this,

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  15. I love savory and sweet together! I frequently eat the Chinese red bean desserty items, so this isn't too far fetched. I'm gonna try it!

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  16. Huh! I do like mixing up sweet and savory, but had never heard of this! I've had tahini in sweet things, but no beans were present. Really intrigued by this!

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