Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cake

2 ¼ cups White Spelt Flour or Unbleached All-Purpose flour
1 ½ cups firmly packed Dark brown Sugar
1 cup Chunky All-Natural Peanut Butter
½ cup cold Earth Balance (vegan margarine, like smart balance)
Pinch of Sea Salt
2 TBS Ground Flaxseeds
1 cup Hazelnut Milk (we would just substitute almond milk)
2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
½ cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips (I think most chocolate chips are vegan, aren’t they? We just go for a good quality brand like Ghirardelli).

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 10-inch square pan. (If you don’t have one, use a 9-inch pan and bake a couple minutes longer. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, combine the flour, brown sugar, peanut butter earth balance, and salt, blending at low speed until the mixture forms fine crumbs. Reserve 1 cup of the crumbs for the topping and set aside.

In a small bowl, with a small whisk, whip the flaxseeds with 1/3 cup water until frothy. The mixture should resemble egg whites in texture. Add the whipped flaxseeds, hazelnut milk, baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla to the crumb mixture. Stir well to combine, but do not overwork.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, smoothing the top, and sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Bake in the center of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool to room temperature, then cut; serve with Berry Sorbet.

Makes about 12 servings
Prep time: 45 minutes
From: Tal Ronnen’s book, “The Conscious Cook”