Yesterday I mention that I had won the July Iron Chef Challenge over at A Latte with Ott, A. Since I was one of the winners, I was invited to participate in a bit of a bake-off. Now, this was a really big thing for me, because 1) I’ve never been a baker, but I’m working on it, thanks to my friends over at The Real Farmwives of America and Friends and 2) I’m not always creative in the kitchen, but I’m expanding my boundaries at a rapid pace (and my hubby is liking the changes!).

The challenge was to make cinnamon raising bread, using a great Taste of Home recipe. And then I needed to make something else with the bread.

I researched a bunch on the internet, but wanted to step outside of my comfort zone a bit, and try something a little unexpected. And I think I succeeded.

I will start off by saying that falafel is not something normally served in our house. In fact, I had to look up a few different recipes, to try to figure out which way I wanted to take this…and in doing so, I came up with my own recipe. And here it is:

Cinnamon Raising Fruit Falafel with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients for falafel:

• 1 16 oz. can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 3 slices cinnamon raisin bread
• 1 cup mixed berries (or berry of your choosing)
• 1 Tbsp. orange zest
• 2 tsp. orange juice
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. all-spice
• 2 tsp. water
• 2 Tbsp. ground flax

Toast your bread until well-toasted. Break into pieces and place in a food processor. Pulse until you have a fine bread-crumb consistency.

Place your chickpeas into a food processor. (I used a bullet-type machine, but you could even just use a fork, depending on the consistency you would like to achieve.) Process until desired consistency (mine was like a thick paste). Add it to the crumbs. Blend the berries as well. Add that to the mixture, along with the orange juice, orange zest, salt and all-spice. Mix together until well blended. (This can easily be done by hand, but use the processor if you’d like.)

Add water and ground flax seeds. Mix. Form golf-sized balls by hand and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar

Combine all ingredients until well-mixed. Frost falafel. Enjoy!

After checking with my taste-testers…Scooter preferred his without frosting (he doesn’t like whipped cream, marshmallows, etc. I know, strange, right?). But everyone else loved the frosting version. And it is definitely something that is filling and not overly sweet. I’m so glad I stretched my wings a little!

Be sure to check out the other posts and recipes in the contest. And remember, Taste of Home is sponsoring this bake-off!