Vegan Protein “Jello” Brains

These might be the coolest thing I’ve ever made with silken tofu! If not the coolest, definitely the grossest looking, in the best way (in my opinion). I really love Halloween so I have to hold myself back from just creating Halloween and Fall recipes and nothing else. So, when you see a lot of pumpkin and butternut squash recipes on my page and you’re like damn, this girls posts a lot of Fall recipes, just know that I deeply want to post more and am exhibiting extreme willpower 🙂

I’m not a kid, but I really feel like kids would love these! Honestly, it might be the only way to get some kids to eat tofu! Anyways, if you’re like me and want even more Halloween recipes, you should check out my High Protein Dirt Pudding and Spooktacular Pumpkin Pasta!

Ingredients

• Silken Tofu – I used Extra Firm Silken Tofu, but any silken tofu will work great! Make sure you’re using silken tofu and not regular tofu. Using regular tofu will be disastrous- we’re talking funky strawberry hummus. You can find silken tofu at most grocery stores, and since it’s shelf-stable, you can also buy it online.
• Soy Milk – I used soy milk because it’s the most protein dense plant-based milk and it’s also really creamy with a nice, neutral flavor.
• Sugar – this would probably work with a low/no calorie sweetener as well if you’re trying to cut calories.
• Strawberry Powder – I used the brand Anthony’s. The strawberry powder adds flavor and a light-pink color.
• Agar Agar Powder – this is basically a vegan gelatin. It’s a plant-based thickener and gelling agent, which is what sets the brains. Because of this ingredient, they end up with a similar texture to Jell-O.
• Cherry Pie Filling – I tried a few options for a gross, bloody filling for these little brains, and landed on Cherry Pie Filling because it’s the easiest and coolest looking!

Instructions

• Once we are working with agar agar, we’ve got to move pretty quickly because it sets pretty quickly, so just keep that in mind and have your ingredients measured, prepared and ready to go.
• Blend the silken tofu. I like to use an immersion blender for this.

• Place the silicone brain molds on a baking sheet or something solid so that when we transfer them to the fridge, they don’t spill or mess up.
• Add the soy milk, strawberry powder, sugar and agar agar powder to a pot. Whisk until everything is well combined.
• Cook on medium-low heat for 4-5 minutes. I set a timer for this to make sure I cook it for long enough because if you don’t, it might not set properly. Whisk the entire time, and it should reach a very low boil.
• Pull the pot off of the heat and whisk in the blended silken tofu until well-combined.

• Fill each of the brain molds about half-way with the silken tofu mixture. Smoosh it up the sides of the molds.

• Add about 2 teaspoons of Cherry Pie Filling to each of the molds. Make sure to put the cherry pie filling in the middle of the molds so that they are encased by the silken tofu mixture which will set up.

• Top off the brain molds with the remaining silken tofu mixture. You should end up with about 12 little brains.
• Let them sit on the counter and cool to about room temperature before putting them in the fridge.

• Toss them in the fridge for about 20 minutes or until the brains have firmed up.

Silly Little Haiku

Protein Tofu Brains

The only brains I would eat

Cherry Pie Filling