Vanishing Vegan Oatmeal Blueberry Craisin Cookies

I was grocery shopping last week when I discovered "Blueberry Juice Infused Cranberries" from the makers of Craisins. They look a bit like fruit gushers, only much healthier, so I couldn't resist. I bought a bag of them, and had planned on putting them in my oatmeal for breakfast. 

That is, until I set out to make cookies earlier this evening and my husband asked for his favorite: Oatmeal Raisin, but this time, Oatmeal CRaisin! He came up with the idea to make these, and at first I wasn't convinced that they were going to be good, but after about 7 minutes in the oven, our house started smelling like heaven on earth. The combination of oats, sugar, blueberry, cranberry and dark chocolate is incredible. 

The recipe is Vegan, and it was actually our first attempt at baking Vegan cookies. I love using flax as an egg replacer, and while I was nervous as to how it would work out in this recipe at first, the final results scream success! Even if you're not Vegan, try using a flax egg! Flax is wonderful for you! Learn more about how great flax is here.

Vanishing Vegan Oatmeal Blueberry Craisin Cookies

recipe adapted from Quaker by David

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Earth Balance
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 flax egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup blueberry infused Craisins
1/2 cup Ghiradelli chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350°F.
Beat together Earth Balance and sugars until creamy.
Add flax egg and vanilla and beat well.
Lick the beaters. (if you're using a flax egg)
Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until well blended. Add to the sugar mixture and mix well.
Stir in oats, Craisins and chocolate chips and mix well.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool slightly and enjoy!

meet the crunchy softies: chewy and gooey. they're crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.

the best thing about baking Vegan is feeling 100% carefree while your little one licks the beaters.

Success!

Lemon Bars

Lemon Bars

recipe from David's Mom

preheat oven to 350°.

Ingredients You'll Need:::

For the Crust:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup organic *vegan* powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened

Combine ingredients in a bowl with a fork. Spread mixture evenly to cover the entire bottom of an ungreased 8x8 glass baking dish to form the crust. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.


For the Batter:

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2-3 teaspoons lemon zest (adjust amount according to your affinity for lemon)
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix ingredients in a large mixing bowl until the batter is light and fluffy. Pour over the hot crust and bake for 20-25 minutes on the middle rack. The top will brown slightly, but as long as it doesn't get darker than a golden brown, it's good. If it does, move to the bottom rack. Remove from the oven and sprinkle powdered sugar over the top while still warm. Cool completely before cutting & enjoy!

Banana Nut Muffins

My husband LOVES banana bread. I never used to like it, but this recipe has won me over. I found the non-vegan version in my recipe book from almost 10 years ago. So I veganized it and guess what? It's amazing! It's moist, fluffy and decadent. This is definitely not the most wholesome baked good, but really, it's not supposed to be... it's banana bread! Banana muffins, actually. And Vegan at that! Starbucks has nothing on these. Let me know if you agree, or not. :)

Vegan Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar ( I used Florida Crystals Organic)
1/2 cup Earth Balance, cold
1 flax egg
1 cup mashed over-ripe bananas
5 tablespoons original almond or soy milk
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350°. Prepare baking pan. You can make one 9x5 bread pan, 12 regular muffins or 6 jumbo muffins. I made 6 jumbo muffins. :)

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Sift or use a whisk and mix well.
In a large bowl, cream sugar and cold Earth Balance until smooth. Beat in the flax egg and bananas until creamy. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in milk and nuts.

Fill muffin tin 3/4 full, top with additional nuts if desired.

Bake until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean, about 45 minutes. If the tops start to brown before the muffins are baked through, move to the bottom rack.

pecan in the batter on the left, plain topped with walnuts on the right; both are incredible!

Enjoy!

The Best Vegan German Chocolate Cake EVER!

My husband and I love German Chocolate cake, but really, who doesn't!? I usually make the boxed kind, but I wanted to make my own for Father's Day. Besides, the store bought frosting contains preservatives and coloring that we can live without.

So I went searching for a good vegan recipe and I found a keeper!
The cake is spongy and fluffy, but is satisfyingly dense at the same time. The frosting can be eaten with a spoon alone... it's that good!

I made one change to the cake batter by adding espresso to the water and I think it was a good addition, but you can use just water if you prefer.

This recipe is absolutely amazing... and you (and your munchkins) can lick the batter without any worries!

German Chocolate Cake:
recipe credit All Recipes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1 cup water OR 1 double shot espresso + water to equal 1 cup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan, or if making cupcakes, use liners.
2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix (with blender) together until smooth.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake on bottom rack at 350°F for 30-45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

German Chocolate Cake Frosting:
recipe credit Fat Free Vegan

Ingredients:

1 cup plain soy milk
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 1/4 cups organic white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water until smooth
2 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, mix the soy milk, coconut milk, sugar, and vanilla together. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Cook for one minute after it boils. Remove from heat and stir in coconut and pecans.

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes (mixture should still be warm) before spreading on cake.


For an impressive presentation, try filling the cupcake with frosting. It's a fun surprise and it looks pretty too.

Take a sharp knife and cut a small square out of the center of the cupcake- be careful not to cut through the bottom. Gently remove the square, cut off the inside and keep the "topper". Using a spoon, fill with frosting and replace the topper. Frost as usual!

Enjoy!

Vegan Apple Fritters

In honor of National Doughnut Day (yesterday) I decided to Vegan-ize my older recipe for apple fritters and am happy to report that we liked the Vegan version better! You can use the egg substitute of your choice, but I thought the applesauce complimented the flavors of the apple fritter. They don't harden like Starbucks apple fritters do, in fact, they are quite soft like a doughnut.If you know how to achieve the dense, chewy and firm texture of Starbucks fritters, let me know. Regardless, these are delicious. If you try them, please let me know what you think in the comments, and feel free to rate them on Allrecipes by clicking here!

Vegan Apple Fritters




Ingredients:

For the Fritters:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup vanilla soy milk
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup chopped apple

For the Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
2 heaping tablespoons vanilla soy milk

Directions:

Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon.
Stir in milk and applesauce until just combined.
Fold in apple.
Pour oil into saucepan so that it is approximately a little less than 1/2 full.
Heat oil on high. The oil is ready when dough floats to top. Carefully add dough to oil in heaping tablespoons. Cook until brown, about 2 minutes, then flip. Cook another 1-2 minutes, until both sides are browned. Transfer gently to paper towels to absorb excess oil, then transfer to cooling rack.

Make the glaze by stirring the milk and powdered sugar together in a small bowl. Drizzle over apple fritters. Wait approximately 3 minutes for glaze to harden, then flip fritters and drizzle glaze over the other side.


Best served warm with coffee or tea.

Baklava!

Tonight, I made Spanakopita for dinner and had a bunch of extra Phyllo dough sheets leftover, so I made Baklava!



It was such a delicious and easy recipe and is a new family favorite! I wish I had known it was so easy to make Baklava, it's always been one of my favorite desserts and I would always order it (even as a child) anytime we went to a Greek restaurant.



Here's the recipe! You can't ask for better ratings! Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter cookies are (I THINK) my favorite kind of cookie. Snickerdoodle, Cowboy and Chocolate Chip Cookies run a close 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. =]



Up until this recipe, the way I made peanut butter cookies would gross David out. It was a recipe my best friend and I made after ballet when we were starving and impatient teenagers. My how some things (don't) change. =]

Regardless, the way she taught me to make them was this

1 egg
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of peanut butter

and bake.

I think this recipe grossed my oldest sister out as well, right Sissy? ;)

Anyways. The other night, I was craaving peanut butter cookies, and I didn't have any butter, but I wanted a legitimate honest to goodness made with flour cookie and I wanted peanut butter to be in the cookie. So I went to Google and found this recipe. These remind me of Grandma's packaged cookies (and to me, that is a good thing!).


Check out the recipe (including nutrition information) here. I didn't add the extra peanuts and I only added the chocolate to a few of the cookies. I hope you like them as much as I did!

Apple Fritter Holes

I made this recipe a few days ago after craving a Starbucks apple fritter. Believe it or not, there is only one Starbucks in all of Minot, and they stopped carrying apple fritters a while ago. Boo!
Oh well, I suppose we'll survive. David especially loves apple fritters though and I'm not the type to refuse fried dough- or fried anything for that matter- so I decided to try making my own. They came out nothing like the Starbucks ones, they were much more like doughnut holes to me, but they were still quite good.

Next time I will probably use an apple (or pumpkin!) puree to avoid the strange texture the chunks of apple add. And now I could really go for a Krispy Kreme Pumpkin Spice Cake Doughnut. Soon! :) James actually loved these too!



Apple Fritters

Fritter:

* 1 cup all purpose flour
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/3 cup milk
* 1 egg
* 1 cup chopped apple

Glaze:

* 2 cups powdered sugar
* 1 1/2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon. Stir in milk and egg until just combined. Fold in apple. Pour oil into skillet so that it is approximately 1 1/2 deep. Heat oil on high. Oil is ready when dough floats to top. Carefully add dough to oil in heaping teaspoons. Cook until brown, about 2 minutes, then flip. Cook another 1-2 minutes, until both sides are browned. Transfer briefly to paper towels to absorb excess oil, then transfer to cooling rack. Make glaze by stirring milk and powdered sugar together in a small bowl. Drizzle over apple fritters. Wait approximately 3 minutes for glaze to harden, then flip fritters and drizzle glaze over the other side. Best served warm.


Recipe credit: The Picky Apple