Raspberry-Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies (Vegan, GF)

Jennifer came home for the weekend so we decided to go on a baking frenzy! We sort of just made this recipe up as we went along and believe it or not they turned out amazing! These cookies are so classy! They're like the kind you would find in one of those chic coffee shops. They turned out nice and chewy the way oatmeal cookies should be :) 

1 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (make sure they are GF oats)

1 1/2 cup Gluten-free Flour Blend (see substitutes tab)

1/4 cup arrowroot flour

1/2 cup brown rice syrup

1/2 cup sucanat (evaporated cane juice)

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup safflower oil

3 tbsp almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

1/2 cup nuts ie. pecans or walnuts (we used pecans)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside. In a separate bowl combine all remaning ingredients except for raspberries, chocolate and nuts. Combine dry ingredients to wet, mix until combined. Then add raspberries, chocolate and nuts. Oil a baking sheet with safflower oil, drop cookies by the spoonful, flatten a bit. Bake for around 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Once taken out of oven, the cookies will seem very loose, don't be alarmed! They need time to stiffen up, leave on cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes, transfer to a cooler place in order to stiffen up even more. These were perfect the next day, because they had time to set overnight. 

The texture of these cookies are pretty amazing considering they are gluten free. The arrowroot makes the cookies nice and dense and chewy. Perfect with your afternoon coffee! 

Splashes of Raspberry

Raw Apple Streusel Bars (Vegan, GF)

We found this recipe on http://vegancookbookcritic.blogspot.com/. They looked so amazing and we loved how we didn't need a dehydrator to make it. We made a few changes to the recipe and we think they turned out pretty great. If you leave them to sit overnight, the chia gelatinizes the butter so it actually stays together. We added an extra date to thicken the butter even more. We found that it needed more streusel topping, so we also added more walnuts. The original icing does not have any sweetness so we added agave/honey and vanilla to give it a richer, more "dessert" taste.


Crust:
2 cups cashews
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp agave (we used raw honey)


Grind in a food processor until crummy. Press into the bottom of a pan.


Apple Butter:
2 cups apples (choose a sweet variety such as Royal Gala)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
Pinch of cloves
3 dates, pitted
1 tbsp ground chia - important because it gelatinizes butter!
2 tsp lemon juice


Blend ingredients in food processor and spread on top of the crust.


Apple Slices:
1 apple, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tsp lemon juice


Place slices in a single layer on top of apple butter layer.


Streusel:
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
2 tbsp sucanat or coconut sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon


Mix ingredients together by hand and sprinkle on top of apple slices.


Cashew icing:
1/2 cup cashews
1 tsp agave or raw honey
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
Water to thin


Blend ingredients in food processor, place in a ziploc bag and cut the corner off. Pipe in a cool design on top of streusel.


Chill in the fridge overnight.

Yummmmm!

These turned out super amazing. They taste exactly like apple pie and have the texture of being baked because the apples really soften up in the fridge. We gave a piece to our non-vegan friend and she was floored by how good these are and couldn't believe they are raw!

Green Guacamole (Vegan, GF)

Three little avocados sitting in the fridge, what is one to do?! Why, make guacamole of course! I never considered meddling with the ever so-holy guacamole, but this worked out great and gave it a lovely green hue. If this doesn't please your veggie friends, you didn't use enough spinach :)

3 Haas avocados (very soft)
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp salt
Ground pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 onion diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil (if needed)
1/2-1 bunch of spinach, wilted

Mash the avocados, combine with spices, juice, onion, garlic, tomato and olive oil. Wilt spinach by massaging by hand for a few minutes or until the leaves dramatically reduce in size, you may want to add more depending on preference (I added one whole bunch of spinach, because I love my greens!). You will be left with some juice, drain this out and do not put in with spinach. Fold in wilted spinach. Makes one big bowl, serve with dehydrated raw crackers, rice chips, or carrot sticks.

Raw Frozen Cookie Dough Bites (Vegan, GF)

If I had to be certain about one thing in this world, it would be this raw chocolate chip cookie recipe from Oh She Glows. Every time I make it, even if I vary or substitute certain ingredients, it always turns out ah-mazingly.
Jenn and I have made this recipe soo many times we had to change it up, behold: The Raw Frozen Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bite. I promise, these will not disappoint. My absolute favourite raw sweet so far!

Still Life Choco

Dough:

1 3/4 cup cashews ground into a flour (don't soak unless you are able to dehydrate them)
3/4 cup oat flour
2 tbsp agave
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil
Pinch of salt

Raw Chocolate Chips:

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup carob powder
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
4 tbsp agave nectar/maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Coating:

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract

First prepare raw chocolate chips by combining above ingredients, you will be left with a doughy consistency. Spread out on a flat pan or plate and put in freezer for at least an hour. Then, cut into small chips.
Next, prepare the cookie dough filling by combining above ingredients, then mixing in chocolate chips. Then form into a flat slab about 1/2 inch thick and freeze for 15 minutes. Once frozen, cut into small bar sizes (enough to take 2-3 bites out of it) and skewer each one with a small toothpick.
Prepare chocolate coating by combining all ingredients in a small bowl.
One by one, dip each bite into chocolate, place on a flat tray and freeze for 1-2 minutes. Dip again in chocolate and top with chopped cashews, or other desired topping. Freeze until frozen. Makes 24 bites.

Blueberry-Banana Pancakes (Vegan, GF)

We used to have pancakes every Sunday morning without fail and we would each take a turn "serving" the pancakes from the pan. We would only get one at a time and we would scarf it down the minute it touched our plate. I revisited those days yesterday and made a batch of pancakes, except these ones are vegan, gluten and sugar free. And they were shockingly good! So good that I devoured them in less than 2 minutes! Haha I couldn't help myself ;) 

1/4 cup blueberry puree, thawed
1/2 cup almond milk
1 cup Gluten-free flour blend (see substitutions tab)
2 tbsp safflower oil
1 flax egg*
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
Sliced bananas


Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Set aside. Mix together almond milk, oil, egg and vanilla. Mix into dry ingredients. Fold in blueberry puree. Spoon onto frying pan. Place thinly sliced banana on each cake. Cook on low heat (this is important or else they will fall apart easily) until golden brown. Makes 5-6 large pancakes.

*To make 1 flax egg whisk together 1 tbsp flax meal with 3 tbsp water. Make sure you grind the flax meal into a fine powder before you measure it! 


We've been eyeing this recipe on www.neverhomemaker.com for a while now and finally got around to making these. The only thing we changed is the addition of the bananas and the vanilla and we took away half the blueberry puree to give it a more subtle flavour and make way for the banana! We also made it gluten-free of course by using a flour mix, (recipe in substitutes tab) and we also replaced the Egg Replacer with a flax egg which worked fantastically! We were so impressed. They tasted like sunday morning:)

Chocolate Chip PB Balls (Vegan, GF)

We have a gigantic jar of organic peanut butter in the fridge that we wanted to unload so we decided to make PB balls! Their really easy to make because they don't involve any baking. Just mix, roll and chill!

1 cup of organic peanut butter

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

2 brown rice cakes, crumbled (by hand or in food processor)

1/4 cup oat flour (make sure it's gluten-free if necessary)

1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

Pinch of salt

Vegan chocolate bar, cut into chunks

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Form into balls about the size of a ping pong ball. Chill in the fridge. Eat!

Makes about 20

Aren't they just the cutest?! They taste like the inside of a reese peanut butter cup. So good. This recipe was inspired by convivality.wordpress.com we just made some additions and subtractions as per usual. We took out the raisins because nuts and dried fruit are not good to eat together and makes us bloated :( We also added coconut oil to give them a creamier texture. Now if only we can stop eating them!

-Jennifer

Raw Mini Ice Cream Cakes: 2 Ways (Vegan, GF)

Our Dad brought over a tub of organic chocolate ice cream for us the other day and it has been staring at us for the past 2 days and we can't eat it because it has cream in it! We eventually broke down and had a couple bites each and then locked it in the freezer. Who knew ice cream could cause so much distress? We handed it off to one of our roommates and fed our craving by making mini ice cream cakes! We made two versions: Banana-Mango and Cinnamon-Chocolate.

To make the mold we laid out wax paper on a cookie sheet (you could also use a plate) and we used metal circular cookie cutters.

A tale of two cakes

3 inch cookie cutter

Banana-Mango:

Crust:

1/4 cup almonds

2 tsp unsweetened coconut

2 dates

Filling:

1 fresh banana

1/2 cup fresh mango

4 tsp coconut oil, melted

1 tsp agave syrup, or to taste
*add 1/2 the yellow part of an avocado and omit one tsp of coconut oil (if your mango isn't completely ripe or if you want it super creamy!) - note - you will have leftover filling if done this way.

Grind almonds, coconut and dates in a food processor until finely crumbed. Press into the bottom of the cookie cutter to about 1/4 inch thickness. Blend together (also in food processor) banana, mango, *avocado and coconut oil (it is important that the bananas and mango are not frozen but at room temperature or else the coconut oil will be chunky eww). Sprinkle with toasted coconut and freeze over night or until firm. Let sit at room temperature for a couple of minutes to let it defrost a bit so the cookie cutter comes off more easily. Makes 2

Cinnamon-Chocolate:

Crust:

1/4 cup almonds

2 tsp raw cacao powder

2 dates

Filling:

1/2 avocado

1 fresh banana

2 tsp agave

2 1/2 tsp raw cacao powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp coconut oil, melted

1/2 tsp vanilla

Follow same directions as Banana-Mango. 

We piped on top of the Cinnamon-Chocolate Ice Cream Cake a mixture of raw almond butter, agave syrup and cinnamon and topped it off with crushed almonds.

These are so easy to make and would be make an elegant ending to a raw dinner party. Next time we'll try Mint-Chocolate or Pineapple-Coconut...Anyone have ideas for flavour combinations? 

-Jennifer

Blueberry Quinoa-meal (Vegan, GF)

I woke this morning with a rumbly in my tumbly. I've been doing smoothies in the morning for so long, I miss my hot breakfast grains! I was inspired by Aarti once again, she made Quinoa Oatmeal while going Gluten-Free and posted it on her blog. http://www.aartipaarti.com/2010/05/11/going-gluten-free/. Her version was of course much more sophisticated than this with pistachios and orange zest etc, but I added and subtracted a few twists of my own. This recipe is so versatile that you could add almost anything you want and it would still hold its own. The texture just astounded me, it was definitely comparable to real oatmeal.

For two small servings, or one big serving:

1/2 cup quinoa

3/4-1 cup water (whatever the amount is on package)

1/2 cup almond milk

Pinch of sea salt

2 tsp ground flaxseeds

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tbsp raw honey (or to desired sweetness), you could also use agave to make it TRULY vegan

1/4 blueberries (or any fruit/nut/dried fruit you have on hand)

Cook your quinoa as it says on the package. (Bring water, salt, and quinoa to a boil, then turn down to simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the little germ comes out or until desired softness). I never have much success with cooking quinoa with the lid off, the water just evaporates instantly, so I usually cover it for a little bit. Towards the end, take the lid off so that all the water can evaporate so just quinoa is in the pot. Turn heat up to medium, add almond milk and stir until it heats up again, cook for a few minutes. Take off heat, add flaxseeds, honey and cinnamon. Put lid on and let sit for 4-5 minutes. The flaxseeds will thicken the mixture as it sits with the almond milk, ie. flaxseed egg substitute. Take off the lid, give it a stir, if you need it to be thicker, turn up heat to medium and reduce. Add blueberries/add ins, and serve. 

Some combination ideas:

• coconut milk/mango
• banana/walnut
• apple/cinnamon (extra cinnamon!)
• cranberry/orange zest

- Jac

Parting Ways + Butternut Edamame Pizza (Vegan, GF)

This is our last post before Jennifer moves away to go to school at Sheridan in Oakville, so she will be posting more "lower class" student dishes whereas Jac will be working day and night and will be able to eat a more classy diet. It's going to be cool to compare our dishes and to just see what we come up with!

As our last dish we make together, we wanted to do something really creative and different. We found a recipe in the book "The Thrive Diet" by Brendan Brazier which Jac is currently reading and it was an "Adzuki Quinoa Pizza Crust". It has been eons since we've had pizza, actually all summer to be exact! The sauce and toppings are our own creations.

Crust:

1 cup adzuki beans (cooked)
1 cup quinoa (cooked)
1/2 cup ground sesame seeds
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tbsp dulse flakes (seaweed flakes, you can just substitute sea salt to taste)

Preheat oven to 300 F. Process ingredients in food processor until a dough forms. Press in a circle about 1/4 inch thick on a greased cookie sheet.

Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce:

30 cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp oregano
Pinch of salt

Cut 15 of the tomatoes in half and toss with olive oil and salt. Place skin side up on a baking sheet. Roast the cherry tomatoes in a 350 F oven for about 20 minutes. Cool. Once cooled, dump in food processor along with raw tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Process until smooth. Spread onto crust.

You can add whatever veggies you'd like. We wanted a bright colourful pizza for one last shot at summer before fall comes, so we used: Slivered butternut squash, broccoli, red onions, edamame beans and a sprinkling of nutritional yeast on top for a little cheese flavour.

B.O. (Before Oven)

Bake for 45 minutes and you've got pizza! :)

A.O. After Oven

This is one of those dishes where when you bite into it you know you are eating something healthy. We were very impressed by the crust, although you don't get the full pizza experience because you have to eat it with a knife and fork since it falls apart easily. I'd recommend only putting a very thin layer of sauce in order for the crust to stay crispy.

Indian Lentil Pumpkin Seed Hummus (Vegan, GF)

This weekend we went up to the cottage to soak up the last weekend of summer. We wanted to make hummus and veggies to eat as a snack on the dock but there were no chickpeas so we substituted green lentils and used pumpkin seed butter instead of tahini and threw in some indian spices and came up with a super delicious dip!

1/2 cup dry green lentils
2 Tbsp pumpkin seed butter (sunflower seed butter works too)
1 clove garlic
1 tsp ginger
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp cinnamon or garam masala
1/4 tsp cayenne
Salt and pepper

Cook lentils according to package until tender and drain. Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and a dash of cayenne.

Our mom loved it! And the indian spices make it really nutty and flavourful. Don't be afraid to adjust the spices if you like more heat. :)

-Jennifer