Chocolate Zucchini Muffins with dates

I adapted this recipe from the cookbook, The Happy Herbivore.

1 1/4 cup whole wheat Pastry Flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup to 1 cup medjool dates, pitted

1/4 cup almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup shredded zucchini

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease muffin tin.

2. In medium bowl whisk together flour, soda, baking powder, cocoa, salt, and cinnamon together.

3. In you blender puree the dates with the applesauce and almond milk.

4. In another bowl mash the banana. Then stir in the blender mixture with the banana.

5.Add the dry mixture to the wet and stir until just combined.

6. Fill muffin cups to 3/4 full.

7. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

* This recipe makes about 12 muffins. I doubled the recipe and I think that made pureeing the dates with the liquid easier.

** These got a thumbs up from most of the people here. I used the lesser amount of dates and I think they were just sweet enough but if you guys are just coming off sugar you might want to use the larger amount.

Banana Wheat Germ Muffins with dates

This is another great recipe that I adapted from Isa Chandra Moskowitz. A key here to getting them really sweet is using pretty ripe bananas.

Banana Wheat Germ Muffins with dates

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp Apple cider Vinegar

2 Bananas, very ripe

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup Medjool dates, pitted

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1¼ cups Whole-wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup Wheat Germ

2 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp Sea Salt

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease 12 cup muffin tin.
• Add vinegar to almond milk and set aside for 5 minutes to curdle.
• Combine flour, wheat germ, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl. 
• Mash bananas in a large mixing bowl.
• In the blender blend almond milk, coconut oil, dates, and vanilla
• Add blender contents to the mashed banana.
• Next add the dry ingredients and using a wooden spoon combine just until the dry ingredients are moistened. DO NOT overmix.
• Fill the muffin tin 3 quarters full and bake for 22 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove and set aside to cool. Once the muffins are cool enough to handle remove them onto wire rack and let cool completely

** You can throw some chopped walnuts into these as well.

Applesauce Date Pancakes

I have been toying with this recipe for a while. I finally got it right. Everyone loved these. I make these in my blender. Super easy. The best thing is they don't need syrup!

Applesauce Date Pancakes

1 1/4 cup almond milk
3 medjool dates, pitted
1 egg
2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder

** Blend the dates with the milk first to get the dates really pureed. Then add all other the other ingredients in order and blend them up all together.

This recipe makes about 18-24 mediumish pancakes.

Date Sweetened Apple Muffins

These are vegan, sugar free, and no fat.

1 1/4 Cups Whole Wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 -2 tsp cinnamon ( we like on the lower end)
few dashes of ground nutmeg
few dashes of ground ginger (optional)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup pitted medjool dates
1 cup chopped apples

Directions:
1. Preheat oven 350F. Grease muffin tin or use liners.
2. In a large bowl whisk flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices until well combined.
3. Process dates and applesauce in food processor until smooth.
4. Add applesauce mixture to dry ingredients until almost combined.
5. Stir in apple pieces until just combined.
6. Spoon into muffin cups about 3/4 full.
7. Bake for 18-25 minutes.

**This is my husband's favorite muffin recipe. I adapted this from a recipe in the book "The Happy Herbivore."

A compromise - no bake chocolate rice crispy treats

So a few weeks ago my sister-in-law and her six boys came to visit for a week and a half. Yes, I said six boys. And you know what? It was awesome! We used paper plates the whole time (sorry Earth), My SIL and her boys did my dishes the whole time (my kitchen has never been so consistently clean) and the younger boys played with my girls the whole time. I actually had more free time because they took over all my jobs for me. It was awesome. Plus they are a really fun family so it was great. I was a little nervous about what to feed them. I made them some of my vegan recipes and I got thumbs up on most of them. The one issue we had was the lack of sweets in my house. One of my nephews ( I won't name names) was convinced he was having headaches from sugar withdrawals. It's called detox, buddy!!  :) At one point they were skyping with some of their other cousins and one of my nephews shouted out (kind of in a panicky, help me voice) "They have no sugar here!!!"

But I did make them sweets. I am not totally mean. I made them fudge balls and chocolate smoothies and this recipe from Greensmoothie girl:


No Bake Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats

1 cup almond butter, peanut butter, or sunflower seed butter ( I usually use peanut butter)
1/2 cup raw honey or agave
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 cups puffed brown rice ( can find at health food stores)

Cream together wet ingredients in large bowl by hand. Add flaxseed, cocoa, salt and blend. Add crisped rice and stir until evenly mixed.

Spread onto greased (with coconut oil) 9x13 pan. Then put in freezer for at least 30minutes. Cut into squares.

** This recipe is a compromise recipe to me because I really only want to use dates for sweeteners but sometimes my girls want more so I make these. I have also been known to let thme eat this as cereal in the mornings. Sometimes...Not all the time...

Variation on a Theme: Oats for breakfast

I eat some form of oats almost every morning for breakfast. Boring, you say? Easy, I say. Breakfast is the one meal of the day I don't have to put too much thoughtinto (not to mention time.) And oats are great for you. So here are 3 ways we do oats at our house.

1. Rolled oats - or old fashioned oats. You can get these at any store. Don't get quick oats - they are even more processed. You can do these on the stove top or just microwave an individual serving. I think a key to good tasting oatmeal is putting in a bit of sea salt.

2. Steel cut oats - even less processed than rolled oats. You can get these at most stores. I think it is more cost effective to get from the bulk bins. We do these on the stove top. The proportions are 1 cup oats to 2 cups water. Add water and oats  and a few dashes of sea salt to a pot. Bring to a boil and then turn off the heat. Cover the pot and leave it on the burner. Let sit for about 20 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed.

3. Raw Oat Groats - the least processed. We get these in the bulk section of the health food store. Soak these over night. In the morning rinse them in a fine mesh strainer. Here is the recipe:

1 cup oat goats
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup pitted dates
few dashes of sea slat.

Blend.

All of these taste great with almond milk and whatever else you like. But try not to add any other sweeteners. Oats taste great with bananas, strawberries, blueberries, flax meal, nuts, cinnamon, etc...

Bday Dinner and Coconut Pancakes

Monday night we celebrated 2 very special b-days at our house. E is 8 years old and Baby G is 1! We had a little dinner party with my mom, who is visiting for E's baptism this Saturday. E requested chocolate chip pancakes for dinner.

So the menu was:

Chocolate Chip Coconut Pancakes
Banana Coconut Pancakes

Scrambled Eggs with green onions and tomatoes

Green Smoothies

Raw Apple Pie and Pear Ice Cream

* The pear ice cream was a disaster. I mean it tasted good but it was the consistency of a smoothie. The whole experience was pretty discouraging. I mean I really got depressed. How lame is that?

** I just threw in chopped green onions, and tomatoes into the scrambled eggs and it made them turn out watery from the tomato juices. That wasn't so tasty.

*** But the pancakes tasted great.

Here is the basic pancake recipe. You can add whatever you want to it. Like blueberries, bananas, or if you are very insistent, chocolate chips!

1 cup wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tblsp coconut shreds

1/4 cup flax seed meal

1 tblsp honey (optional)

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 cup almond or coconut milk

2 tblsp coconut oil

blueberries or sliced bananas

Mix wet ingredients in medium bowl. Mix dry ingredients in a larger bowl. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix well until consistency is smooth.

Pour a scoop of batter (1/4 cup) onto preheated pan at medium heat. Sprinkle with blueberries or sliced bananas on top. Flip over when batter begins to bubble.

* I always forget to let my eggs and almond milk get to room temperature before I put the coconut oil in. So don't forget to do that or the oil will turn hard with the cold temperatures.

 

 

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

This is my altered version of the recipe I found on this blog.

1/4 cup plus 2 T poppy seeds
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 t grated lemon zest
1/2 cup nondairy butter ( I used 1/4 c regular butter and 1/4c unsweetened applesauce)
1/2 cup dates, pitted
1 T arrowroot powder ( I used cornstarch)
1 cup nondairy sour cream (I used plain yogurt)

2 cups spelt or whole-wheat flour ( I used white wheat flour)
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/4 t Celtic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.

In a blender, combine the poppy seeds maple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, butter, dates, arrowroot, and Vegenaise.

In a large-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, being careful not to overmix. Divide the batter equally among the muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

** Everyone in the family loved these. They were just the right amount of sweetness for us. If you are used to eating a lot of sugar these won't taste very sweet to you. I think next time I make these I will add a bit more lemon juice and use coconut oil instead of butter.