Category: Dessert

Berry Crisp

Vegan berry crisp

Berry crisp is a great summertime dessert. I made it while we were visiting Florida where it definitely felt like summer.   It is best served warm with vegan ice cream, yum!  I used frozen fruit, but you could always use fresh berries.  I also used a mixture of all different berries, but just use your favorite.  The crisp topping is delicious with the warm, juicy berries.  I actually ate the leftovers of the berry crisp for breakfast the next morning.   Now that we are back in North Carolina I can’t wait to make a berry crisp with the fresh strawberries that are in season now.

 

Berry Crisp

 

6 cups fresh or frozen mixed berries

3 cup of rolled oats

1/2 cup flour plus 2 TBSP

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup melted Earth Balance

 

Preheat the oven to 375.  Place the berries in a large baking dish and toss with the 2 TBSP of flour until all the berries are coated.  In a mixing bowl combine the oats, 1/2 cup of flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and Earth Balance to make the topping.  Mix it until it is well combined.  Crumble the topping evenly over the berries.  Bake 40 – 50 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the berries are bubbling.  Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.   Serve the berry crisp with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream.

 

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Baklava

Vegan Baklava

I made this baklava mostly for my daughter.  Honey is her favorite food and she would eat it out of the jar if I let her.  Most baklava recipes call for a  ton of sugar, but I used some dates and honey for sweetness instead of refined sugar.  You can always substitute agave for the honey if you don’t use it.  The baklava was sweet and nutty with a nice crispy top from the phyllo dough.

 

Vegan Baklava

 

1/2 package of phyllo dough thawed (about 20 sheets)

1/2 – 3/4 cup melted Earth Balance

 

Filling :

1 cup of dates soaked in hot water for at least 30 minutes

4 cups of finely chopped nuts  (I used walnuts, almonds and pecans and ground them in the food processor)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

Put the nuts, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Strain the dates and reserve 1 cup of the soaking water for the syrup.  Puree the dates in the food processor and add to the nuts.  Mix the dates in thoroughly, you will need to use your fingers.  sett aside.

 

Syrup:

1 cup of the water from the dates

3/4 cup of honey or agave

1 tsp cinnamon

juice of 1 lemon

Put all of the syrup ingredients into a medium sized sauce pan.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Let it boil for 10 minutes and then remove it from the heat to cool.

 

To assemble the baklava:

Preheat the oven to 350.  Unwrap the phyllo dough and cover it with a damp cloth (keep it covered as much as possible, it will dry out really fast).  Spread some melted butter in the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish.  Lay in one piece of phyllo and brush it lightly with melted butter (make sure to keep the rest f the phyllo covered).  Repeat with seven more sheets of phyllo.  Sprinkle on about a 1/3 of the nut filling, spreading it evenly over the dough.  Cover the filling with 2 sheets of phyllo brushed with butter.  Put on half of the remaining filling and cover with two more sheets of buttered phyllo.  Add the remaining filling and then cover with 8-10 sheets of phyllo buttering each one.  Brush butter on the top sheet making sure it is completely covered.

Before baking cut the baklava into four long strips lengthwise.  Then make about 8 diagonal cuts to make diamond shaped pieces.  Bake the baklava for 40-45 minutes until the top is a nice golden brown.

While the baklava is baking make the syrup.

When the baklava is finished baking set the pan on a rack to cool.  Let it cool for about 20 minutes then pour on the syrup.  Make sure you get it down into all the cuts.  Let the baklava cool completely, at least a couple of hours, before serving.

 

 

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Kid’s Picks: Mini Pizzas and No-Bake Date Cookies

Mini pizza

 

No Bake Date Cookies

 

 

 

My kids picked the recipes for the mini pizzas and date cookies for this post, so needless to say they are family friendly.  The mini pizzas are really simple to make and are great for a quick lunch or dinner.  I like that the kids can make their own and put on their favorite toppings, so they get their pizza just how they want it (no complaining involved).  My kids, and my husband, love to have the Date Cookies for snack and they usually disappear the same day I make them.  They are full of oats and nuts, but no refined sugar.  There is no baking involved for these cookies, all you need is a food processor.  Kids can help make these cookies too.  You can have them measure ingredients and help roll the cookies.  I love to get my kids involved in cooking and they love to eat things that they make, even if it is a new food.

 

Mini Pizza

 

For each pizza:

Sprouted grain or whole grain English muffin (Like Ezekiel brand)

1 Tbsp tomato sauce

2 Tbsp vegan mozzarella cheese

pizza toppings of your choice:  spinach, black olives, vegan pepperoni, vegan sausage

 

Split open the English muffin and toast it for a couple of minutes under the broiler (watch it carefully).  Remove it from the oven and top the muffin with sauce, cheese and toppings of your choice.  Put the pizza back under the broiler to melt the cheese.  Remember to watch it carefully.  Remove them from the oven and let cool for just a minute.  Serve the pizza with a salad or chopped veggies for a quick meal.

 

 

No Bake Date Cookies

 

Makes 12 cookies

1/4 Cup old fashioned oats

1/4 Cup raw almonds

1/4 Cup raw cashews

25-30 dried dates (make sure they are pitted)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp maple syrup

 

Grind the oats in the food processor and put into a bowl.  Grind the almonds and cashews and add them to the oats (your want them finely ground but not made into nut butter).  Puree the dates and then add the oats and nuts back in along with the cinnamon, salt and syrup.  Pulse the food processor to combine all of the ingredients together.  Put in all into a bowl and roll into balls about 1 inch in diameter.  If it is sticky wet your hands a little.

 

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Fruit Pizza

Fruit Pizza

Fruit Pizza

This was our dessert on Valentine’s Day.  My daughter saw a non-vegan version of fruit pizza in one of her magazine’s and kept asking me to make it.  I am so glad that I finally gave in and made it.  It was so good and I have never seen kids so eager to eat fruit before.  This is a great recipe to get the kids involved in making.  They can help with the cookie dough and help with decorating it with the fruit.   I replaced half of the white flour in the cookie recipe with whole wheat white flour and it turned out really good.  I think fruit pizza may be my new favorite dessert (except for chocolate of course).

 

 

Fruit Pizza

 

1/2 recipe for Grandma’s Sugar Cookies well chilled  (the other 1/2 can be frozen)

1 container of vegan cream cheese at room temperature or 1 recipe for frosting (on link above)

1/4 Cup of powdered sugar, if using cream cheese

3 cups of sliced fruit:  Strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, bananas

 

Preheat the oven to 400.  Roll out the sugar cookie dough to about a 1/2 inch thick.  You can make it round or rectangle depending on the shape of your baking pan.  Line your baking pan with parchment or use a silpat.  Bake the cookie for 12 minutes until the edges begin to brown.  Keep the cookie on the pan for at least 1o minutes to harden enough to move to a cooling rack or you can leave it on the pan.   Let the cookie cool completely.  If you are using cream cheese mix it with the powdered sugar.   Frost the cookie with cream cheese mixture or the frosting.  Top with the fruit and chill for at least 30 minutes.  Slice and serve.

 

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Valentine’s Cinnamon Cookies

cookies

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I can’t believe that Valentine’s is here already.  It kind of snuck up on me this year, but I still wanted to make some special cookies for my family.  This recipe is so simple it feels like I am cheating by making them these cookies.  They are made with puff pastry, which believe it or not is vegan (at least the Pepperridge Farm brand is).     I hope you all enjoy your Valentine’s Day!

 

Cinnamon Cookies

 

1 box of puff pastry thawed  (I know Pepperridge Farm brand is vegan)

4 TBSP Earth Balance melted

4 TBSP sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

 

Preheat the oven to 400.  Cover a baking sheet in parchment or a silpat.  Place 1 sheet of pastry on a well floured surface.  Sprinkle is with a little four to prevent sticking and roll it out a little bit.  You want to make it about 2 inches longer.  Brush it with 2 TBSP of the Earth Balance.  Sprinkle the pastry with half of the sugar and half of the cinnamon in an even layer.  Roll up the dough starting on one of the shorter ends.  Roll it to about the middle and then roll up the other side of the pastry until it meets in the middle.  Slice the pastry into 1/2 inch slices and place on the baking sheet about 3 inches apart.  Make sure the cookies stay rolled up tight.   Bake for 10 minutes until they cookies are puffed and nicely browned.  Let the cookies cool on a rack.

Repeat with the other sheet of pastry.

 

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Fondue

fondue

 

fondue

Happy New Year!  Last night I made vegan cheese fondue for dinner and vegan chocolate fondue for dessert.  I haven’t had cheese fondue since becoming vegan and I really wanted it, so I gave it a try.  It was delicious.  The chocolate was unbelievably good and of course I ate way too much of it.  It was a great way to start a new year.

 

 

Cheese Fondue

1 package Daiya Cheddar Cheese (vegan)

1 Package Daiya Mozzerella (vegan)

1 cup soy milk

1 TBSp dijon mustard

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

1 bottle of beer

What ever you want to dip: raw or roasted veggies, bread, vegan sausages

 

Combine all the ingredients except the beer in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Stir until the cheese starts melt.  Slowly add in the beer a little at a time until the cheese reaches the consistency that you want for dipping.  I used about 1/2 the bottle.  Serve warm.

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Fondue

1 bag of vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup soy milk

2 TBSP Earth Balance

1 tsp vanilla extract

What ever you want to dip:  Strawberries, bananas, pretzels, cookies

 

Combine the soy milk and the butter in a sauce pan over low heat.  Once the butter is melted add in the chocolate chips and the vanilla.  Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and smooth.  Serve warm.

 

 

 

Hope you enjoy the vegan fondue!!

 

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Christmas Menu

Christmas

 

Merry Christmas!  Here are some recipes that I am planning on making for Christmas.  This year I am keeping the menu simple and some what traditional.  We will not have all of our extended family this year so it should be a quiet Christmas. I hope you all have a very happy holiday.

 

Christmas Eve Dinner Menu:

Caramelized onion and olive tart

mashed potatoes and gravy

roasted veggies

cranberry sauce

Egg Nog Cheesecake From Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

 

 

Christmas

 

 

Caramelized Onion and Olive Tart

1/2 recipe for pie crust (below)

1 package firm tofu drained and pressed

1 clove of garlic finely minced

Juice of 1 lemon

2 TBSP Italian Seasoning

1/4 Cup nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

1 medium onion sliced

1/4 cup sliced kalamata olives

 

Pie Crust (makes 2 crusts)

2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 tsp of salt

1 Tbls of sugar

8 Tbsp of butter

6 Tbsp of non hydrogenated shortening

1/2 Cup of ice cold water

 

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor.  Pulse to combine.  Add in the butter and shortening.  Pulse until the butter and shortening are coarsely combined with the flour.  There should still be some small pieces.  Slowly add the water with the processor running until the dough comes together.  Remove the dough, divide it in half and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

 

Preheat the oven to 375.  After the dough has chilled, roll it out and press it into a tart pan or a 9 inch pie pan and cover it with parchment.  Put in pie weights or fill the shell with dry beans to keep the crust from puffing up while it is baking.Bake the crust for about 10 minutes then set it aside to cool.

In a large bowl mash together the tofu, garlic, lemon, nutritional yeast, salt and italian seasoning.  Let it sit while you cook the onions.

Bring 1/2 cup of water to boil in a sauce pan and add the onion.  Cook the onion for about 30-45 minutes until it has caramelized adding more water as needed to keep it from sticking.

Put the tofu mixture into the pit shell and top it with the caramelized onion and olives.  Bake it for another 20 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Cranberry Sauce

1 bag of fresh cranberries

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Combine all of the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil.  Boil for about 20 minutes.  Transfer it to a bowl and let cool.

 

 

 

Christmas Brunch Menu:

fruit and granola bake

Sausage and cheddar tofu frittata

hash browns

 

 

 

Fruit and Granola Bake

6 cups of frozen fruit – I like to use mixed berries, but just use your favorite

1/2 cups sugar

3 cups of granola

Preheat the oven to 375.  Put the fruit and the sugar into a casserole dish and mix it together.  Top it with the granola.  Bake it for about 20-25 minutes until it is nice and bubbly.  I like to serve it with non dairy yogurt,  but it is great with ice cream too.

 

 

 

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Hot Chocolate

This is the perfect time of year for hot chocolate.  My kids are always asking for it and I hate for them to have the stuff out of the package, so I made my own.  This recipe doesn’t have that much sugar and it is super chocolatey.  I found vegan marshmallows to go in and we put in peppermint sticks too.  I will be making this again tomorrow when we decorate our Christmas tree.

Hot Chocolate

4 cups of non dairy milk (I used soy)

3 TBSP the unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used grain sweetened semi sweet)

1 tsp of vanilla

1/4 cup sugar or liquid sweetener

 

Put all of the ingredients in a medium pot and cook over medium heat.  Whisk to combine the ingredients.  Try to not boil it, just cook it until the chocolate is melted, the cocoa powder is well combined and it is hot.  Serve with you favorite toppings like marshmallows, non dairy whipped cream or peppermint sticks.

 

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Thanksgiving Menu

This year we will have 16 people here for Thanksgiving and the kids have been working hard on our decorations.  Our little house will be very full, but it is such a blessing to have everyone together.   I tried to keep the food very traditional this year, so everyone will have something familiar.  Here is the menu:

Meatless Loaf from the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.  I am going to wrap mine in puff pastry.

Traditional stuffing with apples

Greens beans with apple cider, carmelized onions and walnuts

Cranberry sauce

Roasted sweet potatoes with, cranberries, sage and walnuts

Mashed potatoes and gravy

Homemade rolls

Pumpkin Pie

 

Pumpkin Pie

1 package of silken tofu

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 14oz can of pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of brown sugar

2 Tbls molasses

1 prepared pie crust (recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Blend the tofu in a food processor.  Add in all the other ingredients.  Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust and bake for 1 hour.  You may need to put foil around the edges of the crust to keep it from burning.  Let the pie cool and then refrigerate until you are ready to serve it.

 

Pie Crust (makes 2 crusts)

2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 tsp of salt

1 Tbls of sugar

8 Tbsp of butter

6 Tbsp of non hydrogenated shortening

1/2 Cup of ice cold water

 

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor.  Pulse to combine.  Add in the butter and shortening.  Pulse until the butter and shortening are coarsely combined with the flour.  There should still be some small pieces.  Slowly add the water with the processor running until the dough comes together.  Remove the dough, divide it in half and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

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Grandma’s Sugar Cookies

Grandma's Sugar Cookies

 

 

This has been a crazy week of packing up my Mom and trying to see all my friends and family.  Today the kids and I took a break and made some sugar cookies for Halloween.  I used a recipe given to me by my husband’s Grandma, of course I had to make a few changes to make the cookies vegan.  The kids get very few treats like this, so they were very excited and had a great time helping.  I think they had more frosting on them than got on the cookies.

 

Sugar Cookies

1 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening

2 Cups sugar

1 cup soy milk at room temp.

2 tsp lemon extract

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

5 cups unbleached flour

 

Cream the shortening and the sugar in a mixer.  Once it is combined (about 5 minutes) and fluffy add the milk and the lemon extract.  In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet slowly and mix just until combined.  Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400.  Roll out half of the dough (keep the other 1/2 refrigerated until ready to use) on a well floured surface about 1/2 inch thick and cut out the cookies.  Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8 to 10 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.  Remove the cookies from the pan and let cool on a rack.  Cool completely before frosting.

 

Frosting

1/4 cup earth balance

1/4 cup shortening

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp soy milk

1/2 tsp lemon or vanilla extract

 

In a mixer combine the butter and the shortening.  Add in the powdered sugar and mix slowly until the sugar combines with the butter and shortening. Mix at high speed for about 5 minutes.  Add in the milk and flavoring and mix another 5 minutes until it is light and fluffy.  Chill the frosting for at least 15 minutes before you use it.

This recipe can be doubled to frost a cake as well.

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