Easy Healthy Cookie Recipe For Vegan Cookies And Gluten-Free Cookies

Why This Is An Easy Healthy Cookie Recipe For Vegan Cookies And Gluten-Free Cookies

We don’t really need a recipe for these incredible power morsels of nutrition. It all depends on what we have on hand, or what we like to eat, or what we want to buy. Here is a simple recipe template utilizing the ingredients discussed above:

4 cups ground nuts

1 cup nut butter or 1/2 cup organic canola oil

1 cup organic brown rice flour

3/4 cups agave nectar

1 Tablespoon vanilla or almond extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon crushed anise seeds, cardamom, or other spices

1 teaspoon salt

Optional: 1/2 cup each raisins or toasted oats or seeds

The individual ingredient quantities don’t really matter that much. The template is just a general guide line. Our goal is to mix a batter that holds its shape when divided into cookie-size balls. We might have to add a little water if the mix is too dry and crumbly. Or, we might have to add more brown rice flour to a wet and sloppy batter.

This is the best part: As we are not using raw eggs, we can taste our cookie batter before we bake it off! Add more agave nectar if you like it sweeter, more spices or seeds, until you are happy!

Important points for the baking process!

Place 2-inch balls on a parchment-lined cookie pan and flatten lightly with a fork (similar to making peanut butter cookies, dip the fork in cold water before pressing it on the cookie portions)

Use a fairly low oven temperature: 8-10 minutes at 300-325 degrees; agave nectar browns a little faster than sugar, so keep an eye on your cookies and don’t let them get too dark on the bottom!

Remember, there are no raw eggs in our batter; we won’t have to bake it completely through. A lightly “under-baked” interior is wonderful!

Recipe from why buy agave nectar blog, photos by Laura Spear 

Vegan Brownies

Vegan Brownies

Dense, nutty, with a crisp crust and flaky top. Come to mama.

Inspired by Vegan Baking, found on the Oh She Glows blog 

Ingredients:
1.5 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water, whisked
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole almonds, ground into a flour/meal & sifted (OR sub 1.5 cups almond flour)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Earth Balance or other non-dairy butter substitute
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup non-dairy chocolate, divided
1 cup + 1/4 cup organic cane sugar (note: a reduction in sugar will lead to a more cake-like brownie)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
powdered sugar for topping (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9 inch square pan with parchment and grease allsides. In a small bowl, whisk
together the ground flax and water and set aside.
2. In a blender or processor, process almonds into a meal/flour. Sift out large pieces. Or use store bought
almond meal/flour. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flours, cocoa, salt, soda).
3. In a large microwave safe bowl, add chocolate and Earth Balance and melt in microwave for about 30-45
seconds until melted. Stir well and add in flax egg, sugar, vanilla, and milk. Whisk.
4. Pour wet mixture over dry mixture and stir well. The mixture will be VERY dry, but not to worry keep mixing!
Now fold in the walnuts and remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
5. Scoop batter into prepared pan and place a piece of parchment on top. Spread with hands or a pastry roller
untilsmooth and even.
6. Bake for 32-34 minutes at 350F and allow brownies to cool in pan for about 1.5 hours. DO NOT REMOVE BROWNIES (uh oh I’m yelling!) until completely cool or they will crack apart. After an hour or so, gently separate edge of brownie from pan with a butter knife and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely and slice carefully. Some cracking when slicing is normal and I say it gives the brownies character, right? Store in air-tight container for up to 3-4 days

Recipe from the Oh She Glows Blog, photos by Laura Spear

Peanut Butter Chocolate No Bake Cookies

In less than 10 minutes I whipped up some of these delicious no bake cookies for my kids, and in less than that they ate them! Next time you have a sweet tooth and don't want to go through all the trouble of heating the oven, mixing, baking, and letting the cookies cool try this quick and easy recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 stick butter (vegan)
• 1/2 cup milk (soy)
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 3 cups oatmeal
• Waxed paper

Directions

In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

Recipe is from Food Network, Photos by Laura Spear 

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

Pumpkin pecan pie for Thanksgiving?? That sounds weird I know! I have been a long time pecan pie lover where as my husband loves pumpkin pie. I find pumpkin pie too bland, in fact the only way I've enjoyed it in the past is smothered in so much whipped topping that you couldn't tell that it was pumpkin at all. My husband thinks that pecan pie is too sweet, he's also not a big fan of nuts in anything he eats unless they are plain, served in a bowl, and next to a nice cold beer. So..... When I was browsing through my vegan cookbooks wondering what in the heck i was going to make for dessert I came to my newest cookbook Party Vegan, and there I found my answer. Robin Robertson the author of party vegan did an amazing job incorporating recipes for each and every holiday so that you can not only have a dinner for your family, but host an event for a large group of family or friends. I am in LOVE with this cookbook, you can find it on my Amazon spindle to the right of this page if you'd like to check it out.  Long story short this pie recipe brought both our loves of pie together, awww how romantic! 

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup vegan margarine, cut into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed

For the topping:

• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons vegan margarine, melted

For the filling:

• One 16-ounce can solid-packed pumpkin
• 4 ounces firm silken tofu, drained and patted dry
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

For the crust:

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt, pulsing to blend. Add the margarine and pulse to combine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water a little at a time and pulse until the dough just starts to hold together. Remove the dough from the food processor and shape it into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For the topping:

In a small bowl, combine the pecans, maple syrup, and margarine. Stir to combine. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the filling:

In a food processor, combine the pumpkin, tofu, maple syrup, and vanilla, and process until well blended. Add both sugars, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, cornstarch, and baking powder. Process until smooth and well combined.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to about 10 inches in diameter. Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim and flute the edges. Pour the filling into the crust. Bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the pecan topping. Return to the oven and bake 30 minutes longer. Let cool to room temperature on a wire rack, then chill in the refrigerator for 5 hours or until set.

Recipe by Robin Robertson, Photos by Laura Spear 

Spicy Cheezy Vegan Popcorn

Ingredients:

• ½ cup olive or canola oil
• 1 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
• ½ cup nutritional yeast
• 1 T. cayenne pepper
• Salt, to taste

Preparation:

1. Heat oil in a 3-quart stock pot (or bigger) over medium-high heat.
2. Add popcorn kernels, cover.
3. When kernels begin to pop (after about 45 seconds), shake pot every few seconds to toss kernels, making sure that the lid stays closed.
4. After most of the kernels have popped, turn off heat and let pot rest for about twenty seconds to ensure that all corn has popped before opening the lid.
5. Pour popcorn into a large bowl. Add nutritional yeast, cayenne and salt, mixing well.

If you have an air popcorn popper like we do you can skip all the stove top directions and just pop the popcorn in your popper add the nutritional yeast, cayenne, and salt. Mix well. 

Recipe from about.com, Photos by Laura Spear

Bon Appétit,

Harry Potter Cookbook Pumpkin Juice Recipe

Container purchased at Wizarding World of Harry Potter, reusable container. You can get one at Amazon or ebay.

1 small pumpkin, known as sugar pumpkin or pie pumpkin
2 cups apple Juice
1 cup white grape juice
1 cup pineapple juice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the pumpkin in half pole to pole and scoop out the seeds. Place the pumpkin halves face down on a baking sheet and roast 45 minutes to 1 hour until soft. Remove from the oven.

When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and discard the skin. Place the cooked pumpkin in a large fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and push the pumpkin through using a rubber spatula. Scrape and mash as you push; it will take several minutes. Discard the pulpy mass left in the sieve. Stir the sieved pumpkin in the bowl to evenly distribute the juices, and then measure out 1 cup.

Place the cup of sieved pumpkin in a pitcher along with the apple juice, white grape juice, and pineapple juice. Stir vigorously until the pumpkin is completely dispersed. Chill the juice until it's very cold.

Before serving, stir the juice well, as the pumpkin will settle to the bottom. Fill crystal goblets with ice cubes and pour the juice over the ice.

To save time: you could use canned pumpkin (not pie filling) instead of an actual pumpkin.

Recipe by Dinah Bucholz, Photo By Laura Spear

Bon Appétit,

Harry Potter Recipe Chocolate Frogs

Frog Mold Available from Amazon.com

Frog Mold Available from Amazon.com

(Makes 12 to 14 frogs) 1 (12-ounce) bag chocolate chips, or 12-ounce bar chocolate, broken into pieces. To make vegan use vegan chocolate chips

1 teaspoon grated chocolate To make vegan use grated vegan chocolate

1 plastic mold for bite-size chocolate frogs 

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave chocolate on high power for 2 minutes. Stir.

Continue microwaving in 15-second increments until chocolate is almost completely melted. Remove from microwave and grate 1 teaspoon additional chocolate over the melted chocolate; stir until smooth.

Fill mold with melted chocolate, reserving about 1 tablespoon melted chocolate. Refrigerate molds until chocolate is firm, about 2 hours. 

Remove frogs from molds. Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Recipe from tikah.com, top two photos by Laura Spear, bottom 2 photos from amazon. 

Bon Appétit,

Wizarding World of Harry Potter Butterbeer Recipe

After our visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando I knew I wanted to brew Butterbeer at home. After searching my harry potter cookbook I realized its not in there! How can you have a harry potter cookbook with out butterbeer :(   So I turned to my good friend, Google.  I found a recipe tested it out and it tastes just like the butterbeer that is served in the park. So this May for Mothers Day we had a harry potter party with meals and drinks from the cookbook, be sure to check out my other harry potter recipes! Enjoy!

1 cup light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
4 12 ounce cream sodas

Directions:

Prep Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

1. In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.
2. Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the rum extract.
4. In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes.
5. To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass). Add 1/4 cup of cream soda to each glass, then stir to combine. Fill each glass nearly to the top with additional cream soda, then spoon the whipped topping over each.

Recipe from food.com, Photos by Laura Spear from Mothers Day 2011

Bon Appétit,

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

  

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes two dozen two inch cookies or about 16 three inch cookies
1/2 brown sugar
1/4 white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.
Mix together sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important that you don’t get lazy about that step. Mix in the vanilla.
Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stuff so use your hands to really work them in.
For 3 inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes – no more than 9 – until they are just a little browned around the edges. I usually get 16 out of these so I do two rounds of eight cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

For 2 dozen two inch cookies roll dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches and bake for only six minutes.

*Note i tripled this recipe and froze the left overs to have cookies ready to bake anytime i want!

Recipe is by Post Punk Kitchen, Photos By Laura Spear

Bon Appétit,

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting! 

I made these for Memorial Day this year and they are the perfect 

red, white, and blue patriotic treat. 

They would be great for the 4th of July too!

Yield: 12 cupcakes
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Bake Time: 20 minutes

For the Cupcakes:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons red food coloring
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons distilled white vinegar

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces butter, at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2½ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard muffin/cupcake pan with liners.
2. On medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to high and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.
3. In a separate small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and red food coloring to make a thick paste. Add to the batter and mix on medium speed until completely combined. You may need to stop the mixer to scrape the bottom of the bowl, making sure that all the batter gets color.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add half of the buttermilk. Add half of the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.
5. Again, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the salt, baking soda and vinegar. Turn to high and beat for another couple of minutes until completely combined and smooth.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a thin knife or skewer inserted into the center of the largest cupcake comes out clean.
7. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove cupcakes from the pan and place them on a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
8. To make the frosting: Using the whisk attachment, whip the butter and cream cheese on high speed for about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add the powdered sugar until all is incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine. Increase the speed to medium high and whip for a few minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.

Bon Appétit,

Recipe from food.com, photos by Laura Spear