Krispie Squares

Using these....

and the basic recipe,

with the melting of the mallows, earth balance and vanilla.

Behold the vegan rice krispie square :P

Tropical Island coconut cake

Its been awhile since my last post, getting back into the swing of things after the holidays has been a bit of a struggle. We are starting the renovations to our home this week including the kitchen. I am not sure what to expect as I have never done anything like this before. I am assuming that my kitchen will have limited use for the next few months. Perhaps a few more raw recipes :P

Edward and Sons sent me another box of goodies to try out, including a bag of organic coconut flour. I have never worked with it before, so I was sort of unsure of how to use it. When I opened the bag I got lost in the sweet smell of coconut. The flour has a course powdery texture. It is also gluten free but because my family and I are not sensitive to gluten I cut it with all purpose flour.  They also sent me organic coconut flakes, which are crazy good! I toasted them a little for the topping and "glued" them on with this coconut spread I picked up in Quebec. Spread some blueberry jam in the middle  and made a quick blueberry sauce and put it all together to get this....

Coconut Cake Recipe

2 cups flour
3/4 cup Coconut flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup soy milk

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
Pour into a greased pan ( I used a round 8)
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until the knife comes out clean.

Almond butter chocolate balls

The holidays are just a few short weeks away, and we have been planning on making them pretty chill. Sometimes its easy to get caught up in all the holiday crazies, but I just remind myself what is important. 

Family, love, happiness and good food 

I dream about going into a grocer where everything is vegan and I don't have to read the ingredients...maybe one day.  Until that day comes I will be perfecting vegan treats in my kitchen. These peanut butter chocolate balls are super simple to make, and tasty!

I found this recipe, and changed it a bit.

1 stick of earth balance butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups almond butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cups rice cereal
2 cups dark chocolate chopped and melted

In a large pot, melt butter.
Add almond butter and vanilla.
Stir until combined and smooth.
Add powdered sugar and rice cereal.

Let mixture cool.
roll into balls

With a fork dip balls into melted chocolate
Place on a parchment paper lined baking pan.
Refrigerate  until hard.
Dust with cocoa powder

HAPPY HALLOWEEN : Vegan nanaimo bars

A truly Canadian confection, the NANAIMO bar! These treats are a Canadian favourite! I know I use to love them before I went vegan. When I was surfing around the net looking for something yummy to make since it is Halloween. I found a recipe on the joyofbaking.com and thought it looked easy enough to veganize, and I was right!

Let me just say one little thing , I am not a fan of healthy desserts. If I need my sugar fix I pretty much go for it. Nothing will hold me back from the sweet sugary goodness of chocolate!  I can't imagine them lasting very long in the fridge. One year I made a batch of these with some truffles and gave them away as winter gifts, they keep nicely in the freezer.

We never get many kids for the trick-or-treats. We still carve the pumpkins and have a bowl of candy at the door (just in case).

my pumpkin

The best part about carving pumpkins is the seeds! I always pick through the guts to save them for roasting. This time I roasted 1 pan with garlic powder & sea salt, the other one had tamari sprinkled on it with black pepper. I roast the seeds on low heat 275 for about 1.5 hours. Turn the oven off, and let them sit for a while in there so that they are really dry. A tasty treat!

 

 2 whole pans of pumpkin seeds!!

our pumpkins

This is the recipe I got from joyofbaking.com and changed it to make it vegan

Bottom Layer:

1/2 cup earth balance 

1/4 cup vegan sugar

1/3 cup  unsweetened cocoa powder

1 egg replacement

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups vegan cookie crumbs (I used a digestive cookie and crumbed it in my processor)

1 cup  coconut

1/2 cup walnuts- coarsely 

chopped

Middle Layer:

1/4 cup earth balance

2 - 3 tbsp soy milk

2 tablespoons vanilla custard powder (Bird's) 

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups vegan powdered sugar

Top Layer:

4 ounces vegan dark chocolate

1 tablespoon earth balance

Bottom Layer: In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter.  Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder and then gradually whisk in the egg replacement.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (1 - 2 minutes).  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract,  cookie crumbs, coconut, and chopped nuts.  Press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan.  Cover and refrigerate until firm (about an hour).

Middle Layer:  Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until the mixture is smooth.  If the mixture is too thick to spread, add a little more milk.  Spread the filling over the bottom layer, cover, and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).

Top Layer:  In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the filling and refrigerate until the chocolate has set.

To Serve:  To prevent the chocolate from cracking, using a sharp knife bring the squares to room temperature before cutting. 

Yield: Makes about 25 squares

Have a Happy Halloween!