Lorna Rae's (Sugar Cookies)

Ah, it's been a nostalgic morning. I'm getting ready to move back to Mexico City after being home for a month and a half, and aside from my excitement for the future, there are a lot of things that I'm really going to miss about Iowa. (Not the weather) But my family, my friends, my favorite hiking spots, midwestern-restaurants, get-togethers, American holidays...the list goes on and on. So, in the midst of all these nostalgic thoughts and feelings, I made sugar cookies--from a recipe that my mom has been using for at least 20 years. These cookies have been at every family Christmas and Easter (and other various holidays) for as long as I can remember. I have a taste of one of these cookies, and the trip down memory lane begins...I've tweaked the recipe just a tiny bit, of course, and veganized the cookies, but they taste just the same as always :) This recipe made 9 cookies. (2 of them vanished before they got in front of the camera...Oops)

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1/2 cup Splenda or sugar

1/2 cup melted Earth Balance (vegan buttery stick) (you can use regular butter if you're not vegan)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400.

Melt the Earth Balance "butter" over the stovetop or in the microwave

In a small mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients together

Pour the melted Earth Balance "butter" over the dry ingredients, and beat together with a fork. This will form a crumbly dough.

Form 8-10 cookie dough balls out of the dough, flatten slightly with your hands, and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. When they come out of the oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes before transfering them to a glass plate, and allow to cool completely before frosting them.

Frosting Ingredients

**This makes more than enough frosting for 9 cookies, so you'll have extra...Darn ;)**

2 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan buttery stick

2 tablespoons almond milk

1 & 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Dash salt

Food coloring of your choice

Directions

Melt the Earth Balance, and pour into a small bowl. Add in almond milk and vanilla, and whisk together.

Stir in the powdered sugar using a fork. The stirring will take a while, but it should result in a nicely thick frosting.

Add a dash of salt and a few drops of the food coloring of your choice, and mix together very well.

Frost the cookies (I use the back of a spoon, that tends to work really well), allow the frosting to harden for 10 minutes, and enjoy!

Craving-Killer Chocolate Cake for One

So, once again, it's been awhile since my last post. It seems that getting ready to move 2000 miles away has left me with very little time to experiment in the kitchen! However, there is one thing I've made a couple times, and it's a life-saver when I'm stressed and needing something chocolate and yummy. And the best part? It's a total indulgence of heavenly chocolate cake goodness for just under 200 calories. I've never put toppings on it, but if you want to top it with something, I'm sure agave nectar, fruit jam, fresh fruit, or homemade frosting would all be delicious with it :) So, fill a glass of almond milk to drink with your cake, and get ready to try this super quick, easy, and yummy recipe!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons Splenda

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon almond milk

1/4 teaspoon plus a couple drops of vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Mix together the dry ingredients first, then add in the vegetable oil, almond milk, and vanilla extract--stir very well. This will be a little thicker than regular cake batter, but not as thick as cookie dough.

Lightly spray a small glass plate with cooking oil. Roll the cake batter into a ball in your hands, and then place on the plate and flatten slightly--it should look like a big chocolate cookie.

Put that in the microwave and heat on high for 30 seconds. Voila! You've got your uber quick and easy chocolate cake for one. Enjoy!

Creamy Hot Chocolate

There's nothing quite so comforting on a cold day as a big mug of hot chocolate. These last few days in central Iowa have been cold, grey, windy, and rainy, and have left me desperate for something warm. Cue hot chocolate. For the longest time, I tried just stirring some cocoa powder and sweetener into hot almond milk--and it didn't work. The cocoa dissolved a little bit, but mostly just clumped into these wet cocoa powder globs that were quite unpleasant to ingest. Ever try eating a pinch of plain dry cocoa powder? Miserable, I'm telling ya...But then I had a big "Duh!" moment and remembered that I own a blender. (A blender named Phillip. Phillip the blender. Does anybody else name their appliances?) Aaaaanyways, here's the super-simple recipe to blend your way to rich hot chocolatey bliss:

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tablespoon Splenda (or sugar)

1 heaping tablespoon cocoa powder

1 tablespoon maple syrup (You can substitute this with more Splenda/sugar, but the maple syrup makes the taste much more rich in my opinion--like the difference between a generic packet of hot cocoa mixed in skim milk versus Ghirardelli brand hot cocoa mixed in whole milk.)

Directions

Pop everything into the blender and mix for about 30 seconds, to make sure all the cocoa clumps get dissolved. You've just made cold hot chocolate!

Pour your cold hot chocolate into a coffee mug and heat in the microwave for 60-90 seconds.

That's it, you're done! Enjoy it! Unless you want to get gourmet and top it with some vegan whipped cream and shaved dark chocolate--not a bad idea ;)

Notes

PS: I'm going to file this under both the Breakfast and Dessert categories, since I'm not expecting to make a plethora of drink recipes...Who knows, if it becomes my thing, I'll add a new category :)

Apple-Date Cakes

What is happening to the Autumn in Iowa?!? Last week it was absolutely beautiful, not too cold, and all sorts of reds, oranges, and golds in the trees. And this week? So far, it's cold, windy and grey. The leaves are almost gone, and I have a feeling that the snow might come too early...In order to take my mind off of the impending winter (it's only October, Iowa, please don't do this), I've been baking some more Autumn-themed goodies! Today's creation, is, I've gotta say, to-die-for. OMG, these apple-date cakes. They're slightly chewy, and somewhere between cake and bread in the texture. I love the texture, but can't seem to find the best way to describe it! Guess you'll have to try making them and report back your opinions, darn ;) The flavor is rich, mildly spicy, and sweet (but not overly-sweet). These have to be the perfect fall dessert. They have everything going for them: they're healthy, low-cal, oil-free, gluten-free, super easy to make, and absolutely decadent. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup chopped dates

1 finely diced green apple, peeled before dicing

1 cup water

1.5 cups quick oats

1 cup Splenda (or sugar)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375.

Peel and dice the green apple very finely.

In a small saucepan over the stovetop, bring the water to a boil. In the meantime, collect the diced apple and chopped dates and place them in a small glass or metal (just not plastic!) bowl. Something that will hold 2 cups of water will be large enough. Pour the boiling water over the apple and dates and stir a couple times. Now, set that bowl aside and let it cool off a little.

Pulse the quick oats a few times in a blender or food processor, until they form a flour. Transfer this flour to a mixing bowl and add in the Splenda (or sugar), cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir together very well.

Lightly grease an 8x8 pan, and pour the entire contents of the mixing bowl in to it. Sprinkle the top with extra cinnamon, if you like.

Place in the oven and bake for 24 minutes, remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes before trying to cut. Then, cut into 9 pieces, serve, and enjoy!! (Yummm!)

Notes:

Makes 9 servings at right about 100 calories each.

Black Bean Brownies

Please don't get turned off by the title and run away! Phew, okay, you stayed :) I know what you're thinking: "Another dessert recipe?" Mmmmhmmm.....No, I'm not letting myself go, but when I walked in to the kitchen and saw half a bag of chocolate chips peeking out of the cupboard, inspiration struck. And by inspiration, I mean one helluva chocolate craving! You all can sympathize, right? Well, as a result of this massive craving, my own recipe for Black Bean Brownies was born. These are super rich and chocolatey, have a slightly cake-like texture, you can't taste the black beans at all, and they're gluten-free! Oh, and did I mention that these may be the most delicious brownies I've ever made? I couldn't keep out of these. So, I'm sharing my brand-new recipe, of course:

Ingredients:

1 heaping cup black beans

1/3 cup almond milk

1/3 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats, processed into a flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 tablespoon agave nectar

3/4 cup Splenda, or sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon vinegar

1 teaspoon Torani brand Sugar Free Caramel Syrup (probably optional, extra agave might substitute)

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (Ghirardelli brand are vegan)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Process the oats in a blender or food processor until they form a flour. Transfer this flour to a medium mixing bowl, and set aside.

Drain the black beans and rinse under very hot water for about a minute.

Blend the black beans, almond millk, pumpkin puree, agave nectar, vanilla, vinegar, and caramel syrup all together in a blender or food processor.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl, keeping out the chocolate chips for now.

Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir together very well.

Mix in the chocolate chips last.

Transfer the batter to a greased 8x8 pan, and place in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch.

Let cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting and serving, as the chocolate chips are lava right out of the oven.

Cut into 9-12 pieces and enjoy!! Awesome on their own, or they're also really tasty over a couple scoops of coconut milk ice-cream :)

Gingerbread Cookies

Happy Wednesday, everybody! The work/school week is officially more than halfway over, and most certainly you are planning on having an "it's-the-second-weekend-of-the-fall-season" party, right? Hehe, okay, stretching it, I know. But, I must create these little holidays so I can continue with my baking addiction guilt-free :) In the proper spirit of  the Autumn season, I made something I've never even attempted before: Gingerbread Cookies. And by some blessing from the baking gods, I discovered a winning recipe on the first attempt! Seriously, (at the risk of sounding like I'm tooting my own horn) they're awesome. They're gone. Between four of us. In less than four hours. Yes, these are certainly something people will gobble down at your next get-together! They're soft and pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth cookies. Making vegan and gluten-free look sexy since September 2012. The recipe:

Ingredients:

2.5 cups quick-cooking oats, blended into a flour in a food processor or blender

1/2 cup (1 stick) vegan butter/margarine

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup Splenda, or sugar

1 teaspoon vinegar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

On the stovetop in a saucepan over medium heat, melt the vegan butter and stir in the pumpkin puree and vinegar. Allow to come very close to a boil, and then whisk in the brown sugar. Stir constantly for 2 minutes, then remove mixture from the heat and set aside.

While the hot mix cools for a few, make a flour out of the oats by pulsing several times in a blender or food processor. Sift all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

Pour the pumpkin-butter mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir everything together very well.

Grease a cookie sheet, and shape 12 large cookies onto the sheet. These puff up in the oven, so feel free to squash the dough down a little bit on the cookie sheet before baking.

Place cookies in the oven and set the timer for 15-17 minutes, until the tops have browned slightly and are firm to the touch.

Remove from oven, let cool for at least 5 minutes, and enjoy! If you share, everybody will want to be your friend :) Hehe...the power of baking...

French Silk Chocolate Pies

Happy Monday everybody! It’s a rainy, rainy day in central Iowa: a good day to stay inside…And guess what that gives me an excuse to do? Baking day! Time to create a brand new recipe, or two ;)

This past weekend, my cousin got married—yay! So, I was thinking to create a recipe in honor of the last couple days. Hmmmm, a recipe inspired by romance and sweetness. Sounds like something chocolate…chocolate and strawberries. Okay, there is something undeniably sexy about chocolate and red berries, don’t you agree? (If not, you may be on the wrong blog…) Here’s what I came up with: a chocolate French silk pie topped with homemade strawberry drizzle. A pie worthy of being served at a wedding. Wedding cake? Nah, I’ll have wedding pie :) It’s yummy, yummy, yummy! You wouldn’t believe it’s vegan: non-vegan approved, all people are suckers for this pie. Your recipe:

Ingredients:

6 mini pre-made graham cracker pie crusts (Keebler brand has good and tasty ones)

1 package Mori-nu firm silken tofu

1 cup dark chocolate chips (Ghirardelli brand are vegan)

1 tablespoon almond butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions:

Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave or over the stovetop, stirring frequently, being very careful not to burn.

Put the tofu in the blender and blend until it forms a thick batter. Add almond butter, vanilla, and maple syrup, blend until combined.

Pour melted chocolate into the blender, and blend very well until the pie filling is a consistent pudding texture.

Spoon the mixture from the blender into each of the pie shells and smooth out the tops, refrigerate for at least an hour (if you can wait!) before serving.

Top with strawberry drizzle (recipe below), vegan whipped cream, chopped strawberries, raspberries, extra melted chocolate, crumbled graham crackers...the options are endless!



Strawberry Drizzle Ingredients:

1.5 cups whole strawberries

2 tablespoons strawberry jam (I used sugar-free)

1/2 cup Splenda or sugar

Directions:

Puree the strawberries in a blender.

Add in strawberry jam and blend until combined.

Pour pureed strawberries and jam into a small saucepan, and stir in Splenda over low-medium heat, cooking for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly so as not to burn.

The mix, obviously, will be very hot! Pour into a glass container and refrigerate until cool. Drizzle over your French Silk Chocolate Pies, and enjoy and indulge :)

Snickerdoodle Cookies

My name is Haley and I'm a bake-a-holic. It's quite the habit, and I just can't seem to find the desire to quit :) Thankfully, there's always a reason for baking: birthdays, holidays, fundraisers, visiting friends, good weather, bad weather, mom's having happy hour tonight (stay off the roads!!)...Well, you get my point. I'll always find an excuse. Today's excuse was that last reason--happy hour night. Tell me, have you ever had an unhappy hour when there were cookies present? I don't think so. In this world, cookies just tend to make people happy. So, what better addition to the night than some tasty snickerdoodle cookies?? Just don't tell anyone they're gluten-free and vegan, or else they might be scared off...And trust me, they would be REALLY missing out if they didn't try one of these delicious snickerdoodles:

Ingredients:

1.75 cups quick cooking oats

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup Splenda or sugar (I'm big on the sugar-free right now, if you can't tell from previous posts...)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coconut oil or vegan butter (if you're counting calories definitely opt for the vegan butter, it's about 300 calories less)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons almond milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Pour the oats into a blender and blend until a fine flour forms.

Transfer the oats (now an oat flour) to a mixing bowl, and add in remaining dry ingredients.

Melt the vegan butter or coconut oil in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Once the butter/oil is melted, add in the vanilla and almond milk, then immediately pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and mix it all up very well.

Grease a baking sheet, split the dough in 12, shape your cookies on the sheet, and place in the oven.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, remove from oven, and enjoy!

Also, enjoy how good your kitchen will be smelling for the next several hours :)

Notes:

This recipe makes 12 cookies, at just under 100 calories each (if you're using the vegan butter instead of the oil). How awesome is that?

Chocolate-Almond-Strawberry Soft Granola Bars

Two completely new, completely delicious recipes created in the same day? What a great first day for EVE! Tonight's recipe was born of the necessity (okay, okay, the want) for granola bars during a long weekend trip. Store-bought granola bars can be really tasty, but sometimes expensive, and tend to have a higher sugar and oil profile than I would like. So, I decided to recreate the granola bar in my own kitchen! Tonight something chocolatey and almondy sounded good. (Does it ever not??) Right before I tossed the batch in the oven, I thought it needed something...something more. Aha! I needed some strawberry in these. Hence, the first batch of C-A-S Soft Granola Bars was made. The recipe:

**UPDATE** Tried adding in 2/3 cup of raspberries, and holy moly...I would never make them without again! Definitely go for it, if you have the raspberries on hand--just add 5 minutes more cooking time, total time of 20 minutes in the oven.

Ingredients:

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1/3 cup sliced almonds

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon almond butter

2 tablespoons strawberry jam (I used sugar free)

Scant 3/4 cup almond milk (sweet or unsweet, depending on your taste)

3 Stevia/Splenda packets, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2/3 cup raspberries (optional, but trust me--do it!)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Combine first 3 ingredients in a blender or food processor, blend until a flour forms.

Pour mixture from the blender into a mixing bowl, and mix in remaining ingredients with a fork. This can be difficult to mash all together, the mixture should be quite thick. If making the recipe with the raspberries, it's a little softer and easier.

Grease a loaf pan (sizing about 8 x 4, if using 8 x 8 pan you'll need to double the recipe or the bars will be way too thin)

Pat the mixture down into the pan. It will be sticky and a little difficult to spread, but it's worth the effort to get it nice and even.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, be sure the top is firm when you take it out. Let cool at least 20 minutes before cutting, top with some strawberry jam just before serving (not necessary if you used the raspberries), and enjoy!

Notes:

The recipe above totals to about 500 calories, and makes 6 good-sized granola bars. If you top each with a tablespoon of sugar-free jam, each bar is still less than 100 calories. Nice way to squash a craving :)

If you're not going to top them with strawberry jam, I would recommend subbing a little more into the recipe, maybe taking out a little almond milk to keep the consistency thick. I don't like my granola bars overly sweet, so definitely add in sweetener to taste if you have a strong sweet-tooth.

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Milkshake

So I have this little habit, call it good or bad, of combining breakfasts with desserts. My smoothies and oatmeal are usually modeled after some kind of desserts--lately it's been chocolate-banana or pumpkin pie flavoring. Bad, right? Actually, not! Recipes coming soon to prove it :) This first recipe post is reserved for something entirely new, born just this morning.

For some reason this morning, I woke up with one thing on the brain: snickerdoodles. Having no idea where that craving came from (it's been over a year since I've had a snickerdoodle cookie), I decided not to fight the urge, but instead incorporate it into a healthy breakfast milkshake! I had no idea how this recipe would turn out, as I didn't take the time to do any research before, but OMG. This recipe is amazing, my new favorite breakfast. In fact, I liked the breakfast one so much, that I did a repeat for lunch. The oats in the milkshake help you feel full longer, so this really is a meal--for just 280 sinless calories. Without further ado, here is the recipe!

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1 tablespoon almond butter (could try subbing with other nut butters, but the almond butter gives it such a good, creamy, batter taste)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2-3 packets of Stevia, or Splenda, or other sweetener, to taste

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Mix the almond milk and the oats in a cup or container, and let sit in the fridge/freezer for at least an hour. (So the oats don't give the milkshake a gritty texture.)

The hardest part is waiting--now you just toss everything in the blender and blend it up really nice and smooth! It's nice to pour into a frosted glass (if you store those in the freezer), otherwise you might want to add some ice to make it cold.

And the Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Milkshake was born :) Happy Wednesday!