Vegan Almond Butter Cookies

Tags

Almond butter, Bake, Budapest, Canada, Cookies, craisins, gluten free, Healthy, Oatmeal, oats, raisins, Snack, Vegan

I haven’t been doing much baking lately (or blogging if you haven’t noticed). I haven’t felt very motivated to do much of anything except keep up with mindless TV shows. I should be working on my college assignments but instead I’m doing this! We are heading home to Canada in exactly one week for Christmas and I can’t wait.

Vegan Almond Butter Cookies

These cookies are healthy, vegan and gluten-free!

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 8-10 min

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of almond butter
• 1/2 cup of oats
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla-flavoured brown rice protein powder (optional)
• 2 tablespoons of stevia
• 2 tablespoons of almond/soy milk
• 2 tablespoons of dried cranberries or raisins

Instructions:

Combine dry ingredients and stir in almond butter. Add milk as necessary to get to desired cookie dough consistency. Stir in cranberries or raisins. Form into balls and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

We put up our Christmas tree!

We also took a recent weekend break to Budapest and had an amazing time. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

The baths were definitely a highlight of our trip. I plan on posting at least one Christmas cookie recipe before the year is out, but for now I’m back to the books.

Slow Cooker Apple Chutney

Tags

Apple chutney, Apple cider vinegar, Apple sauce, Chutney, Cook, Corn starch, gluten free, onions, raisins, relish, sandwich, Slow cooker, sugar free, Thanksgiving (Canada), turkey, Vegan, Vinegar

I love the relishes and chutneys that are commonly used in sandwiches here – we love Ballymaloe relish. We had never heard of putting relish or chutney in a sandwich before we moved here (or coleslaw) – but I have to admit that it’s a very good sandwich addition. This relish is not tomato-based like Ballymaloe, but it’s still perfect for sandwiches, burgers, and the roast turkey I’m making for our belated Canadian Thanksgiving dinner tonight.

Slow Cooker Apple Chutney

by Emily Ratzlaff

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 3-5 hours on high, or 7-8 hours on low

Ingredients:

• 2 large cooking apples (about 550 grams when peeled and cored)
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of finely chopped onion
• 1/3 cup of raisins
• 1/4 cup of dates, pitted
• 1 tablespoon of minced fresh ginger
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of cloves
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of cornstarch

Instructions:

• Peel and chop apples.
• Chop dates.
• Add all ingredients to slow cooker except vinegar and cornstarch.
• Combine vinegar and cornstarch in a small bowl and mix until smooth.
• Pour vinegar mixture into slow cooker and stir to combine.
• Cook on high for 3-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours.
• This will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.

Now I’m off to put our turkey in the oven. Happy Thanksgiving.

Healthy Cookie Bars

Tags

Almond Flour, almonds, Banana, Chocolate chip, Coconut, Coconut oil, Cookie, Cookie bar, craisins, Dark Chocolate, gluten free, Healthy, oats, Peanut butter, sugar free, Vegan

Today I attempted to bike the route for the upcoming Dublin marathon so I’ll have an idea of where I’m going, but somewhere I took a wrong turn and ended up on a highway. I eventually made my way back to the city center and decided to head home instead of back-tracking because I was hungry. I’ll finish tomorrow (haha). All I can say is the route is very long – and I didn’t even do the whole thing yet.

I was planning to go to Starbucks this afternoon and treat myself to a Pumpkin Spice Latte (yes, they finally arrived in Ireland!), but I made these cookie bars instead and now I don’t have any desire to venture out on the bike again. I’ll settle for Earl Grey.

Healthy Cookie Bars

These are vegan, gluten-free and they have no added sugar, flour or butter. They’re actually really good. Recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks.

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 12-15 min

Ingredients:

• 2 small ripe bananas mashed
• 3 tablespoons of peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of oats
• 1/3 cup of almonds, ground into a flour
• 2.5 tablespoons of dessicated coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/4 cup of dried cranberries (or raisins)
• 50 grams of chopped dark chocolate (or 1/4 cup of chocolate chips)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or grease with cooking spray. (I used an 8×8 inch square pan).
• Combine mashed banana, peanut butter, coconut oil and vanilla extract and blend until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, combine oats, almonds (use a blender to grind almonds into a flour), coconut, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.
• Stir in dried cranberries and chopped chocolate.
• Press dough down into pan and bake for 12-15 minutes.
• Let cool before removing from pan. Cut into squares.

Look at the cat sleeping:

He sleeps with his paws in mid-air. Wednesday is Matt’s birthday! I am going to make him a delicious birthday cake. Now I better get to studying – I’ve been putting it off for days. This time next week I’ll be back at school.

Chai Spice Cookies & Our Adopted Cat

Tags

Bake, Baking powder, Butter, Cat, Chai, Cinnamon, Cookies, Healthy, Masala chai, Snickerdoodle, Soft, Spice, Tea, Teaspoon, Vegan

One of my favourite hot drinks to order is a Chai Tea Latte – so I created a Chai Tea Latte in a cookie. They are soft and quite similar to Snickerdoodles enhanced with warm chai tea spices. And they also happen to be vegan, whole wheat and healthy! They are perfect for your afternoon cup of tea. Since moving to Ireland, I have fully embraced the tea drinking culture – they don’t take coffee breaks here, they take tea breaks!

You can also see our adopted kitty in the background of the picture, or you might say that he adopted us! We often leave the door in our living room open to our little outside patio and lately this cat has been coming in our house to check us out. He’ll crawl right into our laps and sleep for as long as we’ll let him. Matt has even named him “Marble” because of the patterns in his fur – but it always makes me think of Marbled Cheesecake and then I’m hungry!

Chai Spice Vegan Cookies

  by Emily Ratzlaff

  Prep Time: 20 minutes

  Cook Time: 6-8 minutes

 

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Ingredients (makes 18 cookies)

• 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 cup plus an extra 1/3 cup of demerara sugar
• 4 tablespoons of milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons of vegan butter or margarine
• 6 tablespoons of almond butter
• 1.5 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon of ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon of cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon of all spice
• dash of finely ground black pepper

Instructions

Cream together vegan butter, almond butter, milk, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup of sugar.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cream of tartar in a separate bowl.

Combine cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice, pepper and remaining 1/3 cup of sugar in a separate bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of this spice/sugar mixture into flour mixture, reserving the rest for rolling.

Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and stir well. If dough seems too dry or crumbly, add an extra tablespoon of milk.

Form into balls and roll in reserved spice/sugar mixture. Place on a greased cookie sheet and flatten balls with palm.

Bake at 325 degrees for 6-8 minutes for soft cookies or longer if you like crunchy cookies. (If you want cookies to be soft, be sure to take them out before the top hardens – they will seem undercooked but they will harden a bit as they cool.)

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