Frosted Chocolate Fudge Brownie

Frosted Chocolate Fudge Brownies

1 cup oats
1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup pitted dates
5 TBSP cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cup almond milk (or any other kind of milk)
2 TBSP honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting
2 TBSP cocoa powder
1/4 cup peanut butter or almond butter
5 TBSP honey
2 TBSP almond milk 
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. flour (gluten free or traditional)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Blend oats and salt in a food processor until powdery. Add dates, cocoa powder and baking soda, pulse until well blended. Next add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into a lined 9x9 baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. While cooling, mix all ingredients for frosting in a food processor, then chill. Frost fully cooled brownies.

***
These are so moist and yummy! 176 calories per brownie

Zucchini Brownies

Zucchini Brownies
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½ cup oil
1 ½ cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups grated zucchini

Combine all wet ingredients, then slowly blend in dry ingredients. Mixture will be very dry. Fold in grated zucchini. Once zucchini is blended in batter should be moist. Spread evenly into a greased and floured 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes. Freezes well.

*****
These are so moist and delicious, you would never know there is zucchini in there. My daughter thinks they are the greatest thing ever and I love them as well. It’s a bonus these are dairy and egg free! Thanks to my dear friend Natalie for this great recipe.

Candied Almonds

Candied Almonds
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1/2 cup water
1 cup white sugar
2 cups whole almonds

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil; add the almonds. Cook and stir the mixture until the liquid evaporates completely and leaves a sugary coating on the almonds, approximately 5 minutes. Pour the almonds onto a baking sheet lined with waxed paper or a silpat. Separate almonds using a fork. Allow to cool about 15 minutes.

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I love these on a salad or as a snack. We usually make a big batch of them in December as candied nuts seem to be a perfect Christmas snack.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (egg free)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (egg free)
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I LOVE the taste of cookie dough but I’m hesitant to eat traditional dough with raw eggs. This recipe is fabulous! The dough tastes really good, it’s made from all shelf stable ingredients and it’s a perfect recipe for kids to help make.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup safflower oil (can substitute your preferred mild oil)
1/4 cup rice milk (can substitute your preferred milk)
1 TBSP arrowroot powder (can substitute with tapioca flour)
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Combine sugars, oil, milk, arrowroot powder and vanilla. Mix with a whisk or blender for 2 minutes until the mixtures looks like smooth caramel. Then blend in dry ingredients. Dough will be a little oily and should be able to form into a smooth ball. Eat straight from the bowl, freeze in small chunks to later blend in with ice cream, or roll into small balls to eat later.

If baking, roll into 1” balls, slightly flatten with the palm of your hand. Bake at 350 F for 8-9 minutes.

*****
Recipe adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. This dough is fantastic but the cookies are just okay. They are perfect for someone needing to avoid dairy and eggs and awesome for using all shelf stable ingredients but flavor wise once the dough is cooked it can’t compete with a great cookie. My favorite use for this dough is to freeze it in small chunks, then add into the ice cream machine the last 5 minutes it’s blending. Heaven! My daughter’s favorite is to inhale as much of it as possible while Mom rolls it into balls.

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
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A new favorite cookbook from 2010 is “Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.” My daugther has an allergy to eggs, dairy and soy so we frequently turn to vegan recipes for perfected recipes that exclude eggs and dairy. This cookbook has been amazing, we have enjoyed most of the recipes from it. An added perk to cooking without eggs is my daughter can sneak bites of the dough, lick the bowl clean and we don’t have to worry about raw eggs.

For those looking for a few 100% shelf stable, food storage, recipes to have on had- these recipes are great. All made from 100% shelf stable ingredients.

Here are a few of our favorites from the book:

Chocolate Chip Cookies. Not amazing, can't beat a traditional chocolate chip cookie made with real butter. But the best I have found for being dairy and egg free.


Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows. These are the dairy free, egg free version of Magic in The Middle Cookies. A rich chocolate outside with a peanut butter surprise in the middle. My daughter refers to these as "chocolate squishies." The dairy/egg free version has a softer dough that is much easier to work with. They are both awesome cookies, but overall I prefer this dairy/egg free version. It's perfect and could easily be served at party without anyone questioning the ingredients.


Lazy Samoas are the dairy free, egg free version of Girl Scout Samoa Cookies. The original ones are a TON of work, really an all day project but well worth it. This dairy/egg free version is super quick and really, really good. The shortbread bottom is skipped to save time but I still LOVE the overall result.

Flaky Pastry Crust

Flaky Pastry Crust
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2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cut in small pieces, then chilled*
1/4 cup shortening, chilled
6 to 8 tablespoons ice cold water

Cut your fat into small pieces, then chill in the fridge. Mix all dry ingredients together, then cut the fat in quickly with a pastry cutter or by pulsing in a food processor. When you are finished some of the fat should remain as pea sized lumps with the rest reduced to the consistency of coarse crumbs. Be careful not to over mix.

Slowly add the water--just drizzle it in--and watch closely as you work it in with the edge of a spatula or continue pulsing. It should still look dry. Press down on the dough with a spatula, if the balls of dough stick together you have added enough water. If it didn't, add a little more water and mix quickly. Test again.

Divide the dough in half to make single crust amounts. Wrap the dough up by placing a portion of it on a piece of plastic wrap. Using the wrap, instead of your hands, push the dough into a flat disk. By making a flat disk at this point you make it a little easier to roll out. Refrigerate this for an hour or more to allow the dough to rest (the dough at this point can be stored in the fridge for 2 days or frozen for 6 months).

Remove from the fridge and roll out between two sheets of wax paper, then carefully transfer into pie crusts. These two steps require extra care and practice, for additional information on how to roll out a crust, please refer to the Joy of Cooking cookbook.

If your pie recipe requires pre-baking (such as for a custard pie) preheat oven to 350 F. Line pie crust with parchment paper and rice or beans to weigh it down. Bake for 20 minutes with weights. Remove weights, then bake an additional 10 minutes or until just golden. Cool completely.

*For a dairy free option, an additional 1/2 cup shortening can be substituted in place of the butter.

*****
This is my favorite pie crust. The butter adds flavor and the shortening adds the flakiness. For Thanksgiving I make these pie crusts, roll them out, place them in the pie pans, then freeze until the day before Thanksgiving when I bake the pies. Recipe from the Joy of Cooking.

Fruit Popsicles

Fruit Popsicles
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1 cup orange juice
3 carrots, juiced
2 banana’s, frozen
1/8 cup black berries, frozen
1 cup strawberries, frozen
Water or milk

or
2 cups strawberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
3 cups canned peaches
3 carrots, juiced
1/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Thin with water or milk until you reach desired consistency. Serve immediately as a shake or freeze in popsicle molds. Fill each popsicle mold with fruit/vegetable mixer. Insert wooden sticks and freeze for at least 6 hours or until solidly frozen.

Remove molds from freezer and allow to soften for 5 minutes, then remove popsicles from molds. Serve immediately or wrap separately in plastic wrap and store in a bag in the freezer.

*****
My daughter loves these! These are a favorite summertime snack and a great way to use up frozen berries. It’s nice that you can mix and match the fruits and vegetables to whatever you have on hand. I have the Omega 8003 juicer to juice vegetables and a few other fruits and have really liked it. It’s really easy to add juiced vegetables to these smoothies or popsicles. It’s pretty quick and isn’t messy at all.

Godfather's Streusel Dessert Pizza

Godfather's Streusel Dessert Pizza
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Pizza dough
1 TBSP butter, melted (or 1 TBSP oil)
Cinnamon

Streusel (makes enough mix for 3 pizzas)
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup bread flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/8 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP solid shortening
2 TBSP olive oil

Icing
1/2 - 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 TBSP water
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix together streusel ingredients with a pastry knife, then side aside.

To make pizza, pat dough into a 12 inch pie pan that has been sprayed with oil, then brush with 1 TBSP melted butter. Sprinkle cinnamon all around buttered crust. Top pizza crust with 1/2 - 3/4 cup streusel mix (freeze remaining streusel mix for another pizza). Bake at 460 F for 8 to 9 minutes depending on the thickness of the pizza. Cover with aluminum foil halfway through to keep streusel from burning. Mix icing ingredients until it is of a drizzle consistency. If it is too thick, then thin with a small amount of water until you have reached your desired thinness. When finished baking, top with icing in a circular pinwheel pattern. I usually ice the pizza with a sandwich bag with the end cut off.

*****
I have fond memories of eating the all you can eat buffet from the Godfather’s pizza chain growing up. We occasionally ate there as a family but it was also a common gathering place with friends. I’m always surprised at how taste is so tightly intertwined with memories. Even though it has been years, I still remember the taste of their famous streusel dessert pizza and I miss it. I found this recipe and it’s a great match. It’s a lighter version from the original as it has a lot less fat and oil. It’s perfect and we love it. What a great way to use any extra pizza dough! Thanks to Danny Beason for this great recipe.

Cupcakes

1 cup water (can use milk if available)
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract (or more vanilla)

3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 TBSP Arrowroot powder or cornstarch*
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Mix together water, vinegar, oil, sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Sift in dry ingredients and mix until no large lumps remain. Fill cups two-thirds full, bake for 20 to 22 minutes at 350° F. Transfer to cooling rack. Frost once cupcakes are completely cool. Cupcakes can be frozen, unfrosted. Simply thaw, frost, then serve.

*I personally avoid cornstarch and use arrowroot powder as a substitute. Arrowroot powder is often sold at health food stores or specialty baking stores and is a great thickener for baking and especially for sauces and gravies.

*****
These cupcakes are moist and tender with a lot of flavor. Recipe adapted from the cookbook Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. This cookbook has a lot of clever recipes and ideas for cupcakes, I love it!