Twix bars (gluten-free & mostly raw)

I've been seeing lots of raw twix bars on Instagram and it made me want to try making some! I basically just used the recipe for the raw caramel slice I posted a while back with a coconut flour/almond base that I shaped into bars, and delicious date caramel. This time I just used dark chocolate melted with a teaspoon of coconut oil, but they can be made with the raw chocolate too! They're so addictive!

Spelt cinnamon rolls with cashew icing

As always I was surfing around the internet for cool food blogs and discovered some new favourites; This Rawsome Vegan Life and My New Roots.

My New Roots had an amazing idea for making cinnamon rolls without all the sugar and fat that’s normally in them by using dates for the filling! And I loved the idea of a cashew frosting from This Rawsome Vegan Life.

My regular go-to cinnamon roll recipe is from Vegan Yum Yum, so I changed it around a bit to make these sugar-free, wholegrain cinnamon rolls! They were SO yum.

I was just playing around with these, but they turned out pretty well so I thought I'd share the recipe. But for perfect cinnabuns and more detailed instructions, check out Vegan Yum Yum!

Here's how I made them:

Ingredients [makes 10-12 rolls]

2 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)


1 tsp coconut sugar
 or raw sugar

1/2 cup warm (not too hot) water 




1/2 cup soy milk

1/3 cup maple syrup 


1/3 cup sunflower oil

1 tsp salt


1 flax egg (mix a tablespoon of ground flax seeds with 3 tablespoons water and let it sit in the freezer for 10 minutes)

Yeast mixture from above


4 cups spelt flour, plus more for kneading

Filling

1 ½ cups dates, soaked in ¾ cup boiling water for 15 minutes to soften

1 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1 tablespoon cinnamon

pinch salt

Cashew icing

1 cup cashews, soaked for a few hours

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil

1/3 cup maple syrup

Water

Combine yeast mixture and set aside to proof (until it's nice and foamy).

Whisk together the soymilk, maple syrup, oil, salt, and flax egg in a small bowl.

Combine the yeast mixture with the liquid ingredients.

Add the 4 cups of flour to a large bowl, make a well in the centre. Add the liquid and mix until a dough forms. You may need to add more flour if it's too sticky. Knead for about 10 minutes, adding more flour as you need to, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Once the dough is done place it in an oiled bowl, covered with plastic wrap and let it rise for 90 minutes in a warm spot.

Now make the date caramel filling - add the soaked dates (with the water) to a food processor with the rest of the ingredients, and blend until a smooth caramel paste is formed.

Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle about 15 x 20 inch.

Spread a thick layer (about half the date mixture) over the dough. Then roll up the dough and cut into 10 - 12 rolls. 

With the remaining date mixture, you can make a caramel sauce to put in the bottom of the pan. Blend the date paste with water until you get a thinner sauce-like consistency, then pour a layer into the bottom of the baking pan before putting the cinnamon rolls on top. 

[here's the caramel paste compared to the sauce after adding a bit of water]

Once the buns are in the pan, cover and let rise for 45 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 180º C.

Bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes.

For the cashew icing:

Blend or process all the ingredients together until very smooth, and gradually add water until you get the desired consistency. I wanted a thin icing/glaze, but for a thicker frosting you can just add less water.

Pour some cashew icing over the cinnamon buns and enjoy! And since there's no refined sugar or butter you can eat as many as you want! haha, that's what I told myself anyway ;)

(mostly) raw caramel slice

I’ve been wanting to experiment more with raw desserts, and I came across this amazing looking caramel slice and decided to try it!

And it was SO GOOD. 

I made a few adjustments to the recipe, switching out 1 cup of the coconut flour for some nuts, because the coconut flour cost me $11 and I refused to use half the bag in one recipe! :P
But it worked out great, and would be a good way to use up the leftover pulp from making nut milk as well!

Making the chocolate with cacao butter would probably have been really yum, but I couldn’t afford to buy any haha. So I just made a simpler version with coconut oil, cacao & agave.

Try this out- it’s amazing!

Base:

1 cup coconut flour

3/4 cup almonds, cashews or macadamia nuts (or nut pulp)

1/2 cup coconut oil

2 tablespoons coconut sugar
 (or agave/ maple/ coconut nectar)

pinch sea salt

Caramel:

2 cups pitted medjool dates


4 tablespoons coconut oil


3 tablespoons brown rice syrup (or agave/coconut nectar to make it completely raw)


2 tablespoons water

1 heaped teaspoon almond butter


1/2 teaspoon vanilla


pinch sea salt

Raw chocolate - I used this recipe from Rawified 

You can follow the instructions to make these here!

Chocolate Cherry Cream Cakes

These are little chocolate cakes filled with coconut whipped cream, cherries and chocolate ganache (also known as black forest cake!), and they are so delicious!

I wanted to make a treat that was a little more nutritious, so I used spelt flour and coconut sugar to replace the regular flour and cane sugar. And the coconut whipped cream is a great alternative to making a sugary frosting.

You'll need:

• A recipe for chocolate cake - I usually go with the PPK recipe, but use spelt flour and coconut sugar.
• Fresh cherries
• Coconut whipped cream - this post from Oh, Ladycakes will break it down for ya
• Chocolate Ganache (heat 1/3 cup almond milk, then remove from heat and add 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, and mix until smooth & glossy)

Bake the cakes in cupcake tins, or muffin tins if you want bigger cakes. 

Cut the cakes in half, then spread on a layer of ganache, a layer of halved cherries, then the whipped cream. Add the top half of the cake, then top with more whipped cream, ganache, and a whole cherry. :D

Coconut Choc Chip Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches

I was just going to whip up a batch of cookies to eat, but I had leftover cream cheese frosting in the fridge so I thought why not make these into fancy cookie sandwiches! 

Chewy oatmeal cookies with delicious cream cheese frosting in the middle! SUCH a good combo. 

The cookie recipe is adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, with a few of my favourite add ins - coconut and chocolate!

I made a cream cheese filling, but vanilla frosting would be good too! 

Keep them refrigerated, because the cream cheese filling becomes firm so you can bite into the sandwich without it spilling out the edges.

Cookies

1/3 cup almond or soy milk

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup melted coconut oil (or canola)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups quick cooking oats

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F (180C) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the soy milk and ground flax seeds.

Whisk in the sugar, oil and vanilla extract. Sift in the flour, spices and salt and mix until just combined.

Fold in the coconut, oats and chocolate chips.

Roll or scoop the dough to form small balls onto the baking trays. Flatten slightly and bake for 10-12 minutes just until the edges are golden. Let cool on the baking sheets and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cream cheese filling

1/4 cup vegan butter


1/4 cup vegan cream cheese


2 cups sifted powdered sugar


1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Beat or whisk the butter and cream cheese together until well combined. Beat in the sugar in batches and mix until smooth, and then add the vanilla.

Assemble the cookie sandwiches with 1 or 2 tablespoons of frosting, refrigerate for 30 minutes, then eat!

Vanilla Raspberry Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for my new housemates!
The base recipes are from the trusty Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World book.
For the raspberry frosting I defrosted a cup of frozen raspberries and beat them into the frosting, it turned out delicious! Frozen berries work best because they become soft and mushy when defrosted, so they are easy to incorporate into the frosting.
These would be even more amazing with white chocolate chips stirred into the batter, if you have some on hand! :)


Vanilla cupakes
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch 
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix soy milk and vinegar together and let sit for a few minutes to curdle.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, soda and salt.
Whisk the vanilla, sugar and oil into the soy milk mixture.
Fold wet into dry, and mix until combined.
Fill cupcakes 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting.

Raspberry frosting

1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine
1/2 cup refined coconut oil or nonhydrogenated shortening
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup defrosted frozen raspberries
Soy or almond milk to thin

Beat the margarine and shortening until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
Add the vanilla, then beat in the raspberries until well combined. 
Add a splash of soy milk if it's too thick, and beat for about 5 minutes until it's nice and fluffy.

Cornmeal Cupcakes with Maple Frosting and Popcorn!

I saw some cupcakes in a shop with popcorn on top and had to make some of my own! The corn and maple combination was inspired by johnnycakes(those yummy corn pancakes that you eat with heaps of maple syrup!)
The cupcakes are more like muffins, but whatever, still delicious! The recipe for the cupcakes/muffins is adapted from the PPK, and the frosting is from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal
 (or fine polenta)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup soymilk

1 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup sugar
½ cup canola oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix soy milk and lemon juice together and let sit for a few minutes to curdle.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, baking powder, soda and salt.
Mix the vanilla, sugar and oil into the soy milk mixture.
Fold wet into dry, and mix until combined.
Fill cupcakes 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting.

Maple frosting
2/3 cup maple syrup
¾ cup margarine
2/3 cup soy milk powder (I did 1/3 soy powder + 1/3 powdered sugar instead)
1 tsp maple extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
[+ Popcorn for topping the cupcakes. I used the sweet & salty kind!]

Beat margarine and maple syrup together (don’t worry if it looks a bit curdled). Beat in the vanilla and maple extracts, then gradually beat in the soy powder/sugar. Beat until it looks creamy and fluffy, adding more maple syrup if it looks too dry, or more soy milk powder if it’s too wet.