Spicy Vegan Burgers + Tex Mex burger sauce

We survived day 1 of the Vegan Challenge! Last night, we had my siblings over for a sleepover and I made vegan burgers with fries. Everybody loved them, although he did drown his in Ketchup. They were so flavourful and filling, I can't wait to make them again

Burgers (makes 8)

1 can of chickpeas

1 can of white kidney beans

1 medium onion (diced) 

1/2 cup of canned corn

2 tsp paprika 

2 tbsp pickled jalopenos ( chopped) 

1 tsp chili flakes

1/4 cup of flour 

salt and pepper 

1. Mash the chickpeas and white kidney beans in a large bowl with hands - its ok if some are left whole, they'll add texture. 

2. Mix in every other ingredient and blend with hands until it forms a dough, form 8 patties with hands

3. Fry over medium-high heat in some olive oil . Flip once golden brown (they actually really hold their shape!) 

Tex-Mex Burger Sauce 

1 cup sunflower seeds ( peeled)

2 tsp paprika

2 tbsp pickled jalopenos 

4 tbsp pickled jalopeno marinade

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup cold water 

1. Boil the sunflower seeds in water for 15 minutes, drain

2. Blend all ingredients in a food processor, add water gradually to reach desired consistency. 

We served our burgers with guacamole, tomatoes and mixed greens. Bon Appetit

Vegan Apple Walnut Muffins

After a treat filled December, what better way to start the new year with a fresh and healthy slate? I will be attempting to go vegan for the entire month of January in the hopes that I will explore more meatless recipes and incorporate less dairy/meat into my everyday go-to meals.

I know I haven't posted any new recipes since 2012 (what!) but I'm going to try to upload everyday this month as a way to hold myself accountable and guarantee the success of this challenge. 

I am determined to find a way to make vegan amazing and I think I'm off to a good start, here are the Apple-Walnut muffins I made for breakfast this morning: 

Recipe (12 muffins) 

1 3/4 cups of flour 

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 apples, peeled and dived

1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped

1 1/4 cups of water

1/2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup of oil 

1. Preheat the over to 400 degrees

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt in large bowl 

3. Mix the water and sugar, add oil and vinegar

4. Blend the apples and walnuts into the flour mixture

5. Mix the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, pour immediately into prepared muffin tins

6. Bake 25 minutes 

7. Bon Appetit! 

Roasted Cherry Brownies

I haven’t forgotten about my blog! I’ve just been busy! Working full time and training for a marathon will do that to you… Whatever free time I’ve had in the last few months has mostly been spent sleeping and recovering. I did do some cooking and baking but the writing and editing has taken a back seat. I have a bunch of recipes lines up for the next few weeks (all things I’ve made in the last 3-4 months) and I’m going to try to get it all up and going before I flood everyone’s facebook newsfeed with Christmas baking!! (I’M SO EXCITED – I’ve started a list of all the things I will be making as soon as it’s appropriately close enough to the holidays!)

Here’s a recipe for Roasted Cherry Brownies (when they were in season, we had so many cherries) and these came out very good! They were incredibly gooey and delicious with ice-cream.

The recipe is a two-step process, the cherries had to be roasted first. If you haven’t done this before, then let me be the first to tell you that roasted cherries, by themselves, are even better than candy. They are so sweet and sinful, and would be an amazing addition to any dessert. Without further a do, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

For roasting the cherries:

2 cups of pitted cherries, halved**

2 Tbsp of sugar

For the Brownie mix:

7 Ounces of baking chocolate (semi sweet, unsweetened, whichever you prefer)

1 ½ cups of sugar

3 Tbsp of Cocoa powder

1 stick of butter (or ½ a cup)

3 eggs

2 Tsp of Vanilla extract

1 cup of all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Roasting the cherries in a 1 step recipe. Toss the cherries and sugar together in a roasting pan, bake for 10 minutes in a very hot oven (450-degree).

In double-boiler, melt the chocolate and butter until smooth. Whisk in the cocoa powder. Remove from heat.

Mix the eggs, vanilla and salt until smooth, whisk in the chocolate mixture. When the mixture is smooth, stir in the flour.

Once you take the cherries out of the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350-degrees so the brownies don’t burn.  Stir the cherries into the brownie mix and pour into a greased and floured 9”x9” brownie pan.

Bake for 40 minutes. If you do a toothpick test, it should come out crumby but dry. Let it cool before cutting it or else it will fall apart. Serve warm with some ice-cream and enjoy!

Bon Appétit! 

Monkey Bread Muffins!

 I feel a little bit guilty about not having posted any recipes in so long but the truth is, my schedule has been just a little bit too hectic. This recipe was supposed to go up a few months ago but I didn't get around to writing this post until today. I have a few more like this one that I do really want to share so I'll have to make an effort to get those posts written asap! For now, enjoy these little monkey bread muffins - a delicious and super easy alternative to cinnamon rolls! You don't need to spend anytime waiting for the dough to rise to it's a very quick cinnamon craving fix! 

Ingredients:

1½ sticks of butter, cut into small pieces

2 Tbsp of maple syrup

1/3 Cup of sugar (+ 2Tbsp for the dough)

1/3 Cup of brown sugar

1 Tbsp of cinnamon

2 Cup of Flour

1 Tbsp of baking powder

½ Tsp of salt

¾ cup of buttermilk (though we never have butter milk at home – I always just measure out the ¾ milk and squirt 1 Tbsp of lemon juice into it and let it sit for 15-20 minutes before using)

For the drizzle:

1 Cup of icing sugar

2 Tbsp of Milk

For the dough:

In a food processor, pulse the flour, baking powder, 2 Tbsp of sugar and the salt until combined. Use all but 4Tbsp of the butter and pulse the small chunks with the flour mixture until the entire mixture looks crumbly. Add the buttermilk and pulse until the dough forms.

Work the dough with floured hands and separate it into 20-30 little dough balls.

Combine the sugars and cinnamon into a small bowl.

Melt 4 Tbsp of butter with the 2 Tbsp of maple syrup in a microwave safe bowl (maybe 30 seconds not more) and set aside. Use muffin liners to keep the muffins from falling apart

Prepare the muffin pans before the assembly process as it can get quite messy. This recipe makes 12 muffins.

Dip each small dough ball into the butter/maple syrup mixture until they are fully coated, and coat in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Once they are coated, place them in a muffin pan (3/4 per muffin).

Bake on the bottom rack of a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes (or until they are nice and golden). Once out of the oven, drizzle with the glaze ( combine the icing sugar and milk until smooth) and enjoy!

Bon Appétit! 

Apple Caramel Cupcake Bites

We've experienced with a lot of different apple/fruit cakes in our family and have loved practically every recipe, especially my mom's apple yogurt cake (coming soon... hopefully!) but these little cupcake bites definitely gave that cake a run for it's money. I used a mini cupcake pan as I brought these to work and was afraid they'd make too much of a mess! I placed each little cupcake in a regular sized cupcake wrapper to avoid any spills or drips. They were very moist, and especially divine with the caramel drizzled on top...Here's the recipe: enjoy! 

For the cupcakes: 

1 Cup of flour

1 Tsp of Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp of Salt

1 Tsp of Cinnamon 

1/2 Tsp of Nutmeg 

A pinch of cloves 

1 Cup of sugar 

1 Egg 

1/4 Cup of oil

3 Medium sized apples, peeled and finely chopped

Step One: Mix all the wet ingredients (egg, oil, apples) until combined. 

Step Two: Mix all the dry ingredients into a small bowl (flour, sugar, spices). 

Step Three: Dry into Wet, mix until combined. 

Step Four: Scoop into cupcake pans, bake in a 350-oven for 30 minutes. Voila! 

For the Caramel Sauce: 

1/2 Stick of butter

1/2 Cup of brown sugar

1/4 Cup of heavy cream 

1 Tsp of Vanilla

Step One: In a small sauce pan, bring butter, sugar and cream to a boil. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla, let cool completely. 

Drizzle caramel over cupcakes once both are completely cooled. 

(don't eat too many! These were meant to be shared!) 

Bon Appétit! 

Chocolate Chip Slab Cookies

These chocolate chip slab cookies go way back in our family. I'm not too sure where the recipe came from (most likely one of my mom's clients at her daycare) but it is by far the easiest dessert/snack/treat you could make. All whilst only dirtying one mixing bowl, with 5 minutes of work, you could have yourself a plate of 30 or so delicious, golden and crispy cookies! Did I mention that it doesn't require any eggs? Practically vegan! (Minus the butter - never bake without butter) 

Ingredients: 

1/2 Cup of Margarine 

1/2 Cup of Butter (at room temp)

1 Cup of Brown Sugar

1 Tsp of Vanilla 

2 Cups of Flour

1 Cup of Chocolate Chips (milk chocolate is what was used in this batch)

1. Cream the butter, margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy.

2. Add to that bowl, the vanilla, flour. Mix until combined.

3. Mix in the chocolate chips! 

4. Pat entire mixture evenly in a cookie sheet or 9"x11" baking dish. 

5. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 25 minutes. 

6. Last step! Cut into small squares while the cookies are still warm but let them cool a little bit before you devour them. 

Bon Appétit! 

Guilt-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I tried to impress a boy with my baking, bragged about how good I could make any cookie and told him I would make his favourite – oatmeal raisin for our picnic the following day. I started baking these at 11pm (after work) and realized I had NONE of the required ingredients to make these exactly how I wanted to make them (no flour, not enough butter, not enough sugar etc.). I had to substitute practically all the ingredients, and was so worried these wouldn’t turn out… Thankfully they did (like I said… all cookies are delicious) but what’s even crazier is just how healthy they really were! Here is a revised, completely new healthy, whole wheat, low-fat cookie.

Ingredients:

½ Cup of Butter

½ Cup of Applesauce

1 Cup of Brown Sugar

1 Cup of White Sugar

2 eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1 ¾ Cups of Whole Wheat Flour

1 Tsp of baking soda

½ Tsp of salt

1 ½ Tsp of cinnamon

¼ Tsp of Nutmeg

3 Cups of Rolled Oats

1 Cup of raisins

1. In a large bowl, beat the butter, applesauce, sugars, eggs and vanilla, until well blended.

2. Soak the raisins in a bowl of boiling water for 10 minutes to create juicier raisins to bite into once the cookies are baked.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

4. Poor the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

5. Add the drained raisins.

6. Place cookies 2” apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes in a 375-degree oven.

Bon Appétit!