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Vegan Rhubarb Crisp

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I’ll admit it – I was a bit skeptical of rhubarb.

For a long time, I balked at people that told me they made yummy desserts with it, because um hello – IT’S A VEGETABLE. Desserts aren’t made with vegetables. That’s just gross!

But I was proven wrong. Yet again. I tried my mother-in-law’s rhubarb crisp the other day (veganized), and fell in love. Then I begged her for the recipe.

Rhubarb-Crisp

The rhubarb has a very sour taste to it, so you just dump a bunch of sugar on it and BOOM. Deliciousness. I hate how sugar makes everything better.

Sigh. Oh well. A treat like this is fine every once in awhile, right? RIGHT.

Rhubarb-Crisp-Vegan

Look at that caramel-y gooey pile of oats and rhubarb and sweetness. It was Amazing with a capital “A”.

This vegan rhubarb crisp is crumbly and tart and sweet and YUM. It’s also perfect for summer.

If you are scared of rhubarb, like I was, try this recipe. You won’t be sorry and you will end up loving rhubarb – because it’s freakin’ good!

Vegan-Rhubarb-Crisp

Vegan Rhubarb Crisp
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 6-9
Ingredients
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 3½ cups rhubarb stalks, chopped small (I did ½" pieces)
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup kamut flour
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ⅓ cup vegan butter, melted (I used Earth Balance)
  • 2 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 350F.
  2. Lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish with coconut oil or non-stick cooking spray.
  3. In a small pot, mix together the maple syrup, water and cornstarch over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, melted vegan butter and non-dairy milk. Crumble everything together with your fingers.
  5. Press half of the crumb mixture into your baking pan, add the rhubarb, drizzle in the maple syrup mixture, then top with the remaining crumb mixture.
  6. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the rhubarb can easily be pierced through with a knife and the top of the crisp is a light golden brown.

 

Pineapple, Banana & Hemp Smoothie

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Pineapple-Banana-Smoothie

This is one of my favourite smoothies for 2 reasons:

1. It has pineapple, which is one of my favourite fruits that I don’t buy year-round because they taste best only when in season.

2. It’s fast. Most smoothies are fast, but this one is EXTRA FAST.

Banana-Pineapple-Smoothie

Pineapple-Banana-Smoothie-Vegan

Pineapple Banana Smoothie
 
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Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Smoothie
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond)
  • 1 large, ripe banana, cut into chunks
  • ¼ pineapple, cut into chunks
  • 4 ice cubes
  • 1 tablespoon hemp hearts
  • pumpkin seeds, for topping (optional)
  • hemp seeds, for topping (optional)
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until smooth.
  2. Top with more hemp hearts and some pumpkin seeds, if desired.

 

Mini Vegan Tortilla Pizzas

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This past weekend was awesome for 2 reasons:

Sunshine. Lots of sunshine.

These mini vegan tortilla pizzas. Ohhhhhhh yes. They were good.

vegan-mini-pizzas
It’s as easy as cutting up tortillas, popping them in a muffin tin, throwing on some toppings, baking, and stuffing your face.

I’m not even going to tell you how many of these I ate, but believe me when I say it was MORE THAN I SHOULD HAVE.

Worth it, though. Totally worth it.

mini-pizzas

You can put on any kind of toppings you want – that’s what makes pizza so freakin’ amazing. It’s versatile.

My husband doesn’t like Daiya cheese shreds, so for some of his pizzas, I put our homemade vegan nacho cheese, and on some others, I didn’t put cheese at all – just loaded them up with sauce and veggies.

He approved. I approved. The kids approved. Everyone approved.

This was an awesome meal.

baked-mini-pizzas-vegan

I think these would also work as dessert pizzas, by just swapping out sauce, cheese and pizza toppings, and instead baking she shells, then putting melted chocolate and fresh fruit inside, freezing until semi-firm, and topping with coconut whipped cream.

Mmmm, yes, that is a good idea.

Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.

mini-pizzas-vegan

I made these babies for dinner, alongside a big kale salad, but they would also work well for lunch, as an appetizer (just halve the recipe), and even as a snack.

They would work  pretty much any time of day. Except breakfast. Unless you’re into pizza for breakfast. In which case – you could eat these pizzas any time of day and be happy and full and satisfied. Enjoy!

vegan-baked-mini-pizzas

Mini Vegan Tortilla Pizzas
 
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Recipe type: Snack, Lunch, Appetizer
Cuisine: Pizza
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 8 small flour tortillas (corn may work too, but I haven't tried)
  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • cheese of choice (I used, vegan parmesan, Daiya shreds, and nacho cheese sauce)
  • toppings of choice (I used green lentils, green pepper, kalamata olives, and zucchini)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray 2 muffins tins with non-stick cooking spray (or use refined coconut oil) and set aside.
  2. Using a doughnut cutter or small drinking glass, cut out your mini pizzas from the tortillas. I placed mine over the muffin tin first, to see how big to make my pizzas. You want them to be a bit bigger than the opening of the hole.
  3. Place your tortilla pizzas inside your muffin tins, pressing down gently.
  4. Add a bit of sauce, then cheese, then toppings, to each tortilla pizza.
  5. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the tortilla is a nice golden brown color, and the sauce & toppings are warm and the cheese has melted.
  6. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. If you handle them too early, they may not pop out of the tins easily.
  7. Run a butter knife around each pizza, and pop it out - but only if it's ready. If it doesn't come out easily, let it cool for a few more minutes.

 

Best Ever Banana Crumb Muffins

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banana-muffins-photo

I bought a box of about 40 bananas last week (what? you don’t do that too?) because I have plans for lots of banana ice cream now that the hot weather is here, and I also wanted to make some banana desserts & breakfasts.

So – yesterday I made vegan banana muffins. But not just any banana muffins – no, I made banana crumb muffins. And yes, the crumb part is necessary to mention. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that the “crumbs” totally make this muffin.

vegan-banana-crumb-muffins

Just look at all that crumbly goodness. It tastes just as good sprinkled in your mouth as it does on the muffins.

Just sayin’.

vegan-banana-muffins

These vegan banana crumb muffins are awesome for many reasons:

They take just 30 minutes to make, from start to finish
They have just the right amount of sweetness
They’re super moist
They’re very filling (but it’s hard to eat just one!)

banana-crumb-muffins

 

I changed up the recipe I found on Minimalist Baker just a bit, and this has now become a keeper recipe for our family. In just 24 hours, we devoured all 12 muffins!

Actually, that may have happened in less than 12 hours…

Stop whatever you are doing and GO MAKE THESE MUFFINS! You’ll be happy you did.

banana-crumb-muffins-vegan

Best Ever Banana Crumb Muffins
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast, Snack
Serves: 12
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup kamut flour
  • 2 tbsp vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
Banana Muffins
  • 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seed, 6 tbsp water)
  • 4 medium bananas, mashed (make sure they are very ripe)
  • ½ cup brown sugar, packed
  • ¼ cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance), melted
  • 1½ tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1½ cups kamut flour
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • ¼ cup walnuts, optional
Instructions
Crumb Topping
  1. Using your fingers, mix together the brown sugar, flour and butter in a small bowl, until it resembles wet sand. Set aside.
Banana Muffins
  1. Preheat oven to 375F and spray your muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray (or use coconut oil).
  2. In a large mixing bowl, add your ground flax & water for the flax eggs. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes.
  3. After 10 minutes, add the mashed bananas, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla & melted vegan butter. Mix well.
  4. Add flour, rolled oats, and walnuts, and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
  5. Fill your muffin tins about ¾ of the way fill with the banana muffin mix.
  6. Sprinkle your crumb topping over each muffin.
  7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Notes
Adapted from Minimalist Baker.

 

Lemon Chia Muffins with Vanilla Glaze

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Lemon-Muffins

When I came across this recipe on Lindsay’s blog a few months ago, I added it to my “must try” list (in vegan form), because lemon muffins and I are best friends. Me and lemon anything are best friends, really.

Although the ingredients list is quite long for these muffins, you shouldn’t be intimidated. This recipe is NOT hard one bit. In fact, it’s one of the easiest muffin recipes I’ve made. One of the tastiest, too.

Vegan Lemon Muffins

Lemon Chia Muffins with Vanilla Glaze
 
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Serves: 10
Ingredients
Lemon Muffins
  • 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax seed + 5 tbsp water)
  • ½ cup lemon juice
  • ¼ cup lemon zest
  • ½ cup coconut sugar
  • 1½ cups kamut or all-purpose flour
  • 1½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ cup coconut yogurt (I used vanilla flavoured, but plain would work, too)
  • ¼ cup non-dairy milk (I used almond)
  • 3 tbsp chia seeds
  • 2 tbsp poppy seeds
  • 1½ tbsp agave or maple syrup (I used agave)
Vanilla Glaze
  • 1 cup vegan powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used almond)
  • 1 tablespoon vegan butter, melted
Instructions
Lemon Muffins
  1. Preheat the oven to 375F and grease a muffin tin with coconut oil or non-stick spray. Whisk together the ground flax seed and water for the flax eggs and set aside to thicken, at least 5 minutes.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the lemon zest and coconut sugar, rubbing the two together with your fingers for a few minutes.
  3. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, then stir to combine.
  4. In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, vanilla, olive oil, coconut yogurt, non-dairy milk, chia seeds, poppy seeds, agave or maple syrup, and your flax eggs.
  5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
  6. Scoop batter into greased muffin tins and bake for about 13-14 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Vanilla Glaze
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, non-dairy milk and melted butter, until smooth.
  2. Drizzle each muffin with glaze (or dip the tops of the muffin into the glaze, which is what I did).
  3. Sprinkle a few more chia seeds on top and wait for the glaze to set before eating (5-10 minutes).
Notes
*Adapted from Pinch of Yum.

 

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

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Chocolate-Cupcakes

I love an excuse to make cupcakes, so when we hosted our daughter’s 2nd birthday party a few weeks ago, I made these delicious cakes – and boy, am I ever glad I did. I’m still getting people asking me for the recipe, so I thought I should post it here and have somewhere I can refer people!

The cupcakes on their own aren’t super sweet, which is why I added a bundle of vegan buttercream frosting on top of them, which really just takes them over the top, if you ask me. Delicious and chocolaty!

Vegan-Chocolate-Cupcakes

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 12 cupcakes
Ingredients
Chocolate Cupcakes
  • 1¼ cups kamut or all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Vanilla Buttercream
  • ½ cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
  • 1½ cup vegan powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Non-dairy milk, as needed (I used about 3 tbsp)
Toppings
  • Vegan sprinkles (optional)
  • Vegan chocolate candies (optional)
Instructions
Chocolate Cupcakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8x8 baking pan with a oil mister and set aside.
  2. Whisk together flour, coconut sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Add in the water, vanilla, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar, whisk again until well combined. Do not over-mix. A few little clumps are fine!
  4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cook completely.
Vanilla Buttercream
  1. Beat the vegan butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  2. Add in the vanilla and ½ cup powdered sugar. Once the powdered sugar is mixed in, add another ½ cup, and repeat again. Add in some non-dairy milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed.
  3. Beat everything together until the desired consistency is reached. Top with vegan chocolate candies and/or sprinkles, if you want!

 

Classic Green Monster Smoothie

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Green-Monster

If the 15 year old me could only see me now.. drinking spinach. I would have had my jaw on the floor, that’s for sure.

This smoothie, though – it’s amazing. Chock full of nutritious and delicious ingredients, it’s a surefire way to drink yourself happy!

This recipe is totally customizable, too. Use what you have on hand, but I always suggest a green (kale works well) and a banana (for creaminess), at least. If I really feel like something sweet, I will add in 2-3 dates as well. Or some agave. Or maybe syrup. You get the idea.

Have you had your green monster smoothie today?

Green-Monster-Smoothie

Classic Green Monster Smoothie
 
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Recipe type: Smoothie
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 1 cup almond or soy milk
  • 1 ripe banana, peeled
  • 2 large handfuls of spinach
  • ½ tbsp chia seeds
  • ½ tbsp ground flax seed
  • 1 tbsp nut butter (optional)
  • 3 or 4 ice cubes
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients (in the order listed) into your blender and blend until smooth.
Notes
*You can also add in 1 tbsp protein powder for an added protein boost! I often add hemp protein to my smoothies.

 

 

World’s Best Vegan Pancakes

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Vegan-Pancakes

Growing up, we always had pancakes made from a mix in a box. “Just add water!”, it said. How hard could it be? Not hard, apparently.. but also, not delicious. And certainly not vegan.

Vegan pancakes can be tough. Instead of egg, many recipes call for banana as the binding agent, but personally, I don’t want my pancakes to taste like banana.. unless I want banana pancakes!

After a bit of experimentation, I’ve finally put together what I believe is the best vegan pancake recipe – no banana required!

Pancakes-Vegan

World's Best Vegan Pancakes
 
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Light, fluffy and incredibly delicious. These really are the world's best vegan pancakes!
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 6-8 pancakes
Ingredients
  • 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax seed + 3 tbsp water)
  • ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • ½ cup kamut flour (or all-purpose)
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil, not melted
Instructions
  1. Make your flax egg and set aside to allow it to thicken up.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add in the non-dairy milk, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil and flax egg. Mix everything well, but do not over-mix.
  3. Warm your pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Spray with olive oil and scoop ¼ cup of the pancake mix (per pancake) onto the hot pan. Cook for about 2 minutes or until bubbles start to form, then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until cooked through.
  4. Repeat until all batter is gone. Serve with fruit, maple syrup, coconut whipped cream, or whatever else your heart desires!
Notes
*Use something other than almond milk to make these pancakes nut-free (soy, rice, etc.).