Secret Recipe Club - Vegan Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Secret Recipe Club time around here. This month I had the pleasure of being assigned Julies Eats and Treats blog. Julie has a bunch of really awesome recipes on her blog with some great and delicious looking photos. I had a tough time choosing between recipes but I had a bowl full of ripe bananas that needed using so when I came across this Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread I was sold. But check out these lemony treats that I was thinking about making - Lemon Drop Cupcakes and Lemonies. Don't they look good?

The recipe was easy to make vegan and was very delicious. The only thing I found was that there was too much cinnamon sugar on top of the banana bread that just ended up falling off, so I adjusted the measurements a bit.

Thanks Julie for the yummy recipe!


Vegan Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread
Via Julies eats and treats

Bread
3 over-rip bananas, mashed
1/3 c. melted vegan butter
3/4 c. sugar
Vegan egg replacer equal to one egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
Dash of salt
1 1/2 c. flour

Swirl
1/3 c. sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil and flour a loaf pan.

2. Mix bananas, vegan butter, sugar, faux egg and vanilla together. Add soda, salt and flour. Gently stir. Do not over mix.

3. In a small bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon together.

4. Pour 1/2 of batter into pan. Sprinkle 1/2 of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of batter. Add the rest of the banana mixture to the pan. Top with the rest of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

5. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Vegan Banana Bread

I have to say this banana bread turned out to be one of the best banana breads I have tried. Sometimes I really feel like banana bread but I don't have super ripe bananas (you know the ones with all the brown spots) but I usually go ahead and make the recipe anyway and it is never banana-y enough. This time though my bananas were very ripe and I love the way the recipe turned out. Go figure.

Vegan Banana Bread
Adapted from the Post Punk Kitchen

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Earth Balance, room temp
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup soy milk, mixed with 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a 8×4 bread pan with non stick cooking spray, or if you have a mini loaf tray prepare this instead.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

Cream together the Earth Balance and sugar. Add bananas, soy milk mixture and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix well. Pour batter into pan. Bake for an hour to an hour 10 minutes or if using mini loaf pans bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Homemade Vegan Cookie and Cake Mixes in a Jar

We have been on a homemade present kick lately so when it was time to celebrate one of our good friend's birthday P and I made these super cool "vegan treats in a jar".

These are great gift ideas and are really simple to make. It also helps that P is a graphic designer so he was able to make these awesome labels but they would be just as cute with a little hand written instruction card.

To make the gifts just choose your favourite cake or cookie recipe that doesn't have a huge list of wet ingredients. We choose vegan chocolate cake, vegan chocolate chip cookies and vegan brownies for the mixes. Then in a glass jar layer all the dry ingredients that the recipe calls for. On an instruction card include the wet ingredients and measurements the person will need to make the mix and the method and cooking instructions for each recipe. Then package it up all nice and pretty and give away to some lucky people.

Vegan Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I have been making a lot of oatmeal cookies especially with almond butter lately. I think I am craving peanut butter cookies but since P hates peanut butter I don't think that would go over so well. These cookies were super tasty and moist but didn't have the almond butter kick I was looking for...the quest continues. 

 Vegan Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies
From Alien's Day Out
Makes 24 - 26 cookies

1/3 cup natural, smooth roasted almond butter
1 Tbs non dairy butter
2/3 cup organic sugar
1/3 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the almond butter, non dairy butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until everything is smooth and creamy. 
3. In another bowl, sift together flour, soda and salt. Add the rolled oats.
4. Combine the wet with the dry, and mix until just incorporated. Add chocolate chunks
5. Drop large spoonfuls of cookie dough onto baking sheet and slightly flatten with your fingers.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until set. 
7. Remove sheet from oven and let cool on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cookie rack.

Vegan Peppermint Brownies

Pretty easy vegan brownie recipe I found here on allrecipes.com. I decided to add some peppermint extract - because why not? I really liked the taste of these. Although they fell apart quite easily they were still dense and pretty gooey.

Vegan Peppermint Brownies
Adapted from allrecipes.com

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups organic sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour in water, vegetable oil and peppermint and mix until well blended. Spread evenly into a prepared 9x13 inch baking pan. 

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the top is no longer shiny. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

Vegan Almond Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

It's that time again. Secret Recipe Club time. Once a month a bunch of food blogger's get together, are secretly given someone else blog to cook from, then blog about it.

This month I was given a lovely blog called The Boys Made Me Do It (Such a cute name!). Blogger Cara has a husband and three young boys which  is where the inspiration for the name comes from. Go check out her site. She has lots of great recipes and usually does a weekly menu planning post letting you know what she is cooking for the week. I love this idea.

I had a bunch of great recipes from Cara open, trying to decide which one to cook but something about these cookies kept calling out to me. I made some changes to the recipe to make them vegan. Also the original recipe uses peanut butter but since P hates peanut butter I used almond butter instead. The cookies turned out really yummy but I decided to fill them with just plain almond butter rather than a frosting. I will definitely be making these again (I think they are the perfect texture to make ice cream sandwiches).

Vegan Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies
recipe adapted from The Boys Made Me Do It

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
1/2 cup smooth almond butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup oats, quick cooking or old fashioned


Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Sift together with a whisk.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, peanut butter, sugar and molasses until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Add in the flaxseed and water mixture and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients and mix  just until incorporated. Stir in the oats until evenly blended.

Use a small cookie dough scoop to portion out the dough (about 2 teaspoons), rolling each portion into a ball, and place them on the prepared cookie sheet, a couple inches apart. Bake about 10 minutes.The cookies will look very soft but let them cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cook completely.

To turn the into sandwiches layer some regular almond butter between two cookies and enjoy with a glass of almond milk!

Yeast Free Vegan Cinnamon Buns

These bad boys are really YUMMY. And super simple. I think I might be in trouble because they took so little time to whip up and were awesome. Normally I make a biscuit dough base cinnamon bun that comes from Get it Ripe. They are delicious but the dough can be a bit finicky.

I came across this recipe over at this lovely blog called Smith & Ratliff (Go check them out- the photo's are stunning). It was pretty easy to turn them into vegan cinnamon buns.

They rolled out beautifully and cooked up really well. Soft and pillowy with lots of cinnamon sugar flavour. (Yikes - I am in trouble!).

Vegan Cinnamon Buns
Adapted from Smith & Ratliff

For the dough:
2 3⁄4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 1⁄4 tsp. baking powder
1⁄2 tsp. baking soda
3⁄4 tsp. salt
1 1⁄4 c. "buttermilk" (Mix 1 Tbsp vinegar with just less than 1 1/4 cup of soy milk. Let sit for 5 minutes)
6 tbsp. melted vegan margarine

For the filling:
2 tbsp. melted vegan margarine
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon

For the glaze (Optional)
2 tbsp. water
3/4 to 1 c. powdered sugar

First, make your "buttermilk". Measure 1 Tbsp of white or apple cider vinegar into a 2 cup measuring cup. Fill the measuring cup to 1 1/4 cups with soy milk. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Mix all of dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then add in the melted margarine and the "buttermilk".

Kneading it for a few minutes, it should become a bit smooth and more elastic than wet. If it still seems wet, go ahead and add some more flour.

Once it’s a bit neater, roll it out into a roughly 12″ x 9″ rectangle, about a 1/2″ thick. It doesn’t need to be perfect. After that, top the dough rectangle with melted margarine and your mixture of cinnamon and sugar and roll it up.

Cut the roll into 8 pieces. (Smith and Ratliff had a great tip which was to use some dental floss to cut the rolls. Just wrap it around the roll and pull the two ends across and it will cut the rolls very nice and neatly.)

Put your perfectly-cut rolls in a greased baking pan and bake at 425 degrees for about 15 - 17 minutes.

While they’re in the oven, you can mix your glaze with however much powdered sugar you want, thinned with just a bit of water. Pour it over the rolls while they’re fresh out of the oven, so it gives them a nice caramelized layer and absorbs into the roll. (I didn't use the glaze and the rolls were still delicious, up to you if you want!)

Vegan Coconut Lemon Bundt Cake

Firstly just a note to say sorry for having been an absent blogger. P and I were back in our home town over the holidays for a very special event...Our Wedding! Anyway I thought I would have more time to blog but it was so busy so here is a belated post. At some point I will post pictures of the day but I will say it was so AWESOME.

Anyway back to regularly scheduled programming:

Our office holiday party is always a pot-luck (actually most celebrations at work are pot-luck style - which I love). I had been feeling like gingerbread so I thought I would try making some gingerbread cupcakes. But they failed miserably and it was to late in the afternoon to go shopping for new ingredients. I did have a few fresh lemons and some shredded coconut in the freezer though so I whipped up this bundt cake from Epicurean Vegan. It was really yummy (Although mine did not come out of the bundt pan). I served with a simple lemon glaze. Not very wintry I'll admit but tasty indeed.

Vegan Coconut Lemon Bundt Cake
From Epicurean Vegan

1-1/2 C granulated sugar
2/3 C canola oil
1 (14-oz) can coconut milk
1/4 C soy milk
1/4 C lemon juice
3 Tbs lemon zest
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 C shredded unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8 or 10″ Bundt pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar, oil, coconut milk, soy milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla. Stir to combine.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the wet ingredients in batches, mixing well after each addition. Stir to combine, then stir in the coconut.

Pour batter into the Bundt pan, Bake 1 hour or until a knife inserted through the cake comes out clean.

Lemon Glaze

2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 - 4 Tbsp lemon juice
Lemon zest from one lemon

Mix all ingredients and pour over cooled cake.

Vegan Raspberry Lemon Cornmeal Mini Muffins

Since my friend asked for lemon raspberry cake for her birthday I have been thinking about the flavour combo. I found a recipe for raspberry cornmeal muffins that I thought I would adapt. Plus who doesn't love mini muffins? I know I can't resist.

Lemon Raspberry Cornmeal Mini Muffins

1 And 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Cornmeal
3/4 Cup Sugar
3 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Lemon Zest From One lemon
1 Cup Almond Milk
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/4 Cup Oil
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Fresh or frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease or line a 2 mini muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl combine together the dry ingredients including the lemon zest.

In another bowl whisk together the milk, oil and vanilla extract.
Gently fold in the wet ingredients into the dry mixture. Then add lemon juice.
Do not over mix the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins, about 2/3rds full. Top each mini muffin with a raspberry.

Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

Vegan Black Bean Brownies

I think these black bean brownies have been popular for long enough that I do not need to justify putting beans into a dessert. But just in case you are sceptical all I will say is you can not taste the black beans at all. They just add to the gorgeous texture of these brownies.

Recipe from Happy Herbivore
Vegan Black Bean Brownies
15 ounces black beans, drained and rinsed
2 whole bananas
⅓ cup agave nectar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup raw sugar (optional)
¼ cup instant oats

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8" pan and set aside. Combine all ingredients, except oats, in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, scrapping sides as needed. Stir in the oats and pour batter into the pan. Bake approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before slicing.

Vegan Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes With Raspberry Jam Glaze

One of our best friends was in town for the weekend to celebrate her birthday. I asked her what kind of cake she would would most like and she said "I love lemon and raspberry anything".

Lemon and raspberry are flavours I often do not bake with so I went searching for a cupcake recipe. I like the way this one turned out but I wish it would have had a stronger lemon kick. P and I are also trying to get away from using refined sugar which always leaves me stumped for good non-chocolate icing ideas. This time I thought why not use raspberry jam as a glaze. I think the glaze was my favourite part about these cupcakes it was so yummy.

Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes - Yields 18 cupcakes

½ cup vegan margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
⅔ cup soy milk
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest from 2 lemons
1¾ cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup diced raspberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease or line a cupcake tin.

Beat together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy, then add vanilla, soy milk, lemon juice, and zest.


In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Combine flour mixtures with wet ingredients just until mixed. Do not overmix. Gently fold in diced raspberries.

Fill cupcakes about ⅔ full with batter and bake immediately for 16–18 minutes or until done.

Raspberry Glaze

1 cup raspberry jam (I used a no sugar added type)
2 Tbsp lemon juice

In a small pot heat jam and lemon juice until it is liquid. Set aside to cool slightly. When cupcakes are baked and cooled spread glaze over each cupcake. The glaze will cool and stiffen. Serve cupcakes with a little lemon zest as garnish.

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes Stuffed with Cinnamon Cookies & Topped with Cinnamon Buttercream

I don't know why but I had a craving for cupcakes that contained a cookie. I didn't know how these would turn out. Would the cookie be crunchy or soft? Could you even tell it was there?

I broke the cookies up a bit before adding them to the batter but I think you could even live dangerously and keep them whole. When you bite into the cupcake the cookies are soft and almost melted into the cake. They leave these delicious sugary cinnamony streaks. Add the cinnamon buttercream and you you have a winner.

Vanilla Cupcakes Stuffed with Cinnamon Cookie

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups almond milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 - 2 cups of cinnamon cookies, broken up slightly (I used 1 package of Lucy's Cinnamon Thins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 muffin pans with 20 paper baking cups. 

Measure the apple cider vinegar into a 2 cup measuring cup. Fill with almond milk to make 1 1/2 cups. Let stand until curdled, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond milk mixture, coconut oil and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Add the cookie pieces and spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly. 

Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool then frost with cinnamon buttercream.

Vegan Cinnamon "Butter"cream Frosting

1 cup soft vegan margarine
1 lb powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Combined all ingredients and mix for 5 minutes. Keep covered in fridge until ready to use.

Vegan Potato Biscuits

These biscuits are a cinch to make when you have left over mashed potatoes and are really delicious.  The inspiration for these comes from a non-vegan recipe in The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book. I happened to have a little Daiya cheese in the fridge so I topped each biscuit with a little before cooking. Super tasty but I think they would be just as good if you skipped the "cheese".

Vegan Potato Biscuits
1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup cold Earth Balance, cubed
3/4 cup mashed potatoes
Handful of fresh herbs, chopped (I used basil, rosemary and thyme)
1/2 cup Daiya shredded cheese (Optional)

Dust rimless baking sheet generously with all-purpose flour; set aside.

Mix together soy milk and apple cider vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cayenne pepper. With pastry blender, cut in butter until crumbly, with a few larger pieces.

In a separate bowl, whisk soy milk mixture with potatoes until smooth; pour over dry ingredients. With fork, toss together until soft ragged dough forms. Turn out onto floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times until dough holds together.

Pat out and with a round cookie cutter cut out biscuits. Arrange on prepared pan,sprinkle with cheese if desired. Bake in centre of 400°F oven until golden, about 18 minutes.

Vegan Almond Butter and Sesame Seed Cookies

These cookies are reminiscent of a soft peanut butter cookie but the sesame seeds add a lovely crunch. I used almond butter because that is what I had but any nut butter would work.

 

Vegan Almond Butter and Sesame Seed Cookies
Adapted from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
1/2 cup chunky almond butter
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup of black and white sesame seeds

Preheat to 350F and lightly grease two cookie sheets.
Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon, and set aside.
In a large bowl use electric beaters to cream the Earth Balance until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the peanut butter, agave, sugar, soy milk, and extracts, and continue to beat until creamy, 4-5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture and stir until a firm dough forms.

Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls. Roll each ball in sesame seeds, and place on a prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 1 1/2″ of space between each cookie. Flatten the balls just slightly and bake for 10-11 minutes for chewy cookies, up to 14 minutes for firmer, crunchier cookies. Remove from oven and allow cookies to remain on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Vegan Peach, Black Pepper and Basil Cake

 
It sounds like a weird combo but I love desserts with herbs in them. I think peach and basil go together really well. Plus the addition of black pepper gives it just a hint of spice. Super moist cake that doesn't need icing (although a vegan cream cheese icing would go really well here.)

Peach, Black Pepper and Basil Cake

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups almond milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup of ripe peaches, chopped (about 3 small peaches)
1/2 cup of fresh basil, julienned  

Measure the apple cider vinegar into a 2 cup measuring cup. Fill with almond milk to make 1 1/2 cups. Let stand until curdled, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond milk mixture, coconut oil and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Fold in the peaches and basil. Pour batter into a greased 9 inch cake pan and bake for 40 minutes in 350 degree oven.

Red Berry Pie Vegan Style

We have some crazy potlucks at work. The latest theme was "your favourite fairytale or fable". I choose Little Red Riding Hood and decided to make a pie (because that's what little red was bringing to her grandma) and it had to be red (do I need to explain?). I used this pie crust recipe and followed all the directions and it turned out not to bad  (pie crust is not my strong suit).

Red Berry Pie
1 vegan pie crust
2 cups fresh strawberries
1 cup raspberries (I used frozen)
1 cup pitted and halved cherries
2 Tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup sugar

Make pie crust and leave to chill. Mix berries with sugar and cornstarch. Roll out dough and fit into a 9 inch pie plate. Trim excess and re-roll to cut into heart shapes. Fill pie with berry mixture and top with cut out heart shapes. Bake in 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. I put some tinfoil around the edges for the first 20 minutes and then took it off to let the crust brown.

Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Cake

I was staying at a friends place and she pulled out the cutest mini loaf pan. I said something along the lines of "I have to have this pan" and she replied "it's yours - as long as you promise to use it". Best day ever!!! So to keep my promise I adapted this recipe from the Half Assed Kitchen to make these absolutely delicious zucchini cakes.

 

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
2-1/2 cups fresh zucchini, grated, peeled
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup canola oil
2 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of dark chocolate cut into chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, combine zucchini, bananas, oil and vanilla. Stir well. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients except chocolate chips. Add wet ingredients to dry, stir thoroughly and fold in chocolate chips.

I was worried that the loafs would stick so I cut rectangles of parchment paper and placed them into the mini loaf tin with enough overhang to wrap the loafs afterwards.

Bake mini loafs for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes our clean.