Vegan Spicy Chocolate Pudding & Iced Chai Tea Latte

This is my Secret Recipe Club post for April. For those of you who don't know the Secret Recipe Club is this great group of bloggers that each month get assigned another food blog from which they must try a recipe and blog about it on reveal day. Anyway it's a lot of fun and this month was no different.

I was assigned the lovely Cooking in Stilettos (Which I have to say is one of my favourite blog names of all time). Aly is super passionate about food and has many awesome looking recipes to try. In fact I couldn't decide this month so I made two recipes from her blog.

I choose two somewhat spicy but cooling recipes both of which turned out great. They were super easy to vegan-ize by just replacing the regular milk with non dairy. Thank Aly for the yummy-ness with your Mexican Chocolate Pudding and Iced Chai Latte.

Vegan Spicy Chocolate Pudding
Via Cooking in Stilettos

1/2 cup organic sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups non dairy milk
2 Tbsp vegan margarine
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions
Whisk together sugar, molasses, cocoa, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and milk in a heavy medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking often, then boil, whisking, 1 minute.

Remove from heat and whisk in butter, vanilla and cayenne pepper.

Pour into serving dishes and cover the surface of the pudding with cling film to prevent a skin from forming. Chill until cold, at least 1 1/2 hours. If you want garnish with some grated dark chocolate and orange peel. Enjoy!

Vegan Iced Chai Tea Latte
Via Cooking in Stilettos

1/4 cup of loose tea or 4 tea bags
2 1/2 cups of water
1 tsp. black peppercorns
3 green whole cardamom pods
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
5 whole star anise
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 cups non dairy milk
2 tbsp. turbinado sugar

Directions:
In a mortar and pestle crush the peppercorns and cardamom pods.

Over medium heat, add water to a medium saucepan and add crushed cardamom pods, peppercorns, cinnamon, star anise, and ginger. Bring to a boil for one minute and then add the tea. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in the milk and return to a simmer. Sweeten with sugar to taste and remove from heat.

Cool chai to room temperature. Once it is cool, pour the liquid through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher. Discard the tea and spices and refrigerate chai.

To serve, fill glasses with ice and pour the chai over the ice.

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!

Vegan Grapefruit & Olive Oil Cake

I really love olive oil cakes. I find they are always moist and have a really lovely flavour. Usually I see them paired with lemon or orange but I have been on a huge grapefruit kick this winter so I thought I would give the combination a try. I used pink grapefruits but once they cooked up they looked just like oranges! The idea for this recipe came from The Gluttonous Vegan blog.

Vegan Grapefruit & Olive Oil Cake
Adapted from The Gluttonous Vegan


3 cups flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp grated pink grapefruit zest
1/2 cup fresh pink grapefruit juice
1 thin skinned pink grapefruit, sliced very thin for the top (Optional)

Prepare a 9 inch cake pan with some oil and flour.

In a large bowl mix dry ingredients, including the sugar, together. Add the olive oil and soy milk to the dry ingredients and mix. Then add the grapefruit juice and zest. Mix thoroughly and pour batter into prepare cake pan.

Top the cake with the thinly cut grapefruit slices and bake in a 350 degree oven for a least 30 minutes. (Mine was closer to 40). Let cool then slice and enjoy.

Vegan Sea Salt & Caramel Popcorn

I made this caramel popcorn as a treat to bring into work. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make and how absolutely delicious it turned out. Seriously give this a go if you like salty sweet things. Seems like a lot of work and will definitely impress people.

The recipe below might look like it has a lot of steps. It really is not complicated but you need to read the recipe BEFORE trying to make it. It is easy to do but you need to be quick about it so read first then make.

Vegan Sea Salt & Caramel Popcorn
6 - 8 cups of freshly popped popcorn (1/2 cup un-popped kernels)
1 1/4 cup sugar (I used organic)
3 Tbsp Earth Balance (or other margarine)
1 tsp sea salt

Firstly pop your popcorn. Personally I make my popcorn on the stove in a Whirly Pop (This contraption makes sure your popcorn doesn't burn) But it is super easy to do in a large soup pot. Once you make it on the stove you won't go back to microwave popcorn. It honestly takes the same amount of time and is so much tastier.

Once your popcorn is ready put it into a very large bowl and set aside. At the same time put a sheet pan out and cover with parchment paper.

Now it is time to make the caramel. I don't have a candy thermometer (I know a Whirly Pop but no candy thermometer!) so I put a glass of ice water and spoon beside the stove so I can test the caramel and make sure it gets to hard candy stage.

In a small pot put the sugar and margarine in. Place on medium low heat and eventually the margarine will melt and mix with the sugar. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon.

Whatever you do - DO NOT LEAVE THE STOVE. You need to stand there and watch the caramel very carefully so don't answer the phone or put a few dishes away or anything. Just stand there and stir frequently.

After about 5 - 7 minutes the sugar will be getting a deep rich brown colour. Now take your little spoon and grab a little caramel and dunk it into the ice water for 15 - 20 seconds. If the caramel has reached hard candy stage it will completely harden on the spoon. This is what you are looking for. If the caramel is still soft in the ice water keep cooking it and test it again in a few minutes.

DO NOT TOUCH THE CARAMEL - It will seem very tempting and look delicious and you will want to stick your finger in the pot or grab the spoon and put some in your mouth but trust me the caramel is about 5 million degrees and will then stick to your hand or mouth while burning you intensely. Just be patient.

Add the sea salt to the caramel and stir. It will fizz and crackle so be careful. Now quickly pour the caramel over the popcorn and stir the popcorn so the caramel coats it. You will need to move quickly as the caramel will harden fast.

Now pour the popcorn onto the sheet pan and spread out. You may want to break up some of the larger pieces. Let the popcorn cool on the sheet pan and then store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Rice, Veggies and Broth

This dish is quick to make and I find it very comforting. You can make it with whatever veggies you have in the fridge.

I am sure there is a proper name for this dish but I have no idea what it might be. I leave some of the veggies cold while others I cook. I like the contrast while I am eating this but if you want you could cook everything.

Rice, Veggies and Broth

1 cup basmati or jasmine rice
12 mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 red pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 green onion, diced finely
3 - 4 cups of veggie broth (I use broth cubes and water)
Sesame seeds to garnish

Firstly cook your rice according to the package. Usually it's a one to one ratio rice to water but you might have your own rice cooking tricks!

Meanwhile cook your mushrooms in olive oil until they are browned. Right at the end add the maple syrup and cider vinegar and cook for one more minute. Set aside.

To assemble put about a 3/ 4 cup or so of rice into a bowl. Top with some of the hot mushrooms, cold red pepper slices and some green onion. Ladle in a cup or two of hot broth and garnish with sesame seeds.