Pumpkin-Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin-Spice Cupcakes. Vegan. Gluten-free. Oil-free*

I know.  It’s getting a little ridiculous.  Another pumpkin recipe.  I can’t help it! I told you I love all things pumpkin.  The season is short – I must embrace it!

So, I made a pumpkin-spice cake for my sister’s birthday this past week.  It was really good.  The next day I tweaked the recipe just a bit and made delicious cupcakes.  The next day I tweaked it even more, making them gluten-free, and a sharable recipe was born!

If you don’t care to make these cupcakes gluten-free, whole wheat pastry flour is fine.  Also, use 1 TBS pumpkin pie spice if you’d rather not bother measuring out the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger and cloves.

I don’t generally make or eat things that are frosted due to the high fat content of frosting, even if it is vegan, but I’ve managed to keep the fat pretty low on these by only using no more than 1 tablespoon of frosting per cupcake, which is plenty and just right.  Still, these are a treat and not something I’d recommend be eaten regularly.  🙂

*Oil-free if left unfrosted. The cupcake itself is oil/fat-free but Tofutti Cream Cheese is made with oil.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bites

Chocolate Chip Banana Bites. Vegan. Oil-free. Low-fat. Gluten-free*

A few ingredients and a couple of really ripe bananas is all you need for this easy recipe.  These little bites are dense and delicious!  They’re also wheat free (gluten-free if using certified gluten-free oat flour), and low-fat.  I recently substituted dried cranberries for the chocolate chips for a friend who doesn’t like chocolate (can you imagine?).  They were delicious even without the chocolate chips!

The only problem with these is that they don’t last long when I make them.

 

*gluten-free when using certified gluten-free oat flour

Summer Fruit Cobbler

Summer Fruit Cobbler. Vegan. Oil-free. Gluten-free*

A fruit cobbler is one of my favorite desserts.  I take it or apple pie over something chocolatey any day! We were having company and I wanted a dessert that would be nice for a chilly evening, and that incorporated seasonal fruit.  Most fruit crisps are loaded with fat and lots of sugar, but not this one! The only fat is naturally occurring in the oat flour.  No added oils or butter.  I used peaches, mango and blueberries and they tasted wonderful together, all warm and saucy.  For an extra special treat, serve warm with non-dairy ice cream.  🙂

*gluten-free if using certified gluten-free oat flour.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Sweetened with fruit, the whole fruit, and nothing but the fruit, so help me God!  These oatmeal cookies almost shouldn’t be called cookies because they are good for you!  The sweetness in these babies comes from banana, applesauce and date paste, as well as raisins and, as a treat, a few chocolate chips.  Of course if you add chocolate chips, that changes things, but the heart of the cookie will still be super healthy.  Be aware these are only slightly sweet.  They are perfect for our family as our palettes have adjusted to less sugar/sweets (which can happen for everyone – just takes patience!).  If you aren’t there yet, you may want to add more raisins and/or chocolate chips, or more date paste.

**Date paste is made by soaking whole, pitted dates until soft and much of the water is absorbed, and pureeing in food processor or blender until smooth.  Here’s how: 1) Soak 1/2 lb dates with 1/2 cup water several hours, until much of the water is absorbed.  2) Use food processor or blender to create a creamy, smooth paste.  Store in freezer (it doesn’t get hard!) and use in baked goods such as this one, as a fruit spread etc.  Chef AJ has many recipes using dates in her great book Unprocessed.

* gluten-free as long as certified gluten-free oats and flour are used.

Banana Almond Shake (non-dairy, no added sugar or fat, gluten-free)

One of my favorite things used to be banana ice cream shakes from Ruby’s Diner.  Man, I loved those things.  Of course, this is years ago when I used to eat dairy products.  While I was pregnant with my daughter (21 years ago, yikes!), my unhealthy eating led to gestational diabetes.  I was told that the last few months of my pregnancy would be ones with ZERO sugar, not even fruit! I was devastated, especially because I had just started feeling well after dealing with morning sickness for 5 months straight (another reason I wish I’d known more about health and the best ways to take care of myself).  Why am I telling you this?  To illustrate how much I LOVED those darn banana shakes.  8 hours after I gave birth, I was allowed to go back to eating whatever I wanted.  Guess what the first thing I wanted was?  A Ruby’s banana shake!  My sister and her friend brought me one in the hospital and I devoured the entire thing.  If only I’d known what harm I was doing to myself AND my nursing baby.

What can I say? I was young, dumb and uninformed.  Now that I’m oldER, wiser and quite informed, I still love banana shakes (and anything “banana”) but I know better than to consume them.  I could, of course, just replace the milk and ice cream with non-dairy versions, but that’s not much healthier.  Sure, there’s none of that pesky, unhealthy dairy protein or saturated fat, but there is still a lot of other fat and tons of sugar.  My recipe for this shake has no sugar (only that from whole fruit), and does not contain ice cream, rather, frozen bananas and ice.  It’s truly delicious and a treat I don’t feel the least bit guilty about enjoying!

Orange Chocolate Chip Scones (vegan, whole wheat)

I have faith in scones again.

I stopped eating them years ago, after I changed my eating ways to low-fat, plant-based.  A sad time in a way.  I loved my new healthy path, but I also really loved scones.  And cookies.  And donuts.  And cakes.  And pastries.  I always say “if I could give that stuff up, anybody can!”  It’s not like I ate them all the time but I treated myself more than I should have.   Vegan treats and baked goods are becoming more mainstream, but they are by no means healthy.  The animal products have been removed (win!) but they still have a ton of fat and heavily refined ingredients.  Which is why I love creating healthier versions of fattening vegan baked goods.  These scones fit right in with that mission.  Are they health food that should be eaten all the time?  No.  But they sure are better for you than most, and satisfy a craving without putting your health at risk and creating a ton of guilt!  Enjoy!

Whole Grain Strawberry Scones (vegan, low-fat)

A friend recently posted a link to a scone recipe.  The recipe called for whole wheat flour, and the addition of fruit, making it seem like a healthier version. I opened the link only to find the recipe was anything but healthy.  It called for 1 cup whole cream, 1 stick of butter, an egg and and egg white.  Yes, whole wheat is better than white, but with all the other unhealthy ingredients still there, it hardly makes a difference changing the flour and adding some fruit.  Herein lies the problem with the way so many people eat.  Adding a single food or nutrient, or taking it out, won’t really make much difference in health outcomes.  We must pay attention to the overall pattern and big picture.  As my friend and mentor Dr. Pam Popper says, “the totality of the diet and lifestyle”.

I was determined to “healthify” (not really a word, but I’m going with it) the recipe.  I thought I would just be able to sub out good stuff for bad, but ended up basically creating a whole new recipe. I don’t use oil or vegan butter in my baked goods, but I did use a small amount here.  Scones are all about fat, and I felt I needed some for them to turn out like anything resembling a scone.  Keep in mind these are lighter than traditional scones because they aren’t loaded with fat.  The average scone has 20-30 grams of fat (a day’s worth), so you’d have to expect this healthy version, which has about 3, to be a little different.  They are still delicious, especially when you know arteries aren’t being clogged, and thighs or bellies aren’t growing during consumption!

NOTE: Use organic strawberries, as conventionally grown strawberries are very heavily sprayed with harmful pesticides.  Or, feel free to use a different type of berry.

Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream! Non-dairy, low in fat, no sugar added.

I bought organic frozen pitted cherries from Costco recently and decided last night to actually do something with them besides eat them one by one out of the bag like I had been (they are like candy!).  This is one instance (of many) when a Vitamix is the most amazing kitchen appliance you could hope to have.  Love that thing. This creamy, delicious dessert is ready in about 2 minutes, and that includes gathering ingredients!  It’s so sweet, you can’t believe there isn’t added sugar.  Of course, when you sprinkle a few vegan mini chocolate chips on top as I did, that changes the no-sugar-added thing, but it doesn’t add much.  You only need a few.  I always have peeled, frozen bananas in the freezer for just this occasion.  Enjoy!!

Winter Spice Cookies

Winter Spice Cookies

These cookies have the flavor of a gingersnap, and the texture similar to a molasses chew.  Usually I make things a few times after I create them before posting the recipe but not this time.  I’m just that eager to share.

I’ve been asked several times lately if whole wheat flour can be used in place of oat flour in my recipes similar to this one.  My answer is yes, however I’d use whole wheat pastry flour since it’s finer than regular whole wheat, which may be too coarse.  Using all whole wheat in this recipe, as opposed to half oat and half wheat, would probably result in a less dense cookie, which may or may not be your thing.  Personally, I’m all about dense.  As I’ve mentioned before, light and airy makes me feel like I ate just that – AIR!  The reason I use oat flour in so many recipes is not because I have anything against wheat.  I don’t.  It’s just that wheat is everywhere, in so many forms.  I just like to sub other types of flour, and stay away from wheat when easily doable so that I’m eating more variety, and not so much wheat. As well, many people eat gluten-free diets so I try to incorporate as many suitable recipes as I can into my repertoire.

One more thing.  The batter for these babies is SO good.  I may or may not have eaten an entire cookie’s worth of batter.  🙂