Lemon Blueberry Loaf [gluten-free + vegan + oil-free]

LemonLoaf2 This was one of those recipes in which I had a craving for flavor (in this case, lemon) and a new dish was born.  Yummy! I’ve been experimenting more and more with aquafaba, the juice from canned chickpeas, and really liking the results.

It looks like there are a lot of ingredients here but a lot of them are spices.  It really isn’t any more labor intensive than any other loaf, muffin or cookie recipe I’ve got.  The key is to put the blueberries in the bottom of the loaf pan so that when it cools and you flip it over, you have a yummy, dark purple blueberry topping.  Cool looking and even better tasting.

Pumpkin Spice Brownies || vegan | gluten-free | oil-free

PumpkinSwirlBrownies2

November 4, 2015

CHOCOLATE!

People are coo coo for cocoa.

Me? I like it.  Sure.

But I wouldn’t consider selling my offspring for the last bar on earth as some people I know might.  It’s good.  I enjoy a quality piece of dark chocolate or a chocolatey dessert as much as the next girl, but when I like chocolate best is when it’s paired with something else, for example, peanut butter, raspberry, or in this case PUMPKIN!

If you’ve never had chocolate and pumpkin together, you’ve been missing out! The warm spices we associate with pumpkin taste great with the rich chocolate.  This recipe calls for healthy whole foods like black beans and pumpkin, uses very little flour, and no refined sugar or oil, and no eggs or dairy of course.  The only not-so-healthy part is the chocolate chips but we only use 1/4 cup.  I really like to use the Wonderslim cocoa powder as it’s lower in fat and caffeine than typical cocoa powder.PumpkinSwirlBrownies3

Go ahead, make these.

And try not to eat the whole pan.

I dare ya.

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!!

Peach Crisp

I needed to make a dessert for company recently and I knew I wanted something sort of summery, but warm since evenings are still cool here.  Wasn’t in the mood for cake, pie or the Chocolate-Banana Muffin Cakes I always make.  I decided a peach crisp was definitely in order since peaches are abundant and delicious right now.  Unfortunately, most recipes for any kind of crisp are laden with sugar and butter. This version does contain some Earth Balance, so it’s best for special occasions, but it’s definitely less fattening than standard recipes – and every bit as good!