Cinnamon Peach Bundt Cake

I'm finally set up and baking again in my new kitchen! I had a potluck brunch to go to and this cinnamon and fresh peach bundt cake was the perfect thing to bring along. It is quick and easy to make, is just as good as any coffee cake, and just requires a quick sprinkle of powdered sugar to look delicious and presentable. The peaches are amazing this summer, so they were the perfect addition to this sweet bundt cake.

Cinnamon Peach Bundt Cake
 adapted from the misfit baker

3 1/2 C Flour
1 1/2 C sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 C water
2/3 C canola oil
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 peaches, diced
powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease your bundt pan.
Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda.
Mix the wet ingredients: water, oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla - then add into the dry ingredients and stir together.
Gently fold in the diced peaches then pour the batter into the bundt pan.

Bake for 40-50 minutes and let cool. Top with powdered sugar and serve!

What is your favorite dish to bring to a brunch potluck?

Thanks for stopping by!

Blue Moon Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

What type of cupcakes do you make when your sister is planning a birthday party for her husband that involves beer tasting and manly mustache decorations? Beer cupcakes of course! Living in Colorado we are spoiled with some great beer, and I have learned to appreciate a good wheat beer with an orange wedge. I figured that infusing the frosting with some orange would pair perfectly with these blue moon cupcakes. After a successful attempt at champagne cupcakes, I had a feeling these beer cakes would be super tasty.

Blue Moon Cupcakes
makes 12, adapted from spoon fork bacon

1/2 C vegan butter, softened
1 1/4 C sugar
1 2/3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp flax + 6 Tbsp water)
1 tsp vanilla
1 orange, zested + extra for garnish
2/3 C Blue Moon or wheat beer
2 Tbsp almond milk



Orange Buttercream Frosting
4 oz vegan cream cheese, softened
1/2 C vegan butter, softened
2 1/2 C powdered sugar
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 F. 
In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the flax eggs, vanilla, and the zest from one orange and mix well.
In another bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a small bowl whisk together the beer and the almond milk.
Alternatively add the flour mixture and beer mixture into the butter mixture. Stir until fully combined.
Line your muffin tin with cupcake liners and fill them 2/3 full with the cupcake batter.
Bake for 15-17 minutes, let cool completely.

To make the frosting cream the butter and cream cheese together, and then slowly add in the powdered sugar and mix. Stir in the orange juice. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and top with orange zest.

These cupcakes were a big hit! The orange zest on top really gives it a pop of color and flavor that goes perfectly with the subtle taste of the wheat beer in the cupcakes. These would be perfect for those summer cookouts or for the beer lover in your life. I know it's an odd flavor for a cupcake, but it totally works.

What is the most unusual cupcake flavor you've tried?

Thanks for stopping by!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Check these cookies out! I am dubbing these the "everything" cookies, since they have every delicious ingredient that could go into a cookie in them - peanut butter, oatmeal and chocolate chips. I already know these chewy cookies are going to become my new favorites.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from the bankrupt vegan
makes 2 dozen cookies

1 1/4 C flour
4 tsp ground flaxseed
1 C oats
1 C brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 C canola oil
1/2 C agave
3/4 C peanut butter
1 C vegan chocolate chunks


Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the oil, agave, vanilla, and brown sugar together. Add the peanut butter and combine. Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir well.
Scoop the cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes until just crisp around the edges. Let cool and enjoy!

What else would you add to these "everything" cookies to make them even more epic?

Thanks for stopping by!

Snickerdoodle Cookies

We've had some fun weather here in Colorado over the past week... I'm looking at almost a foot of snow out of my window right now. Even though we really need the moisture, I'm still not a fan of the snow at all and have no desire to go out and do anything in it. My solution to my snowed in day was (of course) to start baking! I realized I had not yet attempted to bake the fun and classic snickerdoodle cookies, so I set out to change that.

Snickerdoodle Cookies
makes about 2 dozen small cookies

1/2 C vegan butter
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 C flour
1/4 C cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder 
topping:
1/4 C sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Soften vegan butter and with an electric mixer beat it with the sugar. Add in almond milk and vanilla and mix again. Whisk the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder together in a separate bowl, then add to the wet ingredients and mix well.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon on a plate and stir. Roll the cookie dough into balls and then roll through the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat. Place on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes then let cool.

Note: My cookies didn't really expand that much, so if you want larger cookies you can make the dough ball bigger.

I was actually happy that these didn't spread out too much in the oven, because they ended up being cute little round bite size cookies. Simple and tasty with a cinnamon sugar coating, these cookies are perfect for any occasion. I hope you enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Frosted Heart Sugar Cookies

Happy Valentines Day to all my fabulous readers! I wanted to share these fun heart shaped cookies with you today in honor of the holiday of love.

I got it in my head that I wanted to make heart cookies and so I made it my weekend mission to find a heart-shaped cookie cutter and get down to business. My original plan was to make simple sugar cookies and use them to top my vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting, but once I had my cupcakes done I realized I didn't want to smoosh the pretty frosting down with a cookie. I also had some frosting leftover from the cupcakes so I decided to frost and sprinkle the cookies too! It turned out to be a pretty good plan, I think.

Frosted Heart Sugar Cookies
makes about 2 dozen small to medium cookies
 
1 C flour
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C vegan butter
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
optional: chocolate frosting recipe here, sprinkles


Preheat oven to 350 F. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the vanilla and mix. Sift the flour and baking powder then mix into the butter mixture until a dough if formed. Place in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll the dough out and cut with the cookie cutters of your choice.
Bake for 12-15 minutes and let cool before topping with frosting and sprinkles.

These cookies might not be the neatest or prettiest things I've ever made, but as long as they taste good I don't mind! Are you a fan of frosted cookies or do you prefer them plain? Personally I think sprinkles make everything a little more fun.

As always, thanks for stopping by. I hope you are spending the day with those you love! 

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Happy Valentines Week! I've always loved valentines day, maybe because it happens to also be my birthday so I had two reasons to party and eat cake. People ask me if I disliked my birthday falling on a holiday when I was a kid, but I didn't mind - everyone was swapping cards and eating candy, so it just made it feel like everyone was celebrating!

I enjoy experimenting and trying new flavor combinations in my desserts, but I still have a soft spot for the classics. These vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting is perfect to bring to parties or make for any special occasion. I topped them off with some pink sprinkles in honor of valentines day.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
makes 12 cupcakes
adapted from vegan cupcakes take over the world

For the cupcakes:
1 C almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 C canola oil
3/4 C granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 C all purpose flour
1/4 C coconut flour (or all purpose flour)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt


Preheat the oven to 350 and line your muffin pan with cupcake liners.
Whisk together the milk and the apple cider vinegar and set aside for a few minutes so it will curdle.

Beat the milk mixture, oil, sugar, and vanilla together in a large bowl.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Mix everything together until smooth.
Fill cupcake liners 2/3 way full, and bake for 20-22 minutes Let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:
1/4 C vegetable shortening
1/4 C vegan butter, softened
1 1/3 C powdered sugar
1/3 C cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp almond or soy milk

Cream the shortening and butter together with an electric mixer. Slowly add the powdered sugar, mixing well each time. Add in the cocoa powder, vanilla and almond milk and mix again. Spread onto your cupcakes or use a frosting piping bag.

Optional: top with sprinkles!

I also figured out the secret ingredient to getting that perfect fluffy frosting. I had made a chocolate buttercream before and it tasted great, but it really wasn't fluffy. This time I added in vegetable shortening, and that did the trick.

I also made these heart shaped frosted sugar cookies. Check back later this week for the recipe! 
I thought I'd include this last photo so you all could see what happens when you run out of the fun pink cupcake papers and all you have left are Halloween themed ones...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolate Chia Pudding

 

I've decided to try out these chia seeds everyone's talking about. These little seeds are economical and have some great health benefits, including being full of omega 3's. Naturally I decided the best way to try these for the first time was surrounding them with chocolate!

This recipe is so easy, and you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge overnight for ease of snacking. I don't know if this could really pass as "real" pudding, because the chia seeds do give it an interesting texture, but it will definetly satisfy those sweet cravings and topped with sprinkles or fresh fruit would make a tasty dessert.

Chocolate Chia Pudding
serves 2-3

4 Tbsp chia seeds
1 C almond milk
4 Tbsp maple or agave syrup
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together well. It takes a little stirring time to incorporate everything.
Refrigerate for at least 30 min or leave overnight. Enjoy topped with chocolate sprinkles or fresh fruit!

For extra fun I served this chia pudding in these pink-based cocktail glasses and topped it with some vegan chocolate sprinkles. This pudding is not as thick as traditional puddings usually are, but I still think it's worth a try, especially if you have a sweet tooth like I do!

Thanks for stopping by!

Applesauce Oatmeal Cherry Mini Loaves

My Mom got me a mini loaf pan for Christmas, and I decided this weekend was the perfect time to break it in. I am officially hooked on the mini loaves! They came out great and are such fun little two-bite treats. The cherries were a fun addition and complimented the flavor perfectly, but I'm sure other dried fruits or nuts would be just as good in this recipe.

Applesauce Oatmeal Cherry Mini Loaves
makes 16 mini loaves, adapted from versatile vegetarian kitchen

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 C rolled oats
1 1/4 C unsweetened applesauce
3/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 C dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine the applesauce, oil, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl and mix well. Add in the oats and stir again.
In another bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the flour mixture into the applesauce mixture and stir. Roughly chop the dried cherries into smaller pieces and then stir in to the batter. Spoon into the mini loaf pan and cook for 15 minutes. (If you want to use a regular large loaf pan, cook for 45-55 minutes). Let cool and enjoy!

We enjoyed these tasty applesauce and oatmeal loaves over the weekend, and I did give some away to friends, but they were still all gone by this morning. I guess that just means more mini loaf baking will be in my near future! Not that I'm complaining.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cream Cheese Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

Has everyone been following along with the fantastic vegan cookie swap party going on this month over on Keepin' It Kind? All the recipes have been amazing, and I am very excited to be participating today with these fun Cream Cheese Sprinkle Sugar Cookies.

You can take a look at all the recipes in the cookie swap here, and a huge thank you to Kristy for sharing my recipe today!

Happy Holidays Everyone!