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!

Banana Quinoa Breakfast Pudding

I'm not sure if it's a vegan trend or just my thing, but I usually do not feel confined by the normal breakfast foods at breakfast time. I've been known to chow down on a salad, make some brown rice, grab some dinner leftovers, or really whatever sounds good at the time. Actually now that I think of it, I think I've always had that tendency (cold pizza for breakfast, anyone?) That's why I'm pretty excited about this recipe. It's quinoa - but totally hiding out as a sweet and filling dessert-like breakfast pudding. It's like a cross between rice pudding and oatmeal. I guess I don't know quite how to label it, other than being delicious.

Banana Quinoa Breakfast Pudding
makes 4 servings, adapted from weelicious

1 C quinoa
2 C almond milk (or 1 C almond milk + 1 C coconut milk)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
3 Tbsp agave
1/2 tsp cinnamon
splash of vanilla extract
almond slivers

Rinse your quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Place into a pot with the almond milk and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. Mix in the bananas, agave, cinnamon, and vanilla and stir over medium heat until thickened. Place in serving dishes and top with almond slivers. Serve warm, or chill for 1-2 hours.

This recipe is easy to make, can be served either warm or chilled, and keeps well as leftovers. I think this might just be a big hit with kids, too! You could go crazy and mix in all sorts of different flavors, fruits, or nuts. 

 

What is your favorite healthy breakfast?

Thanks for stopping by!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Sometimes the simple treats are the best. I do love interesting combinations of flavors, and fancy baked goods, but more often than not my cravings are for the classics - like these simple chocolate chip muffins. They are easy to make and last awhile, so bake up a batch on the weekend for a crowd, or keep them all to yourself!

Chocolate Chip Muffins
makes 12, adapted from my baking addiction

2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C agave
1/3 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C vegan butter, melted and cooled
2 flax eggs (2 T flax + 6 T water)
2/3 C almond milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 C vegan chocolate chips or chunks (I use the Enjoy Life brand)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line muffin tin with 12 papers.
Combine the melted butter, flax eggs, almond milk, vanilla, and agave in a large bowl and mix well.
In another bowl whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Mix together until combined, Fold in the chocolate chips.
Divide the batter into the muffins tins and bake for 17-20 minutes.
Let cool and enjoy!

What is your favorite classic muffin flavor?

Thanks for stopping by!

Pancake Puffs

Everyone - I think I may have solved breakfast. I really love pancakes and waffles, but making them on the griddle or waffle iron is totally hit or miss for me. I don't know what skill it is that I am lacking, but I end up burning half of my pancakes, and getting my waffle batter oozing all over the place. Plus you have to make one at a time? Forget that!

I stumbled on one of those pinterest posts where you read it and think "Oh yeah right". You know, like that melted crayon art. I saw one where they made pancakes in a muffin tin and they came out all cute and perfect. I was skeptical...but look at these adorable pancake puffs! They all look great and were ready to be served at the same time. Breakfast is saved my friends.

Pancake Puffs
makes 12, adapted from this homemade life.

1 C flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 C almond milk
2 Tbsp melted vegan butter
3 Tbsp maple syrup

mix in ideas:
vegan chocolate chips
banana slices
berries
peanut butter
boca chick'n patties

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl mix together the almond milk, butter, and maple syrup. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until combined.

Divide the batter amongst 12 muffins tins, and add in whatever mix ins you'd like. Bake for 12-14 minutes and enjoy!

Yes, you read that right up above. I cooked a Boca vegan chick'n patty, and then cut it up and put it in my pancake batter. I was going for the "chicken and waffles" flavor combo. It was pretty awesome! Top with your favorite maple syrup and you are good to go. I really enjoyed the banana and blackberry combo, and my husband said his favorite was peanut butter with chocolate chips.

What are your favorite pancake flavor combos?

Carrot Cranberry Muffins

This week marks both my one year anniversary of eating vegan and of creating this blog! I want to thank each and every one of you for reading along and continuing to inspire me to come up with new recipes. I started this blog the same week I became vegan because I had a hunch that it would keep me motivated and help to connect with others - and boy, was I right! I'm so grateful for the people I've met in the past year, and I'm looking forward to sharing and cooking along with even more friends in the next year.

As I was thinking about what special recipe I could make to celebrate this occasion, I thought back to my first recipe I ever posted - Carrot Cranberry Muffins. I realized that my one camera phone photo didn't do these tasty muffins justice at all, so I decided I would whip up another batch!

Carrot Cranberry Muffins
2 C flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 C sugar
1/2 C canola oil
1/4 C applesauce
1 C finely grated carrots (approx 2 medium)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 C dried cranberries


Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla until combined. Mix in the grated carrots.

Stir in the dry ingredients until combined. Fold in the cranberries.
Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Well, these muffins are just as good as I remembered and were a great way to reflect back on a full year of vegan food fun. I feel like I've learned so much, and am looking forward to lots more cooking and baking, of course!

Thank you for reading, commenting, following me on facebook, twitter and instagram, and all the support over the last year for Vegan Fling. You all rock!

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!

Tangerine French Toast

Even in my pre-vegan days, I wasn't really a huge fan of french toast. I would never choose it over say, waffles or cinnamon rolls. I tried to make it at home a few times, but it always came out not quite right. My husband is a much bigger french toast fan than I am, so when I was given a sample of the Vegg to review, my first thought was to whip up some vegan french toast and see what happened.

The Vegg is a vegan product that is made to resemble egg yolks. It comes in a powder form, and you need to mix it in a blender with some water to get the correct consistency. Conveniently there was even a recipe for french toast included on the package! I decided to use this as my base recipe, and added some other flavors in for fun.

Tangerine French Toast
 makes 3-4 servings

2 tsp Vegg powder
3/4 C water
3/4 C almond milk
1 tangerine, juiced (about 1/4 C juice)
few drops vanilla
4-6 pieces bread - cut into thirds
vegan butter
for garnish: powdered sugar, maple syrup, tangerine slices

Mix together the Vegg powder, water, and almond milk together in a blender.
Pour this into a shallow dish. Stir in the tangerine juice and a few drops of vanilla.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and melt some vegan butter.
Slice your bread into strips and dip both sides into the liquid mixture. Fry the bread in the heated skillet, adding more vegan butter as needed. Flip to cook both sides until golden brown.
Top with powdered sugar, maple syrup and tangerine segments.

When I was mixing the Vegg powder in the blender I was surprised by how much it actually smelled like eggs. It's not a smell I'm used to anymore, so it was a little weird! I was worried the french toast might taste too much like an egg, but actually the end product was delicious! I think with all the other flavors going on and the fact that I covered the french toast with a nice layer of powdered sugar and maple sugar it was hard to go wrong. The tangerines were so perfect too!

I do think that you could easily make this recipe without the Vegg in there, but if you are really missing eggs in your dishes or for someone who is still transitioning to a vegan diet, I think this product could be very useful. I was happy to test it out, and I think I'll make this french toast again!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Tofu Scramble Toasts

As a part of Vegan MoFo I decided to dedicate my Thursday posts to recreating my family's favorite recipes - vegan style. My hope is that no one would be able to taste the difference!

Whenever my family would have a free weekend morning, we would whip up a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, usually with some fruit on the side. We'd sit around the table in our PJ's and hang out, in no rush to do anything or go anywhere. I thought that for this addition of "family favorites" I'd take a crack at recreating this scramble + toast breakfast.

Tofu Scramble Toasts
serves 2, adapted from magic jelly

1 block extra firm tofu
1 small green bell pepper, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 Tbsp flour
1/4 C almond milk
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of onion powder
pinch of chili powder
salt & pepper to taste
toasted bread


Drain the tofu and press if you have the time. Saute the olive oil, onion and pepper in a pan until slightly softened. Crumble in the tofu and stir until it starts looking golden.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the nutritional yeast, flour, almond milk, and spices until smooth.

Lower the heat on the tofu and add the milk mixture to the pan. Gently stir until it thickens and has a creamy consistency.

Enjoy by itself or on top of toasted bread of your choice!

This is a perfect breakfast to make and enjoy on the weekend. If you've been missing your "eggs and toast" type breakfasts, I would definitely give this one a try!

Thanks for stopping by!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Squares

Most of the time I don't need an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast. Obviously. 

These little oatmeal squares are perfect though. They are filling, with a bit of chocolate, but are not overly sweet. More like a soft granola bar than a cookie. 

 

 Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Squares

makes 16 squares, adapted from good clean food

2 C flour

1 C rolled oats

1/2 C sugar

1 Tbsp ground flax

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 C almond milk

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 C maple syrup or agave

1/2 C applesauce

1/2 C vegan chocolate chips

Preheat over to 350 F.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, flax, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Add in the almond milk, vanilla, maple syrup, applesauce and the chocolate chip and stir to combine.
Spread evenly into an 8 by 8" pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely then cut into squares.
 

I enjoyed these squares for breakfast and snacks throughout the week. They are perfect for packing in lunchboxes, too. Hope you enjoy them!

I'm in the middle of planning what I will post during Vegan MoFo, and I have a few ideas in the works on several different themes. Is there anything specific you'd like to see posts about? I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Thanks for stopping by!