Blueberry Banana Hemp Protein Muffins – Vegan

After trying pretty much every vegan friendly protein powder out there, I think I finally found a winner.

Sick of the artificial sweetener taste and lists of ingredients I didn’t recognize, I was overjoyed to finally discover a protein powder with simply 1 ingredient: raw cold milled hemp.  Meet Hemp Pro 50 by Manitoba Harvest. One 120 calorie serving contains 15 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber, 35% of your daily required iron and only 1 gram of sugar. Now with a nutritional report card like that I was definitely worried that the stuff was going to taste like cardboard or maybe grass. Much to my surprise, it turned out to be pretty darn good when mixed into my daily smoothie.

Now that the powder had passed the smoothie test, it was time to see how it measured up in the land of baking. So how did it go? Well I’m posting this recipe so it wasn’t a total fail right?! :p  But really, these muffins turned out pretty darn deeeelish! Why don’t you give these bad boys a try and let me know what you think? 🙂

Ingredients

3 large ripe bananas
1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp honey or maple syrup
2 tbsp soy milk – you can also use almond milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup hemp protein powder – I used Hemp Pro 50 by Manitoba Harvest
1/2 cup oat flour – or the flour of your choice
3 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup of your favorite crunchy cereal – I used my favourite cereal – Quinoa Chia Crunch by Peace Cereal

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin tins with a light layer of coconut oil.

2) In medium mixing bowl add bananas, coconut oil, honey, milk, and vanilla. With electric mixer, mix on low until well blended.

3) Add protein powder, flour and baking powder.

4) Spoon mixture into greased muffin tins pretty much right to the top to get that nice muffin top. Add a few blueberries to each muffin by pushing them down into the batter. ( I like to do this to prevent the batter from turning blue, but if you don’t care, feel free to just mix them into the batter)

5) Sprinkle the tops of the muffins batter with your cereal of choice.

6)Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until tops are lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean from the center.

ENJOY!!

Papaya Mac Nut Muffins – Vegan

Ahhhh, papayas and macadamia nuts. 🙂 Two of the foods I eat a lot more of now that I live in Hawaii. When we first moved here I went a little nuts wanting to grow anything and everything I possibly could in the backyard. Why?! Because I finally could – and thought it might be a good hobby in my old (ish) age. 😉 A year and a half later, I’m sad to report that my new hobby and plans to be a gardener extraordinaire didn’t quite pan out.  Consequently, the garden itself has dwindled down, leaving me with only the lowest of maintenance plants and trees – which fortunately, is still quite a bit.  One of these lower maintenance plants is our papaya tree, which has been providing us with so many delicious papayas lately. With all these papayas I thought it was only appropriate to do some baking.

Unfortunately, this recipe took me not 2, but 3 attempts to perfect.  You see, when creating a new recipe, I usually make a small batch just in case it doesn’t turn out and then make adjustments as/if needed. Well for some reason, today, I was feeling brave and decided to just bake the whole batch – and as life sometimes goes, this risk came back to bite me in the butt. Thank goodness I had an abundant supply of time and papayas. 🙂 Here is the winning recipe of the day:

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup mashed papaya
1 small-medium banana, ripe
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup oat flour
1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2 tbsp raw coconut sugar
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup of macadamia nuts
1/4 cup white chocolate chips – vegan
1/4 cup large flake coconut

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease muffin pan with coconut oil.

2) In large mixing bowl, combine mashed papaya, banana, coconut oil, maple syrup/honey, coconut sugar and apple cider vinegar. With an electric mixture mix on low until well blended.

3) Add flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir until well blended.

4) In small mixing bowl, combine mac nuts, white chocolate chips and coconut flakes.

5) Spoon muffin mixture in muffin tins, filling to just under the brim. Top with the mac nut, chocolate chip and coconut flake mix.  Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until tops are lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean from centre.

ENJOY!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes – Vegan

After a rude awakening at the dentist, I’ve decided to stop (ok more like cut down) eating, making and consequently blogging sweets. Unless of course, there is some sort of special occasion which requires me to make and consume said sweets. A couple weeks ago, one of these occasions came up, so I was forced to break the rules and whip up these bad boys. Inspired by Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, one of my favorite chocolate bars, I created these decadent cupcakes that are probably more of a tasty treat than a healthy eat. It’s a good thing I’m cutting back on the sweets, otherwise I think I’d have to reconsider the name of this blog. :p

Ingredients

1 cup soy milk of choice
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 ripe banana
1 cup dark chocolate pieces
1/3 cup coconut sugar
3 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp peanut butter extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tbsp cacao powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
* Optional addition 3/4 cup cacao nibs

Frosting

3/4 cup white chocolate chips – non dairy for vegans
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
* Optional small bar of dark chocolate to grate on top of cupcakes

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 F and line muffin tin with paper liners.

2) In small saucepan oven medium low heat, add soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Allow to simmer/curdle for a couple minutes before adding coconut oil and chocolate. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and remove from heat.

3) In medium mixing bowl add chocolate milk mixture, banana, coconut sugar, maple syrup, peanut butter and extract. Beat with a mixer until well blended.

4) Add flour, cacao powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt and gently mix until well blended and smooth.

5) Spoon mixture into muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20 – 22 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool before frosting.

6) To prepare frosting, heat coconut oil over low heat. Add chocolate chips and peanut butter and stir until chips are melted.

7) Once melted remove from heat and beat with electric mixer for a couple minutes until fluffy. Spread over cooled cupcakes. Id adding grated chocolate, grate chocolate over icing with fine grater.

ENJOY!!

Don’t worry, he didn’t eat any! 😉

Coconut Curry Pumpkin Soup – Vegan

I recently fell in love with a Thai curry pumpkin soup at one of my favourite restaurants here in Honolulu. Now I’m pretty darn sure that this soup was filled with heavy cream and butter, so in order to satisfy future cravings without clogging any arteries, I took a stab at a healthier, vegan version of this delicious soup. I chose to use Indian curry simply because that’s what I had, but you could also use a red curry paste as well. 🙂 Now this soup is pretty darn filling on its own, but you can also add ravioli gnocchi or even some mixed beans to make it even more hearty.  If you aren’t vegan, I’d suggest adding a lobster or crab ravioli, as that’s what I did and it ended up being an amazing combo.

Ingredients

1/2 of a large Kabocha squash, sliced
1 large sweet onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic
2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1/2 cup unsweetened plain soy milk
3 tbsp curry powder OR 3 tbsp red curry paste
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp crushed ginger
3 tbsp coconut oil
1tsp coconut sugar
Sea salt to taste

1 cup sweet corn – frozen or fresh
1/2 cup cauliflower, chopped
1/2 cup green peas, frozen or fresh

**Optional addition

1 cup of whole wheat ravioli or  whole wheat gnocchi of choice
or
3/4 cup cooked mixed beans

Garnish

1/4 cup coconut milk
Cilantro

Directions 

1) Preheat oven to 425. Lightly grease baking sheet with coconut oil and place sliced Kabocha squash, onions and garlic cloves on sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and place in preheated oven oven. Cook for 10-12 minutes, until everything appears slightly roasted. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

2) Place roasted veggies and garlic in food processor or good quality blender such as a Vitamix. Add vegetable broth, soy milk, curry, cinnamon, ginger, coconut oil and coconut sugar and blend on high until smooth.

3) Pour mixture into large pot and heat over medium heat. Add corn, cauliflower, green peas and desired addition of ravioli, gnocchi or beans and allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add sea salt as desired to taste.

4) Garnish with a spoonful of coconut milk per bowl and chopped cilantro.

ENJOY!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramel Bars – Vegan

I’m a bit of a chocoholic. As much as I try to be a health nut, I still crave chocolate bars from time to time. (daily) So I thought it was about time to create a “healthy” version of some of my fav chocolate bars. I’ll admit, calling this recipe healthy is a bit of a stretch. I mean, it’s a chocolate bar replacement, so for what it is, it’s as good as it gets – and it’s deeeeeelish! 🙂

Ingredients

Layer #1

1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs, I used Newman-O’s, removed the icing and crushed them in my food processor
3/4 cup almond meal
2 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Layer #2

30 Medjool dates, pitted
2 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
4 tbsp unsweetened natural smooth peanut butter – you can also use peanut butter powder

Layer #3

1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup almonds, roasted & salted, chopped

Directions

1) Combine cookie crumbs and almond meal in medium bowl. Set aside.

2) Over low heat, in small saucepan add coconut oil and chocolate chips. Stir until melted. Add melted mixture to crumb and almond meal mixture and stir until well combined. Press mixture into 8×8 square pan. Refrigerate until solid.

3) Add pitted dates, coconut oil and peanut butter to food processor. Blend until smooth. Mixture will be quite thick. Press mixture over cooled cookie crumb layer. Return to fridge.

4) Over low heat add coconut oil and chocolate chips. Stir until melted and smooth. Pour over first 2 layers and sprinkle with almonds. Refrigerate until firm.

ENJOY!!

Baked Chocolate S’more Donuts – Vegan

I spent last Friday madly baking (and making a huge mess) for our holiday Christmas party. After my first creation not turning out exactly how I wanted, I decided to take another chance by attempting to satisfy my month long s’more craving with these donuts. In hindsight, experimenting when I was on a tight timeline probably wasn’t wise… Thankfully, they turned out great and successfully killed my s’more craving. I will warn you, the marshmallow topping will be messy. Or maybe it was just extra messy for me because I am a tornado in the kitchen. Either way, you have been warned. :p

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups quinoa (for gluten free) or whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cacao powder
1/3 tsp salt

3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 5oz bar dark chocolate
1/2 tsp chocolate extract

4 Medjool dates, pits removed
1/2 cup sweet potato puree
1/4 cup maple syrup

Topping

1/2 cup vegan marshmallows
2 tsp coconut oil
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup vegan graham crackers, chopped into small chunks
Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 and grease donut pan with coconut oil. In medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, cacao powder & salt. Set aside.

2) In small saucepan, over medium heat, add soy milk, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, dark chocolate & extract. Allow chocolate to melt and mixture to simmer for a couple minutes. Remove from heat.

3) Add dates, sweet potato puree, maple syrup and soy milk mixture to food processor or good quality blender. Blend on high until dates are completely blended in.

4) Add blended mixture to dry ingredients and fold in until well blended.

5) Spoon mixture into donut pan and bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from pan and allow to cool.

6) For the topping, in a small saucepan, melt marshmallows and 1 tsp coconut oil over medium heat. Drizzle cooled donuts with melted marshmallows and follow by sprinkling graham cracker chunks over marshmallows.

7) Heat remaining 1 tsp coconut oil over medium heat, add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Drizzle chocolate over donuts.
ENJOY!!

Toasted Coconut Cashew Cookies – Gluten Free & Vegan

Back before I turned into a complete health nut and had the metabolism and mentality of a teenager, I use to make these browned butter frosted cashew cookies that were full of butter, white sugar, sour cream, and white flour and topped with even more butter and sugar. And as you probably guessed by the main ingredients, they tasted pretty darn delicious. Friends and family just went crazy over these artery clogging treats. With the holiday season approaching, I’ve had  friends ask about them, so I thought I would take a stab at a healthier version to share. 🙂 I just gave one to a worker who was tinting our home windows and he claimed it was the best cookie he has had in a long time. Now I know it’s quite possible he was just saying that to be make this crazy cookie pushing lady happy, BUT after tasting one myself, I think it’s quite possible he was being honest. :p Why don’t you give them a try and let me know!

Ingredients

Cookies

1 ripe banana
1 cup medjool dates, pits removed
1/3 cup soy milk
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
3 tbsp raw coconut sugar
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour + 1 cup oat flour
1/2 cup toasted cashews, chopped
1/2 cup toasted coconut, unsweetened
1/2 tsp salt

Topping

1/2 cup dairy free white chocolate chips
1/2 tsp coconut oil
1/2 cup toasted coconut

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350. Add banana, dates, soy milk, coconut oil, and maple syrup to blender or food processor. Blend for 1 minute or until mixture is quite smooth.

2) Using a spatula, move batter to medium size bowl. Add coconut sugar, flour, chopped cashews, toasted coconut and salt. Stir until well blended.

3) Using a tablespoon spoon mixture onto greased or non stick baking pan. Make sure the cookies are as flat as you want them to be for the topping, as they won’t change much during the baking process. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool.

4) For the topping, add coconut oil and white chocolate chips to small saucepan over low heat. Stir until chips are melted. Spoon mixture over cooled cookies like a frosting. Sprinkle toasted coconut over chocolate topping.

ENJOY!!!

Salted Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Bars – Vegan

After eating way too much Halloween candy last week, I swore I wouldn’t bake or eat sweets for at least a week. Well, today is Thursday and Halloween was last Friday, so I’d call that a success… Ok, minus the fact that I ate a large dessert out at dinner last night. Ugh! No self control I tell you. :p

Anyway, I was inspired by one of my favorite vegan protein snack bars – NUGO Dark Chocolate Pretzel with Sea Salt. Combining that concept with another one of my favs – Puffed Wheat Squares, I came up with this bar. In case you aren’t familiar with puffed kamut, it’s similar to puffed wheat, however it has slightly more protein and a sweeter, nuttier taste. It is also said to be easier to digest than puffed wheat, however it does still contain gluten for all you gluten free folk.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups Medjool Dates, pits removed
4 tbsp coconut oil
5 oz bar dark chocolate
1/2 cup whole wheat baked mini pretzels, chopped
3 1/2 cups puffed kamut OR puffed wheat

Topping

1/2 cup dairy free white chocolate chips
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup whole wheat baked mini pretzels, chopped

Directions

1) In small saucepan over low heat, add coconut oil and dark chocolate. Stir until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and set aside.

2) In food processor or good quality blender add pitted dates and melted chocolate mixture. Blend until well mixed. The mixture will be quite thick and sticky.

3) In large mixing bowl add puffed kamut and pretzels, mix in chocolate and date mixture. You may want to use your hands to blend, as it’s much easier. Press mixture into 8×8 baking pan. Set aside.

4) For the topping, in a small saucepan over low heat, add coconut oil and white chocolate. Stir until melted. Drizzle white chocolate mixture over squares and sprinkle chopped pretzel pieces on top. Chill until chocolate is hard.

ENJOY!!

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts – Vegan

It’s that time of year again! The time when people go CRAZY for anything and everything pumpkin. Although, I’m not a passenger on the pumpkin bandwagon, I felt compelled to bake something pumpkin to get in the fall spirit. I’ve been wanting to play around with baked donuts for some time now, so thought I’d give pumpkin donuts a go for the first baking project in my new kitchen! Thankfully, the smell of burning plastic from the new oven didn’t soak into the donuts and they ended up so moist and tasting delicious – even if you aren’t a huge pumpkin fan. Note that you need a donut pan to make these bad boys.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla soy milk
1 pumpkin spice or some sort of similar flavor teabag
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp pumpkin spice extract

3 Medjool dates, pits removed
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 1/2 tbsp maple syrup or if not vegan honey

Topping

1/3 cup dairy free white chocolate chips
1/2 tsp coconut oil
2 tsp coconut sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted and lightly salted

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 and grease donut pan with coconut oil. In medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder & salt. Set aside.

2) In small saucepan, over medium heat, add soy milk, tea bag, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil & extracts. Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove tea bag and remove from heat.

3) Add dates, pumpkin puree, maple syrup or honey, and soy milk mixture to food processor or good quality blender. Blend on high until dates are completely blended in.

4) Add blended mixture to dry ingredients and fold in until well blended.

5) Spoon mixture into donut pan and bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from pan and allow to cool.

6) For the topping, in a small saucepan, melt dairy free white chocolate and coconut oil over medium-low heat.

7) Once melted use a spoon to drizzle dairy free white chocolate over the cooled donuts. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture and roasted pumpkin seeds over the chocolate drizzle.

ENJOY!!

Peanut Butter Banana Super Smoothie – Vegan

After 3 long months of no kitchen due to renovations, I finally have my dream kitchen up and running and almost ready to fully use. The first official thing I made in this new kitchen was my favorite morning smoothie, and since people are always asking me for the ingredients to this smoothie, I figured it would only be appropriate to post in on here. I’m so so excited to get back to the world of creating good and healthy food, because let me tell you, as much as I enjoy the occasional meal out, I am SO sick of eating out. Even though I’ve been trying to stay on track and eat healthy these past 3 months, it’s been a bit of a struggle. The hubs can only take so much of Whole Foods and my fav healthy restaurants, so a girl has to compromise sometimes. And the wife of the year award goes to….. :p

Some of these ingredients may not be found at your local grocery store and will have to be bought from somewhere like Whole Foods or another smaller health grocery store. Feel free to leave out any of the ingredients with a * if you don’t have them too. These are mostly added for the nutritional benefit, rather than for flavor.

Ingredients

1 ripe banana
1 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk
1 scoop plant based protein powder – my fav is the Organic Raw Protein powder in Vanilla
2 tbsp peanut butter powder (If you’ve never used this before, I highly suggest it for baking and smoothies. Check out PB2)
1 tbsp cacao power OR cacao nibs
1 handful spinach
4 cubes of crushed ice
* 1 tsp spirulina powder
* 1 tsp bee pollen
* 1 tbsp raw maca powder

Directions

1) Add all ingredients to blender and blend for 30 seconds.

ENJOY!!

The new kitchen – still a work in progress, but almost done. 🙂