Peanut Butter Banana Bread!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread!

This is a lovely fall bread.  Bananas, nuts, and a hint of coconut-- it's just perfect for fall.  I came across the original recipe in a book simply called The Vegan Cookbook, written by Adele McConnell.  I hadn't read anything of hers before, but the beautiful salad on the front cover caught my eye and, hey, I'm always in the market for yummy yummy vegan recipes.  This is her website and I'm already rifling through her recipes lining them up ready to try :)  

I am thrilled to share this with you, because it turned out so good.  I worry about breads because I tend to end up with a chewy, or rubbery consistency, and this recipe was so not that.  As you can tell in the pictures, there's a nice crumb, and the bread is fluffy and moist, almost cake-like.  I imagine you could serve it with some fruit, maple syrup, vegan butter, or a lovely jam.  The possibilities are endless!

I changed the recipe to suit what I had on hand, and my personal taste, but I recommend her book!  Just a quick note, I used peanut butter because I had some, but any nut butter could probably be swapped in.

Peanut Butter & Banana Bread (Adapted from The Vegan Cookbook, by Adele McConnell)

2 cups wholemeal flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp. vanilla

4 overripe bananas

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup peanut butter (I SO wanted to use almond butter because I love it, but I was completely out when I looked in the cupboards, gonna try that next time :)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cloves

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare (grease and flour) your pan, a standard loaf pan (9x4 in) would work nicely, but I don't have one, so I used the round one shown in the picture.

2)  In a medium sized bowl, mix together with a fork the flour and baking powder.

3)  In a separate large sized bowl, mix the mix the bananas with the milk, vanilla, nut butter, oil, and cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves.  Combine until smooth.

4)  Gently fold the liquid mixture into the dry mixture, just until combined, being careful not to overmix (this is what ruins bread/cake batters!).

5)  Scoop the mixture into the prepared pan, and bake for about 35-40 minutes, or until inserted skewer comes out clean.  I imagine if you're using a loaf pan it could could take a bit longer, just keep an eye on it to avoid overbaking.

Hope you give it a try and that you love it as much as my family and I did! 

Lots of love to you all <3

Fresh Baked Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Hello Everyone!  This is Kasey.  It has been awhile since I have made a post and I am excited to share my pumpkin pie recipe with you.  It is almost the holiday season and the perfect time of the year to be shopping for fresh pumpkins in the states!  I live in the Chicago area and I go to the farmer's market every Sunday morning.  I see the prettiest pie pumpkins and carving pumpkins.

Side note:  these pictures do not do justice to this beautiful and delicious pie.  The pie is easy to make.  The only part that is actually baked is the pumpkin.  The crust and filling stay raw.  It takes a little bit of preparation though because the filling works best when it is refrigerated overnight.  If you do not have time just make sure you serve chilled by keeping it in the fridge until you are ready to eat it.

An important start to any yummy pie is to pick out a fresh and preferably organic pie pumpkin.  Do not use a carving pumpkin.  I picked out a medium sized sugar/pie pumpkin and only used half of it.  Look for one the size of a cantaloupe.  I like organic because I don't want to eat harsh pesticides.  I will make exceptions once in a blue moon, but for the most part I will only buy organic.  Once you have found the perfect pumpkin wash it off, removing any dirt from the outside.  Cut it in half and then in half again, making four equal parts.  Remove the gooey inside & seeds and save the seeds--you can bake them later for a healthy snack that is rich in magnesium and zinc!  mmm!

Put the pumpkin in the oven on a large pan (lined with baking paper or tin foil if you want to save time cleaning up later).  We like using coconut oil to bake with so we used a very thin layer of it to coat the inside of the pumpkin.  I have done some research on the health benefits of coconut oil and I like what I am finding out :)  My boyfriend and I wanted the flavor of the spices to really seep into the pumpkin so we sprinkled some nutmeg and cinnamon on the quartered pumpkin slices before placing them in the oven.
Bake for 1.5 hours at 375 degrees F.  Take the pumpkin out when it is soft.  Keep an eye on it because the time it takes to finish baking will vary depending on the thickness of your pumpkin.  While your pumpkin is baking you can make the crust:

This pumpkin pie crust is its own entity.  Side Note**:  It is so good I made a second batch to bring to work with me.  This stuff is seriously easy to make and a healthy way to get your sugar fix.  I always pack a few Larabars to bring with me to eat in a hurry at work.  I am very busy in between clients and sometimes I choose not to take a lunch break so I find Larabars to be convenient and healthy.  Instead of buying larabars I shaped this crust into bars and ate it instead!  It is SO good.  This crust is its own raw vegan cookie/larabar/energy bar!

CRUST INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of oats

2 cups of soaked dates

3/4 cup of walnuts

1/4 cup of coconut oil

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg

1 teaspoon of salt (we used Himalayan)

I am getting better at measuring ingredients.  I am working on being meticulous so I can blog accurately!  My inherent nature is to be a free spirit and throw things together, taste them and adjust accordingly.  I am turning over a new leaf though because that does not work when you are recording recipes :)  The spices are my best estimate because I added a few shakes at the end, back to my old ways, not even realizing it.  So adjust the spices if you want a little extra flavoring.

Place the oats into a food processor.  Pulse for 30 seconds until the oats are finely chopped up and more of a powder consistency.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and add a tiny smidge of water if necessary.  When the mixture becomes a goo then you know your crust is ready.  Line the inside of a pie pan and set aside in the fridge for now while you make the filling.

When your pumpkin is soft and brown on the crust it is time to take it out of the oven.  First you want to grab a big spoon and remove the flesh from the skin.  It should remove easily.  Place it in a bowl or directly into a high speed blender.  We only ended up using half of our pumpkin. 

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of almond milk (you can substitute soy milk, cashew milk, etc)

2 cups of baked pumpkin

1/2 cup of sugar.  (we used coconut sugar)

2 cups of soaked dates.  I added extra at the end to increase sweetness

1/4 cup of tapioca flour/starch as a binder.  You can use corn starch if you like.

1 inch chunk of raw ginger

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and a few pinches of sea salt.

Blend of full power for one to two minutes until the mixture is creamy.

Pour the creamy mixture into your pie pan and allow it to cool off for an hour or so in the fridge (you don't need to bake the pie, just the pumpkin at the beginning).

It cuts better after it has cooled off.  Cut into pieces and you are ready to serve it :)  ENJOY!

Raw Vegan Apple Pie with Apricot and Cinnamon

We found some beautiful pink lady apples at the market yesterday.  I love apples, we always have them on hand, but there's something about pink ladies that make me happy; they're crisp and sweet and have such pretty coloring.  We bought a big bag of them and initially just planned on putting them in a bowl and sharing them over the next few days, but we decided to experiment :P

We haven't had apple pie in so long.  I honestly can't remember when I had a piece of apple pie.  Kasey had a book from the library called Gorilla Food, written by Aaron Ash.  He has a recipe, but alas we didn't have the ingredients so we used his as a model and instead created our own, and WOW did it pay off :)  This pie is so good, I wish we had made double.

Raw Vegan Apple Pie (No baking necessary! :)

Crust

2 cups almond meal
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 cup Dates soaked for about 10 minutes
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Dash of cinnamon
9 inch pie pan


Combine all the ingredients in the food processor.  Ours was dense and still a bit sticky but easily manageable.  We pressed it into a glass pie pan and put it into the fridge to chill while we made the filling.

Filling

3-4 Pink Lady Apples, cored and sliced, don't peel them (lots of nutrients in there!)
6 dried Apricots, sliced as thinly as you can manage
1 Banana
1 tablespoon Coconut Oil, warmed to a liquid
Few shakes of Cinnamon
Few shakes of Nutmeg

Once the apples are sliced (we were lazy and used our food processor for this as well, but you can always do this part by hand) and cored, put them in a big bowl.  Add the apricots and the spices.  Combine.  Then, put the banana and the coconut oil in the processor and mix until blended.  Add this to the apples and just stir to combine everything.  (This smells so yum doesn't it?!)

Pull the crust out of the fridge and fill it with the apple mixture.  We had a bit more than we needed when we used 4 apples, you could pile it all on top, but we decided to reserve the extra to add to salads.  Keep the pie in the fridge.  We hope you loved this as much as we did <3

Enjoy!

Raw Vegan Carrot Cake with a Hint of Apple

 You are going to love this!!

 Bethany and I served this raw vegan carrot cake at our dinner party yesterday.  Oh my gosh is it yummy!   I had some for breakfast this morning too haha :)  We made this carrot cake with a dinosaur blender that barely works, so if you have a food processor or high speed blender it will be much easier for you.  Regardless, it was still simple and fun to make!  This makes about 15 -20 servings. 

INGREDIENTS-Base
2 Cups of shredded carrots (we used a mandolin slicer)  Set the carrots aside for later!
1 medium sized apple peeled and shredded (we used the mandolin for this too)
2-2.5 Cups of Almond meal (you want the dough to be dense, moist, but not sticky)
1.5 cups of raw pitted dates soaked and drained
1 cup raw shredded coconut
3 teaspoons of cinnamon
2 teaspoon of nutmeg 
1 teaspoon of sea salt

Put all ingredients except carrots in a food processor or high speed blender.  Plan B:  you can also mash it up quite nicely and easily by hand if you don't have any fancy equipment :) We attempted to put the ingredients in our blender, at first, but it just growled at us.  haha.

Next, add in shredded carrot.

Next we used a 8inch by 10 inch plastic storage container...we wanted a pan but didn't have the right size.  But actually the plastic storage container had a lid on it so it ended up being the perfect choice since the base is going to go into the freezer anyways :)  We lined the plastic container with foil so it would be easy to lift out.  We spread the base inside, about one inch thick.  Put in freezer to set.





 While your base is in the freezer it is time to whip up some frosting :)  there is our fancy blender, using a fancy plate as our lid.












 



INGREDIENTS
 1.5 cups of raw almond meal
1/2 cup of water 
2/3 cup of raw coconut oil
 4 Tablespoons of liquid sweetener (agave syrup, maple syrup or honey*)
 2 Teaspoons of vanilla extract
Juice of a half lemon
1 teaspoon of sea salt

Blend all ingredients well!  We really wanted a creamy texture, so it was important to blend it for a long time!!  We let it blend for about 4 minutes.  We didn't want it to get hot though, so you might want to give it a minute or two break in the middle of the blending.  Keep checking it though, because all blenders are different.

Grab your base out of the freezer, smooth the cream on top of it, and marvel for a few minutes at the delicious dessert you have just created :))  Freeze for at least 1 hour, preferably 2.  Allow 30 minutes for it to thaw before eating.  ~ENJOY!~

*some people agree that honey is vegan while others say it is not