Vegan Peanut Better Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe is adapted from a recipe someone brought to the Vegetarian Society of Utah potluck. (Not sure of the source) The recipe called for coconut sugar and almond milk. I’ve replace the coconut sugar with dates, a whole food sweetener, and since I rarely have almond milk on hand, I just used water. I knew that small amount wouldn’t make any difference.
15 small pitted dates (deglet noor is the type I use)
1/4 cup water
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Soak dates in the 1/4 cup of water for a few hours to soften them.* The water will not cover the dates but moisten all the dates the best that you can.
In a food processor fitted with an S blade, add oats and baking soda and grind to flour.
Add peanut butter, softened dates, vinegar, and vanilla. Grind to a thick dough. Carefully mix in chocolate chips.
*If you don’t want to take the time to soften the dates, grind the dates with the oats until crumbly then add other ingredients, including the 1/4 cup water.
Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
The original recipe in my cookbook Whole Food American Favorites calls for 1 cup of cashews instead of 1/2 cup of pecans or walnuts and does not include beans. This makes the cookie more flat like a sugar cookie. The recipe here has a cake-like texture. Still delicious and less fat. If you have a nut allergy, use hemp seeds in place of the pecans or walnuts.
Check out my YouTube video on how to make these here.
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup pitted dates
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
1/4 cup cooked garbanzo beans
2 T molasses
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 t baking soda
3/4 t ground ginger
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t vanilla
Grind oats, dates, and nuts in a food processor work bowl until crumbly. Add remaining ingredients and process to a dough. Scoop dough with a cookie scoop or spoon and place on a cookie sheet lines with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
These muffins are moist and sweet and a healthy Halloween treat.
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup millet
1 cup pitted dates soaked in 1/2 cup water 4 hours
1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup raw pecans, divided
2 T dark brown sugar (optional – *suggested brand below)
2 t cinnamon
2 t ginger
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 t vanilla
1/3 cup chocolate chips
Grind oats and millet in food processor or strong blender to a flour. Stir in cinnamon, ginger, baking powder and baking soda. Blend dates, soak water, pumpkin, sugar, vinegar and vanilla until smooth.
Pour over dry ingredients, add chocolate chips and mix well until flour is well incorporated. Spoon into muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 17 minutes. Makes 9 – 10 muffins.
*I hardly ever use processed sugars, but when I need to kick up the sweetness a little more than a whole food sweetener will do without making the end result too heavy, (it only takes a little) this is the sugar I use. I love the molasses flavor that it lends. It’s perfect for these muffins.
Apple Oatmeal Crumble
Oat groats are the whole oat kernel when it comes off the plant. Eating grains in their whole intact form is the most nutritious way to eat them. And oats, in particular, are one of the best foods for restoring a healthy gut. (This is a great interview with Dr. Richard Matthews about this.) And Dr. Tom O’Bryan, who specializes in gut health, says that the pectin in cooked apple skins is more biovailable then raw and is really good to heal the gut. (Video interview with Dr. Tom O’Bryan) He recommends eating a tablespoon of cooked apple 3 times a day. I figure I’ll get it done in one shot with breakfast. It’s a great way to sweeten up the oats. Feel free to add a tablespoon or two of chopped nuts or sprinkle on some flax meal.
Watch my video on how to make this using cranberries here.
1/2 cup oat groats
1 cup water
2 T raisins
1 large apple chopped
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t cardmom
Soak oat groats and raisins in the 1 cup of water over night. In the morning, transfer everything to a sauce pan, cover, turn the stove to medium heat and set the timer for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, oats should be boiling. Add the chopped apple, bring back to a boil, leave on burner but turn off heat. Let it set for 15 or 20 minutes.
Figgy Oat Bars
After being on an elimination diet for a year I learned to be totally satisfied with fruit for dessert. However, when my fig tree produced an over abundance I wanted to try making some kind of dessert. I took a Banana Oat Bar recipe that I have and used figs instead of bananas, left out the nuts and dates and it worked great!
25 figs, trimmed (leave on skin)
1/4 cup of red flame grapes (For extra moisture and sweet. I had an abundance of them as well.)
2 cups rolled oats
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 T apple cider vinegar
Blend figs, grapes, and vinegar in a high-powered blender until smooth. The seeds in the figs make this very thick. Place oats, baking soda and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix well. Pour pureed fruit over oats and mix so that all the oats are moistened. Transfer batter to an 8 X 8 cake pan and bake at 350 for 15 – 17 minutes. Cool before cutting.
Raw Strawberry Pie
Ounce for ounce, strawberries have more vitamin C than citrus fruit. They are one of the “dirty dozen” so if you want to limit your pesticide exposure, only buy organic strawberries. This recipe is from my cookbook Whole Food Goodness.
25 pitted deglet dates
1/2 cup water
6 cups sliced strawberries
Soak dates in water to soften for blending. Blend 1 cup of straw-berries, dates and water until smooth. Pour this sauce over remaining strawberries. Pour over Raw Nut Crust. Let set for 1/2 hour.
Raw Nut Crust (for one pie)
1 cup almonds or other nuts and seeds
15 soft pitted dates
1 tsp vanilla
Chop finely in food processor until it starts to stick together. Press into a pie plate or 8×8 cake pan.
Sour Cream Frosting
This frosting goes perfect with Vegan Carrot Cake but could be folded into a fruit salad. Leave the lemon out for a delicious “whip cream” for Vegan Pumpkin Pie.
1 cup light colored sweet potato (not orange “yam”)
15 small pitted dates soaked in ¾ cup water
1/4 cup raw cashews
Juice from 1 lemon (add zest if you like more lemon flavor)
Blend all ingredients until smooth. Use just enough water to make it a thick cream. You will need more water is using pecans.
Vegan Carrot Cake
“Got a chance to try the carrot cake recipe. We are hooked! I have already made it twice. “
“This is the best Carrot Cake I’ve ever had” was one dinner class participants comment. This cake is moist and very decadent with no oils, processed sugar and it’s gluten free if using gluten free oats.
1 cup pitted dates soaked in 1/2 cup water for at least 4 hours
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 ½ t baking soda
1/4 cup grated apple (about 1/2 apple, any variety)
1 packed cup finely shredded carrots
1/2 cup raisins
Add nuts, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda to a food processor work bowl. Chop until coarsely ground and mixed well. Add dates and soak water, vanilla and vinegar. Process to a thick dough. You may need to help it along with a fork. Then add in shredded apple, carrots, and raisins and mix to incorporate evenly. Alternatively, transfer dough to a large mixing bowl before adding carrots and fruit and mix them in with a fork. Spread dough in an 8×8 cake pan and baked at 350 for 20 minutes. Spread with Sour Cream Frosting or add dollop when served. .
Lemon Drop Truffles
25 small pitted dates
1 cup raw pecans or walnuts
1 cup rolled oats
Lemon zest from 1 lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened dried coconut flakes
Grand all ingredients, except coconut, in a food processor until they become sticky and hold together. Scoop out 1 tablespoon and roll into a ball. Then roll in the shredded coconut. Best frozen and then slightly thawed before eating.
Vegan Pumpkin Pie
1 small can pumpkin (1 3/4 cups)
1 1/4 cup almond milk
25 soft pitted deglet dates
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Soak dates in the almond milk for at least 4 hours to soften. Blend all ingredients until smooth. Pour into the prepared nut crust and bake at 275 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn off oven and leave in for another 20 minutes.
Crust (for one pie)
3/4 cup raw pecans or walnuts
10 small soft pitted dates
1 cup rolled oats
Chop finely in food processor until it starts to stick together. Press into a pie plate or 8 x 8 cake pan. Fill with your favorite pie filling. This crust does not need to be baked.
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