Tag Archives: oats

Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches

vegan ice cream sandwiches
vegan ice cream sandwiches

While I was shopping recently I decided that it was so hot that I deserved a treat for running errands in extreme conditions. Sauntering over to the frozen foods section, I spied vegan ice cream sandwiches. They seemed like the perfect snack — until I looked at the price. They were over $5 each. Each!

Armed with the ingredients needed to construct them myself, I returned home to my kitchen. A quick recipe search brought up a biscuit that would be soft enough to mold into a sandwich but sturdy enough to contain ice cream. And a look around my cupboard revealed mini chocolate chips for decoration.

Cookies do not generally require high altitude changes, so that wasn’t an issue. However, the recipe I found was not vegan; it didn’t even list ingredients found in an American market. So, I set out to adapt it to my needs. I lightly ground my oats in a food processor to closer resemble the porridge oats called for in the recipe, then I did the same with my vegan sugar so it would be like caster sugar. Vegan versions were brought in for butter and milk replacements.

The final change was to make the cookies a bit larger so they would make decent-sized sandwiches. This meant they needed to cook longer, but I kept an eye on them to see what the new time would be. The result was a wonderfully chewy cookie that was the ideal backdrop for both my vanilla and chocolate ice creams. I’m ready next time the extreme heat rolls in.

Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches with cookies adapted from Oat Biscuits

for the cookies
75 grams old fashioned rolled oats
50 grams vegan sugar
75 grams vegan butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
75 grams whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
for sandwich assembly
vegan ice cream
garnishes: mini vegan chocolate chips, vegan sprinkles, or chopped nuts

for the cookies:
Heat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Lightly chop the oats in a mini-food processor until the oats are broken down in half. Place the oats in a bowl. Place the sugar in the food processor and grind it until it is less coarse but not until it is powdered. Add the sugar to the bowl of oats and set aside.

Put the butter, maple syrup, and milk in a small pan and heat gently until the butter melts. Take the pan off the heat and stir until the ingredients are combined. Set aside.

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Whisk in the baking powder and oat-sugar mixture. Pour the melted butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Place scoops of batter onto the baking sheet and shape it into round cookies. The batter is wet so the cookies need to be coaxed into rounds. The cookies also need to be spaced apart as they will spread a bit more.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the sides are firm and the bottoms are golden brown. Move the parchment paper with the cookies to a wire rack. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 8-10 cookies, depending on how big you want your sandwiches.

ice cream sandwich components
ice cream sandwich components

for sandwich assembly:
Remove the ice cream from the freezer while the cookies are cooling. When the ice cream is soft enough to scoop but not runny, spread large spoonfuls of it onto a flipped over cookie. Place another cookie on top to complete the sandwich. Take a garnish and push it into the ice cream along the sides of the sandwich. Repeat until all cookies are made into sandwiches. Place the sandwiches on a tray in the freezer for 15-30 minutes to firm up.

Until next time, happy baking!

Oatmeal Cookies with Pumpkin Seeds and Ginger

oatmeal cookies with pumpkin seeds and ginger
oatmeal cookies with pumpkin seeds and ginger

In last week’s post, I wrote about prepping a dough and then stashing it in the freezer. Today I present the cookie recipe that I used, with notes on how I baked the frozen dough. You can make these cookies and bake them straight away for immediate gratification, or you can pop the dough into the freezer to make daily fresh baked goodies.

I found a recipe for vegan oatmeal cookies, but I wanted to boost their flavor so I added pumpkin seeds, dried apricots, and ground ginger. The high altitude adjustments were adding more applesauce and vanilla to combat dryness, and reducing the amount of baking soda.

To make the cookies more cohesive I used a trick I just learned — pulse the oats a few times in a food processor to make them a bit smaller so they blend in better. The pumpkin seeds also needed chopping so I added the oats with them in the processor and let my kitchen appliance do the hard work.

My tasters enjoyed these as a midday snack and with tea for breakfast. Hubby even liked them, despite their lack of chocolate, so I knew I had a winner.

Oatmeal Cookies with Pumpkin Seeds and Ginger adapted from Vegan Oatmeal Cookies

1.25 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup + 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup diced dried apricots
6 tablespoons vegan butter
6 tablespoons organic sugar
1/4 cup organic light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the oats and pumpkin seeds in a food processor and pulse a few times to break them into smaller bits. Set aside.

Sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the oats-seeds mixture and the apricots. Stir with a spatula to mix together and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the vegan butter and both sugars. Add the applesauce and vanilla and beat to combine. (Don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled.) With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Continue mixing until a cohesive dough forms. Remove the dough and wrap it in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, set the oven to 375F.

Once the dough has chilled, use a 2-tablespoon scoop to make 22-24 dough balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets, 3” apart. Press each ball down slightly then bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies harden and the bottoms become golden brown.

Place the baking sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes to allow the cookies to cool slightly, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

To freeze the cookies then bake later, make the dough balls and place them on the baking sheets. Put the baking sheets in the freezer for 30 minutes, or until the dough balls are firm and solid. Place the dough balls into freezer-safe zipper top bags and store in the freezer for up to two months.

To bake from frozen, preheat the oven to 355F. Place the desired amount of dough balls on parchment lined baking pans with the cookies 2” apart. Bake for 14-15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies harden and the bottoms become golden brown. Place the baking sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes to allow the cookies to cool slightly, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Until next time, happy (freezing and) baking!

Chocolate Granola Two Ways

chocolate granola two ways
chocolate granola two ways

Over the years, hubby and I have come to love granola. We eat it almost everyday with yogurt or, in the summer, with a smattering of fresh berries. A new favorite is chocolate granola, but the store nearby stopped carrying it. So, into the kitchen with me for a little experimentation.

Another reason to make DIY granola is that we prefer different types — he likes simple oats whereas I like nuts and seeds mixed in. The solution is to make a granola base and then portion it out for different add-ins. With little effort, hubby gets a decadent chocolate granola while I get the same with the addition of almonds, pumpkin seeds, and cocoa nibs.

Which would be more popular in your house — the simple chocolate granola or the chocolate granola with added nuts and seeds? Either way it makes a yummy breakfast.

Chocolate Granola Two Ways based on Lavender Granola

for granola base
1/4 cup vegan butter or margarine, melted and cooled slightly
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon loose-packed brown sugar
pinch sea salt
2 cups rolled oats (gluten-free, if preferred)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (and a bit of chili powder, if you like it spicy)
for nuts and seeds granola
1/4 cup unsalted almonds, or other nuts
1/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds, or other seeds
1 tablespoon cocoa nibs

Preheat oven to 250F. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, maple syrup, cocoa powder, brown sugar, and salt. In a large bowl, stir together oats and cinnamon. Pour the butter mixture over the oats and combine with a spatula.

Pour half of the mixture onto a small sheet pan and spread it out evenly. Add the nuts, seeds, and cocoa nibs to the remaining mixture and stir to combine. Pour this mixture onto a small sheet pan and spread it out evenly. Place both baking pans in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Remove both pans from the oven and transfer to wire racks to allow the granola to cool completely. Once cooled, transfer to airtight containers and store in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks.

Until next time, happy baking!

Gluten-Free Blueberry and Cherry Bars

gluten free blueberry and cherry bars
gluten free blueberry and cherry bars

On a hot summer day, it’s nice to have an easy dessert recipe. Turning on the oven can take all of your energy, so slaving over a complicated treat is not welcome. Sometimes scooping out individual servings or cookies can be just too tiring. That’s when bar cookies come to the rescue. Mix, pour into a pan, bake, cool, and cut.

The bar cookie recipe I found was fruity (yay!), and I decided to make it gluten-free to share with friends (yay, again!). It was already vegan, and high altitude wasn’t much of an issue, so I subbed gluten-free ingredients, mixed up the fruit choices, and added a decadent icing. Now I had a dessert that was not only easy, but bursting with flavor and allergy-friendly goodness.

Gluten-Free Blueberry and Cherry Bars adapted from Blueberry Crumble Bars

1.75 cups gluten-free flour blend
1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup organic sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup vegan margarine, room temperature and cut into slices
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup + 4 teaspoons nondairy milk, divided
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen cherries, chopped into quarters
1/4 cup organic sugar
2 tablespoons potato starch
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup organic confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8 x 8-inch pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, including an overhang of a few inches on two opposite sides.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, oats, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to combine. In a medium bowl, combine the margarine, oil, 1/4 cup milk, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until mixed but with a few small clumps.

dry ingredients for blueberry cherry bars
dry ingredients for blueberry cherry bars

In a small bowl, gently combine the blueberries, cherries, 1/4 cup sugar, potato starch, lemon juice, and lemon zest.

Using your hands, press three-quarters of the dough mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the coated fruit evenly on top of the dough. Sprinkle the remaining dough over the fruit layer. Bake for 50 minutes, until the top is crisp and bubbly. Place pan on a wire rack to let cool completely.

Meanwhile, make an icing by whisking the confectioner’s sugar over a bowl. Stir in the 4 teaspoons milk until well combined. When the bars have cooled, drizzle the icing over the bars. Then use the parchment paper overhand to lift the bars out of the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into squares, and store in an airtight container.

Until next time, happy baking!

Raisin Oat Muffins

raisin oat muffins
raisin oat muffins

I am a big fan of books called “Cozy” mysteries. These Cozies are lightweight murder stories (less Jason Bourne and more Jessica Fletcher) that are solved by someone whose job is not that of a detective. My favorites are solved by sleuths that work in the food industry, and the authors usually include recipes mentioned in the story. A fun crime to sort out in a food setting, with instructions for making the food – what’s not to love! So, today’s post is inspired by a recipe in one of Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mysteries.

To make the recipe vegan, curdled non-dairy milk subbed for buttermilk and Just Egg was used in place of an egg. For high altitude adjustments I added flour and milk, while reducing the leaveners. If you’d like to enjoy these muffins while sipping coffee and catching a killer with coffeehouse owner Clare Cosi, then visit The Village Blend.

Raisin Oat Muffins adapted from Cleo Coyle’s Oatmeal Cookie Muffins

1 cup soy milk
1 TBS apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)
2 TBS Just Egg
3 TBS canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup + 1 TBS all purpose flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1.25 tsp cinnamon
generous 1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup raisins

Advance prep: whisk soy milk and apple cider vinegar together in a bowl or container. Let sit at room temp for 10 minutes. Add the oats, then cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.

When ready to make the muffins, preheat the oven to 375F. Line muffin cups with paper liners and lightly coat the papers with non-stick cooking spray.

Put the Just Egg in a bowl and whisk until frothy. Add the oat mixture, oil, and vanilla, and stir to combine. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the brown sugar and raisins and stir. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir with a spatula until just moistened.

Scoop batter into muffin cups, filling 1/2 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the top of a muffin is firm to the touch and an inserted toothpick has just a few small crumbs. Remove pan from the oven and tip the muffins out onto a wire rack. Let muffins cool completely.

Until next time, happy baking!

Just Peachy Oatmeal Cookies

peachy oatmeal cookies

peachy oatmeal cookies

Peach season is just starting where I live in Colorado. I have waited very patiently for this, so I am now gobbling up peaches in a frenzy. They are too few and too precious to do anything other than eat raw with their juices running down my arm. Using them in baking will have to wait until my tummy’s desire for fruit salad has been quenched. Until then I have a supply of dried peaches.

If properly soaked, dried fruit can often be a replacement in baked goods for their fresh counterparts. Cookie recipes are the perfect place to try dried fruit, so use any dried gems that you have. Just remember to soak them first so they get moist and plump. The amount of water and time this takes will depend on your fruit’s moisture content.

My recipe is loosely taken from one on Organic India’s blog. It was already vegan, with no changes required for altitude, and it allowed me to test their fiber supplement as an egg substitute. I tweaked it to accommodate my dried peaches and their soaking water. (Here’s a tip: never discard soaking water from fruit — it’s delicious). Next I made many other radical changes that suited my eating habits and pantry supplies. Cookies are forgiving that way, and they turned out wonderful.

Just Peachy Oatmeal Cookies loosely adapted from Organic India

3/4 cup soaked and chopped dried peaches
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp Organic India Cinnamon Spice Pre & Probiotic Fiber Supplement
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup soaking water from the peaches
1/3 cup + 1 TBS vegetable oil
1/4 cup + 3 TBS maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract

soaked and dried peaches

soaked peaches and dried peaches

Several hours prior to making the cookies, soak the dried peaches in plenty of water. Strain and save the soaking water. Chop the peaches into small bits.

Heat oven to 375F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, sift in flour, fiber supplement, baking soda, cardamom, and ginger. Add rolled oats. To a medium bowl, add soaking water, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Whisk together, then pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir to combine until a dough forms. It will be slightly sticky. Fold in chopped peaches.

Set the bowl of cookie batter aside for 15 minutes. This will make the dough easier to handle. Drop dough by tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, making 30 cookies. Bake for 19-20 minutes, or until the undersides are lightly brown. Let cool slightly before removing onto a wire rack to fully cool.

Until next time, happy baking!

Baked Oatmeal with Peaches

baked oatmeal with peaches

baked oatmeal with peaches

With my husband working from home now, he has time for more than cereal for breakfast. I concluded that if I made a large dish of baked oatmeal on the weekend, then it could be reheated on many mornings. This meal would be hearty enough to keep his hunger at bay while he toiled at the computer. Another bonus was that I adapted the recipe to use up what I found in the backs of my cupboard and freezer. Feel free to use whatever you find in your pantry — the recipe is very flexible.

This dish is by nature vegan and not one that requires adjustments for high altitude, so I didn’t need to make those modifications. You can choose the fruit and oats you include, and the thickeners and sweeteners. Ultimately, I ended up with a sweet treat that was gluten-free and refined sugar free. Here is my healthy, pantry staple version of baked oatmeal.

Baked Oatmeal with Peaches adapted from Peach Crisp

5 large peaches, peeled and sliced (or 10 cups frozen)
2-3 TBS chia seeds (or tapioca starch)
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (gluten-free, if desired)
1/8 cup brown rice flour (or oat flour)
1/8 cup date paste*
1/8 cup smooth almond butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 350F. Put peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with chia seeds, lemon juice, cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. Depending on how much juice the peaches give off, you may need to vary the amount of chia seeds. Let peaches stand for 15 minutes to thicken up and release some of their juices. Put peaches into a baking dish (mine was 10 x 10” but you can use a similar size).

In the same large bowl, add oats, brown rice flour, date paste, almond butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix until it forms a crumbly texture that is neither too wet nor too dry. Sprinkle the mixture over the peaches. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top starts to brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for 5 minutes.

*If you don’t know how to make date paste, or even what it is, keep an eye out for my post next week.

Until next time, happy baking!

Lavender Granola

Lavender Granola

Lavender Granola

My usual breakfast of oatmeal with nut butter and fruit was getting old. It needed a facelift, and I remembered that I used to love granola when I was in college. The brand I ate had dried blueberries and oats and it got me through many a sleepy morning. I gathered up bits and pieces of many granola recipes I found, but especially liked one that included lavender. That would add something different to breakfast and make granola more decadent.

Granola is inherently vegan, unless it has honey, so no changes were made for that. It also doesn’t have high altitude issues. The only changes made to the ingredients are by you when you bake it. Pick any nuts and seeds, leave out the lavender, choose your favorite dried fruit. It all works. For baking the granola, I discovered a variety of cooking styles: higher temp, lower temp, stir, don’t stir. I went with the directions given by Alton Brown because he’s a food scientist so I imagine he’s worked his recipe to perfection. All I know is that it smelled heavenly while it baked and I couldn’t wait for morning.

Lavender Granola
2 cups rolled oats (gluten-free, if desired)
3/4 cup nuts (I used almonds, cashews and walnuts)
1/2 cup seeds (I used hemp and pumpkin)
2 TBS amaranth
2 TBS flax seeds, ground
3 TBS lavender flowers, food-grade
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamon
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup vegan margarine or coconut oil, melted
3/4 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
1/2 cup dried fruit (I used blueberries)
Preheat oven to 250F. In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts, seeds, amaranth, flax seeds, lavender, cinnamon and cardamom. In a small bowl, combine maple syrup, margarine, vanilla and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color. Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add dried fruit and mix until evenly distributed. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Until next time, happy baking!

Blueberry Oat Bread

blueberry oat breadQuick breads are so nice to make on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Whether you are having brunch or just want the house to smell delicious, they are a comforting baked treat. The other great thing about them is that you mix one up and pour it into a pan with no fuss, no decorations or frosting to make, and they easily feed a crowd.

The recipe I found required a few changes. I used some all-purpose flour in place of whole wheat to lighten it up, and I swapped wheat bran for the wheat germ because that is what I had in the cupboard. Then, for high altitude adjustments, I added a bit more flour and used less baking powder. To veganize the recipe I used non-dairy yogurt and then switched out the eggs with aquafaba. That was easy. The hard part was waiting what seemed far too long for it to cool so I could eat it.

Blueberry Oat Bread adapted from Stonyfield
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup + 1 TBS all-purpose flour
1 cup oats (old fashioned or quick cooking)
3/4 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup wheat bran
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1.25 cups vanilla non-dairy yogurt
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 TBS aquafaba (chickpea brine)
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with shortening. In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients: both flours, oats, sugar, wheat bran, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Using a stand mixer, beat together yogurt, applesauce, oil, aquafaba, and vanilla, and beat at medium speed. Slowly add dry ingredients until just combined then let batter rest for 10 minutes to allow bran to hydrate. Carefully fold in blueberries then pour batter into bread pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Until next time, happy baking!

Celebration Blueberry Oat Bar

blueberry oat bar

celebration blueberry oat bar

Today is the celebration of Independence Day in America. Befitting the red, white and blue color scheme that accompanies the holiday, I chose to bake a blueberry bar and top it with whipped cream and strawberries. Because I was sharing the bar with friends that have selective eating habits, I opted for dairy free, egg free, soy free, refined sugar free, gluten free, and nut free. Or, as my husband calls it, the BFF Bar – Blueberry Free From Bar.

To bump up the health factor on the bar recipe I found, I used whole oats to add fiber and texture. I also chose maple syrup and dark brown sugar for their added health benefits. After I realized I didn’t have enough fresh blueberries, I discovered that frozen works as well as long as they are fully drained. For a garnish I used vegan whipped cream and sliced strawberries even though the blueberries turned dark when baked. It became red, white and black, but I like it anyways.

Celebration Blueberry Oat Bar adapted from the GoDairyFree website
1 1/2 cups gluten-free whole oats
1/2 cup gluten-free flour
1/2 cup organic dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
6 TBS soy-free Earth Balance margarine, melted
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, rinsed and drained
3 TBS maple syrup
2 tsp arrowroot
1 tsp lemon juice
vegan whipped cream from a tub or can, for garnish
sliced strawberries, for garnish
Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease an 8×8” baking pan. In a bowl, whisk together oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add melted margarine and stir with a fork until evenly combined. Save ½ cup crumb mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture evenly and firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes to set crust.

While that is baking, combine blueberries, maple syrup, arrowroot and lemon juice in a small saucepan, whisking until arrowroot dissolves. Heat over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until juices are no longer cloudy, about 2 minutes. Spoon filling over baked crust and evenly spread reserved crumb mixture over top. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan. Cut into squares and garnish with whipped cream and strawberries before serving.

Until next time, happy baking!