Healthy, Dairy Free Pancakes

Pancakes are my most favouritest things in the world. Besides of course muffins... And peanut butter... And cashew butter... Goodness, I really need to narrow down the list! Often, store-bought mixes, delicious as they are, aren't very filling and contain plenty of sugar, as well as artificial ingredients (ie., preservatives). I wanted to create a pancake recipe that would still be delicious, but without all the unnecessary junk. I have very high standards when it comes to pancakes, because my dad is a pancake master. Therefor, I am used to his ridiculously delicious pancakes! Anyways, I shall move on to the recipe...

How delish do these look? Picture courtesy of flickr.

Ingredients 
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 packets stevia of choice
1/16 tsp salt
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 flax egg (1/2 tbsp flax, 1 1/2 tbsp water)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp earth balance (or other buttery spread)
1 tbsp water

Place a greased pan on your stove or griddle at medium heat. In a small mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix lightly, as overmixing can cause gumminess (Yuck!). Pour batter onto pan in circles. You will end up with about 4 large pancakes. Lastly, enjoy! Drench in syrup, yoghurt, fruit, jam, whatever you want! Get creative with it.

That's all for today! Hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I did. If you have any requests, or suggestions, simply let me know in the comments!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Long time, no talk! I can't even begin to say how busy I have been these last few weeks, so we're just not even going to bother with that! Anyways, these muffins are delicious. A perfect treat for Canadian Thanksgiving (today). These are super easy to make, and do not have that awful metal pumpkin aftertaste. With just a hint of pumpkin, these will please even the pumpkin haters. And of course for the chocolate lovers... Chocolate chips! Myself, I am a pumpkin lover and a chocolate lover, so pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are ideal for me! Now, I'm sure you're probably wondering where the recipe is, so, I will share it...

Ingredients
2 cups oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup coconut sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup applesauce 
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 dropper vanilla liquid stevia
1/2 cup pumpkin 
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a smaller, separate bowl, combine all wet ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips. Do not over-mix, or you will end up with gummy, dense muffins. Once combined, disperse batter evenly amongst 12 greased or lined muffin cups. Place the tin in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before eating. Lastly, enjoy!

Question of the day: Do you like pumpkin pie?
I know some people absolutely hate it, but personally, I absolutely love it! I look forward to pumpkin pie every Thanksgiving. The yummy, cheesecakey texture and delicious pumpkiny taste. Incredible!

That's all for today! Hope you enjoy these muffins if you try them out. Happy Thanksgiving to all of us Canadians. I plan on stuffing my face plate with pumpkin pie :)

Banana Muffins w/ Raspberry Honey Frosting

So, let's cut to the chase. Frosting, made out of nuts? What? If my grandma knew, I think she'd faint (she doesn't believe in the no butter, no sugar stuff). But it does work. And plus, it tastes delicious! Oh, and the banana muffins? Yum! You see, I got this idea for banana walnut muffins the other day. There used to be this incredible muffin place in the local mall, but unfortunately, it closed. I may or may not have shed a tear or 2. Yes, it was that good. Anyways, this place had the bestest-ever banana walnut muffins, so I thought I would try to recreate a healthier version. I'm sure the ones at the muffins place were loaded with sugar, butter and a whole ton  of other junk! One does have to live a little though :) On to the golden recipes...

Ingredients
Muffins:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup raw coconut sugar (or reduce almond milk, and use agave)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp baking powder
3 bananas (2 mashed, 1 chopped)
1 1/4 cups almond milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients, beginning with dry, and adding wet last. Disperse prepared batter evenly into a greased or lined muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a fork/toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

Frosting:
1 cup nuts (I used 1/2 cup walnuts & 1/2 cup pecans)
5 tbsp raspberry jam (I used Smucker's no sugar added)
3 tbsp honey

In a cereal bowl filled with hot water, soak the nuts for 2 hours. Once soft, combine all ingredients in a food processing device (ie., blender or food processor). Process until smooth consistency is reached. Once done, frost cooled muffins to your desire. Makes 1 cup of frosting.

Question of the day: What's you're favourite recipe website?
Mine is Chocolate Covered Katie. Her recipes are so awesome, and I've only ever had 1 fail me. Some favourites include Mint Chocolate Fudge Pie, Secret Peanut Butter Cookies, Single Lady cupcakes, and her Cookie Dough Dip! Also many, many more :)

That's all for today! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Until next time!

Ps. Any requests? Just let me know. My goal is to please my readers!

Cake Batter Oatmeal Squares

Cake batter... Cookie dough. How have I not gotten salmonella yet? Because, my desserts don't contain eggs! They're vegan friendly, and can be gluten-free. Anyways, this recipe is awesomely delicious! And the best part; tastes like cake batter... Especially the actual batter ;) Please do not omit the sprinkles. You'll break my heart. Moving on to the recipe!

Ingredients
2 cups oats
1/4 cup cashew butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup agave
1 tbsp sprinkles
1/2 tsp vanilla or butter extract
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup almond milk (or water or other milk of choice)

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, saving the sprinkles for last (so the colour doesn't bleed). Pour batter into an 8x8 pan. Next, place pan in the oven for 20-25 mins. Lastly, enjoy!

Question of the day: What's you're all time favourite recipe?
Besides my banana bread and granola bars, my go-to, favourite recipe is Chocolate Covered Katie's black bean brownies. They never fail me, with their dense, decadent, gooey chocolatey-ness! Perfect sweetness, and no bean aftertaste whatsoever.

Photo from Chocolate Covered Katie

Single Serving Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Raise your hand if you've ever made cookies just so you could eat the dough!
*raises hands* *and feet*
Needless to say, we've all done it. Let's face it; nothing is better than cookie dough! Except when you have a bowl to yourself for only 250 calories. Yummy, chocolatey, oatmealey cookie dough. All. For. You. Unless you decide to share, in which case I may imply that you're off your rocker! You know what would take this totally over the top? Warming it up for 30 seconds in the microwave. Warm cookie dough? Oh my goodness. I have to admit, when I came up with this idea, I felt like Einstein! And no, I don't mean to toot my own horn or anything :) But, really, it's going to be super awkward if someone has already done this. That's OK, I'll just give them a congratulatory plaque that says "Baking Einstein"! On & upwards...

Ingredients
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tbsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
2 tbsp water
1/8 tsp baking powder (for taste)
1 tbsp chocolate chips

In a regular bowl, combine all ingredients, making sure to add chocolate chips last. Grab a spoon, dig in, and enjoy!

Question of the day: What's your favourite kind of cookie?
Besides, of course, peanut butter chocolate chip & oatmeal chocolate chip, mine would be the snicker doodles from Whole Foods. Those things are incredibly addictive & delicious! If you have never had one, well then you are missing out. But don't blame me if you can't stop at just one ;)

Hope you all enjoyed this recipe! Let me know what you thought of it, or if you have any changes to make. Until next time!

Healthy Peanut Butter Granola Bars

These took me ages to perfect. No joke. I probably went through 3 jars of peanut butter and several chocolate chips. But, every time I would tweak the recipe, they would just crumble. Then, finally, these turned out perfectly! I was so happy (as were my parent's credit cards ;). Super filling, these bars make the ultimate snack. If, for some reason, you have a problem with peanut butter (ie., allergic, because who in the world could possibly hate peanut butter??), simply sub a nut-ter butter! If you cannot have nuts at all, try golden pea butter. I have made these with golden pea butter, and didn't notice much of a difference. By the way, please, please, please do not try to sub the agave with dry sweetener. They will crumble. I promise, as I found out the hard way! Anyway, moving on to the recipe...

Ingredients
2 cups oats
2 cups cereal (I used 1 cup Kamut puffs & 1 cup Nature's Path Multigrain Flakes)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp agave (or honey, or pure maple syrup- not the Aunt Jemima kind, please!)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Foley's Unsweetened)
3 tbsp coconut oil

In a larger bowl, combine all dry ingredients. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Pour wet into dry. Lastly, add the chocolate chips. Place into a medium-large sized pan and refrigerate overnight., or until firm. Cut into 16 bars and enjoy!

Question of the day: What's your favourite kind or brand of granola bars?
Mine is either the above recipe, or Kashi's Peanut Peanut Butter bars. Yes, you read that correctly, double peanut! By the way, I recently found out, that apparently peanuts are not nuts. They are considered a legume! Isn't that odd?

Anyways, that's all for today! Hope you enjoy this recipe! Let me know what you thought and be sure to answer today's question, as well!

Healthy + Vegan Double Chocolate Cupcakes w/ Peanut Butter Frosting

Cupcakes...

That taste like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...

That are healthy?

I know what you're thinking. No. Way. Jose! Yes. Way. Jose! These are delish. Decadent, dense, and chocolatey. Double the chocolate, in fact. Because, double the chocolate = double the fun! Oh, and you can't forget the perfectly whipped peanut butter tower frosting on top. I'm sure you're waiting for the recipe, so I'll just have to share it then.

Ingredients
Cupcakes:
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup Mimi Cream Healthy Top (or sub for regular whip cream, or cool whip, or Truwhip)
1/2 cup agave
1/3 cup apple sauce
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup carob or chocolate chips (I used carob chips)

Peanut Butter Frosting:
2 cups Mimi Cream Healthy Top
1/2 cup peanut butter (or more, or less depending on desired peanut butter flavor)

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, whip *Healthy Top as per instructions on the box. Reserve 1/2 cup for cupcakes, and 2 cups for frosting. Set aside the rest and use however you would like. In another (or the same) bowl, combine all ingredients, starting with dry, making sure to add the chocolate/carob chips last. Pour batter evenly into cupcake tin. Bake for 20-30 mins.
Wash out the batter bowl (or get another one), and combine the 2 frosting ingredients. Once cupcakes are removed from oven, let cool 10-15 minutes, then frost to your liking. Lastly, enjoy!

*Instead of using Healthy Top, you could use coconut milk whip cream, real whip cream, Cool Whip, Truewhip, etc.

Hope you guys enjoy this recipe. Apologies, for this weeks lack of posts. I will try really hard to stick to my every 2nd day rule.