Scraps and Snippets ~ Banana Bread (Best Ever Said My Co-Worker) Vegan/Dairy Free

 

Best Ever Banana Bread (Seriously, my co-worker, Iowa farm girl born and bred said this. So it must be true. Iowa farm girls know their banana bread. ) 

1/2 Cup coconut oil

1 Cup sugar

1 TBSP Ener-G egg replacer (instructions for homemade here)

2 TBSPs non-dairy milk

2 ripe bananas

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 Cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry) 

Preheat oven to 350. Grease bread pan, mini muffin pan or small loaf pans.

Melt the coconut oil and defrost* bananas (if using frozen ones) in preheating oven in medium glass or stainless steel bowl. Prepare the milk and egg replacer in small bowl. When the coconut oil is melted and bananas squishable remove from oven and add the sugar mixing well. Then add the cinnamon, salt and baking powder and mix until combined. Finally add the egg and vanilla and stir. 

If you want mix-ins add them now (chocolate chips, chopped nuts, dried fruit.) 

This will make one full loaf, 4 minis or about 60 mini muffins or little squares. You will bake the minis for about 40-45 minutes, the mini muffins for about 13-15 and the full sized about 50-60. 

Crumb topping: 

3/4 Cup flour

1/2 Cup sugar

3 TBSP coconut oil (solid)

1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

pulverized nuts (1/4 Cup or so) (optional)

Mix flour, sugar (and cinnamon and/or nuts) well, cut in the coconut oil with a fork, two knives a pastry blender. Sprinkle this over the top of the unbaked bread, muffins etc. 

* in case you don't do this. When bananas get too ripe, peel them and place them in a designated zipper bag or container in the freezer. Then use them for such a time as this. Peeling is important unless you want to dig banana membrane off a frozen banana later. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread. Yes. Seriously. OVER THE TOP

Uh. This is pretty easy. And stinking decadent. I mean. It rocks in the worst way, as in it is a sugar slap upside the head and the little cinnamon crunch balls slide down oh so easy. 

Good Morning Sunshine Super Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread (realistically serves 6-10) (If it’s all you are making plan on 6.)

2 Cans of vegan friendly (TJ's) cinnamon rolls (12+ ounces). (You could try homemade rolls with similar results I'm guessing.)

½ Cup melted earth balance or coconut oil

1 Cup sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix sugar and cinnamon together in one bowl. In another melt the Earth Balance or coconut oil.

Prepare a bundt pan with a good greasing. Preheat the oven to 350. Remove the cinnamon rolls. Set the frosting packets aside. Place the cinnamon roll sections on a cutting board. Slice each roll into four segments. Basically cut in half and then in half the other way. Don’t worry. They will start to fall apart a bit. Take each fourth and dip in melted "butter" then sugar and cinnamon mixture and drop into bundt pan. If the sections fall apart that’s okay. When it bakes they will all come together. Keep going until the rolls are all coated and stuck in the pan. If there is butter sub or sugar/cinnamon left just pour over the rolls. Place in oven and bake for 30-33 minutes. If you want, pull out a small piece from the middle after 28 or so minutes. You don’t want overdone but doughy is nasty. You should see bubbling caramelly deliciousness and smell cinnamon sugar. When baked remove from oven and allow to sit 10 minutes. Place plate over pan and flip so the bundt cake slides out onto the plate.

Cool another 5 min then drizzle (cut the tip off or puncture and squeeze) one frosting packet over the top of the monkey bread. Cut the tip off or puncture the second frosting packet and set aside for those who want more frosting.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Potato Breakfast Casserole

Vegan Potato Breakfast Casserole

The night before prep cashews for the cream sauce 
1 1/2 Cups cashews
2 Cups water
3/4 Cup non-sweetened, unflavored non-dairy milk (you could probably get away with more water instead) 

NOTE: You will not discard the water. 


In the morning place the nut mixture into a food processor and whir until creamy and add the following:
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Siracha)
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 TBSP lemon juice
4 TBSP nutritional yeast
Mix well.

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 x 13 pan.


2 Bags (16 ounces each or 1 large) shredded or diced frozen potatoes
1 Onion fine dice 
1 Pepper fine dice 
6-8 mushrooms fine dice 
Faux sausage bits (I used Upton's)

Place one bag potatoes in the pan and press down. 

Saute the onions, peppers and mushrooms until tender.
Place the veggies over the potatoes. Top with the sausage and the rest of the potatoes. 

Pour the cheesy sauce over the potato layer. 

Bake for 45 minutes. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Salted Caramel Apple Fritter

Salted Caramel Apple Fritter

Makes 8

1 package of vegan crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350 (or temperature on the package)

Lightly grease a muffin tin. 

Take each crescent roll triangle and place the triangle into the muffin tin. Press and stretch/break off tips as needed to make the entire muffin tin filled so it looks like a little pie. Bake these for 10 minutes (or until golden.)  Remove from oven. These won't be flat and pie shaped any more, but no worries. You could also do this with pie crust or phyllo dough. 

While the crusts cool make the Salted Caramel Apple Filling/topping.

2 Apples diced (I seeded them but did not peel them.) 

1/3 Cup sugar (or brown sugar)

1/4 Cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 Cup chopped pecans (or walnuts or dried cranberries)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 TBSP cornstarch (or arrowroot)

1 TBSP water

Toss diced apples into a saucepan, add syrup and sugar and begin simmering. Simmer about 10 minutes until apples begin to tenderize and release the juice and sugar melts. Add the salt and pecans and stir well. While simmering, in another cup or bowl mix the vanilla in the TBSP of water and add cornstarch, stirring until the cornstarch dissolves. Then pour the cornstarch mixture into the simmering apples. Stir well and simmer for an additional 7 or so minutes until the mixture thickens and reduces into a caramel. 

Scoop mixture into the crescent cups. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Almond Pastry ~ Easy Vegan

12 ounces vegan cream cheese (I like Trader Joe's) 1 and 1/2 tubs is 12 ounces

2 packages vegan crescent rolls (again, Trader Joe's are currently vegan and I like them)

2/3 Cup agave

2 tsp almond extract 

1 tsp vanilla extract

Additional TBSP or two of agave

1/4 Cup or so of slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350

Press one entire package of crescent rolls into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan sealing up the seams. I lightly greased the sides and bottom.

In a food processor/blender combine the 2/3 cup agave, the cream cheese and the extracts. Process until completely incorporated.

Spread mixture over the crust base. 

Open the other package and press into a 9 x 13 in one or two rectangles (you can get fussy and use waxed paper and a roller and roll it out into a 9 x 13 sheet. I pressed each half of the dough into long rectangles and overlapped them a bit.)

Squirt additional agave over the top crust. Spread out a bit, sprinkle with almonds. The agave helps the nuts stick.

Bake 24-29 minutes until top crust is golden (I baked it 29). Cool completely, slice and serve. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Apple Anytime Bars

Apple Anytime Bars

Coffee cake, brunch worthy, dessert a la mode. Yummo. 

Chocolate Covered Katie recently shared her recipe for Apple Crumble Bars. I am unable to resist tweaking, and her recipe was small. I wanted something to feed a crowd for our Thanksgiving brunch so I tweaked big time. And this treat won raves. 

Click on the above link to find CCK's version. And one of the other guests made her apple enchiladas which were off the charts, too. Click here for that one. 

Filling: Mix all the following together in a bowl and set aside. 

6 Medium to large chopped apples (Granny Smith are a good choice.)
2 TBSP cornstarch or arrowroot
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 Cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla

Crust and Crumbs: 

6 Cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Cups brown sugar (loosely packed)
2 TBSP cinnamon
1/2 Cup non-dairy milk of choice
1 3/4 Cup coconut oil (at room temperature)

Mix cinnamon, flour, baking powder and salt together until mixed thoroughly. Mix in coconut oil and and work it through until evenly crumb like. Add milk and stir well. 

Press 2/3 of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 greased pan. Spread the apple mixture over the crust. Cover the apple mixture with the rest of the crumbs. Press down a little. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Let sit for a half hour or so. Serve warm or cold. Delicious. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Easy Vegan Breakfast Rolls

These little buggars got eaten up real quick, so this is the only picture. Sad. 

So Easy and so Delish, though. Happy. 

 I made two batches. One a cranberry orange walnut, the other chocolate. You could combine the two for an extra treat. 

I was lucky to get a chocolate one. Seriously, there was only half of one when I got to the plate.  

You need (for 8) 1 package of crescent rolls. (right now Trader Joe's are vegan). 

An oven set at 350.  A cookie sheet.

Roll the triangles out and flatten them into the triangle shape if yours are mangled. 

Then for the chocolate filling. Place 8 to 12 dark (vegan) chocolate chips at the wide base of the roll but not all the way to the outside, leave a little breading. Then roll up starting at the wide end, ending with the tip. Pinch and curl the long ends in so the chocolate stays as contained as possible. 

If you want cranberry orange nut or a chocolate cranberry orange do the following. About a 1/4 cup of orange marmalade and a tablespoon or two of dried cranberries, a tablespoon of finely chopped nuts (and/or chocolate chips or white chocolate chips) This mix is tart. If you want to add a bit of sweetener you could, however with the glaze it was a great sweet/tart treat. Mix together and do the same as you did for the chocolate, dab a long blob at the lower wider end of the roll and roll em up. 

Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes. They'll golden up nicely. 

While baking I made a frosting/glaze. 

1 TBSP vegan cream cheese

1/2 Cup powdered sugar

Splash of milk. Mix the cream cheese and sugar together, add milk in tiny increments until you get the consistency you want. 

As the rolls cool, drizzle or spread frosting/glaze over the buns. If you want to take it up a notch you could dust them with dried orange peel, finely chopped nuts, toasted coconut after applying the frosting. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Banana Blondies with Caramel Banana Topping

Lightly grease 9 x 13 pan. Preheat oven to 350.


Blondie:

1/2 Cup softened coconut oil
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup (heavy) vanilla protein powder (Arbonne)
2 TBSP ground flax seed
3 bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Cup chopped pecans
1/2 Cup almond milk
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Instructions: Place almond milk in a bowl and add the lemon juice. Let sit a minute until the milk begins to curdle. Add the ground flax and stir and allow it to gel a bit. 

In another bowl cream together sugar, protein powder, coconut oil and bananas. When mixed well add cinnamon, vanilla, salt and baking powder. Add the milk/flax mixture. Finally add the flour and stir well. 

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Topping: 

1/2 Cup chopped pecans
3 chopped bananas
1 Cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon

In a pan toss chopped pecans and heat, slice the bananas into the pan. When heated, add the sugar and cinnamon. Stir over medium heat until sugar begins to caramelize. 

Pour/spread the banana mixture over the blondies.   

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ a Teaser

I'm a little snobby about bananas. 

The texture and peel color have to be just right for me to crack one open and scarf it. 

Just a shade too ripe and the whole experience is ruined for me. 

I also hate banana flavoring. 

Last night, & invited Rob and I to her apartment for supper. Yum. I think this needs to be a weekly occurrence.

For dessert she decided to whip up a version of McFosters celestial banana and serve it over ice cream. 

See the top few statements. Meh. I thought. 

Oh my! She tossed some Earth Balance into a hot pan. Chunked some bananas  and threw them in. Sprinkled brown sugar over them and Vietnamese cinnamon over that. And cooked it until the sugar and Earth Balance formed a caramel. 

Needless to say, I'll have an exact recipe very soon. Right now, I'm planning to whip up a banana brunch cake with caramelized banana topping. Hello!

Scraps and Snippets ~ Apple Cinnamon Protein Cupcake Muffins

Apple Cinnamon Protein Cupcake Muffins
 
Makes 15 -16 Muffins. 22 Minutes at 350. (40ish mini-muffins bake 14 min at 350)

1 3/4 cups all whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup vegan cane sugar
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder (Arbonne, is highly recommended)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup non dairy milk
1 tsp lemon juice
2 TBSP ground flax seed
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Cup applesauce

Preheat the oven to 350. Line or lightly grease the muffin tins. Place milk in a container and add lemon juice. When milk begins to curdle add ground flax and stir. Let sit while you do the rest of the prep, It will begin to gel and replaces eggs.

In a large bowl place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and
cinnamon. Mix with a fork.
 
Add the milk/flax/lemon juice mixture, applesauce and vanilla. Stir until blended.

Fill the muffin tins or cupcake wrappers about 2/3's full.

Bake for 22 minutes. Let cool. Makes about 40 mini muffins. Bake them for approx 14 minutes.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Cinnamon Bun Cake

This is a really delicious and much easier scratch for a cinnamon roll itch. I Veganized (and eased up on the fat from this version).

 

Cake:
1/4 Cup room softened Earth Balance margarine
1/4 Cup applesauce
3/4 Cup sugar
2 flax eggs (2 TBSP ground flax, 6 TBSP water mixed together and set aside.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 and 1/2 Cups non-dairy milk
3 Cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:

3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 Cup and 2 TBSP softened Earth Balance
1/4 Cup and 2 TBSP applesauce

Glaze:

1 3/4 Cups powdered sugar
3 TBSP non-dairy milk
1 teaspoon maple syrup
 
Putting it all Together:

Instructions for the cake:

Cream Earth Balance, applesauce and sugar, add flax eggs, vanilla, and milk. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into a 9 x 13" greased pan.

Prepare topping:
Stir together topping ingredients until cream. Drop evenly over batter by tablespoons and swirl through the batter with a knife. I pulled the knife horizontally through each row of cinnamon blobs. Then I did the same vertically until I had a pretty marbly pattern.

Bake at 350º for 45 minutes.

Glaze:

Whisk glaze ingredients till smooth. Drizzle 2/3s over warm cake. And leave the rest for icing lovers to add as they desire to their own piece.