Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

The other day I remembered my sister had given me a giant zucchini. It had been sitting in my fridge for a while and it was just time. So I pulled down my Happy Herbivore cookbook in hopes of receiving some direction on what to do with this monstrous vegetable and, true to form, I was not disappointed.


(I'm posting the recipe, almost verbatim, from the Happy Herbivore's website, including the image.)

Moist and chocolatey, these muffins are healthy, almost completely fat-free, and have a veggie slipped in (but completely undetectable once baked) for those of you with kids who hate eating vegetables - like my two year old. I doubled the batch, because her recipe only makes 12, which for the effort - and how good they are - you'll want more. Also, that giant zucchini left me no choice.

Ingredients

1¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
1¼ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 whole banana, mashed
½ cup raw sugar (optional, and I used maple syrup instead)
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup non dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini 

1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips (Trader Joe's brand is the best) 
 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease muffin pan and set aside. If using paper liners, lightly spray inside of liners with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together. In another bowl, cream mashed banana with applesauce and sugar - or maple syrup - (use extra 1/2 cup for a very sweet, dessert-like muffin). Add in  non dairy milk, vanilla, zucchini and chocolate chips. Stir until evenly combined. Add flour mix to wet mix in 3-4 batches and stir until just combined. Spoon batter into greased muffin pan and bake 18-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Vanilla Chai Cupcakes

Autumn is just around the corner. It's by far my favorite season: vibrant colors, crisp weather, sweaters, hay rides, apple picking, bonfires. Everything about fall is magnificent. And these cupcakes (from the Happy Herbivore Cookbook) are the perfect fall treat. They're best eaten over a cup of coffee and a game of cards with friends.

1 c vanilla non-dairy milk (I use Almond Breeze)
3 chai teabags
1/4 c applesauce
1/2 c raw sugar (I think I'll try subbing honey next time!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c whole-wheat pastry flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp cardamom (I didn't have any, so I used nutmeg instead)
Vanilla Icing (see below)

1. Gently warm non-dairy milk on the stove, careful not to scald it. If you don't have vanilla flavored milk on hand, simply add a few drops of vanilla extract for the same effect. Once it's at a near boil, turn off heat, add teabags, and steep for 4-6 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a muffin tin or spray paper liners with cooking spray, then set aside.
3. Once milk is cool, remove tea bags and mix with applesauce, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl.
4. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt and spices together.
5. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture in 3 to 4 batches, stirring until combined.
6. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for 15 to 25 minutes. 
7. Remove cupcakes from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Once completely cool, add icing and sprinkle with cinnamon.

For Vanilla Icing
1 c confectioners' sugar
1 tbsp non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Stir ingredients together to combine.
2. Add more sugar to thicken the icing or more non-dairy milk to thin it out. Ideally, you want the consistency to be a paste-like glaze. 
3. Slather icing onto cupcakes. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Pitza!

I'm obsessed with these little pita pizzas (or pitza). They're light, tasty and the perfect little lunch on a day when you can't think of anything to make. All you have to do is....

+ Preheat the oven to 425.

+ Use a pita as the base for your pizza (we use two medium size ones per person).

+ Cover with meat free/dairy free marinara sauce.

+ Sprinkle nutritional yeast on top, and let soak in (it gives the sauce a cheesy flavor).

+ Garnish with favorite toppings (I like fresh basil, crushed garlic, tomato, and green olives).

+ Sprinkle with more nutritional yeast.

+ Bake for 12-15 minutes, until fully heated and crispy around the edges.

Enjoy!

Now let's not have any false pretenses here: I totally, whole-heartedly, 100% agree with you that the pizza pictured above does not compare in mouth-watering factor to those topped with delicious, gooey cheese and steamy pepperoni. But being vegan means satisfying one's savory cravings elsewhere. And these simple pita pitzas are pretty delish and come with the added bonus of being totally guilt-free!

Homemade Larabars

I've never had a Larabar. But Tim had one once and raved about it because it was only four ingredients and it tasted "just like pecan pie." Probably because it was the Pecan Pie flavored one. Anyways, when I brought home two slabs of date paste from a Mediterranean Market store near my parent's house, he wanted to try recreating them at home. This is what he came up with (they are a delish little snack btw):

1/2 pound of date paste

1/2 c. chopped almonds

1/2 c. chopped pecans

Grape Nuts cereal (optional)

Put the date paste and nuts in a bowl and knead together with your hands. You really need to work the nuts into the date paste, so don't be shy about getting right in there. Once its well mixed, flatten it out on a cutting board and sprinkle with Grape Nuts cereal, lightly pressing them into the paste mixture. Put into refrigerator and let them set. Cut into snack size pieces (or just keep it one huge bar that you intend to eat in a single sitting; no judgement here). Use a wet spatula to lift the bars off the cutting board if they stick (putting them in the fridge first should help with this). Wrap in wax paper and store in fridge.

*So true story - Tim has been mistakenly referring to the Larabar as a LUNA Bar, which is a whole other product. A product that's "created by women, for women." Every package is labeled with the tag line, "The Whole Nutrition Bar for Women." Needless to say, sharing that my husband is a very vocal enthusiast of said product made for some good storytelling. However, he realized his error before I published the previous (witty) entry, and so you are left instead with this very matter of fact post. But while we're on the topic, can I just say that creating a food "by women for women" seems a bit unnecessary. Is there really such a gaping hole in the market that a group of women needed to get together to create a nutrition bar with key "feminine-specific" ingredients such as.....? Baffling.

Summer Muffins (that taste like Autumn)

Last week we came into the possession of a ridiculously large amount of summer (yellow) squash. I've only ever had squash grilled or in a stir fry, so I was thankful to learn that it can be used in baking. I also had some over ripe bananas lying around (story of my life) and figured I'd whip up some muffins this morning after Jack fell asleep on his bed on accident - I say on accident because this has never happened outside of naptime hours.

Here is the recipe (adapted from here) in all its glory, and might I point out that it's vegan, oil free and plant-strong? AND DELICIOUS. Don't ignore the delicious part, because I know all you foodies out there are immediately writing these off because they have the dreaded vegan label. Eat em' before you judge em' mmmk? Yah box em', ya ship em'. (Mrs. Doubtfire, anyone?)

Summer Muffins

(makes about 18 muffins)

Dry ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg + allspice to taste)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup chia seeds (optional - but so good for you - and it adds a nice texture)

Wet ingredients:

2 cups summer squash, peeled and coarsely grated (about two medium size squash)

1 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 tbsp honey

1 1/2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 large carrot, finely grated

Zest of one lime (secret "taste of summer" ingredient!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Use paper muffin liners if you have them, otherwise I just use a non-stick muffin pan and flour the bottoms. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, make a well in the middle and set aside. Mix wet ingredients in another large bowl. Pour wet ingredients into center of dry ingredients and stir until just moistened (don't over-stir, otherwise muffins will be tough). Spoon batter into muffin tin - batter should be just below level with the top of the pan. Bake for 25-30 mins (check at 25 mins) until toothpick comes out clean from center of muffin. Loosen the sides of the muffin from the pan as soon as they come out of the oven and turn them on their sides (in the tin) to cool - it will prevent them from sticking. Enjoy!!