Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
1/4 c. canola oil, coconut oil or vegan butter, melted
1/3 c. almond milk
1 tbsp. ground flaxseeds
1 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 c. grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper or spray with oil.
In a large bowl, add the oil, almond milk, ground flaxseeds, brown sugar and vanilla. Whisk well until combined. Lightly blot the grated zucchini with paper towels, and add it to the bowl. Stir the zucchini into the wet ingredients.

Now add the flour to the wet ingredients. Sprinkle the baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon on top of the flour. Stir gently until just combined, being careful not to over mix, or your loaf will be dense.
Pour into the prepared pan, and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer the loaf to parchment paper or a cooling rack. Slice carefully right away, or let cool completely for easier slicing and serving.

Makes about 10 slices.

1 slice = 210 calories

Peach-Basil Skillet Cobbler

Easy dessert to make when stone fruits are in season. Swap out Peaches + Basil for any of the following combos! 

Nectarines + Rosemary

Cherries + Mint

Plums + Thyme

Apricots + Sage

Mangoes + Lime Zest

Ingredients

For the filling: 

1/4 c. vegan butter

6 c. sliced peaches

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 c. fresh basil, chopped

For the cobbler: 

1 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. ground nuts, like pecans or almonds

1/4 c. oats

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 c. unsweetened plant milk

1/2 c. vegan butter (or refined coconut oil), melted

1 tbsp. sugar

Directions

For the filling, preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 12-inch oven-safe skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Allow butter to brown, stirring often, for 4 minutes. Remove from heat. 

To skillet, add peaches, brown sugar, and vanilla, stirring ingredients to coat evenly. Stir in chopped basil to incorporate. Transfer to oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 375 degrees. 

For the cobbler, in a large bowl, whisk flour, ground nuts, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and salt. Stir in milk and melted butter, mixing until just combined. 

Use a tablespoon to dollop batter on top of peaches, leaving space to allow some peaches to peek through to create a cobblestone effect. 

In a small bowl, mix together sugar and remaining cinnamon, and sprinkle over top of batter. 

Return skillet to oven and bake 30 minutes until topping is golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes and serve topped with vanilla ice cream or coconut whipped cream. 

Serves 8.

1 serving = 405 calories (without ice cream or whipped cream)

Pie Crust

Thank you, Nora Cooks for another terrific vegan dessert! 

Ingredients
1.5 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. vegan butter, cold and cut into cubes (I used Miyokos Unsalted)
1/4 c. vegetable shortening, cold and cut into several pieces
3-4 tbsp. ice water

Directions
Refrigerate the butter, shortening, and food processor pieces before beginning. Add flour, sugar, and salt to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.

Add the cold butter and shortening. Process for about 10 seconds until it looks like a coarse meal. 

Drizzle in ice cold water, a tablespoon or two at a time. When the dough begins to clump together, stop. You may need to add 1 or 2 more tablespoons for it to come together. 

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Don't use your hands too much or it will warm the dough, making your crust less flaky and light. 

Roll the dough with a rolling pin to about 12-inch circle, and transfer to a pie place. You can roll the dough onto the rolling pin, lift and place into the pie pan. 

DO NOT PANIC IF IT IS NOT PERFECT. 

Gently push the pie crust all around the dish, trimming off excess and replacing spots that might need repair. Use pie crust immediately or refrigerate until you are ready to use it. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 c. vegan butter
1 c. white sugar
1 c. creamy, salted peanut butter
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
6 oz. chocolate chips

Directions
Add the vegan butter and white sugar to an electric mixer and cream them together. Then add in the peanut butter and vanilla and mix together until well combined.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Then add in to the wet ingredients and mix in with a spoon (don’t use the electric mixer for this part) until you reach a thick crumbly dough. If at this stage you are able to mix it into a cookie dough, so what you have is a proper cookie dough instead of a crumbly dough, then you may not need to add any soy milk, but if you have crumbly dough, then you need the soy milk. This usually depends on the moisture content of your brand of vegan butter and/or peanut butter.

Add in the milk, only as much as needed to get to a thick cookie dough that is able to roll into balls. Add in your chocolate chips or chunks and mix in.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Roll into big balls and place onto a parchment lined baking tray. Aim for around 20 cookies from your batch, a couple more or less is fine.

Bake for 15 minutes until the tops are golden brown. The middles will still be very soft, this is fine, they will firm up as they cool. Let the cookies cool and firm up on the baking sheet before moving them.

Makes about 20 cookies.

Recipe credit to lovingitvegan.com. 

Blueberry Turnovers

Ingredients
3 sheets of puff pastry, thawed
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
2 tsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 egg yolk
1 c. blueberries
2 tsp. corn starch
pinch of salt
egg wash (one egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water)
powdered sugar, for garnish

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a bowl, add the cream cheese, lemon zest, half of the sugar, vanilla, and egg yolk. Mix it together with a wooden spoon and set aside. In another bowl, add the blueberries, remaining sugar, corn starch, and lemon juice and set that aside for a few minutes as well.

Dust some flour on your work surface, and working with one piece of puff pastry at a time, roll it out slightly with a rolling pin until it's 10" square all around. Using a 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out four circles out of each piece of puff pastry. Place the cutouts on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Dollop about two teaspoons of cream cheese in the center of each one, and top that with a tablespoon of the blueberry mixture. Brush the edges of the cutouts with the egg wash. Fold over one half and seal it shut in a half-moon shape. Brush the top with the egg mixture as well, and make a tiny slit at the top of each one with a sharp knife.

Bake them for 25 minutes or until golden brown, making sure to rotate the baking sheets halfway through for even coloring. Let them cool a few minutes and then dust with powdered sugar.

Raw Apple Crisp

Ingredients

4 Honeycrisp apples, cored and diced

1/4 c. orange juice

3/4 c. pecan halves

3/4 c. hazelnuts

3/4 c. raisins

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

Toss diced apples with orange juice and put into casserole dish. Smooth the top. In a food processor, combine nuts, raisins, ginger and cinnamon and pulse until chopped and well combined. Spoon the nut mixture over the apple mixture and serve. Serves 8.

NOTE TO SELF: One and a half of this recipe fits into my oval Corning-ware casserole dish. Also, I used raw almonds in the nut mixture, as well, which was terrific. Use up whatever you've got on hand! 

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients

Filling
1 qt. strawberries, stemmed and quartered
4 stalks rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch lengths
1/2 c. sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch, rounded
1 orange or Meyer lemon, zested and juiced
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Topping
1-1/4 c. whole-wheat flour
1/2 c. rolled oats
1 c. brown sugar
1-1/4 sticks butter, cut into pea-sized pieces
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch salt
1-2 tbsp. water

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Filling
Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to be sure everything is well combined. Spoon the filling into 8 individual ramekins or 1 wide shallow baking dish.

Topping
In a food processor, combine the flour, oats and brown sugar and pulse to combine. Add the butter, vanilla and salt and pulse, pulse, pulse, until the mixture looks dry and crumbly. Add 1 tablespoon of water and pulse until the mixture starts to come together and look crumbly. If the mixture still seems dry add 1 more tablespoon of water and pulse to combine.

Crumble the topping over the filling. Bake in the preheated oven until the filling is hot and bubbly all the way through and the topping looks crispy and light brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Pammy's Granola

Perfect atop yogurt or ice cream.


Ingredients

3 c. oats
1 c. coconut, shredded
1/2 c. walnuts or pecans, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. honey
1/2 stick butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter and mix with honey. Combine with all dry ingredients. Spread evenly, in a single layer, on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes, tossing once.

Grandma Fisher's Peanut Butter Cookies

My grandfather’s mother’s very special Sunday treat.

Ingredients

1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients and make into small balls. Press with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes.

Lemon Bisque

Ingredients

1 pkg. lemon gelatin (3 oz.)
1 can evaporated milk (13 oz.)
1 1/2 c. boiling water
3/4 c. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
1 pkg. graham cracker crumbs
4 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions

Chill milk in refrigerator, or freeze to make crystals around edge of bowl. Dissolve gelatin in water and add sugar, salt, lemon juice and zest. Allow mixture to congeal slightly. Beat milk until stiff and then whip in gelatin mixture. Combine graham cracker crumbs with melted butter and press into a 10x13 pan. Pour gelatin mixture into the graham cracker crust. Chill.

Best served with strawberry sauce and whipped cream!

Moose Munch

Ingredients

1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. mixed nuts
6 c. (1 bag) buttered popcorn

Directions

Prepare popcorn and put in large bowl. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk butter and brown sugar until smooth and combined. Pour mixture onto popcorn until completely coated. Spread coated corn evenly on cookie sheet (or two). Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts evenly over corn.

Bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool completely and serve.

Candied Pecans

Ingredients
1 1b. pecans
1/3 c. butter
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tbsp. cinnamon
1/4 tbsp. ginger
Sea salt

Directions
Melt and blend ingredients together. Lay out on a cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring several times. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Butter Cookies ("Thumbprints")

Ingredients

1 lb. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
4 c. flour

Directions
Cream sugar, butter, egg and vanilla. Slowly add the flour. Form into cookies and bake on 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. For thumbprints, press your thumb into the formed cookies before baking and drop in a teaspoon of preserves.

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients
1 pkg. sugar cookie dough
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
4 oz. Cool Whip
1/2 c. confectioners sugar
Mixture of fruit, including strawberries, mandarin oranges, kiwi and blueberries
Glaze:
1/2 c. water
2 tbsp. corn starch
1/2 c. sugar
2 tbsp. lemon
1/2 c. orange juice

Directions

Bake one package of sugar cookie dough in a pizza pan at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool.
Blend cream cheese, cool whip and confectioners sugar. Spread over cooled cookie. Place sliced fruit on the pizza.

To make the glaze, boil ingredients for one minute and then cool. Spread a thin layer of glaze over the fruit. Refrigerate and slice like a pizza for serving.

Lady's Coconut Carrot Cake

Cake Ingredients
2 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 c. vegetable oil
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple (undrained)
2 c. grated carrots
1 1/3 c. shredded coconut

Icing Ingredients
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 lb. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-2 c. confectioners sugar

Directions
Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Beat the oil, sugar and eggs together in a different bowl. Add flour mixture to the wet mixture and beat until smooth. Add carrots and coconut. Pour into a greased & floured tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and remove from pan.

Fruit Dip

Ingredients
1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 container Cool Whip
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Soften cream cheese at room temperature for 4-5 hours. Whip in sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and Cool Whip. Serve with fresh fruit.

Special Birthday Icing

We never liked sickly-sweet icing on our cakes growing up, so my mom concocted this recipe for our birthdays. Best with a chocolate cake, of course!

Ingredients
1 pkg. Jell-O Instant Pudding (white chocolate!)
1 cup whole milk
1 container Cool Whip

Directions
Beat milk into pudding with a whisk or fork. Let sit for three minutes. Fold-in Cool Whip. Store in the refrigerator and frost your cake just before serving!

Grandma Fisher's Cheesecake

This cheesecake is so remarkably light and fluffy that you could eat three pieces!

Crust Ingredients
14 graham crackers
2 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. butter, melted

Cake Ingredients
2/3 cup sugar
4 tbsp. flour
pinch of salt
1 lb. cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions
Crush crust ingredients together and line a spring form pan. Sift sugar, flour and salt together. Blend with soft cream cheese. Add vanilla and egg yolks. Add milk and beat well. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into ingredients. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour; let cake cool in the oven.