no-bake cookies

had a major sugar craving this afternoon, but it was just too hot to bake, so i got an idea from this sweet girl and went with some no-bake-cookies. there are a lot of adaptations of this recipe, but i kept it simple on the ingredients and they were delicious. i changed mine up a little bit and used some of the ingredients i had on hand... 

click here for a more traditional recipe

no-bake cookies

ingredients

1 1/4 cups white sugar

1/2 cup rice milk

1/4 cup butter

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup crunchy almond butter

3 cups oats

1 teaspoon vanilla 

directions

in a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter and cocoa. bring to a boil and cook for 1 1/2 minutes. remove from heat and stir in almond butter, oats and vanilla. drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. let cool until hardened.

oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

sunday nights usually call for me to break out the bosch and some form of chocolate. i was craving something grainy and sweet, and these hit the spot. adapted from the food network. 

ingredients

• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips

directions

preheat oven to 350°F. coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.

grind oats in a blender or food processor. transfer to a medium bowl and stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. add oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy. with the mixer running, add the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

drop the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls, at least 1 inch apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until firm around the edges and golden on top, about 15 minutes. cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

mexican hot chocolate cupcakes

chocolatey. vegan. perfection.

these were fun to make, and a hit (with myself). the husband ate quite a few as well though. looking for more vegan recipes that are do-able and delicious. turns out, most of them are. this particular recipe came from this book. i made them mini, because everything is more fun bite-size.

mexican hot chocolate cupcakes

ingredients:

1 cup coconut milk

1 Tbsp ground flaxseeds 

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp corn flour

1/4 cup almond meal*

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper 

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pan with cupcake liners

2. whisk together coconut milk and flaxseeds and allow to sit for 10 minutes

3. in another bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, corn flour, almond meal, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne.

4. whisk sugar, oil, vanilla, and almond extract into coconut milk mixture. gently add wet ingredients to dry. fill cupcake liners three-quarters of the way. bake for 22-25 minutes until a knife or toothpick inserted through the center of one comes out clean. transfer to a colling rack to cool completely.

5. sift a layer of confectioner's sugar onto the tops of the cooled cakes. then sift on cocoa, then lastly sift on a layer of cinnamon.

*I made my own almond meal, because i couldn't find any at the store. to learn how, click here.