Peanut Butter, Chocolate and Hemp Heart Dairy Free Cookies

My brother actually gave me the idea for these cookies. He's a heath nut, really into that crunchy granola, wholesome food. He's told me before that he's made hemp heart cookies so I wanted to give them a try, dairy free of course. I had a look online and found this recipe which I found suitable to modify.

Ingredients

1 cup smooth peanut butter (try to use natural peanut butter. Peanut butter that is stabilized with vegetable oils makes these cookies a little greasy)
1/2 cup brown sugar (reduce to 1/4 cup if you'd rather them not sweet)
1 egg (or the equivalent of egg whites)
1/2 to 1 cup of hemp hearts (however much you have available)
1/4 cup of dark chocolate, chopped (I used 90% cocoa bar chopped up, or you could use vegan chocolate chips)
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 tsp of baking soda

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Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. In a medium sized bowl mix smooth peanut butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg until well combined.

3. In a small bowl combine the hemp hearts, chocolate, peanuts, sunflower seeds and baking soda. Add to peanut butter mixture until just combined.

4. On a parchment paper lined baking sheet drop balls of dough and press down lightly with a fork. A great tip here is to use wax paper to make the balls. The wax paper won't stick to the dough and your hands won't get messy.  Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes depending on your oven.


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Peanut Butter, Chocolate and Hemp Heart Cookies

These cookies are SUPER easy to make! They are chewy and irresistible. The bonus is that they're actually kinda healthy too. A great snack in the morning or addition to a light lunch. 

Happy Baking,
Bree

Dairy-Free Breakfast Muffins

I wanted to make a wholesome breakfast muffin that wasn't fatty like a lot of the store bought ones are. I found a recipe on ilovemuffins.ca that used applesauce instead of oil, what a great idea!


Ingredients
1 cup quick oats
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 cup whole wheat flour (or use half white flour and half ground flax!)
1/2 to 3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 egg whites
1/2 cup honey
For something really special (and optional) in these muffins fold in once all the ingredients to the batter are mixed:
1-3/4 cup of dairy free chocolate. (I used a 90% cacao bar chopped into chip-sized bits. If you can find vegan chocolate chips that would be ideal)
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2-3/4 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts

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Instructions
1. In a small bowl, add the oats and milk. Stir and then let soak, covered with plastic wrap for 45 minutes. If you aren't using quick oats you may want to soak them a bit longer, an hour would be plenty of time.

2. Pre-heat oven to 400° F.

3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the brown sugar and mix well.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add the applesauce, honey and the oat/milk mixture that had been sitting. Stir well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate, raisins and nuts.

5. Spray 12 muffin cups with non-stick spray. (I missed this step when I made these muffins. I can't stress enough how vital it is though. These muffins have no oil in them to prevent them from sticking to the paper liners. DON'T FORGET TO SPRAY THE LINERS with the non-stick spray! Otherwise you'll have half your breakfast stuck to paper. Haha) Spoon batter into cups using an ice cream scoop.

6. Bake at 400° F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12-18 muffins.

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These muffins are absolutely perfect for breakfast. They freeze well so you can pop them in the freezer and take one out each day for breakfast. I had mine in the deep freeze and warmed it up in the microwave for 20s. If you find these a little bland of you, ice with Imperial cinnamon spread (which is dairy free!).

Happy Baking,
Bree

Dairy-Free Chicken Pot Pie

This was really quite easy. However, because I roasted the chicken and made the stock myself this quick recipe took me three days. :P

Here's the recipe, which is a modified version of this one.

Ingredients:


2 raw, boneless chicken breasts cut into cubes (if you have this much chicken already cooked thats ok too!)
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup cubed potatoes
1/3 cup vegan margarine or extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat. However, using whole wheat flour will make the pie a bit tackier and less runny.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup unflavoured almond milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

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Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. In a medium-sized pot, combine raw chicken (if the chicken you have is already cooked, just cut into cubes and set aside; don't put it in the pot), sliced carrots, frozen peas, and cubed potatoes. Add water to cover everything and boil for 15 minutes. Skim off the scum that rises to the surface during that time. After the 15 minutes, drain and set aside. Take out pie crusts to warm up a bit from frozen.

3. Meanwhile the chicken through potatoes are cooking in one pot, cook the onions in the margarine/oil in a medium/large pot over medium heat until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed (Honestly the spice choices are up to you. Celery seed and pepper where what the original recipe I was half following called for and I happened to have on hand). Slowly stir in chicken stock/broth and unflavoured almond milk. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until about as thick as a cream soup. Then, remove from heat and set aside.

4. Fill a pie crust with the chicken and veggie mixture. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away any excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape. Place pie(s) on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

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This was the first time I'd ever made a chicken pot pie. (I'd also never roasted a chicken nor made stock before!). I managed to get three pies out of this recipe, I guess t all depends on how much of the chicken veggie mixture and/or hot onion mix you put in each pie crust. I didn't want runny pies so I spread the hot, onion mix over the three pies. I didn't have any unflavoured almond milk on hand so I hand no choice but to use vanilla almond milk. Made for an interesting flavour (lol!) but still palatable!

Happy Baking,

Bree