Cherry Blueberry Bran Muffins

Hope you're not sick of cherry season yet, because I've got another cherry recipe to share with you today! After making my roasted cherry brownies, I still some more cherries to use up, so I thought they would be the perfect addition to some healthy breakfast muffins.

I'd had my eye on a recipe for blackberry bran muffins from the Straight From the Earth cookbook, so I used that recipe as my inspiration for these cherry blueberry muffins!

Besides using different fruits, I made a few other minor changes to the recipe, including the method of mixing the ingredients, and reducing the sugar a bit. I also added a touch of maple extract to add a bit more sweetness along with the fruit.

The bran was definitely the dominant flavour in these, so if you like bran muffins, you will love the flavour and texture of these muffins.

I liked how they tasted a bit nutty, they weren't too sweet, and they were just dense and hearty enough without being too filling. Of course, my favourite part was all the blueberries and cherries in every bite!

While bran muffins may not be the most popular muffin on the block, I ended up liking them a lot more than I was expecting to! And besides, if I'm going to eat a muffin for breakfast, I want it to still be somewhat nutritious, so I can feel good about eating one of these in the morning - my only complaint was that they were a little on the small side, but they still make a great addition to a smoothie or yogurt!

Cherry Blueberry Bran Muffins

Adapted from Straight From the Earth cookbook, as seen here

1 cup almond milk

1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice

2 tbsp ground flax

1/4 cup warm water

2 cups wheat bran

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup melted coconut oil (can substitute another oil)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp maple extract (optional)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cherries (pit removed)

1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a medium sized bowl, stir together the almond milk and vinegar and let sit for 5-10 minutes. In a separate small bowl, stir together the flax and water and let sit 5-10 minutes as well.

In a large bowl, whisk together the wheat bran, flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Add the sugar, applesauce, oil, and extracts to the almond milk mixture and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Add the flax mixture and stir again. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Fold in the cherries and blueberries.

Divide batter into muffin cups, then bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, until the muffins feel firm on top and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes before removing muffins and transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 12 small muffins.

Vegan Roasted Cherry Brownies

This past weekend, I brought home a couple of containers of fresh local cherries from the market and immediately started thinking of ways to use them (besides just eating them on their own!).

I'm not sure why, but whenever I think about cherry recipes, I always want to pair them with chocolate - it's one of those combos that just goes together so well! So after enjoying a chocolate coffee cherry smoothie for breakfast on Sunday, I decided to make cherry brownies as a treat that I could bring into work the next day.

Since I'm not usually the biggest fan of chocolatey desserts myself, I don't have a lot of experience making brownies. Luckily, some of the experts on vegan baking in the blogging world have already perfected their own brownie recipes that I was able to use as guides!

For my brownie base, I mostly followed Oh She Glows' recipe (also in her cookbook that I own), with some of these tips from Edible Perspective, except that I used a mix of oat flour and all purpose flours instead of almond meal, so mine are not gluten-free.

Instead of just adding the cherries as is to the batter, I was inspired by Annie's Eats to roast them first with a bit of maple syrup so they were nice and sweet and juicy!

While my coworkers could still tell that these were a "healthier" brownie (or maybe they just guessed because they know me and my baking by now), I loved how they turned out!

They held together well (a problem with vegan brownies I've tried in the past), and they were definitely chewy and fudgy in a stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth kind of way, with just the right amount of chocolate flavour. I also thought the roasted cherries were the perfect addition to add some extra sweetness and cut the richness of the brownies a bit.

I've still got some cherries leftover, so if you have any other favourite cherry recipes or ideas that I can use, feel free to let me know!

Vegan Roasted Cherry Brownies
Adapted from Oh She Glows, Edible Perspective, and Annie's Eats

1 cup (heaping) fresh cherries

1 tbsp pure maple syrup

1.5 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water

1 1/3 cups oat flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

100g dark chocolate, chopped (I used 1 Lindt bar), or ½ cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp coconut oil

1 cup sugar*

1/4 cup almond milk

1 tbsp instant coffee

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 450°F. Slice the cherries in half and remove the pit (or use a cherry pitter). Places halved cherries in a small baking pan and toss with the maple syrup. Roast in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, until they start to release their juices. Remove and let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

Mix flax and water in a small bowl and set aside to thicken (I find it helps to let it sit in the fridge until all the water is absorbed).

In a large bowl, whisk together the oat flour, all purpose flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.

Melt the chocolate with the coconut oil, either in the microwave or over a double boiler on the stove. Add the sugar (*I followed Ashley's tip to grind it in the blender first so it's more powdery), almond milk, instant coffee, vanilla extract, and the flax mixture to the melted chocolate and stir well to combine.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until all the dry ingredients are incorporated (batter will be very thick and dry). Fold in the roasted cherries (with their juices) and the remaining chocolate chips.

Pour batter into an 8x8 or 9x9 pan (I used an 8x8) lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 30-37 minutes, until the edges have hardened and the surface is just barely firm (I baked mine for 35 minutes). Remove and let cool in the pan for at least 30-45 minutes, then transfer to the fridge to cool completely (you can remove brownies from the pan first and transfer to a wire rack). Once completely cooled, slice into pieces.

Makes 20-25 small brownies 

Almond Butter, Cherry & Chocolate Granola Bars

 

It's been awhile since I've made my own granola bars as I've been taking the more convenient route of buying them from the grocery store instead. Lately I've been enjoying Kashi chewy granola bars in my favourite flavour: cherry and dark chocolate.

I love the combination of dried cherries with chocolate chips in a granola bar because it makes a healthy snack taste a bit more decadent! Since that brand can be a bit expensive if they're not on sale though, I wanted to make my own version of a granola bar with those same flavours.

I turned to the blog Healthy Food for Living for my recipe inspiration because I've tried her granola bars in the past and loved them. I only made a few minor changes, swapping almond butter for the peanut butter, changing some of the ingredient amounts, and adding some chopped pecans. I also followed her suggestion of baking them in a loaf pan to get thicker bars.

These came out soft and chewy, with lots of flavour - just how I like my granola bars! I also liked that they were plenty sweet for my tastes with only a bit of extra sweetener (in the form of pure maple syrup) because the tart cherries added some sweetness of their own.

These make a tasty and hearty snack that you can cut into whatever size you want - smaller squares or longer granola bars. I can't say that I'll stop buying Kashi or other granola bars, but it's nice to have a homemade snack around once in a while too!

Almond Butter, Cherry & Chocolate Granola Bars

Adapted from Healthy Food for Living

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tbsp pure maple syrup

1/4 cup almond butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup large rolled oats

1.5 cups rice krispies (or another type of puffed rice)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup dried cherries

2 tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x5” loaf pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium sized bowl, stir together the applesauce, maple syrup, and almond butter until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract. Gently fold in the remaining ingredients until everything is evenly coated.

Pour into prepared pan, smoothing out the top with a rubber spatula. Use your hands or the spatula to press down firmly on the top so that the mixture holds together tightly.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned and firm on top. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully remove from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars or squares. 

Makes about 10 squares. 

Miniature Chocolate-Cherry Crepe Cake & 2nd Blogiversary

Today is a bit of a special day here on Vanilla & Spice - it's my 2nd Blogiversary!

I can't believe that this little space has been active for two whole years already, but I guess when you're doing something that you love like cooking, baking, photographing food, and sharing recipes with amazing readers, time flies by!

Rather than reflecting on the past year of blogging like I did last year, I think I'll just stick to writing about today's recipe this time (and with more photos than usual because I had a hard time choosing) - after all, that's why you come here in the first place!

To celebrate the occasion, I wanted to make a special treat, but since I'm not really much of a cake or cupcake person, I thought I would do something a bit different.

I'm actually really excited about this recipe because it's something I've been wanting to make for quite a while - my very own personal sized crepe cake!

I'm sure you've all seen at least one version of a crepe cake before, but if not, the idea is that you layer a batch of regular crepes with a thick filling or frosting in between the layers to help them stick together, and add whatever toppings you like - fruit, nuts, whipped cream, caramel sauce - basically whatever you could imagine for a cake!

For my version, I knew I wanted to do a chocolate-cherry combination, since I still had some amazing fresh cherries stored in my freezer that I had picked a couple of weeks ago.

I'm actually a novice when it comes to crepe making (especially vegan crepes), but I did some research and chose a recipe that uses part chickpea flour because crepes usually rely on eggs as a main ingredient, and chickpea flour is an ingredient that I know works well in other "eggy" vegan recipes, like vegan scrambled eggs.

I modified the original recipe to make it a bit more decadent by adding cinnamon and cocoa powder, a bit of maple syrup for a touch of sweetness, and using chocolate almond milk for more chocolatey flavour.

My first crepe was a bit of a disaster, but that's expected when you're making crepes for the first time! Luckily, I quickly got the hang of it and ended up with evenly thin, chewy crepes with just enough of a chocolate taste for my liking.

For the cake filling, I kept it pretty simple and used a combo of fresh cherry-blueberry sauce and coconut flavoured greek yogurt.

I loved each component on its own, but all came together to make an even tastier creation! The sauce was thick and fruity, with a nice balance of sweet and tart notes, and I thought it paired perfectly with the chocolate crepes and the creamy coconut yogurt.

Once you have all the components ready, it's pretty easy (and fun) to assemble the cake. First, you cut smaller circles out of each large crepe so that you have enough to stack into a tall enough miniature-sized crepe cake. Then a spoonful of yogurt and cherry sauce is spread in between each crepe layer as you build it, so that you end up with a mix of everything in each bite.

I assembled mine when everything was still a bit warm, but when I came back for the leftovers the next morning after it had been sitting in the fridge overnight, everything had firmed up more and it was a bit easier to slice and eat.  But either way - warm or chilled - this makes a delicious dessert or even a special breakfast treat!

I'm so glad I finally got around to trying out a crepe cake, and a blog anniversary seems like the perfect occasion to try something new in the kitchen! I think I might be making this again for future celebrations - I'm already dreaming of new combinations that I could try for my next birthday cake!

I know this has been a long post, but I just wanted to end by saying thanks for reading and for all of your comments this past year - I wouldn't still be doing this without the support from all of you! And one last shout-out to my sister Natalie of Once Upon a Cutting Board, who is also celebrating her blogiversary!

Miniature Chocolate-Cherry Crepe Cake
Crepe recipe adapted from Vegan Eats World, everything else my own
Note: My crepes were vegan, but not the yogurt. Feel free to adapt the recipe by using your own favourite crepe recipe and whatever kind of greek yogurt you like (vegan or not)!

Crepes
3/4 cup chocolate almond milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp + 2 tsp chickpea flour
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
dash of cinnamon
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp maple syrup

Filling
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cherries (or a mix of cherries and blueberries, which is what I did because I didn't have enough cherries)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 100g container greek yogurt (I used Oikos fat-free coconut greek yogurt but vanilla would work too)


To make the crepe batter, add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. Transfer mixture to a container, cover, and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.

When ready to make crepes, heat a large skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray.  Working quickly, pour 1/3 cup of the batter into the pan, swirling the pan around so that the liquid coats the pan evenly all the way to the edges. Let cook for one and a half to two and a half minutes, until the surface looks dry and cooked, and the edges have started to crisp up. Run a spatula around the edges of the crepe and carefully flip it over. Cook the other side for about one minute. Carefully remove the crepe from the pan and transfer to a plate.  Repeat with the rest of the batter (I got four 7" crepes out of mine, but it depends on the size of pan you use).

Use a circular cookie cutter or the lid of any jar about 3" in diameter to cut circles out of each crepe (I used a peanut butter jar lid). You should get one full circle plus two partial circles out of each crepe, but that's okay - they don't all need to be perfect circles. For the partial circles, just arrange some of the leftover pieces to fill in the gaps so that you have somewhat complete circles. You should end up with 11-12 3" crepe circles (see picture of mine below).

To make the sauce, place the berries, lemon juice, and maple syrup in a small saucepan and let cook on medium-high heat until the berries are broken down and the mixture has thickened a bit, stirring often (5-10 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool.

To assemble the cake, lay one or two crepe circles on a plate. Top with a spoonful of the greek yogurt and a spoonful of the cherry sauce (don't use too much sauce, as you don't want to run out!). Follow with another layer of crepes (I found it easier to put two thin crepes together as one layer), and another layer of yogurt and cherry sauce. Repeat until you've layered all of the crepes, ending with a spoonful of yogurt and cherry sauce on top.

Serve at room temperature, or chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours to firm up a bit before serving.

Serves 1 (if you're hungry) or 2 people.

Coffee, Coconut & Cherry Energy Bites

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week - I've been keeping pretty busy here in Singapore so this is my first chance to sit down and try to catch up on things!

The day before I left for this trip, I wanted to make some kind of snack that I could bring with me for "emergency snacks" to keep on hand.  I've seen lots of versions of energy bites on other blogs, and I've made a couple of different types myself before, so I decided to make a small batch for my trip.

As long as you have a food processor, energy bites a great option for a quick and easy snack that can be made using pantry ingredients. And there are endless combinations of ingredients you can use to customize them!

For this version, I wanted to incorporate coffee so that I could have a snack with an extra caffeine kick. I happened to have some chocolate covered coffee beans that I hadn't eaten yet, so I thought they would be the perfect ingredient to add both chocolate and coffee flavour.

For the base of the energy bites, I used almonds and oats combined with dates to help them stick together.  I also added some shredded coconut and coconut nectar for a bit of extra sweetness, plus dried cherries, chia seeds and cacao nibs. The cherries added a nice tartness to balance the bitterness of the coffee, and the chia seeds and cacao nibs provided some crunch for texture.

Altogether, my 6-C (chocolate, coffee, coconut, cherry, chia, cacao) energy bites were the perfect little snack to tide me over whenever I got hungry in the first few days of my trip, and gave me a bit of an energy boost too!

Coffee, Coconut &Cherry Energy Bites
Adapted from Running to the Kitchen

1/4 cup whole almonds

1/4 cup rolled oats

2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut

~2 tbsp (about 20) chocolate covered coffee beans

1/4 cup chopped dates, finely chopped

2 tbsp dried cherries, finely chopped

1 tsp chia seeds

2 tsp cacao nibs

2 tsp coconut nectar (or other sticky sweetener)


Place almonds and oats in a food processor and process until they are broken down into fine crumbs. Add the coconut and coffee beans and process again until the coffee beans are finely chopped.  Add the dates, cherries, chia seeds and cacao nibs and process until the mixture starts to stick together. Add the coconut nectar and process until it is incorporated. 


Taste and add more coconut nectar or sweetener if desired.


Form the mixture into balls using your hands, pressing firmly to make compact balls. 

Makes about 12 balls.

Cherry Chia Carob Cookies

I made these cookies a few weeks ago for a cookie swap and I couldn't wait to post about them, since I think they would make a great addition to your Christmas cookie trays!

I was looking for a healthier vegan cookie to bring to the cookie swap, and I liked the sounds of these soft chia carob cookies that I saw on the blog Pure2Raw. So I started with their recipe, but I ended up changing a lot so my version looks nothing like theirs...but they still tasted amazing!

I decided to add carob chips in addition to the carob powder that's already in the dough, and then my favourite part of these cookies was the dried cherries that I added. The cherries are a bit more expensive than other dried fruit, but they are definitely worth it! The combination of the tart cherries with the carob worked really well!

I also liked the texture of the cookies - the outside was firm and crunchy but the inside was soft and chewy, and the chia seeds added another unique dimension.

Another great thing about these cookies is that they are much healthier than most Christmas cookies so you can feel better about eating them, but at the same time, they don't taste like a "healthy" cookie. You might even be able to trick people into thinking they are decadent chocolate cookies - although true chocolate lovers (a category that does not include me!) will probably notice the difference with the carob.

Cherry Chia Carob Cookies
Adapted from Pure2Raw

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp carob powder

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cup almond milk

1/4 cup applesauce

1.5 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup carob chips

1/3 cup dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Combine the dry ingredients (flour to chia seeds) in a large bowl.

Add the almond milk, applesauce and vanilla to the bowl and stir to mix. Then add the coconut oil and stir until the dry ingredients are all incorporated (if the dough is still too dry, add a bit of water, 1 tsp at a time).

Fold in the carob chips and dried cherries.

Roll the dough into small balls and place on a baking sheet. For rounder cookies (like the ones in the pictures), place the whole baking sheet in the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking.

Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes.

Makes 28 cookies.