Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

One bowl Pumpkin bread. Vegan.

by Filed Under: Breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Nuts, Quick Bread, Vegan

With listing & selling our house last week, I’ve had no bandwidth for recipe testing to be quite honest. I wanted to make something different and landed on this lovely recipe from Nora Cooks. I made this oil free and adjusted a few things from her original. See notes below.

Ingredient:
1 tbl ground flax or chia seeds
3 tbl water
1 can 15 ounce of canned pumpkin puree
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of applesauce (I used pumpkin apple sauce from Whole Foods) or 1/2 cup of coconut or other neutral oil
1/4 cup of plant based milk
1 and 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbl ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin spice

Optional:
1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips or walnuts for mixing in
For topping: walnuts, pecans, hemp hearts, pepitas etc.

Method:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray you loaf pan with oil and set aside. In a small bowl or measuring cup, add your ground flax or chia seeds with 3 tbl of water. Stir and allow to congeal for 6 minutes or so. It will thicken up and replace the need for eggs.

In a large bowl, add pumpkin puree, sugar, oil and milk. Whisk to combine. Sift, flour, powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin spice into the wet mixture. Whisk to just combine.

If wishing to add chocolate chips or nuts, add to the batter. Pour into your prepared pan. If using pepitas, walnuts etc. – add to the top of your batter. Bake for 75 to 85 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Every oven is different, I baked closer to 77 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for 30 minutes prior to slicing.

Happy weekend!

— Knead to Cook

Upside down apple cake bake. Vegan.

by Filed Under: Brunch, Desserts, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Snacks, Vegan

When the world leans toward pumpkin, mad respect & I do love it, I’m leaning towards apple. I love apple things. So good. Plus having an abundance of them in my produce drawer… this was a no brainer for me. I made it in my cast iron pan I use for everything & legit it was gone in 2 days! Bill and my dad couldn’t stop. Not a big fan of chatting forever or wasting time so let’s get to it…

Ingredients:

6 smaller Fugi and honey crisp apples, peeled and diced pretty thin
1/3 cup of brown or coconut sugar
2 tbl of vegan butter
1 tbl ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg

Cake batter recipe:
1 cup of whatever plant based milk you prefer
1 tbl of apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup of oil (avocado, coconut or olive work great)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda


Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray your baking sheet with oil & set aside. If using a cast iron pan to bake in omit spraying with oil and just move forward to heat over medium flame to heat up the pan. Add your butter and allow that to melt. Once melted, add your apple slices, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook for about 4-6 minutes, stirring gently. This will allow the sugar to melt, flavors to combine and apples to soften. Set that aside. If using a baking pan, cook the apples in a separate pan. Then add them to your prepared pan and set aside.

Grab 2 mixing bowls. You’re going to mix your wet ingredients first. So add your milk and apple cider vinegar together and stir. Allow that to “curdle” for 1 minute. Then add your oil and vanilla. Whisk to combine.

In your separate dry bowl, add your flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder. Whisk to combine. Then add your dry mixture to wet and blend until just incorporated.

To prepare to bake,
Add your cooked apples to the bottom of the pan or if using cast iron just leave the apples in the pan. Spoon the batter over top carefully. Bake for 38-40 minutes or until set when you touch the top of the cake.

Serve warm or room temp. I left this covered on my countertop until the boys devoured the entire thing in 2 days.

Look at that steam rising. So good and perfect served with vegan ice cream.

Hope you enjoy and happy almost weekend!
~ox

— Knead to Cook

Vegan frosty smoothie bowl.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Fruit, Gluten Free, No bake/cooking required!, Nuts, Raw, Smoothies, Snacks, Vegan, Vitamix

I’m admittedly not a summer weather fan. It’s been an oppressive 90+ degrees for an endless stretch of time. For dinner most nights, I’ve been opting for this very chilly & refreshing bowl. It’s protein-packed, flavor packed and it tastes so indulgent! I hope you enjoy 🙂

Ingredients:

Skant 3/4 cup of unsweetened nut or oat based milk of choice
1 scoop of your favorite protein powder (I use either vanilla or chocolate)
1 tbl of your favorite nut butter OR 2 tbl of an organic powdered nut butter if you prefer
1 frozen banana
Pinch of salt
8 – 10 ice cubes
Optional:
1 tbl of raw cacao (if using a vanilla protein but want chocolate flavored)
If using vanilla protein and you want a strawberry bowl (add 1 cup of fresh or frozen strawberries).

Method:
Into a blender add your milk through ice cubes (see notes about optional flavors). If using additional berries, add them too!

Blend, you may need to stop and scrape the sides down often. Blend until smooth and creamy. Spoon into a bowl and top with whatever you love!

My faves:
Organic bran flakes
Granola
Pomegrante seeds
Cacao nibs
nut butter
berries
seeds
nuts
Enjoy immediately!


~ox

— Knead to Cook

Blueberry Oatmeal Bake. Vegan.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fruit, Snacks, Vegan

Summer means an abundance of fresh fruit in my house. We love eating seasonally and it is one of the most affordable ways to navigate your grocery list. With blueberries constantly on sale, I’ve been stocking up. This recipe serves as an easy breakfast, snack or dessert topping with a little whipped cream or vegan ice cream on the side. I would recommend keeping it stored in the fridge versus on the counter as it would get moldy rather quickly in the warmer temps. I hope you enjoy this one as much as we did!

Ingredients:
1 tbl ground flax meal
3 tbl water
2 cups of rolled oats (organic)
1.5 cups flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1 cup of ap flour)
1 tbl ceylon cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 cups of plant based milk
1/4 cup of a neutral oil (I used avocado and coconut)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup maple syrup*
3/4 cup blueberries washed and tossed with a bit of flour to coat
Nut of your choice for topping (almonds, walnuts, pecans, hemp hearts, pepitas).

Method:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and spray a 8×8 or 9×9 pan with cooking spray. Set that aside.

Start by making your flax egg by mixing flax meal with water and allow to sit for about 4-6 minutes until thickened.
Into a stand mixer bowl or large mixing bowl, add all of your dry ingredients oats through salt. Whisk to combine. In that bowl, add your flax egg and plant based milk, oil, extract and syrup. Combine until just blended.

In a separate bowl, add freshly washed berries and toss with a tbl or so of your flour. Coating will allow the berries to be suspended in your bake versus sinking to the bottom of the bake. By hand, gently mix the blueberries in the batter. Then gently spoon into your prepared pan.

Top your batter with whatever nuts or seeds you like then pop it in the oven for 38-40 minutes. When the top is more solid, the color is golden, it’s done. Mine took about 40 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing. Enjoy!

*This recipe is NOT overly sweet. Feel free to adjust the sweetness by adding additional maple syrup or 1/4 cup coconut or brown sugar.

~ox

— Knead to Cook

Nut and Seed Breakfast Cookies. Vegan & GF.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Cookies, Desserts, Gluten Free, Nuts, Snacks, Vegan, Wheat Free

I’ve been transitioning away from making breads for the weekly snack as the temperatures rise. They always get too moldy too fast with the humidity (despite my a/c running non stop) so I’ve been whipping up some breakfast cookies. I morphed this recipe to work with what I have on hand and what I wanted to use.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
6 tablespoons filtered water
1 cup rolled oats (certified GF and organic is a must)
¾ cup almond flour
1 tbl ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
¼ cup chopped pecans (whatever nuts you prefer go ahead and use those)
Sesame seeds for the topping
¼ cup of coconut oil (whatever neutral oil you have you should be able to use)
¼ cup smooth peanut or almond butter
â…“ cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:
Prepare the flax egg by mixing the water and ground flax. Allow to thicken for several minutes. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. If you have, use a baking mat on your baking sheet.

Once your flax egg is ready, add to you mixer along with your oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, & baking soda. Blend well. Then add your oil, nut butter, syrup and vanilla. Blend. Finally add your seeds/nuts – omitting sesame seeds as I prefer to use them on top of the cookies.

Using a small or large scoop, scoop out the dough and place on your sheet. I sprinkled the sesame seeds on top. Bake for 24-28 minutes – my cookies are large. If you are making tinier cookies, bake for about 12-14 minutes but check them occasionally. Remove and allow to cool and firm up.

Enjoy!

— Knead to Cook

Tahini Medjool Date Cookies. Vegan. Gluten free.

by Filed Under: Brunch, Cookies, Desserts, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Snacks, Vegan, Wheat Free

I was seeking & searching for a unique cookie. Bill was sick last weekend with bronchitis. We had a winter storm. I was tired of being stuck in the house so my go-to was reading alternating with baking. I found this recipe on Feasting with Fruit. I tweaked a bit and they were truly heavenly. Everyone loved them. A little bit savory with a hint of sweetness from the Medjool dates. The perfect combination.

This recipe made a lot of cookies, which was great for the week! I used a tiny scoop so it made about 36 cookies or so.

Ingredients:
2 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup of oat flour
1/2 cup of almond meal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp of salt
1 cup of tahini
1/2 cup of maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tsp of almond extract
12 Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
Sesame seeds for rolling, optional

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.
Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Then in a separate bowl, mix your tahini through extract of choice.
Add the wet ingredients to dry and blend. Then proceed to add the dates.
Scoop out the cookie dough and roll into your sesame seeds and then place on to your baking sheet.
Bake for 11-12 minutes or until golden around the edges. Remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
I put under my cloche for one week or until devoured.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

— Knead to Cook

Plant based meal prepping.

by Filed Under: Air Fried, Breakfast, Brownies, Brunch, Chili, Desserts, Gluten Free, Lentils, Nuts, Pantry, Potatoes, Pressure Cooker, Salads, Snacks, Soups, Tofu, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free

Since I’ve been working outside of our home for the past 15 months with a very demanding & crazy schedule – meal prepping has been a saving grace for me.

Meal prepping can be super easy & small or quite elaborate… its simply up to you. We keep ours very basic, but it allows us to throw lunches or dinners together in a snap – especially when you’re starving & can devour everything not nailed down while preparing dinner. Does this sound familiar? Yes, we’ve all done it.

So in this post I’m going to cover quick & easy ideas that will keep you afloat all week long without breaking the budget for time or money. Let’s get started…

The name of the game in our house lately is to use up all of our veggies from our garden that we’ve harvested. This week we’ve been inundated with plenty of tomatoes and green peppers. Being torn between salsa or homemade marinara… Bill voted for sauce. So I roasted all of my tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic to make a marinara that we could use for dinner one night. Click here for one of my roasted tomato sauce recipes. You can easily go this route as well with a tomato soup. Honestly roasting these veggies and blending them down… it’s such a versatile sauce to use for dipping, atop of a vegan meatball hoagie or over zucchini noodles.

I rarely use salt or oil when roasting. Maybe a slight spritz of olive or avocado oil and tons of fresh herbs from the garden are all you need. In the winter, tap into your spice cabinet and experiment.

While roasting that goodness, I will always roast up in my second oven or use your second rack in you oven, potatoes. ALL the potatoes every single week! I always do yams/sweet potatoes and Japanese sweet potatoes (always organic and unpeeled). If you roast other veggies with it, try to keep the baking sheet separated because veggies will cook at varying times. But feel free to roast as many veggies as you can! Here’s one of my favorite recipes. Cold, cooked potatoes are a wonderful prebiotic fiber source. I normally eat them in my salads cold but feel free to warm before serving if you wish. Also fabulous topped with your favorite nut butter as a snack.

So your oven is working away so let’s turn our attention to your stovetop. I’ve gone back to making my grains, mainly rice on the stove top as I cannot get the perfect texture in my instant pot for my long grain brown rice. So I will normally do one or two grains for the week. Quinoa and brown rice. We also use a ton for the dogs so double or triple the recipe if need be. Both serve as a wonderful base to curries, as a side dish, on a salad… whatever! Use the cooking instructions on the package.

Next up super simple overnight oats with chia. Ohhhhhh these are my favorite. They take NO TIME to prep and will stay perfectly in the fridge all week long. I use these jars and love the size/wide mouth opening.

It’s imperative that you buy organic rolled oats. Sadly the glyphosate aka Roundup contamination is a huge issue with grains.

My super simple recipe can be found here for this easy, healthy and delicious breakfast. Add your favorite nut butter, fresh or dried fruit in the morning.

Now for snacking… I always make a treat for the week. It’s healthy and I normally go for something portable like muffins, cookies, baked oatmeal squares etc. I have a ton of super easy recipes that can be found here. This week I was testing out a oat scone recipe I hope to be sharing in the future. Bill and my dad couldn’t get enough!

These were a lemon pistachio version.

Snack ideas are limitless. Here are some of my favorites… bites, muffin, or brownie.

Next up… savory proteins.

So if you’re looking for some meat-free protein options great for reheating or eating cold (like me) in a big bowl of greens – I’ve got some recipes for you. I always prep tofu. Bill and I go through a ton! Here is my favorite recipe which I’ve been cooking in my air fryer. More recipes you can prep ahead can be found here, here and here. My tofu scramble makes a great meal any time!

If you aren’t a tofu fan… here are some other great prep-ahead ideas. This tempeh recipe is one of my favorites. This salad recipe is great on sandwich bread or atop your favorite greens.

This bbq tempeh is so easy!

Soups or stews are another super easy, one pot meal that will serve you well all week. This one pot lentil stew is so good. I just made these lentil sloppy joe’s again and they are perfect on a bun or I add a big scoop to my salad. Or this double protein vegan chili made in your instant pot for the win!

And then finally, once a month I make my own nut butter combo deal. I’ve found it very hard to find organic nut butters that aren’t super spendy so I make my own. One batch lasts us at least a month and the recipe is super flexible.

This is a blend of cashews, almonds and walnuts.

Taking the time to food prep one or two dishes at a minimum helps to make your meals easier all week long. I hope this post helps you gain some helpful tips on meal prepping. Again, it can be a small or grand as you desire. Happy weekend friends!

— Knead to Cook

Double chocolate Chobani muffins. Vegan. GF.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fruit, Gluten Free, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Muffins, Product Review., Quick Bread, Sponsored, Valentine's Day, Vegan, Wheat Free, Yogurt, Your Life Edit Foundations 2 Comments

Hello dear friends! A few years ago, I worked extensively with my favorite yogurt brand, Chobani but then I migrated to my plant-based diet. With that, I moved away from dairy based yogurt and that included Chobani. Well, much to my wonderful surprise, they reached out to me a few weeks ago asking if I would be interested in trying their new plant-based yogurt… ummm hell yes please & thank you! Well it arrived last week, amidst my crazy work schedule, and I couldn’t wait to try it & bake with it.

The yogurt and drinkable yogurts are coconut-based. They aren’t overly sweet yet perfectly balanced. The flavor options are heavenly and seriously, this is the best plant based yogurt I’ve eaten yet! They didn’t disappoint.

So today, being a day off, I jumped at creating a new recipe using their yogurt. First, the flavors are insanely awesome! I’m obsessed. Elated. In love. Smitten. You get the point. Then I baked this recipe up & the muffins are so moist and soft. Packed with healthy goodness. Seriously, these aren’t going to last very long. I hope you get to try these as soon as you locate some vegan Chobani in your area.

Ingredients:
Wet ingredients…
2 flax eggs (2 tbl ground flax meal plus 6 til water – mixed & allowed to sit for 8-10 minutes)
2 medium, spotty bananas
1 container of vanilla Chobani vegan yogurt
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry ingredients…
2 cups of oat flour, gluten free
2 tbl of raw cacao powder
2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 pinch of salt (1/8 tsp)
By hand: Add 1/3 cup or more of vegan chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spray your muffin wells or use liners. Into you stand mixer, paddle attached, add your flax eggs, bananas, Chobani yogurt, syrup and extract. Blend well. Then add your oat flour (blend oats in your blender until a flour is achieved), cacao, cinnamon, baking powder, soda and salt. Blend again until incorporated. By hand, blend your chocolate chips. Spoon into your prepared muffin pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely for 15 minutes.


Drinkable and conventional dairy free yogurts are brand new from Chobani.


The yogurt I used in this recipe.


Thanks Chobani for sending me this epic care package. I wholeheartedly love this yogurt and plan on enjoying this often. I haven’t found this in any local stores yet but I’m keeping my eyes peeled.

-ox


— Knead to Cook

Vegan Eggnog Bread with a Spiced Rum Glaze.

by Filed Under: Breads, Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Holiday, Holiday Baking Ideas, Lucy Let's Go Post, Quick Bread, Snacks, Sponsored, Vegan 14 Comments

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Eggnog bread was a creation of mine from about 15 years ago-  long before I was plant based or an athlete.  Truth be told, it was my go-to holiday food gift for friends/teachers & neighbors for years.  Everyone I shared it with clamored over the flavor and moist texture of this treat.  Plus, it was a nice disparity from the sea of cookies everyone had in their kitchen.  You can find the original, vegetarian recipe here.

As time has passed, I’ll admit, I hadn’t made this treat in several years.  Going plant-based, I never quite found an equal counterpart to a traditional eggnog until now.  I’ve tried this recipe with several vegan eggnogs and I found success with most brands.  I’ve suggested the versions below, in the recipe, that worked best in my opinion.  I prefer to make small loaves for gifting.  They are the perfect size and let’s face it, most people are drowning in other holiday sweets & treats.  However, this recipe would work perfectly in a regular size loaf pan.

This recipe can be subbed out with traditional products like butter and eggnog but I wanted to take a healthier approach as much as possible while keeping with the integrity of my original recipe. I hope you give this recipe a try.  Also perfect on Christmas morning amidst the wrapping paper flying and children giggling for a fun and easy breakfast or brunch idea.

Happy holidays!

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— Knead to Cook

The best zucchini brownies ever. Vegan. GF.

by Filed Under: Brownies, Brunch, Desserts, Gluten Free, Holiday Baking Ideas, Nuts, Snacks, Vegan, Vegan proteins, Wheat Free 4 Comments

These brownies came out so unbelievably awesome… and I’m not even a brownie fan.  The best & only recipe you’ll ever need.  Seriously.

My dad harvested a behemoth zucchini from our garden yesterday and I wanted to do something different with it instead of bread or grilling it.  The key with baking anything with zucchini is removing every last bit of water from it. Be patient and these delectable brownies will reward you, pinky promise!  I’m not wasting anymore time chatting… we need to get to this, now!  Happy Monday friends ~ ox.

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— Knead to Cook