Almond & Oats Energy Bites

There are so many different ways to make the popular "energy bites" or "energy balls." So trust me, I will be making some new variations soon! They're easy to make- through everything in a food processor and pulse until it all come together, then roll into small spheres.

I eat these when I am in need of some energy (hence the name). When I don't other snacks around the house (because I eaten all my RxBars) these are an easy go-to. I don't eat them when I am trying to eat a low-calories snack. These things have plenty of calories, mostly from fat. But they also have some protein and fiber and are fairly low carb. So don't be afraid- just keep your portion small. There is plenty of energy in a small portion!

Almond & Oats Energy Bites
Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Vegan
Recipe by Emily Frizell, R.D.

(makes 5 servings)

½        cup                  almond butter

1/3     cup                  old fashion oats

2          tsp.                  monk fruit sugar (or coconut sugar)

1          TBSP.              green banana or coconut flour

1          tsp.                  vanilla

1          TBSP.              water (or espresso, or other liquid)

Process ingredients through vanilla in food processor until smooth and forms a dough. Add a few drop of water at a time if dough is not wet enough. Scoop 1 TBSP. of mixture and roll into a ball. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. 

Vegan Brownies and Vegan Frostings

After teaching a Light, Vegan Thanksgiving class at Salud, the Healthy Pantry, I was introduced to a wonderful new product: Soom Chocolate Sesame Butter. This chocolate sesame seed paste is a healthier lower-sugar, higher-fiber, higher-protein delicious alternative to Nutella-like spreads. It is full of heart healthy fats, antioxidants, and helps control post-meal blood sugars.

I quickly started taste-testing this chocolatey goodness with everything- apple slices, graham crackers, toast, plain oatmeal.  It is so versatile. I decided I wanted to try making a vegan dessert using Soom Chocolate Sesame Butter.  I thought I would start with my gluten-free polenta brownies for inspiration, but that is so far from vegan with 12 eggs per recipe.  So I tried replacing the eggs with a can of coconut milk (full fat). These brownies were rich and moist, but so very flat. So I added oat flour and baking soda to increase the volume. Perfecto.

Vegan Polenta Brownies

What you'll need:
-1 can (13.66oz) coconut milk
- 2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 TBSP agave syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup corn meal
- 1 cup oat flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- 1/4 cup Soom chocolate sesame butter

What to do:
Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease a 9x9 baking pan. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl using a whisk or electric mixer until well combined. Pour mixture in greased baking pan.  Bake 26 - 30 minutes, until cake tester or toothpick comes out clean.

For the Frostings

Then it was onto the super fun part: frostings. I made a brownie parfait using a light yogurt "frosting" flavored with coffee, so I thought I would try out a few more frostings- pumpkin mousse frosting, maple frosting, and many more.  You can use many ingredients to make vegan frostings, including coconut milk, soy yogurt, and vegan buttery spreads.

Before you start the frostings, there are some overnight steps you may need to take.  First, for the coconut frostings it is important to refrigerate a can of coconut milk overnight. This separates the water from the creamy white fatty part. When you open the can, pour out any water that is sitting on top (discard or reserve this for another use).  Scoop out the creamy white part. Whip this with a whisk or electric mixer. Use this whipped coconut milk when necessary in the recipes below.

When using yogurt-based frostings, it is important to strain the yogurt. Do this by wrapping it in a cheesecloth over a strainer overnight. This removes liquid and thickens the yogurt. Whipped coconut milk can be added to this to help thicken it more, but for some purposes (ie brownie parfait) you may want to leave out the coconut milk.

Vegan Frostings

*Note: because I made a variety of frostings, I made small amounts of each.  Each frosting spread over 3 or 4 brownies. If you are making only 1 frosting, multiple the ingredients by 3.

Chai Spiced Frosting
This is one of my favorites! I bought some chai spiced black tea that smelled amazing.  I made strong tea by heating 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk and steeping 1 tea bag for 5 minutes. Just a little whipped coconut milk to thicken it and powdered sugar to sweeten it and this is perfect. *Note: I had leftover strong tea, so I used that to flavor my plain oatmeal one morning. Yum Yum Yum!
Ingredients: 1/4 cup whipped coconut milk, 1 1/2 TSP strong chai tea, 1 1/2 TBSP powdered sugar

Chocolate Avocado
It may sound weird to be using Avocado, but this frosting is so rich, creamy, and chocolatey. It is also very simple.  Just add all the ingredients together in a food processor and blend until combined and creamy.
Ingredients: 1/2 and avocado, 1/2 TSP vanilla, 1 TBSP cocoa, 1 1/2 TSP agave, 2 TBSP powdered sugar, 1 TBSP Soom chocolate sesame butter

Zesty Orange Yogurt Frosting
Soy yogurts seem to have a different flavor and taste from brand to brand.  Try a couple and find one that you like best. I used plain yogurt so I could flavor and sweeten it to my liking. This is also a good way to flavor yogurt for a snack! I added a little whipped coconut milk to thicken it to make it the consistency of frosting.
Ingredients: 2 TBSP strained soy plain yogurt, 1 TBSP fresh orange juice, 1 tsp orange zest, 1 TBSP whipped coconut milk. Garnish with orange zest.

Salted Caramel Frosting
Of course this is going to be amazing. Salted caramel anything is delicious.  This vegan caramel is so delicious and buttery. To make the caramel, first melt butter in a small saucepan.  Add brown sugar and almond milk and simmer for about 3 minutes, until mixture has thickened. Remove from heat. Once caramel has cooled, add 1 1/2 TBSP caramel to the remaining ingredients.  Use remaining caramel for garnish.
Ingredients: 2 TBSP buttery spread (no trans-fat spread such as Nature Balance Vegan Buttery Spread), 2 TBSP brown sugar, 1 1/2 TBSP unsweetened almond milk, 2 TBSP whipped coconut milk, 1 TBSP powdered sugar. Garnish with extra caramel sauce.

Pumpkin Cake Pops

My sister is actually the baker of the family.  It is a well-known fact.  People even joke that we would have the best restaurant if I cooked the food and Jen baked the dessert.  So when birthdays come around, my sister is always creating these awesome-tasting and awesome-looking cakes.  So when my sister's birthday came around this year and my mom wasn't in town to help me, I was a little worried.  I really wasn't even sure what angle I was going to take.  My inspiration came pretty easy after having a 10 minutes conversation with Jen about all things we love about pumpkin season.  We were talking about making pumpkin gnocchi, that time I made pumpkin chili, pumpkin ravioli.  So I quickly decided to make some kind of pumpkin dessert.  After thinking about it more, I decided to do a pumpkin cake dessert bar.

Using fresh roasted pumpkin, I made two different types of cake pops: pumpkin cake and pumpkin brownies.  I then had a couple different dips: caramel sauce, cheesecake pudding, and pumpkin-spiced icing.  I also had different toppings: crushed toffee, crushed cinnamon graham crackers, and sprinkles.

When baking, I need to use a recipe as a guide or else cakes turn out flat, gritty, or in some other way far from perfect.  So the pumpkin cake recipe is based on a Food Network recipe, with some minor alterations.  The pumpkin brownies were easy.  I used boxed brownie mix and substituted half of the oil for pumpkin puree.

Pumpkin Cake Pops

What you'll need:
For the Pumpkin cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup nonfat milk
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh, see previous recipe for roasting fresh pumpkin)

For the icing:
- 8oz cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

To make the cake:
1.  Preheat oven to 375*.  Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin spice with a whisk.  Set aside.

2.  In a bowl, combine eggs and sugar and mix with an electric mixer.  Mix in milk, then oil, then the pumpkin puree.

3.  Add the dry mix to the pumpkin mixture using a wooden spoon.

4.  Spray a 9x13 baking pan and pour cake batter into it.  Bake 25 - 28 minutes.  Cool cake in pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a cooling rack.

5.  Mix together all the ingredients for the icing in a bowl using an electric mixer.

To make the cake pops:
1.  Using pumpkin cake or pumpkin brownie, place cake in a bowl.  Using a fork, break apart cake until it is all small crumbs. Add about 3/4 cup icing to the cake crumbs and mix together.

2.  Spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray.  Use your hands to mix the cake and icing completely and to form into 1" spheres.  If the cake falls apart, it needs a little more icing to hold it together.  Place cake pops on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Place in freezer for one hour.  Take out of the freeze and put cake pop sticks in each one.

3.  Cover with icing and roll in crushed graham crackers.  Or make a caramel sauce to dip in and then roll in crushed toffee.  You could also melt Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kiss to dip in, or crush the kisses and use as a topping.

Mini Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake

Another thing I don't make very often: dessert.  I used to bake a lot when I was younger. I experimented with different flavors and using different substitutes for butter.  But somewhere along the way, I started to like cooking much more than baking. I also thought it more relevant to know how to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner since I make those every day and only eat dessert on occasion.

I have started liking cream cheese frosting a lot, and also lemon-flavored desserts. As an idea for my wedding cake, I wanted to combine lemon, berries, and cream cheese.

Mini Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake

Strawberry and lemon zest in blender

What you'll need:
Crust:
- 1 1/2 tbsp melted buttery spread
- 4 graham crackers, crushed
- 2 tbsp sugar
Cheesecake:
- 8oz light cream cheese
- Juice from 1/2 a lemon
- 6 tbsp agave nectar

Strawberry mixture:

Thin layer graham crust

- 4 1/2oz strawberries (frozen or fresh)
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp agave nectar


What to do:
1.  Preheat the oven to 350*F

2.  Mix together the melted butter, crushed graham crackers, and sugar.  Spread a thin layer of this mixture into 12 separate cupcake wrappers. Bake for 4 - 5 minutes

3.  Mix all ingredients for the cream cheese filling and set aside.  Combine all ingredients for the strawberry mixture in a blender and puree.

4.  Let the graham cracker crust cool.  Spoon 2 tbsp cream cheese mixture onto each crust, then spoon 2 tsp strawberry mixture, then add another 2 tbsp layer of cream cheese.  Finally top with 3 dots (1 tsp each) of the strawberry mixture.  Use a toothpick to spread the strawberry mixture around to create designs.

Top with 3 tbsp puree

Swirl with a tooth pick