Chunky Cranberry and Macadamia Cookies

What is there to say about cookies really? They’re little, they’re chewy and tasty and these little ones are vegan! I haven’t used sugar in this recipe and I think the maple syrup gives them a much nicer depth of flavour anyway. (Sorry, that sounded so posh) Feel free to mix up the fruit and nut, I think anything would go with these!

Makes: 14 Cookies

• 7 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 2½ Tablespoons vegan butter
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2/3 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Dash of cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup toasted and chopped macadamia

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and lightly grease a baking/cookie sheet. On a low heat, melt together the syrup and the butter in a small saucepan until just melted. Allow to cool a little.

PLace into a mixing bowl the flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, macadamia and cranberries. Now pour in the butter and syrup mixture. Stir until combined.

Now create 14 dough balls and place on to the baking sheet and press gently with a spoon or your fingers. Bake in the oven for about 10 mins or until they are firm and golden brown around edges. Allow to cool before eating – if you can!

 

 

Avocado Cupcakes with Avo-Lime Frosting

I’ve been inspired recently by another awesome blog called Big Vegan Affair where the cookbook, ‘Big Vegan’ is explored (explore is right, this book has over 350 recipes, some very daunting!). I received this book last year as a gift and have not used it as much as I would like. So today I chose to delve in and give these avocado cupcakes a whirl 🙂

I have usually been quite hesitant to use avocados in sweet desserts, but now that I have…I’m never going back! Try it out for yourself, the buttery texture of the avocados goes great in the batter and also in the icing 🙂

Makes: 12 Cupcakes

• 1¾ cups all-purpose plain flour
• 2 teaspoons lime zest
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup mashed avocado
• 2 tablespoons veg/canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used Almond)
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting:

• 1/2 cup mashed avocado
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
• 2 cups powdered/icing sugar
• Extra milk if you need it for thinning

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 and line a muffin tin with 12 liners. In a large bowl combine the flour, lime zest, baking powder and soda, and salt. Puree the avocado in a bowl or blender then mix in the oil. Stir into this the sugar then the milk, lime juice and vanilla. Stir this liquid mix into the dry ingredients and mash-up any lumps.

Pour the batter into prepared liners and bake for about 20 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean (or until the middle of the cupcake springs back when pressed). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan.

To make the frosting, mash the avocado with the lime juice in a medium bowl until smooth then stir in the icing sugar. (I used a hand blender here). Cover and put in the fridge until cupcakes are cool and ready to be frosted. Once they are, spread about a tablespoon of icing/frosting on each cake. You can store these in the fridge in a sealed container and when ready to eat, bring to room temp.

Let me know what you think of them. I love how you can really taste the avocado in this recipe and mixed with the zesty lime, ah! It’s heaven 🙂