Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

A lot of good recipe stories begin with a bunch of bananas languishing on a counter. That's what happened in this case as well. I smushed the offenders up with some ground up almonds and oats, and these babies were born.

I once saw some graffiti on a wall that said "Oatmeal raisin cookies are the reason I have trust issues". I can relate. It's the worst when you're deliberating in front of a pile of cookies and you can't tell the difference between chocolate chip and raisin. I don't see why you have to choose though, just put them all into one cookie and your problem is solved. And I don't see why you need to stop at those, goji berries, chopped nuts, and hempseeds should also be invited to the party. Some is good, more is better, too much may be just enough.

If you're not feeling bananas, you could try pumpkin puree, or applesauce perhaps. Each banana is equal to about 1/2 cup. If your dough looks a little too wet though, try adding some more oats.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 cup almonds

1 cup rolled oats

2 tablespoons oat flour

2 large ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tablespoons chocolate/vanilla protein powder

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chocolate chips

pinch of salt

Grind the almonds in a food processor so that it's almost flour texture, but still a little chunky.

Mix almond meal, oats, oat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, protein powder, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl combine bananas and vanilla, then mix into oat mixture. Add in chocolate chips and raisins, stir till combined. 

Bake on a cookie tray at 350 for 12-14 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies.

Buckwheat Blueberry Chocolate Pancakes

Yesterday my friend Shawnna and I tried a new vegetarian restaurant for the first time, Sadie's Diner. Cozy and adorable on a rainy night, it was adorable and looked like someone's granny's kitchen. I was overwhelmed for choice with the menu, but had been craving a veggie burger, so I went for that.

No regrets, it was the tastiest morsel I've eaten in awhile. It tasted like it had been home cooked on a BBQ in the summer, and I probably put off everyone around me with the ketchup dripping all over my face while I ate it.

Incredibly meaty seeming for a veggie burger, and with some delish onions on top. Definitely going back! Shawnna got pancakes which led me to my inspiration for this post. Lately my pancake experiments haven't been quite right, they're tasty but missing that fluffy cakiness that is quintessential pancakes, to me. I haven't attempted buckwheat pancakes before, but had some buckwheat hanging out in my cupboard, so these were born.

If you're feeling eager you can mix the dry ingredients up in a bowl the night before so you can have pancakes even faster in the morning. Then you don't have to try to figure out measurements that early in the day. I'm always at a loss for why blueberry and chocolate chips have to be two seperate options on the menu. I want it all in one pancake.

Topped with some blueberry compote, maple syrup, and pumpkin butter, these were a perfect start to a Tuesday. Depending on your protein powder, the batter might get a little too thick. Add some almond milk if that happens, you want it to be not quite liquid, but still pourable.

I like to wait til the pancakes are in the pan to add the blueberries, to avoid turning the batter grey.

Buckwheat Blueberry Chocolate Pancakes

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 1/4 cup almond milk
1 scoop chocolate protein powder(I used Vega)
2 packets of stevia
1 tablespoon agave(optional)
cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 flax egg(1 tablespoon flax meal, 3 tablespoons water mixed and allowed to thicken)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup blueberries

In a bowl mix together buckwheat flour, protein powder, stevia, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips.

Mix together almond milk, agave, vanilla and flax egg. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in wet. Stir until smooth. Add more almond milk if necessary.

In a medium heat pan, cook pancakes, about 2-3 mins each side depending on size. They're ready to flip when the edges look firm and a bit bubbly.

Chocobanana Fudge

I've been trying to come up with a solid brownie that's also gluten free, and it's been an interesting, if tasty road. They come out almost right but one thing will be off. Like the texture, or it's capability to hold itself together. These were part of that process, but to be honest it seemed more like fudge to me. They're no bake, which is nice, and you can keep them in the freezer for awhile. You need a high speed blender for them to properly get the right texture however.

Coconut butter and oil are two different things. Coconut butter is just pureed coconut meat, and the oil is something else although I'm not entirely sure what. Coconut butter melts slightly, but doesn't liquify. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, but melts into liquid. While it's probably not the end of the world if you interchange them in this recipe, I have no idea what happens, so you're on your own with that one.

Chocobanana Fudge
1 cup cashews, soaked overnight
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 mashed banana
1/2 cup coconut butter(NOT oil)
pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate chips and coconut butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Place everything into a blender and blend until smooth, then spread into a pan and let set in the freezer. These are best kept cold, they tend to melt a bit when they warm up!

Spicy Maple Tofu

I was recently given a can of maple syrup and have been trying to find ways to sneak it into everything since. I used to hate maple syrup(bad Canadian, I know)  as a kid, but one day that switched and we've been full steam ahead since. Good thing since it comes out of the tap here.

This is a good recipe for when you feel lazy, but want something delicious. Usually with tofu flavours seem to absorb better when you let it drain for a bit, but to be honest I usually skip that step since I'm impatient. If you think far ahead enough it helps to unwrap your tofu when you get it home from the store, dump all the water out of the container, and store it like that. It helps it dry out a bit which leaves more room for flavours to get in there. Flavourless tofu is a sin.

This works magically with tempeh as well!

Spicy Maple Tofu
1/3 block of firm tofu, cut into slices
2 tsp coconut oil
2 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

1 cup of kale packed
3 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup cauliflower/broccoli
1/2 avocado

Melt the coconut oil in the pan over medium high heat, then add the tofu. Coat each side with the maple syrup, cayenne, and salt and pepper. Let each side cook til golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

In the same pan add the kale, shrooms, zucchini, cauliflower, and ACV. Stir fry until soft, add a little water if necessary.

Serve tofu over kale with avocado on top!