Vegan Chocolate Cuppy Cakes

Forget milk, oil, and eggs - everyone who has tried these cupcakes demands the recipe! And with a recipe this easy and delicious, there is no reason to buy a box of premade mix ever again!

Ingredients:
The Wet:
1 cu almond milk (or another milk substitute)
1 t apple cider vinegar
1/2 cu apple sauce
3/4 cu sugar
1 T vanilla

The Dry:
1 cu whole wheat flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/3 cu cocoa

Chocolate Glaze:
1 T cocoa
3 T powdered sugar
2 T almond milk

Before

After

Super Easy Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes. (Quick science lesson: The apple cider vinegar curdles the almond milk and gives it an acidic property which allows it to react with the baking soda resulting in a light and fluffy cuppy cake!)
3. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together lightly to integrate baking soda and powder well.
4. When your 10 minutes are up, pour the wet into the dry. Mix with spatula until just combined.
5. Pour mixture 3/4 full into lined muffin tin.
6. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Rotate once front to back during cooking. Allow to cool as long as you can stand it until you just have to eat one!

These are delicious as is, but to make 'em fancy, you can add a glaze by whisking together 1 T cocoa, 2 T powdered sugar, and 2 T almond milk until smooth.

This exact recipe makes a great chocolate birthday cake as well. Just allow a few more minutes for baking in a larger vessel.

Enjoy!

Vegan Cinnamon Crumble Coffee Cake

It's my birthday! In lieu of birthday cake, I thought I'd share with you my recipe for coffee cake that recieved rave reviews at a business meeting this week. It has a lot of ingredients, but I'll bet you have most of them in your pantry. Plus, with whole wheat flour and applesauce in place of oil, it just doesn't feel entirely right calling this a "cake."

Crumbley topping ingredients:
1/2 cu whole wheat flour
1/4 cu brown sugar
2 T buttery spread (I use Earth Balance, you could also use the same amount of canola or vegetable oil)
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t salt
1/4 cu chopped or crushed walnuts

Cake ingredients:
The Wet:
1 cu almond milk
1/2 cu applesauce
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T vanilla extract

The Dry:
1 cu whole wheat flour
1/2 cu white sugar
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1 t ginger (I love ginger!)
1/4 t salt

You will also need:
A bundt cake pan
Non stick cooking spray
3 bowls
A spatula and/or whisk

The dry. The wet. The muffin method.

Delicious cake in 10 easy steps:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. Mix the wet ingredients listed above in a medium bowl and set aside to rest for 10 minutes. This will effectively curdle the milk and give the cake a tangy flavor, but you will not taste the vinegar. Don't skip this step!
3. Melt the butter and mix with other topping ingredients. Mix until nice and crumbly. Pour into the bottom of a well -reased bundt cake pan. (It must be well-greased or you are not getting this thing out!)
4. Mix the dry ingredients listed above. in a large bowl Use a spatula or whisk to ensure that the baking soda, powder, and spices are well integrated with the flour. 
5. Add the wet to the dry and use a spatula to just mix the ingredients. Some lumps are okay.
6. Pour into the bundt cake pan overtop of the crumbly topping.
7. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes at 350° F until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
8. Let cook in the pan for 5 minutes.
9. Invert pan onto a plate and allow to cool for at least 10 more minutes.
10. Enjoy!


NOTE: If you don't have a bundt cake pan, you can make this in a regular square or round cake pan, but you will want to pour the cake batter in first and put the topping on top.

The Best Collard Greens You'll Ever Make

Being a good Southern girl, I grew up on greens of all kinds - mustard greens, turnip greens, but my favorite have always been Collard Greens! The New Year is fast approaching (well, if the stores put Christmas decorations in the windows before Halloween, I can say the New Year is almost here) and that means Collard Greens & Hoppin' John. The latter is another show, but today's challenge was to create a Vegetarian Version that is every bit as delicious as the one seasoned with ham hock or turkey legs. By George, I think I've done it and then some!

All you need is this and this!

Ingredients:
As many Collard Greens as you like (I used 1 lb and it made about 2 servings)
1 T Salt
1 T Olive Oil
1/4 cu apple cider vinegar
1 t smoke seasoning (make sure it's vegetarian - Trader Joe's African Smoke Seasoning grinder certainly is!)
Apple Cider Vinegar to taste

A quick note on the TJ's Smoke Seasoning:
African-grown paprika is slow-smoked for 48 hours over a sustainable African hardwood called Acacia Saligna, commonly used as barbecue coals. This process enriches the paprika with a smoky, roasted flavor that evokes the South African braai, or barbecue. The smoked paprika is blended with sea salt, garlic and basil and packaged in a grinder, giving you fresh-ground flavor in every twist.

Now... on to the collards!

De-stem, rinse, and chop your collards!
In a large skillet, head 1 T olive oil over high heat. Add collards and stir until they brighten in color and slightly wilt. They should look like this:

Add the 1/4 cu apple cider and the smoke seasoning. I call for 1 t in the recipe, but it's about 15 grinds if you are using the grinder. Don't try to grind into a teaspoon!

Can you smell it?

Cover and let simmer until it reaches your desired collard consistency. This may only take 5 minutes if you like a crunch collard or up to an hour if you prefer a creamy collard. Season with the apple cider vinegar and ENJOY! This will definitely be featured on my Thanksgiving table! I am thankful for Collards!