Tag: dairy-free

Easy Vegan, Gluten-Free Pink Pancakes!

img_3293We first made these 2 years ago when I discovered the basic recipe at Masala Vegan and although I’m not a big pancake-lover, my husband is and it’s Pancake Day, so we revisited these lovely Pink Ones.

We were better at cooking them this time, they were crisper and thinner.

Last time we had them with blueberries and Coyo coconut yogurt, this time we went with homegrown apples stewed with raisins and cinnamon, topped with Sojade soya yogurt and an optional small drizzle of organic maple syrup.

The original recipe calls for Xylitol as a sweetener, but I don’t like it and we prefer to add the sweetness via the fruit on top, and if you have a particularly sweet tooth, there’s always the maple syrup.

The recipe is very simple, all measurements are very approximate:

Ingredients

2 Cups of blended Watermelon Pulp

1 1/2 Cups Gluten-free Self-Raising Flour (last year we improvised with cornflour and gluten-free baking powder as we didn’t have the SR flour, it worked fine)

Coconut Oil for cooking

We added a pinch of salt

We also think they’re good with a pinch of spice, ground ginger or cinnamon, or baobab powder.

Method

In a large bowl, gradually whisk the flour into the watermelon pulp.

Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil until a drop of the batter sizzles.

Add 1/4 Cup of batter at a time and swirl around until it is thin. Cook until golden and crispy on the bottom, gently lifting the edges and turn over to cook the other side.

This amount made 8 small pancakes, we reneged after 3 each! Very filling and very tasty with the topping.

(See This Spicy Watermelon & Grapefruit Juice Will Help Stave Off Those Winter Bugs! for information on the many health benefits of watermelon – and grapefruit).

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Copyright: Chris McGowan

Fill Your Easter Basket with Home Made Vegan Raw Chocolate Eggs

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Soon, it will be that other chocolate-filled holiday and the kids are off school getting revved up in anticipation of the upcoming egg hunts, so here is my alternative to the usually over-sweet, over-processed and over-priced commercial eggs. The kids will love to ‘help’ – or you could do it all in secret under the pretext of surprising them, but really so you get to clean out the bowl and lick the spoon! 😉

These home-made raw chocolate eggs are dairy- and gluten-free, as well as free from refined sugar. Some of them contain nuts but you can replace nut butter with tahini and ground-up nuts with seeds or you could choose the second nut-free version. All ingredients are organic where possible.

The Nutty Ones

1/2 Cup Raw Coconut Oil, melted

1/2 Cup Raw Chocolate Company Cacao Powder*

1/4 Cup Maple Syrup

1/4 Cup Unsweetened Nut Butter (no palm oil)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup either Raw Chocolate Company Goldenberries or Goji Berries (chopped) or other preferred berries

                           2 Tbsp chopped Almonds or Cashews (or seeds)

METHOD
Whisk together raw cacao powder, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, vanilla extract and nut butter. Stir in the berries and nuts.

Pour chocolate mixture into freezer-safe egg moulds or other shapes placed on greaseproof paper.

Place in the freezer for 30 minutes or until set.
Remove from freezer and arrange in a pretty basket.

(You could also pour onto greaseproof paper on a tray, let it spread, freeze and break into bite-size pieces).

These are the moulds we used, they’re available from Ocado and Amazon. They’re silicone and are freezerproof, ovenproof to 260C and dishwasher safe.

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Nut-Free Eggs

For this version, we used the basic Raw Chocolate Company recipe on the back of their Cacao Powder and Raw Coconut Palm Sugar packs, with the addition of vanilla and goji berries.* It is a more intensely dark flavour and not as sweet as the first recipe. In fact, for a few of the eggs, we added a teaspoon of maple syrup as well to cater for those who have a slightly sweeter tooth.

The coconut palm sugar needs refining in a small chopper to make it dissolve and blend more easily.

You can of course leave out the berries if you just want plain chocolate or add whatever you prefer.

Ingredients

90g Cacao Butter, melted

60g Cacao Powder

60g Coconut Palm Sugar (+ 1 Tsp Maple Syrup if required) 

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Goji Berries or lightly chopped Dried Mulberries

Method

Mix the melted cacao butter and coconut palm sugar in a bowl over hot but not boiling water to dissolve the sugar. Whisk in the cacao powder and vanilla extract, then stir in the goji berries.

Pour into moulds and set in the freezer as before.

‘Mylk’ Chocolate Nests

28330256_UnknownIf you want to make chocolate nests, you can mix this basic chocolate recipe (minus the Goji Berries) with Weetabix- or shredded wheat-type cereal or gluten-free equivalents, or puffed rice cereal, and place in moulds or bun cases. Refirgerate as before.

With these ones, we added a little vanilla, a tablespoon of lucuma powder, and a couple of tablespoons of homemade tiger nut milk.

You could also make ‘eggs’ from marzipan with the option of dipping in raw chocolate! You can also use natural food colourings. Here, though, we used ground almonds mixed with a little maple syrup.

See also my page of Raw Treats – Recipes for more Raw Chocolate Recipes (at the bottom of the page) and here is a new recipe for Raw Vegan Fruit & Nut (or seed) Chocolate – not just for Easter!.

Have a fun Easter weekend with the people you love!

The Raw Chocolate Company

* (They sell a special chocolate-making kit containing all the ingredients for home-made raw chocolate on their website).

Copyright: Chris McGowan”

Healthy Almond, Raisin & Mulberry Treats

imageThese are another version of fruit and nut energy balls made from almond milk pulp, this time using some dried Turkish mulberries from The Raw Chocolate Company  and also trying out some Pulsin’ Cacao Butter Buttons for the first time. Please don’t mistake these Cacao Butter Buttons for White Chocolate Buttons – I wonder how many people have done that? They are cacao fat, to cook with, not dessert chocolate for eating or decorating birthday cakes.

These cacao butter buttons are so much more convenient than solid blocks of cacao butter which need a hammer and chisel and some hefty muscles to break up! The melted cacao butter not only adds a mild chocolate flavour but also helps bind and firm up the ingredients.

I’ve also used some Golden Linseeds, partially ground to release the nutrients,  which some of you may not have seen or used before. They contain Omega 3, 6, and 9 healthy oils, protein and fibre and are regarded as a superfood. (See Golden Linseeds (aka Flax Seeds): The Original Superfood?)

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All ingredients are organic, vegan and gluten-free and the recipe can also be nutfree if you use an alternative to almond milk pulp as the base. (Eg Tiger nuts are actually tubers and make excellent sweet and creamy milk).

These energy balls are healthy bites of protein, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and fibre. They are sweet and fruity but contain no refined sugar.

Measurements are very apporoximate and rely on my short-term memory functioning long enough to write them down!

Ingredients

1 Cup Almond Milk Pulp (see How To Make Almond Milk) or any other milk pulp (which may alter the taste or texture)

1 Cup Raisins

3-4 Medjool Dates, pitted and chopped

1/4 Cup Mixed Golden Linseeds & Sesame Seeds, partially ground

1/4 Cup Pulsin’ Cacao Butter Buttons, melted

3/4 Cup Dried Mulberries

2 Tbsps Apple Juice

Desiccated Coconut and Cacao Powder for dusting

Pulse a few times and then process in bursts, scraping down the sides, until it is the texture you want and will come together to form a smooth ball.

Roll in coconut or dust with cacao powder.

Refrigerate to firm them up. Will keep for several days in an airtight container.

Copyright: Chris McGowan

How To Make Almond Milk

Home-made almond milk is so much tastier than that bought in cartons and is easy to make, especially if you have a high-speed blender. We use the Optimum 9200 from Froothie easy to use, easy to clean. The Retro Super Blend can also cope well with nuts, but we tend to use that for smoothies and the Optimum for milk as it has a slightly larger capacity.

Almonds are the king of the nut world in terms of nutrients: they are alkaline and full of vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins, Calcium and Vitamin D.  1 oz or 28g (a small handful) contains about 6g of protein. Most of the fat content is the healthier mono-unsaturated type.

So, have a go at making your own, it is a very satisfying activity. Because it is a very hands-on exercise, do make sure you wash your hands and nails thoroughly before starting.

All ingredients are organic where possible. This recipe makes about 1 litre.

You will need something to strain the milk, we use a nut milk bag bought on Amazon and still going strong a year later. It is easy to rinse out afterwards, do it straightaway under running hot water and hang up to air dry.

Method

Soak 1 Cup Raw Almonds overnight in enough filtered water to cover them.

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They will look plump after soaking.

Drain and rinse. The rinse water removes phytates which bind to minerals in the body and prevent absorption.

Pour the soaked almonds into the blender with:

3 or 4 Cups Filtered Water, depending how creamy you like it

1 or 2 Pitted Medjool Dates, depending on how sweet you like it

A good pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt

Optional: 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Blend on Fast for about 60 secs.

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Strain gently through a nut milk bag or muslin cloth into a large jug.

Let it run through first, then very gently begin to squeeze. Don’t be too enthusiastic about this or you’ll end up with more on you and the work surface than in the jug! Be patient. It’s worth it.

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It can keep up to 4 days in an airtight jug or glass bottle (see Grip & Go below) in the fridge, but I doubt you will manage to make it last that long! It’s too good.

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Ps You can dry the pulp on the lowest setting of the oven and use it as flour, in veggie burgers, or as it is in raw treats etc. See here for my Raw Pitch Dark Figgy Almond Slices.

Copyright: Chris McGowan