baking, dessert, health, vegan, vegan baking, whole grains

Wholesome Vegan Carrot Cake with Vegan Cream Cheese Almond Frosting

January 28, 2019January 28, 2019by Katherine Baker2 Comments

Carrot cake! Vegan carrot cake! Also known as my favorite dessert on the planet (tied with Van Leeuwen vegan ice cream).

My favorite non-homemade carrot cake is from Peacefood cafe (which I ate last weekend!). If you like carrot cake and you’re ever in New York City, go to Peacefood and order their glorious carrot cake, even if you’re not vegan. I promise you, it is life-changing.

This year, I had Peacefood carrot cake the day after my birthday, but I also wanted to make myself a cake for the actual day.

While thinking about my cake, I actually got curious about the origins of carrot cake, and did a little bit of googling. According to Wikipedia, the origins of carrot cake are widely disputed, but most food historians believe carrot cake was somewhat inspired from Medieval carrot puddings eaten in Europe. During the Middle Ages, when sugar became scarce, people began using carrots as a substitute for sugar.

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baking, cake, chocolate, easy, vegan, vegan baking

Vegan Chocolate Sheet Cake with Chocolate Buttercream (And How to Veganize A Non-Vegan Cake Recipe)

September 8, 2018September 8, 2018by Katherine Baker2 Comments

Do you ever just feel the need to eat deliciously rich, Bruce Bogtrotter-worthy chocolate cake? Because I do. That’s where this Vegan Chocolate Cake with Vegan Chocolate Buttercream comes in.

One thing a lot people don’t realize about vegan baking is that it’s actually quite easy to veganize a lot of “conventional” recipes with a few simple swaps.

Non-dairy milk for regular milk, vegan butter in place of butter, and an egg replacement (1/4 cup applesauce or canned pumpkin, 1 tablespoon chia seed or ground flax + 3 tablespoons of water, or 1/4 cup silk tofu, to name a few) for the egg, whipped aquafaba for egg whites, etc, and viola! You’ve veganized your desired “conventional” baked good.

Now, it may take a couple of attempts to figure out which replacements you like best, and/or which ones work best for your old favorite “conventional” recipes, but it’s truly not as scary as it sounds, and experimenting in the kitchen, though it can lead to some epic fails, can also lead to exciting new and wonderful creations of your own.

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, chocolate, dessert, no bake, sweet, vegan, vegan baking, vegetarian

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Bites

August 12, 2018August 13, 2018by Katherine Baker3 Comments

I love a salty sweet treat. And these peanut butter chocolate pretzel bites are the epitome of a salty, sweet crunchy creamy dream snack.

Bonus: they couldn’t be similar to make. If you can make cereal, you can probably make these delightful nibbly desserts.

All you need is pretzels, peanut (or your other favorite nut) butter, chocolate chips, and some salt. And the only fancy equipment you need a microwave, microwave-safe bowl, and a refrigerator or freezer. Now let’s get into it.

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, vegan, vegetarian

Homemade Pistachio Butter

August 3, 2018August 3, 2018by Katherine BakerLeave a Comment

For years and years, I’ve wanted to make pistachio butter.

Honestly. This idea has been on my mind since probably 2010. As a nut butter lover, I’ve always wanted to make pistachio butter, which is noticeably lacking from most grocery stores. And when you do find it, it’s noticeably much more expensive than most other nut butters.

So I’ve wanted to DIY pistachio butter since my undergrad days. Why did I never pull the trigger, you ask? Well, probably because I only had a $12 Food Network brand mini food processor and a very dull blender inherited from grandmother to work with.

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almond, dessert, easy, gluten free, glutenfree, lemon, vegan, vegan baking, vegetarian

Easy Raw Vegan Cheesecake for 2

July 27, 2018August 1, 2018by Katherine Baker4 Comments

All my life I’ve dreamed of a working blender or food processor. And thanks to Amazon Prime day, my dream has become a reality at last, and I can now part ways with my $12 Food Network brand mini food processor from Kohl’s circa 2009. This major upgrade has helped bring me (and you) this incredibly easy raw vegan cheesecake.

Now. Raw cheesecake is something I’ve wanted to make for…oh I don’t know basically forever. But my old mini food processor was so small, dull, and crappy, that it could barely dice a ripe banana.

I’ve dreamt about making raw cheesecakes and smooth hummus and nut butters for years but never had the right equipment to properly execute these desires.

Enter new Ninja blender. Enter happiness. And freedom and inspiration to make ALL OF THE THINGS. Stay tuned!

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, almond, delicious, dessert, easy, side dish, vegan, vegan baking, vegetarian

Nut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate-Dipped Dates

July 17, 2018August 2, 2018by Katherine Baker3 Comments

These nut butter-stuffed, chocolate-dipped dates are like a 14/10 on the amazing scale. 5 Ingredients. No fancy equipment or oven required. Insanely delicious sweet treat.

All you gotta do is crack open some dates, de-pit them, slather their insides with nut butter, squash a whole nut in there (optional, but recommended), dip in some melted chocolate, and finish with sea salt.

A short chill sesh in the freezer later, you have a treat that’s chewy, crunchy, creamy, salty, sweet, and chocolatey. It hits every desirable snack element in one swoop.

Honestly, the result is far better than it has any right to be. It tastes like a snickers but without any artificialness or sugar overload. They’re actually kind of like a lazy version of my favorite-ever Sunbutter Caramel Date Truffles with Sea Salt.

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appetizer, dinner, easy, entertaining, fiesta, healthy, vegan, vegan baking, vegetarian, veggie burger

Some Vegan Memorial Day Recipes

May 28, 2018June 26, 2018by Katherine BakerLeave a Comment

Happy Memorial Day! It occurred to me recently that I’ve never done a recipe round-up post, so I thought I’d take this holiday opportunity to do one. So here are some Vegan Memorial Day Recipes to bring to a BBQ!

Also, dog parents, be sure to watch your little ones during fire works if they aren’t fanss of them (Millie flips out and tries to hide).

Let me know if you try any of these Vegan Memorial Day recipes and let me know whatcha thing! HMU on insta or twitter.

1. Black Rice Beet Veggie Burgers

With rich umami flavors from black rice, sweetened up with beets, these veggie burgers are an eye-catching main dish.

2. Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

My favorite side ever. Serve with guac, hummus, or almond butter!

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5-ingredients, baking, brownies, delicious, dessert, easy, fast, peanut butter, vegan, vegan baking

Salted Peanut Butter Cup Brownies (Brownie Mix Shortcut)

December 2, 2017by Katherine BakerLeave a Comment

The same says it all: salty sweet rich and decadent brownies swirled with luscious peanut butter and topped with peanut butter cups and crunchy sea salt. These salted peanut butter cup brownie mix brownies are tastebud heaven.

I made these a few weeks ago for Vegan Bites (which airs Thursday evenings on @spoonuniveristy Instagram stories) and wasn’t planning to put them on the blog, but the response to the episode was so positive I decided despite only having mediocre phone pics they deserved a place on kbaked.com.

You’ve probably noticed based on the title of the post that these brownies are made with a box mix. Now you may be saying “that’s cheating” or that “true bakers never use mixes.” To which I say your opinion is fair, however, I’ve come to find times and places for box mixes and like to keep them on hand for such occasions. They’re especially nice when you need to whip something up and find your baking pantry bare.

Making a cake for a special occasion is not, in my opinion, the place for a mix, but these brownies definitely are. All you have to do to make these is grab a box of brownie mix, some peanut butter cups, sea salt, oil/vegan butter, and an egg substitute, and you’re on your way to peanut butter cup brownie mix magic in a matter of minutes.

Now let’s talk brownie mix. Some are better than others. Look for an ingredient list that contains things you’d add at home and doesn’t contain too many things you wouldn’t (like DATEM and mono- and do-triglycerides, etc). I like Trader Joe’s, Annie’s, and Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes. Also check the ingredient list for animal ingredients. You’ll find many are accidentally vegan, making your life a wee bit easier.

You’re going to cook the brownie mix according to the package with a few modifications, swapping animal products for non-animal products. While many mixes call for oil, should yours call for butter, simply swap in vegan butter (like Earthbalance).

Now on to the milk. Should your box’s recipe call for milk, simply add your favorite unsweetened non-dairy milk. I would go for the unsweetened, since box mixes tend to be far sweet enough already.

Lastly, the egg. This is the trickiest to swap but you can handle it. For quick breads, cookies, and muffins, swapping each egg with 1/4 cup applesauce or a flax or chia egg works fabulously. If you don’t mind a subtle banana taste, 1/2 a small ripe mashed banana will also work. For brownies, replacing an egg with a chia or flax eggs or 1/4 cup puréed silken tofu or canned pumpkin will do the trick. Cakes are a bit trickier and sometimes with delicate crumb, aquafaba is best, but know that chia and flax eggs will do just fine.

To make a chia or flax egg, simply combine 1 tablespoon flax or chia seeds + 3 tablespoons water in a small bowl and allow to thicken for at least 10 minutes. Fabulous.

Now back to brownies: despite this long and winding post these truly couldn’t be easier. Make the brownies according to the mix instructions with swaps mentioned above, swirl in 1/4 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter, and bake according to time listed on the package.

When there’s a minute or two left in the bake time, chop up vegan peanut butter cups (like Justin’s dark chocolate) and when you pull the brownies out of the oven to cool, sprinkle the cups over the top of the hot brownies. You’ll notice the cups will start to melt slightly; this is perfect. Sprinkle with flakey sea salt to finish, allow to cool, and enjoy, preferably crumbled atop your favorite non-dairy ice cream (I’m partial to Van Leeuwen or So Delicious Cashew Milk – particularly their Caramel Cashew Cluster ice cream myself).

I hope you make these or that this recipe has inspired you to use that box of brownie mix in your pantry that has been sitting there lonely for months.

Salted Peanut Butter Cup Brownies (Brownie Mix Shortcut)

Level: Easy
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 20-30 minutes
serves 12

Ingredients:

1 box egg and dairy free brownie mix (just check labels, many brands are vegan)
oil / water that the mix calls for -1/4 cup apple sauce, silken tofu, mashed sweet potato or 1 tablespoon chia + 2 tablespoons water per egg called for on box.
1/4 cup peanut butter (optional)
10-12 nondairy peanut butter cups (optional, I like Justin’s dark chocolate)
1-2 tablespoons flakey sea salt

Method:

Preheat oven and prepare mix per box instructions, subbing your egg replacement for eggs.
Pour into well-greased pan.
Swirl in peanut butter evenly throughout batter.
Bake per time called for on box.
Remove from oven. Immediately too with sea salt + chopped pb cups.
Enjoy! 🤗

5-ingredients, almond meal, baking, breakfast, delicious, dessert, easy, fast, frozen, gluten free, glutenfree, health, healthy, oats, pie, vegan, vegan baking, vegetarian

Quick and Easy Vegan Fruit Crisp

September 7, 2017September 7, 2017by Katherine BakerLeave a Comment

Yummy yummy yummy I have Fruit Crisp in my tummy!

….apparently I’m 5 years old. Anyways I thought I’d share the recipe for this easy vegan Fruit Crisp that I made on Vegan Bites this week, because it’s so incredibly simple. I usually eyeball these crisps because I’m lazy and because they are quite forgiving, but below you’ll find a general guideline for making your very own Fruit Crisp.

This recipe serves 2. You can easily double, triple, or quadrupole it, depending on how many people you’re feeding or how hungry you are.

I used peaches, but you can use whatever tickles your pickle or whatever fruit happens to be spoiling around your house. Frozen fruit works well, too.

I suggest using almond or oat flour. This makes it gluten-free if you care and delicious regardless of if you care. If you don’t have these flours, you can use all purpose.

This tastes amaze with non-dairy or ice cream or whipped cream. DO IT.

Enjoy!

Easy Vegan Fruit Crisp

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30-40 minutes, but need at least 1 hour to freeze
Servings: 2, easily doubled

Ingredients:

2 cups fruit (I used peaches today, frozen berries are also fab)
1 tablespoon sugar -1/2 tablespoon lemon juice -3/4 cup oats -1/4 cup flour (I recommend almond or oat, AP is fine too)
1/4 cup brown or coconut sugar (regular will also be okay)
1/4 cup softened non-dairy butter
cinnamon
dash salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Chop fruit into even pieces, add lemon juice, sugar, and toss. Place in well-greased baking pan.
Combine oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Mix. Cube softened butter and mix in.
Cover fruit with oat mixture and bake for 30-45 minutes until fruit is tender and top is crispy.
Serve with non-dairy ice cream or coconut whipped cream!

cookies, copycat, delicious, dessert, easy, vegan, vegan baking, vegetarian

Vegan Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

August 21, 2017August 21, 2017by Katherine Baker9 Comments

I did the damn thing! I made a vegan Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie! Yippee!

I have spent time living on the Upper West Side of New York City, and UWSers and tourists alike are all familiar with the famous Levain Bakery.

They have these ginormous, cookies that are unbelievable delicious, with a perfectly crisp exterior, and a gooey almost underbaked center.

I remember my first Levain Bakery experience. My mom was visiting me while I was at NYU and I had heard of this place called Peacefood on the Upper West Side (yup, before they had a downtown location!) that I really wanted to try. So I dragged her from the East Village to the Upper West and we had a delightful lunch at Peacefood. I got the Asian Greens salad and Chickpea fries (still two of my favs on the menu). And then I said, “hey, since we’re over here, we should go to this famous cookie bakery.” And she agreed.

We got one chocolate chip walnut, and one double chocolate. The OG stood out to me. It was almost like the double chocolate was so chocolately it didn’t let the other elements of the cookie shine. Anyways, I digress, that cookie stayed in my mind for a very long time.

Back in my NYU days, I rarely trekked up to the UWS, but during my MS at Columbia, I ended up reluctantly relocating there. And I ended up loving it. To this day, it is still one of my favorite neighborhoods in NYC.

But since my NYU days, I have gone vegan. Which means my options at Levain bakery include their whole wheat raisin walnut rolls (which TBH ARE SO GOOD), and a few other bread products.

So here we are. I veganized the Levain Bakery Cookie. And I’m pumped about it.

These vegan Levain Bakery style chocolate chip cookies are delicious. Full of chocolate chips and whole chunks of walnuts, they are a texture junkie’s dream. They also have that gooey middle thing going on in the best way possible. Paired with a glass of almond milk these are utter perfection. Now let’s get on to how I did the damn thing.

After doing some research online, I decided to play around and give them a whirl. A common characteristic I noticed in copycat Levain recipes was the use of cold butter. If you’re a baker, you know that typically cookies are made with room temperature butter. Yet all Levain cookies had this in common, so I went with it.

I also used half cake flour and half all-purpose. You can use all AP if you want. I also tried half bread flour with a pretty good result. Do you, honey. Use what ya got (with varied results).

I highly reccomend chilling the dough before baking. I think it helps them maintain that gooey middle quite a bit. If you’re low on time, pop them in the freezer for a bit.

Anyways, these are wonderful plant-based nuggets of joy and I really hope you make these vegan Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies! If you do, please let me know! Gimme an @ on Insta Gimme an @ on Insta or comment on this post. I love to see when people make my recipes!

Vegan Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10-12 minutes
Servings: 10 giant cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup cold vegan butter (I used Earth Balance baking sticks)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour (can sub additional all-purpose)
2 tablespoons ground flax
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water or unsweetened non-dairy milk
2 cups semisweet non-dairy chocolate chips (I used Trader Joe’s)
2 cups whole untoasted walnuts

Method:

Cube butter and place in a bowl. Add sugars and beat using an electric mixer on low speed for about 3-4 minutes until creamy.
Meanwhile, combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk together well.
Add half of flour mixture and water or non-dairy milk to butter and mix by hand with a spatula or wooden spoon. Mix until just barely combined.
Add remaining flour mixture and water and repeat.
Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
Using an ice-cream scooper, scoop dough onto a silicone mat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet, with a generous amount of space between each.
Place cookies in the refrigerator for 40 minutes to an hour until dough is chilled. This will help the cookies maintain their shape in the oven, and give you that gooey gooey middle. If you’re short on time, pop in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Remove cookie dough balls from the refrigerator/freezer and place directly in hot oven.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until just brown on the outside, but still gooey on the inside.
Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes. This is essential! They must have time to firm up before transferring to a cooling rack.
Enjoy with almond milk. 🙂