Almost Vegan Pumpkin Cookies

I made this original pumpkin cookie recipe in college and today is really feelin like Fall so of course, I wanted to make something pumpkin-y, cus ’tis the season. However I wanted to make these  a little healthier so I made some substitutions et voila. I still used an egg but if you really want these to actually be vegan you can try a flax egg instead!

{makes 10 cookies}

      • 1 cup pumpkin puree
      • 1 cup coconut sugar +a little extra for sprinkling
      • 1/3 cup coconut oil
      • 1 tsp vanilla extract
      • 1 large egg (or flax egg)
      • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
      • 1 tsp baking soda
      • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
      • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
      • 1/2 tsp salt
  • spiced cashew cream frosting:
    • 1 cup cashews
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 2 tsp pumpkin puree
    • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
    • 1 tsp each cardamom and cinnamon
    • a couple splashes almond milk
    • pepitas or another nut of your choice for the topping
  1. pre-heat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet (or 2, mine are pretty small) with parchment
  2. in a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, sugar and spices
  3. add egg, vanilla, pumpkin puree and melted coconut oil, stir until combined
  4. spoon cookies onto baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
  5. remove from oven and let cool
  6. meanwhile soak cashews in hot water until the start to get soft
  7. in a small food processor blend all frosting ingredients, adding more almond milk as needed
  8. once the cookies have cooled slightly spread frosting over and decorate with pepitas and a little sugar (optional)
  9. great with chai tea. or red wine, as is everything

© 2018, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

Green and Black Noodles with a “Cheese” Sauce

This was my first real foray into making a nut-based cheese sauce but I thought I’d give it a shot. Nutritional yeast is kinda weird but REALLY works, it’s crazy. Also I wanted to use up the rest of my squid ink pasta and also use zucchini noodles so I just went ahead and combined them here. You can definitely use one or the other but you gotta admit, it does look pretty cool with two colors of noodles.

{serves 2}

  • 2 cup leftover squid ink noodles (optional)
  • 2* cups zucchini noodles (zoodles, if you will) *[FOUR cups of zoodles if not using leftover squid ink pasta]
  • 1 generous dash of everything but the bagel spice (trader joe’s)
  • 8 oz crimini mushrooms sliced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp coconut aminos
  • 1/2 cup each; cashews and almonds
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp sauerkraut juice (literally the juice in the sauerkraut jar)
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 dash himalayan salt
  1. soak cashews and almonds in hot water for an hour
  2. in a food processor blend nuts, and following 5 ingredients until smooth, add water if too dry
  3. in a big skillet or wok heat the olive oil and add the everything bagel seasoning over medium heat, add mushrooms, cook for about 3 minutes with lid on
  4. add zucchini noodles and coconut aminos and cook for an additional 5 minutes, you can do this in batches if it’s too much for your pan, stir occasionally
  5. then add other noodles (already cooked), if using
  6. spoon the sauce over the noodles and mushrooms and stir until combined
  7. garnish with basil or chili flakes or both, done!

© 2018, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

Banana Ice Cream with Date Coconut Caramel

I’d been wary of banana “nice cream” for a while but I decided to give it a try the other night when I had an ice cream hankering but no ice cream. It turned out pretty good! It’s all about the toppings though.

{serves 1}

  • 1 banana, sliced and frozen
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp date coconut caramel
  • dark chocolate chunks
  1. take bananas out of the freezer and give them a quick minute to soften slightly
  2. in a small food processor blend bananas and vanilla extract
  3. blend until they reach a smooth soft serve kind of consistency but not too much, you don’t want it to turn into a smoothie!
  4. then scoop out and top with your favorite toppings! mine are date caramel and chocolate chunks ATM

© 2018, domenicadreamsofcalamari. All rights reserved.

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