Chocolate Cookie Dough (vegan, no bake, gluten free, oil free, refined sugar free, soy free, nut free)

Chocolate Cookie Dough

(vegan, no bake, gluten free, oil free, refined sugar free, soy free, nut free)

Okay, I get it, some people don't like peanuts. Or nuts in general. Or sometimes you just crave chocolate! That's why you're here, right?

I love my peanut butter and chocolate cookie dough, but lately I'm really into the pure chocolate version as well! I, personally, love serving it with some sour, cultured coconut yogurt, which takes the whole cookie dough experience to a different level, and some frozen berries. (a lot actually) (you can use whatever toppings you like tho)

Also, many people use chickpeas for their cookie dough, similar to a sweet hummus, however, chickpeas are hard to digest and for me, they make me bloated in large amounts. That's why I love using kidney beans or white beans in this recipe!

Chocolate Cookie Dough

Serves: 1
Preperation time: 5 minutes
Fridge time: serve right away or let sit in the fridge for up to 3 hours to thicken (longer will let the surface harden - similar to a 'skin' on your hot chocolate)

Ingredients

• a can of white beans or kidney beans (240g)
• 25g cacao powder (or chocolate protein powder)
• 25g to 75g plant milk of choice (I like to use almond milk or cashew milk with this - you can also try to add only a dash if your food processor is strong enough, which will make your final product more thick and sticky)
• sweetener of choice - depending on your prefered level of sweetness (lately I've been really into coconut sugar. Read instructions for the correct amount)
• optional but recommended: a dash (or more) of cinnamon
• optional: 5g Maca Powder (gives it an earthy, slightly caramel-like flavor)

Instructions

• drain and rinse your beans 
• add all the ingredients but the sweetener to a bowl and use a handblender and blend until the dough forms a uniform consistency. Add more liquid if desired. (The dough will thicken a little in the fridge)
• add sweetener, little by little and keep blending and taste-testing until you reach your desired level of sweetness!
• transfer to a bowl, decorate and serve as desired

Tipp: 

• You can also use a blender or food processor if desired. You can also adjust the ratio of the liquid in that case.
• If you rinse your beans well, you won't taste them. If you are still able to taste them, try a different brand of beans or cook them yourself.

Cold Spicy Watermelon Noodles (gluten free, vegan, oil free, nut free)

Cold Spicy Watermelon Noodles

(gluten free, vegan, oil free, nut free)

Okay stop, don't judge this until you've tried it! I thought this was crazy when I first heard of it as well. But this is an actual dish! It's based in the Korean cuisine and is a typical summer dish people love to eat on a hot day. And you know what? It's my favorite ever since I've first made it.

I am not a huge fan of noodles, as they tend to be really heavy on my stomach, but cold noodles, especially with this refreshing combination of flavors, is a staple in my kitchen now! And the best thing: It will keep you satisfied, refreshed and cool on a burning hot day. And it will keep your kitchen cold, because you can simply prep the noodles before and you don't have to cook anything anymore.

Yes, some the ingredients are hard to find, especially when there is no asian supermarket close by, so I created a second version of the sauce (which is actually the most important thing here! You don't have to serve this in a watermelon, but it looks kind of cool, right?), that uses more accessible ingredients.

So back to the basics, what is this dish even about?
Well, the original, Korean name is Soobak Naengmyun (수박냉면), which means basically just Cold Noodles in a Watermelon. And that's just what it is. As mentioned above, the sauce is what makes this dish special. 

I'll put both the original (veganised) version and the version with the more accessible ingredients in a different post, which is linked here !! You can use this sauce as a salad dressing as well! It's really variable. 

So now, lets get into assembling (because, remember, you don't have to cook!)

Cold Spicy Watermelon Noodles

Serves: 1
Preparation time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• as much cooked pasta as you feel like eating 
• half a watermelon
• as much of the sauce as you feel like eating (again, the recipe for the sauce is linked here)
• cucumber
• cabbage
• optional: carrots, tomatoes

Instructions

• take your watermelon and (if not already done) scoop a hole in the middle where you can put your noodles (make sure your melon can stand - if not, cut a little bit off the bottom, so it can but the juice can't run out)
• pour a little bit of the sauce on the bottom of your hole
• add your noodles
• slice your cabbage, cucumber, carrots and tomatoes and add them on top nicely
• pour some more sauce on top and dig in!

Tip: Add more sauce, cucumber and cabbage as you go! And don't forget to eat the watermelon as well (not only the noodles) 

Coconut Carrot Cake (vegan, gluten free, oil free, soy free, nut free, refined sugar free)

Coconut Carrot Cake

(vegan, gluten free, oil free, soy free, nut free, refined sugar free)

Okay so who doesn't love Carrot Cake? After my super delicious concoction of a carrot cake and some gingerbread during winter time, I decided it was time for another variation, that was a little more suitable for spring.

So instead of using gingerbread spice, I added some homemade raspberry jam on top. You can use whatever jam you like, or just skip that part. The cake is worth a try without toppings as well!

And as you probably already know, I love coconut. That's why I'm adding coconut flour as well. You can just swap this out for some oat or rice flour if you want. You could also swap for almond flour.

Coconut Carrot Cake

Serves: about 6 to 9 pieces
Cooking time: 40 -50 minutes
Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Dry

• 80g Rolled Oats
• 50g Coconut Flour
• 50g Rice Flour
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 16g Baking Powder
• 1/3 cup and 2 tsp Coconut Sugar 
• Pinch of Nutmeg

Liquid

• 2 tbsp (17g) ground Flax Seeds + 5 tbsp Water -> let it sit for 5 minutes
• 1/3 cup (100g) unsweetened Apple Sauce
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp (150g to 170g) Plant Milk (I used Cashew Milk - you can swap for any milk you like)
• 3 cup (300g / 4 medium to large) shredded Carrots
• 1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• dash Vanilla extract (optional)

Instructions

• preheat your oven to 180°C 
• mix you dry ingredients
• mix your wet ingredients
• mix wet into dry ingredients and add more plant milk if necessary
• put into the oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
• let cool completely before serving

Linzeraugen (gluten free, vegan, soy free, nut free, opt. refined sugar free)

Linzeraugen

Okay so this one is for all my friends with a sweet, fruity tooth. I used to hate Linzeraugen when I was a kid. The jam inside of cookies was just not my thing. I loved Gingerbread, Chocolate dipped cookies, Vanillekipferl, Spekulatius cookies and pretty much every other cookie who hasn't seen jam or marmelade in its life. (Okay that is a lie, I didn't like those coffee cookies either!)

But things change and now I am actually in love. I haven't had proper Christmas cookies for about two years before I decided to make my own vegan and gluten free ones. Last year they were a success, so I made them again and here we are, success again!

Had I known it was that easy and not entirely impossible to make vegan and gluten free cookies without nuts, I would have made them earlier.

It's kind of a little bit of a shame, that so many gluten free products, especially here in middle Europe, have eggs and dairy to bind the product (instead of the gluten). I mean, it's good if you try to loose weight, as you simply won't find a cookie to eat, so you won't eat it, but as that's not the case for me, I am even more happ to be able to enjoy my own perfect Christmas cookies!

I hope you like them as much as I do, and if you bake them, make sure to tag me on Instagram, so that I can see them!

(gluten free, vegan, nut free, soy free, optional: refined sugar free)

Linzeraugen

Serves: 1 1/2 baking trays
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Rest time: 2 hours
Total time: around 3 hours

Ingredients

• 150g gluten free flour blend (I used the one by Schär) or Buckwheat flour
• 50g white rice flour (add more if your dough is too runny. The original recipe called for a sum of 250g flour. I found 200g worked well.)
• 100g coconut sugar (you can use any solid sugar you like)
• 125g vegan margarine (You may be able to sub for coconut oil but I can't promise a safe product with this)
• juice of 1/4 lemon
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 3 tbsp water
• jam of choice (I used wild berry jam. Apricot jam is amazing as well.)

For decoration: powdered sugar (you can dip the ends in melted chocolate instead of covering it in sugar - but then it's not a Vanillekipferl anymore)

Instructions

• make your flax egg, set aside
• combine the rest of the ingredients, add the flax egg
• make a dough, cover it (or wrap it in plastic foil) and let it rest in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours
• preheat your oven to 180°C
• pop the dough out of the fridge and divide it in 2 parts - pop one back into the fridge
• roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter for 'Linzeraugen' (it has the option to remove a part so that it can cut out both a normal cookie, as well as a cookie with one or more holes)
• cut out your cookies and put them into the oven for around 15 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies.
• When the edges turn a little brown, they're ready
• do the same thing with the other half of the dough, except this time, use the other setting of your cookie cutter
• Let cool and cover the upper part (so the one with the holes) in powdered sugar
• put some jam of choice on top of the lower part (not too much, otherwise it will overflow at the edges)
• Pop your upper part on top and let them cool before serving

Tip: If you don't have a cutter like that, you can easily use a straw or smaller cookie cutter to make the holes into your cookies!

 

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (gluten free, vegan, soy free, oil free, nut free, refined sugar free)

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

(gluten free, vegan, soy free, oil free, nut free, refined sugar free)

Who hasn't ever cut open a pumpkin, scraped out the seeds and put them into the trash? I guess we all didn't like the feeling when throwing them away.

So what if I tell you, that you don't have to do that ever again?

These roasted pumpkin seeds are super easy to make, don't have to be peeled and can be made in every flavor you're dreaming of.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Serves: depending on your serving size and pumpkin
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• seeds of 1 pumpkin
• water for washing
• (paper) towels
• an oven

Instructions

• wash your seeds until there is no rest of pumpkin on anymore
• dry on some (paper) towels and remove the last bits of pumpkin (they don't have to be 100% dry)
• place on to a lined baking tray, season as preferred and place in the oven for 10 minutes
• open the oven, let the steam out, turn the seeds around as good as possible and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the part of the skin on the outer side (it's really thin) comes off easily
• let cool and store them in a dry place or enjoy hot

Chocolate Sweet Potato Boats (gluten free, vegan, oil free, refined sugar free, soy free)

Chocolate Sweet Potato Boats

(vegan, gluten free, oil free, soy free, refined sugar free)

Okay, who has never had the craving after a hot, comforting, filling, creamy chocolate cake? And who was either too lazy or found it too much of a guilt to treat this craving? And who kept thinking it's too complicated to make a single serving?

Well, this recipe is perfect for everyone who said yes, and for everyone who didn't!

All you need is a sweet potato in the size of your choice and your favorite toppings. And as this is a recipe for chocolate sweet potato boats, I'm gonna show you how to treat yourself with a chocolaty sweet breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert.

And as so many of you asked on my Instagram, I'm going to share the recipe for my dark chocolate cream again right here.

Make sure to tag me on Instagram, if you make any of my recipes. I hope you'll give this one a try, as it's for sure the best sweet treat for a cold autumn day I've made so far.

Sweet Potato Boats

Serves: 1
Cooking time: 35 to 50 minutes (depending on the size of your potato)

Ingredients

• 1 sweet potato of your choice (I used a purple sweet potato which had a weight of around 700g)

Instructions

1. with a fork, poke some holes into your potato
2. place on a baking tray 
3. bake in the oven at 200°C until a fork slides through easily (mine took 50 minutes)
4. slice lengthwise
5. put your favorite toppings on top

Dark Chocolate Cream

Serves: 1
Total time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 100g unsweetened plant based yogurt (I used Ja!Natürlich almond yogurt)
• 5g cacao powder

Instructions

1. mix the cacao powder under the yogurt
2. optional: add sweetener of choice

Note: The cacao powder will give your yogurt a thick, pudding like texture. If you want your cream to be more like a sauce, you may want to add some plant milk to this.

Refreshing Iced Tea (2 different ways)

Refreshing Ice Tea 

(2 ways - vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free, oil free, nut free)

I loooove Iced Tea, and now that you clicked the recipe, I assume you do as well. But did you ever notice, how much sugar one small bottle of Iced Tea can contain? Isn't that crazy?

But don't worry, there's an easy way to make a sweet, delicious, fruity Ice Tea at home, that is actually good for you.

Depending on if you like the taste of tea or not, I'd suggest to use a liquid sweetener of choice. If you love tea by itself, you might not even need that. If you don't like tea in general, you should probably use a sweetener, that has a unique taste to it, such as maple syrup. (You could also use coconut sugar, but I prefer liquid sweeteners with this recipe.)

Refreshing Wildberry and Lemon Iced Tea

Serves: 1
Cooking time: 5 to 10 minutes
Total time: about 2 - 4 hours

Ingredients

• 1 bag Wildberry Tea
• 1 tsp to 1 tbsp liquid sweetener of choice (I used Agave)
• juice of half a lemon
• lemon slices (make sure your lemon is organic, so the skin doesn't contain any toxins)
• lemon balm or mint leaves (or both)
• as much water, as you'll need to fill your jar/glass/container

Instructions

• boil your water
• to your jar/glass/container, add the tea bag, sweetener, lemon juice, leaves and lemon slices and poor the boiling water on top
• mix well until the sweetener is dissolved
• leave for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the tea is strong enough for your liking
• let cool a little 
• put in the fridge until cold enough to drink (at least 2 hours)
• enjoy

Refreshing Maple Black Iced Tea

Serves: 1
Cooking time: 5 to 10 minutes
Total time: about 2 - 4 hours

Ingredients

• 1 bag black tea of choice (I used English Breakfast)
• 1 tsp to 1 tbsp maple syrup
• optional: some fresh berries of choice 
• optional: lemon balm or mint leaves (or both)
• as much water, as you'll need to fill your jar/glass/container

Instructions

• boil your water
• to your jar/glass/container, add the tea bag, maple syrup, and optional ingredients and poor the boiling water on top
• mix well until the maple syrup is dissolved
• leave for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the tea is strong enough for your liking
• let cool a little 
• put in the fridge until cold enough to drink (at least 2 hours)
• enjoy

Notes

You can create your own varieties of Iced Teas by just combining ingredients you like. It's really easy and I made tons of different variations.

Let me know your favorite Iced Tea flavor in the comments below!