Vegan Grandma Mistake Bars

Crust:

Cream together:

1 cup or 2 sticks of Earth Balance

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 cups oatmeal

Mix until it is crumbly. Put 1/2 the mixture into a greased 9x13 baking pan.

Filling

Melt - ½ cup or 1 stick Earth Balance

Add:

1 (12 ounce) package chocolate chips

1 cup (8oz) vegan sweetened condensed milk *

Stir until smooth. Pour chocolate mixture over oatmeal mixture, then drop spoonfuls of the rest of the oatmeal mixture on top. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

* Homemade sweetened condensed milk: (yield 1 ½ cups)

¾ cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

Water to make 1½ cups liquid, divided

⅔ cup sweetener (use as healthy as possible. Use organic xylitol or Stevia.

½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Pinch of salt 

Instructions:

Grind coconut as fine as possible in a blender or spice grinder.

Add about ¾ cup water and blend well for about 1 minute.

Add the remaining amount of water, sweetener, vanilla and salt. Blend well.

Store any excess in a closed container in your refrigerator.

Vegan, No Sugar, GF Oatmeal Cookies

Mix all ingredients:
3 mashed bananas
1/3 cup applesauce
2 cups oats
1/4 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 cup raisins, dried cranberries or dried cherries
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup nuts (walnuts or pecans)
chocolate chips (optional)

Drop by rounded tablespoon full onto lightly oiled cookie sheet or
use parchment to cover cookie sheet.
Bake at 250 deg for 15-20 min

My favorite Quick Chili

Ingredients:
    1 12 oz ground meatless
    1 onion, diced
    3 cloves garlic, minced or 1 T dried chopped garlic
    1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
    1 (8 ounce) can pizza sauce
    1 cup water
    2 (15 ounce) cans of kidney beans,  pinto beans or garbanzo beans
    2 tablespoons chili powder
    1 tablespoon ground cumin
    2 tablespoons white sugar
    3/4 tablespoon salt
    1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Saute the onions and garlic in olive oil until translucent.  Add ground meatless and break into
bits.  Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Turn temp to LOW and cook for at least
1 hour.
Serve with garlic bread or garlic Naan (my favorite)

Some chocolate for dessert.

Hands down the most delicious Pumpkin Pie I have made

The minimalist baker does it again!
A delicious pie!  Thank you Dana!
For the full recipe follow this link.

FILLING

• 2 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (~1 1/2 15-ounce cans)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
• 1 Tbsp olive oil, or melted coconut oil
• 2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder
• 1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or sub mix of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt 

I made my usual rough puff pastry for this pie.
Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 350 for 58-65 minutes.

Paco Tacos

Ingredients:
Rough puff pastry (recipe can be found in this blog)

Filling:
Refried beans
Ground meatless with taco seasoning
salsa

Roll out rough puff pastry and cut into large triangles or squares.
Line each large muffin pan well with the pastry (there should be enough pastry to fill the well and spill over the sides generously. This will be used to cover the top once filled).
Start at the bottom and fill in layers with  refried beans, ground meatless and top with salsa.  Now cover with a fold over of the triangle or square dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min or until golden brown on top.

My favorite rough puff pastry

Rough pastry pictured with vegan paco tacos.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
• 5 to 6 tablespoons ice water

 Place all ingredients in food processor except the water. Pulse or blend a few minutes to 'cut' the butter into the flour and salt mixture.  Next, add the water and blend until smooth ball forms.
Refrigerate for at least an hour to avoid shrinkage when baked.

Roll out on a floured surface for pie dough.

Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake

From the wonderful cookbook Plant Powered Families by Dreena Burton.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Spray coat 8x8 baking pan and line with parchment to fit.
For this recipe I used 4 med sized sweet potatoes.

In a large bowl mix:
1 cup flour, white, spelt or white whole wheat
1/3 cup coconut sugar*
1/4 cup non-dairy chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

In a blender place:
3/4 cup cooked, peeled orange sweet potato
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Blend until smooth and place into the dry ingredients above.

Place in the pan and bake for 20-25 min.

Frosting:
Place all in a blender and puree until smooth:
3/4 cup coconut sugar (blend until powdery 1 1/2 cup of sugar with 1 T arrowroot or corn starch)
1 cup cooked, peeled sweet potato
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 - 3/4 cup powdered sugar to taste* (opt my addition to make a sweeter frosting. )
1/2 cup raw cashew butter or almond butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-5 T nondairy milk
1 teasp vanilla


*why coconut sugar?

Protein-Fiber Chex Mix

This is my somewhat altered version of chex mix.
Nice, handy snack to have at the ready.

3 cups Corn Chex® cereal
3 cups Rice Chex® cereal
1 cup Cheerios, or oat cereal you like
1 cup Shredded Wheat and Bran, leave out for GF
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup cashews
1 cup peanuts
1 cup bite-size pretzels, broken
1 cup garlic-flavor bite-size bagel chips or regular-size bagel chips, broken into 1-inch pieces

Melt:  6 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine
Add:
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Pour and stir the above mixture into the dry ingredients.

I place in a large dutch oven for easy stirring.  Preheat oven to 250 deg.
I turn/stir every 15 minutes so the mix is well coated.