Rhubarb crumble bars

These rhubarb crumble bars are absolutely yummy!

 

What you need (12-16 bars)

- 1½ cups all-purpose flour

- 1½ cups oatmeal oats
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- ¾ cup refined coconut oil, softened
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 360g rhubarb compote (or 1 jar)

Preheat oven to 175°C. Combine flour through salt in large bowl. Combine ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.Reserve 1½ cups of the crumb mixture. Press the rest onto bottom of a greased square / rectangular baking pan (a brownie pan is perfect for this). Spread compote over crust. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.

 

Based on this recipe.

 

 

Easy peasy chocolate-date truffles

These chocolate truffles are delicious and super easy to make!



What you need:
- 10-12 Medjool dates
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp rum flavouring
- dessicated coconut (to roll the truffles in)

De-seed the dates and put them in a food processor with the cocoa powder and rum flavouring. Process into a smooth paste (depending on how soft your dates are this can take anywhere from seconds to a couple of minutes). Once done, take a piece of the paste and roll it between your (wet) palms to make truffles. Roll them through some dessicated coconut and store in an air-tight container. Serve at room temperature.


Based on this recipe.

Vegan pannenkoeken

Dutch pancakes are different than American pancakes. In America, pancakes are thick, fluffy, smaller and generally eaten for breakfast. In the Netherlands they are larger, thinner and usually eaten for lunch or dinner. They can be served with sweet or savoury toppings and traditionally contain eggs. However, eggs are not necessary at all or can be easily substituted should you want to.

Basic pancake recipe (9 pancakes):
500g (2cups) selfraising flour
Approx. 1ltr non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)
2tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 6tbsp water (egg replacer, optional)
Pinch of salt (optional)
Oil or margarine

In a large bowl, sift together flour and salt (if using), add the flaxseed mix (if using) and then gradually add milk while using a handmixer until the batter is the desired consistency (aim for a thin custard-like batter).
Thoroughly heat a skillet and add some oil/margarine. Add a full ladle of batter to the skillet and swirl the pan to spread the batter. Flip the pancake once the top of the pancake is solid and the edges start to colour. Cook a few more minutes on the other side.
Serve warm or cold with a topping of your choice.

Some ideas for toppings/add-ins:
- good ol' fashioned molasses (my favourite)
- (powdered) sugar
- cinnamon-sugar
- jam
- chocolate spread with sliced banana (see below)
- add grated apple, soaked raisins and cinnamon to the batter and cook pancakes as usual

Easy vegan granola

Most granola available in stores contains honey (at least it does in my neck of the woods), so when my local supermarket decided to discontinue my preferred honey-free option, I thought: "Why not make my own granola?"
This recipe is so easy that I wonder why I never tried it before!

Makes 8-10 servings:
2c oats
1/2c almond flakes
1/2c maple syrup

Add-ins of choice, such as:
Sultanas or raisins
Dried cranberries
Freeze-dried strawberries
Shredded coconut or coconut flakes
Dried banana chips (not salted, obviously...)
Crumbled apple chips
Flax seeds
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 200°C. Prepare a baking sheet with baking parchment.

In a bowl, mix oats, almonds and maple syrup. Spread mixture out thinly on the baking sheet and bake for 10-15mins until the oatmeal is lightly browned. Let the granola cool completely (it will crisp up), crumble and mix in add-ins of choice (I used raisins and shredded coconut). Store in an airtight container.
Enjoy with (non-dairy) yogurt for breakfast.


Based on a Happy Herbivore Mealplan recipe.

Dutch holiday loaf

In the Netherlands, it is customary to eat a special raisin bread with almond paste filling for Easter and Christmas. This is a vegan version, and a friend of mine thought it was much better than the store-bought varieties!

What you need (for 1 large loaf or 4 small loaves):
- 100g raisins or sultanas
- 100g currants (or extra raisins)
- 2 tbsp lemon zest (I used store-bought zest from Dr. Oetker)
- 3 tbsp rum or water
- 1 package ready-made almond paste (Dr. Oetker) or make your own (see recipe below)
- 7g dry yeast
- 200ml non-dairy milk
- 60g unsalted vegan margarine
- 125g caster sugar
- 430g flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp soy yoghurt (or pureed silken tofu)
- sunflower oil
- additional non-dairy milk
- flaked almond (optional)
- icing sugar

Mix raisins, curants and lemon zest in a bowl, add rum or water and soak, covered, for 2hrs until all liquid has been absorbed. (Prepare the almond paste if making from scratch, see recipe below).
Melt the margarine and mix in milk, sugar and yoghurt. Let it cool to approx. body temperature, then stir in the yeast.
In a large bowl, stir together flour and salt, then make a dip in the centre. Mix in the milk mixture and knead for approx. 10 mins. until the dough is soft and elastic. Add a bit of flour if the dough is too sticky. Shape the dough into a ball, brush a bit of oil on top and let it rise, covered, for 1 - 1,5 hrs. at a warm spot.
Knead the dough, then flatten in on your work surface. Sprinkle the soaked fruit on top, then fold over the dough and gently knead it until well-mixed. Shape the dough into an 20cmx30cm (8"x12")oval. Knead the almond paste and shape it into a 30cm (12") roll. Put it on top of the dough, then fold over the dough so the almond paste is sealed inside. Let the loaf rest and rise for another hour.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (circulation oven: 170°C). Brush a bit of milk on top of the loaf and sprinkle on some flaked almonds, if desired. Bake the loaf for 30-35 mins. until golden brown.
Once the loaf has cooled, sift some icing sugar over the top. Cut into slices and serve with margarine and sugar.

Note:
This bread freezes quite well. Instead of 1 large loaf, consider making 4 smaller ones (each is enough to generously serve 2 people) and freezing the leftover loaves. Put the icing sugar on top after defrosting the loaves.

To make your own almond paste, you´ll need:
100g almond flour
100g sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
3 tbsp water

Mix all ingredients into a thick paste. Store at a cool place until ready to use.

Based on this recipe.

Vol-au-vent with mushroom ragout

Traditional appetizer for Christmas brunch or dinner, but very tasty any time of year.
Make your own ragout from cupboard ingredients and the possibilities are endless!

What you need (4 servings):
4 vegan pastry cases
50g vegan margarine
50g all-purpose flour
500ml mushroom stock (from a stock cube)
100g sliced mushroom (fresh or canned & drained)
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp of dried parsley
curry powder to taste (optional)
sambal oelek to taste (optional)
oil

Heat a bit of oil in a skillet. Saute the garlic and sambal oelek for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are browned.
In a saucepan, melt the margarine at a low heat, making sure it doesn´t brown. Once it is melted, stir in the flour, about a tablespoon at a time until well incorporated. Cook the sauce on a low heat for a few minutes, stirring continuously. Add a bit of stock to the mixture, stirring well to incorporate the liquid. Add more stock once all the liquid has been incorporated. Continue adding stock until the sauce has the desired consistency.
Stir in the sauteed mushrooms and parsley, and season to taste with salt, pepper and curry powder (note: be conservative with adding extra salt since the stock already contained salt).
Heat the pastry cases in an oven according to the directions on the box (approx. 10-15 minutes at 150°C). Spoon in the mushroom sauce and serve immediately.

Blueberry pancakes

I often get a bit too excited buying summer fruits, only to realise halfway through the week that I won't be able to eat all of it by myself... I know, poor planning on my part.
However, that does pose the perfect 'excuse' to play around a bit :-)

This is a recipe from one of my American cookbooks (hence the measurements), and the result is quite tasty. They freeze well too.

What you need (approx. 12 pancakes):
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2-3/4 cups milk
1 tsp honey or sugar
2 tsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 fresh blueberries
melted butter, for cooking
butter and maple syrup, to serve

Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, 1/2 cup milk, honey or sugar, melted butter and vanille extract, and poor into the well of the flour mixture. Stir with a whisk or fork until just combined and add a little more milk id the batter is too thick. Stir in the blueberries.
Brush some melted butter in a heated griddle or skillet and drop large spoonfulls of batter in the pan. Cook for about 1 minute until the edges are set and the surface is covered with bubbles. Flip the pancakes and cook for another 30 secs.
Serve with a knob of butter and maple syrup.

Try this:
Serve with cinnamon sugar instead of butter and maple syrup.


(recipe from 'The I Love Elvis Cookbook')