Desserts Archives » I LOVE VEGAN

Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Brittany — Sun, 04 Oct 2020 21:02:09 +0000

This vegan chocolate zucchini bread is sweet, rich, and decadent with a fine, moist crumb. Once it's baked, cooled, and given some time to settle in an air-right container, the "crust" is soft, delicate, and almost sticky - like a muffin top or a Starbucks loaf.

There is an entire zucchini hiding in this loaf, but upping your vegetable intake is not this recipe’s purpose.

The zucchini’s role? Moisture. (And using up zucchinis after you’ve already eaten them grilled, baked, roasted, sautéed, spiralized, and you can’t bring yourself to eat anymore of them.) Zucchinis are cheap and plentiful in the summer. Where I live, it’s an affordable vegetable year round. Making zucchini bread is the ideal way to make use of any of those monstrous, late-harvested zucchinis that aren’t ideal for other cooking methods.

Vegan zucchini bread is incredibly easy to make. Preparation takes 15 minutes and then you’re ready to pop it in the oven. It freezes beautifully so you can make extra and freeze a few loaves for later.

Best tips for making this vegan chocolate zucchini bread

Don’t squeeze the liquid from the zucchini, that's the key to the bread's moisture! If your zucchini is very dry, give it a quick soak in water before shaking out any excess moisture using a strainer. (Don’t squeeze it though, just shake out as much as you can.)
Use natural cocoa powder. You can not substitute Dutch-processed or alkalized cocoa in this recipe. (More on that below if you're interested ↓)
Once you’ve mixed up your batter, immediately transfer it to a loaf pan and put it in the oven to bake. Don’t mix the wet ingredients into the dry until you've preheated your oven and prepared your loaf pan (and your toppings - if using). Once you've mixed the wet with the dry, baking soda's chemical reaction is immediate. You want that reaction to happen as the loaf bakes, not while it sits on your countertop!

“Natural” cocoa powder vs. Dutch-processed (or alkalized cocoa powder)

It’s essential that you use natural cocoa powder in this recipe. Baking soda (the leavener in this zucchini bread recipe) is alkaline and requires acidity to do its job. By nature, cocoa powder/chocolate is acidic. Dutch-processed cocoa is treated to be alkaline (you may also see it labeled as “alkalized cocoa powder”). Without natural cocoa powder’s acidity, your chocolate zucchini bread won’t rise properly!

Natural cocoa powder is lighter in colour and its flavour is rich, chocolatey, and bitter. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is deeper and darker in colour and has a milder flavour.

From big brands, Hershey's and Fry's are good examples of each type of cocoa powder. Hershey’s is a natural cocoa powder, Fry’s is an alkalized cocoa powder. For this recipe I used Camino’s natural cocoa powder (they sell both types). They're a Canadian brand that makes organic, fair trade chocolate products and other baking ingredients.

Notes and Substitutions:

Before baking, give your zucchini bread a tempting, "Instagram-y" look by sprinkling roughly chopped chocolate chunks down the center of the loaf.
Or top with chopped pecans or walnuts instead!
Any non-dairy milk will work. I tested the recipe with both oat milk and cashew milk.
Gluten free baking is not my forte so I can’t guarantee that using gluten free flour will work. But if you want to experiment with making this zucchini bread gluten free, I’d love to hear how it goes! (If I were to give it a shot, I’d start with a gluten free all-purpose flour blend (rather than using a single ingredient flour.)

More vegan recipes like this:

Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Bread

★★★★★ 5 from 4 reviews

Author: Brittany Mueller
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf
Category: Baking
Method: Baking
Cuisine: Vegan
Diet: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

This vegan chocolate zucchini bread is moist, sweet, and decadent. Preparation takes 15 minutes and then you’re ready to pop it in the oven! Freezer-friendly.

Ingredients

½ cup (125 ml) non-dairy milk
2 tbsp (15 grams) ground flax seed
1 cup packed (155 grams) grated zucchini (approximately 1 medium zucchini)
1 cup (225 grams) sugar
⅓ cup (80 ml) canola oil
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
⅓ cup (30 grams) natural cocoa powder (do not substitute with Dutch processed/alkalized cocoa)
¾ tsp (3.75 ml) baking soda
½ tsp (2.5 ml) salt
Dark chocolate chunks or chocolate chips, to taste (Optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine non-dairy milk and flax. Set aside for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, natural cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix and set aside.
Once the milk and flax seed mixture has thickened slightly, add the grated zucchini, sugar, canola oil, and vanilla to the bowl.
Once the oven is preheated, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Immediately transfer the batter into the parchment lined loaf pan. If desired, top with chocolate chunks. Immediately put the loaf in the oven and bake for 70 minutes (or until the loaf is cracked and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.)
Transfer zucchini loaf to a cooling rack. Wait until cool to slice the loaf. Store in an air-tight container.

Notes

If your zucchini is very dry, give it a quick soak in water before shaking out any excess moisture using a strainer. (Don’t squeeze it though, just shake out as much as you can.)

Keywords: vegan chocolate zucchini bread, vegan zucchini bread

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Vegan Lemon Bars

Brittany — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 00:25:29 +0000

These vegan lemon bars have a simple shortbread crust and a tangy-sweet lemon layer topped with a dusting of powdered sugar. This pretty spring and summer dessert is quick and easy to make. They need just 45 minutes of active cooking time (plus time to chill).

A typical non-vegan lemon bar recipe uses eggs to thicken and colour the lemon layer. In this vegan version, cornstarch thickens and sets the filling and a touch of turmeric adds the lemon yellow colour.

A bit of coconut milk in the lemon layer rounds out the flavour and makes the filling an opaque, creamy yellow. It offsets turmeric's slightly greenish-yellow colour and cornstarch’s translucency as a thickener. The bars end up looking like lemon bars (that happen to be vegan) rather than vegan lemon bars. This is great when you’re serving someone who's skeptical of vegan baking.

(If you want to, you can swap out the canned coconut milk and use non-dairy milk instead. I prefer using coconut milk but oat, cashew, or soy milk will work too.)

Most lemon bars are baked twice - first to cook the crust, and second to set the lemon filling. In this recipe you bake the crust while you make the filling on your stove top - like lemon meringue pie filling. Making the filling on your stove top saves time, ensures you don't over bake the crust, and prevents the lemon layer from soaking into the crust. The lemon layer sets as the bars cool.

Preparation Tips

The lemon bars will absorb the dusting of powdered sugar as they sit. Cool the bars uncovered to prevent condensation from forming on top and wait to dust them until you're ready to serve them.
For sharp, clean edges, chill the bars before slicing and wipe your knife clean between each cut.
Thoroughly clean the lemons before you zest them.
When adding the turmeric, less is more. The colour will strengthen as the filling cooks.

Vegan Lemon Bars

★★★★★ 4.5 from 4 reviews

Author: Brittany Mueller
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes + chilling time
Yield: 1 (9x13) pan
Category: Desserts and Baking
Method: Baking
Cuisine: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

These vegan lemon bars have a simple shortbread crust and a tangy-sweet lemon layer topped with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Ingredients

Approximately 3 lemons, zested and juiced, divided
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Shortbread Crust

1 cup (230 grams) vegan butter
½ cup (60 grams) powdered sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
⅛ tsp salt
2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour

Lemon Layer

½ cup (125 ml) fresh lemon juice
¼ cup (35 grams) cornstarch
¾ cup (185 ml) canned coconut cream or full fat coconut milk*
1 cup (215 grams) sugar
½ cup (115 grams) vegan butter (like Earth Balance or Melt)
3 tbsp lemon zest
⅛ tsp salt
Pinch turmeric

Instructions

Shortbread Crust

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper.
Cream together vegan butter, powdered sugar, lemon zest, and salt. Gradually mix in the flour to create a soft dough. Do not over mix.
Press the dough into the bottom of your baking dish.
Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Prepare the filling as the crust bakes.

Lemon Layer

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the lemon juice and cornstarch to make a slurry. Make sure there are no lumps. Whisk in the coconut milk and add the sugar, vegan butter, lemon zest, and salt.
Turn heat to medium and stir until the sugar and butter melts. Whisk in the turmeric, adding a small pinch at a time, until you achieve a light yellow colour.
Cook the filling, whisking constantly. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot to prevent lumps. Cook the filling until it’s thick and slightly translucent (about 15 minutes total). Once the filling begins to bubble, test it for doneness by stirring it and quickly removing your whisk - once the lines from your whisk stay visible for 7-10 seconds after pulling it out, the filling is thick enough.
Pour the lemon filling over the shortbread crust. Set bars aside to cool slightly before chilling, uncovered. Once chilled, slice lemon bars. Dust with powdered sugar just prior to serving.

Notes

*Canned coconut milk can be substituted with creamy non-dairy milks such as oat, cashew, soy, (or light canned coconut milk/coconut milk in a carton that's intended for drinking).

Keywords: vegan lemon bars, vegan lemon squares

The post Vegan Lemon Bars appeared first on I LOVE VEGAN.

Vegan Butter Cookies

Brittany — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 04:52:53 +0000

Butter cookies are a classic Christmas cookie that you can enjoy at any time of year. These vegan butter cookies are rich and not too sweet. The texture is crisp, a little crumbly, and melt-in-your-mouth buttery.

You can shape these butter cookies any way you like. Pipe the dough into pretty spirals using a piping bag with a large star tip (like I did), or use a cookie press for perfect, uniform cookies. If necessary, you can shape them by hand or wrap and chill the dough in a log for sliced cookies. Enjoy them plain, or decorate them as desired!

Ingredients for Making Vegan Butter Cookies

Butter cookies have a high ratio of butter to flour, and a relatively low sugar content. The non-vegan version contains eggs but no chemical leaveners.

You only need 6 simple ingredients to make a batch of vegan butter cookies. Flour, vegan butter, sugar, aquafaba, vanilla, and salt.

Vegan butter is essential. I used Earth Balance, but any vegan butter that’s hard when chilled should work. This isn’t a cookie recipe where you can substitute the vegan butter with coconut oil or vegetable shortening (or apple sauce!)

Aquafaba, the liquid leftover from canned chickpeas/garbanzo beans, takes the place of eggs. It’s high in protein with an egg white-like consistency. Choose canned chickpeas with no added salt for best results. 3 tablespoons of unwhipped aquafaba is equal to 1 egg.

How to Make Vegan Butter Cookies

If you have a stand mixer or hand mixer, use it to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the aquafaba, vanilla, and salt, and beat very well for about 5 minutes. By hand, gradually mix in the flour until just combined. Avoid overmixing the dough for the best texture.

Piping or Pressing the Cookies

Transfer the dough to a piping bag with a large star tip (or a cookie press.) Pipe or press the cookies on a cool cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. The cookies won't spread much but leave some room between them.

If you're piping your cookies, use a strong piping bag. I used *Wilton’s disposable 12-inch piping bags (affiliate links marked with *). They're nothing special but they’re widely available and strong enough to get the job done. If you wash them they can easily be used multiple times. These Wilton bags aren't very large so I loaded half of the dough at a time. A reusable piping bag will be the strongest and most environmentally friendly option.

Choose a large star piping tip. I used a *Wilton 1M star tip, which is the smallest size that will work. I widened the tines to make it a little larger. A *Wilton 6B or *Ateco #826 or *#827 would probably work better if you have them available.

To pipe rounds like the cookies shown, start piping from the center and spiral outwards. Decorative piping isn't my strong suit. If you're not happy with how you've piped a cookie, just scrape it off your baking sheet and reload it into your bag or press.

Measuring Tips for Baking Perfect Vegan Butter Cookies

For best results, measure ingredients by weight, especially the flour. It’s incredibly easy to add too much flour if you measure by volume. If you add too much flour the dough will be very stiff and difficult to pipe/press. The cookies will be denser and drier with dull flavour.

If you don’t have a kitchen scale: Use a whisk to fluff up the top few inches of flour in its container. Use a spoon to gently spoon the fluffed flour into your measuring cup, taking care not to compact the flour. Gently level the measuring cup with a flat edge. When it’s time to add the flour, assess the consistency of the dough as you go. You might not need to add all the flour you’ve measured out. The dough should be slightly firm but not stiff.

If the dough ends up too stiff, skip the piping or pressing. You can roll the dough into balls and press them into rounds, or form it into a log, wrap it in plastic wrap, chill, and slice into rounds.

Decorating Vegan Butter Cookies

Sprinkle the unbaked cookies with coloured sanding sugar before baking.
Top each unbaked cookie with a single glacé cherry.
Dip or drizzle the cookies with melted chocolate. Top with sprinkles if desired.

I dipped my cookies into melted chocolate before sprinkling them with chopped pistachios and freeze-dried strawberries.

Reader Favourite Vegan Holiday Cookies

This post contains affiliate links for piping bags and tips. If you purchase a product through one of the links marked with an asterisk (*), we will receive a small commission from your purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Vegan Butter Cookies

★★★★★ 4.8 from 6 reviews

Author: Brittany Mueller
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 30 medium cookies
Category: Cookies
Method: Baking
Cuisine: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

These vegan butter cookies are rich and not too sweet. The texture is crisp, a little crumbly, and melt-in-your-mouth buttery.

Ingredients

1 cup (240 grams) vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
½ cup (120 grams) sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml) salt
3 tablespoons (45 ml) aquafaba
2 ½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour *see notes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together vegan butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add vanilla, salt, and aquafaba to the creamed butter mixture and beat for 5 minutes.
Mixing by hand, gradually add the flour. Mix until the dough is just blended. Avoid overmixing. The dough should be just firm but not stiff.
Fill a large piping bag fitted with a large star tip (or a cookie press), with the cookie dough. Pipe or press the cookies onto a cool cookie sheet, leaving a little space for the cookies to spread.
If desired, sprinkle cookies with coloured sanding sugar or top with a glacé cherry.
Bake until the cookies are just golden-brown around the edges, about 10-13 minutes.
Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
For best texture, store vegan butter cookies lightly wrapped for 1 day before transferring to an airtight container. Freezer-friendly.

Notes

For best results, measure ingredients by weight, especially the flour.

Keywords: vegan butter cookies

The post Vegan Butter Cookies appeared first on I LOVE VEGAN.

Vegan Banana Bread

Brittany — Sun, 15 Sep 2019 15:51:58 +0000

Good news! This is the vegan banana bread recipe you've been looking for. It's absolutely perfect. The flavour is bang on. It’s perfectly sweet, lightly spiced, and very banana-y (duh.) The texture is exactly, exactly right. It’s moist and very tender, soft but with a well-defined crumb. The crust is deeply golden-brown, sweet, soft, and a little sticky after settling.

My best vegan baking recipes are some of the most well-loved and highly reviewed recipes on the blog. Top reader favourites include: Fudgy Vegan Walnut Brownies, Vegan Molasses Cookies, Perfect Vegan Gingerbread Cookies, and Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake. If you’ve enjoyed any of those recipes before, you should know that this Vegan Banana Bread might top them all.

1 BOWL + EASY PREPARATION

In addition to this vegan banana bread being incredible, it scores even more points with its ease of preparation. 15 minutes of prep, 1 bowl, and no weird ingredients.

VEGANIZING BANANA BREAD

Despite veganism current rise in popularity, making vegan cakes isn’t a new idea. During WWII, rationing may have led home cooks to develop desserts with more affordable and readily available ingredients. Butter, eggs, and milk were expensive and harder to source. Instead, cakes relied on chemical leavers, plant-based liquid fats, and gluten, vinegar, and salt for structure. These types cakes are still popular and highly affordable today. I’ve used this technique before, for vegan chocolate cupcakes. It turns out that this method also works perfectly for veganizing banana bread.

USING FLAX SEED AS EGG REPLACER

From the first test I included ground flax as an egg replacer in this recipe. After more research I've come to the conclusion that it might be unnecessary. But until I have more ripe bananas to retest this recipe without flax seeds, I'll leave it as is.

Ground flax has a pleasant nutty flavour and the light flecks enhance the appearance of banana bread. (You'll notice dark flecks throughout a loaf a banana bread, from the center of over ripe bananas.) But if there’s no discernible difference, I'll mark the ground flax seed as optional after a retest.

ADDITIONS AND SUBSTITUTIONS

Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread:

After mixing up the batter, stir in ½ cup of mini chocolate chips and proceed as directed.

Vegan Banana Nut Bread:

After mixing up the batter, stir in ½ - 1 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts and proceed as directed.

Gluten Free Vegan Banana Bread:

If you’re looking for a gluten-free and vegan banana bread, I’d suggest using a recipe already tested for that purpose. But if I were to attempt to make this recipe gluten-free, I'd try a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend that contains xanthan gum (or a similar ingredient intended to add structure), for best results.

If you do try making this recipe with alternative flours, I'd love to hear about your results!

Substituting canola oil:

A light, neutral-tasting, liquid vegetable oil will perform similarly. Fractionated (liquid) coconut, safflower, and sunflower oil would be effective options. Melted coconut oil or vegan butter might also work well.

RECIPE NOTES AND TIPS

Banana ripeness:

For perfectly sweet banana bread, the bananas you use should be past the point where you’d want to eat them. They'll be very soft, thin-skinned, heavily speckled, and fragrant before peeling. You can use bananas that are even riper than that, all the way to the point where the entire banana is black. The bananas pictured below show the minimum level of ripeness for a great loaf of banana bread.

Using ingredient weights for consistent and intended results:

Whenever possible, measure flour by weight when baking. 1 cup of flour can vary in weight greatly. A standard cup of flour weighs 120 grams. For consistent, reliable results just as the recipe intends, use a kitchen scale! I use a 15$ kitchen scale and it's one of my most-used kitchen essentials.

If you don't have a kitchen scale and you're going to make this recipe anyways:

For the best results using volume, measure your flour correctly: Fluff, Spoon, and Level. In your flour container or bag, thoroughly fluff the top several inches using a whisk. Gently spoon the flour into your measuring cup (avoid compacting the flour.) Level off the scoop with a flat edge.

Even when using the method above, I still end up with about 20 grams of excess flour. If you’re weighing out your flour by volume, reduce the total amount by 2 tablespoons (use 1 ½ cups + 2 tablespoon total.) This came out closer to the required 210 grams in my testing.

More notes for best results:

On oven temperatures and baking times:

Because actual oven temperatures vary, baking times also vary. Your vegan banana bread will be cooked when a toothpick inserted into the center will come out clean. Do the toothpick test after a minimum of 40 minutes, when the crust is a very deep golden brown (more brown than golden), with an obvious crack running down the length of the loaf.

A note on achieving the best banana bread texture:

When your vegan banana bread comes out of the oven the crust will be firm and crisp. Wait until the vegan banana bread is only slightly warm before sealing it in a food storage bag, reusable container, or plastic wrap. After being sealed for a couple of hours the crust will become soft and moist with a almost sticky bakery/coffee shop texture.

STORAGE NOTES

Store in a sealed container, food storage bag, or plastic wrap at room temperature. (Do not refrigerate.) Lasts for 5 days.

Freezer-friendly. Thaw at room temperature.

Vegan Banana Bread

★★★★★ 5 from 6 reviews

Author: Brittany Mueller
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf
Category: Breakfast, Dessert
Method: Baking
Cuisine: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

This vegan banana bread is moist, lightly spiced, and perfectly sweet. Just 15 minutes of preparation, 1 bowl, and no fancy ingredients necessary!

Ingredients

1 ½ cups (365 g) mashed overripe banana (approx. 3 large bananas)
¾ cup (175 ml) (150 g) granulated sugar
⅓ cup (80 ml) canola oil
3 tbsp (45 ml) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I used oat)
2 tbsp (30 ml) (10 g) ground flax seed
2 tsp (10 ml) white vinegar
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla
1 ¾ cup (210 g) all purpose flour *see recipe notes
1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda
½ tsp (2.5 ml) ground cinnamon
½ tsp (2.5 ml) salt
½ cup (90 g) mini dairy-free chocolate chips (optional)
½-1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and line a loaf pan with parchment paper. After that, there's no need to wait for your oven to preheat fully before moving on to steps 2 and 3.
Use a fork to mash the over ripe bananas. Don’t worry about thoroughly mashing them, it’s okay if there are still chunks of banana.
In a large bowl, whisk together mashed banana, sugar, canola oil, non-dairy milk, ground flax seeds, vinegar, and vanilla. Then, let the mixture sit until the oven is preheated.
In the same bowl, use a whisk to mix in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
Optional: Stir in chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the loaf is a deep golden-brown colour and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. After that remove the vegan banana bread from the pan and cool on a cooling rack. When the loaf is just barely warm, seal it up in a container, food storage bag, or plastic wrap for a couple of hours or until the crust becomes soft and moist.
Wait until completely cool before slicing and serving with vegan butter.
Store in a sealed container or food storage bag for 5 days. Do not refrigerate.

Notes

If measuring flour by volume, use the "fluff, spoon, level" method and reduce flour by 2 tablespoon for a total of 1½ cups + 2 tbsp.

Freezer-friendly. Thaw at room temperature.

If needed, refer to blog post for more recipes notes.

Keywords: vegan banana bread

The post Vegan Banana Bread appeared first on I LOVE VEGAN.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes & Buttercream Frosting

Brittany — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 20:46:15 +0000

Happy Halloween! Chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting are a delightful treat any time of the year. Since we’re posting this recipe on October 31st, we decorated them with Halloween in mind. Chocolate cupcakes are a great base for a simple Halloween baking project. Choose fun cupcake liners, colour some buttercream frosting orange, add a few black or chocolate sprinkles and you’ve made a festive and elegant Halloween dessert.

I tested, retested, and then retested this recipe again and again until it was just right. These vegan chocolate cupcakes are moist, rich, super chocolatey, and insanely decadent. The vegan buttercream frosting is soft, fluffy and perfect for decorating.

These vegan chocolate cupcakes are easy to make. All of the ingredients are average pantry staples. They take just 10 minutes to prepare and 22 minutes to bake. If you’re frosting them you’ll need to allow the cupcakes about 60 minutes to cool before they’re ready to be frosted and decorated.

If you want your cupcakes to look extra polished, look for cupcake liners with an additional layer of foil inside. As long as you portion the batter into the liners with some care, they won’t discolour when you bake them.

These frosted chocolate cupcakes are perfect for holiday get-togethers and birthdays. You can decorate them for any season or theme!

Baking can be pretty finicky so I recommend using the ingredient weights in the recipe for the best and most consistent results. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, be sure to measure your flour as accurately as possible. I use the “fluff and spoon” method. Use a whisk to fluff up the top few inches of your flour (right inside the container or bag). Use a large spoon to gently scoop the flour into your measuring cup. Try your best not to compact the flour into the measuring cup. Use a flat edge to level off the measuring cup. If you simply dip and scoop your measuring cup into the flour you’ll end up using more needed for the recipe and your cupcakes might not turn out correctly.

Happy baking and decorating!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes and Buttercream Frosting

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

Author: brittany mueller
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Total Time: 1 hours 42 minutes
Yield: 12 cupcakes
Category: Dessert
Cuisine: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

These vegan chocolate cupcakes are moist, rich, super chocolatey, and insanely decadent. The vegan buttercream frosting is soft, fluffy and perfect for decorating.

Ingredients

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup / 250ml / (135g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups / 310ml / (266g) granulated sugar
½ cup / 125ml / (40g) cocoa powder
¾ tsp / 3.75ml baking powder
¼ tsp / 1.25ml baking soda
Pinch salt
1 cup / 250ml soy milk (any kind: unsweetened, original, vanilla, etc.)
⅓ cup / 80ml canola oil
1 tsp / 5ml vanilla extract
½ tsp / 2.5ml white vinegar

Vegan Buttercream Frosting

1 cup / 250ml / (220g) vegan butter, slightly softened at room temperature
4-5 cups / 1000ml-1250ml / (560g-700g) icing sugar
1 tbsp / 15ml vanilla extract

Instructions

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
Prepare muffin tin with cupcake liners. If not using cupcake liners, grease muffin tin with non-stick spray or canola oil and dust with flour.
Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Whisk for 3 minutes.
Equally divide batter into muffin tins.
Bake for 22 minutes. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of cupcake, it should come out clean.
After baking, let cupcakes sit for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Wait until cupcakes are cool before frosting (approx. 1 hour at room temperature.)

Vegan Buttercream Frosting

Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to cream butter until soft and fluffy.
Add vanilla and mix.
Add icing sugar, ½ cup at a time, until the frosting is light and fluffy. Keep in mind that the buttercream frosting will get softer as it warms up.
Optional: Add food colouring and mix until you achieve your desired colour.
Optional: If piping the buttercream frosting onto cupcakes, transfer it to a piping bag.
Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.

Notes

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

For the best and most reliable results, weigh ingredients where weights are provided in the ingredient list.

If you don’t have a kitchen scale, be sure to measure flour as accurately as possible. I use the “fluff and spoon” method. Use a whisk to fluff up the top few inches of your flour (right inside the container or bag). Use a large spoon to gently scoop the flour into your measuring cup. Try your best not to compact the flour into the measuring cup. Use a flat edge to level off the measuring cup.

For best results, use soy milk or a non-dairy milk with 6g protein/cup.

This recipe was developed for use as cupcakes. I haven’t tried baking the batter into a cake.

Freezer-friendly. Thaw at room temperature before serving.

Vegan Buttercream Frosting

I used the vegan butter brand Melt which had a great flavour in this buttercream frosting. You could also use Earth Balance. Do not use vegan margarines. Use a vegan butter that is very firm and difficult to spread when chilled.

If buttercream frosting gets too thick, add non-dairy milk, a tablespoon at a time, until it softens up.

If buttercream frosting is too thin, add more icing sugar and chill if it gets too warm.

Wait for cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Store the vegan buttercream frosting and any frosted cupcakes in the fridge.

The post Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes & Buttercream Frosting appeared first on I LOVE VEGAN.

Vegan Apple Crisp (Apple Crumble)

Brittany — Sun, 21 Oct 2018 22:38:51 +0000

Bake up a batch of this Vegan Apple Crisp and fill your home with a fragrant blend of apples, cinnamon, brown sugar, and toasted pecans. Is there any better way to welcome autumn?

Fruit crisps and crumbles are so easy to make. Fall is apple season so they’re affordable and at their peak deliciousness right now. Here in Alberta, orchard Honeycrisp, Ambrosia, and Gala apples are just 76¢ a pound. We used a blend of Honeycrisp and Ambrosia apples to make this Vegan Apple Crisp. Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Granny Smith, and Jonagold are other good options for baking.

Apple crisp is super easy to make vegan. The only ingredient you need to avoid in a typical apple crisp is butter. We used vegan butter instead (vegan margarine works too.)

This recipe for vegan apple crisp is nutty and lightly spiced with cinnamon. Chopped pecans in the crumble layer make this crisp extra special. They’re sweetened and toasted to perfection. I love the crumble topping on apple crisp, so this recipe has plenty of it. Old-fashioned oats, brown sugar, vegan butter, chopped pecans and a dash of cinnamon makes up the easy crumble topping .

I recommend slicing the apples to make this vegan apple crisp. I used my food processor to slice the apples quickly and easily. If you do chop the apples, they need to be finely chopped to ensure they're fully cooked in the finished recipe.

This vegan apple crisp is a decadent dessert with no shortage of vegan butter or brown sugar. The end result is sweet and the apples are almost caramelized. (If you prefer a lighter and less sweet apple crisp, I’ve included some alterations in the recipe notes.)

This decadent vegan apple crisp is perfect served with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream! We used So Delicious Vanilla Bean Coconut frozen dessert.

We love autumn desserts! If you’re looking for more fall apple recipes we have Vegan Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls, Spiced Apple Breakfast Bowl, and a Caramel Apple Crumble Smoothie Bowl on the blog. We also have some great pumpkin desserts too! Check out our Vegan Pumpkin Pie with Caramel Walnut Sauce, Rustic Vegan Oat Crisp Pumpkin Pie, and Healthy Pumpkin Pie Parfaits with Coconut Whip.

Vegan Apple Crisp (Apple Crumble)

★★★★★ 4.3 from 4 reviews

Author: brittany mueller
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
Yield: 1 9x9 baking dish
Category: dessert
Cuisine: vegan

Print Recipe

Description

This Vegan Apple Crisp is a decadent dessert made with lightly-spiced apples and lots of pecan crumble topping. Serve this Vegan Apple Crisp with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

Apple Layer

650 grams of sliced apples (approx 4 apples - we used Honeycrisp and Ambrosia)
⅓ cup (80ml) packed brown sugar
¼ cup (60ml) vegan butter or margarine, softened
2 tbsp (30ml) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp (2.5ml) ground cinnamon

Crisp/Crumble Layer

⅔ cup (160ml) rolled old-fashioned oats
½ cup (125ml) packed brown sugar
⅓ cup (80ml) vegan butter or margarine, softened
¼ cup (60ml) pecan halves, chopped
3 tbsp (45ml) unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ tsp (1.25ml) ground cinnamon
Vegan vanilla ice cream, for serving (we used So Delicious Vanilla Bean Coconut dessert)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C).
In a medium-sized bowl, gently mix together sliced apples, ⅓ cup packed brown sugar, ¼ cup vegan butter, 2 tablespoon flour, and ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon. Layer apple mixture into the bottom of a 8”x8” baking dish.
In the same bowl used to mix the apples, combine ⅔ cup oats, ½ cup packed brown sugar, ⅓ cup vegan butter, ¼ cup pecans, 3 tablespoon all purpose flour, and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon. Mix well.
Use your hands to distribute the crumble mixture evenly over the apple layer, encourage the crumble mixture to form some nice clumpy bits.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the apple layer is bubbling and the crisp/crumble layer is crisp and golden-brown.
Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Serve with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream.

Notes

Reducing the sugar/fat:

This apple crisp is very decadent and sweet, the apple layer is almost caramel-like. You could easily reduce the fat and sugar in this recipe and it would still be delicious! If you want to lower the fat and sugar I’d recommend the following changes:

In the apple layer:

Reduce the brown sugar to ¼ cup (60ml)
Reduce the vegan butter to 3 tablespoon (45ml)

In the crisp/crumble layer:

Reduce the old-fashioned oats to ½ cup (125ml)
Reduce the brown sugar to ⅓ cup (80ml)
Reduce the vegan butter to ¼ cup (60ml)

Making gluten-free apple crisp:

Omit the flour in the apple layer. Substitute the all-purpose flour in the crisp/crumble layer with any gluten-free flour (or oat flour).

Making nut-free apple crisp:

Omit pecans in the crisp/crumble layer.

The post Vegan Apple Crisp (Apple Crumble) appeared first on I LOVE VEGAN.

Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Brittany — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 18:20:31 +0000

Moving along our list of classic recipes we want to veganize, today we’re making Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake!

Almost 2 years ago I began working on this recipe. I tested it over and over and over again. I tested it so many times that once it was perfect I could not make myself bake another lemon poppy seed cake. Not even once more so I could post the recipe here. I could not do it.

This past year I’ve been thinking to myself, “Man, I need to try that recipe again so I can post it to the blog!”. Finally, last week I decided to pull out the recipe and try baking it again. Oh my goodness. This lemon poppy seed cake is so so good! I was so ready to post it! I’d be doing you, my readers, a huge injustice if I didn’t share this recipe.

This vegan lemon poppy seed cake is everything you’d expect it to be. It’s moist, light, sweet, and zipping with tangy lemon flavour. I topped it with a bright, sweet and lemon-y glaze flecked with lemon zest. The glaze soaks right into the cake and makes the taste and texture downright sinful. If vegan lemon poppy seed cake is your thing, then you need to make this recipe. Right now. Go out and grab some lemons and poppy seeds and make this cake right now. (But if you're getting up and leaving the house to grab ingredients right this second... You might need chia seeds, coconut oil, and icing sugar too… Everything else is your typical baking stuff. But scroll all the way down to check the ingredients, just in case…)

Back to the recipe! I’d find any excuse to enjoy lemon poppy seed cake. You can make this veganized version for a light dessert, afternoon tea, or for decadent breakfasts. It would make for a nice treat inside a packed lunch too!

We're going to use chia seeds instead of eggs for this veganized lemon poppy seed cake. No one will notice the chia seeds because they’re camouflaged by the poppy seeds. We’ll swap butter for coconut oil too. Voila! Lemon poppy seed cake, veganized! There isn’t much coconut oil in this recipe, but if you dislike coconut, choose a refined coconut oil to avoid any trace of coconut flavour.

This recipe is super easy to make. The prep takes about 15 minutes and the cake bakes for about 35 minutes.

The sweet lemon glaze is very simple and requires just 3 ingredients. The glaze soaks into the cake and makes it extra moist, extra sweet, and extra lemon-y. It’s irresistible!

As an alternative, you can buck tradition and top this cake with streusel instead. It’s a delicious twist on your typical lemon poppy seed cake and adds a touch of crunch. If you want something a little less sweet you can omit the glaze all together.

This recipe is great to make ahead of time. It’s freezer-friendly but it would last a few days without freezing (if you don't enjoy it all by then!). You could freeze it in slices to thaw and enjoy a piece at a time. I hope you love this lemon poppy seed cake as much as we do!

This isn't our first Lemon Poppy Seed Recipe! Check out our Lemon Poppy Seed Scones and our Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes!

Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 19 reviews

Author: Brittany Mueller
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf
Category: Dessert
Method: Baking
Cuisine: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

This vegan lemon poppy seed cake is moist, light, and zipping with tangy lemon flavour. The cake is topped with a sweet lemon zest flecked glaze.

Ingredients

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake:

1 tbsp (15 ml) (10 g) chia seeds
¾ cup (185 ml) soymilk
3 tbsp (45 ml) fresh lemon juice
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla
⅓ cup (80 ml) (75 g) coconut oil, soft (at room temperature)
⅔ cups (160 ml) (145 g) granulated sugar
1 ⅓ cups (330 ml) (180 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp (7.5 ml) baking powder
¼ tsp (2.5 ml) baking soda
¼ tsp (1.25 ml) salt
1 tbsp (15 ml) (11 g) poppy seeds
2 tbsp (30 ml) (16 g) lemon zest

Lemon Glaze:

⅔ cup (160 ml) (100 g) icing sugar
2 tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
½ tbsp (7.5 ml) (4 g) lemon zest

Instructions

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180 °C).
Whisk together chia seeds, soy milk, lemon juice, and vanilla. Set aside to thicken.
Cream together coconut oil and sugar.
Add the thickened chia seed mixture to the creamed butter.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, poppy seeds, and lemon zest.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix for 30 seconds.
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. Empty batter into loaf pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool on a cooling rack. Prepare Lemon Glaze.

Lemon Glaze:

Whisk together icing sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Using the edges of the parchment paper, pop the cooled cake out of your loaf tin. Peel the paper away from the edges of the cake and cover with glaze. Using the parchment paper, pop the glazed cake back into the loaf tin (this allows the glaze to soak into the sides of the cake too!)
Slice and serve.

Keywords: vegan lemon cake, vegan lemon loaf

The post Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cake appeared first on I LOVE VEGAN.

Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brittany — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 21:02:25 +0000

We have a list of classic recipes we want to veganize and post here on I Love Vegan. First up, chewy vegan chocolate chip cookies!

We tested and tested these cookies until they were perfect. They’re crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and everything a chocolate chip cookie should be. I didn’t want these cookies to be good, considering they’re vegan. I wanted them to be awesome chocolate chip cookies. Period.

Ingredients for making vegan chocolate chip cookies. Left to right: Vegan butter (the image actually shows coconut oil, but you'll want to use vegan butter), dairy-free chocolate chips, flax "eggs" + vanilla, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.

Vegan butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar.

We tried these many ways. I started out making them with coconut oil, but the resulting cookies weren’t perfect. They tasted pretty good but didn't look like chocolate chip cookies. At least not appetizing ones. They also required a lot more time and effort to make. Eventually I admitted defeat and went with vegan butter instead. We used Earth Balance but other vegan butters like Melt will work too. Anything that’s really firm when refrigerated would be perfect. I’m not sure about vegan margarines like Becel Vegan.

Creaming together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegan butter until light and fluffy.

These chewy vegan chocolate chip cookies are great with a glass of non-dairy milk (Silk Vanilla Soymilk is my favourite) or a hot cup of tea or coffee. They’re great for lunches and after school snacks too! And don't forget, since these vegan chocolate chip cookies don't contain eggs, the cookie dough is fair play!

Adding the flax "eggs" to the creamed mixture of vegan butter and sugars.

I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer to make these cookies but you can use a hand mixer instead. I’m sure you can make them by hand, but it's easier to cream the vegan butter and sugars together with a stand mixer.

The creamed mixture after beating in the flax "eggs".

There’s some room for customization with these cookies. They’d be great with chopped pecans or walnuts added alongside the chocolate chips. Swap the chocolate chips for vegan candy-coated chocolate for vegan monster cookies.

Adding the flour, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients.

Store these cookies in an airtight container and they’ll be soft and chewy after a day. These cookies are freezer-friendly.

Mixing the flour, baking soda, and salt into the wet ingredients.

Looking for more vegan cookie recipes? I Love Vegan readers love our Perfect Vegan Gingerbread Cookies, Vegan Molasses Cookies, and our Coconut Oil Sugar Cookies.

Adding the chocolate chips to the cookie dough.

Mixed vegan chocolate chip cookie dough, ready to be dropped onto a baking sheet.

Recipe Notes:

Measuring the flour:

This recipe works best if you weigh out the flour using a kitchen scale. If you’re using measuring cups be sure to measure the flour accurately. I can’t stress this enough! Don't scoop flour out of the bag/container using your measuring cup. This packs the flour down and you’ll end up using too much resulting in dry cookies. For best results when measuring the flour with cups, use a fork or whisk to fluff the flour before gently spooning it into your measuring cup. Here’s a helpful guide for measuring flour.

Vegan chocolate chip cookie dough portioned out on a baking sheet.

For large, uniform chocolate chip cookies:

I used a ¼ cup ice cream scoop, not completely full. I love using an ice cream or portion scoop for drop cookies. It’s easy and fast. This recipe reminded me that I need to buy a smaller portion scoop. ¼ cup scoops make for pretty big cookies!

Freshly baked vegan chocolate chip cookies on a cooling rack.

For instagram-worthy chocolate chip cookies:

After dropping the cookie dough onto your baking sheet, add a few extra chocolate chips to the tops. If it doesn't matter how your cookies look, you can skip this step. Your cookies will taste delicious, but most of the chocolate chips will be inside the cookies.

If you want to use coconut oil instead of vegan butter:

Please, I beg you, if you can, use vegan butter! I committed myself to making these with coconut oil for my first 3 or 4 recipe attempts. The dough is harder to work with and doesn’t taste as delicious. I prefer to use coconut oil in rolled cookies. (Check our our Coconut Oil Sugar Cookies or our Perfect Vegan Gingerbread Cookies.) If you must use coconut oil, increase the salt to ½ teaspoon (2.5ml). You may need to chill the cookie dough if it gets too warm during the mixing process (the dough will appear greasy.) Creaming together the fat and sugars will look much different. The mixture won’t get fluffy. Instead it will look greasy (appearing greasier as the coconut oil warms up.) The finished dough will be crumbly, not soft and fluffy like it will be with vegan butter. You’ll need to pack the dough to get it to stay together.

Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

★★★★★ 5 from 10 reviews

Author: Brittany Mueller
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Total Time: 42 minutes
Yield: 16 large cookies
Category: Dessert
Cuisine: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

These chewy vegan chocolate chip cookies are easy to make and pair perfectly with a cold glass of non-dairy milk!

Ingredients

½ cup + ⅓ cup/208ml (180g) granulated cane sugar (I use the brand Red Path)
½ cup/125ml (110g) brown sugar, packed (I use the brand Red Path)
¾ cup/185ml (170g) vegan butter, such as Earth Balance
2 tbsp/30ml (15g) ground flaxseed
¼ cup/60ml non-dairy milk (I used Silk Vanilla Soymilk)
1 tsp/5ml pure vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups/560ml (300g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp/5ml baking soda
¼ tsp/1.25ml salt
¾ cup/175ml (125g) chocolate chips (check to be sure they’re dairy-free)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C).
Prepare flax “eggs”: In a small bowl or custard cup, stir together ground flaxseed, non-dairy milk, and vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes or until you’ve completed step 3.
Cream granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegan butter in a bowl with a paddle for 5 minutes on medium speed.
Add flax “egg” and vanilla extract to the mixture. Mix for 3 minutes on medium speed.
Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry ingredients the creamed mixture and mix until well combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto a baking sheet, leaving at least 1” between cookies to allow room for them to spread while they bake. NOTE: I used a ¼ cup ice cream scoop, not completely full for large, evenly sized chocolate chip cookies.
Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 12 minutes, until the edges are slightly brown and the cookies are soft to the touch and appear puffy. Leave chocolate chip cookies on baking sheet for 5 minutes to firm up before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Store vegan chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container.

Notes

Recipe Notes:

Measuring the flour:

For large, uniform chocolate chip cookies: I used a ¼ cup ice cream scoop, not completely full. I love using an ice cream or portion scoop for drop cookies. It’s easy and fast. This recipe reminded me that I need to buy a smaller portion scoop. ¼ cup scoops make for pretty big cookies!

For instagram-worthy chocolate chip cookies:

If you want to use coconut oil instead of vegan butter:

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