Deceptively Decadent Brownies

Decadent healthy brownies. Which word does not belong? The answer is that they all belong, because there really is such thing as a decadent yet healthy brownie! Don’t believe me? Well, the proof is in the pudding… I mean batter.

It took many tries, but I finally perfected a recipe for the perfect brownies. I sacrificed myself as a brownie taste tester, and had to eat upwards of six different brownies and batters- what a rough life! It ended in triumph though, as this recipe was crowned the winner of the best brownie… possibly ever.

The best part about these brownies? They’re also secretly healthy, or at least healthier than most other brownie recipes floating around the inter web. How? Well first of all, they’re vegan so they’re not chock-full of artery-clogging, high calorie butter. Second of all, they have a healthy secret ingredient in them. Hint: it’s a ~trendy~ leafy green. If you guessed kale, you win a virtual brownie!

Yes, kale brownies. Am I crazy for creating these? Only slightly. I promise they don’t taste like kale though. Seriously. They just taste like gooey, cakey, chocolatey goodness. I got the idea of sticking veggies into dessert from the cookbook Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. The whole point of the cookbook is to encourage parents to sneak veggies into their kids’ diets, and you already know I love it. Anyone who likes desert but is trying to be a little healthier, or wants an excuse to eat more brownies, will love this recipe. They’re “healthy,” so you can eat more of them- right?!

FYI, these brownies are definitely more cakey than crunchy or chewy- they’re pretty tall and thick. That just means there’s more to love! But if you’re a fan of a very crunchy, chewy, crackly-topped brownie than these might not be for you. I encourage everyone to give them a try though, because why not be a little insane and sneak some vegetables into brownies?

Makes 16 brownies

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup oil (canola or vegetable)
• ½ cup applesauce
• 1 cup KALE WATER*
• ½ cup chocolate chips, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. First make the kale water* by combining ½ cup water and 1 cup raw kale in a blender and blending on high for a minute, or until the kale is completely blended.

3. Mix together the dry ingredients, from flour to baking powder.

4. Add in the wet ingredients, aka the rest of the ingredients including the kale water. Mix until just combined and add in a ½ cup of chocolate chips.

5. Pour into an 9″ X 9″ oiled brownie pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the brownies. Let cool for like 15 minutes, then cut and enjoy!

Give these a try and let me know how you like them! Take a picture and tag me @peanutbutterandle on Instagram or email it to me at peanutbutterandle@gmail.com.

And lastly, how do you feel about sneaking vegetables into desserts? Do you like it, or are you offended at even the idea of it?

Festive Fourth of July Cake

Hi friends! I meant to post this recipe a few days ago, but I’ve had computer troubles the last week and a half so I’ve been unable to post. Everything is hunky dory now though. 🙂

Especially because of this festive American flag-shaped Fourth of July cake. 

This cake is the perfect “I LOVE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” recipe. It’s shaped like a circle, like the shape of the earth as well as like a symbol for inclusiveness (everyone is in the circle + the circle never ends and neither does love). The inside looks like an American flag- it has the blue “stars” layer and the red and white “stripes” layers. It also takes advantage of American produce- fresh, local strawberries that I picked with my own two hands (I’ve got that industrial spirit!) and fresh blueberries. ALSO, it’s cake, and what American doesn’t like sweets!?

Anyway. This cake is pretty festive and fabulous if I do say so myself (a weird phrase). It came about because I wanted to make something special for fourth of July that also took advantage of all the strawberries my mom and I picked at our local strawberry patch.

Enter this cake.

I found out how to make an American flag cake from Food 52 (here’s the link). The recipe, as well as others I looked up, were not vegan… so I decided to make up my very own vegan version of the fancy flag cake and frosting! I used fresh fruit as coloring instead of food coloring because I think food coloring is gross. What the heck is in it!??! I don’t want those creepy chemicals going into my body!

Strawberries make up the red layer and blueberries make up the blue layer. I used Food 52’s instructions to assemble the cake. Unlike Food 52, I’m including pictures in my recipe as I’m a visual learner so I find pictures extremely helpful.

I won’t ramble on for too much longer, other than to say that 1) this cake took me a long time to make, but it was worth it for the delight of eating it as well as for the compliments I got on it, and 2) this cake is really good and you should definitely make it for your next patriotic celebration (Labor Day??). Don’t be intimidated by the size- you CAN do it.

I hope you love this cake. My family and I ate it for dessert of dinner on the Fourth and enjoyed it immensely- our favorite layer was the blueberry one. Please let me know if you try this recipe. Send me a picture via email (peanutbutterandle@gmail.com) or tag me in a picture on Instagram so I can see your wonderful creation!

American Flag Cake

makes 1 HUGE 5-layer cake that serves around 24-32 people

(depending on how large your pieces are- it serves 32 if you cut the cake into 1/4 inch pieces)

*JUST SO YOU KNOW: This cake takes a while to make. Like 3 hours or more. You can always spread the baking and assembling out over the course of 2 days, like I did! The cake stays fresh as long as you wrap it up. I just thought I’d warn you!

For the STRAWBERRY cake

(makes 2 8-inch round layers)

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 + ½ cups of flour (all-purpose is best)
• 2 cups of sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar (white)
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup non-dairy milk (I like almond)
• 1 cup strawberry puree- process an overflowing 1 ½ cups of washed and stemmed berries in the food processor until it’s a liquid puree- it takes about a minute of processing.
• Feel free to add some red food coloring here to amp up the red color of this cake.

Instructions-

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Measure and whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, measure and whisk together the liquid ingredients EXCEPT the strawberry puree in a medium-sized bowl.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
5. Mix the wet ingredients together until just combined.
6. Make the strawberry puree, then measure it out and add it into the batter. Whisk it in until the batter is entirely pink!
7. Oil the bottoms of 2 8-inch cake rounds. Pour batter into the pans until each pan is 3/4 of the way full with batter. Use all the batter!
8. Bake the cakes for 35-38 minutes, 0r until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake.
9. Let cool.

For the VANILLA cake 

(makes 2 8-inch round layers)

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 + ½ cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup vegetable/ canola oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups nondairy milk

Instructions-

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Measure and whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, measure and whisk together the liquid ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
5. Mix the wet ingredients together until just combined.
6. Oil the bottoms of 2 8-inch cake rounds. Pour batter into the pans until each pan is 3/4 of the way full with batter. Use all the batter!
7. Bake the cakes for 35-38 minutes, 0r until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake.
8. Let cool.

For the BLUEBERRY Cake

(makes 1 8-inch round)

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 + 3/4 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

Dry Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup vegetable/ canola oil
• 1 tablespoon vinegar (white)
• 1 + ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup nondairy milk
• ½ cup blueberry puree: process an overflowing 3/4 cup of washed and stemmed blueberries in the food processor until it’s a liquid puree- it takes about a minute of processing.
• Feel free to add some blue food coloring here to amp up the blue color of this cake.

Instructions-

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Measure and whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, measure and whisk together the liquid ingredients EXCEPT the blueberry puree in a medium-sized bowl.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
5. Mix the wet ingredients together until just combined.
6. Make the blueberry puree, then measure it out and add it into the batter. Whisk it in until the batter is entirely blue!
7. Oil the bottom of a 8-inch cake round. Pour batter into the pan until it is 3/4 of the way full with batter. Use all the batter!
8. Bake the cake for 35-38 minutes, 0r until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake.
9. Let cool.

Buttercream Frosting Recipe

• 1 cup vegan butter/ margarine (I like Earth Balance original vegan buttery spread)
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• about a ½ cup (7-8 tablespoons) of original unsweetened nondairy milk
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1. Measure out the vegan butter into a large bowl or a stand mixer (the best option).
2. Beat the butter until it’s soft and spreadable (medium speed). Use a hand mixer or a stand mixer if you have one.
3. Add in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Stir on low speed until the sugar is incorporated.
4. The frosting should be clumpy- add in the vanilla and nondairy milk to thin it!
5. Beat the frosting until it’s a thin and spreadable consistency. Frost the cake(s) with it!

TO ASSEMBLE THE FULL CAKE (WITH PICTURES):

1. Cut the dome top off all of the cakes. PLEASE keep them- you’ll need them later! I used a bread knife to do this, and just cut off the uneven top “dome” layer of the cake so the cake would lie flat. Put the dome tops on another plate or something for now.
2. Place one strawberry round on a big plate (preferably the plate you plan to serve the cake on). This is layer one.
3. Spoon frosting onto the top of the cake and spread it around until the cake top is covered.
4. Place one vanilla round on top of the frosted strawberry round. This is layer two.
5. Frost the top of the vanilla round.
6. Place the second strawberry round on top of the frosted vanilla round. This is layer three.
7. Frost the top of the second strawberry round.
8. Place the second vanilla round on top of the frosted second strawberry round. This is layer four.
9. Frost the top of the second vanilla round.
10. Place the flat blueberry round on a separate plate. Using a bowl or another sort of template (about 4 inches in diameter), cut out the center of the blueberry round. Set the center aside (or eat it) as you won’t need it anymore.
11. On a separate plate, take the strawberry round top “dome” and cut out the center of it with the same template you used on the blueberry round. KEEP the CENTER of the round (what you cut out), and discard the outside ring (or eat it) since you won’t need it anymore. Cut the center round in half, so it is half the height of the blueberry flat round.
12. Place the O-shaped blueberry round on top of the frosted vanilla fourth-layer round.
13. Place the baby strawberry round inside the O-shaped blueberry round. Stick it on top of the frosting covering the vanilla fourth layer.
14. Frost the top of the baby strawberry layer.
15. On a separate plate, take the vanilla round top “dome” and cut out the center of it with the same template you used on the blueberry and strawberry rounds. KEEP the CENTER of the round (what you cut out), and discard the outside ring (or eat it) since you won’t need it anymore. Cut the center round in half, so it is half the height of the blueberry flat round.
16. Place the baby vanilla layer on top of the baby strawberry layer inside of the big O-shaped blueberry layer.
17. Frost the entire cake. Dump frosting on to the top of the cake and frost from there. It doesn’t have to look perfect- mine sure doesn’t!
18. Top the frosted cake with washed blueberries and strawberries. You can be extra patriotic and put the blueberries and strawberries in the shape of the American flag on top of the cake (with the blueberries as the stars and the strawberries as stripes).
19. SERVE AND ENJOY YOUR PATRIOTIC CAKE!

Steps 2-16

Steps 10-13

Steps 17-19

I hope you had the best holiday weekend ever!!

I hung out with my friends and family, went to the beach, went swimming, read and relaxed, watched the fireworks, and had a nice dinner with my family. What did you do? And what did you eat?! 🙂

xx Ellie

Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts

Guess what today is!?

The first Thursday of the month!

Guess what that means!?

It’s time for the monthly “Peanut Butter Bash” hosted by Miranda of Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt.

I decided to make mini peanut butter donuts with yogurt, our challenge ingredient for June, because I love donuts and haven’t made them for a while. Plus, mini donuts? SO fun! And you get to eat more of them… 😉

 

Coincidentally, Miranda decided to make peanut butter-filled (chocolate glazed) donuts about a week before me, AND one of the other lovely peanut butter bash ladies ALSO made peanut butter donuts! I guess donuts, peanut butter, and yogurt just go reaaaaaallllly well together. 😉

Now I’m going to leave you with some mouthwatering pictures and the recipe because you have donuts to make and I have a state tennis tournament to go play doubles in! Wish my team and I luck as we try to win a high school state championship for girls tennis!

makes about 24 mini donuts/ doughnuts

Regular dairy yogurt and milk should work in this recipe, but I can’t guarantee it as I haven’t tried it. I prefer to bake vegan food since I’m vegan! 

For the Donuts:

• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/3 cup vegan yogurt (I used one container of vegan Almond Dream yogurt that I found at my local grocery store, D&W)
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup nondairy milk (I used almond milk but regular milk should also work here)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the Chocolatey Glaze:

• 1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips)
• 1-2 tablespoons non-dairy milk

• peanut (or cashew) pieces to top the donuts with

To make the donuts: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Add the peanut butter, yogurt, sugar, milk, and vanilla into a stand mixer. Start out at a slow speed (2 or 4) to mix everything together, then when it comes together beat the mixture on high for about a minute, or until it’s light in color and creamy. Add in the other ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt), and mix everything at a low speed until just combined.**

** You can do all this by hand, but a stand mixer makes the mixing process 100 times easier! 

Grease your mini donut pan (I used cooking spray). Spoon the mixture into the donut molds. You’ll need about a VERY large and full spoonful for each donut.

Bake the donuts for 6-7 minutes, or until they’re golden and fluffy.

To make the glaze: combine the chocolate chips and milk into a small bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds or until the chocolate is mostly melted. Stir the mixture with a knife or spoon to smooth it out. You might need to add a teaspoon or so more of milk if the mixture is clumpy and thick. You want it to be like a glaze- sort of like a ganache.

To assemble: dip the tops of the donuts into the chocolate filled bowl and twirl them around so the whole top of the donut is coated with chocolate. Sprinkle the top with crushed peanut or cashew pieces if desired for a pretty donut with a crunch.

Check out the two other peanut butter yogurt recipes! Click the links below. 

Peanut Butter Brownie Dip from Gina of Kleinworth & Co.

Vegan Yogurt Peanut Butter Donuts from Emma of BakeThenEat

Have a lovely weekend! Eat lots of peanut butter!

xx Ellie

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Merry Christmas! Also happy Kwanzaa (even though it starts tomorrow) and happy belated Hanukkah! I guess I should probably just say “happy holidays” instead.

I’m going to keep this post short and sweet because I’m about to go celebrate Christmas with my family! My family’s tradition is to wake up relatively early, open gifts at our house, then travel (a few miles) to my grandparent’s house for more present opening, brunch, and family time. This tradition has been going strong since my birth (minus last year). I LOVE it. What is your Christmas day (or other holiday) tradition?

One of the foods that makes an appearance at Christmas brunch year after year is blueberry coffee cake made with a recipe from my grandma’s old Junior League cookbook. In years past, I’ve just foregone the [nonvegan] coffeecake and loaded up on fruit. This year, however, my grandma put me in charge of making a vegan version of the coffee cake! The original version called for shortening, egg, milk, and cups upon cups of sugar. I don’t know about you, but I eat so much sugar during the holiday season that I put Buddy the Elf to shame. Because of this, I decreased the amount of sugar in the coffee cake (I also did it so I can justify eating cake for breakfast because now it’s “healthy cake,” which is an oxymoron by the way). This version is also vegan because I’m vegan and I WANT TO EAT CAKE TOO.

I replaced the shortening the original recipe called for with coconut oil and applesauce so the cake is way more nutritious (and has fewer calories) than the original. I replaced the egg with a trusty “flax egg” and the milk with almond milk (but feel free to use any type of nondairy milk). I hope my family loves this coffee cake as much as I do! I think it tastes like the original non-vegan version, but then again, it’s been a few years since I tried it. The cake is dusted with a cinnamon sugar topping that makes it taste like baby angel wings (well, what I think baby angel wings would taste like).

Make this coffee cake for Christmas brunch (for this year if you are a hardcore procrastinator that can whip out this coffeecake ASAP or for Christmas next year?), for New Year’s day, or make it on a Friday night and enjoy it on a lazy Saturday morning with a cup of coffee (since it is COFFEE cake).  Unless you’re me because I don’t like coffee (although I’ve only ever tried straight black coffee so I can’t say I don’t like all coffee… coffee lovers, what coffee is good that I should try to end my dislike of coffee?).

Grab a drink (of any variety), a plate, a fork, a knife, and cut into this delicious coffee cake!

Serves 8-12

Based on the “Huckleberry Buckle” recipe in an old Junior League cookbook (page 53)

Coffee Cake Layer:

• 1/4 cup coconut oil (unsoftened)
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 flax egg
• 2 cups flour (1 cup all-purpose, 1 cup whole wheat)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 and ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ cup nondairy milk
• 2 cups blueberries

Topping:

• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup flour
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup coconut oil

Batter on the left, topping on the right

1. Make a flax egg by mixing together one tablespoon of flaxseed meal and three tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Let it sit in the fridge for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. For cake: cream coconut oil, applesauce, and sugar together in a stand mixer.
4. Add in the flax egg and mix to combine.
5. Add in a cup of flour, the salt, and the baking powder and mix to combine.
6. Add in half of the milk (1/4 cup) and mix to combine.
7. Add in the other cup of flour and mix to combine (do you see a pattern here?).
8. Add in the rest of the milk (1/4 cup) and mix to combine.
9. Fold in the blueberries (I used frozen because it’s winter here in MI so there aren’t any fresh blueberries. Cue the tears.).
10. Spray/ (vegan) butter the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch pan. Add the batter to the pan. The batter SHOULD be thick and blue (the blue color will bake out! *In Bill Nye voice: “Science RULES!”*)
11. Make the topping by combining all the topping ingredients together. Sprinkle the topping liberally onto the top of the cake.
12. Put the cake in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the cake and topping are both golden brown and the cake is no longer gooey in the middle.
13. Let it cool, slice it, and enjoy it!

Enjoy cake for breakfast today (or any day) with this coffeecake. Merry Christmas!

xo Ellie