Recipe: Sugar-Free Hazelnut Spread

This recipe makes approximately 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients for hazelnut spread

• 1 cup organic hazelnuts - roasted
• 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons of organic cacao powder
• 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup of almond milk
• 1 tablespoon of organic coconut oil
• 1 pinch of sea salt

How to make vegan hazelnut spread

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. Lay out the hazelnuts onto a baking sheet and pop in the oven for ten minutes
3. Watch them carefully as oven temperatures vary and these can go from perfectly fine to burnt quickly
4. Remove hazelnuts from oven
5. Using your fingers or a paper towel, remove skins from hazelnuts - they will come off easily but it doesn't need to be perfect
6. Place the hazelnuts in a food processor
7. Process at high speed for 2-3 minutes until you have a paste
8. Add coconut oil and process for another minute, until it looks smooth
9. Add all remaining ingredients, process for another 2-3 minutes until you have a creamy texture
10. At this point it will be quite thin and liquidy
11. Place it into a jar (I use mason jars) and refrigerate for one hour
12. Remove from fridge and it will be a spreadable texture

If you store this in the pantry, it will remain fresh for about 2 weeks. I like to make it in small batches so we never get to the point that it’s gone bad because we didn't use it quickly enough.

Use the spread on your favourite baked goods, fresh fruit (like apple slices) or on sprouted grain bread.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Sophia.

Recipe: Pinwheel Biscuits

Ingredients for vegan pinwheel biscuits

• 2 & 1/4 cups of wholemeal wheat flour
• 3/4 cups of vegan butter - I used Vitalite
• 1/2 of cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon of Flaxmeal
• 3 tablespoons of water
• 1/2 cup of vegan dark chocolate
• 2 - 3 tablespoons of Almond milk
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla essence

How to make vegan pinwheel biscuits

1. Mix the Flaxmeal with water and leave it to stand
2. Cream the butter and sugar until it's fluffy
3. Add the Flaxmeal mix
4. Melt the chocolate in a Bain Marie
5. Blend the flour with the butter cream to form a dough and add some milk as required
6. Add the vanilla essence
7. Divide the dough into half
8. And the melted chocolate to one of the half mix
9. Knead the dough for 5 mins - the dough should be fairly stiff
10. Divide each portions of the flavoured dough into 2
11. On a cling filmed rolling board roll out the dough to create 8 -9 inch round shapes
12. Ensure that the vanilla dough and the chocolate dough is kept separate
13. Place the chocolate rolled out circular shapes onto the vanilla and fold together to form rolls - like a Swiss roll
14. Wrap in cling film and leave in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours
15. Once set, cut out equal pieces of the biscuits and bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius until golden brown
16. Cool them on a cooling rack and enjoy!

Recipe and photo courtesy of Jigna Malde.

Recipe: Naturally sweet porridge with nuts, seeds and dried fruit within 10 minutes

This recipe makes a nourishing, warm and satisfying breakfast, which is quick and easy to make.

This recipe serves 1.

Ingredients for vegan porridge

• 3 tablespoons of porridge oats

• 1/2 mug of water

• 1/4/ mug of milk - rice milk, oat milk, soya milk or hemp milk

• 1 pinch of cardamom

• 1 tablespoon of seeds and 1 tablespoon of fruit - I used the following

  • pumpkin seeds

  • dried mango

  • dried papaya

  • raisins

  • brazil nuts

How to make vegan porridge

1. Put half a mug of water in a pan - you can also add 1/4 of a mug of milk OR replace the water with milk

2. Add the cardamom

3. Add the oats

4. Let it boil until it reaches the consistency you like

5. Serve in a bowl

6. Add some pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, pecan nuts, chopped walnuts & any other nuts or dried/fresh fruit that you desire

Enjoy!