Recipe: Thumbprint Cookies within 40 minutes

Of the four items I baked, these cookies were the quickest and easiest to make. I didn't get bored of eating them either! They were crunchy, savoury yet sweet and simply morish!

This recipe makes about 24 cookies.

Ingredients for vegan thumbprint cookies

• 1 cup of ground almonds
• 1 cup of brown rice flour
• 1 ½ cups of raw whole almonds - crushed in a food processor
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• ½ cup of coconut oil
• ½ cup of maple syrup
• Jam

How to make vegan thumbprint cookies 

1. Preheat the oven to 176 degrees
2. Combine all the ingredients (except the jam) in a large bowl
3. Create tablespoon-sized balls with the mix
4. Space them evenly on a baking tray, which has been lined with greaseproof paper
5. They don't expand much so you don't need to leave lots of space around them - about 2 centimetres is fine
6. Use your thumb to make an indentation into each cookie
7. Bake until the cookies are evenly browned - this will take about 20 minutes
8. Let the cookies cool
9. Add some jam and enjoy immediately

If you have added the jam and want to eat them later, put them in a container in the fridge. If you are going to add the jam just before eating, keeping them out (room temperature) is fine.

Please note that the original recipe is American. Thus the names of various ingredients are slightly different. I've amended these, where necessary, and listed them by the name that they are known by in England. 

Adapted from passports & pancakes

Recipe: Linzer cookies

I've been wanting to bake something for ages but for one reason or another it hadn't happened. So guess what I did? I made four different items in one day and they were all delicious! I'll post recipes for all of them over the next month. :)

Preparation time - about half an hour Cooking time including refreezing the mix - about half an hour This recipe makes about ten cookies

Ingredients for vegan Linzer cookies

• ⅔ of a cup of finely ground almonds
• ⅓ of a cup of coconut flour
• ¼ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• ¼ teaspoon of Himalayan rock salt
• ⅓ of a cup of coconut oil at room temperature
• ¼ of a cup of Golden Syrup 
• 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
• Jam - I used raspberry jam

How to make vegan Linzer cookies 

1. Sift the ground almond, coconut flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl
2. Leave this flour mix on the side
3. In a smaller bowl, mix the coconut oil, Golden Syrup and vanilla extract with a blender until it has combined
4. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mix and use a blender to incorporated it
5. Put the dough in the middle of a large piece of greaseproof paper and then cover it with another sheet of the same
6. Place your rolling pin on top of the top sheet and roll the dough to ⅛ of an inch thick
7. Put it in the freezer for 30 minutes
8. Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius
9. Get your baking tray ready by lining it with greaseproof paper
10. Remove the dough from freezer and use a special cookie cutter set or do what I did and find something to cut the cookie into the shape you want (I used a glass bowl to create round shapes in the dough and then I used a knife to cut a square out of the top cookie) - here's where you have to concentrate a bit -
    • You need to make sure that create the cookies in pairs so that they form the top and bottom of the cookie
    • The bottom will be a complete cookie
    • The top will need a hole cut out of it for the jam to peep through
    • You won't be able to make all the cookies in one go because the dough gets sticky very quickly so be prepared to make about 4 at a time
    • When it gets sticky, put it in the middle of the greaseproof paper again, put another sheet on top and roll it again
    • It only needs to be in the freezer for about 3 minutes
11. When the oven is ready and you've created the shapes in your dough, cutting holes in half of them; put them in the oven for about 5 minutes or less - the cookies should have lightly golden edges
12. Let them cool on the baking tray for 2 minutes before transferring them elsewhere to cool otherwise they will break
13. Keep repeating these steps with the remaining dough and keep freezing it for a couple of minutes in between batches
14. I added the cut outs to the dough and re-used them
15. When they have completely cooled, put 1 teaspoon of jam on the top of the complete cookie and then put the top layer (with the hole in it) on top

This recipe required a lot of effort, but it was worth it!

Please note that the original recipe is American. Thus the names of various ingredients are slightly different. I've amended these, where necessary, and listed them by the name that they are known by in England. 

Adapted from Healthful Pursuit

Recipe: A quick, crispy, sweet, cooling dessert within 2 minutes

This dessert takes two minutes to make but you can devour it for much longer.

This recipe serves 1.

Ingredients for a vegan, sweet and crispy dessert

• 2 scoops of Swedish Glace Smooth Vanilla flavoured iced non dairy dessert
• 3 tablespoons of a sweet, crunchy vegan cereal - we used Sainsbury's Pecan and Maple Crisp

How to make a vegan, sweet and crispy dessert

1. Put 1 scoop of ice-cream in a glass/bowl
2. Add the cereal
3. Add the remaining scoop of ice-cream
4. Enjoy :)

Recipe: Blackberryblue with Baked Apples and Raisins

This is a great winter recipe! It's super simple, delicious and almost completely comprised of fruit!

Ingredients for vegan blackberryblue with baked apples and raisins 

• 250ml of Blackberryblue
• 3 apples
• Handful of raisins
• Squeeze of agave syrup
• Sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

How to make vegan blackberryblue with baked apples and raisins

1. Simply grab a few apples, splash with water and put them in the oven for around 20 minutes - the water stops them drying out
2. Once your apples are looking nicely golden brown take them out of the oven and chop in half
3. Scoop some Backberryblue on top of the apples
4. Sprinkle on the raisins
5. Squeeze some agave syrup on top
6. If you like cinnamon, sprinkle some on top

Recipe and photo courtesy of Michael and Victoria

Recipe: Open top sandwich within 10 minutes

This can be a quick, tasty and healthy snack or light meal.

This recipe serves 2

Ingredients for a vegan open top sandwich

• 4 slices of granary wholemeal bread - we used Hovis because it's vegan, soft and has a nice taste
• houmous
• 1/2 a small cucumber
• 1 Taifun Tofu Wiener
• 8 cherry tomatoes
• Salt
• Pepper

How to make a vegan open top sandwich 

1. Get a slice of bread
2. Spread houmous on it
3. Add the sliced cucumber
4. Chop the Taifun Tofu Wiener
5. Add slices of the Wiener
6. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half
7. Finish with a cherry tomato
8. Garnish with salt and pepper

Open top sandwich

Recipe: Crispy Kale within 20 minutes

I've not made vegetable crisps before but I'd definitely do it again. These Kale crisps turned out to be quite moreish.

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for crispy kale

•    100g of curly kale – remove thick stems
•    5 squirts of sunflower oil
•    1/2 teaspoon of salt

How to make crispy kale

1.    Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
2.    Wash and dry the kale
3.    Spray the sunflower oil on an oven tray
4.    Put the kale in the oven tray
5.    Swish it around so the oil goes on the leaves
6.    Turn them over to ensure there's a little oil all over the kale
7.    Sprinkle salt on it and mix further
8.    Put the tray in the oven for about 10 minutes and then turn the kale over
9.    Cook for another 5 – 10 minutes or until they're crispy enough for you

Recipe: A quick, nutty, nourishing, energy giving, summery snack within 5 minutes

This is a super fast recipe for a sweet, nutty, nourishing, energy giving, summery snack. This recipe serves 1.

Ingredients for a summery snack

•    1 banana – chopped and mashed with a fork
•    1 handful of pine nuts 20g
•    1 handful of desiccated coconut – 5g

How to make a vegan summery snack

1.    Put the mashed banana in a bowl
2.    Add the pine nuts
3.    Garnish with desiccated coconut
4.    Taste it and add more desiccated coconut if you like the taste of coconut

Recipe for wholesome and healthy soup in 25 minutes

This soup was a creation of my own. I'm not quite sure what happened but I found myself wanting something hot, something wholesome and something that would use up some of our vegetables. So I began putting things together and it turned out really yummy!

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients for vegan soup

•    2 mugs of water – 700 ml of water
•    1 cube of vegan stock
•    1/2 a bunch of broccoli – chopped into small pieces
•    1/2 a head of a small cauliflower – cut into small pieces
•    2 handfuls of kale – remove thick stems
•    175 of baby corn – cut into thirds
•    1 handful of capers
•    8 cherry tomatoes – left whole
•    1 small (200g) can of sweetcorn
•    1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
•    2 handfuls of cashew nuts – about 250g
•    100g of tofu - diced
•    1/2 a teaspoon of vegan margarine

How to make vegan soup 

1.    Put the water in a pan and let it boil
2.    When it’s boiled, add the stock, letting it simmer on the heat when it’s dissolved
3.    Add the broccoli and cauliflower
4.    After 2 minutes, add the kale and stir
5.    After 1 minute, add the capers and baby corn and stir
6.    After 10 minutes add the cherry tomatoes and sweetcorn
7.    Let it cook for another 5 minutes and then add a handful of sesame seeds
8.    Cook the tofu in a 'dry' frying pan
9.    After 1 minute, add the margarine and mix with the tofu
10.    After 1 minute, add the tofu to the soup and let it cook
11.    Put the cashew nuts in the pan that was used for the tofu and mix
12.    Turn the heat off when they become brown and remove the pan from that hob
13.    Serve the soup in a bowl and garnish it with the cashew nuts

The feedback was from my hubby who said he could eat this at least three times a week, because it was so healthy and tasty.

Recipe: Creamy lemon dressing within 5 minutes

Ingredients for vegan creamy lemon dressing

• 5g of Rapeseed oil - also known as Canola oil
• 5g of Lemon juice
• 5g of Tahini
• Salt
• Pepper

How to make vegan creamy lemon dressing 

1. Put all of the ingredients into a container which can be shaken without creating a spillage.
2. Shake vigorously until the dressing emulsifies and becomes creamy.

Recipe courtesy of Constantin. Translation courtesy of Sarah.

Recipe: Kale and Courgette Soup within 35 minutes

This creation is healthy, doesn't take long and it went down a treat when I served it as a dinner party recently. :)

This recipe serves 4 - 6 people. 

Ingredients for vegan kale and courgette soup

•    200g of kale
•    1 tablespoon of olive oil
•    1 small courgette – cut into medium sized cubes
•    1 cube of stock – dissolved in 500 ml of water
•    1 teaspoon of caraway seeds
•    1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
•    1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
•    2 handfuls of broccoli florets
•    freshly ground salt
•    freshly ground pepper
•    lime juice

How to make vegan kale and courgette soup

1.    Warm the oil in a large pan and when it’s hot, add the caraway seeds, coriander seeds and cumin seeds
2.    After 2 minutes, add the courgette, kale and stock
3.    Cook for 20 minutes and then liquidise using a hand blender
4.    Season with salt, pepper & lime juice
5.    Add finely sliced broccoli florets 5 minutes before serving

Serving suggestion

Serve with vegan wholegrain bread. 

If kale is not readily available spinach can be used instead.

Did you know that there are 23 science-backed health benefits of kale? Find out more from this article by Helen Nichols