Vegan Chocolate Donut Muffins {dairy free, egg free}

This afternoon I found out from my daughter’s Sunday School teacher that the class is having donuts and orange juice in class tomorrow to celebrate the last Sunday of the summer schedule. I’m thankful for those who teach my daughter at church and care about her spiritual well-being, as well as, her food-allergy needs (i.e. letting me know ahead of time about special snacks). I just happened to be going through recipes looking for some good ones I could convert to allergy-free when I got the message and I came across this one. It is already a vegan recipe so I only changed a couple things to make it exactly how I wanted it. If you’re interested in more allergy-friendly or vegan donut recipes click here and here. I picked this one because it involves chocolate is quick and easy to make, and will be easy to store. It’s also great for portion control and it’s portable!

Vegan Chocolate Donut Muffins (Egg Free Dairy Free)

Makes 11-12 regular donut muffins, or 20-24 mini donut
muffins (mini muffins pictured above)

2/3 cup sugar
1 T ground flax seed + 3 T water (mix together)

1 T cornstarch

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup almond milk  OR soy milk OR coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup
powdered sugar (confectioners)

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil. (Do not be tempted to use liners – the point of doing these directly in the muffin tin is to have them pop out and be able to get sugar to stick to the sides without the addition of butter)

In a large bowl, beat together sugar and ground flax seed mixture until well incorporated. Add 1 T cornstarch, mix well. Pour in vegetable oil, almond milk and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Pour into wet mixture and stir to combine.  Stir gently.

Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups or 24 mini muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, pour confectioners sugar into a small bowl.

When muffins are done, allow them to cool for about 15 minutes.  Pop them out of the pan and then roll them in confectioners sugar, coating all the sides until it is completely covered.  Repeat until all muffins are done.

*I just finished making these and they are very good! Almost no difference from a chocolate cake donut hole. YUM! Can’t wait for my girl to try these in the morning!*

Chocolate Waffles {Dairy-free, Egg-free, Peanut-free}

By now I’m sure you know we like to eat waffles in this house. {I posted about them here and here.} But last night, when I realized I once again forgot to take the meat out of the freezer for dinner, I had to use a backup plan. Waffles! Homemade waffles are so yummy and the perfect texture, but I wanted to try a different variety, so I made chocolate waffles. Now, before you go getting all excited on me, I have to say these are pretty healthy waffles {minus the syrup!}. They were even better served with turkey bacon, fruit and an omelet {for those not allergic to eggs}.

Chocolate Waffles {dairy-free, egg-free, peanut-free}

Follow the directions on the Bisquick box for waffles. Instead of egg, add 2 T of ground flax seed {brain food}, 1 T baking soda, 2 T cocoa powder, 1 T cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla, and then add almond milk {or soy milk/rice milk} instead of cow’s milk. Spray the waffle iron with Pam and load it up.

My oldest said these taste like the whoopie pies {minus the cream and sugar} I posted about here. And she was right. These would be good as dessert with ice cream, too!

Don’t forget to sign up for the giveaway I posted yesterday! It ends Sunday!

Blueberries – Summer’s Candy

So, with summer staring us in the face, I’m continuing the ‘eat more fruit’ series I started with the strawberry post last week. This time, I decided to give you some snacks/meal ideas with blueberries.

Besides the obvious of just eating blueberries right off the bush, or out of the plastic container from the store, why not try some of these things?

Blueberry Quesadillas (courtesy of my sister’s kitchen) – Just substitute butter for Smart Balance Light buttery spread – it’s dairy-free and substitute the cream cheese for Tofutti brand cream cheese, also dairy-free. Delicious idea! Can’t wait to try it!

Vegan Blueberry Cobbler {dairy-, egg- and gluten-free} courtesy of glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

Vegan Blueberry Muffins {dairy-, egg-free} courtesy of egglesscooking.com

Blueberry Vanilla Yogurt Parfait {dairy-free}

Fresh blueberries, rinsed

coconut milk yogurt, vanilla flavor {or soy yogurt}

granola

Layer in a parfait glass (or cute tall glass or glass bowl) the blueberries and yogurt. Top with granola. Serve. YUM!

*photo courtesy of whfoods.org – recipe by yours truly.

 

Cinnamon Rolls {egg-free, dairy-free}

I recently posted about Quick Breads and one of my favorite doughs is the Pillsbury brand. I use all different types of their refrigerated doughs for my daughter who is allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts. Most of these doughs only contain the allergen, wheat, so they are safe for my family. I love to keep Pillsbury Crescent Rolls on hand for last minute desserts, bread, etc. that I may need. Sunday morning, I made cinnamon rolls out of the Crescent Rolls which are always a big hit around here.

Cinnamon Rolls {egg-free, dairy-free}

1 roll of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

Smart Balance Light buttery spread

Cinnamon

Brown Sugar

Pecans or Walnuts, optional

Open can of crescents dough and unroll it into a rectangle shape. Pinch together all the seams and use a hand roller or rolling pin to roll it out smoothly. Spread Smart Balance Light buttery spread onto the dough. A thin layer all around will work well. Sprinkle a ‘healthy’ amount of brown sugar and cinnamon over the buttery layer. Sprinkly chopped pecans or walnuts (optional) on top of that. Then, carefully roll the entire thing up from one end to the other.

If you go from short end to short end, you’ll have normal sized cinnamon rolls. If you roll from long side to long side, you’ll have several mini cinnamon rolls which is what I did. Then, slice into 1-inch slices (for minis and 2 inch for regular) and place them in a round baking pan that has been greased. Bake at 375 degrees until tops are just turning brown.

Mix together 3/4 cup powdered sugar with 3-4 T almond milk or lemon juice and you’ll have a nice glaze to drizzle over the top of your cinnamon rolls.

Serve with fresh fruit and/or bacon. Enjoy!

Making Faces – Pancakes {Dairy-, Egg-free}

This has to be the easiest breakfast to make…ever. The Hubster makes breakfast for our family every Saturday morning. It’s his specialty and it’s a great break from the norm – cereal and milk. Today he made some delicious pancakes for our girls – with a smiley face. It brightened up their morning and gave them one more reason for why they love their daddy so much. And really, it’s so easy I’m almost embarrassed to tell you.

First, follow the directions on the Bisquick box for pancakes. Substitute milk with Almond Milk {or your choice of dairy-free milk} and 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch in place of the eggs. Fry up some sausage links, cut them into the shapes you want for your pancake face and arrange accordingly. Finally, EAT UP! {with a healthy dose of maple syrup}

See, I told you it was easy.

Chocolate Muffins in a Rush {Dairy-, Egg-, & Peanut-Free}

I’ve been gone for a few days celebrating Easter with family out of state, so I haven’t posted in almost a week! The Whoopie Pies were a success for my youngest daughter’s 3rd birthday party. You would never know they were allergy-free. The cousins loved them! Saturday morning, I was at my sister’s house and she was making muffins for breakfast, so I decided to go ahead and whip up some muffins for my allergy girl, too. You can ask my 12 yr old niece how proud I was of myself for doing such a good job…she heard me exclaim several times, “These are great! I can’t believe how good these turned out!”  My sister doesn’t have anyone in her family with food allergies, but you can make these delicious muffins from anyone’s pantry! No weird ingredients – all normal, everyday items.

Chocolate Muffins in a Rush {Dairy-, Egg-, & Peanut-Free}

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 cup oats

1/3 cup sugar

1T cornstarch {this replaces the egg}

1/2 cup pure cocoa powder

1 cup almond milk {plain for less sugar content}

1/2 cup applesauce {I used a snack sized cinnamon flavored because that’s what my sister had}

1/4 cup canola oil

Mix dry ingredients together in mixing bowl. Mix liquid ingredients {including applesauce} in a small bowl and then add them to the dry ingredients. Mix until moist. Fill greased muffin tins 3/4 full and bake @ 400 degrees for 12 minutes. Serve warm with Smart Balance Light {dairy-free buttery spread}. Makes 12 muffins. 1/2 the recipe to make just a small batch of 6. They turned out perfect!