Author: PatagoniaLlami

Sweet, salty and a little bitter, these bars are the perfect bite of everything you’re craving. They serve a crowd and freeze well, perfect for rationing out your self-medicating treats under quarantine or for the inevitable post-quarantine parties. Adapted for a vegan & celiac lifestyle based on Sarah Jampel’s recipe featured on Basically.

For more vegan recipes check out @jonajim on Instagram! —jonajim

Directions

1. Sesame Shortbread
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9×9” metal baking pan with oil. Line with parchment paper, leaving overhang on all sides.
3. Toast the sesame seeds in a pan over medium-low heat, swirling frequently until aromatic and golden. Add to medium bowl, followed by flours, sugar & salt and whisk to combine. Combine aquafaba and psyllium husk, and leave to thicken for a few minutes. Cut chilled butter into ½” pieces and add to dry ingredients; toss to coat. Using your fingers, work in butter until pieces are about pea-size. Add thickened aquafaba/psyllium husk “egg” to bowl with flour mixture, then mix in. Dough should hold together when squeezed. Chill dough if dough is soft until it’s cold and firmer.
4. Scrape dough into prepared pan and press into an even layer (lightly flour your hands if needed). Prick dough with a fork in several spots (this will help it stay flat as it bakes). Bake for about 26-28 min. until golden brown. Set aside to cool slightly. While the shortbread is cooling, make the tahini butterscotch.

1. Tahini Butterscotch & Sesame Chocolate
2. Heat butter and brown sugar, whisking constantly, in a medium saucepan over medium until butter is melted, sugar is dissolved and beginning to bubble —about 3 minutes. Whisk in milk and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook whisking constantly, until bubbling becomes less frequent and butterscotch is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon —about 7-10 minutes. (When in doubt, err on the side of cooking longer —it’s better if it’s a little too firm than too runny.)
3. Remove butterscotch from heat, then add tahini and vanilla extract, whisking until smooth. Pour butterscotch over warm shortbread. Chill until set, 30–40 minutes.
4. Melt chocolate in microwave or double-boiler. Stir in sesame oil. Pour over chilled tahini butterscotch and sesame shortbread, then spread/smooth to edges of pan. Chill for 1-2 hrs until set.
5. Remove from fridge and lift parchment out of pan. Cut the bars in a 4×4 grid with a serrated knife (use a sawing motion to crack chocolate and not smoosh out the caramel). Keep refrigerated and eat cold or at room temp.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon flax meal with 3 tablespoons water, let sit for a few minutes to thicken
3. In stand mixer or large bowl, cream together softened butter, brown sugar, and white sugar
4. Add flax/water mixture, vanilla and mix on medium until combined
5. Add salt, flour, baking soda, and oats and mix to combine
6. Add chocolate chips and mix (add more chips than the recipe calls for if you like it more chocolatey)
7. Optional: Refrigerate for approximately 15 minutes to create less flat cookies
8. Place approximately 1 tablespoon for each cookie on parchment-lined baking sheets
9. Bake for 13 minutes

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375° F. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add the penne and cook, stirring every now and then, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until it’s cooked through but still a little more al dente than you’d want if you were to eat it right away (you may need to adjust cooking time if you use a non-wheat pasta, so check package for cooking instructions and modify your cooking time accordingly). Drain pasta, reserving a few tablespoons of cooking water. Toss the pasta with the cooking water to help prevent sticking and set it aside.
2. Bring another pot of water to boil. Boil the cauliflower for about 5 to 6 minutes, or until it’s tender. Drain. Place half of the florets into your blender, reserving the other half.
3. Heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium-low heat. Cook the garlic, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes, or until it’s fragrant and cooked through, but not burning. Blend half of the cauliflower florets with the garlic, non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. The sauce should be very smooth, so add extra milk or a drizzle of olive oil if needed to achieve a smooth texture.
4. Lightly oil a 9-x-13-inch baking dish. Toss the pasta, the remaining cauliflower florets, the peas, and all of the sauce together. Taste the mixture and add a dash of salt or pepper if desired. Transfer all ingredients to the baking dish. Top with the breadcrumbs. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until crumbs are toasted and the pasta is bubbly. Serve.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Pour the coconut on a parchment lined sheet tray and place in oven until golden brown (7-10 minutes.)
3. Stir the coconut milk and pour into a one cup liquid measure with the apple cider vinegar, and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a mixer, sift together the dry ingredients.
5. Add the sugar and toasted coconut, and mix together.
6. To the coconut milk add the oil, vanilla, and coconut extract and pour into the bowl of the mixer
7. Mix until incorporated, but do not over mix.
8. Pour cupcake batter 3/4 of the way up in a lined cupcake tin.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Let the cupcakes cool before frosting
11. For the frosting: Put the butter and the cream cheese in the bowl of a mixer and mix with a paddle attachment on medium for 1 minute.
12. Add 2 cups of sifted confectioners sugar and 2 tablespoons of coconut milk and mix on high until incorporated.
13. Add the remaining 2 cups of sifted confectioners sugar and mix on high, adding the coconut milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired creamy whipped texture. * Note the more air incorporated into the frosting the lighter and more airy it is, so don’t be afraid to whip it. Whip it good.
14. Decorate cooled cupcakes and serve.

What we call “Mexican wedding cookies” are actually called polvorones in Latin America, and they’re not reserved for weddings; they’re consumed year-round. How they came to be called Mexican wedding cookies is beyond me. Regardless, they’re delicious no matter when you eat them.

Traditionally made with butter, flour, powdered sugar and ground pecans, I made my own with vegan margarine (Earth Balance), and swapped out the pecans for almonds… since that’s what I had in the house 🙂

This recipe and more at www.thedailyveg.com —Melissa Stanger

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat the margarine and shortening together until fluffy and smooth. Then beat in the the vanilla and salt. It’s best to use electric beaters for this, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t own any (yet)! So I used a fork and some elbow grease, and it still came out great 🙂
2. Mix in the powdered sugar a little at a time. Do the same with the flour and ground almonds.
3. Now preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, and continue mixing all the ingredients together for another 3 to 5 minutes until a soft, somewhat-crumbly dough forms. To me it resembles shortbread cookie dough, which makes sense, given that we’re using shortening.
4. Start rolling the dough into little balls with your hands, about the size of small golf balls, and line them up on a lined baking sheet about an inch and a half apart. These won’t spread out too much, but it’s good to give them room to breathe.
5. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until you see them puff up and the bottoms start to turn golden brown. Be careful when looking for color; the cookies themselves don’t brown up too much, so they can easily overbake if you don’t watch them.
6. Let them cool, and in the meantime, get out your powdered sugar. When the cookies are cool enough that the powdered sugar won’t gob up on them, give them a generous dusting all over. Then–just enjoy them!