Vegan Cookie Dough Fudge

Before...

After...

If those aren't the best before-and-after shots you've ever seen, then I don't know what is.

(Insert some random fitness hashtag here ... #healthy, #fitness, #progress #girlswholift)   ;-)

And you are in luck, because these before-and-afters taste A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Like the best-things-you-will-eat-all-day amazing.

And a bonus: you will feel-healthy-before-and-after-eating-them amazing.

Okay, enough with the hyphens.

The first time I made this recipe was 4 years ago. At that time, I was newly engaged, living in an old creaky house full of girls, and really only cared about 3 things: running, making vegan dishes, and my fiance (now husband). Life was so simple: sleep, run, school, eat, repeat. It's funny how you can't wait to grow up and be a "real adult." You don't realize that life gets more complicated--more messy--the older you get. Your goals change. I will say, however, that my goal to keep eating as vegan as possible has not changed.

Just look at that ingredient list...

• coconut oil, dates, bananas, almonds, and oats

Real ingredients people--for real!

It's as easy as 1-2-3.
There I go again with the hyphens.

Have I mentioned that I love this cookie dough fudge? Well, I do! Nom nom noms.

If you're a fan of cookie dough--you will love these bars!

If you like the texture of fudge--you will love these bars!

If you want to indulge while still feeling wholesome--you will love these bars!

Et cetera, et cetera...

Vegan Cookie Dough Fudge

vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free option

Makes: 12 bars

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons coconut oil

3/4 cup Sucanat (substitute options: 1 cup honey OR 1 cup date puree)

2 tablespoons almond milk

1/2 cup mashed banana

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt (to taste)

1 1/2 cups oats, ground into flour (use gluten-free oats)

1 cup raw whole almonds, ground into flour (or use 1 1/2 cups almond flour)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Stir in your sweetener of choice and the almond milk. Bring that to a small boil. Reduce the heat and stir until the sweetener is dissolved (or well mixed). This should take only a few minutes. Meanwhile, mash the banana.
2. Turn off the heat. Stir in the mashed banana, vanilla, and salt. Set this aside.
3. In a blender or food processor, blend the oats until a flour forms. Pour this into a large mixing bowl. Next, blend the almonds in the blender or food processor. After the almonds are ground, stir them into the oat flour. Add in the cinnamon.
4. Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Stir well. At this point, the mixture should resemble...well...regular cookie dough. 
5. Place the mixing bowl in the freezer for just 5-10 minutes, that way the chocolate chips don't melt when you stir them in later. 
6. Remove the bowl from the freezer and stir in the chocolate chips. Try your best not to consume all the cookie dough before putting it in a pan. Trust me, you'll want to.
7. Line an 8x8 square pan with parchment paper. Scoop the cookie dough into the pan. Smooth it out with the back of a spoon.
8. Place the pan in the freezer for about an hour. After chilling, cut into bars. Store bars in a gallon Ziploc baggie. This fudge needs to be stored in the freezer to stay firm.

NOTES: 

• If using a wet sweetener (honey or pureed dates), you may want to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more oat flour.
• If your dates are dry, let them soak in a small bowl of water before pureeing them.
• This is an updated recipe from an old post from 2012. (I still love it, even after 4 years!) 
• I love this blogger with all my heart and I have her to thank for my cookie dough fudge obsession.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Pie

Nom nom nom.

These were way too fun to make.

Like really. Thoroughly enjoyable.

But even better to eat...you with my dear. ;)

Sorry, we are writing Fairy Tales in my classroom as of late, if you can't tell.

Just a little while ago, it was this beautiful girl's birthday. She turned 27. OMGAASH! She is so old!

Haha, just teasing big sis. I am turning 25 in just a few short months--which is crazy!

Anywhoozles (language from my husband, I apologize), I thought: Man oh man, I need to make something epic for this girl's big day. So I did, and it was glorious. (Insert Heavenly chorus here.)

We're talking layers of dense peanut butter cookie crust, banana soft serve, chocolate peanut butter cups, flecks of gold dust...you get the picture.

Literally.

"And it's happy to see you!" (quote from the movie Mulan)

Sorry, I couldn't resist. (Totally unintentional smile, by the way.)

Mmmm...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Pie

raw, vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free

Base (inspired by my raw peanut butter cookies):

• 1 cup raw, whole almonds (or almond meal)
• 1 cup pitted medjool dates
• ½ cup natural peanut butter
• 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract 
• couple pinches of salt (to taste)

In your food processor, blend the almonds until they resemble a coarse meal. Add the dates, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt. Process the ingredients until the mixture starts to form into a ball. This will take anywhere from 1 to 2 minutes (depending on the strength of your food processor). If it isn't coming together, add another tablespoon or two of peanut butter, stir, and process again. You can even add in a teaspoon of water. Spread at the bottom of 4 ramekins (or small glass bowls).
*Note: you will have leftover cookie dough--you can thank me later. :)

Banana Soft Serve:

• 4 bananas
• 2-3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt

Blend ingredients together until a smooth texture is reached (a food processor works just fine, or a blender if you want to wash more dishes, ha). Pour banana mixture into ramekins (or small bowls) and set in the freezer for 2 + hours.

Peanut Butter Cups:

• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• Peanut butter

Mix together coconut oil, cocoa powder, and maple syrup, in a small bowl. Pour chocolate mixture into the bottom of the mini cupcake liners (no need for a mini cupcake pan), just enough to cover the bottom. Set these on a plate and place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove from the freezer and spoon a small amount of peanut butter in the middle of the cups (a small spoonful is perfect). Pour the rest of the chocolate mixture over top of the peanut butter. Try to cover peanut butter completely. Place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to harden the chocolate.

AND AT LAST!

Once everything is completed and ready to go, remove the ramekins and peanut butter cups from the freezer. Roughly chop the peanut butter cups. Place the peanut butter cups on top of the banana soft serve bowls. Use as many as you like. Serve and devour! :)

It was a fun day! To see pictures of the process of making this dessert, look below!

Devin pretending that our nephew Shem locked him out of the house. :)

Inspired by this recipe.

And of course by my peanut butter cookies.

banana cream pie (gluten-free & dairy-free)

Today is all about pie. 

Well it's really about bananas. and cream. and pie.

And unicorns.

And fairies.

And dreams come true.

Because this pie and all those things truly belong in the same category.

Who ever thought you could make pudding from coconut milk?

I didn't until I tried it.

And wowzers, it was much better than I expected.

Banana cream pie is all about the bananas...duh!

Oh, and the delicious pudding too.

And maybe the cream topping as well.

Banana Cream Pie (gluten-free & dairy-free)

Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups gluten-free animal cookie crumbs (I use Kinni-Kritters)

4-5 tablespoons Earth Balance, melted

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 large bananas, sliced (for later use)

1. In a food processor, crush cookies until they are crumb-like. Mix together crumbs, dairy-free butter, and sugar in a bowl. Press into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 325 degrees F for 8-9 minutes. Cool and fill as directed.

Pudding / Custard

3/4 cup to 1 cup white sugar

5 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups coconut milk

2 egg yolks (for vegans: use a spoonful Earth Balance and a few drops yellow food coloring)

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt into a saucepan. Turn on medium heat and stir in the coconut milk, gradually, stirring the entire time. When the mixture has come to a boil, let it bubble for 2 minutes and stir constantly. When the pudding has thickened, remove from heat.
2. Stir 1/4 cup of the pudding mixture into the egg yolks (or dairy-free butter if making vegan), stirring continuously until it is all mixed together. Pour the egg mixture back into the remaining pudding. Cook on medium heat for 2 more minutes.
3. Remove the pudding from the heat. Add the coconut extract and vanilla extract. Give it one last stir.

Vanilla Cream Topping

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup dairy-free butter (Earth Balance)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-2 cups powdered sugar (add more or less, to your liking)

1. In a food processor (or with a hand-blender), whip together the coconut oil and dairy-free butter. Add in the vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix until smooth.

Assembly...

1. In the bottom of your crust, lay your sliced bananas. (You may want to use only 2 1/2 bananas and save the other 1/2 banana for garnishing.) Pour the custard/pudding into the crust.
2. Cool pie (with custard filling) in the refrigerator, or freezer if you are in a hurry. If cooling in the freezer, it should take about 1 hour to cool. If cooling in the refrigerator, it should take a few hours to completely cool.
3. When cooled, spoon on the cream topping. Store pie in refrigerator until ready to serve.
4. When ready to serve, garnish with remaining banana slices.

YUM!

I got a few of my ideas from this blog right here.

gluten-free banana bread

this banana bread is so good.

moist, soft, banana-y.

ohmahgosh. gayummm.

there's only one thing better than banana bread...

...day old banana bread.

it's so delicious.

even when it gets all soggy and moldy.

oh yeah, get some.

haha, just kidding.

Gluten-free Banana Bread

• 2 cups gluten-free all-purpose baking flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4-5 medium ones)
• 1 cup sugar (1/2 cup white, 1/2 cup brown)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (more or less)

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, bananas, sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Stir moist ingredients into dry ingredients, just until moistened. Stir in cinnamon.
2. Transfer to two loaf pans (about 8-in. x 4-in. in size) coated with cooking spray (or shortening), then dusted with gluten-free flour. Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

recipe found here

[Raw] Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Chocolate is wonderful.

Its calms a stressed student, it makes life more fun, and it even soothes a broken heart every once in a while.

A few days ago, my hubby and I took a trip to the Living Planet Aquarium.

Among the many things we saw, some of my favorites were the sea otters and jellyfish.

For dinner, we ate at Ruth's Chris. 

We were feeling fancy, so we ordered their no-flour chocolate torte for dessert. 

It was really rich and decadent.

But then I got to thinking...

Can I make a dessert that is chocolately, rich, and delicious, but doesn't contain an entire cube of butter, lots of eggs, and a ton of sugar?

Thanks to a lovely nutritionist, this was the result of my curiosity. 

Chocolately, fudgy, tasty. These are the perfect dessert for those looking for something both healthy and delicious :)

[Raw] Chocolate Fudge Brownies

• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1/2 cup almonds, unsalted
• 1/4 cup walnuts, unsalted
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 ripe bananas
• 4 Tablespoons natural almond butter
• 1/4 cup more unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 Tablespoons honey (for strict vegans: use agave)

Put dates in a bowl with warm water, allow dates to soak for 30 minutes, then drain.
Mix together dates, almonds, walnuts, and 1/4 cup cocoa powder in a food processor until well blended. Spread mixture in a small baking pan (9x5 or 8×8) until evenly distributed, and press down gently with a spoon.
Mix together bananas, almond butter, honey, and other 1/4 cup cocoa powder in the food processor until well blended. Spread mixture over bottom layer until evenly distributed.
Place in freezer for 30 minutes. Cut into 16 squares. Re-freeze whatever you don’t eat (or keep stored in the refrigerator, if you like them soft).

chocolate chip cookie dough freezer fudge

Once upon a time there was an amazing blogger. Her name was Princess Angela, and she made delicious vegan food. One day Angela decided that she wanted to make healthy cookie dough fudge. That was the day that my life changed.

Just look at it.

Seriously, who can deny the deliciousness of cookie dough?

I know I can't.

Swap butter, sugar, and milk for coconut oil, sucanat, banana, and almond milk...and voila! A caramel syrup that you can feel good about eating.

Then pulse oats with some almonds, and you got flour with character!

Mix it all together...

Add some chocolate chips, of course.

Press it all down into a pan.

Cool, cut, and serve!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I am telling you, this fudge is one of the most delicious things you will ever taste. The almond and oats gives the dough a rich and buttery flavor, all while keeping it healthy. If you like cookie dough, you will LOVE this.
P.S. It is called freezer fudge because it needs to be kept in the freezer to stay firm.

Cookie Dough Freezer Fudge
Vegan and gluten-free

• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 3/4 cup Sucanat (or brown sugar--just don’t pack it)
• 2 tablespoons almond milk
• 1/3 cup mashed banana (I prefer to sub-in applesauce because I don't like my cookie dough tasting like banana bread--but if you do, go ahead and use banana)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1 1/2 cups oats, ground into flour (use certified gluten-free oats to make it gluten-free)
• 1 cup raw whole almonds, ground into flour (or use 1 1/2 cups almond flour)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 

1. In a medium-sized pot, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Stir in the milk and sugar and bring to a low boil. Immediately, reduce heat to low and stir for a couple minutes until sugar is dissolved. Stir in the mashed banana. Turn off heat and stir in the salt and vanilla. Set aside.
2. In a high speed blender, blend the oats until a flour forms. Add to a large bowl. Repeat process for the almonds, being sure not to over-process them as you don’t want the oils to release. Add to bowl and gently break apart any almond flour clumps with your fingers. Stir in the cinnamon.
3. Pour wet mixture over the dry mixture and stir well until no flour remains. Place bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes (this is so the chocolate chips don't melt). Remove and stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. Scoop the cookie dough into the pan. Dip a spoon in water and spread it out until smooth. This dough will be very hard to spread, but don’t worry. Place in the freezer for 1 hour and then cut into squares and enjoy straight from the freezer. Store in the freezer in a ziploc bag or an air-tight container.