plant based recipes Archives - Splurge with Ella /tag/plant-based-recipes/ Simple recipes made with real ingredients Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:48:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1 https://i0.wp.com/splurgewithella.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/cropped-Screen-Shot-2019-10-30-at-11.44.31-PM-1.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 plant based recipes Archives - Splurge with Ella /tag/plant-based-recipes/ 32 32 164748036 The Best Vegan Date Brownies /the-best-vegan-date-brownies/&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-best-vegan-date-brownies /the-best-vegan-date-brownies/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2021 19:48:31 +0000 /?p=1863 These Date Brownies are AMAZING. You would never guess that these fudgy brownies are also gluten-free, vegan, and are sweetened with dates only!

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These Vegan Date Brownies are AMAZING. You would never guess that these fudgy brownies are also gluten-free and are sweetened with dates only!

As someone who doesn’t go a single day without consuming some form of chocolate, brownies are one of my favorite ways to get my chocolate fix. These brownies are perfectly fudgy, chocolatey, and indulgent. And you would never know they are made with healthy ingredients!

Vegan Date Brownie Recipe Notes

These Vegan Date Brownies are naturally sweetened with dates. Allowing the dates to soak in boiling water for 10 minutes is the secret to giving these cookies an extra fudgy texture! Dates are loaded with health benefits, which is why I love using them as a sugar alternative in baking.

These Vegan Date Brownies call for oat flour, which is one of my favorite gluten-free flour alternatives. I usually make my own oat flour. You can make your own oat flour by placing oats in a blender and blending until a flour consistency is reached.

Additionally, this recipe calls for 1/2 a cup of unsweetened apple sauce. Apple sauce is used in this recipe as a vegan egg replacement. Plus, it also helps add moisture to these brownies. A good rule of thumb is that you can replace one egg with 1/4 cup of apple sauce.

If you love these brownies be sure to check out my recipe for Sweet Potato Brownies, which is one of the most popular recipes on my website!

Did you try this recipe? Feel free to share it with me on Instagram or leave a comment below! Happy baking!

date brownies
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The Best Vegan Date Brownies

Course Dessert, Snack
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Servings 8 brownies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of dates pitted
  • 3/4 cups oat flour can be made by blending whole oats in your blender or food processor until you have a flour consistency
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 salt
  • 1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
  • 2 tablespoons of natural nut butter I use peanut butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
  • 1/4 – 1/3 cup of chocolate chips
  • Plus chocolate chips for topping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 4×8 pan with parchment paper. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, once water is boiling remove from heat and allow dates to soak for 10 minutes until soft.
  • While you are waiting for your dates to soak, add the rest of the ingredients (aside from chocolate chips) to your food processor and blend until combined. Stir in your chocolate chips.
  • Drain your dates and add them to the food processor and blend until evenly combined (About 30 seconds to a minute). You may want to stop periodically and scrape the sides to ensure everything is evenly combined.
  • Scoop out brownie batter into your prepared baking pan. The dough will be thick and sticky, but these brownies do not spread in the oven so try evenly spread the batter. Top with additional chocolate chips.
  • Bake in preheated oven for 22-24 minutes or until the top no longer appear to be wet. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving and enjoy!

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Zucchini Breakfast Cookies /zucchini-breakfast-cookies/&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=zucchini-breakfast-cookies /zucchini-breakfast-cookies/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2020 23:44:03 +0000 /?p=1609 These Healthy Cookies are filled with wholesome ingredients like oats, zucchini, and banana that will keep you feeling full, and are totally acceptable to eat for breakfast.

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These Healthy Cookies are filled with wholesome ingredients like oats, zucchini, and banana that will keep you feeling full, and are totally acceptable to eat for breakfast.

zucchini breakfast cookies

Who doesn’t love getting in your vegetables by eating cookies!? Of course, these cookies have the addition of chocolate chips because chocolate is acceptable to eat for breakfast…right? I based this cookie recipe off of the most popular recipe on my blog, which is my recipe for Healthy Banana Oat Cookies (which has been saved over 3,000 times on my Pinterest, featured in Nyota Magazine, and reviewed on the For Vegans By Vegans YouTube Channel!).

Zucchini is a wonderful vegetable that is versatile and delicious during the summer months. Although, one of my favorite ways to eat zucchini happens to be in baked goods like bread, muffins, and these cookies!

breakfast cookies

Zucchini Breakfast Cookie Recipe Breakdown

These cookies are made with a gluten-free base of oats and oat flour. If you have never worked with oat flour before, it can easily be made by processing whole oats in a blender or food processor until you have reached flour consistency.

Of course, these Zucchini Breakfast Cookies call for grated zucchini! It is important to squeeze out most of the water from the zucchini once it has been grated. You may use a thin dish towel or paper towels to do this. Squeezing out more water will result in a slightly lighter cookie while leaving more water will result in a denser texture.

A combination of peanut butter and coconut oil helps give these cookies a moist and chewy texture while adding a healthy source of fat. I like to use natural chunky peanut butter in this recipe because I enjoy the texture of the peanuts, but you may use whatever you prefer as long as it is natural. Natural peanut butter should only have two items on the ingredient list: peanuts and salt. You may also substitute another nut or seed butter, although it may slightly alter the taste.

Mashed banana works in this recipe as a vegan egg replacement as well as a source of natural sweetness. These cookies also call for 4-5 tablespoons of maple syrup depending on desired sweetness. These cookies are super versitile and the dough is very forgiving, so feel free to add even less or more maple syrup to make them your own!

The addition of ground cinnamon is optional in this recipe, but I really enjoy the depth of flavor that it adds to these amazing cookies! You may also add more or less chocolate chips to this recipe depending on how much chocolate you desire. Sometimes I opt to just put them on top of each cookie rather than combine them in the batter.

Looking for more healthy cookie recipes? Check out some of my other favorite cookie recipes like Healthy Banana Oat Cookies, Chickpea Peanut Butter Cookies, Date Brownie Cookies, Healthy Peanut Butter Patties, and these Almond Flour Pumpkin Cookies.

zucchini breakfast cookies
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Zucchini Breakfast Cookies

Course Dessert
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 7 minutes
Servings 12 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups of old fashioned oats gluten-free if desired
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of oat flour made by blending whole oats in a blender or food processor until flour consistency is reached
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 overripe mashed banana
  • 1 cup of grated zucchini – about one small-medium zucchini patted and squeezed until dry
  • 4-5 tablespoons maple syrup depending on desired sweetness
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup of peanut butter can be substituted with preferred nut or seed butter, but the flavor of the cookies may change
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips I like to use mini and vegan if desired plus more for topping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Whisk the first 6 dry ingredients in a medium bowl until combined.
  • Add in the rest of the ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.
  • Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheet and press down slightly to flatten (these cookies do not spread a lot in the oven).
  • Bake for 7-8 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cool on wire rack and enjoy!

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