One of the best things about the holidays is the holiday-themed cookies. Growing up, I always enjoyed dipping cookies in a cold glass of eggnog. Something about the sugariness of the cookies and the creamy, spicy flavor of the eggnog is such a great combination and always reminds me of the winter holidays.

Flash forward several years, I still enjoying this holiday treat as a vegan, thanks to companies like So Delicious who makes delicious plant-based eggnog.

This recipe is one my wife, Sam, came up with. It’s an upgrade on the cookies and eggnog concept, but made into a sandwich with two buttery shortbread cookies and a creamy eggnog cheesecake filling that’s sure to bring joy to your world these winter months!

Shortbread Cookies

Yields 10 cookie sandwiches

Cookies

Eggnog Cheesecake Filling

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 310℉.
2. In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients.
3. Using a fork, add vegan butter and vanilla extract. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients.
4. Mix ingredients into a ball of dough using your hands. Add 1 tablespoon butter at a time if still crumbly.
5. Roll ball of dough into a sheet about ⅛ inch high. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes. Alternatively, shape cookies with hands for a rustic look.
6. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper, place cookies on the cookie sheet, and bake for 15-20 minutes.
7. While the cookies are baking, combine all cheesecake filling ingredients and whisk thoroughly.
8. When done baking, remove the cookies from the oven. Let cool until firm enough to handle.
9. With a butter knife, spread the filling on a cookie and put another cookie on top. Put in refrigerator to cool for at least one hour.
10. Enjoy alone or dunk them into a glass of non-dairy eggnog or milk.

The post Eggnog Cookie Sandwiches appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

Or maybe there’s no occasion and you just want a few—ahem, or a couple dozen—delicious holiday cookies at home to enjoy all by yourself! Whatever your holiday cookie needs may be, we’ve got some tasty recommendations for you!

Vegan Eggnog Cookies

Yes, vegan frosted Eggnog Cookies are a thing. Thank you, Rabbit and Wolves.

Soft Pumpkin Ginger Snaps

Move over commercially-made, bagged Ginger Snaps. Here’s a pumpkiny, soft version that’s sure to win out any ginger snap-lover’s taste buds! Try Vegan Richa’s Soft Pumpkin Ginger Snaps.

Salty Sweet Toffee Cookies with Dark Chocolate Glaze and Candied Pecans

If the name of this blog—How to Philosophize with Cake—doesn’t peak your curiosity, I think this Salty Sweet Toffee Cookies with Dark Chocolate Glaze and Candied Pecans recipe will!

Gingerbread Man Cookies

What’s a holiday gathering without eating a traditional gingerbread cookie? Here’s a great go-to Gingerbread Man Cookies recipe by Sweet Potato Soul.

Perfect Vegan Sugar Cookies

We’ll wrap things up with another traditional cookie—It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken’s Perfect Vegan Sugar Cookies. And everyone knows that the real fun starts when the frosting and decorations come out!

Is your favorite vegan holiday cookie not mentioned here? Leave us a comment and tell us what cookie suits your holiday fancy!

Happy cookie-making!

The post Holiday Cookie Roundup appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

The author of the recipe, Kacy Franzen, is a dedicated animal activist, certified health coach, and lover of food. If you’re a fan of this recipe, check her website and Instagram.

Isn’t holiday baking great? Unless you’re lazy. Then you know what’s better than holiday baking? Not baking!

For example, melting a couple of ingredients together and turning them into chocolate truffles with a festive candy cane coating—easy as that! So turn on some Christmas music, pour yourself a little vegan nog, and whip up these delightful little treats that your friends and family are going to love!

Candy Cane Truffles

Yields 12-16 truffles.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Place the vegan chocolate chips in a mixing bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the coconut cream over medium heat for a few minutes until it begins to simmer. Pour the hot coconut cream over the chocolate chips and cover. Let the mixture sit for five minutes.
2. Add the peppermint extract and gently mix everything together until melted and well combined. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.
3. While the chocolate is chilling, place the candy canes in a plastic bag. Use something heavy to smash them into little pieces (I used a rolling pin). You can also crush them up in a food processor.
4. When the chocolate is chilled and firm, use a teaspoon to scoop out chocolate and form into little balls. Then roll the balls in the crushed candy canes to coat.
5. Place the truffles on parchment paper and put them into the refrigerator to chill until you’re ready to share—or enjoy all to yourself!

Happy Holiday Baking and Non-Baking!

This Candy Cane Truffles recipe was loosely adapted from the Minimalist Baker’s 2-Ingredient Dark Chocolate Truffles recipe.

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End your holiday meal with one—or all—of these seasonal desserts! We bet your friends and family won’t even miss the pumpkin pie!

Gooey Pumpkin Spice Latte Chocolate Pudding Cake

Get you and your guests’ chocolate craving met with Oh She Glows’ Gooey Pumpkin Spice Latte Chocolate Pudding Cake.

Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie

The adults at your Thanksgiving party will be asking for seconds—possibly thirds—of May I Have That Recipe? Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie.

Sweet Potato Pecan Crumb Cake

All you sweet potato fans, get excited for Vegan Richa‘s Sweet Potato Pecan Crumb Cake.

Apple Cider Cupcakes

Sweet Potato Soul has creatively transformed a warm, holiday beverage into a cupcake! Give these Apple Cider Cupcakes a try—they’re sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Cranberry and Pumpkin Breakfast Loaf

A slice of sweet bread and a cup of coffee is a great way to round off a meal—try The Vegan Cookie Fairy‘s Cranberry and Pumpkin Breakfast Loaf! You won’t be disappointed.

From everyone at Vegan Outreach, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The post Move Over, Pumpkin Pie appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

Ever since I was a kid, I have always eaten raw cookie dough from the store-bought, pre-made cookie dough packages before my mom even had a chance to bake them!

But can you blame me? Cookie dough is notoriously delicious!

I was such a little menace nibbling on the sweet treat with no knowledge of where the ingredients truly came from.

Although the threat of salmonella in the raw eggs and the high fat and sugar content were alarming, I still couldn’t resist the taste and texture of raw chocolate chip cookie dough.

When I discovered the vegan version on Tami Torossian’s YouTube channel, I knew I had to give it a try! To my surprise, it tasted exactly like how I remember it tasting when I was a kid—just without the unnecessary and unkind extras.

It was awesome to know I could make something so simple that would satisfy my sweet tooth and love for the taste of raw cookie dough!

Now, go make it and leave comments telling me how much you love it!

3 Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Yields about 2 servings.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Remove the pits from the dates and toss them into a high-speed blender or food processor. Pulse for about 30 seconds or until they become a chunky, thick paste.
2. Add the oats to the date paste and pulse until the mixture turns into individual clumps.
3. When the cookie dough is fully formed, sprinkle the chocolate chips into your blender. Pulse only a few times to make sure they stick to the batter.
4. Remove the dough from blender with a fork and eat it any way you’d like!

Recipe Variations

• If you’re a fan of peanut butter, try adding 1 tablespoon (or more if you really love peanut butter).

The post 3 Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

With fall right around the corner, Renee Press’—with Fire and Earth Kitchen—Apple Pie Bars seemed like a very seasonally fitting recipe to share.

I haven’t personally made or tasted these bars, but given Renee’s very positive track record of offering this blog various delicious recipes, I’ve no doubt this one also will be fantastic.

If you decide to give this recipe a try, please take a few moments to comment after you’ve made them! I’d love to hear about the end result!

Apple Pie Bars

Yields 12-16 bars.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 420°F.
2. Put all of the dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Put all of the wet ingredients into a separate bowl and whisk to combine.
4. Dice the apples.
5. Line 9″x9″ baking tray with parchment paper. Make sure the parchment paper goes up the sides of the pan about 1″.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.
7. Fold in the apples and pour the batter into the pan. Spread the mixture out to the edge of the pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let the dish cool slightly then lift parchment from tray—carefully flip over onto a cutting board and remove the parchment paper. Let cool before cutting into squares.

Recipe Tips/Variations

• Dust the bars with powdered sugar for an extra hint of sweetness!

The post Apple Pie Bars appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

One of the most frequent questions I get from non-vegans when discussing cooking and baking is, “What do you use in place of eggs?”

That question is easy to answer when it comes to things like cupcakes and cookies, but when it comes to food that calls for a foam-like texture, like meringue, mousse, and angel food cake—which is traditionally provided through whipping eggs—the answer hasn’t always been easy…until now.

Thanks to Zsu Dever and her new cookbook, Aquafaba: Sweet and Savory Vegan Recipes Made Egg-Free with the Magic of Bean Water, vegans or anyone looking to avoid eggs now has a detailed, comprehensive guide on how to make foods like meringue cookies, marshmallows and marshmallow crème, and even Mississippi Mud Pie!

Ok, so let’s back up a bit and discuss how this is even possible.

As Zsu describes in her book, this long awaited egg-free substitute surfaced only within the last year or two as several people across the globe were experimenting with plant-based foods in hopes of finding something that mimics an egg.

All finally came to a head when U.S. software engineer, Goose Wohlt, announced in a Facebook community, called “What Fat Vegans Eat,” that he’d successfully made a stable meringue utilizing leftover chickpea water—liquid left after cooking chickpeas—and sugar. Goose named his wonderful discovery aquafaba, which is a combination of the Latin root words for water and bean.

While the answers are still not cut and dry, the theory behind the success of aquafaba is that—

…[s]ome properties of the beans (carbohydrates and protein) leech into the cooking liquid and that these ingredients, with the proper consistency, mimic certain qualities of eggs. It is also thought that aquafaba can act in some respects like egg yolks and in others as egg whites.

The difference of protein amounts in an egg versus aquafaba, in addition to the difference of fat and carbohydrate content, are thought to be the limiting factors. This is why aquafaba can’t be an ingredient that stands alone, nor can it make foods like custards or omelets.

And no matter where you access a recipe utilizing aquafaba, whether it’s online or in Zsu’s book, it will most likely call for chickpea water. Why? The water of light color legumes is less detectable.

I’d go as far to say that Zsu’s book is essential when opening the door to the aquafaba world. She details every “how” you’d need to know—how to make it, how to whip it, how to use it, and how to store it. There are variations within all of these “hows” and it’s important to know those differences.

With this very basic background information on aquafaba, I leave you with a recipe for Coconut-Key Lime Cream Pie from Zsu’s cookbook. I also strongly encourage anyone who is interested in incorporating aquafaba into their culinary know-how to buy her book! From meringues to fritatta, Zsu will walk you through all the wonderful creations aquafaba has to offer.

Coconut-Key Lime Cream Pie

Yields 8 servings.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Combine the aquafaba and agar in a small saucepan, mix well, and set aside for 3 minutes. Add the sugar and ¼ cup of the lime juice, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and reduce to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the agar comes up to 195°F, about 5 minutes. Immediately add the sugar syrup to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a balloon whip attachment. Whisk on medium-high until the syrup flows in thick ribbons, about 7 minutes.
2. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and slowly add the remaining ¼ cup lime juice. When well incorporated, add the coconut cream 1 heaping tablespoon at a time. Incorporate and emulsify each portion before adding more. Add the vanilla and continue to mix until very smooth. Transfer the filling to the prepared crust. Garnish the pie with the lime zest and chill in the refrigerator overnight to firm up. Serve with the whipped topping, if desired.

An Important Recipe Note from the Cookbook Author: The cookbook has a whipped topping recipe for this pie, but because it’s one of the more challenging recipes in the book—you really have to know all the information regarding peaks, adding fats to meringue, humidity, etc.—it was best to omit it from this pie recipe. It just leaves too much chance for a miss without the needed background. Using store bought vegan whipped cream will work just fine until you become a master at aquafaba!

The post Aquafaba 101 + Coconut-Key Lime Cream Pie appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

Reviewed by Toni Okamoto

With winter quickly approaching, I suggest you go out and purchase this book as soon as possible! It contains recipes for classic comforting favorites, such as: Shepherd’s Pie, Chili Mac, Potato Gratin, Pot Pie, Vegetable Stew, and many other mouth-watering recipes that are sure to bring back childhood memories.

I love that Vegan Casseroles has everything I look for in a cookbook. As a very busy person, I especially appreciated that the recipes were versatile, prep was minimal, and that all the ingredients used were easily found at my local conventional grocery store — with many already stocked in my own pantry. However, the most important reason I recommend this cookbook, is because I feel completely comfortable using it to impress my non-vegan friends and family.

If you’re looking to buy a friend a good book for the holidays, this one is it!

Bean and Rice Casserole

While browsing through the book, two recipes caught my eye as potential staples for my household: the Bean and Rice Casserole and the Nacho Tots Casserole. Because I am impatient and needed to consume them both immediately, I combined the two by adding tater tots to the Bean and Rice Casserole. Best idea I had that week.

Serves 6-8

Nacho cheese sauce (recipe below)
3 cups cooked and drained pinto beans
2 cups cooked long grain white or brown rice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Crushed tortilla chips, for garnish
Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
Small bag of frozen tater tots (optional)

Nacho Cheesy Sauce recipe:

3 cups plain unsweetened non-dairy milk
6 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/2 raw unsalted cashews, soaked for at least two hours and drained
3 tablespoons oat flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons granulated onion
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Hot sauce, to taste

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease an 8 inch pan square glass  or ceramic baking dish — if using tater tots, use a larger rectangular glass pan.

For the cheese sauce: In the jar of a blender, combine the soymilk, nutritional yeast, cashews, oat flour, cornstarch, granulated onion, garlic, chili powder, paprika, salt, and cumin. Blend the mixture at a high speed until completely smooth and no bits of nuts remain. If you don’t have a big blender, blend the mixture in two batches.

Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring the sauce to a simmer, whisking continuously. Once the mixture comes to a simmer, reduce heat slightly and cook, whisking continuously until very thick, for 5-10 minutes. If desired, add hot sauce and salt to taste.

For the casserole: In a large bowl, mix together the prepared cheese sauce, beans, rice, and tater tots. Add salt and pepper to taste. Scoop the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 20-30 minutes (if using tater tots, cook using bag instructions), or until hot, with a nice crust on top. Remove from the oven and top with crushed chips and a sprinkling of cilantro. Serve hot.

Bumbleberry Cobbler

If you’re looking for a quick and easy dessert, this is your new go-to recipe. I lessened the sugar by 1/4 cup (3/4 instead of 1cup) in the batter and it still tasted fantastic. Serve with some non-dairy vanilla ice cream and it is perfection!

Serves 4-6

4 cups fresh or frozen mixed berries
1 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plain unsweetened non-dairy milk
1/3 cup non-hydrogenated vegan margarine, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 11×7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

In a medium bowl, toss the berries with 1/4 cup of the sugar.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 3/4 cup sugar. Add the soymilk, melted margarine, and vanilla, whisking to combine.

Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish. Scoop the berries evenly on top of the batter (don’t stir, as the batter will rise to the top as it bakes).

Bake for 65-70 minutes, or until the top crust is nicely browned and looks cooked through and the berries formed a thick sauce. If it looks like there are a few spots where the batter isn’t cooked all the way through, which you can confirm by lightly touching the spots with your finger, continue baking for another 5-10 minutes, or until fully cooked through. Let the cobbler cool on a rack for 15 minutes before serving.

The post Bean and Rice Casserole and Blueberry Cobbler appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

Who says you have to give up cheesecake when you’re vegan? You won’t find anyone at VO saying that—that’s for sure!

Thank you to Renee Press with Fire and Earth Kitchen, who has provided this delicious recipe!

Berry Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

Yields about 12 cheesecake squares.

Ingredients

Directions

1. To Prepare the Crust: In a food processor, process the almonds, walnuts, sea salt, and cinnamon until a fine crumb is achieved. Add the pitted, coarsely chopped dates and the agave or maple syrup and process again until it comes together and becomes sticky. If you pinch the nut mixture it should hold together.
2. Place parchment paper or plastic wrap into an 8″ x 8″ square baking dish, letting it hang over the sides a few inches so you can lift it out later. Press nut mixture into the bottom in an even layer. Put it in the freezer to chill.
3. To Prepare the Chocolate and the Filling: Put chocolate chips in a small heat safe bowl. In a small saucepan heat almond milk and pour over chocolate, stirring to melt. Will take 30 seconds to 1 minute. Set aside. In a blender, put in all filling ingredients. Blend 1-3 minutes until completely creamy, scraping down the sides as needed. Add a little water if needed to make it totally smooth.
4. Pour filling on top of nut mixture, and spread chocolate on top of that. Cover whole dish in parchment/plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least one hour, but up to overnight. To serve, remove from freezer and lift the entire dessert out onto a cutting board. Remove parchment/plastic wrap from the bottom and cut into cubes. Let warm a little bit at room temperature. Serve and enjoy!

The post Berry Chocolate Cheesecake Squares appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

I think we can all agree that, when it comes to sweets, cake batter flavored anything is delicious—and that includes ice cream!

Rabbit and Wolves was my inspiration for this recipe, but I adapted it just a bit. I bought vegan sugar cookies instead of making them from scratch, but feel free to put the cake batter ice cream between whatever type of cookie you’d like! The possibilities are endless.

Even if it’s not your birthday, you’ll be feeling pretty darn happy as you enjoy one of these delicious treats!

Cake Batter Ice Cream Sandwiches

Yields about 6-8 small sandwiches.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Spoon the chilled coconut cream and place in a large bowl. Whip with a whisk, hand mixer, or stand up mixer until the consistency of the cream is light and fluffy.
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar as you continue to whip the cream.
3. Then slowly add the cake mix until consistency is thick, but still fluffy.
4. Add the vanilla and sprinkles and whip until the mixture is firm.
5. Put in a freezer-safe container and in the freezer overnight.
6. Remove the ice cream from the freezer, and let it thaw at room temperature for a few minutes.
7. Spoon as much as you can handle between two cookies and enjoy!

You can get this original recipe here.

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