Month: February 2019

The BEST Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Recipe-Gluten Free

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PLEASE DON’T BE TURNED OFF BY THE TITLE OF THIS POST LOL!!  I promise–YOU WILL LOVE THESE!!  The texture is seriously my fav!!  The original chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe, that I have been making for about 20+ years now, has 1 c. of butter flavored shortening  and we all know how terrible that is for our body, so I subbed 1/2 C. applesauce and 1/2 C. almond butter.  I love grinding my own almond butter at the grocery store–seriously the best and you know exactly what is in the container :).  I also subbed flax eggs for real eggs.  The recipe is below:

1 Flax Seed Egg= 1 T. Flax seed mixed in 3 T. water

Let mixture set for about 5 -7 min and add to cookie mixture.

For this recipe, I used 2 flax seed eggs, so 2 T. flax seed and 6 T. water.

Lastly, I wanted to make them gluten free, so I used almond flour along with xanthan gum, because I have a couple of friends and a sister that LOVE to eat treats, and we all know that gluten-free treats seem to be rather bland.  Well, look no further because this recipe is a keeper.  Even if you’re not gluten free, you will be surprised at how glutenous this recipe seems to be haha.

THE BEST VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL COOKIE RECIPE– GLUTEN FREE

Yield: Approx. 2 1/2 doz. medium cookies

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

INGREDIENTS:

CREAM TOGETHER WITH BLENDER:

1/2 C. Applesauce (no sugar, all natural organic)

1/2 C. Almond Butter

1/2 C. White Sugar

1 C. Light Brown Sugar

2 Flax Eggs (recipe above)

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

IN SEPARATE BOWL COMBINE DRY INGREDIENTS WITH WHISK:

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 scant tsp. Salt

1 C. Oatmeal

3 1/3 C. Almond Flour

1 3/4 tsp. Xanthan gum

Slowly add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture 1 cup at a time and mix by hand (I like using a rice spoon). Don’t use the blender. Continue adding dry ingredients until all flour is mixed in and then add:

1 C. Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips

1 C. Coarsely Crushed Walnuts

Mix until chocolate chips and walnuts seem to be throughout the dough. Put dough in freezer for 20 min. This is a step that you cannot skip!

Remove dough from the freezer and use a medium sized cookie scoop and put scoops of cookie dough on cookie sheet topped with a sheet of parchment paper. You should be able to get 12 scoops of cookie dough on one cookie sheet. Put in oven on center rack.

Bake cookies for 20-25 min or until slightly brown on top. Enjoy!

GNOCCHI WITH ROASTED BROCCOLINI IN WHITE WINE SAUCE

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My daughter introduced me to gnocchi in Portland. She is an amazing cook and has introduced me to a lot of different foods. Well, she is a dietician and that helps too. Gnocchi has come to be one of my favs.

The other night when I got home from work and the “What’s for dinner?” question entered my head, as my stomach was growling, I needed to make a quick dish before I smacked myself to death, I remembered I had some gnocchi in my pantry that I’ve been wanting to cook. I originally was thinking of a mushroom marinara for this dish, but at the last minute I changed my mind (definitely a woman’s prerogative haha) because when I tasted the white wine mixed with the mushroom broth and spices it tasted fantastic.

If you want to make this sauce creamy, blend up 1/2 c cashews in about 1/4 c vegetable broth in a high speed blender and add it to the dish at the end. Make sure you blend this up well so you don’t get that gross grainy texture. Another trick is to soak the cashews for 15 min in boiling water, drain it before adding it to the blender with broth. Now to the recipe…..

GNOCCHI WITH ROASTED BROCCOLINI IN WHITE WINE SAUCE

Serves: 4 but if you have big eaters I would double.

Cook Time: 30 min.

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 small red onion

2 c. mushrooms sliced

1 bunch broccolini or regular broccoli (see recipe below)

1 package gnocchi, prepare as directed on package and set aside

1/3 c. dry white wine

1/2 c. vegetable broth (I like to make this with the “Better than Bouillon” brand

1 T. oregano

1 T. parsley

(Or in place of oregano and parsley add 1T. Italian seasoning)

1 tsp. salt

Prepare broth. Add 1/4 c. broth to a medium size Dutch oven or large rim pan and turn heat to medium high. As soon as pan is hot, add garlic and sauté for 2 min continuously stirring until it smells fragrant.

Add onion and sauté about 5 min or until slightly translucent. If you need to add more broth here to keep it from burning, do so. Add mushrooms and sauté these for 10-15 min or until a nice liquid broth forms from the mushrooms, add white wine and keep sautéing for 7 min or so until the alcohol burns off.

Add oregano, parsley and salt. Taste the mixture to see if it is to your liking. From here you can make a the cashew cream as mentioned above or leave it out. I thought it tasted good as is, so I opted not to. Add gnocchi and roasted broccolini. Mix well and taste once again to make sure it is properly salted and spiced. Enjoy.

ROASTED BROCCOLINI

Preheat oven to 425 degrees with baking rack on the top slot of the oven.

Place as much broccolini on a baking sheet pan as you want to serve.

Sprinkle broccolini with vegetable broth and salt and pepper.

When oven is up to temperature, place broccolini in the oven and set timer for 7 min. After 7 min stir broccolini on baking sheet and put back in oven for about 4 min or until it’s cooked to your liking.

Remove from oven and serve or add to cooking dish.