BANANA PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP OATIES- Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free & Refined Sugar-Free

I cannot believe how long it has been since I’ve posted a recipe here. I wish I could say that I will start posting recipes frequently again, but my recipe notebook is packed in a box somewhere and I don’t know when I’ll be unpacking. My fiance and I are currently staying at his parents house while we finish up renovations in our new house. So not only do I not have my recipe notebook, I also don’t have my own kitchen to experiment and make a mess in. One day in the near future I will though and it will be glorious!

In the meantime, I’m sharing a recipe today that I have memorized because I’ve made it THAT many times. And yes, it is a cookie recipe. What other recipe would I make that often?

I love these cookies because they’re naturally sweetened with banana and they’re packed with protein thanks to our friend Mr. Peanut Butter. These cookies are healthy enough to enjoy frequently but they don’t taste like it. The richness of the peanut butter mixed with the decadent chocolate makes these beauties a real treat!

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oaties

Decadent cookies that are naturally sweetened and healthy enough to enjoy everyday!

Serves 12-15

Ingredients:

• 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 1 medium banana, mashed
• 1/3 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• arrowroot starch for dusting

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl mix together rolled oats and ground flax seeds and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl cream together the mashed banana, non-dairy milk and peanut butter.
4. Add the oat mixture to the medium bowl and mix until combined.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips and then portion the dough onto the lined baking sheet.
6. Use a fork dipped in arrowroot starch (to prevent sticking) to flatten the cookies to your desired thickness, remembering that they will NOT spread while they bake.
7. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool on baking sheet for another 5 minutes before enjoying!

xoxo Erin

You May Also Like:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

BLUSHBABY SMOOTHIE- Vegan, Grain-Free & Refined Sugar-Free

Ever wanted something that tasted like a dessert but was filled with veggies?

Well you’re in luck because Leanne Vogel’s newest cookbook Vibrant Life Cleanse Program & Cookbook (that I introduced the other day) is filled with juice and smoothie recipes that are absolutely delicious. There’s even an entire chapter in the book dedicated to dessert smoothies. Now that’s my kind of chapter! I’m honestly drooling just thinking about all the recipes I cannot wait to try!

Leanne was kind enough to let me share a recipe with you. This recipe is fantastic because it’s a smoothie made with fresh juice. A bit more labour intensive than just a smoothie or just a juice, but the flavour is unbelievable. It’s definitely worth the extra effort. I would suggest making a double serving when you make this. Believe me, you won’t regret it.

Blushbaby Smoothie

Shared with permission of Leanne Vogel. 

Serves 1 (Makes 500ml)

Ingredients:

1 orange, juiced

4 carrots, juiced

1 golden beet, juiced

8 frozen mango chunks

6 strawberries

3 ice cubes

Directions:

Juice the orange, carrots and golden beet.

Pour the juice into the jug of your high-powered blender, followed by remaining ingredients in the order they are listed.

Blend on high for 1 minute, or until smooth.

Transfer to a glass and serve immediately.

To store: pour into a glass container and keep in the fridge for 1-2 days. Alternatively, pour into a plastic container and freeze for up to 1 month.

Grab your copy of the cookbook here and after you do, immediately flip to the dessert smoothie chapter!!! Just do it.

xoxo Erin

ALMOND ORANGE BROCCOLI- Vegan, Gluten-Free & Oil-Free

I sat down with the intention to write my next review of Happy Herbivore Light & Lean. But as soon as I looked at my computer screen I felt exhausted. I spend about six of my eight hour work day sitting at a desk writing an assessment. Turns out that’s enough to make me not want to write anything else today!

Almond Orange Broccoli

Crisp broccoli smothered in a sweet and salty sauce. 

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 3 tbsp orange juice
• 1 tbsp gluten-free soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 tbsp almond butter
• 3 tbsp sliced almonds

Instructions:

1. Heat frying pan over medium-low heat and add broccoli florets.
2. While the broccoli cooks, add orange juice, soy sauce, vinegar and almond butter to a blender (I used my Magic Bullet) and blend until combined.
3. Once the broccoli is cooked to your liking (I cook mine just until it starts to turn a brighter green), pour the sauce over the broccoli and sprinkle with the sliced almonds.

xoxo Erin

You May Also Like:

       Butter Chickpeas

UPDATE! This recipe has been shared at Healthy Vegan Fridays.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER DONUTS- Vegan, Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free & Oil-Free

I’ve seen lots of red desserts floating around the internet lately. Some coloured with food colouring, some with raspberries or cherries and some with beet juice. Even though all of these valentines treats look amazing, I’ve had an aversion to foods that are unnaturally red for a long time. When I was younger I would break out in hives whenever I’d eat a little too much of something with red food colouring. I expect that I would still break out in hives but I’ve been avoiding red food colouring since I realized what was causing the hives.

But this valentines treat won’t be causing any hives. These peanut butter and chocolate goodies are decadent enough to make for your sweetheart on valentines day and healthy enough to make again and again for no reason other than they taste like a little piece of heaven. Sweet peanut butter and chocolate heaven, mmmm! Oh, and if you’re looking for more delicious non-traditional valentines recipes, check out The Healthy Maven. Davida has been baking up some ridiculously amazing treats…lemon swiss roll with coconut cream frosting, banana fosters cinnamon rolls and double chocolate cherry cookies kind of amazing! Excuse me while I drool a little…and by a little I mean a lot 🙂

Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts

Soft and decadent chocolate peanut buttery donuts smothered in sweet and creamy peanut butter glaze. 

Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

Donut- 

• 1/2 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 3 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar (any granulated sugar will work)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder

Glaze-

• 3 tbsp peanut butter
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar (any granulated sugar will work)
• 1 tbsp tapioca starch
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp unsweetened non-dairy milk

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and set aside a donut baking pan.
2. Add apple cider vinegar to the non-dairy milk and let stand for at least 5 minutes.
3. Mix the ground flaxseeds with the water and also let stand for at least 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, mix together brown rice flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, cocoa powder, coconut sugar and baking powder.
5. Add the peanut butter, vanilla extract, non-dairy milk mixture and flaxseed mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour over the dry mixture and mix until combined.
6. Use an icing piping bag to fill the donut pan with batter.
7. Cook for 9-11 minutes and let cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes before removing the donuts to a cooling rack.
8. While the donuts are baking and cooling, add the coconut sugar and tapioca starch to a blender and blend until the sugar is powdered.
9. Combine the powdered sugar with the rest of the glaze ingredients and mix until combined. Spread the glaze over the cooled donuts and enjoy!

xoxo Erin

You May Also Like:

Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cups

  

UPDATE: This recipe has been shared at Vegan Mondays Roundup, Gluten-Free Fridays, Potluck Party and Healthy Vegan Fridays.

PROJECT LIGHT & LEAN: Muffin & Bread Chapter (Fruity Muffins)

I’ve been procrastinating to write this post because I’m missing a photo of one of the muffin recipes. And not just any muffin recipe, my favourite muffin from the entire chapter! In hindsight this happened because I loved the muffins so much that I ate them all without realizing I hadn’t taken a picture of them yet. I held off writing this post because I intended to make another batch of the muffins this weekend so I could get a photo but I couldn’t find cranberries at the store. Since cranberries are what make the muffins so amazing I decided to hold off on making them again until I had cranberries. Okay, that’s enough excuses for one post. Here are my thoughts on the final three muffin recipes in the Muffin & Bread Chapter in Happy Herbivore Light & Lean.

Like I said in my last review of Happy Herbivore Light & Lean muffins, for all of the recipes reviewed today I used the gluten-free mix that is in the cookbook. Any gluten-free all purpose flour will work though as long as it has xanthan gum or guar gum in it. If your mix does not have either of these just add 1 tsp for every cup of flour you use.

Single Serving Blueberry Muffin, page 50

These muffins were good but I had to cook them for 10 minutes more than the bake time listed. This extra cooking time was a little frustrating because having the oven on for 30 minutes to bake two muffins (I doubled the recipe) felt like a waste of electricity. Even though I love the idea of single serving baking recipes, I prefer when these recipes cook in 15-20 minutes. Regardless of the baking time, these muffins were yummy and had a nice traditional muffin texture. My fiance also liked the muffin and gobbled it up. I probably wouldn’t make this recipe again though. When I crave blueberry muffins I’d opt for either my own recipe or for the Blueberry Yogurt recipe that I’m also reviewing in this post.

Ruby Chocolate Muffins, page 41

These muffins were the best. I loved everything about them. Like I already said, I liked them so much that they were all eaten before I realized I had yet to take a photo, whoops! Anyway, the best part of these muffins was the fresh cranberries that just popped with tart deliciousness when you bite into them. The tartness of the cranberries contrasted perfectly with the sweet chocolatey muffin goodness that surrounded the cranberries. I may or may not be drooling a little as I’m remember eating these muffins. My fiance also liked these muffins, however, I don’t think he loved them as much as I did.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins, page 48

I started to make these muffins before I checked to see if I had all of the ingredients, so I had to leave out the lemon zest. This was probably a bad idea. I think the lemon zest would have added that extra special flavour that would have sent these muffins over the top. Regardless of my missing ingredient, these muffins had a perfect texture. They were soft and fluffy yet heavy and filling. I also had to bake these muffins for an extra 10 minutes past the recommended baking time but this didn’t bother me since I got 12 muffins out of that 30 minutes of baking. My fiance liked these muffins but did comment that they would have been better if their tops had been more crunchy.

And that does it for the Muffin & Bread chapter. Next is Sandwiches, Tacos & More!

xoxo Erin

Previous Project Light & Lean Review:

         

TROPICAL DESSERT SMOOTHIE- Vegan, Gluten-Free & Refined Sugar-Free

I created this recipe for my mom. My mom loves the summer. She loves the weather, the sunlight and of course, the flavours. Since this winter has been especially cold and since my mom has recently obtained a high-power blender, I thought I’d create a recipe for her. I thought of no better recipe than a smoothie that is delicious enough to call a dessert but healthy enough to enjoy at any time of the day. This super healthy smoothy is completely mouthwatering and will take your taste buds to tropical heaven.

Okay, so it doesn’t look that pretty when it’s just a pile of stuff in a blender, but once that “on” button is pressed and all the ingredients are pulverized, tropical heaven is achieved. Just trust me.

See, I told you! Look at those beautiful green glowing smoothies. I love the look of green smoothies but I can appreciate that lots of people think they look like alien goo. Although I’ve listed this as a dessert smoothie, I still like throwing spinach in there for extra nutrition. You cannot taste the spinach at all. The fruit and coconut milk are so strong in flavour that the spinach is covered up immediately. If I was making this as a meal instead of as a sweet treat I’d probably throw at least 2 cups of kale in there as well. This will make the smoothies much brighter green though and that may be off putting for some. Feel free to leave out the spinach if you’re making it for picky eaters…but I promise if you blind-fold them and serve them the green version they would never know!

Tropical Dessert Smoothie

A creamy smoothie that’s filled with bright tropical flavours and is sweet enough to be a dessert. 

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup water (use 1 1/2 cups if you like a thinner drink)
• 1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
• 1 cup frozen mango chunks
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp macadamia nut butter
• 2 cups spinach

Instructions: 

1. Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender, making sure to add the liquids first. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and let your taste buds escape to the tropics!

xoxo Erin

You May Also Like:

Pina Colada Oatmeal

UPDATE: This recipe has been shared at Healthy Vegan Fridays, Raw Food Thursdays and Weekend Wholefood Blender Party.

PROJECT LIGHT & LEAN: Muffins & Breads Chapter (Decadent Muffins)

Decadent might be a bit misleading of a label. I didn’t know what else to call this group of muffins and decadent was the only word that came to mind. In the context of a cookbook that is focused on low-calorie plant-based recipes, I use decadent to describe chocolate or peanut butter. Like I said in my last review of Happy Herbivore Light & Lean muffins, for all of the recipes reviewed today I used the gluten-free mix that is in the cookbook. Any gluten-free all purpose flour will work though as long as it has xanthan gum or guar gum in it. If your mix does not have either of these just add 1 tsp for every cup of flour you use.

Chocolate Chip Muffins, page 44

 

This was my least favourite muffin recipe. I made them to be a part of our Christmas morning breakfast and unfortunately there were plenty leftover after the breakfast. I think the name of these muffins is a bit misleading because they definitely taste like banana chocolate chip muffins. This is important for me to mention because I know some individuals who have a strong aversion to banana anything so these muffins definitely come with a warning that they taste strongly like banana. I love banana, but appreciate that not everyone does. I also found these muffins to be very dry and dense. I’m not sure if this is a result of making the muffins with gluten-free flour instead of the white whole wheat flour the recipe calls for. These also stuck significantly  to the paper liners I used, so that wasn’t overly fun. My fiance did try one and said it was dry. I tried to make him eat the last two that I didn’t want but he didn’t want them either. Basically , finishing off these muffins felt like a chore and I may or may not have thrown out the last one or two because I just couldn’t do it. I’d love to hear others feedback about this recipe because I can’t help but wonder if I messed up the recipe somehow and that’s why they were so dry and dense. If you’ve made these, let me know your thoughts!

“Cheater” Peanut Butter Muffins, page 43

These muffins were okay. I found the texture to be a bit gummy and I think this may have been because the recipe called for 1 apple. With the apple you chop it and set aside 1 cup chopped and put the rest in the food processor with the other wet ingredients. I must have used an apple that was larger than it was supposed to be and the extra wet ingredient caused the gummy texture. Needless to say, I prefer recipes that give measurements instead of “1 apple”, specifically for baking because baking can be very finicky. If I were to make these again I would just use the 1 cup of chopped apple. To be honest I don’t even remember much about the flavour of these because the gummy texture threw me off so much but they all got eaten so they must have had a flavour good enough to compensate for the texture. My fiance said that these muffins were okay and agreed that the texture was off but he still ate a bunch of them.

Banana Chocolate Chip Scones, page 52

Now, this was a good recipe! These scones were absolutely scrumptious. I wasn’t expecting to like them all that much as scones aren’t really my thing, but these ones surprised me. They were not like a traditional scone in the way that their exterior was harder like a scone, but their center was soft like a muffin. Basically if a chocolate chip scone and a banana muffin had a baby, this is what you’d get. This recipe also came with a recipe for a sugar glaze to put on top if you’d like. I did not use the glaze but the next time I got to a breakfast potluck I would strongly consider making these and I’d add the glaze to give them that extra something. My fiance gobbled these up and said that he liked them better than traditional scones, which he does like. If you have Happy Herbivore Light & Lean, I would strongly recommend giving these beauties a try this weekend. 

That’s all for now, but I’ve got one more post from the Muffins & Breads chapter and it will be focused on the fruity muffins 🙂

xoxo Erin 

Previous Project Light & Lean Review: 

       Veggie Muffins

 

PROJECT LIGHT & LEAN: Muffins & Breads Chapter (Veggie Muffins)

My review of muffins and breads from Happy Herbivore Light & Lean has finally arrived. I meant to post this a week or so ago but life intervened, as it always does. Since things have been so busy for me lately I’ve rediscovered weekend relaxation. And by rediscovered, I mean discovered, because to be honest, relaxation was never something I was very good at. I really only began appreciating relaxation after we got our puppy, Wayne. I enjoy being busy and always thought I was at my happiest when I had a million things going on. Turns out I’m at my happiest when I have a million things going on during the week and nothing going on during the weekend. Oh relaxation, how I hope to never let you go!

All this reminiscing about relaxation is distracting me! Back to muffin and bread talk. Overall I’d say I had success with the muffin and bread recipes from Happy Herbivore Light & Lean. I definitely liked some recipes more than others and there was only one recipe that I struggled to eat all of the muffins…but I’ll review that recipe in another post. The recipes I’m covering today are the recipes that had vegetables in them! I love when muffins have vegetables in them because, well because I love vegetables.

I should also note that for all of these recipes I used the gluten-free mix that is in the cookbook. Any gluten-free all purpose flour will work as long as it has xanthan gum or guar gum in it. If your mix does not have either of these just add 1 tsp for every cup of flour you use.

Pineapple Carrot Muffins, page 47

I liked these muffins. They had a nice texture and I did not use the optional applesauce. I think they would have been too moist if I had used it. These muffins were also easy to make. The hardest part was grating carrots. And grating carrots isn’t hard, so that’s pretty awesome. These muffins were also not overly sweet, which is something I like in a muffin. My partner liked these muffins but described them as “healthy”, which is his code word for “I’ll eat it but if you don’t make them again I won’t notice”. Also, the recipe says it makes 12 muffins but I only got 9 out of the batter. I used the scoop that I always use when I make muffins so I’m not sure what was up with my minimal batch.

Cornbread, page 55

Mmmmm this cornbread was super yummy. I did not use the optional sugar and I still found the bread to be sweet. I actually enjoyed this bread as a dessert with some strawberry chia seed jam my best friend made for me and also as a side to soup. Basically this bread did not last long in my house! My partner also really liked the bread and ate it both as a sweet treat and as an accompaniment to soup. It is very likely I will make these bread again!

Pumpkin Muffin, page 50

This recipe was a single serving recipe, which I think is brilliant. Sometimes I’m not interested in committing to making 12 muffins and eating them all week long (yes I could freeze them, but I never do). Anyway, I loved this recipe because it was a single serving and also because the flavour and texture were perfect! They were moist and fluffy and full of pumpkin flavour. I haven’t made this muffin for my partner yet but I think he’ll like it…especially if I throw some chocolate chips in there.

Lemon-Zucchini Muffins, page 45

I really love lemon so naturally I really liked the flavour of these muffins. Their texture was also very light and fluffy, which matched very well with their bright and clean lemon flavour. I gave a couple of these muffins to our realtor because we were seeing her the day I baked them and she also loved them. In fact, she now frequently reminds me that she’s open to receiving any of my baked goods 🙂 My partner also said he liked these muffins, however, he also said they would make a good dinner roll. So that’s kind of confusing. He had a bad cold at the time so I think it’s likely he couldn’t taste the lemon flavour at all and was just basing his review off of their texture. Oh, and I had to bake these beauties for 10 minutes past the upper limit of the recommended baking time. I don’t know if this is because of the gluten-free flour or if my oven is just different.

Breakfast Corn Muffins, page 51

Meh. That was my reaction to these muffins. They were okay, not bad but not overly exciting either. They were very dense, which is not my favourite when it comes to muffins. The recipe also called for 2 carrots minced and I think it would be better if a volume measurement for carrots was given instead (e.g. 1 cup shredded carrot) because carrots definitely vary in size. I used what I thought were two average sized carrots but the batter looked very carrot dense. My partner thought these muffins were okay and only ate them with some butter spread across them.

Stay tuned for more muffin reviews!

xoxo Erin

Other Project Light & Lean Reviews:

Oatmeals

Pancakes & Granola

Savory Breakfasts

PROJECT LIGHT & LEAN: Breakfast Chapter (Savory Breakfasts)

Last week when I started posting Project Light & Lean reviews I had a posting schedule and I was sure that I would follow that schedule. Two days in…and I was already off the schedule. I was initially frustrated with myself that my plan didn’t work. How could I have fallen off of my posting schedule so soon? Should I even have committed to this project if I couldn’t even stick to the schedule I created for myself? What does this say about me?

And then a moment of clarity emerged through my mental chaos. That moment of clarity said “who cares!” and with that my mind cleared. My frustration, doubts and criticism floated away. I was finally able to look at the situation and reflect on what was going on. And what was going on was I created expectations of myself that were not realistic and it resulted in me feeling negative. Isn’t it fascinating the impact expectations can have on our experiences? Me falling behind on my posting schedule doesn’t actually have any impact on whether or not I finish the project. Sure, it will likely alter the time frame but who cares! At the end of the day it’s the process of completing the project that is important, not the final outcome of the project being finished.

With all of that said, I think it’s time for more breakfast talk. Today I’m talking about the savory breakfasts from Happy Herbivore Light & Lean. Overall, I am not generally a fan of savory breakfasts. Why would I eat something savory when I could eat something sweet? Obviously that is just my taste preference. I’d eat breakfast and dessert for every meal of the day if I could without feeling completely “blah” after a day or so. I should note that I actually ate all of the savory breakfasts for either lunch or dinner. Yes, I’m cooking my way through the cookbook, but I’ve make no commitment to eating the recipes for the meal they were intended for 🙂

Breakfast Tacos, page 25

I did not completely follow this recipe as I was suppose to. Since I was making it for lunch I doubled the amount of steamed greens. I also used taco shells instead of corn tortilla’s because the only gluten-free corn tortilla’s that I’ve been able to find are frozen and fall apart very easily. Because of the changes that I made to the recipe I had a difficult time fitting all the fillings into the shell. Basically it was hard not to make a mess while eating but since they tasted pretty good I wasn’t bothered by the mess I made. These tacos were sweeter than I was expecting and in hindsight I could definitely enjoy these babies for breakfast. They were super quick to throw together so they would make a good weekday breakfast. My partner did not try this recipe because I made them when he was not home and to be honest they are not something I would expect him to like so I didn’t go out of my way to make them for him.

Tempeh Bacon, page 36

This recipe was interesting. I liked the tempeh bacon when I made a sandwich with it but I wouldn’t eat it by itself. I don’t really know how to explain it, but there was an after taste that I noticed when I ate a piece by itself that I didn’t notice when I ate it in a sandwich. My partner only had a bite of this recipe but I was surprised when he said that it wasn’t bad and that he would eat it if it were in a sandwich. I should note that I never made him a sandwich with the tempeh bacon so I have no concrete evidence that he would have eaten it. I don’t think this is a recipe I’ll be making again because it took some forethought to have the tempeh marinate for 4 hours before cooking and I wasn’t overly impressed with the recipe in general. To be fair, I have yet to find a recipe for tempeh bacon that I really like. This probably means that tempeh bacon and I are just not meant to be.

Drop Biscuits, page 33 and Olive Gravy, page 34

Okay, I need to start this review by saying that I do not like biscuits and gravy. It was not something that I grew up eating and not something that ever looked appealing to me. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I did not like these biscuits. I did, however, like the gravy and I would say the meal overall was okay. Like I said, a dry biscuit is not appealing and had the gravy not been so flavourful, I probably would not have been able to finish my serving. If I liked biscuits and gravy though I think this recipe would have been fantastic. The gravy had a gentle salty flavour that paired well with the garlic that was also in the gravy. I didn’t make this recipe for my partner because I was not expecting to like it myself and figured if I didn’t like it than there was no way he would like it. Both the biscuits and gravy are not gluten-free, however, they were easily made gluten-free by substituting an all-purpose gluten-free flour for the white whole wheat flour the recipe called for. Just remember to make sure that your all-purpose blend has either xanthan gum or guar gum!

Tofu Scramble, page 35

I usually like tofu scrambles and I definitely liked this one. It was very quick to make and it had a really bright flavour. The texture was different than your typical scrambled eggs because it doesn’t have that fatty taste, but this dish is so much more filling than eggs that I think even an egg lover would appreciate it. I made this tofu scramble for my partner but put it in a wrap for him to eat on the go and he really liked it. I’m learning that he’s more likely to eat something if I just hand it to him and don’t let him know what’s in it. I feel fairly confident that had I told him his wrap was filled with tofu scramble he would have turned his head. Since I told him it was a breakfast wrap though he bit into it without thinking and liked it. I’m slowly cracking his code, MUAhaha!

And with that, this post concludes the breakfast chapter in Happy Herbivore Light & Lean. In case you didn’t notice, every recipe was either naturally gluten or easily made gluten-free, awesome! Next is the Muffin & Bread’s chapter…

xoxo Erin

PROJECT LIGHT & LEAN: Breakfast Chapter (Pancakes & Granola)

Monday was my first post of Project Light & Lean and it was all about oatmeal. Today is all about pancakes…and a little about granola. The pancake recipes in Happy Herbivore Light & Lean call for white whole wheat flour, but any all-purpose gluten-free flour could be used instead. This cookbook actually has a recipe in the Do It Yourself chapter for a gluten-free all-purpose mix. I will be making an actual review about it when I get to that chapter, but in the mean time I’ll let you know that I’ve used it and it works, but I prefer to use a combination that has a higher whole grain to starch ratio. Actually, now that I think of it I haven’t posted about my homemade all-purpose flour…I’ve make a mental note to do that in the near future 🙂

Overall, I was impressed with the pancake recipes in Happy Herbivore Light and Lean. They worked well with the gluten-free flour and were not crumbly at all, which is one of the main complaints I hear about anything gluten-free. It should be noted that the baking mix in this cookbook has xanthan gum added into it and this is very important for avoiding a crumbly mess. Guar gum also works in the same way so just double check that the mix you’re using has at least 1/2 tsp of xanthan or guar gum per cup of flour.

Pumpkin Pancakes, page 20

These pancakes had a great texture. They were fluffy and light yet had a certain denseness to them that made them satisfying and filling to eat. I topped mine with almond butter because I was eating them as a late night snack and didn’t want to give myself a sugar buzz from adding maple syrup. I actually made these pancakes over the holiday break when I was visiting my parents so although my partner didn’t get to try them, my mom did. It was interesting to have my mom and I both taste something because my first reaction was “wow, they taste more like pumpkin than I thought they would” and my moms first reaction was “all I taste is cinnamon”. I actually trust my moms experience of the flavour over mine because I eat a lot, and I mean a LOT of cinnamon, and I think my cinnamon detection is a bit skewed because of that. Basically if you don’t like cinnamon all that much I would recommend cutting the amount down by half in this recipe to ensure your taste buds grab onto the pumpkin flavour. Would I make them again? Absolutely! They were quick, easy, delicious and you don’t need very many ingredients to whip up a batch.

Granola, page 30

I should start off with saying granola and I have a love-hate relationship. I love to eat it so much that I have a bad habit of eating it until I’ve eaten so much that my belly hurts. I rarely, if ever, make granola because of this reason. When I made this recipe I purposely cut the recipe in half so I wouldn’t be able to eat 10 servings in one sitting. Turns out I could have made the full batch because even though this granola was good, it wasn’t addicting.

I prefer granola that bakes into chunks so that you can either grab a chunk and enjoy or you can manually crumble it over yogurt or sliced fruit. The granola from Light and Lean does not bake into chunks and therefore lacked a little on the exciting texture front for me. Yes, there are chewy raisins and crunchy oats, but that’s all. If there was more than one type of dried fruit and some nuts or seeds in the mix I think I would have liked it more. With that said, the purpose of this cookbook is low calorie foods so adding extra dried fruit and nuts would have defeated the purpose. My partner did try the granola and said that he liked it. He didn’t elaborate on what he liked about it though and hasn’t asked about it since. From what I’ve learned about him so far, this means he thought it was okay.

Pineapple Pancakes, page 22

Okay, it’s confession time already: I didn’t follow this recipe exactly like I was supposed to. I didn’t have any pineapple at home so I used orange juice instead of pineapple juice and I topped the pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup instead of crushed pineapple (after I took the picture, obviously). Basically, the pancakes I made were not pineapple pancakes. They were, however, fluffy, mouthwatering pancakes that I would make again. The base recipe for these pancakes can very easily be made into plain pancakes or whatever flavoured pancakes you want and I think that is something fantastic. I do intend on making these again and actually making them pineapple flavoured. I also intend on making them again and making them apple, mango, strawberry or even blueberry flavoured. Oh the possibilities! My partner has yet to try these but I fully expect him to enjoy them as much as I did.

Oatmeal Pancakes, page 29

When I first read this recipe I thought it was strange, who has leftover oatmeal? Clearly oatmeal is not a food I make ahead, let alone have leftovers of! The good news is it only took me 5 minutes to make the batter for these pancakes even though I had to make fresh oatmeal (since I didn’t have any “leftover”). These pancakes are great for adding toppings to because they don’t have much flavour by themselves. They are definitely dense pancakes so they would probably be best if topped with berries but I topped mine before I knew the texture of them and opted for banana slices and maple syrup. Wow, was it ever filling! I should note that even though these pancakes are dense, they weren’t dry at all. My partner has yet to try them and to be honest I’m not sure I’ll make them for him. Even though I enjoyed them, I liked the other two pancake recipes more and since I don’t have pancakes all that often when I have them next I’ll go for the pineapple or pumpkin ones.

For this recipe it’s important to note that oats are easily contaminated with gluten, so it’s best to use oats that are certified gluten-free. I actually started eating regular oats about a month ago because I was curious and I was pleasantly surprised that I did not have any reactions…until recently. Whoops. Back to gluten-free oats I go!

Next I’ll be wrapping up the breakfast chapter and talking about the savory breakfast recipes. If Sweet Potato Tacos or Tempeh Bacon sound interesting to you, stay tuned!

xoxo Erin

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