Bo's Kitchen

Plant based recipes made with love

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Blackberry aquafaba muffins

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Blackberry season is in full swing here. Muffins are always in season though, right? That’s why I had to make these seasonal sweets extra special with my fave vegan magic, aquafaba. Aquafaba is the brine from a tin of chickpeas, and when whipped it creates a beautiful fluffy egg substitute, just like egg whites for meringue. I’ve used it a lot in waffles lately, but I’m really enjoying trying it in baked recipes too. Next time you open a tin of chickpeas, save the brine! You can also make your own if you soak and cook your chickpeas at home.

Feel free to sub the flours for gluten free, a good all purpose gluten free would work well. I used a combination of plain and rye flour in these, I really love the flavour of rye flour.

These are refined sugar free, favouring coconut sugar over traditional cane sugar. I haven’t used white sugar in what feels like years now and to be honest, I don’t miss it at all. Coconut sugar adds just the right amount of sweetness without overpowering the flavour of blackberries. I like to enjoy a muffin with my cup of coffee for breakfast, so I prefer them to be naturally sweetened. I like to sprinkle a little coconut sugar over before baking to give them deliciously crackly muffin top. I’ve also added cinnamon and a little lemon zest, which just brings these muffins to life.

I’d love to hear what you think if you make them, or if you did anything differently. Please comment below or take a snap and tag me on Instagram! I always love to see your creations.

blackberry muffins

Blackberry muffins
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 12 muffins
Ingredients
  • 1.5 cup plain flour
  • 1 cup rye flour
  • 2.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp lemon zest
  • pinch salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 5 tbsp aquafaba
  • ½ cup oil, coconut, rapeseed or avocado
  • 1 cup coconut sugar plus 4 tbsp, for topping
  • ¾ cup almond mylk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups blackberries
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180•c. Line a muffin tin with paper cases or coat with oil.
  2. Add all dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir well.
  3. In a well cleaned medium bowl, add aquafaba and whisk with an electric whisk until frothy and foamy, for about 3 minutes. Add in the oil slowly whilst whisking, followed by the sugar. Whisk through almond mylk and vanilla and everything into the dry mix. Use a wooden spoon to combine and mix until just combined, it's okay if there are some lumps.
  4. In a small bowl, mash ¼ cup of blackberries to a pulp. Add to the batter and fold through the remaining blackberries, holding some back for topping.
  5. Fill lined muffin in with the batter and top with blackberries and a few tbsp of coconut sugar.
  6. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing. Enjoy right away or cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Will keep for two days, but best eaten when fresh.

No bake nut brownie

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no bake nut brownies with chocolate ganache

I promised to publish this recipe a couple of weeks ago and it’s finally here! Rich, indulgent, no bake brownie that’s refined sugar free, gluten free and vegan of course.

If you’ve never tried raw brownies before, bookmark this recipe now! I promise you’ll love them – any dessert that’s loaded with chocolate and doesn’t require baking is always a winner for me.

I’m a huge brownie lover but I’m always on the hunt for a healthy version. This one is made with cacao rather than cocao, which is unrefined and therefore more nutritionally dense. I’ve also added chia seeds and maca powder to the brownie base, for an extra helping of protein, b vitamins and omegas.  The base is fudgey but with enough bite to hold together and the chocolate ganache is smooth, creamy and sweet, so rich and delicious that just a little slice will suffice.

Feel free to play around with the recipe, you could try different nuts or seeds, personally I love using hazelnuts because they taste so magical with chocolate. I’ve made the base with almonds and walnuts and both came out delicious.  I’ve had fun testing out these brownies, they never seem to last very long which is a good sign!

Many thanks to two of my faves, Minimalist Baker and The Bojon Gourmet who have both inspired me with their incredible raw brownie recipes to try out whilst creating these! This recipe is heavily adapted from their recipes so I must say thank you!

I’m thrilled to be featured in the first edition of In The Moment magazine, out in the UK this month! Lots of my recipes are in there, along with an in depth interview with me about how I got into veganism, blogging and cooking. For more information check out their website here (these brownies are featured there too).

If you do try these out, please let me know – I’d love to hear what you think of them! You can also subscribe to my mailing list (just look on the right of this page) and you’ll get my recipes emailed directly to you before anybody else.

Sending you copious amounts of chocolate ganache,

Bo

xoxoxo

 

No bake nut brownie
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 10 servings
Ingredients
  • 1.25 cup hazelnuts
  • ¼ cup almonds or walnuts
  • ½ cup raw cacao powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 tbsp maca powder
  • 1 cup pitted dates
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup cacao powder
  • 2 tbsp coconut milk
Instructions
  1. Start by making the brownie base. Preheat the oven to 180•c . Add the hazelnuts to a baking tray and cook for about 10 minutes, until golden. Allow to cool then rub off as much of the skin as you can with a clean tea towel. Set about 2 tbsp aside for the ganache. Place remaining hazelnuts in a food processor and process until they are a fine, sandy texture. Now add in almonds, cacao powder, chia seeds, maca powder and salt and pulse until the mixture comes together. Set aside in a bowl.
  2. Add pitted dates and vanilla to the blender and pulse until it forms a paste. Add back in the brownie mix and pulse again until a rough dough is formed - it should stick together when you press it together, if not, add a tbsp of water at a time.
  3. Put mixture into a lined loaf pan, pressing down firmly to flatten out and pop in the fridge to set.
  4. Make the ganache topping by melting coconut oil gently over a small pan of water. Take off the heat and add in coconut milk, maple syrup and cacao powder. Whisk until totally smooth and leave to cool for at least 15 minutes. Pour over the brownie base and sprinkle with hazelnuts, cacao nibs and sea salt. Chill until firm, cut into slices and enjoy! Keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days.

 

 

 

Berry galettes

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Summer is almost here and what better way to celebrate than with these little summer berry galettes? Luscious, jammy berries encased in a vegan flaky pastry. Perfect with a dollop of vanilla coconut cream or a big scoop of ice cream. I’ve wanted to make galettes for so long and I’ve already made three batches in one week. Making up for lost time, eh?

These are actually really simple to prepare and you’ve most likely got the ingredients in your cupboard already.  Galettes beat tarts any day for me, because your get more crust to fruit per mouthful and who doesn’t love pastry?

berry galettes

I tried making these with a mix of gluten free flours but I just wasn’t happy with the way they looked. They still tasted nice though, so feel free to sub for an all purpose gluten free flour if you wish. I’ve also put an option to use coconut oil for the pastry rather than vegan margarine, but they won’t be as flaky and golden. Coconut sugar can be used for the fruit if you’d like to make these refined sugar free. The good thing is they’ll work whichever ingredients you decide to use, it’s a pretty flexible recipe.

They’re delicious served fresh from the oven, or stored in the fridge and heated up just before serving. The perfect summer berry celebration pud.

I’ve had fun eating my way through hundreds of galettes this week to perfect this recipe, so please do let me know what you think in the comments below, or tag me on Instagram @bos.kitchen.

xoxo

Berry galettes
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 12 small galettes
Ingredients
  • 2¼ cup plain flour/gf plain flour
  • ½ cup vegan margarine/coconut oil
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • ⅓-1/2 cup ice cold water
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • ½ cup raw cane/coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1 lemon, juice and zest
  • 1.5 tbsp cornstarch
  • pinch of salt
  • 1.5 cups each of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries
  • ¼ cup nut milk
  • coconut sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
  1. Make the pastry. Chop up coconut oil or margarine into rough pieces. Add to food processor with flour, salt, cornstarch, ACV and almond extract and pulse until crumbly. Slowly add the water until a dough is formed. Take out and flatten into a disc on a floured surface. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
  2. Let the dough rest for a minute or two to come to room temperature. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into rounds, you can make bigger ones or 12 small ones, using a 5 inch bowl. Use a pizza cutter to trim any excess pastry. Stack the rounds on a plate, with greaseproof paper and chill while you make the filling.
  3. Pop a large lined baking tray in the oven to preheat at 220•c. Mix sugar, vanilla, lemon, salt and cornstarch in a medium sized bowl. Toss fruits in sugar mix until evenly coated. Divide the mix between pastry rounds, leaving an inch gap around the edge. Go round the dough in one direction, pinching and folding the pastry. Top with extra fruit if you need to. Pour over and juices from the sugar bowl. Brush pastry with nut milk and sprinkle with sugar.
  4. Bake for 30 mins, turning half way through until golden and the fruit is jammy. Remove immediately onto a cooling rack. Delicious on their own, or with coconut whipped cream.

 

Baked mini donuts

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I’m kinda obsessed with small things. Especially when it comes to food. That’s why I simply couldn’t wait to put my new mini donut pan to work this week. I’ve ended up with a whole cake tin full of these little beauties and they are perfect for popping into your mouth with a coffee, or sneaking a little snack in whilst cooking dinner! Sometimes you only want a little bit of sweetness, and these babies are just the trick.

These would make a great gift for your friends or loved ones, I made about 24 baby donuts with this recipe, so there’s plenty to share. Of course if you don’t have a mini donut pan, feel free to use a regular size one, which should yield about 12.

These are baked, dairy free and the donut is refined sugar free. They’re flavoured with classic donut spices, nutmeg and cinnamon. I can’t resist proper icing sugar for the frosting, but feel free to sub with a sugar free icing if you wish (my friend Tiina @myberryforest, has a great sugar free icing recipe here). Although I usually avoid white sugar, I don’t mind it in small amounts every once in a while. Everything in moderation, right?  Most coloured gels are vegan, but do check the ingredients to make sure.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as me, please take a snap if you make them and tag the picture @bos.kitchen on Instagram so I can see! I’m going to share every remake of my recipe on my Instastories,  nothing makes me happier than seeing one of my recipes recreated!

If you’d like to know a bit more about me, where I’m from and how I got in veganism, hop on over to my friend Julie’s @rawfoodchefjulie‘s fabulous and informative blog at julieslifestyle.com.

Stay sweet,

Bo

xoxo

5.0 from 2 reviews
Baked mini donuts
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 24 mini donuts or 12 regular size
Ingredients
  • 1 cup plain flour (can sub plain gluten free)
  • 2 tbsp oat flour (or more plain flour)
  • ½ cup coconut sugar
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp pink salt
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup cashew mylk (or other plant based mylk of choice)
  • ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • ⅛ cup aquafaba
  • ¼ cup avocado/rapeseed oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180•c and brush a mini donut pan with a little oil.
  2. Combine all dry ingredients with a whisk. Make a well in the middle.
  3. Pour all wet ingredients into the well and mix with a fork. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients until combined, to form a very thick batter.
  4. Pour a little batter into your donut pan, taking care not to fill right to the top, as they will rise whilst cooking. Smooth out with your fingers to ensure the batter is distributed evenly.
  5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before decorating.
  7. If making frosting, mix 1 cup icing sugar with 2-3 tbsp cashew mylk until thick and smooth. Add more mylk if you need to, a tbsp at a time. Now divide into three bowls and add a drop of vegan food colouring paste. Stir well and dunk each donut to coat.

baked mini donuts with pink icing