Plant based recipes made with love
This post is sponsored by Welleco, all opinions are my own.
Although I’m ready for Autumn and the inevitable mountain of baked goodies I’ll be rustling up, I’m still hanging on to summer with no bake treats. These cookie dough bars have been a daily treat for me lately. Simple to prepare, protein packed and full of wholesome ingredients, but taste like chocolate chip cookie dough!…
Strawberry season is still in full swing and there’s an abundance of summer berries everywhere. What better way to celebrate than with a beautifully moist and sweet strawberry cake? The sponge is soft, moist, melt in your mouth delicious and infused with strawberry pureé and strawberry essence. …
It’s officially summertime! My favourite time of year, not only for the extra sunshine, but the seasonal produce. Cherry season is always one I look forward to. Although the birds got to most of them on my tree, there’s still an overflow of juicy cherries at my local market and I’m enjoying them on the regular….
Hello friends! Is it too early to say happy Spring? Technically no, but looking outside, you’d never guess! If you’re lacking a little sunshine too, these cheery lemon coconut tarts are here to brighten up your day! Gluten, refined sugar and dairy free, you’re gonna love em! Did I mention they’re no bake and take around 20 minutes to prepare?
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I’ve been making these all week to perfect the recipe. Currently third batch deep and I’m relieved to say I’m finally happy with the pastry. These coconut caramel tarts are pretty much all the things I love squeezed into one sweet little sized pud. My kinda self care. Vegan, gluten free pastry, baked into sweet little shells in the oven and then filled to the brim with layers of sweet dairy free heaven! There’s a little disc of chocolate at the bottom, followed by a lush salted date caramel and then a peanut butter coco whip on top. Yep… I went all out. They’re rich, but not too sickly sweet, in fact I just had one for breakfast. It’s the weekend so that’s totally okay, right?
I wanted to make these as easy to prep as possible, with ingredients you’ll likely have in your pantry at home. Of course they taste sweet and creamy, but they aren’t laden with refined sugar and grains like your standard fancy pud. They’re easily made gluten free too, just be sure to grab some gluten free oats, or sub the oats for more almonds.
I got a DM from a fellow date lover on Instagram this week, saying how addictive salted date caramel is. I have to agree, this stuff tastes dangerously good. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed dunking my failed pastry cases into it. Medjool dates are also dangerously expensive. Her tip was to buy Deglet Noor dates, much cheaper but still plump and juicy when soaked in boiling water. You can use any dates really, or even raisins! I have had great success with them in other recipes, the boiling water soak works a treat.
The pastry almost defeated me, but the trick is to make sure the dough sticks together a little in your fingers before you press it into the tin. Too crumbly and it will fall apart when you take them out the tins. The second most important thing is to not over bake – I foolishly cooked them for 12 minutes and ended up with rock solid tart shells. Thankfully third time round they came out perfectly, so I’ll hope you give this one a whirl!
I’d love to know if you try this recipe, please leave me a comment below or on my Instagram.
The cherry obsession continues. This time in the form of a creamy cherry cheesecake ice cream. This has to be one of my favourites yet, rich and sweet with a beautiful cherry compote ripple. …
Believe it or not, I really struggle with baking cookies. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made loads of them before, but they have always either come out too cakey, too hard or just lack that not too crunchy chewiness that I long for. …
These matcha and blackberry curd tarts may just be my favourite recipe yet. Simple, sweet and light, they make the most wonderful dessert or snack. These babies are vegan, gluten and refined sugar free and very almost raw. The flavour combination is something else, I promise you will love them!…
It definitely is too late to say it now but happy New Year!! I hope it’s all been positive so far! Mine has been the best yet. I can’t wait to share more creations with you in 2017. The last year has been full of change from start to end, but I am so grateful for the journey and most of all for your support. Thank you for stopping by and supporting me on Facebook, Instagram, this blog or in person by eating my food! I really do love doing this and feel incredibly blessed to be able to inspire others to try eating more plants, or begin to think about food differently. It makes me all fuzzy inside when people try my recipes or try something new because of me. I love sharing the benefits of this lifestyle with as many people as possible. I’m full of ideas for 2017, pretty excited to see where this year takes me!
Aside from hibernating with the kittens, I’ve been scurrying about the kitchen recipe testing and my latest food crush are these raw mocha cheesecakes. It has been a recipe I’ve been dreaming of for a while because I love coffee… all types, black, milky, sweet, chilled, in cake form… I’ll take it all! Mocha seems like a safe option for people who may not like coffee because I’ve added a little chocolate and who doesn’t like chocolate? Actually I do know a couple of people, but still, more for you if they don’t like it!
These are indulgent, creamy, not too sweet treats but still dairy, gluten and refined sugar free. They really don’t take much effort to make, just remember to soak your cashews before hand, no matter how hard I try, I always forget. I definitely recommend enjoying a couple of these with a cup of the black stuff for the ultimate coffee shop experience!
Hope the year continues to keep you and your loved ones safe, healthy and well fed.
Peace and coffee,
Bo x
Base
Filling
Chocolate drizzle (optional)
Toppings (optional)
Line a square baking tray with greaseproof paper, leaving a little extra hanging over the sides for easy removal.Prepare your base by adding almonds, coconut, salt and cinnamon until a fine flour is formed. Add syrup a tablespoon at a time, until mixture sticks together between your fingers. Add a tablespoon of water if it’s too dry, or a little extra coconut if it’s too wet.
Press base mixture into a pan evenly. Set aside in the fridge while you make the filling.
Blend soaked cashews, coconut milk, vanilla, lemon juice, syrup and salt until very smooth and creamy, around 4-5 minutes. Pour roughly half the mix on to your base. Set aside in the freezer to set, at least 2 hours.
To the remaining filling, add coconut oil, cooled coffee and cacao. Pour over to make the third and final layer. Set for 2-3 hours in the freezer, then slowly lift out the pan and slice into little squares with a sharp knife.
To make the drizzle, add coconut oil, maple syrup and cacao to a small mixing bowl and mix with a fork until smooth. Drizzle over cheesecakes and top with coffee beans and mocha dust. Keep in the freezer for up to a month. Best eating after thawing for 10 minutes.
Oh hello there! I can’t believe it’s October already! Time is really flying this year and last month was the most hectic month yet. I now have two new kittens (Harry and Sushi) in my life and they are just about the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Have you ever tried to be in a bad mood with two tiny balls of fluff laying in your arms kissing each other? Well I have and it’s impossible. They definitely keep me on my toes. All I need to do now is train Sushi to stop climbing me like a tree when I’m about to feed her and we’ll be in crazy cat lady heaven. Life admin has taken over this month and I’ve been a bit behind with posts and photography but I’m ready to go again now, so expect some weekly updates for the rest of the year. I have a whole backlog of recipes I need to publish!
I am a true coconut lover, I think I have five jars of coconut oil at the moment, shredded coconut, coconut chips, coconut butter and coconut sugar. I also have coconut scented toiletries too, it never ends! It seemed only natural that I should indulge my coconut fantasies in the form of waffles. They didn’t disappoint. These coconut waffles are light and crispy and the raw chocolate sauce turns these beauties into something pretty special. You can keep the waffle batter for up to four days in the fridge, so this is a great recipe to make in advance for a lazy weekend. I added spirulina to the chocolate sauce, just to sneak some of my fave superfoods in. The recipe makes a lot of sauce, so you can make some raw chocolate with the rest (just pour it into a tray and set in the freezer), or just continue making waffles and chocolate sauce the whole week, which sounds like a great idea to me.
Coconut waffles
Raw chocolate sauce
