The Baking Vegan

Welcome! I'm Jane; a vegan chocolate addict and passionate baker on a personal quest to adapt my favourite recipes to make them cruelty-free! Enjoy!

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Banana Choc-chip Cuppins!

What do you call a bake that's neither a cupcake nor a muffin, but a beautiful hybrid of the two? A cuppin! (Obviously! :p)

This bake was very much a product of store cupboard ingredients and so fast and easy that the whole thing can be started, finished and eaten in half an hour - perfect for a Sunday morning's lazy baking!

Ingredients

225g/1 cup All Purpose flour

3 tsp baking powder

100g/just over 1/3 cup light brown sugar

3 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

75g/1/3 cup melted raw organic coconut oil

1 mashed banana

Non-dairy milk as needed (up to 1/3 cup)

50g Vegan friendly chocolate chips (or chop some 85% chocolate into small chunks)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/356°F

2. Line a muffin tin with paper cases

3. In your favourite mixing bowl combine the mashed banana, melted coconut oil and sugar. Mix well until a semi-smooth goo has formed and add the vanilla extract

4. In a separate, less important bowl sift in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon, whisk with a fork to combine

5. Add your flour mixture into the oily banana sugar goo and stir well to combine. At this stage you might notice that the mixture is more like a dough than a batter (this is because of the coconut oil) so add small amounts of non-dairy milk a bit at a time to loosen the mixture until it resembles normal muffin batter

6. Add the chocolate chips/chunks and stir a little bit to integrate evenly into the batter. Using an ice-cream scoop transfer the batter into the prepared muffin tin

7, Bake on the middle shelf of your preheated oven for 16-18 minutes, turning half way through

8. Devour while they're still a little warm and feel smug!

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After a long hiatus...

I'm back! Prepare for choc-chip banana cuppins (cupcake muffin hybrid), coconut choc-chip cookies, adventures in marshmallows and more! All vegan, all delicious, of course!

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Chocolate Biscuit Anniversary Cake with Leopardprint Icing!

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Agave Banana Chocolate Donut Muffins!

These are mad tasty and about 80% sugar free (until you roll them in powdered sugar that is!), they're great for breakfast or as an afternoon snack! 

This recipe is robbed and severely doctored from my imaginary BFF Nigella!

Ingredients:

For the muffins

250g/1 cup and a bit plain flour or wholewheat flour

75g/1/3 cup melted vegan margarine

1 tsp baking powder

.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsps spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ground clove, mixed spice etc)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 tbps agave syrup (taste for sweetness, agave is sweeter than sugar!)

1 mashed banana

125ml/1/2 cup non-dairy milk

4 squares of dark chocolate, chopped finely

To donut-ise:

1 tbsp melted vegan margarine

Powdered sugar/icing sugar/Brown sugar and cinnamon combined - enough to coat the tops of the muffins

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/400F

2. In a large bowl sift together all the dry ingredients.

3. In another bowl or measuring jug combine the agave, milk and vanilla.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine thoroughly. 

5. Add the mashed banana and chocolate.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, remove and allow to cool completely.

7. Brush the tops of the muffins with the melted margarine and then dredge in cinnamon brown sugar or dust with powdered sugar.

8. Devour ALL of them!

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Gratuitous Cinnamon-Sugar Tearing Bread Photos! 

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Vegan Cinnamon-Sugar Tearing Bread!

I have no idea why but this recipe is also known as "monkey bread" - this baffles me because there's nothing in it that I would associate with monkeys but maybe that's just me!

The recipe is a little convoluted so I'd recommend giving yourself a whole afternoon to make it - I used this wet St Patrick's Day as an ideal opportunity. I've seen this recipe done two different ways; one by rolling the dough into little balls and sticking them together with vegan margarine and cinnamon sugar, and the other by cutting the dough into slices and stacking them with the margarine/sugar mix. I had good intentions of doing the whole thing the first way (it looks so pretty!) but it was so fiddly that after one loaf's worth I couldn't be bothered any more so I reverted to the stacking method for the second loaf!

Ingredients:

 Cinnamon Yeast Dough

1 cup/236ml almond (or any non-dairy) milk

2 tbsp vegan margarine

1/4 cup/60g sugar

2 tbsps cinnamon

1 package quick yeast

3.5 cups/830g all purpose white flour

1 tsp salt

Cinnamon-Sugar Glue

1 cup/236g vegan margarine, melted

1 cup/236g soft light brown sugar

Cinnamon to taste!

Instructions

1. Start by making the dough: in a saucepan on low heat, combine the almond milk, vegan margarine and sugar and stir gently until the margarine is melted. 

2. When the margarine is melted and the sugar is dissolved, remove the saucepan from the heat, Test the temperature by dipping your (clean!) little finger in the liquid; if it is a comfortable temperature for your finger then it's time to add the yeast (if not then let the mixture cool until the finger-dip test is successful).

3. Set the yeasty-milk mixture aside to ferment a bit. Meanwhile sift the flour, cinnamon and salt into a large mixing bowl.

4. Make a well in the centre and gradually add the liquid, combining each addition thoroughly with a wooden spoon before adding more liquid (you may have to use your hand towards the end.) Mix until a sticky dough has formed.

5. Turn your sticky dough onto a well floured board and knead until it looks smooth and glossy.

6. Place your dough in a clean mixing bowl and cover with a sheet of lightly oiled cling wrap, oil side down. Put in a warm place to rise for 45-60 minutes.

7. While the dough is rising prepare your glue; melt the vegan margarine and, in a seperate bowl, whisk the cinnamon and sugar together.

8. When the dough has risen to about twice its original size you can preheat the oven to 390ºF/200ºC and grease two small loaf tins. Turn the dough out onto your floured board and roll it into a large square.

.

Using a pizza cutter, cut this into four squares.

Then cut each square into around 15 pieces.

9. Now for the fiddly bit! Take a piece of dough, roll it into a little ball, dip in melted margarine then dredge in the cinnamon sugar. Repeat this, sticking each new ball to the previous one, until the loaf tin is full.

10. If you're using the lazy stacking method then just brush the strips with the melted margarine and layer over the bottom of the loaf tin, spread with more margarine and cinnamon sugar and stack like a delicious cinnamony lasagna!

11. Bake for 20-25 minutes, allow to cool in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack

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Then devour because this is so delicious it should be illegal!

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Vegan Eve's Plum Pudding

I've had an unfortunate punnet of plums sitting in my kitchen for a while now, getting wrinklier by the second, so I decided to turn them into a plummy version of Eve's Pudding! It's a wonderful Sunday dessert, perfect after a big dinner, but has fruit in it so it's a little bit healthy; win-win!

Ingredients

About 6 plums, quartered

1/2 cup/120ml plain vegan yogurt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 cup/60ml golden syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup/120g white flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup/120g porridge oats

1/4 cup/60g brown sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF/200ºC and spray a glass or ceramic baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Line the sliced plums in the bottom of the baking dish and put aside.

3. In a mixing bowl add the flour, baking soda and baking powder and whisk lightly with a fork to combine.

4. In a separate bowl combine the yogurt, lemon juice, golden syrup and vanilla extract and mix well.

5. Add the yogurt mix to the dry ingredients and fold to form a smooth batter.

6. Pour the batter over the plums and spread with a rubber spatula to cover.

7. In a small bowl combine the oats and sugar and sprinkle over the top of the batter.

8. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 minutes and serve drizzled with homemade vegan lemon curd!

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Vegan Lemon Curd!

  Ingredients

1 1/4 cup/300ml lemon juice (fresh or bottled)

1 1/4 cup/250g caster sugar

2 tablespoons coconut milk

3 tablespoons cornflour dissolved in 3 tablespoons cold water

2 tablespoons vegan spread

Instructions

1. Dissolve the cornflour in cold water and set aside.

2. Combine lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar is dissolved.

3. Add the dissolved cornflour and coconut milk and allow to simmer until the mixture is thickened, about 10 minutes.

4. Add the vegan spread and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes.

5. Transfer to a container, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or until the curd has set. 

6. Eat drizzled over cakes, in yogurt, on porridge or just on a spoon directly out of the fridge!

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3 Step Vegan Chocolate Pancakes!

This is a great, easy recipe for a late weekend breakfast (or midweek dinner, why not!) and they can easily be made chocolate free simply by leaving out the cocoa powder, but why would you want to do that? :) These are also wonderful with a teaspoon of cinnamon added at the dry ingredient stage!

Ingredients

1 cup/120g flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon organic cocoa powder

2 tablespoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup/240ml non-dairy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (plus extra for frying)

Instructions

1. In a bowl add the dry ingredients and whisk lightly with a fork to combine.

2. Add the oil, non-dairy milk and vanilla and mix well to form a smooth batter (at this point you can add dark chocolate chips if you have them!)

3. Heat some vegetable oil in a pan and add the pancake batter one dessert spoon at a time. Flip the pancakes when the tops start bubbling (about 1 minute each side) and eat as soon as you possibly can!

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Dark Chocolate Cookies

  Ingredients:

2 cups/240g all purpose white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

good shake of cinnamon

1/3 cup/50g 75% dark chocolate, finely chopped

3/4 cup/75g caster sugar 

1/4/45g cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup/120ml vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp/30g cocoa powder

100ml light, unsweetened non-dairy milk

Directions:

 Preheat the oven to 390ºF/200ºC

Spray a baking sheet with light cooking spray.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl. 

In another bowl or a mixing jug, add together the vanilla, sugar and oil and mix well. 

Make a small well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients (except the milk). Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the milk gradually and continue to mix until you have a soft dough (you may have to get your hands in it for this!)

Add the chopped chocolate and peanut butter and mix thoroughly with your wooden spoon.

Scoop your cookie dough onto the baking sheet using a dessert spoon  and flatten down with a fork.

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 8-10 minutes only.

Turn out to a cooling rack immediately, and leave to cool for as long as you can wait!

Eat and enjoy!

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Ridiculously Simple Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I have had a can of pumpkin puree lurking in my kitchen cupboard since the pumpkin brownie incident that I've been trying to get rid of so today I thought: muffins! They are marginally healthy (but only marginally!) and cinnamony sweet and small and delicious!

Ingredients 

1 cup/half a can of pumpkin puree

1/2 cup/120ml Alpro Light Soya Milk

1/2 cup/120ml vegetable oil

1 tbsp golden syrup

3/4 cup/150g caster sugar

1 cup/120g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp mixed spice

Ridiculously Simple Instructions!

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF and place a rack on the middle shelf.

Spray a muffin tray with light cooking spray and line with muffin cases (if you have them, I didn't!)

In a large mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients and whisk lightly with a fork.

In a mixing jug or separate mixing bowl combine the liquid ingredients and mix until smooth and lump-free.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and fold together to get a bright orange batter.

Using a dessert spoon fill your muffin cases a third of the way up if you want 18 small muffins or two thirds of the way if you want twelve big muffins.

Bake for exactly 20 minutes until the tops are getting crispy and light brown.

Allow to cool, then eat 5 and tell yourself it's ok because they're full of fibre!

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Vegan Coffee Cake with Coffee Icing!

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Vegan Coffee Cake with Coffee Icing

I made this cake for my lovely boyfriend's birthday this year (Happy Birthday!) The recipe is my amalgamation of several different coffee cake recipes and it's quick and delicious! Enjoy even if it's not your birthday!

Ingredients

For the cake

3/4 cup/180ml Alpro Light Soya Milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup/100g caster sugar

1/2 cup/120ml vegetable oil

1/2 cup/120ml strong coffee

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 cup/150g plain flour

1 tsp salt

For the icing

1/2 cup/100g vegan spread (I use Pure Soya)

2 1/2 cups/250g icing sugar

1/2 cup/120ml strong coffee

Instructions

Add the cider vinegar to the soy milk and leave to curdle for a few minutes.

Meanwhile preheat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF and place a rack on the middle shelf. Grease and line a loose bottomed 10" cake tin.

Combine all the dry ingredients except the sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk lightly with a fork.

In a large measuring jug or mixing bowl combine the wet ingredients (including the milk mixture) and sugar and mix to a thick, smooth consistency.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients and fold together until combined but with a few streaks of flour still visible.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for exactly 30 minutes.

While the cake is cooling make the icing by combining all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beating with an electric hand beater until the icing is at the soft peak stage. 

This icing sets quite quickly so don't allow it to sit too long before icing your cake!

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Vegan chocolate cupcakes!! 

Courtesy (as usual!) of the Post Punk Kitchen online; these are the Just Chocolate Cake recipe cupcake-ified! I baked them for 15 minutes in a 350°F/175°C oven on the middle shelf and they came out perfectly, I let them cool marginally and then I decorated them with a squeeze of maple syrup and a sprinkle of dessicated coconut!

Ingredients

1 cup light non dairy milk 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 3/4 cup/150g caster sugar 1/3 cup/80ml vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon almond extract  1 cup/120g all-purpose flour 1/3 cup/40g cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular (or a mix of both) 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt

  Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C

Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle.

Add the sugar, oil, vanilla and almond extract and mix well.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add  the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour the batter into cupcake liners and bake on the middle shelf for 15 minutes!

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Vegan coconut rice pudding

If you're looking for some comfort food for these cold February days then I highly recommend this recipe! It's creamy, sweet, warm and delicious, make and enjoy!

Coconut rice pudding

Light cooking spray, for greasing 80g pudding rice 65g caster sugar 400ml tin coconut milk ½ vanilla pod, cut in two 50ml vegan cream (optional) Sliced mango and lime juice to serve

Heat the oven to 150C/300F. Spray an ovenproof pie dish with light cooking spray.

In a saucepan, add the split vanilla pod to the coconut milk, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes to allow the vanilla to infuse.

Combine the rice, sugar and vanilla coconut milk in a large bowl.

Refill the coconut tin with water, swirl around and add this, too.

Stir well, then transfer to the prepared dish.

Bake for an hour and three-quarters, stirring three or four times during cooking, until the rice is tender. There should be no golden skin on top.

Leave to cool completely, then refrigerate.

Stir in the vegan cream and serve with sliced mango and fresh lime juice.

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Gooey, oozy, banana-y (?) chocolatey Vegan Coconut Cake!

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Vegan Coconut Cake!

So! After extensive research about egg replacing I decided to be a bit crazy... I just used 1 cup of plain soy yoghurt instead of the 5 eggs! No vinegar, no flax or applesauce, just good old Alpro! I was a bit sceptical about how well this would work but the cake rose really well in the oven and looks incredibly light and airy. I kept the oven temperature relatively low because I wasn't sure how the cake would react in a higher temperature and it took 45 minutes to bake at 150ºC on the middle shelf. It was pretty delicate so if making a sandwich cake allow it to cool for several hours and firm up a bit in the fridge before cutting and icing it. It's a beautifully light cake with a delicate taste and light texture, I highly recommend it (but of course I would say that!)

Making this recipe vegan took so much substituting and I messed with the amounts quite a lot so it barely resembles the original (except for the coconut!); for example Ina's recipe called for 1.5 teaspoons of almond essence, but even half a teaspoon imparts a seriously strong almond smell and flavour so I reduced that significantly. I also reduced the amount of flour by a whole cup, and only needed half the amount of liquid specified because of the moisture in the yoghurt. If you want to check out the dairy and eggy version it's at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/coconut-cake-recipe/index.html.

So here is my Vegan Coconut cake!

Ingredients (in order of addition)

1.5 cups/340g vegan spread (I used Pure soya)

2 cups/470g demerara sugar

1 cup/230g plain soy yoghurt 

2 cups/470g all purpose white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup/60ml light non-dairy milk mixed with a teaspoon vanilla essence and1/2 teaspoon almond essence (optional!)

150g/around 1/2 a cup dessicated/shredded coconut 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 150ºC/300ºF. Grease the sides and line the base of a 10 inch loose bottomed cake tin.

2. In a large mixing bowl add the vegan spread and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on high until relatively smooth. The sugar will appear gritty at this stage.

3. Add the yoghurt and beat again until the batter is relatively smooth - this may look a bit curdled but don't panic!

4. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients.

5. Sift a third of the dry ingredients into your wet batter, fold in lightly.

6. Add a third of the milk mixture to your batter and mix well.

7. Repeat stages 5 and 6 until all the flour mixture and milk mixture have been combined into the batter - make sure to fold lightly help aerate the batter!

8. Pour the mix into your prepared cake tin and bake on the middle shelf of your preheated oven for 45 minute.

9. A cake tester (if you don't have one you can use a stick of dry spaghetti!) should come out completely clean when inserted in the centre.

10. Allow to cool completely before icing.

Here's the undecorated cake!

(Cooling my cake on my imaginary best friend Nigella!)