Recipe: Vegan Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of those things in life that everyone needs once in awhile.

Like a back massage. Or an entire bottle of wine.

But hang on, sista. Before you tell the cashier at the bakery to ring you up for a thick slice of the stuff in the glass display, consider making your own egg-free, dairy-free version at home. You'll be able to pronounce all the ingredients, too.

This recipe is 100% perfect and is great for the bananas that have been sitting on your counter and are way brown and questionable.


What you'll need:

• 1/4 cup plain non-dairy milk
• 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegan butter 
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• sea salt
• 3/4 cup walnuts, optional

How to do it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mash the butter and brown sugar together until it has even consistency.

Whisk together the non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar. Let that sit for a few minutes. (Make a phone call, send a few texts, whatever.)

In a medium bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and a sprinkle of sea salt. Add the walnuts if you dig them.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together until the mixture is smooth.

Pour into a floured loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. 

Let cool for five minutes before you pull the bread out or eat it all. 

Banana bread does it better.

Vegan Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

My aunt Sandy is an excellent hostess. At any function, whether it be a holiday party or a casual get-together at her lake house, she always provides an atmosphere that makes you feel at home. She really goes above and beyond not only to make sure that everyone's having a good time, but that everyone is well-fed... and amused while they're well fed. This past Thanksgiving, for example, she made penguins out of olives, cream cheese and carrots, a task I'm sure took hours— just for the presentation! Somehow, though, she manages it every time.

As an adult, I want to make sure that I elicit a similar feeling when someone comes to my house. I may not be at the point of making turkeys out of bell peppers and cucumbers, but I'd like to at least play the part of a good hostess. So, when I found out our friend was coming to visit from Chicago for the week, I took it as a sign to try out a new recipe for dark chocolate coconut cookies. Because, uh, everyone loves cookies and whenever my house smells like baked goods I know I've done something right.

And even though the majority of the food I cook is vegan, that doesn't mean other people don't love it. With any recipe, I want to make sure that it's not so out there as to be unappealing to people who aren't used to vegan food, and simple substitutions allow just that.

Which brings me to this recipe for dairy-free, egg-free dark chocolate chip coconut cookies.

What you'll need:

• egg replacer to equal to 1 egg*
• 1/2 cup vegan butter
• 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup vegan dark chocolate chips

*I use Ener-G Egg Replacer

How to do it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a food processor, blend the egg replacer, butter, sugar, vanilla and cocoa powder until smooth and set aside. 

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, coconut, and chocolate chips. Add the butter mix and stir until well incorporated. 

 

Roll dough into balls and lay out on a cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Let them cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet before taking them from the cookie sheet.

This recipe will make about 15 cookies, so double it if you have lots of guests! 

Recipe: Vegan Coconut Macaroons

I made these bite-sized cookies for girls' night last week and they were snapped up fast. This recipe makes 9-10 macaroons, but you might want to double it if you're entertaining more than a few dainty ladies (or  if you have a vicious sweet tooth.)

What you'll need:

• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar*
• 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup vanilla almond or coconut (or other non-dairy) milk
• Vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup nondairy chocolate chips**

*Huh? Turbinado sugar is a raw brown sugar that has been partially processed to the point where only the surface molasses has been melted off. It has a mild flavor.

**You can use regular chocolate chips if you don't care about keeping this recipe vegan.

How to make them:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the sugar, shredded coconut, and whole wheat flour in a bowl. 

Add your nondairy milk and a splash of vanilla.

Mix everything together and shape into balls.

Bake on a non-stick cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes, until light brown. Let cool 10 minutes.

Heat up your chocolate chips in a pan and drizzle it over your macaroons, or dip for a neater presentation.

Try not to eat the whole batch. I dare you.