Week 7 Dish 1: Vegan banana oat bars

Happy world vegetarian day! I didn't actually know that such a day existed until a friend of mine pointed it out to me today. It is on October 1st every year, was established in 1977 by the North American Vegetarian Society and is followed by Vegetarian Awareness Month. This ends on November 1st with World Vegan Day. Yep, you learn something new every day!

This week I started my surgery placement, which as I said before is not something I'm very interested in. But, it hasn't been too bad so far, and the consultant really makes it worthwhile by teaching us a lot. So I'm pretty happy! We also had a charity cake sale in the hospital today, and I thought I need to bake something myself! So, here is my (probably) most healthy baked recipe to date, with absolutely no sugar and only a tiny bit of oil in it - vegan banana bars. Did I mention it's also a ridiculously quick and easy to make?

Makes 12 squares
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups mashed overripe bananas - about 3 large bananas (I only had 1 1/4 cups worth of bananas so I topped it up with unsweetened apple sauce. This makes it a bit less sweet so you can add a bit of honey/ agave nectar/ maple syrup to taste)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed/ linseed
1/4 cup canola oil/ rapeseed oil (you can even substitute this with water like in the original recipe to make it even healthier, just will be a little less moist)
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground mixed spice
3 cups oats (make this recipe gluten free by using gluten free oats!)
1/2 cup walnuts (or any other nuts)
1/2 cup raisins
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 9x9 inch baking dish with grease proof paper.
2. Combine the mashed banana, ground flaxseed/ linseed, water, oil, salt, cinnamon and mixed spice in a big bowl and stir well.
3. Add the oats, walnuts and raisins and combine well. Spoon into the baking dish and press well. 
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into squares, place upside down on another tray (lined with grease proof paper) and bake for a further 15 minutes. Turn over and bake finally for 5 minutes.
5. Let them cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Original recipe: Banana walnut oat bars

Vegan, gluten free cashew cheesecake (no-bake!)

I have been meaning to try this recipe for a while. I absolutely love cheesecake and it's always my dessert of choice when I'm out for a meal. So I was a bit apprehensive about how this would turn out, and boy was I shocked at how good it tastes!! Simply delicious! And my whole family loved it too! I am definitely going to experiment with flavours in the future, so watch this space. In the meantime, I urge you to try this recipe, it's really worth it. Just bear in mind it does need at least 4 hours of cashew nut soaking beforehand and about 2 hours after for it to set.

Ingredients
For the crust
1/2 cup walnuts (or pecan, or almond, or other nut of preference) - no soaking required
1/2 cup soft pitted dated, soaked for 5 minutes
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
pinch of salt
For the filling
2 1/4 cups raw cashews (soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight, then drained)
1/2 cup agave nectar or honey
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (this is what helps hold it together so don't substitute it for anything else)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Prepare the crust first. In a food processor, chop the dates, nuts, desiccated coconut and salt. Process until it holds together when you press it between 2 of your fingers. I didn't soak the dates beforehand so I needed to add a little bit of water. Set aside.
2. Add the cashews, agave nectar/ honey, coconut oil, lemon juice and vanilla into a blender and blend well. Make sure it's completely smooth - blend more to be on the safe side.
3. Press the crust into the bottom of an 8 inch spring form cake tin. Pour the filling on top and freeze for at least 2 hours. To serve, let it thaw for about 30 minutes and cut into slices - I did 12 because it is quite heavy and filling, but do 8 if you prefer bigger ones :)

Original recipe: Raw cashew cheesecake
Store any leftovers in the fridge if it's not eaten straight away.

Week 6 Dish 2: Vegan tear-and-share apple scones

Had such a good day today, started off with a bit of a lie in, went for a run in the morning and then watched the new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Elementary! I followed this with some cardio and gastro revision, and ended the day with some baking of course. Relaxing, fun and productive - what more can you ask for! This time I baked scones with a twist - tear-and-share. They are apple ones thanks to yet another bag full of cooking apples that my mum got as a gift. I added more apple than the original recipe asked for so I was a bit worried that they would turn out a bit soggy but they haven't. They are crunchy on the outside with a moist, soft inside and not too sweet which is perfect. Here's the recipe.

Makes 12
Ingredients
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp demerera sugar (or brown sugar)
2 cups wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon (I double this from the original recipe but if you're a big cinnamon fan it could probably do with 3!)
1/3 cup softened coconut oil (from VB)
2 cups apples, peeled and shredded with a bit of the juice squeezed out and discarded to prevent soggy-ness
1/2 cup soya milk
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and cinnamon until well combined. Add the coconut oil and use your finger tips to combine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Stir in the apple and milk. It should be a little crumbly but fairly easy to handle (not very sticky). If too sticky add a little flour and if too dry add a little milk. Form into two balls.
4. Gently flatten the two balls of dough into disks on the baking trays until roughly 1-1.5 inches thick. Sprinkle them with the demerera sugar.
5. Cut or score the disks into 6 triangles (they look like little pizzas as you can see from the photo above) and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the scones are nicely golden brown. Keep the scones touching as they bake for a pull-apart effect and moist centre. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.

Original recipe: Apple cinnamon vegan scones

Week 6 Dish 1: Vegan carrot raisin walnut muffins

It's my last week at my current placement. I'm quite sad because it's so close and convenient, and I feel like I've gotten to know the team so well! But I must move on...to surgery, with early mornings and a longer commute. Ah well!

This week I've started with more muffins! I love my muffins, fairly healthy, easy to take to work and quite filling too. I've been wanting to make these for a while but I keep buying exotic summery fruits that I have to use before they go rotten! Now that there's nothing exotic left (or not for a reasonable price anyway - I'm a student after all) I thought it's the perfect time for carrots to make an appearance. Again, an easy recipe with yummy results!

Makes 12
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup soya milk
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a muffin tin.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon.
3. Make a well in the centre and add the milk, applesauce and vanilla. Mix until just combined.
4. Add the carrots, raisins and nuts, and fold until uniform.
5. Put the batter equally in the 12 muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Again these are really moist so store in the fridge after a couple of days if they haven't been eaten :D

Week 5 Dish 2: Vegan cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies

It's official, my Final Year Dinner (FYD) outfit is now complete! FYD this year is at the beginning of November and I really hate leaving things to the last minute so I bought an amazing dress last week and managed to find the perfect shoes over the weekend. Now I have the accessories too so I'm all set! The only thing I have to do now is make sure I don't put on any weight till then - a difficult task considering what I've just baked today!

So far most of my main dishes (the ones I count as my two per week) have been relatively healthy, but this one definitely isn't (though I did reduce the sugar, but they are still sweeet). I couldn't help myself, they just sounded so scrumptious and the reviews made it even harder to resist - so I did the only thing I could and baked them :D I can still smell the cinnamon-y goodness in the air...

Makes 24
Ingredients
1 cup vegan margarine
2/3 cup sugar (reduce to 1/2 if you want them less sweet)
2/3 cup brown sugar (again reduce to 1/2 if you want them less sweet)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp soya milk
6 tbsp applesauce
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
4 tsp cinnamon (2 if you're not a huge cinnamon fan)
2 cups oats
1 cup raisins
Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line three trays with grease proof paper.
2. Beat together the sugar and margarine until creamy.
3. Add in the vanilla, soya milk, and apple sauce, and beat more until well combined.
4. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and cinnamon until evenly blended.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix together well. Finally mix in the oats and raisins.
6. Drop heaped tablespoons of batter onto the trays 1 inch apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes (longer if they are slightly bigger - I had 21 in total so they were bigger and needed about 18 minutes). Cool for 5 minutes on the trays and then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Original recipe: Vegan cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies

Like I said, these are pretty sweet so use less sugar if you want. I'm sure the flour can be substituted with wholemeal too to make it slightly healthier. If anyone does try that, let me know how they turn out! I'm going to take these to the hospital tomorrow to share with my team, hope they like them.....:)

Vegan peanut butter fudge (Easy peasy)

Ever since I went to New York last year I have become addicted to peanut butter flavoured things thanks to Reese's peanut butter cups (also sold in St Mary's hospital shop, yum). So when I saw this recipe I just had to give it a go. This is another quick, busy-schedule recipe. Like the vegan chocolate, it takes no time at all so anyone can do it. I took some fudge in with me to my placement and shared it with my team - they all loved it which made me very happy! Extremely yummy but also equally calorific so you have been warned ;)

Ingredients
3/4 cup vegan margarine
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups icing sugar
Method

1. Melt the margarine in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth.
2. Stir in the icing sugar a little at a time until well blended (it will look a bit lumpy at first but keep adding more sugar and it will be fine).
3. Scoop into a 9x9 inch baking dish and pat down. Chill until firm and then cut into squares for eating. Store in the fridge of course otherwise it will go all mushy!

I reduced the sugar down to 2 cups from 3 2/3 cups in the original recipe and I think it's just the right amount of sweet, hope you think so too :)

Week 5 Dish 1: Vegan apple cookies

It's now been officially over a month since I began my blog, and I'm very happy with how it's going so far. I think I can definitely keep it going for another 5, can't I? Here's hoping! It's been a pretty exciting week actually, I've just had vaccines for my elective which really isn't that far away - April next year. But it really brought home the fact that it means finals aren't far away either (eeek!) so I've started reading a bit more.

My mum has gotten another bag of apples this week soooo it's time for another apple recipe. I made this recipe on Sunday but haven't had a chance to put it up until now - I decided to do cookies since I haven't done any yet. These cookies are really moist and filling and just so very scrumptious, if I do say so myself. Give them a go!

Ingredients
2 cups oats
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp brown sugar
1 cup soya milk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup melted coconut oil (cheapest to buy from VB)
1 1/2 cups grated apple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional, or other nut of your choice/ optional)
1/3 cup raisins (or other dried fruits/ optional)
Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line 2 baking trays with grease proof paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl stir together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar.
3. In smaller bowl whisk together the milk, applesauce and coconut oil. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and stir in the apples, walnuts and raisins until just combined.
4. Spoon out serving spoonfuls of dough and drop onto the tray, 2 inches apart. Flatten them slightly for easier baking. Bake for 15-17 minutes and cool on the tray for 2 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Original recipe: Vegan apple breakfast cookies
As these cookies are really moist, best to store in the fridge if they aren't eaten within a couple of days.