Week 13 Dish 1: Vegan Pineapple coconut cookies

My GP attachment is officially over! I'm quite sad about it really, I have a brilliant time out in Somerset. All the doctors were juts so welcoming and I had so many of my own clinics. I learnt so much and felt like part of the team (cliche I know, but still true) because they got me so involved unlike many attachments when you're just put in the corner to observe. And of course the GPs I stayed with were so amazing! I already mentioned that they took me clay pigeon shooting, and during the rest of the trip they took me wine tasting, cider tasting and to pudding club! Pudding club was a very interesting experience, I tried so many and there was one in particular that I loved - apricot brioche tart. Unfortunately it's not vegan but I might still make it at some point when I feel like indulging. Safe to say I had lots of fun!

The doctors I stayed with had an amazing garden and grew many fruits, veg and herbs. It made me miss my tropical fruits so I treated myself to a pineapple tin this week after I saw this very scrumptious looking recipe. They came out quite different compared to the photos of the original recipe but yummy nonetheless! Again, these are one of my less healthy bakes, but it's good to treat yourself every now and then ;)

Makes 12
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegan margarine
225 g pineapple pieces, crushed (but not too much)
1 3/4 cups plain flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (or nut of preference)
1 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
2. Cream the vegan margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the pineapple and beat until well mixed, followed by the baking powder and flour while mixing on low speed.
3. Stir in the chopped nuts and 3/4 cup of desiccated coconut.
4. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the rest of the coconut before placing on the baking tray about 2 inches apart. My batter was very wet, probably because I crushed the pineapple more than I should have so couldn't make balls. Instead I sprinkled a bit of coconut on the tray, put a dollop of batter on top of it and sprinkled more coconut on top. A bit tricky and messy but worked out in the end!
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned on top. Cool for 5 minutes on the tray then remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Original recipe: Vegan paradise cookies

Week 9 Dish 2: Vegan strawberry banana coconut cookies

Seems like it's a cookie week for me! Cookies are just so easy to make and perfect to snack on. I still had 3 more very ripe bananas to use (I don't like wasting good food) and managed to buy some more strawberries, which were also starting to go bad. So I found a recipe which used both. I still had more bananas and strawberries than the recipe needed so I decided to make a strawberry banana milkshake too (recipe coming soon). Safe to say my family loved both the recipes, I mean, you can't go wrong with strawberries can you?!

Makes 18-24 cookies

Ingredients

2 cups oats (make this recipe gluten free by using gluten free oats!)

1/4 cup oat flour (or process some oats into a fine powder)

1 cup desiccated coconute/ coconut flates

2 tbsp ground flaxseeds/ linseeds

1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped

1/4 tsp salt

2 medium bananas, mashed

2 tbsp maple syrup/ agave nectar/ honey

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup roughly chopped strawberries

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line two baking trays with grease proof paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix the oats, oat flour, desiccated coconut, flaxseeds/linseeds, almonds and salt.
3. Stir in the bananas, maple syrup, coconut oil, strawberries and vanilla until well combined.
4. Form 2 1/2 inch balls with your hands, place onto the trays and flatten gently. You don't need to leave a lot of space between then, they don't spread at all.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Original recipe: Strawberry coconut breakfast cookies

Week 8 Dish 2: Vegan piña colada cupcakes

For my friends birthday, I decided I finally need to take the plunge and do some decorating! As you can see from my previous posts, I'm not really one for icing and frosting etc. I prefer something yummy, healthy and quick. Though decorations are definitely yummy, they are not healthy and definitely not quick to do. But if there's anything that makes it worth the time, it's a close friends birthday! So here is the recipe for my first alcoholic bake, piña colada cupcakes!

Makes 14-16

Ingredients

For the cupcakes

2 cups plain flour, sifted

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup coconut milk

5 tbsp coconut rum

1 tsp coconut extract

For the icing

1 cup vegan margarine

2 cups sifted icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1 tsp coconut extract

2 tbsp coconut rum

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

Glacé/ maraschino cherries

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a muffin tray with cupcake liners. 
2. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and leave to one side. 
3. In blender, blend together all the pineapple and other wet ingredients until completely smooth. 
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. Spoon into the cupcake liners and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
5. For the icing, beat all the ingredients except the desiccated coconut and cherries together until smooth and fluffy and pipe onto the cupcakes when they are completely cool. Sprinkle with the desiccated coconut and top with a cherry to decorate. If you have umbrellas, you can use them, or even a pineapple piece! 

Original recipe: Pina colada cupcakes
They look so pretty, don't you think? I'm not the best at piping, but I guess only practice can help with that. Maybe I'll do a few more decorated bakes in the future....

Week 1 Dish 2: Ultimate vegan mango and coconut muffins

This recipe is actually one of the MOST DELICIOUS things I have EVER baked. I cannot even describe the heavenly smell in my kitchen right now, let alone the taste of these gorgeous muffins. Please make these before mango season finishes, or you are missing out! Inspiration for this recipe was that I needed something amazing to eat while watching The Great British Bake Off.

 

Makes 10 muffins
Ingredients
250 g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp linseed meal (ground linseeds - I bought whole linseeds from asda and ground them myself. Also know as flaxseed and available from Hollan and Barret too [but more expensive there])
55 g desiccated coconut, plus extra for topping
125 g caster sugar
1/3 tsp ground cardamom
175 ml soya milk
5 tbsp rapeseed oil (you can also use canola oil - I think they are more or less the same thing)
250 g fresh, ripe mango, chopped
Method

1. Preheat oven to 190° and place 10 muffin cases in a muffin tray.
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder.Mix in the linseed meal, coconut, cardamom and sugar.
3. Whisk together the soya milk and oil and stir into the mixture, adding the mango at the same time. Do not over-mix, only mix until just combined.
4. Share the mix equally between the 10 muffin cases and sprinkle each with coconut. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tray.

Original recipe from Vegan 100 everyday recipes by Parragon books.