Banana Cream Frosting [Vegan]

I decided to share some vegan treats with my co-workers, as my veganism, even just vegetarianism, is quite a mystery to them. I wanted there to be options so everyone could try something, and decided to make 3 different cupcake flavors. Wanting to make something I hadn't before, to be daring, I took the plethora of bananas we had and made this banana cream frosting. Which I must admit, is to die for!


Ingredients
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup vegan butter
3 cups confectioners sugar

Mix lemon juice with bananas to keep them from turning brown. Cream the butter till it is soft and fluffy, then mix in bananas and sugar and continue mixing till fluffy.



You can add a little vanilla if you like. I want to add some rum next time but I couldn't give that to my co-workers.
I placed this atop chocolate cupcakes and it was delicious. I used the leftover frosting on some vegan crepes.

Cranberry Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting [Vegan]

I love cupcakes. And in Long Beach we have The Frosted Cupcakery which makes the most amazing cupcakes ever. Unfortunately, now that I'm vegan, I can no longer enjoy said cupcakes. So I've been trying to master the cupcakes in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. This is a variation of the Golden Cupcakes and Buttercream Frosting.


Cranberry Cupcakes
1 1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 Tsp. baking powder
1/2 Tsp. baking soda
1 cup Vanilla flavor Almond milk
1/2 cup margarine
3/4 cup sugar (I love the vegan sugar from Whole Foods)
2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 cup frozen cranberries


Mix flour, cornstarch, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl mix margarine and sugar until fluffy. Mix dry ingredients and milk into the bowl with margarine and sugar. Add the cranberries and stir. Pour into a cupcake pan with cupcake liners. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting, otherwise your frosting will melt and run right off the cupcakes.




Orange Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup Vegan shortening
1/2 cup margarine
3 1/2 cups sugar (confectioners)
1/4 cup Coconut Milk
1 1/4 Tsp. Orange Extract
3 Tbsp Orange Zest to top cupcakes (optional)

Mix shortening and margarine. Add sugar and beat until well mixed. Add coconut milk and extract and beat until fluffy. When cupcakes are cool you can either pipe on the frosting or spread with a knife. This is a lot of frosting so piping is the best option. Otherwise, freeze and save the remaing frosting.



I'm addicted to the cranberry orange combination. It's especially sweet in this recipe.

Simple Flourless Oatmeal Cookies [Vegan]

I came up with this recipe last night when Adam and I were both craving something sweet. Unfortunatly, our kicthen was bare because it was the day before we go to the market, and we didn't want to go out. With a container of oats in the cabinet and frozen blueberries in the freezer, I created these super simple and yummy oatmeal cookies. They are free of both flour and animal products!


1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup non dairy butter (earthbalance)
1 Egg Replacer (or 1 whole egg)
1 t Vanilla extract
Blueberries or berry of your choice (how ever many you want)


Mix Egg replacer (or egg), melted butter and vanilla in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, mix oats, sugar and cocoa powder. Add liquid ingredients and berries to dry ingredients. Mix well with hands (messy but the best way). Place in fridge and let cool for 15-20 minutes (not necessary but really helpful). Preheat oven at 350. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and then flaten, place them on a wax paper lined baking sheet.




Bake for about 15 minutes. Allow to cool on sheet. And voila! Enjoy!




There are many variations you can do with this recipe. Adam enjoyed these cookies so much I made another batch tonight. I used cinnimon and honey (making it nonvegan) and some raw almonds. They were amazing!