Sweet Nutmilk Pancakes

I’ve never liked pancakes. I’m just not a pancake kind of girl. I prefer french toast (I have a thing for toast). One of my brothers is pancake obsessed though. He likes them practically raw in the middle. He doesn’t know it, but I’m basically his type of pancake maker, because up until recently, no matter how hard I’ve tried to make them perfectly, I’ve always made pancakes with a gooey center. Ugh. It’s terrible, I know. Well, I think I finally figured it out. I’m so embarrassed to even be admitting any of this. Pancakes have a lot to do with being patient and up until recently, I’ve not been the most patient person in life so it makes sense that I’ve never waited enough time for them to cook in the middle before flipping them.

After three solid days of working on this recipe (and having consumed 21 pancakes in that time and being the proud owner of a new chin), I think I finally got it right. I know this may be simple enough for many of you, and you may be wondering, “Wow. This girl can make a vegan cheesecake, but she can’t even make a pancake?! For shame!” But honestly, I think sometimes, simplicity eludes me (I know plenty of people who know me who are nodding their heads at that last statement, haha). Bear with me, please. This is what I figured out:

1. Don’t overmix the batter. It should be lumpy, this is how you make “fluffy” pancakes!
2. Don’t use too much butter or non-stick spray to grease the pan. You’ll end up frying and burning the pancakes.
3. Only grease the pan once.
4. Cook the cakes slowly, on medium heat, if you are using a pan on a stove (not an electric griddle).
5. Wait until bubbles form all around, and especially in the middle of the cake, before flipping.
6. Flip quickly using your wrist, not your hand.

Those are the rules. Stick to them and your pancakes will be just right. These pancakes are  gosh darn tasty. My aim was to make something reminiscent of the classic buttermilk pancake and I think it’s pretty close. Since vegans are all about nut milks (and the occasional soy) I thought, “Screw you, buttermilk! Nutmilk is the real deal!” and went to town. This is also a really great way to use up some cashew cream if, like me, you make about 2 cups at a time for a dish that only requires 1 cup and thus get stuck with leftover cashew cream.

Despite how many of them I’ve eaten in the last 36 hours, I am now officially a fan of pancakes. I really enjoy how sweet these are. The batter reminds me of the boxed Bisquick pancakes my mom used to make us, but I honestly think this batter tastes a whole lot better and it’s probably because there isn’t a raw egg in it! These cakes are just sweet enough to eat without syrup and still taste good! And they are fluffy just off the pan, like they’re supposed to be, too! I added flax seeds just because I thought they’d give the cakes a nice look and because they’re nutritious and can’t be tasted, so why the heck not? You can leave them out if you want. I thought to make these with flax eggs in place of Egg Replacer, but that didn’t work out so well (that was day 1). Pick up a box of Ener-G Egg Replacer if you don’t already have one. It’ll last quite a while and comes in handy more often than you’d think!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Keep the cows happy: Serve with a nice tall glass of almond milk!

Peanut butter, bananas, chocolate. What’s not to love?! For a long time, I’ve feared that I simply couldn’t make an “uncomplicated” cookie. But here I am, proving myself wrong. This cookie recipe is so simple and all you need is one bowl! Chances are you already have all the ingredients at home — but you might need to run out to the store for some vegan chocolate which can be easily found at Whole Foods or most supermarkets. As usual, if a certain brand is “accidentally” vegan, please make sure that if the ingredients list sugar that it is organic or beet sugar as these are inherently vegan and not processed with bones. This is really simple stuff, folks. Don’t be fooled into thinking otherwise — bone processed sugar is insanely easy to affordably avoid.

Another plus about these super simple cookies is that they are flourless. That’s right. No flour. You know what that means? They’re gluten free — as long as you use gluten free vegan chocolate chips, of course! These  gluten free ones are easy to find in most supermarkets. These cookies are also delicious and hard to resist! I recently made a batch to take on a hiking trip and boy were they a welcome treat at the top of the mountain! If I hadn’t added chocolate, I could have shared them with the dogs who seemed very eager to give me their expert opinions. But they settled for their very own vegan treats (see picture below)!

I highly recommend trying these out if you love peanut butter. Or, you know, cookies in general. Don’t fret about using light brown sugar (they’ll just come out a little lighter in color) or smooth peanut butter — they’ll still be super tasty! If you are using natural peanut butter — the kind that separates from the oil — make sure that you mix it very well before adding it. You don’t want to add a lot of the extra oil to the cookies or they will flatten out quite a bit! Enjoy!

Tomato, Tofu & Basil Finger Sandwiches

I started looking through my fridge for little things to use up before they spoiled. This is what I found: half a tomato, leftover raw tofu, and Vegenaise. I only had just enough to make something small so, I decided to make some cute open faced sandwiches. I didn’t measure out the amounts — this is just too simple a recipe for that. Besides, you can make as few as 2 or as many as you want depending on your need. I used a biscuit cutter to cut the bread into rounds, but if you want, you can create fun shapes with a cookie cutter or a knife or even by pressing hard with a cup. If your tomato is bigger than the bread, you can also use the biscuit cutter to cut the tomato to just the right size or dice it into small pieces and place it on top for a different look. These little guys resemble fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil antipasto and are pretty “fresh” tasting and light — perfect for an appetizer to that summer dinner party on the patio or just as a light snack in the middle of your day.