Category Archives: desserts

Chocolate Brownies – Dairy-free, Egg-free

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Chocolate Brownie

A warm chocolatey brownie on a chilly Fall day sounds about right.  These are vegan and easy to make.  The original recipe calls for a 9×9 inch pan, which I don’t have, baked for 25 minutes.  If you use a larger pan then you get more brownies!  I think I should buy a bigger pan…

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 Cups flour
1/2 Cup cocoa
1 1/2 Cups brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup strong coffee **
1 Cup soy milk
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
1 Cup chocolate chips (dairy free)
**if using espresso, make sure total liquid added (including soy milk) equals 1 1/2 Cups

DIRECTIONS

Line an 8×8 pan with parchment.  If you grease the bottom of the pan first, the parchment will stay in place.
Sift together dry ingredients.

Bownie ingredients

Mix together wet ingredients.

Cup of nespresso

Add wet to dry and mix well.    Stir in chocolate chips.  Pour into pan and bake at 325F for 45 minutes. If using a larger pan, decrease bake time.

Chocolate BrownieEnjoy!

Pear Pudding

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Pear Pudding with Pears

Thanks to a friend of mine for an ample supply of the most delicious pears I have ever tasted.  Her backyard tree has been laden this year and she has generously shared the bounty!

Pears

This recipe is for a pudding in the English sense; it is a dessert not a custard. In our home it was always made with apples and it became a fall tradition the year we lived in New England where delicious cooking apples were in abundance.  We called it “Apple Top Pudding” because we used to fight over the crispy/gooey top.  Sometimes when we were young it would be our main course after a bowl of soup, our favourite autumn meal.  Apples, pears, doesn’t matter.  It’s so easy to make.

INGREDIENTS

6-8 pears (or apples)
1 Cup flour
1Cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 Cup dairy free margarine (butter if you are able)
1 Cup water

DIRECTIONS

Peel and core fruit and cut up into chunks.

pear cut up
Put cut up fruit into baking dish.

Pieces of Pear in baking dish
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and cut in margarine.  I use my standup mixer for this because it’s easy, but using a pastry cutter or knife would work as well.

Pear Pudding batter
Cover top of cut up fruit with pastry mixture and pour one cup of water all over top.

Pear Pudding adding water

Bake at 325 F for 90 minutes

Pear Pudding cookedEnjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes – dairy free, egg free

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Chocolate Cupcake

I have been making these for years.  They are so fast and easy that they are great for last minute treats when an allergy friendly alternative is needed.  We always have a stash in the freezer, ready to grab one to take to a party or to dinner out or just whenever.   The ones in the freezer are un-iced and G’s favourite way of having them is to nuke the frozen cupcake, add a marshmallow and smother it in chocolate syrup.  Not exactly gourmet, but after all, he is thirteen.

This recipe goes by many names: wackycake, oil and vinegar cake, salad dressing cake (yuck), but is the only cake I’ve seen that actually gets eaten by kids at Birthday parties.  Normally the icing gets licked off Birthday cake and the cake left, but I have often served kids seconds of this one.  If you are baking a cake rather than cupcakes, use an 8×8 pan and increase time to 30-35 minutes (test with a tooth pick – it should come out clean unless you accidentally stab a chocolate chip).

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil (canola or similar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl; I use a whisk.

Chocolate Cupcake dry ingredients

Combine all wet ingredients, I use a liquid measuring cup and fill water up to 1 cup level and add oil up to the 1 1/3 mark and then add the vanilla and vinegar to this.  Mix well.

Chocolate Cupcake wet ingredients

Add wet to dry and mix well.  Add the chocolate chips.

Pour into cupcake pan using paper cupcake cups.  Bake at 350F for 25 minutes.  Makes about 10 cupcakes.

Chocolate Cupcakes baked

Enjoy!

Chocolate cupcake iced

Avocado Chocolate Pudding

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Avocado chocolate puddingWait!  Don’t turn away!  It’s delicious, honest.  My friend Jen gave me this recipe because it is egg and dairy free.  It is rich and chocolaty and very creamy.  Super simple to make and fits in with many alternative dietary needs.  It is vegan, wheat free, nut free, raw and you can get your serving of veggies in your dessert!  Worth a try for that last one alone.  Warning: It’s very sweet.

INGREDIENTS

2 avocados, pitted and peeled
1 cup soy milk (coconut milk or rice milk would work)
1/2 cup agave nectar (maple syrup, or honey would work)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
Avocado

agave nectar

DIRECTIONS

Blend ingredients in a blender really well until smooth.  (My Vita-Mix did nicely)

Avocado chocolate pudding mixed

Enjoy!

Avocado chocolate pudding

Chocolate Strawberry Short Cake – dairy-free, egg-free

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chocolate strawberry shortcake

After the stellar breakfast I was served on Mother’s Day (see Mother’s Day blog entry) I decided to make my own Mother’s Day dessert.  This is what I came up with.  It’s a modified scone recipe.  What makes it special is the whipped topping called Nutriwhip.  I discovered this through allergymom.ca (Thanks Noha!).  This is the only truly dairy free topping I have found that acts like whipped cream.  Healthy??  Who cares, this is dessert!  If you know of another that works as well, please let me know!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1tablespoon brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/3 cup dairy free margarine
1 cup soy milk
Topping: Nutiwhip, Strawberries

DIRECTIONS:
Chocolate Shortcake
Oven to 425F.  Mix together dry ingredients so there are no lumps (sift cocoa if needed).  Cut in dairy free margarine.  Mix in soy milk to form a soft dough.  I do all this in a stand-up mixer.  If too wet, add a tiny bit of flour.  Turn out on a floured surface and form dough into a ball and cut in half to make it easier to work with.

chocolate scone dough

Pat out dough to 3/4 inch thick.  Cut out desired shapes (circles or triangles).

chocolate scone dough

Move to cookie sheet (I cover my cookie sheet in parchment) and bake at 425 F for 12 minutes.  Cool

chocolate scone

Topping
Remove stem of strawberries and cut to desired size.

strawberries cutFollow Nutiwhip package directions to get whipped cream like topping.

nutriwhip
Cut open shortcake and layer strawberries and whipped topping.

chocolate strawberry shortcakeEnjoy!