Vegan Donuts Recipe

So, it's pretty obvious by my lack of posts that I disappeared from the face of the Earth for the last month. Yep, that's exactly what happened. Anyway, I'm back and I've brought donuts with me, so all of my 1 followers (hi mum) can calm down.

This recipe is an edited version from Mrs Cupcake's The Naughties Vegan Cakes in Town, a recipe book filled with sweets and treats that are completely indulgent and delicious. I've made quite a lot from this cookbook and I'm very pleased with all of the recipes.

My version calls for the juice from a jar of morello cherries rather than vanilla extract. Sometimes you've got to improvise when you don't have all the ingredients. This particular mistake created something beautiful so I had to share it with you.

*Side note. Don't start making these when you're about to go to bed. They take a long time.

So, let's get onto the donuts...

(Makes 8 Donuts & Donut Holes)

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp vegan butter
• 170ml almond milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp morello cherry juice
• 340g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 1/2 tsp dried active yeast
• 100g rapeseed oil (for frying)

For the glaze:

• 120g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp almond milk
• 1 tbsp morello cherry juice

1. Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat. Add the milk, salt, sugar and morello cherry juice but do not boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the yeast, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and mix until combined. Add in the butter mixture and kneed for 10 minutes.
3. Leave in a bowl covered with cling film for 1 hour.
4. Roll the dough out until it is 2cm thick. With a large glass, cut into shapes. With a smaller shot glass, cut out a hole in the middle of the circles. Leave to rise for another hour.
5. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the glaze.
6. Heat the oil in a pan on a medium-low heat. Drop in the donuts and donut holes and cook for about 30 seconds on each side or until they are golden.
7. While still warm, coat with the glaze and serve.

Vegan Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

These were a result of accidentally adding orange essence to cookie dough mixture. Didn't I already tell everyone that I'm terrible at baking? Well, that's irrelevant here because these turned out SO GOOD! I made a gazillion of them and all my meat-eating friends and family said they tasted as delicious as real cookies, if not better.

The only weird ingredient here is egg replacement powder. If you think about it, it's a lot less gross than chicken periods, but if you're not comfortable with egg replacement, I would recommend making flax eggs out of flax seeds and water. Google it. But trust me, egg replacement powder makes these cookies really decadent and delicious.

(Makes 20 Cookies)

Ingredients:

• 200g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 100g vegan chocolate chips (if you can get orange flavoured, even better!)
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 75g vegan butter (I use Vitalite)
• 2 1/2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 75g caster sugar
• 90g brown sugar
• 1 tbsp orange essence
• 3 tsp egg replacement powder
• 3 tbsp lukewarm water

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4 and line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips and orange zest.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dairy free butter, rapeseed oil, caster sugar, brown sugar and orange essence. Set aside.
5. In a small bowl or jug, whisk together the egg replacement powder and lukewarm water until light and frothy. Combine with the flour mixture, then add the butter mixture. Stir together until well combined.
6. Form the dough into 20 small balls and place on the baking sheets. Allow a couple of inches in between each cookie to give them room if they want to spread out. Bake for 12-13 minutes. They should be golden and still soft. Flatten them out on a counter and leave them to cool and harden.

Cacao, Date and Chia Seed Banana Bread

This banana bread is gooey, bananary and packed with goodness. It's oil free and vegan (obvy) and tastes delicious.

Ingredients:

• 250g of wholewheat flour
• 50g of raw cacao powder
• 2/3 of baking powder
• 2/3 of bicarbonate of soda
• 3tbsp of chia seeds
• 120g of almond milk (you can use any non-dairy milk)
• 200g of medjool dates (chopped and stones removed)
• 5 ripe bananas

1. Preheat the oven to 180c and line your bread tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a jug with 120g of water, soak your chia seeds for 15 minutes. They should go goopy and start to stick together.
3. Meanwhile, sieve the flour, cacao, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Stir.
4. In a blender, add the bananas, almond milk and dates and blend together.
5. Pour out the blender mixture and stir into the dry ingredients.
6. Add your chia seed 'eggs' and mix together. Make sure everything is well combined and light and fluffy.
7. Cook in the oven for roughly 45 - 60 minutes. It can vary depending on your oven. I ended up cooking my bread for just over 2 hours. You will know when your bread is done if you stick a cake tester (or a chopstick) into the bread and it comes out clean.
8. Serve with banana slices on top! Or not. This last part is completely optional.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake

I'm bad at taking pictures of food. Particularly baking. I swear to you, this picture took over half an hour to get right. And it's still rubbish. But, the good news is that the recipe is delicious and not only is it raw and vegan, it's packed with super foods and is perfect for a treat or for entertaining friends.

Ingredients:

• 170g of rolled oats
• 2tbsp of maple syrup
• 140g of raw cacao powder
• 75g of raw hazelnuts
• 170g of raw cashews (soaked overnight)
• 70g of medjool dates (stones removed)
• 50ml of water (alternatively you could use raw almond milk)
• 1 ripe banana
• 2tbsp of coconut oil

1. To make the base, add the oats, dates, hazelnuts and half of the water to a food processor and process till the become a stodgy mixture. You can add more water if you like to get the desire consistency.
2. In a cake tin, scoop out the mixture from the food processor and line the bottom of the cake tin. This will become your base.
3. Store in a freezer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
4. Add the maple syrup, cashews, cacao, coconut oil, banana and the remaining water to a food processor and process till all the ingredients are combined. Again, you can add more water if necessary.
5. Add the next layer to your cake tin and freeze over night.

Black Forest Vegan Cupcakes

I am not a baker. But some people have mentioned to me that the dessert section of my blog is a little bit dessert-ed. HA! I make puns as often as I bake so you guys better appreciate my efforts.

These are gorgeous little black forest cupcakes that are completely vegan and egg free. I hope you enjoy them!

(Serves 12)

Ingredients:

• 230 ml of almond milk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 150g of granulated sugar
• 80ml of rapeseed oil
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 130g of plain flour
• 45g of cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp of baking powder
• 3/4 tsp of salt
• 40g of frozen cherries
• 1 tbsp of morello cherries juice
• 12 morello cherries for garnish

For the butter icing:

• 140g of vegan butter
• 200g of icing sugar
• 80g of cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp of morello cherries juice

1. Preheat the oven to 180c / gas mark 4 and fill a muffin tin with muffin cups.
2. In a bowl whisk together the milk and vinegar and leave to one side to curdle.
3. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract and morello cherry juice to the milk and vinegar and beat together until they foam.
4. In a separate bowl sieve flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Add in the frozen cherries and mix together.
5. Add the wet ingredients in 2 - 3 batches and stir till they are combined and you have no lumps.
6. Pour the ingredients into the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. When cooked, stick a toothpick in the centre and if it comes out clean, they are cooked, if not, cook for a further 5 minutes or till the toothpick comes out clean.
7. Transfer to a cooling rack and wait till they are completely cool.
8. In a bowl, mix together the butter icing ingredients and whisk till it is smooth.
9. Lather on the butter icing to the cupcakes and garnish with a morello cherry.