Tag: cholesterol-free

Plant Protein Powered Breakfast Cookies!

Plant Protein Powered Breakfast Cookies

These cookies make a great breakfast or snack on the go.  Pair a couple of these with some fresh fruit and you have a delicious and nutritious start to the day!  Need a compact quick energy source while out on a hike or bike ride?  These will definitely do the trick.  Chock full of goodies like wheat germ, flax, pumpkin seeds, and hemp seeds, these babies pack a protein punch!  Not to mention the vitamin E, zinc, omega 3’s, and iron they bring to the party too!  You won’t miss the oil, eggs, or dairy here.  If you tend to be pressed for time, double the batch and freeze some of the baked cookies for when you need something quick on the go.

INGREDIENTS:

DRY
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2  cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup sunflower or pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup hemp seeds

5 Medjool (or 10 deglet noor), chopped

1 handful dried cranberries

WET

1 flax egg (1 Tablespoon flaxseed meal mixed with 3 Tablespoons water)

1/2 large ripe banana, mashed

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3-1/2 cup sucanat (or organic brown sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons almond milk

DIRECTIONS: 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside.  Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl.  Next, add the wet mixture to the dry one in the large bowl.  Mix well with a wooden spoon to combine.
  3. Drop by spoonfuls onto 1 or 2 parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pans after 10 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  Once they cool, if you want to put some  in the freezer for future use, now’s the time.  Otherwise, if you leave them out they’ll be all gobbled up before you know it!  Enjoy!!

 

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Chocolate Banana Macaroons

 

These are so yummy!  As you can tell, my daughter couldn’t resist the temptation when she saw them out, while I took pictures for this post.  They are so easy you can whip up a batch just on whim, if you like. If you celebrate Passover, then you’ll definitely want to save this recipe for next year. Sorry I didn’t get it posted earlier.

I adapted this from a recipe I found online and jotted down. Unfortunately, I didn’t write down the source. If you know who originally posted it, please let me know so that I can give them credit! But this is a great recipe. Banana works so well with the chocolate and coconut. These macaroons are so moist and delicious and full of flavor. The only things they are lacking are sugar, oil, cholesterol, soy and gluten – stuff you won’t miss! The walnuts also add, not only crunch and flavor, but a nice little dose of omega 3s too!

Ingredients:
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Mash bananas in a large bowl, then add remaining ingredients.

3. Roll into walnut-size balls, or shape into pyramids on a parchment-lined baking sheet (you may need 2)

4. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. If you don’t wait to transfer the macaroons, they will be more likely to stick to the parchment. Enjoy!

meltrinidad8 Comments

Great egg subsititutes for salmonella-risk-free baking

Has the recent massive egg recall left you a little uneasy about using eggs at home?  Here are a few substitutions that can be used in place of eggs in your baking (or cooking). 

FLAXSEED MEAL – full of omega 3 fatty acids, this is a great way to increase the fiber and nutrients in your baked goods, without the fat, cholesterol and salmonella risk of eggs. 

1 Tablespoon flaxseed meal per 3 Tablespoons water/per egg to be replaced – combine and set aside for a few minutes to allow the flax to absorb some of the water and thicken a bit.

EGG REPLACER (Ener-G egg replacer, or Bob’s Red Mill brand) – Many people LOVE this stuff.  It works great in some recipes (like cookies where you don’t want the little brown specks of flaxseed meal), but I’d recommend it for things requiring no more than 1 or 2 eggs.  It can leave a little bit of a chalky taste.  It also leaves things a bit dense, as opposed to light and fluffy. 

1 Tablespoon egg replacer per 3 Tablespoons water/per egg to be replaced – mix to combine.

SOY YOGURT – Adds a lot of moisture, great for cakes and the like.  Make sure you get a brand that states clearly on the label that it is made from non-GMO soybeans.  If it is organic, it’s required to be non-GMO.  GMO stands for Genetically Modified (aka genetically engineered).  There is a lot of controversy around this subject, which we’ll tackle in a future post, but for now, just try to steer clear from it if you can. 

1/4 cup soy yogurt per egg to be replaced 

SILKEN TOFU – vaccuum-packed, extra-firm Lite silken tofu works great.  Mori-Nu is a good brand. Again, look for organic or brands made with non-GMO soybean.  Make sure to blend it up really well first to make it nice and smooth and creamy.  Be sure to use less if your recipe requires several eggs (ex. if recipe asks for 4 eggs, use 3 “tofu eggs”). 

1/4 blended silken tofu per egg replaced (less if recipe requires several eggs)

BANANA – A cheap and accessible egg alternative, bananas are great egg replacers in items like pancakes, waffles and quick breads.  Be sure to use very ripe bananas (riper =sweeter).  If you have any frozen ripe bananas on hand, they work great in a pinch.  Just thaw out what you need and mash it up.  Because of the sugar content in the bananas, they tend to brown very nicely, so keep that in mind in case your finished product ends up a bit browner than you had anticipated.

1/2 banana, mashed, per egg to be replaced

There you have it 5 different alternatives to eggs to help you create delicious, nutritious and fiber-rich goodies, without the cholesterol, saturated fat or salmonella risk of eggs.  Have fun, get creative and enjoy!!

meltrinidad2 Comments