Maple Banana Cookies

These pillowy, vegan banana cookies are infused with maple and spices and are wholesome with the addition of a wee bit of whole wheat flour. Unlike banana bread they are light and fluffy and rise beautifully. Fabulous plain, but I like to add in a small amount of chocolate chips or nuts!

I. Cannot. Stop. Eating. These. Cookies. #pleasehelp

Do you have a labor day dish to bring to that party? Maybe you thought of bringing the norm, but do we really need another grill-able item, salad, or bag of chips? Nah. Switch it up with some cookies! If you got ripe bananas, you’re all set.

I had a little extra helping-labor myself while photographing this recipe. Oliver loves to carry around his camera taking photos. It was a little difficult to get some of him because he kept rushing over to where I was to copy me. Baking with little ones is the absolute best.

Maple Banana Cookies

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

These pillowy, vegan banana cookies are infused with maple and spices and are wholesome with the addition of a wee bit of whole wheat flour. Unlike banana bread they are light and fluffy and rise beautifully. Fabulous plain, but I like to add in a small amount of chocolate chips or nuts!

Ingredients

• 1 cup mashed well-ripened bananas (about 2 medium bananas)
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 tsp psyllium husk powder (or 1 tbsp ground flaxseed)
• ¼ cup water (or 3 tbsp water if using flaxseed)
• ½ cup vegan butter, softened
• ½ cup vegan granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp maple extract
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• scant ¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• ⅛ tsp ground cloves
• pinch of salt
• heaping ¼ cup vegan chocolate chips or nuts of your choice (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. To a small bowl add the mashed banana and stir in the baking soda; set aside.
3. In a small bowl whisk the psyllium powder and water together and set aside.
4. In a medium bowl cream the butter, sugars, and extracts. Whisk in the psyllium mixture until light and fluffy. Stir in the banana mixture and set aside.
5. In a large bowl whisk together the flours, spices, and salt. Slowly stir in the wet mixture until just combined, stir in any chocolate chips or nuts if using.
6. Using a cookie scoop, drop dough onto cookie sheet 2” apart (they don’t spread much). Bake for about 12 minutes until the bottom edges just begin to turn golden brown. They will seem underdone but don’t fret! Remove from the sheet immediately and transfer to cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough. Store in an airtight container once cooled.

Prep time: 8 minutes
Cook time: 00:12
Total time: 00:20
Yield: About 30 cookies

I found this article from The New York Times that came out a couple days ago. It’s definitely worth a read. Veganism for the win!

“The vegans are right. The vegans were always right. The least you can do is shower them with respect and our gratitude, because they deserve it.”

— Farhad Manjoo; columnist at the The New York Times

S'mores Scones + 5 Year Veganniversary

Seriously delicious and fun, these s'mores scones are a wonderful treat for the youngins and those who are young at heart. Studded with chocolate chunks and bits of graham cracker, they are drizzled with chocolate as well as a marshmallow glaze then topped with crushed graham cracker. These are incredibly easy to make and done in a flash; so be the hit of the bonfire or party with my s’mores scones!

Oh yes my friends... two of the most perfect foods have been combined: s'mores and scones. I cannot think of anything more delicious. These were developed for the baby shower of a good friend last weekend and they were a hit!  I'm always trying to think of new scone flavors and when pondering the tasty flavor for the shower I was hit with a massive s'mores craving! I was dancing up and down when I told Todd my idea. My eagerness for bonfires, s'mores, and general Alaskan summer fun is really ramping up.

For my birthday last week I may have made funfetti scones... I think I have a problem... #sconelife

And guess what else!? Today is Todd's and my FIVE year veganniversary! Holy moly, you guys. If you want to learn more about why and how we went vegan (it happened overnight I might add!) head on over to the new About - Our Story page to find out all the deets. But first... scones.

S'mores Scones

Recipe by Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

Seriously delicious and fun, these s'mores scones are a wonderful treat for the youngins and those who are young at heart. Studded with chocolate chunks and bits of graham cracker, they are drizzled with chocolate as well as a marshmallow glaze then topped with crushed graham cracker. These are incredibly easy to make and done in a flash; so be the hit of the bonfire or party with my s’mores scones!

Yield: 8

Ingredients

• 2 cups (10 oz) all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup vegan granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 5 tbsp refined coconut oil, room-temperature
• ¾ cup vegan chocolate chunks or chocolate chips, divided
• 3 vegan graham cracker sheets, crushed, divided
• ¾ cup + 1 tbsp vegan creamer or full-fat coconut milk, divided
• ¼ cup vegan powdered sugar

Cooking Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse together the flour through the baking powder. Pulse in the oil, 1 tbsp at a time, until it resembles coarse cornmeal with some larger pieces.
2. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in ½ cup of the chocolate chunks. Stir in the graham crackers, reserving a couple tablespoons for later. Next, slowly stir in ¾ cup of the creamer until just combined. The dough should be slightly sticky; if it’s not stir in a little more creamer.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place another baking sheet beneath the first one (this keeps the bottoms from browning).
4. Transfer the dough to a floured workspace and pat into an 8-inch round. Cut into 8 wedges and arrange on the baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the tops are just golden brown. Allow to cool on a cooling rack until fully cooled.
5. Once the scones are completely cool, melt the remaining chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave on the defrost setting or half power until it just starts to melt. Stir with a spoon to melt completely. Drizzle over the scones.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and remaining creamer until smooth; add more creamer if necessary to reach the right viscosity for drizzling. Drizzle over the scones. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining crushed graham cracker crumbles. Serve with love.

Maple Molasses Chocolate Cookies

A unique cookie for when you’re looking for something just a little different. These cookies have a wonderful and complex flavor that’s sure to please adults as well as little ones. They’re chewy and slightly crispy around the edges but soft on the inside.

I feel like molasses is underrated. Way underrated. It's a mostly un-refined, nutrient-rich sweetener that boasts big flavor. What's not to love? I've been trying to work it into my diet to replace regular white sugar when possible, especially since it's contains a good dose of iron and magnesium. 

Regular molasses cookies are pretty commonplace, but I wanted something with a little more va-voom. Maple and molasses are such a comforting combination, offering sweet and earthy notes and conjuring memories of beloved holidays (can you tell I'm excited about winter?). However, I pretty much always want chocolate, so I thought oh what the heck, I'm going for it. All in. I figured the maple/molasses/chocolate combination was awful or overwhelming, then lesson learned. As Sarah Addison Allen writes... happiness takes risks. This risk paid off. Oh my goodness... these cookies are a new staple and definitely make me happy. They are so flavorful and rich with a fresh and unique flavor combination that is an utter delight. 

I hope you like them as much as we did! It's been rainy all week up here in Alaska and these fill the house with the most scrumptious aroma that feels like a big, warm hug.

Maple Molasses Chocolate Cookies

By Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

Published 07/27/2016

A unique cookie for when you’re looking for something just a little different. These cookies have a wonderful and complex flavor that’s sure to please adults as well as little ones. They’re chewy and slightly crispy around the edges but soft on the inside.

Ingredients

• 1 cup vegan stick butter, room temperature
• 1 ¼ cup vegan granulated sugar
• ¼ cup molasses
• ¼ cup + 2 tbsp aquafaba (liquid from one can of chickpeas)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp maple extract
• 2 ¼ cup all purpose-flour
• ¼ cup + 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp instant coffee, dry (optional)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ¾ tsp baking soda

Instructions

1. In an electric mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and molasses together with the beater attachment on medium speed until well combined.
2. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the aquafaba, and vanilla and maple extracts. Increase speed to medium; beat until somewhat light and fluffy.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Slowly add to the butter mixture on low speed until just combined.
4. Allow to rest in the fridge at least while the oven preheats. Preheat oven to 325°F. On a greased cookie sheet, place slightly smaller than golf-ball sized cookies a few inches apart and bake on the middle rack for about 12-15 minutes. Allow to rest a couple minutes on the pan before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Repeat with remaining dough. Cool, then store in an airtight container.

Yield: 40

I shared this recipe in The Food Journal by Brighthouse. It's not exclusively vegan but offers a lot of wonderful recipes! Click here to see the entire journal and download it for free!

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I noticed 'molasses' is spelled 'mollasses' in the book... I'm wondering if it is a spelling error or just chiefly british? #grammarpolice #weareallhumanthough