Healthy Strawberry Shake // Vegan & Paleo

There’s nothing like strawberries in the summertime! Whether you're covering them in sugar, freezing them in Popsicle molds, or picking them straight from the plant, they are the perfect summer treat!

Well, I was feeling the summer heat here in FL for the last week at we hit the mid-90s, leading me into a desperate attempt to make something refreshing and simple! I looked in my freezer and there it was, a forgotten bag of frozen strawberries just WAITING to be made into something refreshing.

I grabbed the bag and then checked the content of my fridge, almond milk, coconut cream, and dairy-free yogurt all stared back at me and I knew it was time to make a healthy Strawberry milkshake!

This shake is not meant to overload your taste buds with the sugary version of a strawberry, but offer a taste that is both sweet and slightly sour at the same time, making for the perfect summer strawberry!

using unsweetened yogurt is how you get this effect, but if all you have is sweetened yogurt omit the maple syrup. Give it a taste test once blended and dd in the agave if you want to!

If you are like my husband and enjoy sour strawberries omit the maple syrup and sweetened yogurt all together!

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/4th cup frozen strawberries

• 1/4th cup almond milk

• 1/2 cup almond milk yogurt

• 1/4th cup coconut cream

• 2 Tbsp. Maple Syrup

Instructions

It’s simple! Add in all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until you have a smooth consistency.

If need be add in a little extra almond milk, but just keep in mind this will alter the taste a bit.

Pour, sip and enjoy!

3 Ingredient Cookie Bites // Vegan & Gluten Free

Simple, quick, bite-sized, and delicious! All of the qualities I was looking for in a recipe this time! I wanted to create something quick and easy you could bring to a Halloween party, make for yourself instead of buying candy, or just a fun recipe to make with your kids!

My goal was to keep the ingredients really simple, but also accommodate people with a lot of allergies. Thats why I skipped the eggs and gave you the option so use whatever type of “Butter” works for you!

using oat flour is a great cheap and easy alternative for flour! You can make it by blending oats on high until it turns into a fine powder. I use gluten-free oats, but if your not gluten free, regular oats will work perfectly fine!

I also want you to feel free to use whatever chocolate you like! I ended up using dark chocolate with almonds which added great texture to the cookie!

SO here for you are the directions to make this beauty!

Ingredients

½ cup oat flour

1/3rd cup nut butter

1/4th cup syrup

1 bar of your choice chocolate 

Grease a baking sheet & preheat the oven to 350F

Mix together syrup, flour, & sunflower butter. 

Scoop mixture with a teaspoon measure and roll dough into balls, it should make about 22 cookies.  

Cook for 10-12 minutes, the cookies should turn a golden brown.  

While the cookies are baking cut your chocolate bar into squares.

Take the cookies out of the oven and press one square of chocolate into each cookie.

Let cool in the fridge & enjoy!

PIN IT!

Dairy Free Frozen Yogurt Bars

I don’t know about you, but today was one of those days where I just didn’t want to drive to the grocery store. YOu might ask “Sonya, isn’t that your job?” Well yes, it is my job to think up recipes, but the products, and then we’ll give you a new product, but who says you can’t get a little creative with what you have at home!
So today I bring you THE BEST frozen yogurt bars because the best things always happen when you are forced into being creative! lazy =’s success!…at least, some of the time.

I made these thinking it would be a tested recipe, but once they came out of the freezer and saw that they were both beautiful and delicious, I knew there was no use tweaking the recipe.

I used WHole foods Dairy-free almond milk yogurt because it is one of the cheaper options out there, without having a million ingredients or hoards of sugar added! I will add the sugar on my own, thank you very much!

I also used a 60% dark chocolate bar which didn’t melt as well as the enjoy life chocolate chips, but I think worked better for the recipe anyway! Having the ribbons of thick chocolate and almond butter with the combination of the sweet/tart blackberries and the crunchy texture of the sunflower seeds were everyyythinggg. Not to mention the flavor combination of dark chocolate, almond butter and blackberries is an opportunity we are missing out on!

SO without further delay, let this ice-cream loving, frozen yogurt convert teach you how to make frozen yogurt!

Makes: 9 Servings

Total TIme: 3 &1/2 - 5 & 1/2 hours

Assemble time: 30 minutes

Freeze time: 3 & 1/2 hours

Ingredients: 8

Ingredients

                Base

·         2 cups Dairy free plain yogurt

·         1/4th cup syrup or agave

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

Toppings

·         Blackberries

·         1/4th cup Dairy free chocolate

·         2 tbsp. coconut cream

·         1/4th cup almond butter

·         2 tbsp. sunflower seeds

Directions

Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper so all the sides are covered as to prevent leaks, and set aside.

Combine the yogurt, syrup, and vanilla together and then pour into the lined pan. Drizzle in the almond butter and Berries and put in the freezer. This will allow your toppings to set a bit before adding more so they don’t all mix together.

Using the double boiler method, melt together the dark chocolate and coconut cream together until smooth. Take the pan out of the freezer and drizzle the chocolate sauce on top. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and then freeze for at least 3 hours.

Take out of the freezer and enjoy immediately!

Don’t forget to pin it!

Vegan Pumpkin Cake

 I don’t know about you guys, but the pumpkin smoothie recipe from Monday just isn’t cutting it. My friend over at Feasting on Fruit and I have worked together to bring you this EPIC vegan pumpkin cake recipe that is sure to make you pumpkin spice dreams come true!

the recipe you can find below as well as a fun video to show you the process! Not only is is simple, but so much fun. We HIGHLY recommend attempting the cake with a friend, because it’s just more fun that way. So grab your flannels, brew some coffee, and get the oven heated up because it’s time to bake some cake.

Ingredients

Cake

·         1 cup pumpkin

·         2 flax eggs ( 2tbsp. flax + 4tbsp. water)

·         2/3 cup coconut sugar

·         2tbsp molasses

·         ½ cup almond milk

·         1tbsp apple cider vinegar

·         2 ¼ cup oat flour

·         1 ½ cup almond four

·         2 tsp. baking powder

·         ½ tsp. baking soda

·         ½ tsp. salt

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice     

Icing

·         1 & ½ Cup raw cashews

·         1/4th cup maple syrup

·         1 tbsp. lemon juice

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         1 tsp salt  

·         2-4 tbsp. almond milk or coconut oil, as needed to blend   

Instructions

·         Preheat the oven to 350F

·         Mix water and Flax and set aside for 10 minutes to make the flax egg.  

·         In a large bowl mix together dry ingredients and set aside.

·         In a separate bowl mix together wet ingredients.

·         Add the dry and wet ingredients together and mix to combine.

·         Oil your baking dish

·         Bake for 35 min at 350F.  

·         While the cake bakes and cools blend together icing ingredients until smooth and creamy. Add in milk and/or coconut oil as needed.  

·         Let the cake cool before adding frosting.

Okay now I will go plan my next batch because unfortunately this one was gone in less than a minute by some very willing helpers!

While I do that, grab a friend and give the recipe a go! Of course, don’t forget to let us know what you guys think of this Fall favorite!

Love you all, and thanks for stopping by!

Yours truly,

Sonya  

Healthy Gluten & Dairy-free Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

Something urged me to make oatmeal cookies this week, I don’t know if it was the fact that I had an abundance of oats in my house, or I just wanted something sweet to dunk in my morning coffee! Who knows, probably both!

Anyway, I just wanted to bring you a simple and easy recipe that will fill your bellies with something wholesome and sweet!

These cookies are made gluten-free by using gluten-Free oats which you can find at your local grocery store, or online. I buy mine at Trader Joe’s because you get a lot for what you pay for!

When it came to the chocolate I didn’t have any chocolate chips on hand, so I just chopped up a chocolate bar! I love doing this because the chocolate bars I buy are always at least 65% dark chocolate, making them usually dairy-free! So if you like things less sweet, go for the dark chocolate trick, but if not go for some dairy-free chocolate chips! Either way, you won’t be sorry you made these bad boys!

Time: 30-35 minutes

Makes about 12 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup GF oat flour

• 1 cup GF whole oats

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4th tsp salt

• 1tsp cinnamon

• 1/3rd cup coconut sugar  

• 2 large eggs

• 1/4th cup coconut oil

• 1/4th cup almond milk

• ½ cup dairy-free chocolate chips (or chunks)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350F and prepare your baking sheet.

Whisk together the dry ingredients and then whisk in the wet ingredients until a batter forms.

Gently fold the chocolate into the batter.

Scoop the dough into 1 inch balls using an ice cream scoop and place on the prepared baking sheet about 1 to 2 inches apart.

Place in oven and bake for 22-25 minutes.

Let cool on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes and enjoy!

Psst….dont forget to pin it!

Gluten & Dairy Free Press Cookies

When it comes to recipe ideas, my mom is always a good inspiration! She challenges me to recreate different bakes, encourages me with an endless stream of emojis and always bakes her heart out for us during the holidays, even though her least favorite activity is cooking & baking.

She sent me a recipe for Swedish cookies, that I took and quickly turned it into something totally different…not that it’s a bad cookie, I just don’t think this is what she was expecting. This little press cookie has all the flavor of peanut buttery sugar cookie, with a kick of molasses and a topping that balances the whole thing out!

In my recipe, I used dark chocolate because I like things to be more bitter than sweet, but you are welcome to use any of your favorite chocolate, so long as it melts! This recipe would be great with vegan white chocolate or even a nut butter & jam filling.

There’s more than just a great taste with this cookie! It’s the texture, the customizability and how simple it is to recreate!

So give it a try for this year’s cookie swap, and let me know how you like it in the comments below!

Ingredients

• 1 cup nut butter ( I used sunflower butter)

• 1/2 cup coconut sugar

• 2 tbsp molasses

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 cup 1 to 1 gluten-free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

• 2 tbsp almond milk

• 1 tbsp coconut oil

• 1 egg

Melted Chocolate

• 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

• 2 tbsp coconut cream

Toppings

• Dried Cherries

• walnuts

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together the wet ingredients and then cream in the coconut sugar.

Add in the flour in two portions mixing together by hand or with a spatula.

Place 1 inch balls onto the baking sheet and press with your thumb.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, once cooked, remove and let cool.

While your cookies are cooling melt the chocolate chips and coconut milk over a double boiler, making sure not to burn the chocolate.

Once the cookies have cooled, fill the cookie with about 1 tsp of chocolate and top with dried cherries & walnuts, or whatever you prefer.

Serve & enjoy!