Easy Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

This is my favorite fall recipe ever. I love pumpkin bread so much. Like, so much. I like to make mini muffins and every morning I make a hot cup of tea and enjoy it with two mini muffins while I read magazines and cuddle under a soft throw. I highly recommend this activity for instant coziness.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can make it in a toaster oven--very convenient for energy saving or multi-tasking! Plus it's just so cute.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup GF flour (I use Bob's Red Mill All Purpose GF Flour)
3/4 tsp Guar Gum or Xantham Gum (this may change according to the package directions on your flour)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup vegan white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup Earth Balance, slightly melted
1/3 cup almond/coconut/flax/hemp milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease your pan.
3. Stir dry ingredients together.
4. Add in wet ingredients.
5. Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Bake!

For a bread pan, bake for 1 hour 5 minutes. Yields one loaf.
For muffins, bake for 25 minutes. Yields one dozen muffins.
For mini muffins, back for 20 minutes. Yields three dozen mini muffins.

Store in an air-tight container for up to a week. Mini muffins can also be frozen and eaten later!

♥ Shannon

Easy Vanilla Bourbon Cupcakes

And they're vegan, baby!

There are a ton of recipes for cupcakes from scratch, but every now and then you need a quick and easy fix! Trader Joe's mixes are made of natural ingredients, and if I can pull these off, anyone can.

Free recipe card from vol.25

Here's how to veganize these:

Trader Joe's Vanilla Cake & Baking Mix calls for...
--1 Full Package of Mix
--2 Large Eggs 1/2 Cup Vanilla Soy Yogurt
--1 Stick Melted Butter 1/2 Cup Earth Balance
--1 Cup Cold Milk 1 Cup Cold Milk Replacement*

*I have used both Coconut Milk and Almond Milk--both are sweet and bake really well.

Baker Josef's (aka Trader Joe's) White Frosting Mix calls for...
--White Frosting Mix
--1 cube unsalted butter 1/2 Cup Earth Balance
--2-2.5 TBS hot water

I suggest two boxes of the frosting mix to top 18 cupcakes. Or the cakes taste ridiculously good when they're still warm topped with a little Earth Balance. Yes yes yes.

Enjoy the kind life, friends!

♥ Shannon

I baked a cake!

I'm not sure if it's glorious yet, but it sure is tasty, so I'm going to let it count for my 27-before-27!

I'm also proud to say that it is vegan. I veganized the Trader Joe's cake & baking mix by substituting vanilla soy yogurt for eggs and Earth Balance for butter. So much better this way!

I also learned that not all cake pans are created equal. The top layer came out all crumbly because the pan just wasn't up to par. Oh, and I refrigerated the frosting while the cake was baking...not a great decision. I had to soften it with some hot water, and I over-compensated and then the frosting was a bit too soft.

But I'm learning!

♥ Shannon

Delicious King Cake (nom nom nom)

The one thing Matt (born and raised in Louisiana) made me promise for Mardi Gras was some King Cake. Knowing that if I made a whole King Cake, I would be the one who would eat the entire thing, I improvised.

I cheated a bit. Mini cinnamon rolls with some homemade frosting (powdered sugar, vanilla extract, vanilla soy milk--so delicious!). Impromptu King Cake for two!

What are you doing for Mardi Gras?

♥ Shannon

Valentine's Week Continues

For Day Two I thought I'd show the yummy heart-shaped brownies I baked earlier. They were quite tasty (and made with applesauce instead of butter! Sneaky!).

I think next time I'll take a leaf out of Kathleen's book and hand them out to make friends. Isn't her packaging perfect:

I wonder if I could even get my printer to attempt it. Crafts and deliciousness--joy!

♥ Shannon