dessert

Easy Sugar-Free Applesauce

I love apples and I love quick and easy recipes so this sugar-free apple sauce is one of my favorite things to make after apple-picking. Lucky for me, my mom has an apple tree so I have almost unlimited access to apples all autumn long. This allows me to play around with recipes to my hearts content. This recipe is by far one of the easiest and probably healthiest dessert recipes around – at least I eat it for dessert. There is no sugar added, just cinnamon, because the apples are sweet enough. You can make this on the stove or in a crockpot, but I really do prefer the stove method because it is faster and makes the house smell so yummy. Happy Fall Ya’ll!!

Easy Sugar-Free Applesauce

4 medium sized apples, peeled and cut into chunks

A few Tbsp of water

1/4 tsp cinnamon, or more to taste

Add your apple chunks to a medium sauce pan and add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan but not cover the apples.
Place on the stove over medium-low heat and let simmer until the apples are soft
Using the back of your spoon or a potato masher, squish those apple chunks to your desired consistency. If you like super smooth apple sauce you could always use an immersion blender here to really whip it up.
Add cinnamon and mix completely.
Pair with a scoop of your favorite non-dairy vanilla ice cream or enjoy by itself!

Vegan Baked Peaches

Today’s post is taking me back to colder days at the middle of September. Weather has been weird here in northern California, and we’re actually back to days in the high 80s late into October. I’m not loving that summer doesn’t seem to want to end. It makes me miss warm and cozy recipes like these easy baked vegan peaches. These are seriously so simple, I think the most difficult part was cutting the peaches in half.

These use a vegan butter substitute and some basic sugars. If you’re a super hardcore vegan you could also sub for coconut sugar or whatever you prefer. I also used yellow peaches, which in my experience with baking peaches, work best for this type of recipe. The white peaches are too tough and don’t soften correctly in the oven. Without further ado, let’s throw back into cooler temps and yummy desserts.

Easy Vegan Baked Peaches

2 large ripe yellow peaches, cut in halves and pitted

2 Tbsp vegan butter

4 Tbsp brown sugar

Cinnamon for sprinkling, if desired

Place peach halves in a baking dish and preheat the oven to 375°F
Add 1/2 Tbsp of vegan butter to the center of each peach, followed by 1 Tbsp of brown sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Place in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the peaches are soft.
Top with your favorite dairy free ice cream and enjoy the lovely smells and the warm feelings from these incredibly easy and delicious peaches!

Vegan Avocado Pudding

Let me start this post by saying how impressed I am with using avocados for pudding. Don’t get me wrong, this recipe isn’t going to taste like a pudding pack, in fact it’s more like a mousse than a pudding, but that doesn’t mean it’s not delicious. It’s an easy and vegan alternative to chocolate pudding and healthier too! With that said, let’s just get into the recipe.

Vegan Avocado Chocolate Pudding

2 ripe avocados

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup 100% maple syrup (or other sweetener)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup of almond milk (or preferred dairy-free substitute)

Place all items in a food processor and blend until creamy. Chill before serving.

That’s it! It’s so easy and delicious, let me know if you try it out!

Vegan Apple Crisp

Fall is finally upon us and that means all of the warm comforting foods I can handle! I love everything apple, pumpkin and squash so I am so excited that the weather is finally cooling down and letting way to all of my favorite fall recipes. The smells that have been filling my house recently, some from candles and some from food, are some of my favorite scents of the year, and this apple crisp is no exception. Lately, I’ve been attempting to eat as close to vegan as possible (minus the whole egg thing, but maybe that’s another post entirely), so when I decided to make this recipe, I wanted to leave out any dairy products. Honestly, it’s not too difficult to switch most recipes to the vegan variety. It’s usually a matter of switching an ingredient or two to a dairy-free substitute. For this recipe, you can always use real butter instead of vegan if you’re not into doing the whole vegan thing, but I did not notice a difference in flavor without it.

This recipe is super fun and super easy. Since it’s just me and my husband in our house, I like to create smaller servings of desserts so that we don’t have too many leftovers or end up having to throw anything out. I’m seriously weird about wasting food, so whenever I can try to avoid it I do. I made this apple crisp in a portion size that fit two medium sized ramekins. You could also fit this portion size into 4 small ramekins, but we wanted ALOT of apple crisp this night (yes, sometimes it’s okay to splurge). If you don’t have ramekins, feel free to use an 8″x8″ baking dish or pan, an 8″ pie pan or something similar.

I can’t wait to make more fall desserts. On my list currently is a vegan peach cobbler and of course all of the pumpkin recipes. I will continue to attempt to switch them to vegan options and posting them here, I hope you enjoy!

Vegan Apple Crisp

Filling:

3 medium sized apples, cut into bit sized pieces (peel if preferred) I used Fuji, but I think any kind will do

1 squirt of lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg

1/8 cup of water

Topping:

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 Tbsp vegan butter

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix the filling items together and place in the bottoms of your ramekins or whatever dish you’re using. Mix the topping items together (using the same bowl if you want less mess!) and place evenly over the top of your fillings dishes. Place your ramekins in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Once baked, let sit for about 10 minutes. Top with some vegan ice cream and you are on your way to autumnal bliss!