Vegan Persimmon Pudding

This is one of my favorite desserts, it just tastes like Christmas to me. It’s one of the first desserts beyond sugar cookies I learned to make back in high school. You have to have super ripe and squishy persimmons for this. I get mine from the farmers market, they save them for me every year. I used walnuts but you could also use pecans. If you like raisins you could add those as well. For the pulp I strained the persimmons through a colander into a large bowl. (Remember to compost the skins and stems).

Persimmon pudding

2 cups of persimmon pulp

3 egg replacement (I used Follow Your Heart’s)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 nutmeg (or pumpkin pie spice)

1/2 cup melted vegan butter

2 1/2 cups almond or cashew milk

1 1/2 cup whole wheat or unbleached flour

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a large bowl add the egg replacement to the persimmon pulp, whisk in the sugar.  Add baking powder, soda, salt and spices.  Pour in melted vegan butter, stir & pour in the almond milk.  The mixture will be sort of soupy, whisk in flour, fold in chopped nuts.  Pour into a greased 9 X 13 pan.  Bake for 1 hour or until knife comes out clean.  Serve warm or room temperature with vegan whipped cream.

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies!

When my kids were little, I kept dough in the freezer so I could make a few (or a dozen) for them after school. I have some serious chocoholics in my family, especially my husband!

I haven't made these amazing cookies since our family started eating more plant-based recipes.

A couple of months ago at Urth cafe in Laguna Beach Erskien tried a gluten-free, vegan chocolate chip cookie that he said was the best he’d ever had including my chocolate chip cookies.

Well, that’s completely unacceptable!

Mine are the best, but they're not completely plant-based so I set out to revamp our favorite recipe. This time, I opted for gluten-free flours and toasted nuts to improve upon the original flavors.  Here’s the new update, better than ever. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup vegan butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 egg replacer *I used Follow Your Heart’s
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups oat flour
12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips *I used Trader Joe’s semi sweet, they’re vegan
1 cup nuts toasted (optional) *Urth Cafe’s had pecans, walnuts work as well 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. LIghtly toast the nuts and set aside. Cream butter, add both of the sugars, once it’s creamy add the egg replacer and vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the mixture a little at a time to make sure it’s all incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and nuts. Once everything is mixed together and refrigerate for 30 minutes. You can make the cookies as big or as small as you want, Urth cafe’s were big, I prefer normal sized cookies. Place cookie dough on a baking sheet bake for 10-12 minutes at 375. If you make giant ones you’ll need to increase the baking time to 15-18 minutes.