Vegan Spelt Flour Berry Pancakes

Wanna eat pancakes for breakfast without the guilt? I got you. I woke up craving pancakes, so I pulled from a couple of different pancake recipes online, switching out ingredients and making it my own until I got what I wanted. 

If you have no idea what spelt flour is, let me introduce you. Spelt flour is an ancient relative of wheat, originating over 8,000 years ago. It’s a great alternative to white/wheat flour as it provides a numerous amount of nutrients. What kind of nutrients, you ask? Well, you inquisitive reader, spelt flour has B Vitamins, iron and is high in fiber. You should know by now that you need that fiber in your life, B. Also, spelt flour It is lower in calories than regular wheat flour and has been known to be easier to digest. 

*Biggie voice* AND IF YOU DON’T KNOW, NOW YOU KNOW...

Unfortunately, if you’re a gluten-free guy or gal you’re gonna have to sub this with some gluten-free flour. 

Okay, let’s get to it. This recipe will make 6-7 pancakes, so about 2 servings. 

INGRIDIENTS:

1 cup spelt flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup coconut milk (or any dairy-free milk of your liking) **

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil 

2 tablespoons of white granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1 cup of berries (any work. I had a mix of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries)

A little extra oil to grease your pan, if necessary 

**Make sure your milk is room temperature. Otherwise, when you mix in the coconut oil, it will harden inside the milk and you’ll have to microwave it to get it back to its smooth texture. Either way, you’re fine. Just make sure everything is mixed well, no lumps. 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 

2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Like I said, if your coconut oil has solidified because of the cold milk, pop that baby into the microwave for a little until it liquifies again. Make sure its mixed well. 

3. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture. Stir until combined but DO NOT OVER-MIX. Spelt flour is tricky and over-mixing will cause them to be tough and/or dry! :(

4. Gently fold in the berries and let your batter sit for 4-5 minutes so the pancakes will be fluffy :)

5. While you let your batter sit, heat your skillet on medium-low heat. Lightly oil, if necessary. 

6. I used a 1/4-cup measure to pour my pancakes along with a spoon. This part will be a little tricky. Scoop some batter into the measuring cup, and pour onto the warm skillet. It will not come out like normal pancake batter where it kind of spreads itself out into a pancake form, so take your spoon and gently even it out. You’ll notice some bubbles start to form at the surface. Cook it for 2-3 minutes and flip. If your pancake is difficult to flip, you didn’t cook it long enough. 

7. Repeat the process with the remaining batter, adding more oil to the pan if necessary or more berries to the batter if you are noticing an uneven lack of. I kept the heat at medium-low for the entire batch and they cooked perfectly. 

Serve them immediately of keep them warm in your oven (at about 175 degrees F)

You can top them with anything you want! Bananas, shredded coconut, sliced mango, agave, maple syrup, etc. 

Enjoy! :)

Vegan Holiday Shortbread Cookies w/ Peppermint “Cream Cheese” Frosting

Ugh, vegan people, am I right? Always annoying people every five minutes talking about how they don’t eat animal products. I’ll spare with you my reasoning as to why I choose to eat vegan (most of the time) and just share some recipes that will make YOU want to eat vegan simply because they are 1. easy to make (usually) and 2. healthier for you (usually)

I created these cookies after having similar non-vegan versions this past week at a bar and I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I was convinced that I would recreate them and share them with my friends at my holiday shinding this weekend, which I did, despite the trouble I went through to make them. Let’s just say, don’t go to the grocery store the Saturday before Christmas. It was a shit show and I almost walked out like, “FUCK THIS!” But I am so glad I didn’t because they were a hit! #blessed

Anyway, here we go….Melina’s Vegan Holiday Shortbread Cookies w/ Peppermint “Cream Cheese” Frosting

Ingredients:

VEGAN SHORTBREAD COOKIES

1 and ¾ cups all-purpose flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill)

2 tablespoons arrowroot flour (Okay, don’t look for this at basic ass Ralphs because they might not have it. Your best bet is going to your nearest health food store or Whole Foods)

1 cup regular vegan butter (I ran out of butter for my second batch and only and only had ½ cup, so I replaced the other half with ½ cup coconut oil and it worked perfectly)

½ cup + 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar (basically its powdered sugar, don’t get it twisted)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

VEGAN PEPPERMINT CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

1 (8 oz) package of vegan cream cheese (such as Tofutti or the one from Trader Joe’s), softened

1 cup vegan butter, softened

1 package (1 lb) confectioners sugar (just use the one you bought for the cookies)

2 teaspoons peppermint extract

TOPPING

5-6 peppermint candy canes. I chose the red and green ones, but you can pick whatever color your little heart desires. Put them in a Ziploc bag (unwrapped), grab a hammer and start smashing until you have little bits and pieces. This is the best part of this entire cookie making process.

First, you need to make the cookies.

STEP 1. Turn that oven up to 350F. Grab a medium mixing bowl and whisk together both flours. Set aside.

STEP 2. Now, make sure your butter is softened or this is gonna be a real bitch to do. Grab another medium mixing bowl and beat that Vegan butter with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds - 1 minute until it starts getting creamy.

STEP 3. Mix in the confectioners sugar and the vanilla extract to the butter bowl. Do not, DO NOT pack the sugar into your measuring cup. Just scoop. Mix this until it starts getting creamy again.

STEP 4. Mix half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until it starts getting smooth. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

STEP 5. YAY! You should now have a dough. It’s time to form your cookies! On a floured, flat surface, grab some dough and roll it out into a circle that is ¾ inch thick. Cut with whatever cookie cutter you have, or like I did a shot glass. It actually made PERFECT circles so don’t laugh. One by one, place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle some confectioners sugar on the cookies before putting them in the oven. Bake for 16-20 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown. If you over bake, they will be a little dry so watch out for that. Depending on the size of your cookie cutters, you should get 14-22 cookies or so out of this.

While your cookies are baking, it is time to make the FROSTING. This will make enough for two batches of cookies.

STEP 6. Grab yet another mixing bowl (doing the dishes is gonna suuuuck) and beat the cream cheese and butter until creamy. If you don’t have an electric mixer, I’m very sorry but you’re gonna have to put in work to do this. At least you can skip the arm workouts at the gym after this.

STEP 7. Once creamy, gradually add the confectioners sugar and mix until smooth, then add more, mix until smooth, add more….etc. I did not use the entire packet of sugar as I did not want a super sweet frosting, but if you want to you totally can. Taste as you go and see what you like best.

STEP 8. Once you have the sweetness balance you desire, add the 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract and blend until smooth. I actually added an extra drop or two to mine, so again, taste as you go.

YOU ARE ALMOST DONE. Did you take the cookies out at the right time? Don’t get distracted making the frosting or you’re fucked.

NOW! Time to frost!

I did this part with some help from the internet, DIY piping bags. You can find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bew4Yyk2KwQ

After you’ve frosted your cookies, sprinkle the crushed candy canes all over them and enjoy!