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Tag: dessert

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Vegan Meringue Cookies – Using Aquafaba

meringue cookies

Yes, vegan meringue is possible using aquafaba. Aquafaba is the left over water after cooking dried beans or legumes. The only one I’ve ever used is that which I have after cooking chickpeas/garbanzo beans. I think chickpea water is the most popular one for most recipes. (See the aquafaba recipe below.)

I cannot eat pure sugar, so these cookies are not for me, but I wanted to make a dessert that my daughters might enjoy and for those of you who might enjoy them too.  But really, I just wanted to try to try a substitute for egg whites to create a meringue cookie. And it works great!

Oh, and before you get started, the recipe below calls for the use of a pastry bag with a star (decorative) end. You can use a pastry bag with a hole cut in the bottom. Or simply use a spoon to plop the meringue onto the cookie sheets. Don’t worry…these cookies will taste the same once baked no matter what “shape” they are in.

Once baked and cooled, the cookies will be crispy. Store in an airtight container to keep away from moisture or they will lose their crispiness. Also, keep them away from heat because they will melt.

Leftover Vegan Meringue…

I had left over meringue, so I decided to make vegan lemon meringues desserts. Not pie, because I didn’t want to make a crust. I used this recipe . This recipe also contains good tips on making the lemon curd thicker (such as using agar agar flakes). I simply used the basic recipe even without the vegan butter. There is also a link to vegan pie crust recipe and suggestions for store-bought brands.

Leftover aquafaba…

I always like to keep aquafaba available for use in some requires that list eggs as an ingredient. I often use aquafaba in pancakes and cookies. But, if I don’t use the aquafaba right away, I freeze some in ice cube trays for later use.

How to make aquafaba

I enjoy using chickpeas in many recipes, therefore, I always have aquafaba on hand. I think chickpeas and pinto beans are my favorite legumes. Although, I’ve never used pinto aquafaba in any recipes…I supposed that you could, but it would give it a pink tint for sure.

I prefer to soak the chickpeas overnight (or at least 8 hours). Note: The cooking times below refer to soaked chickpeas.
Drain off the soaking water, prior to cooking.
Instantpot: Cover with 1 inch of water. Stovetop: Cover with 2 inches of water.
Instantpot: Cook for 13 minutes. Stovetop: Bring to boil for 1 minute, then simmer on low for about an hour.
I usually use a spoon to remove some of the froth that appears in the pot after cooking.
Strain the aquafaba into a container for later use.

I usually put the chickpeas into the freezer for later use in soups, salads, hummus, stir-fries, tacos, and making tortillas/wraps.

More Vegan “Sweet” Desserts

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Real Food Rocky Road Ice Cream



I wasn’t planning on posting this tonight, but it’s the weekend and it’s nice to have something cool and sweet to eat while chillin’, right?

Well this is my own version of rocky road ice cream. I don’t think I was ever a fan of rocky road ice cream beore, but this dessert just ‘happened’ today. And after taking the photo and deciding to post it I thought it looked like rocky road and… I needed to give it a name.


This is a real food ice cream. This is made of fresh real food ingredients. Banana ice cream (made only of frozen bananas and cinnamon) topped with dates, dried mulberries and homemade chocolate (raw cacao, coconut oil and raw unfiltered honey). I will definitely be making this again and since I forgot to add nuts, next time I will be adding pecans or some other nuts to the mix for sure. Note: Many have termed ice cream made from plant-based ingredients as “Nice Cream”.

Ingredients:

Ice Cream
    2 frozen bananas
    1/8 tsp cinnamon

Raw Chocolate
    1/8 cup raw cacao*
    1/2 to 1 TBS raw, unfiltered honey*
    1 TBS coconut oil

Additional Toppings
    dried mulberries*
    dates*
    nuts*

*High FODMAP food – remove from ingredients to achieve a Low FODMAP recipe.

Directions:

  1. Before making the ice cream. mix together the raw cacao (or cocoa powder of choice), honey and coconut oil with a spoon. Add more coconut oil or honey if still too dry. Spread onto wax paper and put into freezer for about an hour.
  2. Place frozen bananas and cinnamon into a high speed blender and process until you create a smooth, ice cream consistency. This is where a Vitamix is very useful.
  3. Put ice cream into a bowl, break chocolate into pieces over the top and add other toppings as desired.

Alternatives/Add-ins:

  • Add vanilla extract or vanilla bean to the bananas in addition to or in place of the cinnamon
  • Use ready-made chocolate chips if you are short of time, but I hope you would try to make your own dark raw chocolate because it’s simple and made of simple real food ingredients
  • Add avocado and mint to flavor the ice cream so you can create mint chocolate chip ice cream (It’s likely that I will try that one this week too.)
  • Swirl in some nut butter or full fat coconut milk (or both)