Vegan Choc Chip Hot Cross Buns

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Vegan Choc Chip Hot Cross Buns

With Easter just around the corner (and very early this year) I thought it’s time for me to share this recipe. I remember my first Easter as a vegan and I struggled finding vegan hot cross buns, especially the chocolate chip variety. So I went and made my own, and I’ve been making them ever since for Easter.

Friends, this is what Easter is made for…

 

Why I love these vegan choc chip hot cross buns

Aside from the sensation of biting into warm gooey chocolate, these buns smell as delicious as they are tasty. The added spices give them that traditional hot cross buns smell and taste, but with a sprinkle of chocolate magic.

Vegan Choc Chip Hot Cross Buns
Author: Keren
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 9
Ingredients
  • Dough
  • 2 tsp instant dried yeast (1 sachet)
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 cup of soymilk (or your favourite non-dairy milk)
  • 3 cups plain flour
  • 1/2 all spice
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • a pinch of salt
  • 100g dairy-free dark chocolate, finely chopped (or dark chocolate chips)
  • 2 tsp organ egg replacer (equivalent of 2 eggs)
  • 4 tablespoons water
  • Flour Paste for Crosses
  • 2 1/2 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tsp water
  • Sugar Glaze
  • 1 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoons boiling water
Instructions
  1. If you’re using cold soymilk, heat the milk microwave for 20 seconds until lukewarm but not hot to the touch (you can also use the stove to do this).
  2. Mix sugar and soymilk. Add yeast and mix. Stand for about 10 mins until frothy. If the yeast doesn’t froth at this stage, it’s not active and you’ll have to get some fresh yeast.
  3. Whisk egg replacer powder and 4 tablespoons water in a small bowl until thick and frothy.
  4. Sift flour, salt and spices into a big bowl. Stir in the yeast mixture, egg replacer mixture, and then the chopped dark chocolate. Knead for 5-10 mins or so until it becomes a smooth, elastic dough. Use a mixer with dough hook attachment to speed up the process. It took me 2 minutes to do this using the Tefal Cuisine Companion.
  5. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with cling wrap and leave to rise in a warm space for an hour (an oven with the light turned on works a treat).
  6. Turn dough out and divide into 9 portions. Roll them into balls and place them on a baking tray. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place till nearly doubled.
  7. Preheat oven to 180C
  8. Make the flour paste by mixing ingredients together until smooth. Pipe crosses on buns using a piping bag.
  9. Bake buns for 20 mins or until light golden brown.
  10. Make the sugar glaze by mixing all the ingredients together. Brush glaze over hot buns.
Notes
Use dairy-free milk chocolate if you like it sweeter.[br][br]For the traditional hot cross buns, replace chocolate with mixed dried fruits.

Vegan Choc Chip Hot Cross Buns-6

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and don’t forget to share a picture on Instagram and tag me. I’d love to see your creation.

With love,

Keren

 

Raw Vegan Chocolate Caramel Hearts

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I’m not a romantic. If you’re my boyfriend, you’re lucky if I remember your birthday. Chances are, I won’t remember our anniversary, when we met, when we first kissed, held hands or other dates with any romantic significance.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Hearts-04450

Ok, I’m not literally that bad. If we’ve been together long enough (say, three years), I’d probably remember your birthday. But I probably won’t remember your phone number. Isn’t that’s what contact lists are for, anyway?

Raw Vegan Chocolate Hearts-04407

In saying that, I do cook chocolate hearts for my dearest once in awhile. When the stars are aligned I feel like whipping up some bittersweet chocolate love for him. Like tonight. You don’t need to be a romantic to make chocolates for your loved one. Or do you?

Why I love these chocolate hearts

Although you don’t need any excuse to eat chocolate, here are some, just for fun. These raw vegan chocolate caramel hearts are intensely chocolatey (almost bittersweet) with a nice sweet caramel centre. They are refined sugar-free and contain more antioxidants than your normal chocolate bar. The chocolate is made with raw cacao, which is from unroasted cocoa beans and is the purest form of chocolate you can consume. Romantic or not, this is love.

Raw Vegan Chocolate Hearts With Caramel Centre
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Keren
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 30 hearts
Ingredients
  • Chocolate
  • 1/3 cup raw cacao powder
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, liquid
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (organic and alcohol free if possible)
  • Caramel
  • 5 medjool dates, pitted
  • 3 heaped tsp cashew butter
  • a pinch of sea salt
  • 2 tsp water
Instructions
  1. For the chocolate, whisk all chocolate ingredients in a bowl.
  2. For the caramel, add all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.
  3. To make the chocolate hearts, add 1 tsp of chocolate into heart shaped silicon mould, add 1/8 tsp of caramel and fill the remaining space with extra chocolate.
  4. Plate in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours to set. Serve.
  5. These chocolates will melt at room temperature so keep them in the fridge until the second you want to eat them.

Note: Quality ingredients are the secret for a delicious raw dessert. Make sure you buy the best you can afford. I used Loving Earth cacao powder; JaxCoco coconut oil, organic and alcohol free vanilla extract; and cashew butter from Naturals by Melrose.

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and don’t forget to share a picture on Instagram and tag me. I’d love to see your creation.

 

With love,

Keren x 

Raw Vegan Chocolate Hearts-04404

Rhubarb Onion Chutney

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Sometimes you feel like something that is both sweet and savoury. So you make something a little like this Rhubarb Onion Chutney…

 

Why I love it

It’s a delicious chutney for whenever you wanted something sweet with a savoury twist. I like it. It’s one of those dishes that plays trick with your head. It looks sweet but it also tastes savoury so you don’t really know what to do with it. It reminds me of the first time I had cranberry sauce with roast (back in my pre-vegan days), it’s weird in a delicious kind of way. This chutney is great with baked tofu or salad… or as a dip with freshly toasted olive bread.

Rhubarb Onion Chutney-2-1

Rhubarb Onion Chutney
Recipe Type: Dips and Sauces
Author: Keren
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: Two 300ml mason jars.
Ingredients
  • 1 large onion
  • 1/3 cup xylitol *see notes
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/3 cup white wine
  • 1/3 cup white vinegar
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 knob ginger, grated
  • 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
  1. Trim rhubard leave and cut into 1cm pieces
  2. Using Cuisine Companion with a chopping blade, Chop rhubarb and onion 5 seconds speed 5.
  3. Add vinegar and sugar and cook at speed 3, 30 min, 100C
  4. Remove the lid and cook for another 30 min, speed 3, 100C until the liquid reduced and the mixture becomes thick.
  5. Transfer to a sterilised jars.
Notes
*Xylitol is a natural sweetener that is extracted from any woody fibrous plant material. It tastes just like regular table sugar but contain less calories. You can replace 1/3 cup of xylitol with 1 cup of normal sugar.[br][br]*If you want a more subtle savoury flavour, use half an onion instead a whole onion.[br][br]*For manual method, chop everything by hand and then bring to a boil on the stove and then bring the heat down to simmer, stirring once in a while until the mixture becomes thick.

 

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and/or share a picture on Instagram and tag me in the picture. I’d love to see your creation.

Keren x 

Vegan Sweet Potato Blondies

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A little comfort food sometimes go a long way. Especially when it’s this good. I made these Vegan Sweet Potato Blondies during the Christmas break in place of gingerbread men and boy did they change my life.

sweet-potato-blondie-17

These are sweet, comforting, and every bit delicious… this recipe is an adaption of Sweet Potato Blondies recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar (awesome cookbook by the way!) – I’ve reduced the amount of sugar, double the amount of spices and included coconut cream to make them slightly less sugary and more nutritious. And the result, boy oh boy…. everyday is Christmas as far as these bars concern.

sweet-potato-blondie-20

Why I love these blondies

First of all I love sweet potatoes. I think they’re superfood – rich in fibre, beta-carotene and vitamin A.  They also contain lots of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients. The spices thrown in the mix (cinnamon and ginger) are also great for digestion, cold, flu, and pain relief among other benefits.

These are super easy to make and the result is nothing short of spectacular. They’re mildly sweet, moist, spicy and decadent. Best of all, they’ll make your house smell like Christmas morning. These are beautiful when warm but they also make a delicious cold snack. I highly recommend serving with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

sweet-potato-blondie-25

 

 

Vegan Sweet Potato Blondies
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Keren
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
A delicious bake that will make your house smells like Christmas morning. And no one would be able to guess the secret ingredient that makes this cake so moist and flavourful, sweet potato!
Ingredients
  • Wet Ingredients
  • ¾ cup cooked, mashed sweet potato (skin removed)
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 cup coconut cream (or you can also use coconut milk)
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • Dry Ingredients
  • 1¼ cup plain flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • Topping
  • ½ cup walnuts, chopped roughly
  • ⅓ cup non-dairy chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line a 20 cm (8 inch) square pan with aluminium foil. Make sure foil covers the sides of the pan. Brush or spray the pan with cooking oil.
  2. Arrange walnuts on a cookie sheet in a single layer, bake in the preheated oven for about 5-8 minutes, checking every couple of minutes. Let cool for a few minutes.
  3. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. Mix to combine.
  4. Mix the wet ingredients together.
  5. Stir in the wet ingredient into the dry ingredients and mix just enough to moisten the mixture. Do not overmix.
  6. Fold in the chopped nuts and chocolate chips.
  7. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the back of the spoon or spatula. Bake for 28 minutes. Cake is done if a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out mostly clean (a few moist bits are ok). If it’s still a bit wet, bake for another 2-4 minutes. The key is not to over-bake the cake. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes for the texture and flavour to develop then slice into bars.
Notes
*You can replace coconut cream with any non-dairy milk.[br]*If you’re super lazy, you can just use chopped raw walnut, they won’t taste as ‘roasted’ but they’ll be just as delicious.

If you make this, I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or find me on Instagram and share your creation. Don’t forget to tag me @passionatelykeren so I won’t miss your post.

Keren x

Vegan Cinnamon Scrolls With Chai Spice

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Sometimes, there’s nothing I want more than a freshly baked vegan cinnamon scrolls.

Vegan cinnamon scrolls

This recipe was a result of one of my spurs of the moment ideas. It was inspired by cinnamon scrolls recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Collen Patrick Goudreau, which, I must say, is a must-have for anyone who loves baking.

Vegan Cinnamon Scrolls

So I was enjoying my second last cinnamon scroll I made a few days earlier over a cup of chai tea. It was soft and tender and it tasted so good and ‘matched’  the Rainbow chai tea I was having. Suddenly an idea came to me. Why not combine the two flavours together? It will be sweet, mildly spicy and nutty. Wouldn’t that be nice?

And just like that, these babies were born.

Vegan Cinnamon Scrolls With Chai Spice

Why I love these Vegan Cinnamon Scrolls:

They’re sweet, mildly spiced, comforting and, best of all, they smell amazing…

Chai spices are known for it’s health benefits, antioxidants and phytochemicals with cancer-prevention properties. It also tastes delicious. Though these scrolls don’t score high on the nutritional scale, it is significantly lower in sugar compare to your regular scrolls (especially if you include the icing glaze on top). Mashed banana is added in the dough mix, which makes the dough mildly sweet. As a result, you don’t need a lot of sugar for the filling and you won’t even miss the glaze. It’s has a delicate spicy taste and did I say it smells amazing?

Vegan Cinnamon Scrolls With Chai Spice 

Ingredients

Yeast Mixture

  • 1 cup non dairy milk
  • 1/2 cup non-dairy butter
    1 teaspoon raw sugar
  •  4 teaspoons of instant dry yeast

Chai Spiced Nut Filling

  • 1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
  • 1/2 cup walnuts (you can also use other nuts or mixed nuts)I’m 
  • 1/4 cup non-dairy butter (I use Nuttelex)
  • Chai spice:
    • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
    • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
    • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
    • 1 tsp ground cardamom
    • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Dough mix

  • 5 cups plain flour (separate 1 cup aside)
  • 2 medium ripe banana, mashed
  • 3 tsp egg replacer powder
  • 6 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt

Step 1. Proof the yeast

  1.  Combine the milk, butter and sugar in a bowl. Warm the mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds on in a small pot on the stove. The mixture shouldn’t be too hot to put your finger in.
  2. Add the dry yeast into the mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes. You should see foam and bubbles forming on top of the yeast mixture. If not, your yeast may be too old and no longer active in which case, you’ll need get a fresh yeast pack.

Step 2. Prepare your dough

  1. Whip together the egg replacer powder with the water using a fork until it’s thick and creamy.
  2. Using Cuisine Companion with chopping blade: Add 4 cups of flour into CC. Add the yeast mixture and press P2 pastry setting.
  3. Check after 1 minute. If the mixture is too sticky, add more flour 1 tablespoon at a time using the 1 cup of flour you set aside.
  4. Let the program continues until it completes the proofing stage.

Step 3. Prepare the Chai Spiced Nut filling

  1. Prepare CC with chopping blade. Finely chop the walnuts or process in CC into rough crumbs. Speed 5, 15 seconds
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Speed 5, 5 second.

Step 4. Make the scrolls

  1. Once the dough has risen, fold it out onto a lightly dusted surface and spread out the dough with a rolling pin into a big giant rectangle until the dough is about a ¼ of an inch thick.
  2. Spread the filling around the whole dough. Carefully roll the dough into a log and pinch the edge to seal. Slice into 8 equal pieces.
  3. Leave for another 30 minutes to 1 hour to rise slightly.
  4. Arrange the pieces on a greased baking pan and then pop them in the oven
  5. Bake on 190 degrees Celsius (375 Fahrenheit) for 25-30 min.

Note:

  • You can knead the dough using an electric mixer if you don’t own a cuisine companion. You can also knead the dough by hand if you don’t own an electric mixer.
  • You can also use 2 tablespoon of chai tea mix (the one with dried herbs and spices, not powder) to replace the chai spice ingredients. Ground before using.

Vegan Cinnamon Scrolls With Chai Spice

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and/or share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #littlegreenhabits. I’d love to hear from you.

Avocado Chocolate Ice Cream

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Hmmmm…avocado chocolate ice cream. The idea for this recipe came from an incident where I accidentally defrosted my avocados from the freezer. Instead of re-freezing it I thought, why not make something with it!

Why I love it:

It’s nutritious, delicious and vegan. A clean snack alternative without any refined sugar or added thickeners, which are normally found in commercial ice cream. Who doesn’t love a good old chocolate ice cream??

Avocado is an excellent source of good fat, which supports healthy heart function. Cacao powder contains a high amount of antioxidants and well… it’s chocolate.

It’s incredibly easy to make. Just blend all the ingredients and then churn using an ice cream maker. I use Cuisine Art 2 Litre Ice Cream Maker but you can probably fit it in a 1.5 Litre ice cream maker.

 

Avocado Chocolate Ice Cream
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Keren
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: about 1.2 litre
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of mashed avocados
  • 2 cups of coconut cream
  • ½ cup cacao powder
  • ½ cup rice malt syrup
  • ¼ cup dark choc bits (optional)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract a pinch of salt (optional but highly recommended)
Instructions
Cuisine Companion Method:
  1. Blend using ultra blade for 30 second speed 8.
  1. Churn using a prepared ice cream maker.
  1. Add choc bits if using. Freeze for at least 4 hours.
  1. Let sit for 10-15 minutes at room temperature before scooping the ice cream.
Using Power Blender or Food Processor:
  1. Blend or process all ingredients together until smooth.
  1. Add choc bits if using and mix with using a large spoon.
  1. Churn using a prepared ice cream maker.
  1. Freeze for at least 4 hours.
  1. Let sit for 10-15 minutes at room temperature before scooping the ice cream.
Notes
Instead of Avocado Chocolate Ice Cream you can convert the recipe to Avocado Chocolate Pudding by putting the avocado choc mix in ramekins and then chill it in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know if you had go making this. I love to see your marvelous creations! Leave a comment below and/or share a picture on Instagram with and tag @passionatelykeren :)

Love and greens,

Keren

Sweet Potato Vegan Donuts

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Sweet Potato Vegan Donuts

These vegan donuts were inspired by my recent trip to Melbourne where I had the most amazing donuts (or ‘bronuts‘ as they call them) from Mr. Nice Guy’s Bake Shop in Ascot Vale. They were mind-blowingly delicious: soft, fluffy and sweet. They tasted so heavenly and were a complete and utter indulgence. Coming back to Sydney, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could make my own vegan donuts. I wanted them to be tender and tasty, but healthier, and baked, not fried as in Melbourne. And so after a few experiments in the kitchen, these donuts were born.

Why I love them:

One thing I love about these vegan donuts is how long they stay tender and moist after baking. I’ve made deep fried donuts in the past and they start tasting a bit dry and hard even after just a few hours. These donuts, on the other hand, stay tender and moist for many hours to a few days – you just need to warm them up, with 15 seconds for each in the microwave if they get a bit cold.

They also quite easy to make. I’ve made them both by hand and using Cuisine Companion (CC). I’d use my CC when I make a double batch or being super lazy but really, it’s so easy to make. There’s no kneading involved so the process is fairly simple.

Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A and vitamin C and rich in fibre and potassium. They’re baked, not fried, and they smell like Christmas morning.

Sweet Potato Vegan Donuts

Sweet Potato Vegan Donuts

Sweet Potato Vegan Donuts

Makes 40 small size donuts

  • 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm non-dairy milk
  • 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 cups warm mashed sweet potatoes
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 cup raw sugar (*see notes)
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 6 cups plain or wholemeal flour
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Vegan eggs (equivalent of 3 eggs)

Directions – Cuisine Companion

  1. Make vegan eggs: mix 3 egg replacers with 6 tbsp water and whisk until foamy with a fork.
  2. Mix your non-dairy milk with vinegar. Add yeast and 1 tbsp of sugar, mix to dissolve.
  3. Prepare the CC bowl with the kneading blade. Add mashed sweet potatoes, coconut oil, the remaining sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and half of the flour into the bowl. Mix at speed 7 for 15 seconds.
  4. Stir in the remaining flour and mix at speed 7 for about 20- 30 seconds, just enough to form soft dough. You may not need to use all the flour. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
  5. Turn onto a floured surface; divide into four equal portions.
  6. Roll each portion to 1 cm thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter. Bake at 170C for 10-15 minutes, turning halfway for even cooking.

Directions – Manual

  1. Make vegan eggs: mix 3 egg replacers with 6 tbsp water and whisk until foamy with a fork.
  2. In a large bowl, mix your non-dairy milk with vinegar. Add yeast and 1 tbsp of sugar, mix to dissolve.
  3. Add mashed sweet potatoes, coconut oil, and mix.
  4. Add the remaining sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and half of the flour. Beat until smooth.
  5. Stir in the remaining flour just enough to form soft dough. You may not need to use it all. Do not knead. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
  6. Turn onto a floured surface; divide into four equal portions.
  7. Roll each portion to 1 cm thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter. Bake at 170C for 10-15 minutes, turning halfway for even cooking.

Notes and Tips:

  1. You can use white potatoes in place of sweet potatoes.
  2. If you don’t have a donut cutter, improvise with using the lid of a mason jar and the end of a funnel for cutting the holes.
  3. For healthier alternative you can replace raw sugar with coconut sugar, or you can also use 1/3 cup of Xylitol which has the sweetness of a cup of sugar with one-third of the calories

Sweet Potato Vegan Donuts

Did you make these vegan donuts?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and/or share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #littlegreenhabits.

Love and greens,

Keren

Sumo Citrus Spiced Rice Pudding (vegan and sugar-free)

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Sumo Citrus Rice Pudding-2

This weekend I whipped up a super easy, super delicious and nutritious recipe and entered it into a competition. It’s my healthy, refined sugar-free and dairy-free take on the normal rice pudding. It is very simple and easy to make. Just need to cook your rice in a pan, make your smoothie and then stir your smoothie into the rice. Let it simmer until thick and creamy and voila! You have your rice pudding. Serve with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon and tell your partner it was such a hard work. It may score you a shoulder massage or two :P.

Why I love it:

What I love about most about this rice pudding is the fact that it’s rich and creamy but also light and refreshing at the same time. It has a gentle citrus tang and it smells like Christmas morning.

Made using walnut citrus smoothie it contains lot’s of omega-3 from walnut (great for the brain) and the goodness of one whole orange which is rich in fibre and Vitamin C and is a good source of minerals such as Thiamin, Folate and Potassium.

Sumo Citrus Rice Pudding-3

Make this. I promise you will love it.

 

Sumo Citrus Spiced Rice Pudding
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Keren
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Creamy, nutty and fragrant rice pudding that is mildly sweet, citrusy and every bit delicious. It’s a rich and decadent dessert, easy to make, dairyfree and refined-sugar free.
Ingredients
  • 1 large Sumo Citrus
  • 1 cup arborio rice
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 cups of filtered water
  • Walnut Sumo Citrus Smoothie
  • Sumo Citrus flesh
  • 2 cups of filtered water
  • ½ cup of walnut
  • ½ cup rice malt syrup
  • ½ tsp allspice powder
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Grate the zest of Sumo Citrus. Set aside. Remove the flesh for smoothie and reserve 2 strips of peel.
  2. Make Walnut Sumo Citrus Smoothie: In a blender, add all the smoothie ingredients. Blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth. Set aside.
  3. Combine 2 strips orange peel, 2 cups water, a pinch of salt in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to a boil.
  4. Add the rice and return to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes.
  5. While the rice is cooking, slowly add the smoothie. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring, until the liquid is mostly absorbed, about 15-20 minutes.
  6. Remove the peel and stir in zest. Serve immediately with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

If you want to help me win the competition, you can vote up my recipe and get me in the top 5. Let me know if you voted in the comment section so I can personally thank you. Thank you!

Vote For Little Green Habits!

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and/or share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #littlegreenhabits.

Love and greens, 

Keren x

Vegan Spring Onion Buns

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spring onion bun

One of my favourite Chinese breads is the Spring Onion bun. It’s slightly sweet, tender and savoury all at the same time. If you’ve had any oriental (i.e. Chinese or Japanese) bread, you’ll find that they are sweeter and more delicate and tender in texture than your normal bread. They taste like a soft hamburger bun or brioche.

Unfortunately most of these breads are made with eggs or butter so I can’t have them.

And since I don’t want to deprive myself of these comfort foods,  I made my own vegan-friendly version of spring onion buns :)

I use the Cuisine Companion to make them which makes it feels almost like I’m cheating because the machine does all the kneading for me, but, if you want to go manual, it can certainly be done quite easily too.

The first step is to proof the yeast (i.e. ‘waking it up’ in warm sugary water) to make sure that the yeast is still active. It usually takes about 5-8 minutes. After this the process is quite simple – just add the yeast mixture to the dry mixture and knead until it’s elastic and no longer sticky. It would take about 15 minutes by hand or 3 minutes if you use a mixer with dough attachment.

Then you need to let the dough sit in a warm spot until it doubles in size.

Then the fun begins…. You cut the dough into 4 sections, use a rolling pin (or your hands) to flatten them to 1 cm thickness and spread the sliced onion all over the surface of the dough, make a log roll and cut them up in equal portions. Finally into the oven they go while you wait impatiently for them to cook…

 

Spring Onion Buns
Recipe Type: Snack
Cuisine: Vegan
Author: Keren
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8
Easy savoury and sweet bun for morning or afternoon snack
Ingredients
  • 4 cup bread flour (white or wholemeal)
  • 1 packet (5g) of Instant yeast
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp egg replacer mixed in 4 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp non-dairy butter or Nuttelex
  • 1/2 cup of spring onion, sliced thinly
  • 1/4 cup of non-dairy milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line pan with baking paper.
  2. Mix sugar and water in a bowl or in a small pot. Microwave for 30 seconds or heat on the stove until just warm (not hot to touch).
  3. Sift flour and baking powder into the cuisine companion bowl. Add yeast mixture and press Pastry Program 1.
  4. For manual method: Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add yeast mixture. Knead gently until just smooth. Leave in warm temperature covered with kitchen towel until almost double in size, about 30-60 min (depending on your weather condition)
  5. Roll out dough to a rectangle using a lightly floured rolling pin. Brush with Nuttilex.
  6. Sprinkle over onion, leaving a 1cm border on 1 long side. Starting at opposite end, roll up dough.
  7. Cut into 8 even slices. Brush with non-dairy milk.
  8. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Stand in pan for 5 minutes. Serve warm.
  9. These breads are good for freezing too. Just pop in the microwave for 30-40 second to heat up when you’re hungry.

vegan spring onion bun

Did you make this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and/or share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #littlegreenhabits.

Love and greens, 

Keren

How To Make Kale Chips

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Sitting on my top list of healthy treats is this crunchy, salty and moorish snack – Kale chips. Kale chips are so big right now, but man, they’re so expensive to buy. It can cost anywhere from $5-$10 a packet and yet, they are so easy to make…once you get the hang of it.

Kale chips (3 of 4)

It never ceases to amaze me how many different variety of vegetables are out there. Even though I make a conscious effort to always try new vegetables, I always find stuff I never tried before (not knowingly anyway).

First of all, in case you’ve been living under a rock in the past few years and never tasted Kale at all, what is Kale?

Kale chips (1 of 1)-2

 

Kale is a type of leafy green vegetable (also comes with purple leaves)

  • It’s a superfood
  • It has more iron than beef and more calcium than milk per calorie
  • It is high in fibre, vitamin K, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and beta carotene
  • It has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties

To environmentalists, Kale is the new ‘beef” as it is highly sustainable and can grow in most climates. If we all eat Kale in place of meat, we would significantly reduce our carbon footprint and global warming caused by meat production for human consumption.

OK, forget about nutrition, environment or animal welfare – let’s talk taste.

Well, when eaten raw, kale can actually tastes quite strong and too earthy to a lot of people. When baked however, it tastes kind of like feathery thin potato chips. It is super crunchy and can be quite addictive if I may say so myself. It’s almost tastes too good to be healthy for you.

Although it takes a bit of preparation (rinsing, de-steming, drying), making Kale chips is very rewarding. I’ve suffered through many batches of burned or soggy kale chips over the years but I’ve learned some valuable lessons along the way and I’d love to pass my few tips along to you.

How to make perfect Kale Chips every time

  1. Play with your baking time. It may take less or more time to cook depending on the size of your leaves or the heat distribution of your oven. Every oven is different — mine is a fan force electric oven which tends to be hotter that most gas ovens. One piece of advice – Go low and go slow.

Before baking

Kale chips (1 of 1)

 

After baking… see how they shrink in size?

Kale chips (1 of 4)

  1. Make sure the leaves are dry prior to baking otherwise they might go soggy and;
  2. Try to have all the pieces approximately the same size for even cooking.
  3. That’s it! Let’s do it!

 

 

Kale chips (4 of 4) 

 

How To Make Kale Chips
Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: Glutenfree, sugarfree, soyfree
Author: littlegreenhabits
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2-3
Kale Chips
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch of Kale – washed
  • Olive oil
  • Sea salt and favourite dry herbs (i.e., cayenne, paprika) for seasoning
Instructions
  1. Wash and dry kale thoroughly. Use a salad spinner to drain most of the water and then dab dry using paper or kitchen towel. If the leaves are wet they will go soggy so make sure they’re dry.
  2. Remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces.
  3. Toss in olive oil and seasoning (I used olive oil spray in cans).
  4. Place leaves on a baking tray lined with baking paper or foil.
  5. Bake in 150C oven for 15-20 minutes until crispy but not burnt – slightly brown on the outer edges but still mostly green. Turn the baking tray around halfway through for even cooking.
  6. Munch On!