baking

Sips, Sweets & Snacks

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Though it’s been awhile (thanks to my ultra-busy schedule), I love to bake. There’s nothing more satisfying than taking a fresh tray of perfectly crafted cookies out of the oven, or slicing into that first piece of confetti cake with bright pink frosting. Of all the things I’ve made over the years, I was able to master vegan baking, gluten free cookie sandwiches, infusing recipes with tea, and more. But never did I ever dare try making my own macarons.

There’s a reason those delightfully colourful little french pastries cost so much: they’re expensive to make, time consuming, and so very difficult to execute properly. Everything from humidity to quality of egg whites has to be taken into consideration, and the chances you’ll have to dump everything you’ve done halfway through the recipe and start again are extremely high. My fear of wasting $50 worth of almond flour and collapsing in a pile of tears and sugar always kept me away from trying my hand at making macarons, but when Le Dolci invited me to try out their workshop, I figured it was time to rise to the occasion.

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I’m going to lay it down straight for you guys: making these little mouthfuls of fluffy happiness is even harder than I had originally anticipated. Even with a super talented chef and an entire team of classmates behind me, I spent the whole class nervously taking photos and panicking that I would be the person to destroy our baby pink batch. The dye changes colour in the oven, you have to be able to blow bubbles with the syrup to know it’s ready, and there’s even a special stirring technique called “macaron-ing” that helps to deflate the extra air in the meringue (but you can’t deflate too much!)

Though the humidity was working against us, we ended up with a few trays of totally edible, really really delicious macarons, and though they were a bit lopsided and completely inconsistent size-wise, I think we were all pretty proud when we filled our little boxes with treats to take home. It was an unforgettable experience, and though I’m still a little nervous to try all of the techniques I learned on my own in the RAOP kitchen, I think that sweet afternoon was just the kick I needed to get back to my love of baking!

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Interested in taking a class yourself? You can sign up here!

Sips, Sweets & Snacks

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After months and months of suggesting, planning, and missed connections, Amanda of Blueberry Pancake and I finally started to spend actual real life time together, and it’s been such a fun experience to get to know someone who started as a connection from Instagram.

After an ice breaker dog walk we decided to take things up a notch and do what Amanda does best: healthy baking! She showed up at my door with jars full of coconut sugar and buckwheat flour, and together we got to work on a vegan gluten-free recipe inspired by Chocolate Teddy Grahams!

Loaded with protein and fibre, these cookies were adapted from a recipe Amanda found online by Fork and Beans, and the end result was delicious and mega cute to boot! Feel free to tweak the recipe a bit and add whatever extract you like- we chose peppermint, but orange or almond would also be delicious!

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Recipe adapted from Fork and Beans

Ingredients //

1 c. buckwheat flour
2 Tbsp. dark cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. coconut sugar
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 Tbsp. softened coconut oil
4 Tbsp. organic maple syrup
1/2 cup (or more) almond milk
2 tsp. peppermint extract

Recipe //

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.

In a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients. Cut in the coconut oil until small lumps form in the flour.

Add the maple syrup and 2 Tbsp. of non-dairy milk and mix until a dough forms. If it is too clumpy still add another tablespoon of non-dairy milk.

If the dough is sticky at this point, place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill. Otherwise roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment paper until it’s 1/8″ thick.

Use cookie cutters to make fun shapes and add details like eyes and noses with a toothpick.

Place in the oven and bake for 8 minutes. Allow your cookies to cool before eating them!

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Sips, Sweets & Snacks

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It’s no secret that I’m not exactly a health nut- I mean, if we’re being honest I probably consume more sugar than anyone really ever should on a daily basis! That being said, I try to eat as consciously as I can, and that means balancing my sugar fixes out with green juice and veggies, getting lots of exercise, and making vegan choices whenever I possibly can.

Peppermint patties are one of my all-time favourite treats, but even a junk foodie like me can admit the ingredient list on the pre-packaged version at the store is a little bit unnerving. Over the Christmas holidays I didn’t have too much time to bake, but on Christmas Eve days launched myself into a marathon of sorts, determined to bake a mountain of cookies and a few other special delights to bring to Christmas dinner that night. Though I had no idea what I was doing, I became determined to make the perfect simple vegan peppermint patties, and by some form of Christmas magic, my experiment actually worked!

Ingredients //

3 cups icing sugar
2 tbsp. whipped Earth Balance (softened)
2 tsp. organic peppermint extract
2 tbsp. Silk original soy creamer for coffee
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
2 tbsp. coconut oil

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Directions //

1. Beat 2 cups of icing sugar, butter, peppermint and cream in a bowl until the mixture forms a light, creamy paste. The candy should not be sticky, so once all ingredients are blended together continue adding icing sugar (a cup or more) until the paste thickens into a Play-Doh-like consistency.

2. Roll the peppermint paste into a log, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes to harden slightly. While it’s cooling, start melting your chocolate.

3. Using a double boiler, melt the coconut oil and chocolate chips together. This combination will create a sort of vegan “magic shell” that will harden very quickly once it hits the cold peppermint filling.

4. Take the peppermint log out of the freezer and cut it into disk-like pieces. Dip each piece on the chocolate, and set down on a piece of cold marble or parchment paper. Decorate with sprinkles or whatever else suits your fancy while the chocolate is still wet, then place the patties back in the freezer to cool and harden a second time.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks and enjoy frequently!