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Easy Vegan Pan Haggerty - a delicious, nutritious and cheap supper dish!

March 16, 2023

A simple and frugal yet delicious supper dish made from just two ingredients, potatoes and onions.

This was inspired by my vegan potato boxty recipe, another quick and simple hearty supper dish, and my baked potato soup, a hug in a bowl.

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Pan Haggerty is a dish that I remember my mum cooking for me when I first became vegetarian. She found the recipe in an old Dairy Diary cookbook (mentioned elsewhere in this blog) and I always have the fondest memories of this dish.

There is no greater combination of ingredients than potatoes and onion. It is almost as if they have evolved over time to be cooked together.

This dish is just so simple to make, sliced potatoes, sliced onions, some vegan butter, a little seasoning, and some slow, gentle cooking.

Whilst this sounds quite plain, something quite alchemical happens with this slow cooking. The bottom of the potatoes brown and crisp delightfully and this was the part of the dish that we all argued over.

I would eat (and still do) with either ketchup or baked beans (!!) but you could honestly serve this is a side dish or with some green beans and carrots.

Ingredients

potatoes, use a waxy potato that will hold its shape
onion
vegan butter and olive oil

(This is ONLY a list of ingredients for the recipe; please see recipe card below for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

Instructions

Thinly slice potatoes and onion and layer in a frying pan, dotting vegan butter and seasoning between the layers

Cover with a lid or tinfoil and cook over very low heat until a knife tip goes right through all the layers easily.

If wanted, sprinkle with a little vegan grated cheese and leave to melt before serving.

Hint: leave the vegan Pan Haggerty to set up for about 5 minutes after cooking, then you should be able to cut it into wedges.

TIP: Make sure to use a waxy potato. If the potatoes are too floury, they will break up during cooking. They will still taste good but you might not be able to cut into slices.

Equipment

I love to use my Ninja Foodi Zerostick frying pan for pancakes, you don't need to use too much oil, and you just wipe the pan out after use.

Storage

This is best eaten on the same day, although it reheats OK the next day. Not recommended for freezing.

Love potato? Try these:

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5 from 1 vote

Pan Haggerty

YIELD 4 people

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

A traditional recipe, frugal and delicious

Equipment

1 deep skillet or frying pan

Ingredients

1 kg Potatoes peeled (optional) and thinly sliced
1 Onion medium, peeled and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon Olive oil
1 tablespoon Butter vegan
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Whilst you peel and slice the potatoes, gently sauté the onion in the olive oil until soft. Remove from the pan.
Place a layer of the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the pan, dot with a little butter, season a little and add a quarter of the onion
Repeat this process until you have used up all your potato slices and onion, finishing with a final dot of butter and a little salt and pepper
Cover with a lid or piece of foil and cook over low heat until the potatoes are tender all the way through.
Sprinkle with a little grated vegan cheeze once cooked, if you like, and cover with the lid again to melt the cheese.
Leave to stand for about 5 minutes to set up, then serve in slices.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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Delicious Vegan Pasta, Cannellini Bean and Chick Pea Soup

March 16, 2023

A deliciously nutritious and low-fat all-in-one soup - perfect for mid-week supper or a dinner party

You will fall in love at first bite with this hearty, healthy, filling soup, full of flavour and texture.

For other hearty, bolstering yet healthy vegan soups, you might also like:

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Regular readers of my newsletter might have read recently that I was diagnosed with high-cholesterol and am pre-diabetic. For those who know me, this is probably not a surprise because I have the world's sweetest tooth and I do enjoy junk food.

However, I am trying to make some radical and permanent changes, not just because my blood work came back with some rather unfortunate results, but because I'm starting to feel heavy and sluggish, tired and grumpy.

For me, one of the quickest and most satisfying ways to get healthy is to make a variety of different soups, and you will find lots on this website.

I particularly like hearty soups with lots of chopped veggies and beans, and this one is a particular favourite. Filling without being heavy and there's no need for additional bread on the side (but I won't tell), this vegan soup is packed full of nutrients and will keep you full for ages.

Ingredients

vegetables: onion, garlic, celery, carrot
pulses: chick peas and cannellini beans
pasta - I like to use large shells, but you could use normal size ones too

Instructions

Onions, celery and carrots in a saucepan

Sauté the onion, garlic, celery and carrot in a little olive oil until starting to go tender

Adding chickpeas and cannellii beans to soup

Add the chickpeas, beans and passata

Now add the stock and the rosemary. Cover and simmer gently for at least 30 minutes

Add the pasta, mix gently and simmer until the pasta is just tender.

Substitutions

Pulses - use whatever canned beans you have in the house, if you don't have cannellini or chick peas
Veggies - you could add some chopped courgette/zucchini to this soup

Storage

You can store this soup, cooled, in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

You can freeze this soup once cool in a freezer-proof container for up to 3 months.

Top tip

I think this soup tastes better once it has cooled and been reheated. If you plan on prepping ahead, I recommend that you make the soup up to pasta stage but don't add the pasta. Add this when you reheat the next day. Pasta tends to absorb a lot of liquid even when cool, and could go a bit mushy!

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

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Cannellini Bean, Chick Pea and Pasta Soup

YIELD 4 people

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

A delicious, hearty soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 Onion medium, peeled and finely diced
3 Garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 Celery sticks, finely diced
1 Carrot peeled and finely diced
1 Rosemary sprig
400 g Cannellini Beans can, drained
400 g Chick peas can, drained
250 ml Passata
800 ml Vegetable stock
200 g Conchiglioni large pasta shells
Seasoning to taste

Instructions

Gently sauté the onion, garlic, celery and carrot in the olive oil until soft
Add the drained beans and chick peas, and passata. Gently mix and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the rosemary and stock. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a very gentle simmer. Cover and let simmer for half an hour.
Add the pasta and turn the soup up to a gentle boil. Cook until the pasta is tender.
Taste for seasoning.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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Easy and Quick Low-Fat Vegan Chilli

March 9, 2023

This speedy, low-fat vegan chilli can be thrown together and ready to eat in less than half an hour (although better reheated, as with all chilli), and is easily adaptable for whatever spare veg you have in your fridge!

Whilst I tend to make this when I feel like I need something virtuous but still delicious, you can make this any time and make it more luxurious by topping it with some shredded vegan cheese and diced avocado.

Inspired by my red chilli recipe, I love to serve this with some boiled rice and of course, tortilla chips.

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And, because this has been an impecunious week (week? Try year), I am using everything up in the cupboard and spending as little money as possible on groceries. Whilst I plan strategically with grocery shopping, I do buy several items that I refer to as wildcards. What this could be is a bag of spinach or a reduced plant-based meat that I don’t usually use.

These items lay down for me a gauntlet that entails me using them up before they go bad. For this recipe, it was reduced celery and a dented can of beans. Not very exciting!

Anyway, this is a perfect dish for meat-missing vegetarians or, if, like me, you never enjoyed minced beef because of some childhood trauma, the small shiny beans are very meaty in texture and absorb all the flavour of the spices.

And another thing. A good chilli often takes several hours slow cooking to all and for the meat to meld with the other ingredients otherwise it can taste a little wishy-washy and lacking depth of flavour. This meatless chilli is as flavourful as any three day old chilli after just 30 minutes simmering, giving it a place in my Quickest Suppers of All Time Hall of Fame.

Ingredients

onions, garlic, celery, chilli, peppers
mushrooms
tinned beans (I use borlotti)
tinned tomatoes and puree
chilli powder

Instructions

Soften the onion, garlic, celery, pepper and chilli in a teaspoon of olive oil

Add the mushrooms, chili powder and beans

Now add the tomatoes and puree

Simmer until cooked, then add some chopped coriander and taste for seasoning

Hint: whilst this vegan chili will be ready to eat within half an hour, it is much better reheated the next day!

Substitutions

Beans - substitute with canned beans of your choice or chick peas, or omit altogether
Veg - you could add diced courgette/zucchini or aubergine/eggplant

Variations

Spicy - add chili pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish, or banana peppers
Deluxe - add guacamole, chopped onion or grated vegan cheese to serve

See my spicy red chilli recipe too!

Storage

Store in the fridge, once cool, and it will last a good 3-4 days.

You can freeze this chili for later on. Place the cooled chili into a Ziplock bag or freezer-proof container and freeze for up to 3 months.

Top tip

Make a double batch of this recipe and freeze half for later on!

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

📋 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Easy Vegan Low Fat Chilli

YIELD 4 people

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 29 minutes

Total Time: 34 minutes

A quick, nutritious and easy supper dish!

Ingredients

1 teaspoon Olive Oil
1 Onion medium, peeled, and finely chopped (or two small onions)
3 Garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 Celery stick, finely chopped
1 Pepper colour of your choice, diced
2 Field Mushrooms cleaned and chopped
1 Chilli fresh, finely chopped
2 teaspoon Chilli powder or to taste
2 teaspoon Salt or to taste
400 g Tomatoes canned
400 g Pinto beans canned (use water if in water, if not, drain)
1 tablespoon Tomato Puree

Instructions

Gently heat the olive oil in a large saucepan.
Add the chopped onion, garlic, pepper, chilli and celery and sauté until tender. Make sure to keep stirring periodically. Because there's less oil, it might be stick. If it does, add a splash of water.
Now add the beans, chilli powder and chopped mushroom and cook for another 5 minutes.
Now add the tomatoes and puree, mix well and simmer very gently for another 15 minutes or so.
Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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Easy Vegan Cheats Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding

March 7, 2023

I love bread pudding, and I recently noticed a trend for hot cross bun bread pudding. And of course, I had to veganise it! This is my cheats vegan hot cross bun pudding!

You can buy hot cross buns all year round now, and they are usually vegan and quite cheap as well. This is a great recipe for if you have a couple of buns left over. Freeze them until you have a few and then make this delicious bread pudding!

This makes a perfect Easter vegan treat for unexpected guests as it takes no time to throw together.

This was inspired by leftover homemade hot cross buns, and is a great dessert to serve alongside my Easter biscuits.

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Let's address the elephant in the room. This will never win prizes for looking good, but comfort food is not designed to look nice. Comfort food is there to give you a big hug, and make you scrunch your shoulders up in pleasure and waggle your feet as you eat.

My vegan hot cross bread pudding is the ultimate comfort food, soft, doughy, creamy and scented with vanilla and orange.

What makes this so special is just how easy it is to make. Instead of making a custard, you simply use vanilla ice cream (plant-based). Because ice cream is basically a custard (although an eggless custard in this instance).

To add a little extra flavour, I spread marmalade inside the hot cross buns and some orange zest to the final dish.

You could serve this with some plant-based single cream or more ice cream, if you like, but I enjoy it warm, just as it is.

Ingredients

hot cross buns, stale or fresh
vegan vanilla ice cream
marmalade
vegan butter
orange zest

Instructions

Slice the hot cross buns in half, then spread them with vegan butter and marmalade

Place them in a lightly oiled baking dish, and grate over a little orange zest

Dot with the vanilla ice cream and leave to melt for about 10 minutes

Bake for 25 minutes or until bubbling and the "custard" is turning golden

Hint: you can leave the pudding overnight in the fridge before baking, it will just absorb more of the ice cream and be gooier and even more delicious!

Substitutions

Hot Cross Buns - instead of fruited buns, you could use chocolate chips
Hot Cross Buns - use gluten free buns instead of regular to make this gluten free

Variations

Chocolate - try spreading the hot cross buns with chocolate spread instead of marmalade
Deluxe - add chocolate chips to the custard before baking

Storage

Place the pre-baked bread pudding in the fridge overnight, cling-filmed, before baking the next day.
You can reheat the pudding the next day, either in a low oven, or just in bowls in the microwave.
I wouldn't recommend freezing my bread pudding.

Looking for other Easter recipes like this? Try these:

📋 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Vegan Cheats Hot Cross Bun Bread Pudding

YIELD 6 people

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

time for ice cream to melt: 10 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

A baked pudding that takes about 5! minutes to prep

Equipment

1 Baking Dish lightly buttered, that will snuggly hold the hot cross buns

Ingredients

6 Hot Cross Buns stale or fresh, use shop-bought, or make your own, here's my recipe
2 tablespoon Marmalade
1 tablespoon Butter vegan
500ml Ice Cream vanilla, plant-based
Orange zest only

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180c
Slice the hot cross buns in half and spread each side with butter and marmalade. Sandwich them back together.
Fit them snuggly into your baking dish, it doesn't matter if you have to squish them a little, in fact it's preferable.
Sprinkle over orange zest.
Cover the hot cross buns with the ice cream and leave that to melt into the hot cross buns for 10 minutes or so.

Make-ahead option

At this point, you can cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight if you want to make ahead.

Bake

Once the ice cream has melted, place the pudding in the oven, and bake for about 10-15 minute, or until the edges of the buns are starting to turn toasty.
Remove from the oven and leave to stand for about 5 minutes, before serving.

Notes

Note that the hot cross buns are not included in the recipe calorie details.

I suggest that you add the calorific content for one hot cross bun per person to the above recipe.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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Vegan Stuffed Pasta Shells with Spinach, Cream Cheese and Tomato Sauce - a simple delicious supper dish!

February 28, 2023

A simple and delicious vegan supper dish that can be prepped ahead of time and will wow your guests. My stuffed pasta shells are made with a tasty filling of spinach and vegan cream cheese, swathed in a tomato sauce and baked

Pin my easy vegan stuffed pasta shells to make later!

I was first inspired to cook this after receiving a newsletter from OG foodie blogger, extraordinaire, David Leibowitz. David has written about life in Paris and desserts since the LATE 90s, so can truly be considered one of the first food bloggers. If you are a Francophile, I highly recommend subbing to his site.

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This recipe was also inspired by my classic vegan lasagna recipe and pairs well with my air fryer carrots (but is just as good with a simple green salad and some French bread).

Back to the question in question though, his newsletter drew me in (or rather, drool me in) with his stuffed pasta shells, a riff on that American pseudo-Italian (but no less delicious for it) dish, manicotti.

I was first introduced to manicotti via my American family, twenty years ago. Sheets of lasagne, boiled until malleable, then stuffed with ricotta and spinach, rolled up and baked in a tomato sauce. It was one of my favourite dishes, and I added my own twist to it then by adding some toasted pine toasts and sautéed spring onion.

Any self-respecting Italian has never heard of Manicotti, as it is not really Italian, but a quirky American hybrid of a dish, very similar to cannelloni.

My version is a little more sophisticated, taking a leaf out of David's book, and making a rich, creamy filling that is stuffed into pasta shells. And they look beautiful.

This is such an easy dish to prepare. I use my vegan pizza sauce, although for this recipe you only need half of that recipe. I make a full batch and freeze the other half for something else, or use it on spaghetti later in the week.

The cream cheese filling is just divine. Philadelphia's plant-based cream cheese is not quite ricotta but, with a little bit of nutritional yeast, takes on a delicious savoury flavour. Use your own favourite brand. Some chopped cooked spinach, zest of lemon, and it's the filling dreams are made of!

Ingredients

large dried pasta shells. Note, I buy mine from Amazon here as my local smaller supermarkets don't stock them
tomato sauce
fresh spinach
vegan cream cheese
lemon zest
toasted pine nuts (optional, I didn't use them this time as they are so expensive)

Instructions

Cook the fresh spinach over low heat until completely wilted. Chop finely.

Mix the spinach with the cream cheese, nutritional yeast, lemon zest and seasoning

Stuff the parboiled pasta shells with the spinach sauce

Layer in the baking dish with the tomato sauce and bake for 30 minutes

Substitutions

Pasta - instead of using pasta shells, use large tubes instead, and pipe the filling in using a large piping bag and nozzle.
Gluten-Free - use gluten free pasta if you can find it in a similar shape to make this dish gluten free
Spinach - use chopped fresh herbs (as David Leibovitz does) instead of spinach. He suggests using a mixture of basil, parsley and chives.

Storage

You can prep the entire dish the day before, covering with foil and refrigerating before baking when you need it. It also tastes great at room temperature.

You can also stuff the shells and freeze them individually, thawing them out when you need a quick supper dish!

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

📋 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Vegan Stuffed Pasta Shells in a tomato sauce

YIELD 4 people

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

A simple supper dish

Equipment

1 Baking Dish I used this 8" dia enamel pie dish

Ingredients

1 ½ recipe tomato sauce (freeze the other half). I use my pizza sauce, here
300 g Pasta Shells large, I use Conchiglioni
300 g Cream cheese vegan
200 g Spinach fresh, rinsed
1 tablespoon Nutritional yeast
Lemon zest
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180c.
Make your tomato sauce first.
Put half of the sauce of the bottom of the baking dish.
Whilst your sauce is cooking, place the spinach in a large saucepan over medium heat with a tablespoon of water and cook for a couple of minutes or until wilted.
Drain the spinach and chop it finely.
Place a pan of water on to boil and cook the pasta shells for 5 minutes or until just starting to soften. Drain.
In a small bowl, mix together the chopped spinach, cream cheese, nutritional yeast, lemon zest and adjust for seasoning.
Using a teaspoon, stuff the shells with the cream cheese spinach mixture until you have used up all the mixture.
Layer them up in the dish and cover with the remaining sauce.
Sprinkle with a little vegan grated cheese (optional).
Bake for half an hour.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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Quick and Easy Vegan Carrot Cake

February 20, 2023

Carrot Cake was the first proper cake I ever baked in home economics, and I found it really easy. My version is even easier and quicker - simply blend and stir, plus it's eggless and dairy-free!

Pin my easy vegan Carrot Cake recipe to make later!

This was inspired by my popular vegan banana bread recipe, and my zucchini chocolate chip bread! I love to ice this cake with just a simple piping of my vegan cream cheese icing.

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Once upon a time, a long while ago when it was still considered recherché to put vegetables into cakes, carrot cake was thought to be the cure-all, healthy version of cake.

It has a vegetable in it, so that must cancel out all of that fat and sugar, right?

As a vegetable-queasy vegetarian child, my mum thought that carrot cake was the answer to her prayers. It was one way that I actually enjoyed eating carrots and she thought that perhaps it might help my increasingly bad eyesight too. Of course, the payoff was that I had to grate the carrots.

Suffice to say, in spite of the enforced child labour, I wasn't complaining, I even went to so far as to bake a carrot cake for my first Home Economics class end of term exam, such was my love for this cake.

Asides from making people feel less guilty about consuming cake, now that the shock value of eating of a cake with carrots in it has long since passed, what are we left with?

Simply a moist, spicy cake that lasts exceptionally well in the cake tin and is a snap to make (aside from the utter tedium of grating the carrots, that is). If there could be one way to improve this rich, tender crumbed cake, what would it be? Of course, a Carrot Cake that is lower in fat. Enter the Healthy-ish Carrot Cake.

I say healthy-ish because you control certain elements of it. You can add fresh pineapple for a tropical hit. You can use a non-fat icing by simply combining icing (confectioners) sugar with some lemon juice until a thick, glossy, spreadable icing is achieved. Sure, you’re still eating sugar but at least you’re in control. Plus, there isn’t much sugar in the cake and what sugar there is unrefined, which gives a richer flavour.

The butter element is replaced with vegetable oil and for additional natural sweetness we have golden sultanas. And of course, the carrots themselves are naturally sweet and generously exude this sweetness during the baking process.

I often find that shop bought carrot cake is just too sweet, and has too much icing, mine is just a single layer cake, piped with a generous layer of icing and some rather rough and ready marzipan carrots that I made.

For added interest, you could also add some desiccated coconut or chopped walnuts or pumpkin seeds, but I think that too many accessories detract from the natural beauty of the carrot cake.

I couldn’t entirely forgo the butter element though and slathered mine with a rich vegan cream cheese icing. After all, it’s the icing that makes a carrot cake as far as I’m concerned. However, this cake is naturally moist enough that you can omit the icing entirely.

As an alternative, I have mixed cream cheese with icing sugar and a spritz of lime juice and this works just as well, although it doesn’t set as firmly. Either way, I can eat the icing straight from the bowl and to hell with the cake!

Ingredients

carrots, grated
plain flour and spices
vegetable oil
vegan yogurt
sultanas
brown sugar

Instructions

Wet ingredients ready to be blended for Carrot Cake

Place vegetable oil, yogurt, vanilla extract and sugar into a blender (I use a smoothie maker) and whizz up to a smooth paste. Whisk the dry ingredients (excluding the sugar, carrots and sultanas) in a large mixing bowl.

Mixing all the ingredients together for carrot cake

Stir this into the flour mixture, along with the grated carrot, walnuts and sultanas until there are no more dry patches of flour

Pour into lined 7" cake tin and bake for about 40 mins at 180c.

The baked cake, cooled and ready to be iced!

Hint: to make this even quicker, I buy pre-grated carrot, it usually comes in bags of 200g for about 50p (2023 Tesco prices), which seems like great value to me.

Substitutions

Gluten-Free - I have made this recipe using self-raising gluten-free flour and it works perfectly!

Storage

Store the baked and iced cake in an airtight cake tin at room temperature if cold, in the fridge if warm (to avoid the icing going soft).

You can freeze the cooled, un-iced vegan carrot cake by wrapping in a couple of tight layers of clingfilm, then tinfoil for about 3 months. To thaw, remove all the wrappings, and place on a plate, leaving to thaw at room temperature.

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

📋 Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Quick and Easy Vegan Carrot Cake

YIELD 6 slices

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

A quick and easy version of the classic cake

Equipment

1 7" cake tin, lined, square or round

Ingredients

1¼ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup yogurt vegan, plain
¾ cup brown sugar
200 g carrots grated weight
½ cup sultanas
¼ cup Walnuts chopped, optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180c.
Line or grease and flour a 7" cake tin (square or round).
Sieve together the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder.
In a blender, whizz together the vegetable oil, yogurt and sugar until smooth. Stir this into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Fold in the grated carrot and sultanas and walnuts (if using) until thoroughly amalgamated.
Pour into your prepared baking tin and bake for 40-50 minutes or a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool for five minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
Leave to cool completely before icing.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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Easy and Quick Vegan Cream Cheese Icing

February 20, 2023

A quick and easy recipe for vegan cream cheese icing - essential for any self-respecting Carrot Cake!

Cream cheese icing is obligatory for most carrot cakes, and lots of cupcakes too. It has a unique tang that makes it slightly less sweet than regular buttercream and works really well with fruit-based cakes, as well as chocolate.

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This version uses Philadelphia's plant-based almond and oat cream cheese which I find works really well. It doesn't quite have that unctuous creaminess of dairy Philadelphia, but once you've whipped it up with some vegan butter, icing sugar and added some lemon zest, it's pretty near perfect!

This recipe makes enough to cover the top of 2 x 7, 8 or 9" cakes. It will also give you enough to top and fill a 7, 8 or 9" cake. If you need to completely ice the cake, sides, top, middle, I recommend doubling this batch.

Ingredients

vegan cream cheese
vegan butter
icing sugar
lemon zest
vanilla extract

Instructions

Butter and cream cheese in a mixing bowl

Beat together the cream cheese, soft butter, lemon zest and vanilla extract until creamy

Sift the icing sugar into the butter/cream cheese mixture and gently fold in to avoid clouds of icing sugar

Now using an electric whisk, beat the icing until it is thick and creamy and holds peaks. Add more icing sugar if you need a thicker, pipeable icing.

Place in a piping bag and pipe onto your cake or just use a spatula.

Hint: if you don't have a hands free mixer, I find it is better to mix the icing sugar in by hand before going in with the electric beaters. It really is tedious having to wipe down surfaces covered in a fine icing sugar coating because the electric beaters just send it everywhere!

Storage

This vegan cream cheese icing will be good for 2-3 days in the fridge before you need to use it.

You can freeze leftover vegan cream cheese icing by placing it in an airtight container and popping in the freezer. Defrost in the fridge before using.

Top tip

If you prefer an icing you can just slather onto your cake, you can use less icing sugar. The stiffer you need the icing to be, the more icing sugar you will need to add until you reach your desired consistency.

I recommend a cup and half of icing sugar at a minimum to avoid an icing that's sloppy and will just run down the cake.

Pairing

These are my favorite dishes to serve with [this recipe]:

📋 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Vegan Cream Cheese Icing

YIELD 2 cakes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

This makes enough to frost the top of 2 x 9" cakes, or the entirety of a whole 9" cake

Equipment

1 Electric Hand Whisk

Ingredients

150 g Cream Cheese vegan, I use Philadelphia Plant-Based
90 g Butter vegan, softened
2.5 cups Icing Sugar sifted
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Lemon zest only

Instructions

Beat the cream cheeze and butter until smooth.
Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
Sieve the icing sugar into the mixture and beat until smooth and lump free.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

Tried it and Loved it?Mention @sweeterthanoats or tag sweeterthanoats!

Light and Fluffy Vegan Hot Cross Buns

February 16, 2023

I love Easter and I love hot cross buns. The beginning of Spring and the warm weather, daffodils and easter eggs. I know that many hot cross buns are accidentally vegan anyway nowadays, but if you fancy making your own, I have just the recipe!

PIN my easy vegan Hot Cross Buns to make later

Of course, Hot Cross buns seem to fill the shelves around February and in many different flavours. My favourite is the classic fruited bun, but stores like M&S bring out all sorts of wacky flavours like marmite or cheese, and some that are really quite nice, like Bramley apple or marmalade.

This was inspired by my easy vegan Chelsea Buns recipe , which are a different type of fruited bun, but still really good and my spiced Easter shortbread. Got leftover hot cross buns? Try my delicious cheats vegan hot cross bun bread pudding!

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"Half for you and half for me, between us two shall goodwill be"

I remember how exciting it was when the Easter goodies started to appear in the stores. Row upon row of brightly coloured Easter eggs, saffron-coloured edible chicks or bunnies, a surfeit of marzipan vegetables and, of course, the spiced hot cross bun.

Nowadays you can buy them all year round but there is something so intangibly Easter about biting into those soft, highly spiced and fruited buns, lightly toasted and spread thickly with butter.

I have wasted several pounds of ingredients trying to produce a decent vegan hot cross bun. One that retains that soft, bready texture of a traditional bun, with no compromise. I have made kneadable doughs that didn't rise and buns that resembled cricket balls, until I had a "Eureka!" moment (I have a few of these).

I had used an online recipe for a Christmas panettone and remembered how it had risen sky-high and produced a delightful bready texture that was redolent of a true panettone. Why could this dough not work as a hot cross bun?

So, this vegan hot cross bun dough, similar to a butter-enriched brioche, gives us a light, fluffy texture, is simple to make, and you might just find yourself making these vegan buns all year round!

Ingredients

plain flour or strong bread flour
yeast, I use instant
vegan butter, very soft. You might want to soften it in the microwave or put it near a radiator. You don't want melted, but you do want very soft.
raisins and chopped peel. I cover them with a little warm water to help soften them. This helps them get incorporated into the dough much easier. Hard raisins tend to pop out of dough during kneading, and it's really annoying!
spices: allspice and cinnamon
yogurt. This enriches the dough to give a very tender bun

Instructions

Mix the yogurt mixture and activated yeast into the flour, spices and sugar

Mix, then start to beat in the softened butter

Once you have a soft dough that's not too sticky, leave it to rest for 10 minutes or so.

Now knead in the raisins and peel, until you have a soft and smooth ball of dough.

Leave to rise until doubled.

Weigh the dough and divide into 12 balls

Place in your lightly oiled tin, just touching and leave to rise for another half an hour.

Make the dough for the cross if using and place in a piping bag

and pipe across the top of the buns just before you put them in the oven.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown, then brush with some melted apricot jam.

Hint: if you don't want to make the cross on the top of the bun using dough, you can just simply slice a cross into the buns after you have rolled them out and placed them for the second on the baking tin. Make the cross quite deep (although not all the way through). Or you can omit this step altogether.

Substitutions

flour - you could use a mixture of white and wholemeal flour if you prefer

Variations

Fruit- try adding some diced apple instead of dried fruit or try dried cranberries for a tangy fruit
Kid friendly - replace the dried fruit with chocolate chips

Storage

The buns are best eaten on the day you bake them, but if you store them in an airtight container, they will still be great toasted for up to 5 days.

These vegan hot cross buns freeze beautifully. Once cool, place in a Ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Remove them as you need, defrost at room temperature and then toast!

Top tip

Leftover hot cross buns? Try making a bread pudding using leftovers!

Looking for other vegan Easter or baking recipes like this? Try these:

📋 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Vegan Hot Cross Buns

YIELD 9 buns

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

rising time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes

How to make the Easter classic, veganised, all year round!

Equipment

1 Baking tin 9" lightly oiled

Ingredients

3 cups Plain flour or use strong bread flour
½ cup sugar
3 teaspoon Instant yeast
2 teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 Lemon zest only
1 cup raisins
¼ cup peel chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
½ cup Soy milk warm
1¼ cups Plain yogurt vegan
110 grams Butter vegan, very soft

For the cross (optional)

⅓ cup White flour
5 tablespoon Water

Glaze

3 tablespoon Apricot Jam warmed, to glaze

Instructions

Place the raisins and mixed peel in a small bowl, and cover with a little water. This will soften them and help them to be incorporated easily into the dough when kneading.
Add the yeast to the warm milk and leave to activate for about 5-10 minutes
In a jug, whisk together the yogurt, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, lemon zest, sugar, spices and salt with the activated yeast.
Pour in the whisked yogurt mixture, and, using wooden spoon or electric mixer, start beating in the softened vegan butter, dropping it in by tablespoonsful.
Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
Drain the raisins and mixed peel, then knead into the dough until fully mixed, continuing to knead for 5 minutes or until the dough is soft and smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if the dough still seems sticky.
Place mixture in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
Knock down the dough and divide into 9 equal sized balls. I weigh the total dough first, then divide by 9 to work out how much they each should weigh.
Place the balls, very closely together on your lightly oiled baking tray, cover and leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 220c.
If you want to make the cross, whisk together the 75g flour with the water until you get a thick, smooth paste. Pour into a piping bag and pipe a cross on each bun.
Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown.
Once baked, remove from the oven and brush immediately with the warm apricot jam to glaze, return to the oven for 2 more minutes to set the glaze.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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Vegan Tomato, Cream Cheese and Onion Marmalade Tart - Perfect for Valentine's Day

February 14, 2023

A simple and quick savoury vegan tart you can rustle up for a family supper or a romantic meal for two. Use your favourite brand of plant-based soft cheese

I originally made this as a simple vegan Valentine's day meal idea, in lieu of making a romantic pudding. As usual, my desire for something savoury got in the way of, so I made a distinctly unpudding-like main course: cherry tomato, soft cheese and onion marmalade tart.

This was inspired by my vegan quiche, and pairs well with my delicious vegan Caprese salad!

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As I recall, the original recipe, entitled Love Apple Tart (literally cannot remember where this original recipe was from), had a slightly more Mediterranean feel than my taste buds were dictating, using anchovies, yuk, but I wanted something more bolstering. I wanted onions and I wanted tangy cheese!

My version has a sticky onion layer (red onions cooked down until they become like a marmalade, almost), a tangy vegan cream cheese layer, topped with on the vine tomatoes, cooked until they are roasted and start to pop.

Now, all plant-based cheeses are hit and miss. Some taste great but having that "stick to you teeth" thing, others have a nice texture but no flavour! Vegan cream cheese usually has a pretty good texture but lacks flavour so I add a little bit of nutritional yeast, which seems to bring out a natural cheesy flavour where ever you add it!

And whilst I'm posting this recipe as a vegan Valentine's meal idea, it really could be served all year round, and makes a perfect family supper too!

Ingredients

vegan cream cheese. Use your favourite brand, I like Violife.
Tomatoes on the vine. You could add sliced tomatoes instead, but I like how dramatic these look on top of the tart!
onions. I used red because that was what I had, use whatever onions you have, you could also use leeks!
pastry. I use my shortcrust pastry recipe here, but in this instance I used 150g of plain white flour and 110g of wholemeal flour, to give a nutty flavour to the pastry. This is entirely optional.

Instructions

Blind bake your pastry case for 20 minutes whilst you prep the other ingredients.

Cook down the onions and garlic with the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar.

Mix together the cream cheese, nutritional yeast and thyme

Spread the onion mixture over the tart case, then top with the cream cheese

Place the tomatoes on top, still on the vine and bake

Once cooled for about 10 minutes, unmold the tart and serve!

Hint: this tart tastes even better cold, so you could make it the day before, refrigerate overnight and then bring up to room temperature before serving the next day!

Substitutions

red onions - you could use white onions or even chopped leeks instead
Pastry - use gluten free flour in the pastry to make this tart gluten free
Thyme - use some fresh basil instead of thyme, or even fresh mint or parsley!

Variations

Spicy - add chili pepper flakes to the cream cheese to make this a bit spicy, or stir in some hot sauce!
Mediterranean - try stirring in a little tapenade into the cream cheese, or adding some chopped black olives

Equipment

I used an 8" deep pie tin for this recipe, similar to this one but you could use a quiche dish instead.

Storage

Once baked and cooled, this tart will last for up to 3 days, covered and refrigerated.

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

📋 Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Tomato, Cream Cheese and Onion Marmalade Tart

YIELD 4 people

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

A simple, rustic dish

Equipment

1 8" Pie Tin

Ingredients

Shortcrust Pastry use my recipe here
300 g Tomatoes choose flavourful ones on the vine
400 g Cream cheese vegan, can be flavoured
2 teaspoon Nutritional Yeast
¼ teaspoon Fresh Thyme
4 Large onions peeled and sliced thinly
2 Garlic cloves, peeled, finely chopped
20 g Butter vegan
Salt and pepper
teaspoon Brown sugar
½ teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon Olive oil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180c.
Line your pastry tin with the pastry and blind bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a frying pan and add the onions, some salt, lots of pepper, balsamic vinegar and the sugar. Let them sweat down over a low heat for half an hour or until collapsed, golden and a bit like marmalade. Leave to cool.
Whilst the onions are sweating down, place the cream cheese, thyme, nutritional yeast and ¼ teaspoon salt in a bowl and mix until you have a spreadable mixture. Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
Spread the cooled onion mixture over the pastry case then gently spread the cream cheese over the top of this then top with the tomatoes, still on the vine. Grind over some more black pepper, a pinch of salt and a little olive oil.
Turn the oven up to 200c.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the tomatoes start to pop but not collapse.
Leave to cool for about 10 minutes before unmoulding.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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Easy, Quick and Delicious Vegan "Tuna" Mayo Salad - Tastes Better than Tuna!

February 9, 2023

Bought vegan "tuna" is a pretty miserable experience but if you find that you're at a loss for delicious vegan sandwich fillings, try my delicious vegan chickpea-tuna mayo salad!

A delightfully textured sandwich filling, Chickpea (not Tuna) Mayo salad tastes unusually reminiscent of its fishy counterpart but without the cruelty.

Inspired by my super fast hot and sour soup and my easy chilli crisp noodles, I love to create dishes that can be prepped in less than 10 minutes!

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I like to make a double batch of this on the weekend. This is the kind of simple sandwich filling that encourages numerous repeat visits to the fridge on a Saturday afternoon. Two slices of soft bread, a leaf of lettuce, and a sneaky pickle straight out of the jar with no plates required make this a perfect lunch while watching re-runs of Flipper.

I also like to serve this as a healthy vegan game-night dip alongside by cauliflower buffalo wings. I simply add a little more mayo it, to make it a more scoopable, and serve it with saltines or your favourite chips!

Aside from chopping a bit of onion and celery, this really has only two steps: mashing the chickpeas (which seems to take longer than it should) and stirring in the other ingredients. My super fast, super easy vegan tuna mayo is a dream to make!

Ingredients

tinned chick peas, drained
finely chopped celery and onion
nutritional yeast
mustard
vegan mayo

Instructions

Adding onions and celery to mashed chickpeas

Using a fork, mash up the chickpeas, then mix in the celery and onion

Stir in the other ingredients and taste for seasoning and that's it!

Hint: If I have it, a little powdered seaweed adds a nice flavour to the tuna, but it is just as good without it!

Substitutions

Chickpeas - you could use cannellini beans instead but they might be a slightly mushier texture, but I know that some people can't tolerate chickpeas, so give these a go!
Celery - if you hate celery, just omit it, or perhaps use some finely chopped cucumber instead

Variations

Spicy - add chili pepper flakes or fresh chopped chilli to the chickpeas if you like it a bit spicy!
Deluxe - add some finely chopped olives and a chopped gherkin (but reduce the amount of salt)

Storage

Store the prepared chickpea-tuna in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

You can't freeze this mixture.

Top tip

Try serving this in a baked potato instead of your usual baked beans!

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

📋 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Vegan Tuna Salad

YIELD 2 sandwiches

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

A quick and easy sandwich filling that tastes better than real tuna!

Ingredients

16 oz Chickpeas 400g can, drained
½ stick Celery finely chopped
1 Spring Onion minced
¼ teaspoon Kelp Powder optional
1 tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoon Vegan Mayonnaise
½ teaspoon Salt
Dash Pepper
Lemon Juice to taste

Instructions

Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and mash up until they are coarse but not pureed. You are after a nubbly texture.
Now stir in all the other ingredients until well combined.
Taste for seasoning and add a spritz of lemon to brighten the flavours.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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How to make Easy and Delicious Vegan Millionaire's Shortbread at home

February 9, 2023

If you love the sweet treat, Millionaire's Shortbread (aka caramel shortbread), but often find vegan versions too sweet or just too expensive, try my quick and easy method!

PIN my easy vegan Millionaire's Shortbread to make later

I have yet to visit a coffee shop that doesn't sell their own version of Millionaire's Shortbread (Costa's version is called Billionaire's Shortbread but don't let their hubris fool you, it's just white chocolate with gold sprinkles). However, none seem to sell a vegan version, and supermarket versions are often a little lacklustre or just downright expensive.

This was inspired by my traditional shortbread recipe and my simple vegan florentines!

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My version uses store cupboard ingredients, although you might have to pop out and buy a can of vegan condensed milk. I use Nestle's brand, although Biona also do a condensed coconut milk and Nature's Charm do a condensed oat milk.

What is Millionaire's Shortbread?

Vegan Millionaire's shortbread is a three layer biscuit/cake comprising of a shortbread base, a thick caramel layer, topped with a luxurious layer of melted chocolate. It is, as you might assume, incredibly rich and very sweet. Usually cut into small (or not so small) squares, it is a decadent vegan treat, but one that is easy to make, and the best news is, you can freeze the squares so you're not tempted to eat them all!

My Easy Foolproof Vegan Shortbread

The shortbread for this recipe is proper shortbread, but it is soooo simple to make. Simply pop all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl (or hands-free mixer) and mix until you have a nubbly mixture. Tip this crumbly mixture into your lined tin and press firmly to the edges, then bake!

You can also turn this into shortbread fingers, simply cool for a couple of minutes after baking, then cut into fingers whilst still warm. Sprinkle with some sugar.

A small stack of millionaire's shortbread

Ingredients

plain flour and semolina
vegan butter
sugar, white and brown
vegan condensed milk
dark chocolate
vanilla
sea salt

Instructions

Making shortbread for Millionaires Shortbread

Place all the ingredients for the shortbread layer in a mixing bowl and mix until you have a crumbly dough.

Tip the crumbly dough into the prepared lined tin and press firmly. Bake for 40 mins at 150c. Cool.

Making caramel layer for vegan millionaires shortbread

Place the butter, brown sugar and vegan condensed milk into a saucepan and cook until you have a thick caramel (it will be ready to feel it start to "tighten up" when you're stirring. You still need it to be at pourable thickness.

Pour the caramel over your cooled shortbread. It will still be quite thin when you pour it so don't panic, but it will set up really quickly!

Pouring melted chocolate on top of caramel shortbread

Melt the chocolate and pour over the cooled caramel. Spread evenly. Chill.

Once the chocolate is set, cut into squares.

Hint: if you are cooking in hot weather refrigerate the shortbread dough in the tin before baking for a more even bake. I would recommend this especially with shortbread cookies as if they're too warm, they can lose their shape during baking.

Substitutions

Dark Chocolate - use a vegan milk or white chocolate for the topping instead of dark
Flour - use gluten free plain flour instead of white to make this gluten free (check the condensed milk for allergens though)

Variations

Deluxe - add a sprinkle of sea salt to the chocolate layer before it sets to make it a Billionaire's Shortbread!

Kid friendly - use vegan milk chocolate or white chocolate for the topping instead, and cut into smaller squares.

Storage

You can prep the shortbread in advance by baking it, leaving it cool, then covering it, in the tin, before you're ready for the caramel. You could do this a couple of days in advance.

Once you've made your caramel shortbread, I keep mine in the refrigerator, as the caramel can get soft at room temperature, but it will last in the fridge for up to a week.

If you want to freeze it, cut it into squares, chill it, then wrap the squares individually in clingfilm and freeze for up to 3 months. Remove from the freezer when you need a sugar hit, and let defrost at room temperature.

Top tip

To cut your vegan millionaire's shortbread, use a hot sharp knife (I run mine under the hot tap, then dry it with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper) to slice through the chocolate layer without it splintering. Frankly I have never found this method to work particularly well but I think that's me and every other baker recommends it!

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

📋 Recipe

Millionaires Shortbread on a chopping board

5 from 1 vote

Perfect Vegan Millionaires Shortbread Recipe

YIELD 12 squares

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

An easy and quick caramel shortbread recipe that is dairy and egg free

Equipment

1 baking tin, 9" x 9" square, lined

Ingredients

Shortbread layer

175 g Plain flour
85 g Semolina
75 g Sugar
175 g Butter vegan, room temperature
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
¼ teaspoon Salt

Caramel layer

100 g Butter vegan
100 g Brown sugar
370 g Condensed Milk vegan

Chocolate layer

200 g Chocolate vegan, of your choice

Instructions

To make the shortbread layer

Preheat oven to 150c.
Place all the shortbread ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and, using a wooden spoon, or in a hands-free mixer, mix well until the mixture starts to clump together.
Tip into your prepared baking tin and press mixture down firmly.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until pale golden brown but feels firm to the touch.
Leave to cool in the pan.

To make the caramel layer

Place the butter, brown sugar and vegan condensed milk into a saucepan and heat until the sugar is dissolved.
Turn up the heat, stirring constantly, bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to a gentle simmer, still stirring, and cook until thickened, 5-10 minutes.
Pour this over your cooled shortbread and leave to cool.

To make the chocolate topping layer

Either on a double boiler or in the microwave, melt the chocolate until it is pourable and glossy.
Pour over the caramel and leave to set.
Use a hot knife (I run mine under a hot tap then dry it) to cut into squares.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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Yummy and Easy Vegan Flapjacks - oaty bars

January 31, 2023

Flapjacks are a real taste of childhood. I remember standing next to my mum at the cooker, stirring, stirring oats in warm, melted sugary butter, until they glistened. Then we would press the sticky mixture out into a baking pan, baking them until the kitchen was filled with the smell of butter and hot oats.

Sometimes we would pour melted chocolate over the top, once they had cooled. Other times we had them just plain, still warm from the pan so they crumbled into your lap as you tucked into them.

It seems to me that you reach a certain age when you ‘grow out’ of the treats that you begged your mum to make when you were just that bit younger.

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If you love oats, try my Anzac cookies recipe. A healther recipe using oats are my delicious oaty protein balls.

Since reaching middle-age though, I have become fascinated with those ‘old-fashioned’ foods, the foods that my grandmother made and her mother before her. All of a sudden, these foods that we eschewed for more ‘sophisticated’ cuisines are piquing our taste buds again.

What are Flapjacks?

Flapjacks are subject to much universal confusion. In the UK, Flapjacks are an oaty/sugary/buttery baked bar, beloved by schoolchildren from a certain generation everywhere (American readers may know Flapjacks, however, as a sort of pancake). They are also known as Granola bars, although these have dried fruits, nuts and seeds in them too.

They (that is, the British version) are incredibly simple to make (melt butter with some sugar and syrup, stir in oats, press into tin and bake) and have a slightly higher nutritional value on the sliding scale of sugary treats (which ranges from saccharin hell up to sweet, sweet heaven (this higher echelon is currently inhabited by candied yams). However, flapjacks do contain oatmeal which, even combined liberally with butter and sugary stuff, is incredibly good for you, having cholesterol busting properties and offering slow-releasing carbohydrates and sugars (hey, nothing wrong with looking for the good in everything!)

Freya's Cautionary Tale. Running short on golden syrup (the traditional ingredient in Flapjacks), I scoured my shelves and saw that I had some malt syrup so decided to give this a go. I love the flavour of malt, so what could go wrong? Well, turns out, as delicious as it is, malt extract is stickier than tar and a week later I am still soaking my pan trying to remove the welded on oats!! Lesson learned: not all syrups are made equally.

My oaty vegan flapjacks are a quick and easy recipe to throw together, the prep literally takes less than 10 minutes (maybe even 5), so they are a perfect mid-week treat to make.

Ingredients

Oats. Use ready cook or rolled. Do not use pinhead.
Butter. Use your favourite vegan brand.
Syrup. I used golden syrup but you could agave syrup, maple syrup or even corn syrup.
Peanut Butter. You can replace this with another banana if you prefer.
Banana. Ripe and mashed.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180c. In a large saucepan, gently melt the butter, sugar and syrup.

Mixing banana and peanut butter into melted butter and sugar

Once melted, remove from heat and whisk in the peanut butter and mashed banana.

Now stir in the oats.

Press into a lined baking tin and bake for 20 minutes. Once removed from the oven, leave to cool for just a couple of minutes before placing a layer of foil on top and another smaller baking dish with a couple of cans in it. This will press down the flapjacks.

Hint: flapjacks never looked fully cooked when they are first taken out the oven, so leave them to cool on a baking rack for a couple of minutes, then press them down for 10 minutes to ensure a nice dense flapjack (see method). Remove weights then mark out into squares, before to leaving to cool completely.

TOP TIP: Do not be tempted to remove the flapjacks from the tin until completely cold (I like to chill mine first) because they can crumble if you don't press them first.

Substitutions

Oats - you could use buckwheat flakes instead of oats
Peanut Butter - use a quarter cup of apple sauce or another mashed banana instead
Butter - use coconut oil instead

Variations

Dried Fruit and Nuts - to make a granola bar, add a quarter cup each of dried raisins or cranberries and chopped nuts of your choice.
Deluxe - melt some chocolate and pour over the top before you cut into squares.
Kid friendly - add a quarter cup of small vegan chocolate chips or drizzle with some melted chocolate

Storage

Store baked and cooled flapjacks in an airtight tin for at least a week.

You can freeze baked and chilled flapjacks if they are nice and firm. Wrap them up in clingfilm, then place in a ziplock bag. Remove and thaw at room temperature when needed.

📋 Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Easy Vegan Flapjacks

YIELD 12 flapjacks

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

cooling time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

How to make the childhood treat, quick and so simple!

Equipment

1 8" brownie tin, lightly oiled

Ingredients

130 g Butter vegan
85 g Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Golden Syrup
350 g Porridge Oats
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
1 Banana ripe, peeled and mashed
¼ cup Peanut Butter smooth or nutty

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180c.
Gently melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a large saucepan.
Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and mashed banana.
Stir in the porridge oats along with baking soda until completely combined.
Turn out the mixture into the greased sheet. Press down firmly.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until the Flapjacks are starting to brown around the edges and the middle feels firm to the touch. They will firm up as they cool, so leave in the baking sheet before cutting and removing.
Cover with foil after they have cooled for a couple of minutes, then add a smaller baking dish on top with a couple of tins. This will press down the flapjacks, ensuring they are not crumbly.
Cut into 2-3” squares.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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Vegan Easter Biscuits (like Fruit Shortcake Biscuits)

January 31, 2023

Easter Biscuits are a traditional British bake, although I can't say I remember my family ever baking them! However, these short, crumbly, sweet, fruity vegan Easter biscuits deserve to be baked all year round!

Easter (or Lenten) Biscuits were traditionally made as a Shrove Tuesday treat, before the forty days of fasting began. Nowadays we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, but try these less time-consuming biscuits for a change!

This was inspired by my simple vegan shortbread recipe and my sourdough shortbread cookies, and I love to serve them alongside my vegan hot cross buns and hot cross bun bread pudding!

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What are Easter Biscuits?

I discovered this recipe in a vintage British cookbook, the kind I love to read for inspiration and they were also called Lenten Biscuits. I googled Lenten biscuits and found a quite different Italian variant, so have decided to call these Easter Biscuits for the avoidance of confusion!

Traditional English Easter biscuits are a sturdy little shortbread biscuit, flavoured with nutmeg (one of my favourite spices) and studded with currants and peel. The kind of cookies I would have strongly disliked as a kid, as I hated dried fruit until I was a grown-up!

If you have ever tried McVities Fruit Shortcake, these are very similar to those, but, dare I say, nicer (and vegan).

They are very simple to make, maybe a couple of minutes longer than than normal shortbread, but believe me, the extra effort to cream the butter and sugar is well worth it.

These vegan Easter biscuits last quite a while in the tin and make a great foodie gift as well.

Ingredients

plain flour
vegan butter, room temperature
sugar
currants
mixed peel (or use fresh grated zest if you prefer)
nutmeg

Instructions

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy

Adding yogurt to creamed butter and sugar

Beat in the yogurt until smooth.

Fold in the flour using a metal spoon until your mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Add a little milk at a time and mix until you have a cohesive ball of dough. Chill the dough for half an hour or so if the weather is particularly warm.

Roll out dough and cut into 2" rounds before baking at 170c for 20 minutes.

Substitutions

Currants - if you really hate currants, you could use raisins or sultanas but you would need to cut them up a little to make them a bit smaller for these biscuits. Alternatively, omit altogether or use small vegan chocolate chips
Flour- use gluten free flour instead of normal white flour to make these gluten free
Nutmeg - you could use a little mixed spice or cinnamon instead

Storage

You can chill the dough, wrapped in clingfilm for up to 4 days before using. After that, you can freeze it for up to 3 months.

The biscuits last at least a week in an airtight container.

📋 Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Vegan Easter Biscuits

YIELD 20 cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

These are a classic, fruited shortbread biscuit, simple to prepare

Equipment

1 Large Baking tray lightly oiled
Rolling Pin
1 2" round fluted cutter

Ingredients

125 g Butter vegan, softened
125 g Sugar Caster or superfine
⅛ cup Yogurt vegan, plain or vanilla
225 g Plain Flour
50 g Currants
25 g Peel chopped
¼ teaspoon Nutmeg grated (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 170c.
In a large mixing bowl, blend together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Now mix in the yogurt until you have a cohesive mixture.
Using a metal spoon, fold in the flour, fruit, peel and nutmeg. You will get a mixture that looks quite sandy, a bit like when you make pastry.
Now add some milk, a teaspoon at a time, until you have a firm but not sticky dough.
Roll out the dough to about ¼" and cut into 2" rounds
Place carefully on your oiled baking sheet.
Brush with a little plant-based milk and sprinkle with some more caster sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until very pale golden.
Leave to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before placing on a cooling rack to cool completely.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

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A Guide to Vegan Food at Blackheath, London

January 31, 2023

Blackheath is a charming borough of South London, not too far from Greenwich, and is a great place to visit for a change from the normal hustle and bustle of London life. Read on to find out about vegan foodie options here!

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Quite unlike anywhere else in London, Blackheath is dominated by the heath itself, and the dramatic silhouette of All Saints Church, built in 1857.

Within easy walking distance of the heath are several steep roads, full of local shops and the usual chains that you expect to see everywhere these days. However, it is a place with a lot of local community, and the independent shops are always busy. On a Sunday, the local farmers market is packed with people buying their local organic veg, fresh flowers and pasta for the week ahead.

I'm sharing with you a few places that I've discovered that offer vegan options in Blackheath.

Coffee and Cafes in Blackheath

As almost every town in the country, Greenwich does have a Costa coffee and a Greggs. However, they also have a number of nicer places to grab coffee and (if you're lucky) a vegan cake.

Boulangerie Jade, (28a Blackheath Village), a fine French bakery, uses local, freshly ground coffee beans and has a selection of mouthwatering cakes and pastries, very few of which are vegan! They do stock a fine range of artisanal breads as well though, and if you're just after coffee and somewhere to sit, this is a charming little café.

Handmade Food (40 Tranquil Vale) is an independent café, using only seasonal and sustainable ingredients. They also cater for parties and serve amazing coffee.

Gails Bakery (3 Blackheath Village) offers some of the finest artisanal breads, delightful cakes and scrumptious sandwiches, some of which cater to a plant-based diet. And whilst they have expanded to 73 stores since the first store opened in the early 90s, Gail's retains a local, independent shop vibe, with great quality (albeit pricey) food.

Just opened is 15 Grams (30 Tranquil Vale) a small batch coffee roaster with two branches in London, the newest one in Blackheath. They are clearly passionate about coffee, using only ethically sourced beans, and for the caffeine aficionado, I highly recommend paying them a visit!

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner in Blackheath

There are several lovely places to grab a bite to eat, or to have a leisurely meal. All of them offer vegan options ranging from limited to generous! This is the case pretty much everywhere though! Blackheath residents seem to love stone-baked pizza: you have Franco Manca, Pizza Express and Zero Degrees, all offering vegan options.

Buddha Taste (8 Royal Parade) is a new-to-Blackheath Asian eatery, completely vegetarian and vegan, and they have already built up a name for their amazing bubble tea (try the coconut taro milk tea), pho and banh mi. Very quick service and reasonably priced.

ZeroDegrees (Montpelier Vale) is an Italian themed restaurant and microbrewery with a great selection of vegan Italian dishes.

The Ivy Cafe Blackheath (Montpelier Vale). This is a beautiful, luxurious place to eat, but not as expensive as you might expect. They have a few vegan options, and it's a great place to say you've been! Note: you do need to book in advance as this place is always packed.

Köy Grill are a local Mediterranean Grill in Royal Parade, with an array of delicious vegan options.

Madeleine's Creperie sells vegan galettes, so you can choose your own plant-based toppings (although their menu does not reflect this). They also sell amazing coffee and ice cream and is always busy!

Blackheath is always a busy, bustling place with a great sense of community, and they embrace independent businesses, so new shops are always popping up. I highly recommend a Sunday spent walking around Blackheath, especially in the winter, when it is particularly charming or on a warm summer's evening, when you can sit on the heath and watch the world go by.

Visit my other vegan guides here:

How to Make Easy and Simple Vegan Pancakes for Pancake Day (egg-free, dairy-free pancake recipe)

January 26, 2023

A quick and simple egg-free, dairy-free pancake mix, just in time Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day), although why limit yourself to just one day a year?

PIN my easy vegan crepes to make later

Of course the best time of the year to eat pancakes is on Shrove Tuesday (known colloquially as pancake day) but I could eat pancakes all year round!

If you prefer your pancakes on the fluffier side (American style), try my best vegan pancake recipe or my fluffy and crisp vegan waffles!

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Crepes or Pancakes?

I admit that I have always loved crepes. Whilst in Britain we call them pancakes, US readers will know pancakes as thick, fluffy and sweet and made completely differently. For the purposes of the remainder of this post, I will refer to them as Pancakes because that is what I have always called them. However, they are also the same thing as crepes!

I've mentioned before that my mum didn't really enjoy cooking but every Shrove Tuesday (the last day before lent begins), we always had pancakes for tea. For me then, as now, I have to have fresh lemon juice and sugar in them, although back then, I think we used Jif lemon!

What do Crepes Taste Like?

Hmm, tricky question. They are quite plain as they are just basically flour and milk, but once fried they do take on a delicious but simple flavour that enhances their filling. They don't really taste like fluffy American pancakes at all and I guess they'd be quite boring if you ate them plain!

I suppose the only way I can describe the taste of a crepe is if you imagine popcorn without any seasoning, or a plain water biscuit, that type of neutral-ish flavour. I'm not selling pancakes very well, am I? Please give them a try though and let me know what you think they taste like in the comments below!

How do you make vegan crepes or pancakes?

These are so simple to make. I like to make the batter either in the morning or the night before, and then it's just a case of making the pancakes!

The batter only requires one element of patience, that you slowly whisk the milk into the flour. This is quite a critical step as it stops the batter becoming lumpy. You could of course blend it all up in a smoothie maker, and that saves on a bit of washing up too!

Leave the batter to stand for half an hour before stirring in some melted butter. This helps to enrich the batter. You could add a little vanilla or sugar to the pancakes, but I think if you're adding a lot of sweet fillings, then this is possibly overkill.

To make the pancakes themselves, I use a large frying pan with just a little oil, it doesn't need loads, and the spray bottles of oil are really helpful for this. I find that once I've ruined the first pancake, I also don't need to add anymore oil to the pan. However, it all depends on what kind of frying pan you use.

Heat the oil in the pan over moderate high heat. You don't need it to be full heat as you'll just burn the pancakes really quickly, and a moderate heat gives you much more control.

Drop a tiny bit of the batter into the pan and if it sizzles it should be ready. You don't want it sizzling frantically though! Add a ladleful of batter to the centre of the pan and gently swirl the pan to distribute the batter to coat the bottom. Don't worry if it doesn't completely fill the diameter of the frying pan, you can always add a little extra batter on the next pancake.

Once you start to see lots of little bubbles appear on the surface and the edges start to curl up and look lacey, you are ready to flip! I use a standard flipper to turn them, but feel free to toss the pancakes if you're brave!

Cook on the other side for 30 seconds to a minute before placing on a plate. Continue with the rest of the batter.

How do you serve Pancakes (crepes)?

I love mine with a squeeze of fresh lemon and a sprinkle of white sugar. For this reason alone I only eat them once a year. Other fillings:

Jam
Chocolate or Lotus spread
Peanut Butter, sliced banana
drizzled with maple syrup and crisp vegan bacon
poached or tinned peaches with vanilla ice cream (my grandad's favourite!)

Ingredients

plain flour
plant-based milk
melted butter
bicarbonate of soda

Instructions

Sift the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

Gradually pour in the milk, whisking all the time. Leave to stand for 30 mins then add the melted butter

Make your pancakes!

Make your pancakes!

Hint: the first pancake is always a bit of a disaster. My first one always resembles something from an Ed Gein museum, totally unlike the rest. I have no idea why this is! But, it will probably still taste OK. It's almost as if the first pancake is sacrificing itself by seasoning the pan, so that the other pancakes can be successful!

Substitutions

Flour - use your favourite gluten free flour instead (I suggest self-raising). You may need to add a little more or a little less milk to the batter though.
Milk - I used coconut milk but soy milk would be usual preference because it is reasonably flavourless.
Melted Butter - you can use melted coconut oil or regular vegetable instead

Equipment

I love to use my Ninja Foodi Zerostick frying pan for pancakes, you don't need to use too much oil, and you just wipe the pan out after use.

Storage

You can prepare the batter at least 2 or 3 days in advance and keep, covered, in the fridge.

Cooked and cooled pancakes freeze well. Keep them separated with some parchment paper in a ziplock bag to stop them sticking together. Simply thaw and reheat in a pan.

📋 Recipe

5 from 7 votes

Perfect Vegan Pancakes (Crepes)

YIELD 6 crepes

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

resting time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 42 minutes

What else are you going to make for Pancake Day but these delicious crepes!

Equipment

1 Frying Pan I love my Ninja ZEROSTICK

Ingredients

300 ml Milk Plant-Based, I like Soya
150 g Plain Flour sifted
¼ teaspoon Salt
¼ teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tablespoon Butter vegan, melted or use coconut oil
Oil for frying

Instructions

Sift the flour, bicarb and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Gradually whisk in the milk, don't add it all at once or you'll have lumpy batter!
You are looking for the consistency of thick (not whipped) cream.
Leave to stand for half an hour.
After half an hour, whisk the melted oil into the batter.
Heat a teaspoon of vegetable oil into your frying pan, over moderate high heat.
Add a ladleful of batter to the centre of the pan and gently but quickly swirl the pan to spread the batter out thinly. You might not coat the bottom of your frying pan depending on how big it is, but don't worry.
Once you start to see bubbles forming on the top of the batter and the edges are starting to curl, it's time to flip!
I use a spatula as I'm not great at flipping, but you do you! Either way, you need to flip the pancake and cook the other side for another 30 seconds or so.
Once cooked, place on a plate whilst you continue, using up the rest of the batter.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

Tried it and Loved it?Mention @sweeterthanoats or tag sweeterthanoats!

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Easy No-Bake Vegan Cheerio Peanut Treats

January 23, 2023

Crunchy, nutty, sweet and sticky, my easy no-bake vegan Cheerio Peanut Treats are incredibly moreish and so easy and quick to make!

PIN my Vegan Cheerio Peanut Treats to make later

These are obviously delicious whatever time of the year, but they make an unusual addition to the festive selection of sweets and are a great gift too! They last a surprisingly long time, and seem to improve in flavour as well!

This was inspired by my hot buttered cheerios and my vegan puppy chow!

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Regular readers of my site will know that I love reading vintage cookbooks (1950s/60s era is my favourite), and I have an enduring love for the Pillsbury Bake-off pamphlets. And that is where I found this recipe. What caught my eye was the fact that it used Cheerios, and I had a box of cheerio-style cereal that I had bought for another recipe. I am not a big cereal eater, so the box will stay half full until I find another recipe to use them in!

So, to make these crunchy treats requires not too much effort at all, but it does require a sugar (or culinary) thermometer to ensure that the coating is the correct consistency when you pour it over the cereal and nuts.

Adding the bicarbonate of soda to the cooked caramel is an essential step which stops the caramel setting really hard. The air bubbles caused when the bicarb is stirred in, give the coating a less brittle texture, aerating the caramel.

Because of the molasses, these treats are not as sweet as you might think. Molasses has an almost smoky flavour that really is divine in these treats.

Ingredients

Cheerios (or similar cereal)
Salted Peanuts
Molasses
Brown Sugar
Bicarbonate of Soda
Apple Cider Vinegar

Instructions

Mix the Cheerios and salted peanuts together in a large, oiled bowl

Heat the sugar, molasses, water and vinegar in a large pan until it reaches 250f.

Add the bicarbonate of soda to the caramel and mix

Pour over the nuts and cheerios and mix well

Hint: whilst the treats are cooling, quickly fill the used saucepan with some very hot water to make cleaning it out easier!

Substitutions

Peanuts - use a different type of nut or omit the nuts altogether and use sunflower seeds instead. Alternatively, make up the difference with more cheerios.
Molasses - use golden syrup (UK) or corn syrup.

Variations

fruity - add some chopped dried cranberries or raisins to the mixture along with the nuts!

Equipment

I use this food thermometer for quick and accurate measuring of caramel.

Storage

Store the cooled treats in an airtight tin, good for at least 7 days (although may get stickier with time, depending on temperature)!

FAQ

Are Kelloggs Cheerios vegan?

I discussed the vegan Cheerios topic on a recent post, here. Unfortunately, there is only one type of Kelloggs Cheerio that is vegan (the low-sugar oat variety), so I suggest sourcing that one, or using an alternative brand of cereal hoops.

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

📋 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Vegan Peanut Cheerio No Bake Treats

YIELD 18 treats

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

setting time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

A crunchy, sweet and sticky treat that's easy and quick to prepare and very yummy to eat!

Equipment

1 large baking sheet, lightly oiled
1 large mixing bowl, lightly oiled
1 Cooking or candy thermometer

Ingredients

2 cups Cheerios we use the low fat oat Cheerios or an alternative brand (see note in post)
¾ cup Salted Peanuts chopped coarsly
⅓ cup Molasses or golden syrup
¾ cup Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon Vinegar I use apple cider
¼ cup Water
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda

Instructions

Place the Cheerios and chopped peanuts in the oiled mixing bowl and combine. Set to one side.
In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the brown sugar, molasses, water and vinegar until it reaches hard ball stage (120c/250f). This should take less than 5 minutes.
Quickly but carefully remove the pan from the heat and stir the bicarbonate of soda into the caramel using a wooden spoon.
It will lighten up in colour and look foamy.
Quickly pour this over the Cheerio/nut mixture and mix thoroughly until everything is coated.
Pour onto your large oiled baking sheet.
Leave to cool for a minute or two before you are able to handle the mixture (it cools off surprisingly quickly).
Whilst you wait, run some really hot water into the caramel pan to clean it off. Or put it in the dishwasher if you have one!
Once you are able to easily handle the mixture, gently ease it into small piles pressing together any bits that have come unstuck. Leave to cool completely.

RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

Tried it and Loved it?Mention @sweeterthanoats or tag sweeterthanoats!

Food safety

Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
Never leave cooking food unattended
Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

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