Pear Raisin Cookies || Guest Post

7 Comments

Happy Vegan Tuesday! I am pretty excited for Vegan Tuesday this week, as my friend Melissa from VeganFling has been kind enough to be the first to do a guest post for Vegan Tuesdays. And what an awesome recipe she has chosen to share with us! I don’t think it’s any secret to those of you who read The Fig Tree on a regular basis – I LOVE COOKIES! So, when Melissa sent me the recipe she’d be sharing and I saw she would be sharing a cookie recipe, I was elated! These cookies look incredible – bursting with flavours of fall. I adore pear, but never thought to include chopped pears in cookies. Genius!

I think that this recipe is ideal for those trying to learn how to bake with vegan ingredients. It proves that vegan baking does not need to be difficult or require obscure, hard-to-find ingredients. It proves that delicious, flavourful dairy-free cookies can be made in no time flat!

Melissa is a true inspiration. I always look forward to her posts and follow VeganFling religiously! You should too! You won’t be disappointed :) I am so honoured that Melissa has shared this awesome recipe today on The Fig Tree. I hope she shares another recipe or two on The Fig Tree in the future. It’s been lovely to have her contribute to Vegan Tuesdays. Thanks Melissa! I cannot wait to make this incredible looking cookies!

You can also follow VeganFling on Facebook and Twitter.
Hello Fig Tree readers! Thanks for having me over today. I am a long time admirer of The Fig Tree Blog and Courtney’s delicious recipes, but I was extra excited when she announced her new feature: Vegan Tuesdays! In my opinion there can never be too many vegan recipes, and if what we’ve seen so far from Vegan Tuesdays is a good indication, I think we are in for many, many more amazing recipes from Courtney. 
 
For me, one of the most daunting things about eating vegan was re-learning how to bake. Well, now I’m a total vegan baking machine and If I can do it, anyone can. It’s really very easy! I thought I’d share this fun fall cookie recipe today in hopes you’ll try some vegan baking for yourself. I hope you like it!


Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/4 C flour of your choice
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
  • 1/2 C golden raisins
  • 1 pear, diced into small pieces
  • 1 flax egg (1 T ground flax + 3 T water)
  • 1/3 C agave
  • 1/2 C vegan butter, softened (such as Earth Balance)


Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. To make the flax egg: combine 1 T ground flax + 3 T water in a small bowl, stir together and let sit in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.

3. Add the vegan butter, flax egg, and agave into a large bowl and mix with an electronic hand mixer until well combined. 

4. In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. Gently stir in the diced pear and raisins.

5. Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to drop the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Source: Melissa from VeganFling

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes with Toasted Pecans

19 Comments

These delicious pumpkin spice pancakes have made me incredibly impatient. I was going to share the recipe next weekend, but I just cannot wait any longer. They are so yummy and must be shared ASAP!

I made these pancakes for Jesse and I this past Saturday morning. They were so easy to put together and filled our condo with the yummiest of smells – cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and pumpkin. Mmmm! After we both ate our share of pancakes, we agreed that they were the best pancakes we’ve ever had. The may even trump our previous favourite – Coconut Macadamia Nut Pancakes. The spiced, slightly sweet pancakes made for the perfect breakfast on a cold fall morning. 

This morning, I made another batch of these delicious pancakes for a bunch of our friends. It seems as everyone loved them! It was so much fun to have a sit-down breakfast this morning with a bunch of our closest friends. We chatted, laughed, had some yummy mimosas and even danced a little. One of the best weekends I’ve had in a while topped off by one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in a while! I’m feeling pretty darn lucky :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. And I hope you make these delicious pancakes soon and enjoy them as much as we did :)

I’ll be back on Tuesday with the 4th instalment of Vegan Tuesdays. I’m extra excited, as I have a special guest post coming up this week! :)

Ingredients
  • 1 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
  • dash of ground ginger
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1/2 cup of pure pumpkin purée
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoon of canola oil or melted unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup of toasted, chopped pecans
  • pure maple syrup for serving

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200’F (to keep pancakes warm).

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices. Stir with a fork to combine well. 

3. Mix together the milk, pumpkin purée, egg and oil or butter in a large liquid measuring cup. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Whisk together until just combined. Note: It’s okay if the batter still has a few lumps.

4. Heat a greased skillet or frying pan over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, add 1/3 cup scoops of batter to the pan. Let the pancakes cook until bubbles begin to form on the top surface. Carefully flip with a spatula and cook the second side until golden brown. Transfer the cooked pancakes to an oven safe dish and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remainder of the batter. Note: Regrease pan as needed.

Serve with pure mail syrup and chopped pecans.

Yield: approximately 12 pancakes

Source: Annie’s Eats (adapted from Martha Stewart)

Currently… [September Edition]

19 Comments

Last month, I started a new feature called “Currently…”. It’s a feature inspired by a similar feature on blog I enjoy called Sometimes Sweet. Normally, I like to focus on writing about food on The Fig Tree, but sometimes non-related posts are fun! It allows me to open up and share a bit of myself. And it allows me to connect more with you guys – my wonderful readers! It’s a good way to start up conversation and share similar interests. 

Please be sure to check out August’s “Currently” post if you missed it last month. And please consider doing your own “Currently…” post. Please post the link in The Fig Tree blog’s comment section. I’d love to hear what you have to say! :)


 Currently, I’m…


Dreaming About: again…travelling. I love having a trip to look forward to. Jesse and I keep throwing around ideas on where to go. We keep talking about going to NYC again like we did last October. Or checking out somewhere new. Iceland is still an option. But I also would love to go to Spain and Portugal. And Japan! Too many options! Sometimes it’s tough to decide between returning to a place you love or trying something new.

 Reading: I am just about to start reading My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir by Noelle Hancock. It sounds like a nice, light read about a blogger who spends a year following the famous suggestion by Eleanor Roosevelt – “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Apparently the book is quite humourous and inspiring. And then I’m excited to check out The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar. I have a feeling I will love the book, as it seems to be along the same vein as some of my favourite books – A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Kite Runner, Brick Lane and Secret Daughter. And, if I have time this month, I’ve love to read Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore. I find his writing to be quite hilarious and a bit reminiscent of one of my all-time favourite authors Kurt Vonnegut. Do you have any good book suggestions? 

 Also, do you use Good Reads? If so, please find me! I love to share books with others and see what people are readying.

 Craving: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and Apple Pie Smoothies

Loving: Autumn Squash. I’m not sure if you could tell. *hehe* I’ve been cooking a ton with butternut squash, pumpkin and sweet potatoes. I just bought some acorn squash, so I’ll be making something with that soon too. I’m also loving being in cozy, warm hoodies and drinking Banana Bread Tea from David’s Tea. Mmm!

 Watching: a ton of Criminal Minds re-runs. And, in the process, giving myself frequent nightmares! *HAH* 

 Anticipating: Canadian Thanksgiving which is coming up on Monday, October 8th. Jesse and I will be hosting a small dinner for my parents, sister and brother-in-law a week before Thanksgiving. I love to host a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner and a vegetarian Christmas dinner each year, so I can test out all sorts of new recipes. I have so many recipes planned! I am so excited to get in the kitchen and start cooking and baking.

 I am also anticipating starting my intermediate Japanese classes tomorrow. I have not studied Japanese in 5 years – since I last took some courses at university. I recently realized I have lost a lot of what I learned and would like to be fluent again. I’m a tad nervous – I hope it all comes back to me quickly! 

 Oh! Also, I’m anticipating the new fall TV season! Is that sad? *hehe* I’m excited for a few of my favourite shows to start back up. Which TV shows are you excited for this upcoming season? I’m pumped for Vampire Diaries! *hah* Oh, I love my guilty pleasure! Too bad Man Men was not starting up again soon too!

 Listening To: Ben Howard – Every Kingdom. This album is awesome. If you like singer-song writer/folk music…you’ll love this album! The songs are wonderfully written. Ben’s voice is calming and unique. And the beautiful way he plays acoustic guitar gives me goosebumps! I am also really looking forward to Frightened Rabbit’s new EP – State Hospital. It comes out next week!

Planning On: finally watching The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It looks really quite funny! Have any of you seen it? Would you recommend it? I’m also planning on watching the new TV show – The Newsroom. I’ve heard incredible things about the writing.

 Also, I am planning on making this amazing looking Autumn Fruit Ginger Crumble from Once Upon a Cutting Board. 

 Working On: getting over this month-long flu bug! I’m trying to eat better and go to bed at a decent hour. I’m a night-owl, so it’s very tough for me to go to bed before midnight. However, I have to be up by 7AM every morning. A full 8 hours would be ideal. I definitely need to spend some time looking after myself and get healthy.

 Wishing: … that my beloved football team would start winning some games!!!! 

Reflecting On: how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family. I love my parents, sister, bro-in-law, grandparents and Jesse to bits. They are so loving and supportive. And they always know how to make me laugh. I don’t know what I would do without them. I also feel pretty lucky to have awesome in-laws too!

Enjoying: the abundance of yummy produce from our local farmer’s market. I wish I could always get fresh, local produce so easily! I am also really enjoying the vegan cookbook called Chloe’s Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli. One of my very favourite cookbooks of all time!

Pondering: splurging a little and buying some new clothes for fall. I’ve not bought new clothes in over a year and I think it’s due time I buy some nice new sweaters, a dress or two, and maybe some new boots. I’m also pondering dying my hair red….but will likely go back to dark brown. *hehe*

 I’m also pondering what to dress up as for Halloween. Any suggestions?