When I was a little kid, I used to be OBSESSED with pound cake. And I mean, what's not to like? It's moist, sweet, and a perfect little snack when you get home from school.

That said, since I turned vegan, for some reason I just never thought to make it. This underrated delicious dessert get's elbowed out of the way by the others far too often, so today I place pound cake back in its rightful spot as the perfect snack, dessert, and "bread" as I used to call it.

So pound cake, we celebrate you. And today we lift you high. And to satisfy my 7 year old self, I have made her all time favourite, marble.

Enjoy, beauties!

Recipea:
Makes 1 loaf (12 slices)
Prep time: 15 mins |  Baking time: 60 mins

Ingredients:

Cake:
1/2 cup vegan butter
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup vegan buttermilk (1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 cup almond milk)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon almond milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Grease a loaf pan and line with parchment paper so it's easy to lift out once it's cooled.

In a small bowl make the buttermilk by mixing together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside for 5 mins.

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Mix in the vanilla extract. Next sift in the flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk and mix together until well combined.

Pour in half of the mixture into the loaf pan.

In the remaining half, sift in the cocoa powder and mix to combine.

In the loaf pan, cover the vanilla batter with the chocolate batter.

Take a thin knife or skewer and swirl it around the batter in the loaf pan several times to create a marbled effect (be sure to reach the bottom).

Bake for 40 minutes, then add foil in a tent shape over the top (so it doesn't touch the actual cake) to keep from browning too much. Then bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Do the toothpick or knife check to be sure it comes out clean - that's when you'll know it's ready.

Sit the cake on a wire rack to cool completely.

Mix the powdered sugar and almond milk together with a small whisk or fork and pour over the top once the cake is cooled.

Cut and enjoy the simple deliciousness that is a beautifully baked piece of marble pound cake.

My inner 7 year old exploded with glee - I think yours will too :]

These are just as delicious as they are adorable.

Put a little love in your heart and your belly with these lil' cute-sters.

Plus raspberry preserves. Nothing can go wrong when you've got raspberry preserves in a recipe.

I don't care how you felt about Valentine's Day before this... now you've got a reason to love it.

Yerm!

Recipea:

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoons ground flaxseed        
3 tablespoons water
3/4 cup vegan butter
3/4 cups white sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons powdered sugar
6 tablespoons raspberry preserves


Preheat oven to 180C.

In a small bowl, mix together the flax seeds and water and set aside to thicken.

In a medium bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.

In another medium bowl beat the vegan butter and sugar together until creamy.

Add the remaining wet ingredients including the flax mixture, and mix well to combine. Add the dry mixture into the wet in two batches and combine until a dough is formed.

Put the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick. Place it on a baking tray and chill for 15 mins in the freezer or 30 mins in the fridge.

Once chilled, use a heart cookie cutter to make as many heart cookies as possible. Leave half of the heart cookies whole, and use a smaller heart cookie cutter to cut out the center of the other half.

Continue until all the dough has been used up (you may need to stick it in the fridge between baking to keep the dough cold.

Lay the cookies on the parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 7 - 11 minutes, until they are just a little bit golden on the bottom.

Let the cookies cool completely. Place all of the cut-out heart cookies on a piece of parchment paper or plate. Use a fine strainer or sifter (I always use one of those clamp loose leaf tea holders - does the job perfect!) to sprinkle the powdered sugar over top.

Take the whole cookies and spread about 1 teaspoon of the jam over the top, keeping most of it in the middle of the cookie. Top with the sugar-coated cut-out cookie. Repeat with all the remaining cookies.

NOM.

Yup. The best.

Perfect.
Chewy.
Crispy.
Chocolatey.
Gooey.

If you bake anything in your life, bake these. These are absolutely hands down the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever made.

A great chocolate chip cookie recipe is really really important.

Don't worry. I got you covered.

Recipea:
    10 Tablespoons unsalted vegan butter substitute
    1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
    1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon white sugar
    1 flax egg (3 tablespoons of water + 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed)
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
    1/2 teaspoon plus a pinch of baking soda
    3/4 teaspoon baking powder
    3/4 teaspoon salt
    1 cup chocolate chips (I like cutting up big hunks of dark chocolate bars)

Cream butter and sugars together with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Prepare egg replacer in a very small bowl or mug by combining flaxseed and water together and letting it sit for 5 minutes or until absorbed and gloopy (you'll see...).

Add egg replacer and vanilla to creamed butter mixture and stir to combine.

Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to butter mixture and stir to combine.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Form dough into a log, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours*.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line baking pan with parchment paper.

Roll dough into smooth, round, tablespoon-sized balls.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until cookies just begin to brown. They will still be very soft.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes.

Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely... pff! Like that's gonna happen!

** Shoutout to The Dinner Mom for the recipe!

Banana bread. The ultimate in classic cozy baked goods.

Warm, cozy, and perfect with a cup of tea.

I made this for my flatmates my first year in London, and I think I may have won their love through it. We would often demolish an entire loaf in an afternoon. That's how good it is.

It's fluffy, moist, and not too sweet. Plus it's made with oats and there's big pieces of banana in there so it's healthy, right?

Recipea:
Prep time: 15 minutes / Bake time: 40 minutes
Makes one 9×5-inch loaf

3 medium or 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar (can also sub coconut sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 cup ground oats (grind your own in your blender - or you can just use another cup of flour instead)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 heaping tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 additional banana, sliced into chunks
Granulated sugar and a teaspoon of whole oats for topping

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas well with a fork.
Then add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, and mix well.
Sift in the flour, ground oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
Mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined.
Fold in banana chunks.
Pour into to the baking pan and sprinkle with extra sugar and a few oats if you’d like.
Bake for 40 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the center should come out clean.

These cookies are my whole heart and soul.

Without getting too mushy, my grandma was perfect. She was positive, kind, faithful, brave, creative, fun, smart, and made the best cookies in the whole world. 

She was magic. When we'd go over to her house when we were little - even when it was unannounced! - somehow she always managed to be pulling a dozen of these warm oatmeal chocolate chip cookies out of the oven right as we walked in the door. 

Marjorie Mae was one of my best friends. I'm forever changed from knowing her. My bond with her means that I will never forget the power of positive thinking, the importance of family and kindness, or the rule that wherever two or more are gathered, there must always be fresh homemade cookies. 

She'd be so proud that I'm sharing this recipe with you all because she loved sharing cookies with people. If she heard there was a youth group gathering, a church rummage sale happening, a holiday celebration, someone recovering from a surgery, or the gardeners were coming to mow the lawn, she would bake at least a dozen for each person. 

And people flocked to these bad boys. You know why? Because they are kindness and warmth and comfort and all the goodness of a perfect grandma wrapped up in a cookie. 

Trust me on this one. You will love them. They are a hug in a cookie.

As Marjorie always said - "I hope you have a great day, and I plan to do the same!"

Spread the grandma cookie love people :) The world needs more of it!

Recipea:
Makes 3 dozen


1 cup raisins

Peanut butter, dark chocolate, and sea salt. Need I say more?

Didn't think so.

These take no time to make and always impress.

Bring these to parties. Everyone will love you.



Recipea:

Makes about 1 dozen mini-cups.

180 g dark chocolate bar (I am officially addicted to Cadbury Bournville and I'm not sorry about it)
2 heaping tablespoons of natural peanut butter
1 heaping tablespoon of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon himalayan sea salt

Mix the PB and sugar until combined (the sugar will fluff up the peanut butter a bit).

Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl at 30 second increments until fully smooth and melted.

Coat the bottom of the mini cupcake liners in a thin (or thick!) coat of chocolate, approx 1/2-1 teaspoon.

Form a small disk of the peanut butter mixture so that it will fit in the liner without touching the sides.

Pour another 1/2-1 teaspoon of dark chocolate over the top so that the mixture drips down the sides and fully coats the top.

Sprinkle with sea salt.

Freeze to set.

(Keep in the freezer until you're ready to serve.)

ps. If you don't have cupcake liners, you can just make balls out of the PB mixture and coat in the dark chocolate, but let the chocolate cool a bit so you don't just melt the PB. You could even add a whole peanut or crushed peanuts on top to make 'em look all fancy. :]

No these cookies are not coffee flavoured.

This soda bread though, you guys. I can't even.

Boom.

These take all of 10 mins to make and are just the best snacks/ breakfast / pre-workout energy blast/ late night cookies in town.

Confession: I just ate these as my dinner. I have no regrets.

These banana cookies (or "bookies" as they were so famously called in my flat) can be made simple with just these three ingredients, or you can spice it up by adding dark chocolate chips, coconut flakes, dried fruit, nuts, cinnamon, vanilla extract, etc. The possibilities are endless. The world is your vegan oyster.

These saved me during my Masters dissertation.

And may they bring you some easy, sugar free, tastes-like-a-cookie-but-really-its-healthy joy too.

I love you, banana cookies.

Recipea:

Makes 1-2 dozen cookies.

2 medium ripe bananas
1 cup of rolled oats
2.5 tablespoons of peanut butter

Mash the bananas. Add the oats and PB until combined. Spoon onto a greased baking tray and cook in a 180 degree (C) oven for 5-8 mins or until golden brown.

Let cool and bask in the glory that you spent 10 mins making glorious cookies that are delicious and actually pretty dern good for you.