Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting

In search for a vegan lemon cupcake that could possibly replace the delicious Lemon Creme Lemon Cupcakes, I found a recipe at Vegan Cupcake Recipes. The problem is that the recipe is slightly poorly written and there's no creamy center like the cupcakes I've made. In addition, the images shown look like there's a lemon custard in the middle, but that's clearly added in for the photos and the recipe for it is not given. All those drawbacks aside, the cupcakes are delicious. I've fixed the recipe so they issues should be less of a problem. I'm still on the hunt for a vegan cupcake that has all the components of a lemon cream lemon cupcake.

Ingredients:
1 cup vegan margarine, softened
2 cups organic unbleached sugar
1/2 cup non-dairy yogurt
1/4 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups vegan sour cream

Frosting
3 tablespoons vegan margarine, softened
2 1/4 cups organic unbleached sugar (what the recipe calls for, but I need to try it with powdered sugar)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1-2 tablespoons soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)


Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream margarine and organic unbleached sugar.
2. Mix in yogurt and applesauce.
3. Add lemon peel and vanilla, and continue to mix well.
4. In a second bowl, combine dry ingredients. 
5. Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream (batter will be thick).
6. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups with 1/4 cup of batter.
7. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
8. Cool for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool 
9. Frosting:
10. Cream margarine and organic unbleached sugar in large mixing bowl. 
11. Add lemon juice, vanilla, lemon peel, and soy milk; whip until smooth. This may take awhile as I never got it with granulated sugar to be smooth.
12. Frost cupcakes.

Notes:

• As I noted, either powdered sugar needs to be used in the frosting, which I haven't tried yet, OR you have to whip for a very long time to get nice smooth frosting.

Irish Soda Bread in a Mug

For St. Patrick's Day, serve yourself a treat: Irish Soda Bread for breakfast. This bread doesn't get crusty in the microwave, although maybe you could bake it to make it so. I also removed the raisins, which is probably a definitive component of Irish Soda Bread. But, raisins ruin everything. I got this recipe from Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor.

Ingredients:
¼ cup (2-oz) almond milk 
1 tbsp white vinegar 
1 cup oat flour 
2 tbsp raw sugar 
1 tsp baking powder 
½ tsp baking soda
pinch salt 
1 cup applesauce 
12-oz yogurt 
¼ cup jam, flavor of your choice

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk milk with vinegar so it curdles. Set aside. 
2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk oat flour, raw sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and a tiny pinch of salt. 
3. Stir in milk mixture and applesauce.  
4. Spoon batter into 4 microwave-safe mugs and microwave each separately for 90 seconds, or until firm. 
5. Top with a dollop of yogurt and jam. 
6. Eat remaining yogurt on the side.

Notes:
Serves 4
Per serving: 274 calories, 2.7g fat, 54.4g carbs, 3.4g fiber, 33.4g sugars, 8.0g protein

If you want the raisins, you can add 1/4 cup raisins after the applesauce step.

Sweet Potato Sundae

It was strawberry season when I made this, so I used sliced strawberries. You can really use any sliced fruit that strikes your fancy: bananas, strawberries, other whole berries, even sliced pears, peaches, and apples. I like it as a fall dish, just because I think of sweet potatoes as a fall item. I suggest trying it when the fruit is in season since you can get sweet potatoes any time of the year. This recipe has been modified from the Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor.

Ingredients:
1 baked sweet potato 
1 tsp ground cinnamon 
1¼ tbsp pure maple syrup 
3 oz vegan yogurt (plain or vanilla) 
½ cup sliced fruit

Directions:

1. Smash potato in a bowl or cut in half. 
2. Sprinkle with generously with cinnamon and drizzle with maple. 
3. Top with yogurt and fruit.

Caesar Taco Salad

This is an everybody-approved salad. It's delicious! I got the recipe from Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor. This is a great salad as a side or main dish.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce 
2 tsp fresh lemon juice 
2 tbsp taco seasoning 
1.5 - 2 cups chickpeas  
2 corn tortillas 
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped 
5-oz cherry tomatoes, sliced 
2-oz guacamole

Caesar Dressing 
½ cup yogurt 
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 
1 tbsp Dijon mustard 
1½ tsp Worcestershire sauce 
garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Make dressing by whisking all ingredients together until well combined, adding garlic powder to taste. 
3. Chill until using.
4. Combine soy sauce, lemon juice, taco seasoning and chickpeas, stir to coat.
5. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake 20-25 minutes, until crispy but not hard. 
6. During last 5-10 minutes, place tortillas right on the rack and bake until crispy. 
7. In a large mixing bowl, toss chickpeas with lettuce and cherry tomatoes. 
8. Pour dressing over top, and toss to coat. 
9. Crumble corn tortillas over the top. 
10. Top with guacamole.

Notes:

• Serves 2.
• Per serving: 418 calories, 8.6g fat, 63.4g carbs, 12.7g fiber, 9.1g sugars, 19.2g protein

Spring Grape Salad

This is a great fresh salad to serve as a side or even have as a dessert. It's improved by slightly sweeter grapes for the sweet-toothed, but if you have slightly tart grapes, the tart & sweet is also delish. I got the original recipe as a bonus with the Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor. 

Ingredients:
1 cup sliced red grapes
1 cup sliced green grapes
1/4 cup vanilla Silk soy yogurt
1 tbsp granola

Directions:

1. Toss grapes and yogurt together.
2. Chill for at east 30 minutes.

Notes:

• Serves 4
• You can also top with brown sugar, nuts, or ground cinnamon instead of the granola, or in addition to the granola.
• I also ate it for breakfast. 

Berry Breakfast Pizza

This was a great, if messy, breakfast. During the berry season, you can have lovely fresh fruits for it. I got the original recipe (altered here) from the Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor. 

Ingredients:
2 oz vanilla or berry vegan yogurt 
2 tsp orange marmalade 
dash ground cardamom 
1 pita  
¼ cup sliced berries of your choice
¼ cup sliced 2nd type of berries of your choice
orange zest 

Directions: 

1. In a bowl, mix yogurt, marmalade, and cardamom until well combined. 
2. Slather on to pita. 
3. Top with mixed berries and orange zest.

Notes:

• Serves 1
• Per serving: 284 calories, 2.6g fat, 56.7g carbs, 7.4g fiber, 17.5g sugars, 10.1g protein
• The original recipe called for strawberries and blueberries. I subbed red grapes for blueberries since I don't care for blueberries. You could really use grapes or berries or citrus (orange) slices for either portion of the quarter cup of berries.
• You could probably sub jam/jelly/preserves flavor of your choice in for marmalade.
• I rolled it up into a wrap.

Un-Birthday Cake Baked Oatmeal

This was amazing! It takes a little long for a regular weekday breakfast, but I think I'll be having it fairly regularly for a weekend breakfast. It came from the Happy Herbivore Meal Mentor Big Breakfast Book. I submitted this photo as a part of the March Madness Challenge on Instagram. This might be fun to make several of these during a brunch.

Ingredients:
6 tbsp dry rolled oats
1 tbsp oat flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp applesauce
3-4 tbsp almond milk
3 oz yogurt
sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a small bowl, combine oats, oat flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. Add in the maple syrup, vanilla, applesauce, and 2 tbsp milk.
4. Stir and add more milk until batter forms. The mixture should be wet, but not runny.
5. Transfer mixture to a ramekin.
6. Bake for 17-20 minutes, until the top is set and golden.
7. Top with yogurt and sprinkles.

Notes:

• Serves 1
• Per serving: 271 calories, 3.9g fat, 46.9g carbs, 4.1g fiber, 20g sugar, 9.8g protein
• Add a side of fruit.