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Single-serve banana walnut breakfast cake

A lightly sweet, airy breakfast cake with no added oil, sugar, gluten, or salt.

Ingredients

3T sweet sorghum flour
1T brown rice flour
1/2T cornstarch
1/2T tapioca flour
1//4t heaping baking powder
1 medium, very ripe banana (about 3/4 cup)
1/2t pure vanilla extract
2T unsweetened soy milk
1T chopped walnuts, 1t reserved for garnish
1t milled flax seed
Stevia to taste

Optional: Use shelled sunflower seeds in place of walnuts. You can use a tablespoons or so coconut sugar in place of the stevia but adjust the baking time accordingly. You can use other plant milks, but this will also affect the crumb and bake time.

Method

Mix the flours, cornstarch and baking powder. Puree the banana, vanilla, and walnuts until relatively smooth. Add the soy milk to the banana and puree.

Whisk the wet with the dry to form a smooth batter. Add the flax seed and stir to combine. Sweeten to taste with the stevia (it should be sweet to the taste). Pour the batter into a ramekin. Let rest while you preheat the oven to 450F.

When the oven is ready, bake for 15 minutes on the middle rack at 450F. Sprinkle with reserved walnuts, reduce heat to 350F, and bake another 15 – 20 minutes or so. Ovens vary; use a toothpick to determine when the cake is done.

Remove from heat. Cover with a clean tea towel and let cool. When cool, run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen and carefully remove from the ramekin. Enjoy fresh or wrap in plastic wrap to enjoy later.

Dark chocolate, chocolate chip cookie dough nice cream

Simple and satisfying.

Ingredients

For the cookie dough
1 1/2T cashew butter
1T whole wheat flour
2t cocoa powder (I use a fairly traded Dutch process brand)
1 1/2T coconut sugar
A pinch coarse sea salt
1-3t unsweetened plant milk (I use soy)
5g bittersweet chocolate, chipped (I use an organic, fairly traded bar)
Sweetener to taste

For the bananas
2 medium frozen bananas (about 2 cups)
1/2t vanilla extract
Sweetener to taste

Optional: 1t powdered maca root. Trade the wheat flour for an appropriate gluten free flour (e.g., sorghum). The coconut sugar crystals give the right texture, but other sweeteners will work. You can also use a few prepackaged chocolate chips.

Method

Combine the cashew butter, flour, salt, sugar,and cocoa until crumbly. Add the plant milk starting with 2t until a smooth dough forms. If too dry, add plant milk one teaspoon at at time until you have a smooth dough (it shouldn’t require more than 3t). Mix in the chipped chocolate. Set aside.

Blend the bananas with the vanilla until smooth. Sweeten to taste (if necessary) with dates, maple syrup, agave nectar or stevia. Add 1T cookie dough and blend with the bananas for a more consistent flavour; leave them separate for more contrast. Break the cookie dough into 1/2 – 1t sized bites, add to the bananas and stir once or twice to distribute. Spoon out and serve!