Less-Sugar Vegan Peanut Butter Blossoms

A personal holiday favorite, I've finally veganized this scrumptious little cookie. Vegan chocolate chips replace Hershey kisses and are enveloped by a soft and pillowy peanut butter cookie. I've made these lower-sugar using erythritol, but feel free to use regular sugar if you wish. They're easy, done in a flash, and perfect for cookie exchanges!

Produce On Parade - Less-Sugar Peanut Butter Blossoms  - A personal holiday favorite, I've finally veganized this scrumptious little cookie. Vegan chocolate chips replace Hershey kisses and are enveloped by a soft and pillowy peanut butter cookie. I…
Animal lovin’ ain’t shovin’ ‘em in the oven.
— Harley Johnstone aka Durianrider

Regrettably, there are a couple downsides to being vegan. They are few and far between and utterly irrelevant when compared to the unnecessary suffering of billions upon billions of our animal "friends" (oh I miss gouda cheese like no one's business but then think of veal and I'm set right), but I'll let you in on a vegan secret. We hate cookie exchanges.

Well, not vegan ones of course, but traditional ones. Why? Because we can't really participate. I know it's technically of our own doing, but it still kind of stinks. Sure, you could bring vegan cookies to the exchange but honestly unless you work at PETA or your entire extended family is vegan (who are you!?) your cookies might be the only vegan ones that make an appearance... which means you're only doing a cookie exchange with yourself. And that's not really a cookie exchange, now is it? No, you just made cookies. Lonely, vegan cookies.

So, to conclude, that's really the only time I kind of skulk in the corner; Grinch-like, wishing a holiday miracle would magically make all the cookies vegan. Or better yet, all the people... muah-haha!

Produce On Parade - Less-Sugar Peanut Butter Blossoms  - A personal holiday favorite, I've finally veganized this scrumptious little cookie. Vegan chocolate chips replace Hershey kisses and are enveloped by a soft and pillowy peanut butter cookie. I…

Anyway, these cookies; I found it somewhat disturbing that I've been vegan for three years and still have not veganized peanut butter blossoms! They're one of my favorite holiday cookies and I fondly remember making them with my mom during the holiday season. Every Christmas morning my family would all trot down the trail about a quarter of a mile through the woods to my grandparents house for breakfast, carrying with us a huge platter of assorted homemade cookies. The peanut butter blossoms were always my favorite and of course I greedily ate as many as I could on the way down to ensure that I had my fill before they disappeared. I'm a much better sharer now... sort of... #noshame

Produce On Parade - Less-Sugar Peanut Butter Blossoms  - A personal holiday favorite, I've finally veganized this scrumptious little cookie. Vegan chocolate chips replace Hershey kisses and are enveloped by a soft and pillowy peanut butter cookie. I…
Produce On Parade - Less-Sugar Peanut Butter Blossoms  - A personal holiday favorite, I've finally veganized this scrumptious little cookie. Vegan chocolate chips replace Hershey kisses and are enveloped by a soft and pillowy peanut butter cookie. I…

In Alaska there's no such thing as vegan, milk chocolate kisses. Maybe in the states those exist, but not up here in the great north. So, I made do with vegan chocolate chips but if you get you're able to get your paws on some vegan chocolate kisses... by all means... send me up some! Do these exist??

I also used aquafaba in place of eggs (it's a freaking miracle that stuff), which is just the liquid from a can of chickpeas; if you've been living under a rock for the last half a year and have yet to discover this gift from the vegan gods. Erythritol lends itself to cut back on the sugar just a bit. These little guys are almost a little too sweet for my now geriatric tastebuds, so I scaled back on the cloyingness a bit as erythritol isn't quite as sweet as plain sugar... and also with none of the, well, sugar partHowever, feel free to use regular ol' sugar if you like. I won't tell Santa. Enjoy!

Produce On Parade - Less-Sugar Peanut Butter Blossoms  - A personal holiday favorite, I've finally veganized this scrumptious little cookie. Vegan chocolate chips replace Hershey kisses and are enveloped by a soft and pillowy peanut butter cookie. I…

Less-Sugar Vegan Peanut Butter Blossoms

Recipe by Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

A personal holiday favorite, I've finally veganized this scrumptious little cookie. Vegan chocolate chips replace Hershey kisses and are enveloped by a soft and pillowy peanut butter cookie. I've made these lower-sugar using erythritol, but feel free to use regular sugar if you wish. They're easy, done in a flash, and perfect for cookie exchanges! Adapted from AllRecipes.com

Yield: ~ 50

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) vegan butter sticks, room temperature
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup vegan packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated erythritol (or 1 cup vegan granulated sugar)
  • ¼ cup + 2 tbsp aquafaba (liquid from a can of chickpeas)
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 3 ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp table salt
  • ~ 1 cup vegan chocolate chips, for topping

Cooking Directions

  1. In a large electric mixing bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugars on medium speed for about 1 minute until smooth and whipped. Reduce the speed to low and add in the aquafaba, vanilla, and water. Increase speed to medium and beat for an additional minute. Stop to scrap down the sides as needed.
  2. In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. With the electric mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture. Stir until just combined.
  3. Preheat oven to 375° F and coat a cookie sheet with a nonstick cooking spray or line with a silicone baking mat. Form the dough into balls a little small than a golf ball and place on the sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 12 minutes until slightly golden brown.
  4. Remove from the oven and depress the center with the bottom of a 1 teaspoon measuring spoon. Drop into the depression about 5 chocolate chips and repeat with remaining cookies. Next, remove the cookies from the pan and allow to cool completely before storing. Repeat with remaining dough. Store in an airtight container.
Produce On Parade - Less-Sugar Peanut Butter Blossoms  - A personal holiday favorite, I've finally veganized this scrumptious little cookie. Vegan chocolate chips replace Hershey kisses and are enveloped by a soft and pillowy peanut butter cookie. I…

Did you guys read this article regarding veganism on NPR yesterday? I love it! It's all about how the Israeli army is making it a whole heck of alot easier for the ever expanding mass of vegan soldiers to eat cruelty-free and lead vegan lives. "Vegan soldiers wear wool-free berets and leather-free boots, and they get an additional stipend to supplement their food, the military says." Ummm, that's freaking awesome. I mean, in an ideal world we wouldn't need soldiers but, hey...I'm just the messenger here. 

Molasses & Pear Gingerbread

This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and candied ginger pieces, it's super easy to make and is sure to be loved by all.

Produce On Parade - Molasses & Pear Gingerbread - This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and …
The great majority of Americans could reduce their protein intake...the best change would be to lower the daily intake of all proteins, but especially animal-derived proteins.
— Valter Longo, University of Southern California gerontology professor and director of the school’s Longevity Institute
Produce On Parade - Molasses & Pear Gingerbread - This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and …

I subscribe to the belief that every dessert be of the chocolate variety. If a dessert does not contain chocolate in any of its various, beautiful forms then it shall be categorized as a non-dessert (in my eyes at least). Okay, that might be a bit extreme. I'll just settle with the very biased and unjust assumption that I probably won't enjoy it much. I don't like fruit conspiring with my sweets (save a delicious berry crisp). Flavors other than chocolate? Hard pass. Except coffee, but that's another matter entirely and reserved solely for ice cream and tiramisu. 

What I am trying to say is...if you're the type of person who agrees that apple pie, raisin oatmeal cookies, and jam donuts are sorry excuses for a proper dessert (I mean my god, we could be having chocolate silk pie!), then we are one in the same. It's with such like-mindedness that I tell you, as a self-professed, unusually particular sweet-toothed foodie, that this gingerbread cake makes a most exceptional sweet treat. I know, I know... there is no chocolate involved. Such a fact has not been overlooked. However, it does not negate the fact that this cake is so good I want to make it weekly and eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert; to which I fully and proudly admit that I have, yes, in fact done all four this week. And now I'm out of this cake, because I ate it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert... I must make more. 

Produce On Parade - Molasses & Pear Gingerbread - This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and …
Produce On Parade - Molasses & Pear Gingerbread - This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and …

All that should really be pretty sufficient evidence to convince you that you definitely want to make this cake. Not that I'm trying to force you to make it or anything. It's just so scrummy and perfectly timed for the holidays and I just don't want you to miss out okay?! But, if you need more convincing, I can do that too. To start, it's super easy and incredibly hands off. And what a beauty too, I mean just look at it. It's also foolproof and vegan of course and it involves fruit, so, that equates to it being healthy right? Right. Also, GINGER. Enough said.

Produce On Parade - Molasses & Pear Gingerbread - This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and …
Produce On Parade - Molasses & Pear Gingerbread - This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and …

Molasses & Pear Gingerbread

Recipe by Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and candied ginger pieces, it's super easy to make and is sure to be loved by all.

Yield: 8-10 slices

Ingredients

  • ½ cup (1 stick) vegan butter
  • ½ cup vegan sugar
  • ¼ cup agave nectar
  • ¼ cup molasses
  • 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 cup vegan sour cream
  • 3 tbsp aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas)
  • 2 pears, cored and sliced into ¼ inch slices
  • ¼ cup crystallized ginger, minced

Cooking Directions

  1. Melt the butter, sugar, agave nectar, and molasses in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until the butter has melted and the sugar mostly dissolved. Remove from heat.
  2. While the butter melts, whisk together the flour through the nutmeg in large mixing bowl.
  3. Stir the butter and sugar mixture into the flour mixture until almost combined, then stir in the sour cream and aquafaba until just combined.
  4. Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a 9 inch springform pan with a nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan, leveling it out with a little shake and the back of a spatula.
  5. Slice the pears and arrange them in a pinwheel configuration on top of the batter. Place in the oven and bake for about 40-50 minutes, until the middle is set and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.
  6. Leave in the pan and place on a wire cooling rack to cool, for at least 20 minutes. Sprinkle the top with the minced ginger. Slice into 8-10 pieces and serve. Store in an airtight container.
Produce On Parade - Molasses & Pear Gingerbread - This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and …
Produce On Parade - Molasses & Pear Gingerbread - This moist gingerbread cake is perfectly spiced and reminiscent of the holidays. Infused with molasses, nutmeg, and ginger with just the right of amount of sweetness and topped with sliced pears and …

Information of the Day

Because I know you'll need a retort for the eye-roll inducing, "But I just know you aren't getting enough protein in your vheg-en diet thing!" during the holiday season; here you go: The Washington Post says that too much protein could lead to an early death. Yikes! Not all that great after all, eh? "U.S. and Italian researchers tracked thousands of adults during nearly two decades and found that those who ate a diet high in animal proteins during middle age were four times more likely to die of cancer than contemporaries with low-protein diets — a risk factor, if accurate, comparable to smoking. They also were several times more likely to die of diabetes, researchers said."

Holiday Matcha Shake with Moonlit Matcha

A frosty, matcha shake infused with fresh nutmeg and sweetened by Kahlua is thick with creamy cashews that makes a healthy and delicious treat!

Produce On Parade - Holiday Matcha Shake - A frosty, matcha shake infused with fresh nutmeg and sweetened by Kahlua is thick with creamy cashews that makes a healthy and delicious treat!

I always have two different types of matcha in my fridge. One is for baking, a lower grade matcha that's best for donuts, waffles, smoothies and the like. The other is best for drinking, a higher grade matcha that I usually drink plain whisked into hot water using my little bamboo whisk. I don't usually make matcha lattes or anything like that, but every so often I'll crave a sort of frosty matcha shake. Today I thought I'd share my holiday version of this yummy drink and a give you a tip on where to get some fantastic high quality matcha.

Produce On Parade - Holiday Matcha Shake - A frosty, matcha shake infused with fresh nutmeg and sweetened by Kahlua is thick with creamy cashews that makes a healthy and delicious treat!

For drinking, you'll want a premium or ceremonial grade matcha. Cooking grade matcha is best left to be incorporated into baked goods or smoothies. I've been buying this same ceremonial grade matcha from an ethic shop in Anchorage (50 miles from where I live) for many years, but since I don't work in town anymore and nobody sells it near where I live, I am happy to be able to purchase it online. This ceremonial grade matcha gifted to me for review by, Moonlit Matcha by Hybrid Herbs, shocked me when I opened it. 

Produce On Parade - Holiday Matcha Shake - A frosty, matcha shake infused with fresh nutmeg and sweetened by Kahlua is thick with creamy cashews that makes a healthy and delicious treat!

I'm used to matcha being somewhat dull and lacking luster. This matcha was bright and lofty. When I mixed it into my water, the tea shown a vibrant and deep green color. I'd never seen matcha like that before! It was grassy, smooth, and earthy; not in the least bit bitter at all. I knew I had a keeper! 

I really love that Moonlit Matcha is also 100% organic and comes packaged in Miron violet glass jars which block light and keep items fresh for much longer than regular glass or aluminum packages. The glass is also recyclable,  but I'll keep mine to store ground flaxseed, herbs, and other such food items. 

Produce On Parade - Holiday Matcha Shake - A frosty, matcha shake infused with fresh nutmeg and sweetened by Kahlua is thick with creamy cashews that makes a healthy and delicious treat!

This is definitely my new drinking matcha, and I am so happy to have discovered it. Do you have a favorite matcha brand? You can find Moonlit Matcha on Amazon, where it ships directly from Japan for free with Amazon Prime! It's priced the same as other ceremonial grade matcha but with the benefit of being organic, packaged in Miron glass, and is the brightest, sweetest matcha I have tasted yet. I definitely recommend it!

And now, onto the recipe!

Produce On Parade - Holiday Matcha Shake - A frosty, matcha shake infused with fresh nutmeg and sweetened by Kahlua is thick with creamy cashews that makes a healthy and delicious treat!

Holiday Matcha Shake

Recipe by Kathleen Henry @ Produce On Parade

A frosty, matcha shake infused with fresh nutmeg and sweetened by Kahlua is thick with creamy cashews that makes a healthy and delicious treat!

Serves 1.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cold water
  • 1/4 cup raw cashews
  • 1 tbsp Kahlua
  • splash of agave nectar or maple syrup, to taste
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp Moonlit Matcha
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • dash of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp xanthan gum (optional)

Cooking Directions

  1. Place all the ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth. If you don’t have a high powered blender, soak the nuts for 2 hours in cold water prior to use.
  2. Pour into a large glass and serve chilled.
Produce On Parade - Holiday Matcha Shake - A frosty, matcha shake infused with fresh nutmeg and sweetened by Kahlua is thick with creamy cashews that makes a healthy and delicious treat!

*DISCLAIMER*  PRODUCE ON PARADE IS A PERSONAL BLOG WRITTEN AND EDITED BY MYSELF ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. MY REVIEWS ARE COMPLETELY BASED ON MY OWN OPINION OF THE PRODUCT REVIEWED. THESE PRODUCTS WERE SUPPLIED TO ME AS GIFTS TO TEST AND REVIEW. OTHERWISE, IF I MENTION A COMPANY BY NAME AND THERE IS NO DISCLAIMER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST, I AM MERELY WRITING ABOUT SOMETHING I LIKE, PURCHASE AND/OR USE. THE FACT THAT I DO RECEIVE A PRODUCT AS A GIFT TO TEST AND REVIEW, WILL NEVER POSITIVELY INFLUENCE THE CONTENT MADE IN THIS POST.