Pineapple Upside-down Cake

I don’t really understand the pineapple Easter correlation. I think it might have something to do with ham, but you know what, I really don’t care that much to figure it out. (Okay, I googled it and it is ham related.)

So no ham here but I am all about the pineapple. Last week when I did my grocery shop there were a shit ton of pineapples on sale, so I grab a few figuring that me and the mr would eat them for next week or so. Up until last week, I was positive that the mr really liked pineapple. Until I cut one up. Turns out the mr , for some reason, now doesn't like pineapple that much. What. the, HELL!? This was new news to me. I swear he just says these things to piss me off, but whatever, I guess he is not a fan anymore and it just means more pineapple for me.

But I also made a cake with some of the pineapple because I had so much and also I just wanted to bake a cake. And guess what, turns out the mr does like pineapple, just as long it is in cake form. I should have known.

To the upside down cake!

The stuff. A pineapple, flour, baking soda and power, salt, brown sugar, coconut oil, vanilla and apple cider vinegar.

Cut up pineapple. If you want to get fancy, garb a cookie cutter and cut out pineapple shapes for the upside down part. Or just cut up 1/2 inch slices or rings. however you want.

Get the pan ready. Grease a pan, add a parchment bottom. place about a tablespoon coconut oil into pan and coat bottom of pan then evenly sprinkle in about 1/2 cup brown sugar. Layer in your pineapple.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients… (a bowl bigger then mine)

Place pineapple into blender (use scraps if you have them) and blend until smooth. Add in the brown sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, and vinegar and blend until combined.

Pour wet into dry and whisk until combined.

Pour batter over pineapple and into the oven it goes.

Oooooh. Cake. Are you just so excited! You should be, it is an exciting time.

Give it a few minute before flipping it.

Flipped and revealed. So pretty!

Now it’s cake time so get down on it.

-C

---

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

makes a 12 round or 9x13 inch rectangle cake

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cup brown sugar plus 1/4 cup

• 1/2 cup warm coconut oil plus 1 tablespoon

• 1 1/2 cups pineapple pureed which Is about 1/2 a small pineapple

• About 1/4 pineapple for bottom

• 1/4 cup water

• I tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First get the pineapple cut up any way you usually do it. If you want specific shapes for the pineapple bottom, keep that in mind and cut the pineapple accordingly. You are going to want the pieces (like the circles that I used) to be about 1/2 inch thick. And if you are using a cut out, my suggestion is to cut out all the pieces that you need to use and use the cut out scrapes to puree.

Grease and parchemnt line a 12 inch round or 9x13 inch rectangle cake pan. Evenly spread a tablespoon coconut oil on parchment then evenly coat with 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Place pineapple cut outs or pieces into pan. It is fine if pineapple pieced overlap a bit but make sure to not go much thicker then1/2 inch in places.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking power and soda, and salt.

Place 1 1/2 cups of chopped pineapple into blender and blend until smooth. Make sure it equals 1 1/2 cup pureed. Add in 1/4 cup water, 3/4 cups brown sugar, 1/2 cup warm coconut oil, vanilla, and the vinegar and blend until completely smooth. Pour mixture into the bowl with the whisked dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour cake batter gently over pineapple in pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the cake is a nice golden brown and a tester poke comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then invert pan onto a wire rack or plate and remove pan gently. The cake should pop out easily with the parchment attached. Peel parchment off and if any of the pineapple cokes loose, jus stick it back on.

And then cake. Eat it.

Chocolate Pudding Parfaits

Pudding is comfort. Pudding is simple. Pudding is just that, nothing but pudding. And if you add some graham cracker crumble, well you got yourself a pudding parfait. And a pudding party of sorts, if you need one.

Now do you, like me, think about grade school when you see pudding? Or how about Billy Madison. Oh hell yeah, definitely watching Billy Madison, in grade school, with a snack pack. HA. Those were some days right there. And with all the littles being homeschooled these crazy days, I figured why not bring in a bit of the grade school feeling into the routine and make some pudding for an after lunch or after “school” snack. For the routine purposes and also as a form of a bribe. Yes. You can bribe your children with pudding. Or your partner. The mr got his pudding too, just after he dealt with the recycling on the porch.

And plus. Oat milk. You got a stash? Yeah? Well use it in this pudding. It will make you glad you panicked bought 10 cartons and hid them under your mattress. Right next to all the canned beans of course.

Now to the pudding!

The stuff. Oat milk (use any milk you want or have), cocoa powder, brown sugar, corn starch, brewed coffee (optional), vanilla extract, graham crackers, coconut oil, and a little salt.

Start with a pot. Mix in the cocoa powder, brown sugar, and corn starch, and pinch of salt. Add in a little milk and coffee if using and mix around until its a thick paste and everything is incorporated.

Now add in the rest of the milk and place on medium heat on the stove. Heat up for about 3ish minutes and once it starts get hot and you see a bubble or two, start whiskingand don’t stop. Whisk all around pot, all over the bottom, so no spot start to burn. Whisk whisk whisk, until it thickens to pudding consistency. Should take 3-5 minutes.

Once thick and pudding like turn heat off and add in the vanilla and chocolate chips. Whisk until completely melted and incorporated.

Silky and smooth. Hot pudding.

Pour the pudding into a jar or bowl and place into the fridge to set. 1- 2 hours.

In the meantime, graham cracker crumble. Smash up the crackers into a bowl, (big chunks are good) and add in the melted coconut oil and a tablespoon of brown sugar.

Mix around until evenly incorporated

Dump the crumbs onto a baking sheet and stick into the oven to toast up for about 10 minutes.

And now you assemble. Graham crumble on a vessel, topped with pudding, more crumble, and whatever whipped cream, yogurt, ice cream situation you might want to top it with.

Pudding. All for you to eat.

-C

---

Chocolate Pudding Pie Parfaits

make 4-6 serving

• 2 cups oat milk (can use any milk you have on hand)

• 1/3 packed cup brown sugar

• 2 tablespoon brewed coffee (optional but makes it a little more deep and chocolatey)

• 3 tablespoon cocoa powder

• 1/3 cup chocolate chips

• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

• pinch of salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  For Graham Cracker Crumble

• 6 full sheets of package of graham crackers

• 2 tablespoon melted coconut oil or vegan butter

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

In a medium size pot mix together the cocoa powder, brown sugar, corn starch, and a pinch of salt. Add in the coffee if using, and about 1/2 cup of milk. Mix until all the ingredients are evenly incorporated and the mixture is kind of pasty. Place pot on stove on medium heat and add in the rest of the milk . Let mixture heat up for a few minutes and once it starts to warm, start whisking. Whisk consistency until the mixture heats up and thickens to a pretty thick pudding consistency. Remove from heat, add in the chocolate chips and vanilla and keep whisking until the chocolate completely melts it.

Pour pudding into a jar or bowl and place into the fridge. 1-2 hours to cool and set.

In the meantime make the graham cracker crumble. Preheat oven to 350. Crush up crackers into a bowl (some big chunks are good) and mix in the brown sugar and melted coconut oil. Mix around until the crumbs are evenly moisten. Dump the crumble onto a baking sheet and place into oven for about 10 minutes or until the crumble is a nice deep golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

Once the pudding is set and the crumble is toasted, it is time to assemble. Scoop some crumble into a bowl or jar, add in some pudding, then top with more crumble. If you want, top with a dollop of something creamy like whipped cream, yogurt, or even ice cream.

Eat.

IF there is pudding and crumble left over, store the pudding I the fridge (will last a few days) and the crumble separately at room temperature in a airtight container.

Peanut Flour and Banana Oats

I have been on a good long kick here with eating oats at night for my after dinner snack. Just about every night after cleaning up the dinner dishes, sweeping the floors, going for a nice after dinner walk with the mr, I come home, put the hot water on, grab my oats, my peanut flour, and sometimes a banana. As soon as the water boils I mash up some banana (if using), add in some oats, pour in some boiling water, and let them sit. I also pour a huge jar of tea then plop my butt down at the counter to do any brain tasks that need doing like checking the email, left over billing things, maybe check the old phone for the first time in hours… After about 5 minutes of that, I stop brain tasks because I just can’t, grab oats, and dump in a few big ass tablespoons of peanut flour and cinnamon and give it a good stir. Voila, snack time. A delicious, nutritious, tummy filling and easy dish that is full of all sorts of things that my body needs. I grab a spoon, my tea, and open my book. For sure one of my favorite times of day.

Now lets talk about peanut flour. I have been eating peanut flour for a few years now. Not to confuse with powered peanut butter which is basically peanut flour but usually with added sugar and salt. Peanut flour is just peanuts, with the oil pressed out and then ground up into a super fine flour. And not a flour is the typical sense. Like you can’t make bread with it, but you could add it to bread. You can also use it to thicken things like soups or sauces up. Or add it to smoothies, make a cake frosting with it , or just mix it with a little water and eat it with a spoon. It is delicious and amazing and full of protein without all the added fat and high calorie content. I started to add it to foods because of the protein but now I just eat it all the time because I freaking love the stuff. (Another favorite way to eat it is cut up carrot sticks tossed in the flour… SO GOOD!) Anyway, truth be told, it is not the most widely available stuff. I have only seen it in a few store over the years, so I have been buying it online. But recently someone told me that Trader Joes is selling it now (I haven’t checked yet) so I figured now is a good time to share the greatness of the flour and how you might want to use it.

Anyway, these oats here are my favorite way to eat oats. Warm and creamy, but not cooked and gruel like. They are like a cross between stove top oats and overnight oats except they take all of 5 minutes to make and you don’t need to dirty a pot. Then mixed with banana for extra sweetness and flavor, the peanut flour for all the peanut butter taste and protein. These oats are unstoppable.  Delicious and nutritious for breakfast, lunch, snack time, or dessert, these oats are all win win. Add another win just because. Win, Win, WIN!

Now to the oats!

The stuff. Old fashion oats, a small banana, peanut flour, cinnamon, and boiling hot water.

Mash up the banana until smoothish then add in half the hot water and mix. Dump in the oats and mix those too.

Top with the rest of the boiling water and let sit for about 5 minutes.

After the oats absorbed the hot banana water, dump on the cinnamon and the peanut butter flour and mix in.

Grab yourself a spoon friend.

Eat.

-C

---

Peanut Flour and Banana Oats

Makes 1 serving. Can be halved for smaller portion

• 1 small banana

• 1/2 cup old fashion oats

• 2 (or more if you want) tablespoons peanut flour

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

• 1 cup boiling water

Place peeled banana in a bowl and mash with a fork unit smooth. Add in half the boiling water and mix.. Dump in oats and mix until incorporated then add in the rest of the hot water. Let sit for 5 minutes until oats absorb all the water. Stir in peanut flour and cinnamon. Eat.

Chocolate filled Vanilla Sugar Sandwich Cookies

As of right now, these are by far the best cookies I have ever made. Look at them. They are SO CUTE!. Worth all the effort, seeing that I do not own a ghost cookie cutter (although I think my version of ghosts are pretty fantastic) and had to hand cut out each cookie with a knife and a ghost cutout I made a few weeks back. They make me happy just looking at them. That right there is saying something. And I don’t know about you and where you are, but it is getting pretty freaking cold out and I refuse to turn the heat on for a few more weeks so I do what I need to do to stay warm. If that means turning on the oven to bake cookies, then so be it. I have a feeling I am going to be making a few more batches of cookies before the months over. HA! (For reals though.)

These cookies are more or less a traditional sugar cookie with a chocolate ganache type filling, both with a hint of coconut flavor from the use of coconut oil. Something about the whole combination; the cookie, the coconutieness, and the chocolate that really had everyone (I gave them out a Barbs birthday party) praise my amazingness. I guess they are pretty freaking delicious.

Cute and delicious. Best kind of cookie!

And quick note. Yes these are ghosts but think of all the fun shaped sandwich cookies you could make. I am thinking moose shaped cookies next or maybe Christmas trees… Oh the possibilities!

Now, to the cookies!

The stuff. White sugar, coconut oil, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, almond milk, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. For cookies and filling.

To make cookie dough. Beat toghetet the coconut oil with sugar and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Add in all the dry ingredients and the almond milk and mix until a dough forms.

Wrap dough in plastic and squish tight. Place in fridge for an hour or up to a day.

After dough has had time in the fridge, grab it and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.

Cut out cookie shapes. If you want to cut out eyes or a few different shapes, remember each cookie needs a top and bottom so even numbers folks.

Place cut out cookies on a baking sheet then into the oven they go.

Bakes and ghostly! Place them on a wire rack to cool and keep baking the rest of the cookies.

While cookies are cooling, make chocolate filling. Super soft, almost melted coconut oil goes in a bowl with vanilla and gets beaten together. Add in the cocoa powder, powdered sugar and pinch of salt and kept beating slowly anding in a bit of milk until the whole shebang comes together into chocolate filling awesomeness.

Ghost filling!

Once the cookies are completely cooled, fill them. The filling might have tightened up a bit so if it is not spreadable, pop into microwave for like 8 seconds to get it to move. Scoop or smear equal amounts of filling onto the bottoms of the cookies and top them off with their tops.

Done, and ready to eat.

Ghosts cookies for all your ghost fueled festivities.

-C

---

Chocolate filled Vanilla Sugar Sandwich Cookies

makes at least 16 sandwich cookies

For the cookies

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extact

• 2/3 cup soft coconut oil

• 5 tablespoons plant milk (I used almond)

For the filling

• 1 1/2- 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

• 4 tablespoons melted coconut oil

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2-3 tablespoons plant milk

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350

In a bowl beat together the white sugar with the coconut oil and vanilla extract. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and start to mix with a spoon or fork, adding in the milk as you go. Keep mixing until completely incorporated and turns to a ball of dough. Gather together into a ball and wrap in plastic. Pat flat and place into fridge for an hour or up to a day.

To cut out cookies. Roll fridgerated dough out on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out shapes, making sure to have a top and bottom for each cookie. Gather left over dough into a ball and repeat until all the dough is used.

Place cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes or until they are just starting to lightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cook.

For chocolate filling. Beat together the melted coconut oil with vanilla. Add in the lesser amount of powdered sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. Beat on low, adding in 2 tablespoons plant milk. Beat until mixture comes together into a thick but spreadable consistency. If it seems too thick, add more milk, too thin, a little more powdered sugar.

Cookie assembly. 2 cookies at a time. A top and bottom. Spread about a tablespoon of chocolate filling to bottom cookies and pop the top on.

Eat cookies. Store what is not eaten in a airtight container for up to a week, but these ghosts will definitely not last that long.

Peach Almond Shortbread Bars

Peaches are here. YAY!!! Peaches are for sure one of those fleeting fruits, one that once in season, you need to eat as many fresh as you can because once they are out of season, they are not good. Not good at all. And me being me, I see peaches, I buy a shit load, and now I have a fridge drawer full. Not complaining in the slightest, but peaches cannot sit around all summer waiting to be eaten. So if you are going to buy a shit load, know what you are going to do with them all.

My peaches, well they haven’t had to wait long. I have been eating at least a peach a day and… I made these bars with a few. Sharing my peaches, thats what I do. HA.

These almond peach shortbread bars. Fantastic A+ on all fronts. Easy to make, not a whole heck of a lot of ingredients, make the house smell amazing, and really kick off the peach, summer vibe thing that goes on around here.

'“Millions of peaches, peaches for me. Millions of Peaches, peaches for free” 🎶 (Peaches by The Presidents of the United States of America. If you have’t head the song, look it up. I don’t think I can even look at a peach without hearing the song in my head.)

Now to the peach almond shortbread bars!

The stuff. Peaches, almonds, vegan butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.

Easy peasy. Almonds go in to food processor first. Blend and pulse for a minute or two until they turn into a medium fine almond meal. (Don’t over blend or you will end up with almond butter.) When almonds are ground, add in the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Pulse until combined. Then add in the butter in chunks and pulse until dough just starts to come together.

Almond shortbread dough.

Half the dough goes into a 9x9 baking pan. Smooshed evenly all over the bottom poke it with a fork. Then it just needs to go into the oven to bake. 15-18 minutes or so, just until it starts to brown a bit.

Peaches need to be cut so cut them up. !/2 inch thick slices, after the pits be removed of course.

Blinded baked bottom. Looks good yeah? Let it cool for a few minutes and then it gets peaches. Three rows, all over lapping and nestled together.

The top gets the remaining half of dough and is now it’s ready for the oven. Another 40-ish minutes or so to really seal the deal.

Taken from the oven when golden brown, cooled, cut up, and placed on a pretty plate because pretty is nice.

I am pretty sure you figured out what to do next…. EAT IT!

-C

---

Peach Almond Shortbread Bars

makes a 9x9 pan which can be cut Into the sizes of your choice

• 1 cup vegan butter

• 1 cup packed brown sugar

• 2 cup cup all purpose flour

• 1 cups raw almonds

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3 large firm peaches

• 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven 350

Place almonds into a food processor and pulse and blend until a fine meal has formed. It should take only a minute or two and stop half way and scrape the edges and sides do the almonds don’t start to form a paste. Add in the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon,and sugar and pulse until combined. Add in the vegan butter in a few chunks and pulse until the mixture turns into a crumbly dough. Stop pulsing and dump mixture into big bowl.

Take half of the mixture and place into a 9x9 baking pan. Evenly distribute and press the dough into the bottom. Take a fork and poke the dough all over then place the pan in the oven. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the dough just starts to lighly brown. Remove from oven.

While the bottom crust is cooling off for a few minutes, slice peaches into 1/2 inch slices. Obviously make sure to remove pit.

Now take your half baked crust and layer peaches evenly on top. It is easies to start at the top, make three rows across and then layer the peaches down (like in the picture above). Once peaches are layered, grab the remaining half of dough and evenly distribute on top. Place back into oven and bake for another 40-45 minutes or until the crumble on top is a nice deep golden brown.

Remove from oven, let coo completely (or as completely as you can) cut into pieces, and then you eat it.

Left over pieces should be placed in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. They freeze well individually wrapped too.

blind back for about 15 minutes of until the crust is starting to brown around the edges

bake for another 30 minutes