Vegan fruitcake is made with nuts, seeds, dried fruit, spices, and fruit juices and is easily customizable based on your preferences. If you have a jar of mixed nuts laying around in your cabinet or a package of dried fruit you want to use up to create more space in your pantry, mix them both in this easy vegan and gluten-free recipe and enjoy the sweet and savory flavors with a bit of crunch.

Another bonus about this vegan fruitcake recipe is that it’s made in one bowl. Yeah, that’s right, this is an on-bowl vegan and gluten-free recipe so clean-up is made easy and your dessert caters to most allergies. Checking off all the boxes, this vegan and gluten-free fruitcake is freezable, whole, or sliced, so if you want to make extra to enjoy at a later date, you can store the cake easily. It’s time to dig in!

What You’ll Need to Make Vegan Fruit Cake

• Oat flour
• Sugar
• Baking powder
• Cinnamon
• Ground cloves
• Ground cardamom
• Ground nutmeg
• Vegetable oil
• Apple juice
• Mixed dried fruits
• Mixed nuts and seeds

Easy Variations for Vegan Fruit Cake

This recipe is very adaptable, so feel free to mix and match your fruits, nuts, juices, spices, and seeds, and add any extras you like. You can really add any of your favorite melodies to this recipe and it’s a great way to use up any leftovers or bags of nuts to clear out. You can keep your fruits and nuts whole, or chop them roughly. Try any one of these easy alternatives to switch up the flavor of your vegan fruit cake:

• Try dried cranberries, figs, apricots, blueberries, prunes, raisins, or dates. Or use candied fruits like cherry, orange, lemon, or tangerine
• Choose nuts like hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, macadamias, or pistachios. Toast them for extra flavor, if you prefer.
• Seeds like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, or sesame seeds are great in this fruitcake.
• Spice your fruitcake with vanilla extract, pumpkin spice, or a splash of whiskey or rum.
• Play around with the liquids you add to the cake. Apple juice and water are a great combo, but you can also use plant milk, orange juice, cranberry juice, tea, or a combination of these. Adding a little coffee can give lovely flavors as well.
• To make this cake oil-free simply use apple sauce or mashed bananas instead of the vegetable oil
• You can bake this cake in a traditional round cake mold, or you can use muffin tins or a loaf pan. Make sure to adjust the baking time if choosing different baking dishes.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 55 minutes

Vegan Fruitcake

8-12 portions (slices)

Ingredients

• 2 cups / 250 g oat flour
• 1/4 cup / 50 g sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1.5 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup / 80 ml vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml apple juice
• 10 oz / 300 g mixed dried fruits
• 10 oz / 300 g mixed nuts and seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 360 F / 180 C.
2.  In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and nutmeg.
3. Pour in oil, apple juice, and around 2/5 cup or 100 ml water, and mix everything well together.
4. Fold in fruits, nuts, and seeds.
5. Pour dough into a silicon form, or a lightly greased pan, and smooth out the top.
6. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Allow the cake to cool completely before slicing.

The post No-Waste One-Bowl Fruitcake That’s Vegan and Gluten-Free appeared first on The Beet.

Vegan pine cone cookies may look complicated to make, but this recipe actually takes minimal effort and just five ingredients! This no-bake cookie recipe is easy to follow and only requires 10 minutes of active time. Vegan pine cone cookies do require a couple of hours to chill, so leave time to cool and decorate.

No-bake vegan pine cone cookies can be easily customized to be free of gluten, sugar, or unhealthy ingredients. You can also have fun with the recipe and add your favorite spices, nuts, or even alcohol!

Vegan Pine Cone Cookie Ingredients 

• Cookies (Store-bought or homemade)
• Vegan chocolate spread or nut butter
• Jam
• Chocolate cornflakes
• Powdered sugar

Should You Use Store-Bought or Homemade Cookies?

Both homemade and store-bought cookies can be used to make vegan pine cone cookies. You can use any vegan cookie for this recipe – try vegan oat cookies, vegan gingerbread, vegan Oreos, spekulatius, sugar cookies, ginger cookies, or a combination of these.

This no-bake vegan pine cone cookie recipe will work with any leftover cookies or cookie crumbles from the bottom of the bag.

What to Use Instead of Jam, Vegan Chocolate Spread or Nut Butter

As the ‘wet ingredient’ you have so many options to choose from as well: jam (apricot and orange are our favorites), vegan chocolate spread, peanut butter, hazelnut butter, tahini, or vegan cream cheese. You can use these alone or in a combination in this recipe.

How much to use of these will depend on the type of cookies you crumbled. If you use filled or softer cookies you will need less of the ‘wet ingredients’ compared to some drier cookies.

Customize Vegan Pine Cone Cookies

No-bake vegan pine cone cookies are extremely versatile and customizable.

• Use orange or lemon zest to brighten up the flavor of the cookies.
• Sprinkle your favorite holiday spices such as ground ginger, cinnamon, or pumpkin spice to the mix.
• Chocolate lovers will want to add in cocoa powder for extra chocolate flavor.
• If you’re looking for different textures throughout the vegan pine cone cookies, use coconut flakes, chopped dried nuts or cacao nibs.
• Vanilla extract is always a great addition to any vegan cookie or vegan holiday dessert.
• Dust the cookies with sugar before serving for a snowy effect.
• Mix in rum or whiskey for a bold flavor.

How to Make Pine Cone Cookies

1. Place vegan cookies in a food processor. Pulse into fine crumbs. Work in batches, if needed.
2. Transfer vegan cookie crumbs into a large bowl, and add chocolate spread and jam. Start with a smaller amount, you can add more if needed as you go. Add any extra ingredients if using them as well.
3. Start to mix and “knead” the dough, until it’s sticky but shapable. Add more jam and/or chocolate spread, if needed. Place dough covered in the fridge for an hour.
4. If the dough seems too dry after chilling, add a splash of dairy-free milk and knead again.
5. Shape about 1/4 cup of the dough into a cone or pyramid. Starting from the bottom, insert chocolate cornflakes into the dough to resemble pine cones. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
6. Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. Dust with sugar before serving.

Make Your Own Vegan Chocolate Spread From Scratch

You can either buy vegan Nutella or make your own vegan chocolate from scratch. Homemade vegan chocolate spread takes under 5 minutes to make. Melt 7 ounces of dark chocolate in a double boiler, stir in a few tablespoons of coconut cream and refrigerate for 25 minutes.

No-Bake Vegan Pine Cone Cookies

Makes about 12 pine cones

Prep Time: 10 mins

Chilling time: 1 hour

Decorating: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 1.1 lbs/500 g cookies (about 4 cups of cookie crumbs)
• 2-4 tbsp vegan chocolate spread or nut butter
• 4-6 tbsp jam
• chocolate cornflakes
• powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Place cookies in a food processor. Pulse into fine crumbs. Work in batches, if needed.
2. Transfer crumbs into a large bowl, and add chocolate spread and jam. Start with a smaller amount, you can add more if needed as you go. Add any optional extras if using them as well.
3. Start to mix and “knead” the dough, until it’s sticky but shapable. Add more jam and/or chocolate spread, if needed. Place dough covered in the fridge for an hour.
4. If the dough seems too dry after chilling, add a splash of plant milk and knead again.
5. Shape about 1/4 cup of the dough into a cone or pyramid. Starting from the bottom, insert chocolate cornflakes into the dough to resemble pine cones. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
6. Serve pine cones immediately or chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. Dust with sugar before serving.

More Vegan Holiday Cookies You’ll Love

• Vegan Snowball Cookies
• Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
• Chocolate Hazelnut Shortbread Swirl

The post Easy No-Bake Vegan Pine Cone Cookies With Just 5 Ingredients appeared first on The Beet.

Vegan Christmas wreaths are great as an appetizer, snack, or side dish. Customize this recipe to include your favorite vegetables, dips, and vegan cheeses.

Vegan Christmas Wreath Ingredients

• Tofu
• Ground almonds
• Nutritional yeast
• Lemon
• Garlic
• Unsweetened plant milk
• Mixed herbs
• Salt and Pepper
• Pizza dough (store-bought or homemade)
• Sesame seeds, and chili powder for decorating (optional)

3 Substitutes to Make This Vegan Christmas Wreath Healthier

• Make your own vegan pizza dough from scratch and choose whole wheat flour. Swap whole wheat or white flour for gluten-free all-purpose flour.
• Besides Herbed Vegan Ricotta, add some blanched spinach or chopped, steamed broccoli to the balls as well.
• You can also sprinkle your wreath with extra veggie toppings such as bell pepper, olives, tomatoes, or onions.

Tips to Simplify Vegan Christmas Wreath 

1. Skip making pizza dough from scratch. Use pre-rolled, store-bought pizza dough instead. You can find vegan pizza dough at Whole Foods, Wegmans and Amazon.
2. Use hummus, vegan cream cheese, or pesto instead of homemade vegan ricotta.
3. For an extra quick version skip forming balls, and shape pizza dough into a wreath shape. Top the wreath with vegan ricotta, hummus, vegan cream cheese, or vegan pesto.

Make the Herbed Vegan Ricotta

For the herbed vegan ricotta add tofu, almonds, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and garlic to a food processor. Start processing, and add milk as you go, until you reach desired consistency. Add herbs and a pinch of salt and pepper, and pulse a few times to combine.

How to Assemble the Vegan Christmas Wreath

On a lightly floured surface roll out the vegan pizza dough into a large, thin rectangle. Cut the vegan pizza dough into about 2.5 inch/6.5 cm squares.

Place a small dollop of vegan ricotta into the center of each square. Pinch corners and sides together, and lightly roll into a ball. Repeat with remaining vegan dough and vegan ricotta. Save any leftover ricotta for serving.

Brush balls with plant milk or vegan butter, and sprinkle with toppings, such as sesame seeds or chili.

Arrange balls, seam side down on a parchment-lined baking tray in a circle. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush occasionally with more milk, if the dough looks too dry.

Customize Your Vegan Christmas Wreaths

• Spice up your Vegan Herb Ricotta! Add extra fresh chili, lemon zest, vegan parmesan, vegan feta, or veggie bacon.
• Don’t forget to add extra grated vegan cheese between and on top of the balls as well
• Use vegan butter instead of milk to brush the vegan Christmas wreath.
• Serve your Vegan Christmas Wreath with your favorite vegan sauces and condiments for dipping.
• Get creative with decorating your vegan Christmas wreath: place it on a bed of fresh herbs and pine branches, add ribbons and bows, and use edible gold paper or candied cranberries for extra visual interest.

Christmas Wreath with Herbed Vegan Ricotta

Serves 6-8

Prep Time: 35 mins

Baking Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 7 oz / 200 g tofu
• 1.7 oz / 50 g blanched, ground almonds
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/4-1/2 cup / 60-125 ml unsweetened plant milk
• 4 tbsp chopped mixed herbs
• salt, pepper
• 1.3 lbs / 600 g pizza dough, store-bought or homemade (double the recipe)
• unsweetened plant milk for brushing
• sesame seeds, chili powder for decorating (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 360 F/180 C.
2. For the ricotta add tofu, almonds, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and garlic to a food processor. Start processing, and add milk as you go, until you reach desired consistency. Add herbs and a pinch of salt and pepper, and pulse a few time to combine.
3. On a lightly floured surface roll out pizza dough into a large, thin rectangle. Cut into about 2.5 inch/6.5 cm squares.
4. Place a small dollop of ricotta into the center of each square. Pinch corners and sides together, and lightly roll into a ball. Repeat with remaining dough and ricotta. Save any leftover ricotta for serving.
5. Brush balls with plant milk, and sprinkle with sesame seeds or chili, if you want.
6. Arrange balls, seam side down on a parchment-lined baking tray in a circle.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Brush occasionally with more milk, if the dough looks too dry.
8. Serve immediately or at room temperature with leftover ricotta for dipping.

Vegan Holiday Recipes You Will Love 

• Vegan Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie
• Mark Bittman’s Dairy-Free Lasagna
• Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
• Vegan “Cheesy” Broccoli and Wild Rice Casserole

The post Easy to Make Vegan Christmas Wreath With Vegan Herbed Ricotta appeared first on The Beet.

Is Banana Bread Vegan?

Banana Bread is not usually vegan as it typically contains eggs or some form of dairy such as butter or milk. Luckily, there are tons of vegan alternatives and substitutions for butter, milk, and eggs.

This healthier recipe for vegan banana bread calls for coconut oil instead of melted butter. This recipe also uses dairy-free milk instead of dairy milk. Some of our favorite dairy-free milks to use in banana bread are oat milk and almond milk. Or, use banana milk to infuse the batter with even more flavor.

Eggs typically act as a binder in many baked goods like banana bread. This recipe uses four medium mashed bananas instead of eggs as a binder in vegan banana bread.

Ingredients You’ll Need For Easy Vegan Banana Bread

• Ripe (or overripe) mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
• Coconut oil
• Flour
• Sugar
• Baking powder
• Cinnamon
• Ginger powder
• Ground cloves
• Salt
• Dairy-free milk
• 1 banana for decorating (optional)

Should You Use Ripe or Overripe Bananas in Vegan Banana Bread?

Most recipes call for overripe bananas because, during the ripening process, they get sweeter and develop more flavor. Don’t stress if you don’t have any overripe bananas. You can also use ripe bananas but the bread won’t taste as flavorful.

How to Ripen Bananas Fast

The fastest method to ripen bananas is with a paper towel or plate and microwave. Take the unpeeled bananas and pole small holes with a fork all over the bananas. Place the banana on a paper towel or plate.

Microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time. Keep microwaving the bananas until you reach the desired softness. Only microwave one banana at a time.

The paper bag method is the most effective method. The only catch is that it can take up to a couple of days for the bananas to ripen.

Place the bananas in a paper bag and close it. This traps a gaseous plant hormone known as Ethylene gas in the bag. Ethylene gas is essential to the ripening process in fruit.

Leave the bananas in the paper bag overnight. Bananas can take up to a couple of days to ripen so make sure to keep an eye on them.

5 Toppings That Upgrade Your Healthy Banana Bread

• Vegan Dark Chocolate Chips
• Walnuts or Pecans
• Zucchini
• Vegan Nutella
• Berry Jam
• Vegan Cream Cheese

Tips and Substitutions For Vegan Banana Bread

This recipe is very easy and adaptable so feel free to play around with it.

• Use flours like white, whole wheat, spelt, oat, or a gluten-free blend.
• Cut back on the amount of sugar if you prefer vegan banana bread that is less sweet.
• Swap coconut oil for vegan butter.
• Make an oil-free vegan banana bread by swapping oil or butter for applesauce.
• Skip on the spices (though they work super well here), or double them for an even more flavorful result.
• Pumpkin spice mix, star anise, nutmeg, or cardamom work with the recipe too.
• You can add extras to your Banana Bread. Try chocolate chips, walnuts, hazelnuts, chopped dates, poppy seeds, oats, or fresh blueberries.
• Use soft, and spotty bananas.
• Make vegan banana bread french toast with leftover slices.

The Easiest Way to Make Vegan Banana Bread

1. Mash bananas with a fork. Add coconut oil, and mix well.
2. In a separate bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and spices.
3. Add dry ingredients to bananas, and stir gently until just combined, making sure you don’t overmix it. You still want banana chunks visibly present in the batter. Add a splash of dairy-free milk if the batter is too dry.
4. Spoon batter into the loaf pan, and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
5. Let Banana Bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely (otherwise it’s difficult to slice).

How to Avoid Dry Vegan Banana Bread

Avoid overmixing the vegan banana bread batter. Overmixed batter will lead to dry, dense banana bread. You want the batter to still have some banana chunks.

Another common mistake that causes dry vegan banana bread is the ratio of flour to banana. Too many bananas will lead to a wet banana bread loaf. Too much flour will lead to dry, dense banana bread.

Can You Use The Same Recipe to Make Vegan Banana Bread Muffins?

This recipe is extremely versatile and can be used to make muffins as well. Add blueberries, chocolate chips, cinnamon, pumpkin, or strawberries to have different variations of muffins for the week. You can also use the batter to make banana bread pancakes and cookies.

What is the Best Way to Store Vegan Banana Bread?

Banana Bread stays fresh when covered for a couple of days at room temperature. You can also freeze any leftover banana bread slices. When ready to eat, take the banana bread out of the freezer and place it in the fridge to defrost. Warm them up in the oven for a few minutes when ready to eat.

Easy Vegan Banana Bread

for 1 loaf

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Baking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 14 oz / 400 g ripe, mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
• 1/3 cup / 80 ml melted coconut oil (plus more for greasing the loaf pan)
• 8 oz / 225 g flour
• 4.2 oz / 120 g sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• pinch of salt
• 2-4 tbsp unsweetened plant milk (if needed)
• optional: 1 banana for decorating

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 360 F/180 C. Grease and line a loaf pan.
2. Mash bananas with a fork. Add coconut oil, and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and spices.
4. Add dry ingredients to bananas, and stir gently until just combined, making sure you don’t overmix it. Add a little plant milk if the batter is too dry.
5. Spoon batter into the loaf pan, and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Let the banana bread cool down for 10 minutes in the pan. Transfer it to a wire rack and allow it to cool completely (otherwise it’s difficult to slice).

Nutritionals (1 of 8 Slices)

Calories 298 | Total Fat 9.8g | Saturated Fat 8.1g | Cholesterol 0mg | Sodium 6mg | Total Carbohydrates 51.9g | Dietary Fiber 2.7g | Total Sugars 22.9g | Protein 3.7g | Calcium 79mg | Iron 2mg | Potassium 376mg |

More Banana Recipes You’ll Love

• Vegan Banana Upside-Down Cake
• Vegan Banana Bread Oat Cookies
• Vegan Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal
• Vegan Banana Split
• Vegan Double Chocolate Banana Bread

The post Healthy and Easy Vegan Banana Bread appeared first on The Beet.

Mushroom and Walnut Wellington can be served both cold or warm, with side dishes of your choice: A big green salad, mashed potatoes, minty peas, steamed veggies, or sautéed spinach. Don’t forget to serve it with your favorite sauce like mushroom gravy, cranberry jam, or a homemade barbecue sauce.

Is Puff Pastry Vegan?

Puff pastry, the dough that turns into a croissant-like buttery and flakey layer when it’s cooked, is not always vegan. Be sure to check the label when you go to your store because many puff pastry brands contain eggs and butter. However, there are store-bought puff pastry brands that contain vegetable oils or vegetable-oil-based margarine which makes it completely vegan. For vegan puff pastry brands, try any one of these:

• Pepperidge Farm
• Jus-Rol Pre-Rolled Dough
• Schar Puff Pastry (also gluten-free)
• Wewalka Puff Pastry

How to Make a Vegan Wellington More Affordable

For the most part, this recipe calls for mainly inexpensive ingredients, but you can still swap anything you don’t have on hand. If you don’t have walnuts, use hazelnuts instead. If you don’t have a can of kidney beans tucked away in your pantry, try chickpeas instead. Don’t have any miso? The recipe can do without it and still taste amazing!

Instead of hitting the grocery store right away, check on your leftovers and see if any of the ingredients can be reused in this dish. Take any wilted vegetables like herbs, mushrooms, and carrots, and use them up!

There’s also a way to speed up this recipe. If you love the look of this Vegan Mushroom and Walnut Wellington but want it to be ready in half the time, feel free to swap the filling to anything you like or use a storebought filling. Your pastry will look the same but it will have a different taste. You can even use the stuffing from last night’s meal in this vegan puff pastry. For another example, use store-bought vegan ground meat or lentils for a super quick and easy cheat version.

What is Vegan Wellington Made of?

It’s likely you already have many of the ingredients to make this vegan wellington stored away in your pantry or leftover from yesterday’s salad. You’ll need to dig through your spice cabinet for this one! The flavor in this vegan wellington comes from the array and variety of spices, fresh herbs, and sauces, as well as your fresh chopped vegetables. To get started, lay out all your ingredients on your countertop:

• Onions
• Cloves of garlic
• Celery
• Carrot
• Mushrooms
• Vegetable oil
• Smoked tofu
• Tomato paste
• Soy sauce
• Dark miso
• Balsamic vinegar
• Maple syrup
• Vegan Worcestershire sauce
• Liquid smoke
• Fresh herbs (such as sage, thyme, basil, etc)
• Smoked paprika
• Marjoram
• Cumin
• Ground coriander
• Curry powder
• Chili powder
• Ground nutmeg
• Kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• Walnuts, toasted
• Nutritional yeast
• Bread crumbs or oat flour
• Puff pastry
• Plant milk
• Salt
• Pepper

What You’ll Need to Make Vegan Wellington

There are three pieces of kitchen equipment you must have to make this vegan wellington. You’ll start by adding dry ingredients, then wet ingredients to a mixing bowl. You will also need a food processor to blend the walnuts and filling. You will also need a baking tray to cook the wellington.

How to Make Oil-Free Vegan Wellington

Looking for a healthy vegan wellington? You can make this recipe oil-free by sauteing the onions and mushrooms without oil and opting for a vegetable broth instead. Instead of using puff pastry, try using oil-free pizza dough.

How to Make Healthy Vegan Wellington

If you want the healthiest way to make vegan wellington, try swapping the puff pastry for whole wheat or gluten-free pizza dough. Instead of regular soy sauce or vegan Worechsire sauce, choose the low-sodium option at your grocery store. To fully enjoy the vegan wellington with healthy sides, serve your dish with a side of fresh greens, a big salad, or steamed vegetables instead of mashed potatoes and stuffing.

The Perfect Christmas Main Dish

Vegan Walnut and Mushroom Wellington make for a beautiful centerpiece to enjoy at Christmas dinner or brunch. If you want to really impress your guest, make your filling even more flavorful by choosing a combination of different mushrooms, using fresh herbs and chili, and using vegan butter instead of oil.

You can also level up your garnish game by adding extras such as truffle, red wine, saffron, vegan bacon, and melty vegan cheese to your filling. Let’s not forget about the decoration of your vegan wellington. Cut out little stars or leaves out of puff pastry, or braid some dough on top. Add fresh herbs or cranberries, or sprinkle your log with seeds. Lastly, serve your mushroom and walnut wellington with a delicious homemade sauce and a variety of side dishes.

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes

Vegan Mushroom and Walnut Wellington

Makes 1 wellington (serves 6-8)

Ingredients

• 2 onions, roughly chopped (1 cup chopped)
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 stalk of celery, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, roughly chopped
• 14 oz / 400 g mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 7 oz / 200 g smoked tofu, shredded or crumbled
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark miso
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 tsp liquid smoke
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (such as sage, thyme, basil, etc)
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp marjoram
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup / 120 g walnuts, toasted
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp bread crumbs or oat flour
• 10 oz / 300 g puff pastry, thawed
• unsweetened plant milk for brushing
• salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Add onion, garlic, celery, carrot, and mushrooms to a food processor, and process until finely shredded. Alternatively, you can also chop everything with a knife, however food processor makes this step a lot easier and quicker.
2. Heat up oil in a large skillet, then add shredded veggies. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid evaporates. Add tofu, and seasonings from tomato paste up until ground nutmeg is on the ingredient list. Cook on for another 5 minutes.
3. Add drained kidney beans to a large bowl, and mash with a fork until mostly smooth with a few chunks left.
4. Place walnuts in the food processor and pulse a few times until chopped. Add walnuts to beans together with the cooked mix, nutritional yeast, bread crumbs, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well, taste, and adjust seasoning if needed. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
5. Preheat oven to 400 F / 200 C.
6. If your puff pastry is not pre-rolled, roll it out into a large rectangle, about 25 x 40 cm. Transfer Wellington mix onto the pastry, and shape into a log in the middle.
7. Cut the pastry into strands slightly diagonally along the log (see pictures). Fold the ends over the log, then wrap/braid the log with the pastry strips, alternating sides, until the log is fully covered. You can use any leftover pastry to cover larger gaps or to cut out cute shapes for decorating.
8. Brush Wellington with plant milk, then bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown.

More Vegan Puff Pastry Dishes You’ll Love

• Vegan Bean Wellington
• Asparagus Puff Pastry Bundles with Hummus and Vegan Cheese
• Vegan Carrot Puff Pastry Tart

The post The Ultimate Vegan Wellington Made With Mushrooms and Walnuts appeared first on The Beet.

Vegan sugar cookies are easy to make and will have everyone at your holiday gatherings asking for the recipe. Each bite is sweet, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth soft. Once you try this recipe, you will never buy store-bought cookies again.

What’s the Difference Between Vegan Shortbread Cookies, Butter Cookies and Sugar Cookies?

• Sugar cookies have the highest ratio of flour to fat. Sugar cookies hold shape well making them the perfect cookie for decorative work. Cookie cutters work best on sugar cookies.
• Shortbread cookies have the highest ratio of vegan butter to flour. The higher ratio of butter leads to a shortbread cookie that is tender and crumbly.
• Butter cookies have a high proportion of vegan butter, but more flour and sugar. Butter cookies hold shape better than shortbread cookies and are great for rolling and cutting into shapes.

Vegan Sugar Cookie Ingredients

• Flour
• Powdered sugar
• Vegan butter, room temperature
• Vanilla extract
• Salt

How Does Vegan Butter Affect Sugar Cookies?

Using vegan butter has little to no effect on sugar cookie recipes. The biggest difference between using dairy butter and vegan butter in sugar cookies is that the flavor may be slightly different.

Vegan butter brands are made out of different ingredients such as coconut oil, cashew milk, vegetable oil and palm oil. Try the vegan butter to ensure the flavor of the butter doesn’t overwhelm your palette or recipe.

Some of our favorite brands of vegan butter to bake with are:

• Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Vegan Butter
• I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter… It’s Vegan
• Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread

Before using any vegan butter, make sure to check out whether it is salted or unsalted. This will have a huge impact on the saltiness of the vegan sugar cookie. Make sure to decrease the amount of salt you add to the vegan cookie dough if using salted vegan butter.

How to Make Vegan Sugar Cookies in 3 Easy Steps

1. Mix together flour, sugar and salt.
2. Add butter and vanilla extract, and using an electric whisk start to mix on low. Increase speed and mix until dough is completely combined.
3. Form dough into a log, and wrap it in a foil, twisting the ends. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Is It Necessary to Chill the Vegan Sugar Cookie Dough?

Freezing cookie dough solidifies the butter and allows it to cool. Skipping this step can cause the cookies to spread apart while baking. This simple step also impacts the texture of a cookie drastically and guarantees a soft, chewy cookie.

Another benefit of chilling the cookies is that it helps the dough firm up. This makes it easier to roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter. The cookie dough will be easier to handle the more chilled it is.

Customize This Vegan Sugar Cookie Recipe For Any Occasion

• Add food colorings to color the vegan sugar cookie dough. Use beet powder for a pink color or turmeric for a yellow color
• Combine different colored doughs to create a checkered pattern, mini hearts, or fun circles
• Flavor these vegan sugar cookies in different ways. Instead of vanilla extract try orange extract, cinnamon, rum aroma or mint drops
• These cookies are great all year round. Cut out hearts for valentine’s day, stars or Christmas trees for the winter season, or little socks for a baby shower

How to Avoid a Hard Sugar Cookie

The perfect vegan sugar cookie is soft, buttery and tender. The best way to achieve the perfect vegan sugar cookie is to mix the dry ingredients until they’re just incorporated. The more you mix or overwork the gluten in this dough, the harder the cookie will be.

Another way to ensure you get a soft vegan sugar cookie is to measure all your ingredients precisely, especially the flour. Too much will flour can lead to a dry and crumbly dough. Pack the measuring cups tight with the ingredients and use a knife to get rid of any excess.

The Quickest Way to Fix Crumbly or Dry Vegan Sugar Cookie Dough

Is the dough crumbly or dry? If so, it may be because the dough was overmixed or it contains too much of one ingredient, such as flour.

Luckily, there is an easy fix: Add one to two tablespoons of water, plant-based milk or vegan butter. Adding liquid will help bring the dough together and form a smooth consistency. Make sure to slowly add the liquid to avoid making the dough too wet.

Is Frosting Vegan? How to Make Vegan Frosting

Frosting is not vegan because it is usually made with dairy, such as milk or heavy cream. All you have to do is swap dairy milk or heavy cream for dairy-free milk and you have vegan frosting! Add your favorite nut milk, oat milk or soy milk.

To make the frosting, mix together sugar and dairy-free milk. Spread frosting on top of the cookies, and add sprinkles on top. Make sure to let the frosting harden before serving.

6 Simple Ways to Decorate Cookies

1. Add food coloring to royal icing for a colorful cookie
2. Spread the icing over the cookies, or pipe them to create beautiful patterns.
3. Make a frosting out of vegan cream cheese and powdered sugar
4. Decorate your cookies with sprinkles, edible glitter, chocolate chip, or colored sugar
5. Try something unique using dried flowers, herbs, or edible gold
6. You can also dip the cookies in melted chocolate or cinnamon sugar

Can You Freeze Vegan Sugar Cookies? 

Yes, you can freeze vegan sugar cookies. Double or triple the recipe so you always have vegan sugar cookies handy in the freezer at all times.

Make sure to wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap before baking. Vegan sugar cookie dough can be stored for up to a couple of months in the freezer. You can also freeze pre-baked cookies.

Soft Vegan Sugar Cookies

20 Cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Chilling Time: 2 hours

Baking Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

Vegan Sugar Cookie Dough

• 150 g flour
• 60 g powdered sugar
• pinch of salt
• 100 g vegan butter, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Vegan Frosting

• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp plant milk
• Sprinkles

Instructions

1. Mix together flour, sugar and salt.
2. Add butter and vanilla extract, and using an electric whisk start to mix on low. Increase speed and mix until dough is completely combined.
3. Form dough into a log, and Wrap in a foil, twisting the ends. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 360 F/180 C.
5. Slice log into 1/3 inch / 1 cm slices, and place onto a parchment paper lined baking tray.
6. If using a cookie cutter, roll the dough out on a floured surface, then cut out shapes of your choice.
7. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. Let cookies cool completely.
8. For the frosting mix together sugar and dairy-free milk. Spread frosting on top of the cookies, and sprinkle with sprinkles. Let the frosting harden before serving.

Vegan Cookie Recipes You Might Like:

• Vegan Snowball Cookies
• Vegan Ginger Cookies
• Vegan Raspberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

The post The Best Vegan Sugar Cookies With Just 5 Ingredients! appeared first on The Beet.

This quiche has a simple flaky crust with an extremely creamy, luscious, and egg-like filling with a slightly cheesy flavor. To achieve the traditional eggy quiche we use tofu and chickpea flour for the perfect texture, and a pinch of black salt (also known as Kala namak) for the taste. If you prefer a soft, almost melty filling, bake the quiche for about 45 minutes. This version is best served fresh. For a harder (and easier to slice version) bake your quiche for about an hour total. Baking time might vary depending on your oven and baking dish, so toothpick taste your quiche before removing it from the oven.

One of the things we love the most about this vegan quiche is that it’s very customizable. You can double the filling if you prefer fewer veggies and more eggy and cheesy goodness. Or add extra vegan cheese to the mixture for an even richer texture.

A no-waste recipe for clearing out the fridge

We hate wasting fresh vegetables bought from the farmstand, the CSA, or the local market. This recipe is great for using up any leftover veggies from the fridge or freezer. You can even use vegetable scraps here. Carrot peels, carrot tops, potato skins, kale stems, broccoli stems, mushroom stems, wilted greens, or herb stems are just a few of the things that work well.

Choose veggies that are in season, and make spring, summer, fall, or winter versions. Or just use anything that you have on the bottom of your fridge. With this recipe, you don’t have to waste any random vegetable anymore. You can use your wilted greens, vegetable peels, leftover frozen veg mix, or half-empty cans of beans.

If you don’t have enough leftover veggies at the moment, simply collect all your sad-looking produce in a bag or container in the freezer. Then once you have enough, make quiche!

In general, you can choose whatever raw, steamed, or grilled vegetables you like for this quiche. Tomato, spinach, mixed mushroom, green peas, zucchini, kale, pumpkin, sun-dried tomato, broccoli, or leek work especially great here. Chop the vegetables into smaller pieces, and slice starchy vegetable paper-thin using a mandoline slicer or vegetable peeler. Play around with different cuts to make things visually interesting.

You can also make mini quiches instead of a large one. Small tartlet ramekins work the best here. Try playing around with vegetable combinations: Classic spinach-tomato, a healthy green version with asparagus, green peas, and broccoli, a kid-friendly zucchini and sweet potato one, or our fall version here. We used a mixture of Brussels sprout, sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, potato, beetroot, chanterelle mushroom, and red onion.

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cook/baking time: 45 minutes

Fall Veggie Quiche

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

For the pie crust:

• 1 cup/130 g whole wheat flour
• 3/8 cup/3 oz/85 g cold vegan butter, diced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• up to 4 tbsp ice-cold water

For the filling:

• 10.5 oz/300 g silken tofu
• 1/2 cup/120 ml water
• 4 tbsp chickpea flour
• 2 tbsp tapioca starch
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1.5 tbsp tahini
• 1.5 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp mustard
• 1 tsp white miso paste (optional)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp black salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
•  6-8 cups mixed veggies (see notes)
• 3 tbsp chopped herbs (such as rosemary, thyme, sage, or summer savory)
• 2 tbsp walnuts, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C.
2. Place flour, butter, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times, then slowly start to add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Pulse and add water, until a dough ball forms.
3. Transfer dough to a floured surface, and roll out into a large circle to form the crust.
4. Turn dough into a lightly greased 9-inch/23 cm pie dish, and press down lightly with your fingers. Shape the edges and pierce the bottom with a fork a few times. Place in the fridge until you prepare the filling.
5. For the filling add ingredients to a blender, and blend until completely smooth. Fold in vegetables and herbs.
6. Pour veggie and filling mix onto the pie crust, smoothing the top out. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts.
7. Cover the quiche with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil, and bake it for another 15 minutes for a creamy inside, or 20-30 minutes for a firmer filling.
8. Let cool a bit before slicing.

Looking for a quick and cheap shortcut?

• Go for a store-bought pie crust or puff pastry instead of homemade crust.
• If silken tofu is expensive in your supermarket, use regular tofu instead.
• Frozen veggies are cheaper, but just as good as fresh ones here.

Want to make this a little healthier?

• If you prefer, use coconut oil instead of vegan butter for the crust
• Add a tablespoon of ground flax seeds to the crust for extra omegas
• Or make this quiche completely crustless. Simply omit the dough and bake the filling in the dish. It works best with smaller, or single-serve pies
• Add extra greens to your filling. Spinach, collard greens, beet greens or kale are all lovely here.

Want to impress your guests?

• Instead of one large quiche, make multiple mini quiche! Kids will especially enjoy that
• Use white flour, or a mixture of white and whole wheat flour, if looking for a less ‘earthy’ taste
• Make your filling extra indulgent with stirring in some extra grated vegan cheese or crumbled vegan feta
• Double the amount of filling and cut back on your veggies a little, if you like
• Diced smoked tofu or vegan ham are also great add ins

Nutritionals

Calories 330 | Total Fat 15g | Saturated Fat 2.7g | Sodium 464mg | Total Carbohydrates 38g | Dietary Fiber 5.9g | Total Sugars 4.8g | Protein 12.4g | Calcium 197mg | Iron 3mg | Potassium 331mg |

The post No-Waste Vegetable Quiche That’s Vegan, Easy and Delicious appeared first on The Beet.

Don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen? We’ll help you get to the party sooner thanks to this quick and easy recipe made in just one bowl. Chewy Gingerbread Cookies are simple to make and don’t require too much cleanup, plus they can be prepared ahead, so they are great for busy days. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls for extra quick snacks.

What You’ll Need to Make Vegan Ginger Cookies

• Ground flaxseeds
• Vegan butter
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Gingerbread spice mix
• Molasses
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Flour

How to Make a Flax Egg

Instead of using a real egg to bind together your cookie dough, we use a flax egg which consists of ground-up flaxseed. Try our Easy Flax Egg Recipe to find out everything you need to know about how to make a flax egg, the perfect flax egg ratio, and what to use a flax egg for.

Note: A flax egg works as a binding agent so it doesn’t work well as an egg alternative for every recipe.

Best Vegan Butter for Cookies

Finding the perfect vegan butter for your cookie recipe has never been so easy since we taste-tested five different vegan butter brands and rated them for taste, texture, and health. For the perfect doughy and crisp cookie, we suggest using Earth Balance Buttery Spread or  Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Vegan Butter.

How to Make Vegan Ginger Cookies

To make these Ginger Cookies you can use store-bought gingerbread spice mix, or you can make your own if you prefer. To make these vegan cookies homemade, mix together 2-2 tablespoons of ground ginger and cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, and a pinch of black pepper. Store any leftovers in a small jar or container.

Tip and Subsitiues for Vegan Molasses Ginger Cookies

Want to switch up and customize your vegan cookie recipe? Try any one of these easy alternatives that cater well to allergies and taste preferences:

• Use more or fewer spices, depending on what you prefer
• You can add also extra flavors such as orange or rum extract, or ground cardamom
• For maximum flavor infuse your butter with spices. Simply melt the butter and add your spice mix, then cook for 5 minutes on low. Allow butter to completely cool down and solidify before using – it’s best to prepare this the day before
• Instead of flax egg, you can also use chia egg or your favorite store-bought egg replacer
• For extra crunch roll the dough balls into sugar or cinnamon sugar before baking

Prep time: 25 minutes
Chilling time: 1.5 hours
Baking time: 12 mins

Vegan Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

Makes about 25 cookies

Ingredients

• 1.5 tbsp ground flaxseeds (or egg replacer of your choice)
• 7 oz / 200 g soft vegan butter (at room temperature)
• 2 cups / 250 g powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-3 tbsp gingerbread spice mix
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 2.5 cups / 300 g flour

Instructions

1. Prepare flax egg. Mix together ground flaxseeds with 6 tablespoons of water. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until thickens.
2. Add butter to a bowl, and using an electric whisk start to mix on low. Add sifted sugar, and mix until combined.
3. Add vanilla, spice mix, molasses, baking soda, and salt, and keep on mixing, until creamy and well combined.
4. Start adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until everything is completely combined.
5. Cover dough and place in the fridge for at least 1,5 hours, but ideally overnight.
6. After the chilling time, preheat the oven to 400 F/200 C.
7. Scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon portions (a mini ice cream scoop works best for this). Roll into small balls, and place on a baking tray, leaving some space between them. Work in batches, if needed.
8. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until golden brown and the edges are crispy. Allow them to cool slightly, then transfer them to a cookie rack to cool completely.
9. Cookies are best on the day of baking, but your can store any leftovers in an airtight container for a couple of days.

Vegan Cookie Recipes You May Like

• Vegan Snowball Cookies
• Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie
• Peppermint Brownie Cookies 

The post Chewy Vegan Molasses Ginger Cookies appeared first on The Beet.

What You’ll Need to Make Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

• Flour
• Cocoa Powder
• Sugar
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Vegetable Oil
• Peppermint Extract
• Plant Milk
• Chopped Dark Chocolate (Optional)
• Peppermint Flavored Candy Cake (Optional)

How to Make Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Vegan Peppermint Brownie Cookies is an easy vegan recipe made in just one bowl so very little cleanup is required. The pre-baking process is simple and takes just ten minutes. You’ll combine the dry ingredients (your flour, powders, and sugar) in a bowl and mix then add your wet ingredients and mix until cookie dough consistency.

Then, you’ll roll your dough into a ball on a baking sheet and leave room for a festive crushed peppermint topping. Bake your cookies for roughly 8 minutes –– they will appear slightly “under-cooked.” The key to the perfect, gooey on the inside and crisp on the outside cookie is to not let them cook all the way through. If you have leftovers, you can easily freeze them!

Tips and Substitutes for Vegan Chocolate Peppermint Brownie Cookies

Have allergies or want to try another way to make these cookies? Try any one of these easy alternatives:

• Instead of all-purpose white flour, you can try whole wheat, oat, or a gluten-free blend as well. You can use white or brown sugar here.
• Feel free to use only 1/3 cup sugar for a less sugary version, or more for extra sweet cookies.
• Instead of basic (unsweetened) milk use chocolate milk instead. Or for the fudgiest and most delicious result try chocolate pudding If you don’t like the peppermint flavor you can skip it completely or use vanilla extract instead.
• If you’re not using peppermint you can add extra chopped chocolate or walnuts to the cookies instead for more flavor and texture.

Is Chocolate Vegan?

In this recipe, the chocolate taste comes from cocoa powder, derived from the cacao bean which is completely vegan. Dark chocolate is typically vegan because it’s not commonly made with milk, however, make sure to double-check the ingredient label.

Are Candy Canes Vegan?

Candy canes are typically vegan since they are simply made with sugar, corn syrup, and natural flavoring and coloring. On the other hand, gourmet candy canes dipped in chocolate or butterscotch are not vegan since these ingredients are dairy-based.

Prep time: 10 mins
Baking time: 8 mins

Vegan Peppermint Brownie Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup / 120 g flour
• 1/2 cup / 50 g cocoa powder
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup / 70-100 g sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 7 tbsp / 100 ml vegetable oil
• few drops of peppermint extract
• 1-6 tbsp plant milk
• 1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate (optional)
• peppermint flavored candy cane, crushed (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 340 F / 170 C.
2. Sift flour and cocoa powder into a bowl. Add sugar, baking powder, and salt, and mix well together.
3. Add vegetable oil and peppermint extract, and mix well together, until you get a cookie dough consistency. You likely need to add a few tablespoons of milk to reach desired consistency. Go slow and add 1 tablespoon at a time.
4. Stir in chopped chocolate, if using.
5. Scoop the dough into 2-tablespoon portions (a mini ice cream scoop works best for this). Roll into small balls, and place on a baking tray, leaving some space between them.
6. Bake for 7-8 minutes, until edges are crispy, but cookies look still “underdone”. Sprinkle with crushed candy, then let cool completely.

Vegan Cookie Recipes You May Like

• Vegan Snowball Cookies
• Vegan Brownie and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough S’mores
• Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie

Vegan Peppermint Recipes You May Like

• Chocolate Peppermint Cake
• Chocolate Peppermint Bars
• Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake

The post Easy One-Bowl Vegan Peppermint Brownie Cookies in Under 20 Minutes appeared first on The Beet.

How to Make a Vegan Cheese Board

1. Select a serving board

A wooden board or ceramic plate is always a good choice, whether they are rectangular, circular, or oval. If you don’t have a large board, then get creative! Use a salver or tray, a piece of wood, a baking tray, or simply a nice piece of parchment paper on your table.

2. Choose your vegan cheeses

For a good cheese board choose at least three different types of vegan cheeses. It’s good to mix textures and flavors. Choose something smooth like vegan feta, a soft homemade nut cheese, or cashew mozzarella.

Then choose something harder such as a vegan parmesan, a vegan cheddar, or sliced vegan cheese. And then something with lots of flavor and aroma like vegan camembert, aged cashew cheese, or cultured macadamia cheese.

3. Add fruit and vegetables

Go for the classics like grapes, figs, apples, pears, olives, artichokes, pickles, cherry tomatoes, or bell pepper. Or, try something more unusual like carrot sticks, fresh berries, cucumber slices, radishes, mandarine, pomegranate, or snow peas.

4. Pick something crunchy

Crackers, toasted nuts and seeds, and toasted bread or baguette slices are a must for a good cheeseboard. Play around with different sizes and shapes for a really cool finish.

5. Add something for dipping

Fruit preserves, jams, and spreads go amazing with vegan cheeses. For a surprising but very delicious spread try grainy mustard, hummus, or maple syrup as well.

6. Don’t forget about the finishing touches

Freshly ground black pepper, fresh herbs, or a sprinkle of toasted seeds will take your board to the next level. To give your board a ‘holiday touch’ add some cranberries, fresh rosemary, or even edible gold leaves.

Once you’ve gathered all your ingredients all you do is arrange them on your serving board. Keep your cheeses whole, or half, quarter, slice, dice or crumble them.
Depending on what fruits and vegetables you chose, you can also cut them into different shapes or keep them whole. Place everything next to each other, or place some of the ingredients into small bowls or jars. Serve your sauces in small dishes as well.

Then grab a fork, a cheese knife, or a food pick, and enjoy your beautiful and delicious vegan cheeseboard.

2 Vegan Cheese Board Ideas

Vegan Cheese Board Idea #1

• Vegan Camembert
• Pumpernickel chips
• Pistachio
• Vegan cheddar
• Cranberries
• Grapes
• Aged vegan cheese
• Apple slices
• Blanched almonds
• Chili – apricot preserve
• Grainy mustard
• Rainbow carrots
• Marinated green olives

Vegan Cheese Board Idea #2

• Mini bell peppers
• Smoked vegan cheese
• Grapes
• Blanched almonds
• Cucumber
• Pumpkin seed crackers
• Carrot sticks
• Apple slices
• Aged vegan cheese
• Cherry tomatoes
• Kalamata olives
• Beet hummus
• Vegan feta
• Snow peas

How to Make Nut Cheese

Making nut-based vegan cheese at home might sound intimidating at first, but it’s actually an easy and really fun process. Though it takes some time until your cheese will reach the desired taste and consistency, you don’t have a lot of active work with it.

The base of our vegan aged cheese is cashew, which gives the creamiest, smoothest finish. You can also experiment with other nuts or seeds if you are looking for a different flavor. Macadamia, walnuts, (blanched) almonds or sunflower seeds are all great options.

How to Make Vegan Cheese That Tastes Like Real Dairy

To flavor the cheese we use vinegar (or lemon juice), nutritional yeast, miso, and some salt. And then what gives the cheese its tang and aged taste is rejuvelac and probiotics.
Rejuvelac is a fermented drink made out of sprouted wheat. It’s an extremely nutritious beverage, that also helps to ferment our cheese. You can buy rejuvelac in some health stores, or you can make your own at home.

Besides, rejuvelac probiotics will also help you to age your cheese, and to get that awesome tanginess and sharpness we love in cheeses. Plus they are great for improving gut health.
Depending on how long your fermenting time is, your cheese can taste differently. Go for a short fermenting time for a mild version, or a longer one for a very sharp cheese.

Once you’ve reached the desired fermentation level, you can eat the cheese directly, as a softer almost goat cheese-like. This version is especially delicious with fresh or dried herbs and lots of garlic.

If you are looking for a harder, sliceable cheese, you can dehydrate or bake your fermented mix. At this point, you can also mix in extras like chili, garlic, herbs, turmeric, black pepper, chopped dry fruits, or whatever else you like. After dehydrating you can enjoy your cheese immediately, or age it for up to 3 weeks in the fridge.

Prep time/active work: 20 minutes

Fermentation time: 12-96 hours

Dehydrating: 3-8 hours

Vegan Aged Cashew Cheese

Makes 2 cheese rounds. Aging: up to 3 weeks

Ingredients

• 2 cups of cashews, soaked overnight
• 1/2 cup of rejuvelac
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
• 2 capsules probiotics
• 1 tbsp white miso paste
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• salt

Instructions

1. Add drained cashews, rejuvelac, vinegar, probiotics, miso, nutritional yeast, and a large pinch of salt into a high-speed blender, and blend until completely creamy and smooth.
2. This might take a couple of minutes, depending on how powerful your blender is. Stop to scrape down sides occasionally, if needed.
3. Place a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. Lay down two layers of cheesecloth on top. Transfer the vegan cheese mixture over the cloth, then gather corners to wrap it in a tight bundle. Tie with a string or twine.
4. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, and let the cheese ferment at room temperature for 12-96 hours, depending on how sharp you like it. Go for 12-24 hours of fermenting time for a mild version, or 72-96 hours for a very sharp cheese.
5. After fermentation time place the vegan cheese in the fridge for 1-2 hours, so it’s easier to handle.
6. Shape the cheese into a round using a mold or just your hands. At this point, you can also mix in extras like chili, garlic, herbs, turmeric, black pepper, chopped dry fruits, or whatever else you like.
   You can eat the cheese like this directly as a softer, spreadable cheese.
7. If you want a harder cheese, place your cheese in the dehydrator (or in the oven on the lowest heat – 50°C/120℉), and dehydrate for 3-8 hours. This should give you a nice outer rind.
8. Serve the vegan aged cheese now immediately, or age it in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. Simply place your cheese on a plate and cover it with a bowl, so it has some air around it. Check on your cheese every day and turn it upside down to make sure it doesn’t get any mold.
9. Before serving your vegan aged cheeses you can roll them into fresh or dried herbs, chili powder, smoked paprika, cracked pink or black peppercorns, chopped pistachio, or dried cranberries.

Vegan Aged Cheese Nutrition Facts

Servings 4

Calories 469 | Total Fat 33.4g | Saturated Fat 6.4g | Cholesterol 4mg | Sodium 761mg | Total Carbohydrate 33.7g | Dietary Fiber 6.4g | Total Sugars 3.7g | Protein 17.9g | Calcium 47mg | Iron 7mg | Potassium 742mg |

Vegan Cheese Recipes You Might Like:

• Spinach Grilled Cheese With Homemade Vegan Cashew Cheese
• Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese

The post How to Make an Epic Vegan Cheese Board Plus an Aged Vegan Cheese Recipe appeared first on The Beet.