flax meal | Kid Tested Firefighter Approved

I made these pancakes this morning… WOW! They taste just like pumpkin pie! My hubby and toddler scarfed them down, between the three of us we finished the whole batch!

These are perfect if you have leftover pumpkin from another recipe, that’s how I came to make these. I had a little under a cup of pumpkin puree left from making White Bean Pumpkin Pie Dip a couple of days ago so I added a little applesauce to make up the difference.

This recipe is from Cooking with Two Vegan Boys. You can find her on Facebook here. Her food posts always look delicious on her page, I can’t wait to try more of her recipes! This one is a keeper, for sure… in fact I bought 3 more cans of pumpkin at Trader Joe’s today with these in mind!

Here is her recipe:

Pumpkin Pancakes

* 2 cups soymilk

* 1 cup pumpkin puree (not canned pumpkin pie mix) – I had a little less than 1 cup so I added a little applesauce

* 2 Tbsp margarine, melted (I used melted coconut oil here)

* 2 tsp molasses (I use black strap molasses)

* 2 Tbsp ground flax

* 3 Tbsp sugar (I used raw/turbinado sugar)

* 2 cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)

* 2 tsp baking powder

* 1 tsp baking soda

* 1/4 tsp salt

* 1 tsp allspice

* 1 tsp cinnamon

* 1/2 tsp ginger powder

* 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

– In a mixing bowl combine the dy ingredients, add the wet ingredients, gently stir to combine.

– Lightly grease a skillet or griddle, pour 1/3 cup of batter (or more for larger pancakes) onto the griddle.

– Cook until golden on both sides. Serve with warm maple syrup.

YUMMY!!!

Let me start by saying, I am NOT a baker! I attempt it now and then but I am not very good at it. We don’t eat many sweets so that’s okay. Every now and then I get a craving for something sweet so I attempt to bake. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. This cake turned out really tasty so I’m glad I attempted it. I’m new to gluten-free baking so this cake may not look the way it’s supposed to but it sure is good! They’re really more like bars with their thick texture. Ah, whatever you want to call them is fine because I call them DELICIOUS!!

I received a bunch of lemongrass in my CSA box last week and I’ve been looking for new recipes that call for lemongrass. I usually make Thai Food but I wanted to make something new. I’ve been cooking my way through my favorite vegan food blog, Melomeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day – she had this recipe on her site so I had to try it! I love anything with lemon too so this was a perfect match!

Here’s her recipe:

Lemongrass Cake with Coconut Frosting

· ½ c golden flax meal

· ¼ c Vegenaise (vegan mayo – found at Sprouts)

· 1 c sugar

· 1 t vanilla

· 1 t coconut extract

· Juice and zest of 1 lemon

· 2 T lemongrass (sold at Sprouts)

· ½ c light-colored oil – I used vegetable oil

· 1.5 c Bob’s All Purpose Gluten-Free flour (I suppose you could use regular flour too)

· 2 t baking powder

· 1 t baking soda

· ½ t salt

Method: Pre-heat oven to 350

1. Mix flax, mayo, sugar, extracts, lemon juice, zest , lemongrass and oil together very well until everything is totally incorporated

2. Sift together the flour, powder, soda and salt into the wet mixture and mix together completely. You don’t have to worry about over working this dough. Mix super well!

3. Spray a 9 by 9 cake pan with cooking spray, pour batter into pan and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Cool cake completely on a wire rack

5. Frost!

Frosting:

· 1.5 c unsweetened coconut shreds

· ¼ c nondairy milk

· 3 – 4 c powdered sugar

· Juice and Zest of 1 lemon

· Pinch salt

1. In a food processor, process the coconut and milk if needed until coconut turns into butter like substance. This will take around 4 minutes

2. Add the powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest, salt and process until it comes together like frosting adding milk as needed