Vegan Chocolate Dipped Salted Almond Butter Cookies
When I was little, my Mom and I would bake many different types of Christmas cookies, then keep them all in a big container in the freezer to either share with others or enjoy later. There were the favorite cookies, like the pfeffernusse, classic sugar cookies, and pecan tassies. But we would always try a […]
Holiday Entertaining! Mini Sweet Potato Avocado Crostini and GOODFOODS Guacamole
The Holidays are a beautiful time of the year. Getting together with loved ones you haven’t seen in ages, sparkling snow and twinkling lights, and choosing the perfect thoughtful Christmas presents for friends and family. But they can also be hectic, and stressful if you are the one hosting the get together, or maybe you […]
Vegan Mini Peppermint Swirl Cheesecakes
One of the things I love about living in Minnesota is the beautiful scenery we get with the changes of the seasons. Sure, it gets really cold here in the winter sometimes. But you have to admit that waking up to a world of sparkling white outside your window is beautiful! I had to get […]
Vegan Gingerbread Crepes
Thanksgiving has come and gone, so that means Christmas, Christmas everywhere! Pretty soon you won’t be able to go anywhere without hearing Christmas music, or seeing festive decorations. Sometimes I think people go a little overboard, with big decorations but you know what? Whatever makes them happy! My Mom was always kind of a minimalist […]
Mini Vegan Sweet Potato Pecan Sweet Rolls
This is the time of the year when I like to spend more time baking delicious things in the kitchen! I still venture outside even though it may be snowy to go for my runs, and it is kind of exhilarating to exercise in the cold air, but coming home to a warm kitchen is […]
Vegan Coconut Chocolate Chunk Pecan Tart
My Mom used to ask me to make nut tarts for nearly every Holiday a while back, and they were always a hit! They are her favorite, and they were pretty darn delicious so I was happy to make them! We made all sorts of different kinds, pecan chocolate chunk, pine nut caramel, macadamia coconut…and […]
Vegan Sweet Potato Cranberry Coffeecake
Most of us have Thanksgiving leftovers, and although you could just continue to eat them as they are and reheat them, it is fun sometimes to create new things with them! Now of course some people just make a giant sandwich and pile it high with all the fixings, but I like to totally reinvent […]
Vegan Creamed Spinach
My Mom and I were recently out to one of our favorite restaurants, one known for creatively using seasonal veggies, and she ordered the creamed spinach. She said it was really good, but of course it had dairy in it, so I couldn’t try it. But, she said “I bet you can recreate this at […]
Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
Like any mid-western cook, my Grandma would always serve a sweet potato casserole with Thanksgiving. As much as I loved my Grandma’s cooking, it was probably my least favorite thing and I politely would just take a small spoonful. Now, I am sure some sweet potato casseroles are good, and they use real yams, but this […]
Vegan Molasses Spice Cookies
When I was younger, my Mom and I would go to the library, pick out cook books and make a few recipes that we had chosen. I had a few favorite books, most of them were dessert books, including a cookie book with over 100 recipes, and the most beautiful photos! I tried many of […]
Vegan Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie
I can not believe how beautiful it has been here lately! It was 60F degrees yesterday, and normally it is 40. I will take it, the snow will fly here soon enough! It is Minnesota after all. So, I took full advantage yesterday, a nice 10 mile run to enjoy the beautiful morning and rising […]
Vegan Roasted Squash Black Bean Tacos Recipe with GOODFOODS Guacamole
Vegans love their avocadoes. So, it comes of no surprise that we scope out the best guacamole! Because sometimes we want to just grab it and go, not sit and scoop out avocadoes and add all of the seasonings. This is why I am happy I discovered GOODFOODS guacamole! I picked some up at Super […]
Vegan Cheesy Squash Tots with Cranberry Chipotle Ketchup
It’s funny, growing up I was never a big fan of tater tots. Whenever they were included in my school lunches, I just left them there, because for some reason they did not appeal to me. French fries however were another story. Kind of weird for a kid or teenager I know, but that is […]
Vegan Inside Out Peanut Butter Cups
Peanut butter and chocolate have always been at the top of my list. If I had a choice of candy growing up, it was always a peanut butter cup over everything else. I am sure many of you agree, it is a match made in heaven after all! Even when I don’t have peanut butter […]
Vegan Maple Nut Cheesecake Dark Chocolates
I have been in a candy making mood lately. Most likely because Halloween is coming up, and I don’t buy candy at the store, but I love making it! When I make my own, I can control the ingredients that go into it, which are always good quality. I have made copy cat versions of […]
Mini Vegan Pumpkin Pies
Monday I went for a 24 mile bike ride in the morning to enjoy the scenery and give my legs a rest from running. It is just gorgeous here this time of the year! The trees are all sorts of different colors, and when the wind blows they flutter to the ground like confetti. Not […]
Vegan Pumpkin Doughnuts with Maple glaze
When I was little, my Mom and I used to go to a local bakery and get doughnuts every once in a while. My favorite were these ones with maple glaze. They were sooo good! I haven’t had one since I was probably 10 years old, but I still remember exactly how they tasted, and […]
Vegan Caramel Apple Galette
The weather has been just glorious here lately! I am loving these cooler crisp fall mornings and warmer sunny afternoons. To be honest I wish it could be like this year round. 40-50F degrees in the morning and 60-70F degrees in the afternoon is awesome! Sunday was just like that. It was nice and cool […]
Mini Vegan Apple Maple Cheesecakes
Apples are abundant in my kitchen lately. So, when I got home from work Friday, and had the urge to bake something to relive stress and chill out, it was going to be apple. I had a bunch of ideas for what I wanted to make bouncing around in my head and couldn’t decide on […]
Golden Chai Coconut Milk Gelato
You would think I would stop with the ice cream making now that the temperatures are falling a little, and Fall is here. Nope! I love ice cream, and truth be told I even have to keep a supply on hand in the Fall and Winter to go with things like fruit pies and crisps which […]
Vegan Spiced Apple Crisp in a Jar
Apple crisp is the quintessential Fall dessert as far as I am concerned. I know most people would say pie, but in my house growing up, my Mom made apple crisp more often, since it was a quick and easy week day dessert that she could make after work and have it be ready by […]
Vegan Apple Cinnamon Cobbler with Almond Biscuits
I can not believe October is here already! But I love it. I have to say, this is my favorite time of the year! I was lucky enough to have this past Saturday off of work to run a 5k, and the weather was perfect. A little chill in the air, the leaves were just […]
Autumn Quinoa Breakfast Porridge
We have this Summer berry quinoa salad in the deli I work in, and it is super popular. It is a sweet salad with creamy coconut milk, and fresh berries, and I always have said to myself, it would make a good breakfast. And told myself that I would make it at home. Well, Summer […]
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Sometimes you have a good week where everything goes right, and sometimes you don’t. What matters is how you deal with it, and whether it makes you a better person, or a worse person. Well, I had one of those not so good weeks, you know where nothing goes the way you planned it, things […]
Spiced Maple Pecan Butter
Pecans make me think of my Grandma. It may sound like sort of an odd statement, but hear me out. She used to always buy these amazing giant caramel pecan rolls for Easter, and had to have pecan pie at every Thanksgiving because it was her absolute favorite. But it doesn’t stop there, she loved […]
Vegan Caramel Pear Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Apples get all the love in the fall. But you know who else deserves some love? The pears. If you get a perfectly ripe pear that is sweet, juicy and delicious, it is like dessert. I was never that fond of pears growing up, but that was because the ones I are mostly came in […]
Giant Vegan Oven Pancake with Sauteed Pluots
Sometimes you just want pancakes, but don’t want to slave over a hot stove flipping them. If that is you, read on. It is definitely me, because I have other stuff to do sometimes! When I was younger my Mom would make oven pancakes in a pie dish or skillet and they were always delicious. […]
Vegan Hazelnut Crusted Apple Pie
I ran my second race of the season Friday, and it was a bit challenging, but I like a challenge. The course was not fast and flat like the previous one I had done, and I had gone into this thinking I was going to break my time from a few weeks back because I […]
Vegan Double Berry Chevre
One of the most popular things I hear from people when I tell them I am vegan is that they could never do it, because they could never give up cheese. Well, guess what? I used to think the same thing. When I was vegetarian I actually ate loads of cheese making things like pizzas, […]
Vegan Apple Spice Oatmeal Cookies
Local apple season is now here! I am excited about visiting the apple orchards, walking the rows of trees, and getting some of my favorite varieties. I haven’t gotten a chance to do that yet, but I was able to pick up some Honey Crisp apples, my favorite kind at the store I work in. They […]
Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Fudge Frosting
One time I found out Eric threw out some over ripe bananas. “What were you thinking?!” I asked. “You should have given them to me!” I said. I mean, he knows I freeze them for smoothies, and can make some bomb vegan desserts with them (which I always share with him). Not just banana bread, […]
Berries and Beets Quinoa Salad with “Chevre”
People consider berries to be sexy. But you know what else is sexy? Beets. I mean, they are beautiful. Look at the color, they are sweet, and they keep you healthy. They are a pretty amazing vegetable if you ask me. Beets are actually one of my favorite things to juice, because the juice on […]
Vegan Blueberry Muffin Cake
Blueberry muffins remind me of lazy Saturday mornings. When I was little, I would beg my Dad to let me help him make them. It wasn’t that difficult…considering we used the ones from a box. My Dad did not inherit my Grandma’s baking skills. But I still loved the muffins anyhow. Especially when still warm […]
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Pancakes
I have been in the mood for chocolate chip cookies lately for some reason. Maybe it is the fact that at the deli I work in, my station is next to the baked goods cooling rack and those darn cookies cooling smell sooo good! They are not vegan, so I am never tempted to steal […]
Vegan Marionberry Peach Crisp
There was a time in my life that I loved fruit crisps so much that I made them every single weekend for months on end. It may sound weird, but it was something I looked forward to. I do tend to get stuck in ruts sometimes when I really like something (or more so […]
Vegan Hazelnut Cookies and Cream Parfait
Sometimes on my runs when I am having a tough time, I day dream about other stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I love it and I am grateful for every run good or bad, but sometimes it takes more mental toughness when I feel tired or conditions aren’t ideal. Well, yesterday I was having a […]
Vegan Mini Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecakes
When I was younger I used to browse recipes online and cook books from the library and actually make them exactly as they were. But now I rarely do that. Because of course, most of the recipes I come across that look really good to me are not vegan, and I didn’t used to be […]
Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Basil Chevre Roll Ups
When I was in college, my Mom and I liked to go to a Spanish tapas restaurant that served these amazing, flavorful little plates (tapas), and the best part about it was being able to try a bunch of different things and share them with each other. I liked them all, but there were a […]
Vegan Snickers Layer Cake
My birthday was last Friday, so this post is a little belated, but I promise you the recipe that accompanies it is well worth the wait. Normally I post my birthday cake recipe on my Birthday but it was a little busier this year and I wanted to relax and not stress myself out last […]
Vegan Black and Blue Berry Cheesecake Pie
Cheesecake anything always gets me going. From the time I was little I would always choose cheesecake over any other dessert hands down. There is just something crave worthy about the texture and flavor of it. For a while when I was in college I would buy a piece of cheesecake from the local co […]
6 Ingredient Vegan Chocolate Fudge Gelato
For most of my life I have been a vanilla girl. It was always vanilla cupcakes over chocolate, vanilla cheesecake over chocolate mousse cake, and vanilla ice cream over chocolate any day. I don’t know if maybe the chocolate was just too intense for me when I had a good sized piece of dessert with […]
Vegan Vanilla Berry Cake with “Cream Cheese” Frosting
Since it is the week of the Fourth, I thought it would be appropriate to make a festive cake! When I was little, my Mom would always make festive 4th of July desserts with fresh berries, and I guess I like to keep that tradition going. She was a sheet pan kind of cake maker, […]
Vegan Strawberries and Cream Popcorn
Strawberries are finally in season here, so I have been a little obsessed with them lately. Strawberries and rhubarb of course, but strawberries on their own are pretty sweetly satisfying too. Someone was telling me about some Mango popcorn at a local store, and I thought to myself, I want strawberry popcorn. It was going […]
Just Vegan Cakes and Recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Layer Cake
I am excited to announce, that I have just released my third cookbook, “Just Vegan Cakes“! I have been working on it for over a year, making delicious cake recipes every weekend and gathering them together to share with you all. I can not tell you how excited I am for this moment to have […]
Individual Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with Almond Biscuits
A lot of times when I go out running, I admire the gardens in people’s yards as I run past wishing they were mine, and I was able to grow all of the good stuff they are. I live in a townhome, so all I am allowed is small pots. I grow herbs, but that […]
Vegan German Chocolate Pancakes
Pancakes can be breakfast, dinner or dessert right? Well I think they can. I was thinking more along the lines of dessert when I decided to make German Chocolate Pancakes one night last week to boost my mood. There seemed to be a lot of crabby people everywhere that day. Maybe it was the rainy […]
Raw Blackberry Jam and Hazelnut Butter Cups
When I was little, my Mom and I used to go to this little shop that sold blackberry jam filled chocolates. They were always so good. Blackberries seemed exotic to me at that age, since they were less common than strawberries and raspberries. So, they were special. I hadn’t really thought about them until recently […]
Raw Hazelnut Chocolate Mylk
My boyfriend Eric has always been a big milk drinker, and even though dairy bothers his stomach, he still won’t give it up for long. I am always trying to get him to buy plant based vegan milks, because of course I don’t believe in drinking animal milk in the first place, and I don’t […]
Quinoa Veggie Black Bean Bowl
It is exciting when more produce comes into season and becomes more readily available. The Farmer’s markets are going to open soon, which I am excited about since nothing beats local produce picked that day. Asparagus and pea season is almost here, and so I am in a spring vegetable eating sort of mood. Last […]
Raw Tag Along Blizzard
Last Sunday Eric wanted me to make him some sort of frozen treat, and I happened to have some raw tag along cookies in my freezer, so I thought, why not make a tag along blizzard? He loves this sort of thing, sweet stuff stirred into ice cream. But this is way healthier than your […]
Vegan Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Popcorn
I often get asked where I get my recipe ideas. Well, I have several sources of inspiration. First, my friends and family. They often ask me if I can veganize and healthify things that they enjoy or make something with a specific flavor that sounds good to them. All the while, of course knowing full […]
Vegan Carrot Cake Pancakes with Caramel Drizzle
We had a little Spring teaser last weekend when it was 70 degrees and shorts weather. Now it is snowing a little and chilly. That’s March for you! But I am still in the mood for Spring stuff even though Minnesota still seems to want to hang on to Winter. Technically it is Spring at […]
Vegan PB & J Layer Cake and 5 Year Blogaversary
5 years ago today, I started this blog, called Fragrant Vanilla Cake. Honestly, I started the blog as a way to share recipes with the people I was close to, like friends and family. Since I was sharing recipes before that just on facebook as notes whenever I would make something that I thought was share worthy. […]
Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies
What do you do when you are stuck at home in a snowstorm? Bake brownies of course. Yesterday, we had a really snowy day where it dumped about 6 inches while I was at work and was still going the rest of the night, and it was a really scary drive home. I drive like a […]
Vegan Chocolate Carrot Cake
Ever since last year when I saw a chocolate carrot cake, I have wanted to make one. Because chocolate cake and carrot cake are both pretty amazing, and together they should be awesome, right? Well I decided to make one last weekend. It was time. I had a big bag of carrots begging to be […]
Smokey Vegan Split Pea Soup
We have been flying through soups in the deli I work in lately, people are just craving them like mad, because it was below zero for a few days last week. I don’t blame them, I am the same. I cant say I have been out much to work out, because I just don’t feel like […]
2 Juice Recipes: Sunset Beet Juice and Broccoli Apple Green Juice
Sometimes, there is nothing better than freshly juiced veggies. If you have never had them before, you might be wondering what the heck I am thinking, but if you have, I hope you have had the same experience. When I first started enjoying fresh juices when I got a juicer about a year and a […]
Mini Mashed Potato Cakes
On Christmas Day afternoon, we had a bunch special snacky type foods instead of lunch, since it was a special occasion. We are going to do the same on New Years day, and have delicious little bites and snacks, so I thought it would be nice to start figuring out what would be good. I […]
Black Bean Jalapeno Hummus
One of my old coworkers at the deli used to call a big pot of black beans on the stove a “pot of doom”. It does sort of look like a witches brew…the beans coloring the water an almost blueish green black bubbling away. Funny, because one of my friends once asked if we cackle […]
Peanut Maple Crunch Granola
I asked Eric what type of granola I should make last week. He said something maple. I wanted to make something new not something I had made before because I like to always try something new when it comes to making food, so o decided maple with peanut butter. Because peanuts with a little […]
Vegan Mini Pecan Pies
Pecan pie was always my Mother and Grandmother’s favorite dessert when it came to Thanksgiving desserts. My Grandma would always serve apple, pumpkin and pecan, and the pecan was always the pie that had some left over because most people in my family are not huge nut fans and prefer the apple and pumpkin. I […]
Vegan Pumpkin Apple Shortcakes
I love strawberry shortcake in the summer, but what about fall? Shouldn’t there be a fall shortcake? At least those were my thoughts one day last week. I decided I needed to make a fall shortcake. Pumpkin biscuits with sautéed apples and cream…it was all sounding pretty darn heavenly by the time I got home […]
Roasted Pumpkin and Black Bean Salad with Groundnut Dressing
When I was out for my run this morning, I noticed a few people have set out pumpkins on their steps as decoration. Not surprising, official pumpkin season is officially here! I even got one in my CSA box this time. Although it was pretty, and I thought I might want to just display it, […]
Vegan Tater Tot Hotdish
Anyone who lives in Minnesota has had tater tot hotdish in their lifetime most likely, it is pretty much a staple here of Grandmothers to serve to their families, or at church basement functions. My Grandma made it. But the funny thing is, I have never been a fan. Usually it is made with cream […]
Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Dessert Hummus
I have been on a huge hummus kick lately, and when I was making my last batch of hummus, I thought I would go about it a little differently and make something sweet. Yep! You heard right, sweet hummus. It may sound weird, but actually it turned out wonderful! People make cookie dough from chickpeas […]
Raw Banoffee MylkShake and Raw Cherry Mylkshake
Windy City Organics was kind enough to send me some of their Dastony nut butter to try, one of which was a brazil nut butter. I love brazil nut butter because it is neutral and makes awesome nut mylk. All you need to do is whisk some of it into filtered water, I like to do […]
Blueberry Muffin Batter Overnight Oats
This may sound kind of odd, but I like blueberry muffin batter even more than regular cake batter. I know it is slightly less sweet but that is what I love about it. That and the few berries that I may or may not have purposely left behind in the bowl so I could enjoy them […]
Raw Green Berry Layered Shake
Sprout Living was kind enough to send me some of their products to try, and one of them was the Green Kingdom Epic Protein. It is a vitamin rich protein filled with green plants such as spirulina, kale, and Indian moringa but it does not taste like it does, in fact it tastes sweet and delicious! I […]