Bagels. One of the most satisfying thing to make in the dough-department, yet are actually really quite do-able to whip up. I have my sights set on all sorts of flavour combinations after such success with these wee things. The dough calls for no shmancy sciency activating of yeast and as someone who's had all too many fail-whales in that department, I am MOST greatful. The dough rises like a treat and only needs an hour to do it's thing - win!

These are definetely savoury bagels that would be amazing as sandwich bases, or as soup dippers, or just as a snack on their own because somehow they are the softest, loveliest, most delightful bagels I've ever had - meaning that I'm quite happy to have one on it's own. Enjoy honeybunches!!

Makes approx. 10-12

Ingredients

• 2 onions, sliced into half moons
• olive oil
• splash of white wine vinegar
• splash of maple syrup
• 3 3/4 cup plain flour (I used an organic plain bakers flour, but any sort of plain flour will work)
• 4 1/2 tsp instant dried yeast
• 2 tbsp coconut sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (like pleasant warm in a fancy bathroom type warm, not
  boiling hot as you'll kill the yeast)
• polenta, or corn meal (for sprinkling the trays with)
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar
• to sprinkle: seeds such as poppy, sesame, sunflower & linseeds

Method

1. Start by making your dough by combining the flour, instant yeast, 2 tbsp coconut sugar and salt together in the bowl of a mix-master (or in a large bowl) with a whisk.
2. Add in the warm water and with the general mixing attachment mix until combined. If doing this in a regular bowl, just mix until a dough is mostly formed. Now switch to your dough hook atachment and (or to a floured surface, and using your hand) gently knead for five minutes until a stiff dough forms. Feel free to add more flour during this time to ensure it's not super sticky.
3. Take out the dough from the bowl of your mix master (if using) give a knead or two, shape into a ball or sorts and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp tea-towel and set aside in a warm place for one hour. If you can't find a warm place to put it, put it in your sink, floating it on a little warm water, or put it in your oven on the lowest heat.
4. Meanwhile make your caramelised onions, by sauteing your onions in a non-stick pan with a generous drizzle of olive oil until looking brown on some edges. Stir occationally (the process will take 10+ minutes) and then when looking 80% done, add in the splash of white wine vinegar and maple syrup. Turn the heat down, let it caramelise further for a few more minutes. Then turn off the heat and let cool.
5. When the hour is up for your bagels, preheat your oven to 200C. Flour a work surface, tip out your dough and poke some of the air out of it. Sprinkle over the caramelised onions and roll up your dough to mix them throughout the mixture. Roll the whole piece of dough in a log of sorts and use a knife to divide the mixture into approx 10 equal pieces (depending on your desired size).
6. Take out two baking trays, and give them a sprinkle with the polenta/cornmeal (which prevents the bagels from sticking to the tray). Fashion each piece of dough into a ball before squashing and pushing a finger through to create a bagel shape. Ensure it's a decent hole (as it will shrink) and place on the prepared baking tray. Repeat with the other pieces of dough and then leave the bagels to sit for 10 minutes.
7. Meanwhile get a large pot of water boiling, and add in the remaining 1 tbsp of coconut sugar to it, and mix until dissolved.
8. When the 10 mins are up and the water is boiling (a rapid boil is good), drop in the bagels (I did three at a time, they won't stick to each other in the pot) and cook for a minute or two on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon to drain off excess water and set aside on the prepared trays (I resprinkled my trays with more polenta before placing them back). Repeat the boiling process with all the bagels and then sprinkle with your desired seeds before placing in the preheated oven to bake for 10-15 minutes. Best eaten in the first day or two after making them. Which I'm betting you'll have little trouble doing, even if you think there's a zero chance hehe.

Vegan cupcakes are one seriously easy number to bang together with pretty much insured success at being loved by skeptics and supporters who you feed them too. You see the classic dairy-egg-including cupcake is known to be verging on the dry-side at times which is far from an attractive state (and also a mystery since it's guarenteed to contain eggs & butter!). But the vegan cupcake on the otherhand is hands down going to be a moist little babe (in a good way) that stands out from the crowd and seems to reign in positive reviews.

This one is no different and the icing on these beauties really is something to behold as it turns out that a smidge of coconut cream in an icing that's of a vanillery flavour only adds to it's fresh-amazingness. This recipe doesn't contain refined sugar in the base so it's a bangin' ripper of a recipe. Change up the icing if you want the whole thing to be refined sugar free.

Makes 8

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup plant mylk
• 1/3 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup coconut cream (the hard stuff at the top of a can of of coconut milk/cream preferably chilled)
• 1/4 cup vegan butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups icing sugar, sifted

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C.
2. In a large bowl, sift the first four ingredients. Whisk until smooth.
3. In another medium-large sized bowl, combine the plant mylk, grapeseed oil, maple, coconut sugar, vanilla and apple cidar vinegar by whisking until smooth.
4. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until smooth.
5. Divide the batter among 8+ lined muffin tins. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until risen and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool while you make your icing.
6. In a medium bowl of a mix master (or using just a regular bowl), combine the coconut cream, vegan butter and vanilla, and using a powered whisk preferably, whisk until smooth. Add the sifted icing sugar in increments, combining after each addition. Once all the icing sugar is added and the cupcakes are room temp, spread or pipe the icing onto the cakes and dust with a little more cocoa if desired before serving. Best stored in the fridge if you're not in a cool climate.

Chowder, a hearty-creamy-corny soul satisfying soup that I definetely should include more often in my life. It's one of those recipes that definetely sounds far more epic than it looks and so yes my presentation skills on this one were a little short of the mark. It's a quick one to bang together and is full of savoury flavours yet pops of sweetness from the corn, making it rather dandy if I do say so myself.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 stick of celery, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 large potato, peeled and cubed (1cm cubes)
• 2 corn cobs, kernals removed
• 1 heap tbsp plain flour (GF if required)
• 2 cups vegetable stock (I made this up from some veg stock powder)
• 2 tsp mixed herbs
• 1 tsp old bay seasoning (or swap for celery salt, if you don't have it)
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp apple cidar vinegar
• salt & pepper
• 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1 heaped tbsp coconut cream (the thick white stuff off the top of a can of coconut milk/cream)
• to sprinkle (totally optional): vegan cheese shreds, parsley & spring onions

Method

1. Saute your onion, celery, carrot and garlic in a little oil in a non-stick pot until the onion is transluscent.
2. Add in the potato and corn kernals and saute for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle over the flour and stir to cook it off for a minute or two, being careful not to burn it.
3. Add the vegetable stock, cover the pot with a lid, bring to the boil then turn the heat down and let simmer for 10 minutes (or until the potatoes are tender).
4. Add the mixed herbs, old bay seasoning, nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar and a generous sprinkling each of salt & pepper. Stir to combine.
5. Stir in the unsweetened soy milk and the coconut cream. Blend about half of the mixture until smooth in a blender/food processor, then return it to the pot and stir to combine. Alternatively leave all of it chunky, or blend all of it - if that's what you prefer. Serve and sprinkle over any desired toppings. Enjoy honeybunches!

Cookies. Soft & chewy in the middle, slightly crunchy on the outside, that's the dream right there. Well tick, tick and tick honeybunches because these cookies satisfye all those dreams and more. They are so good and deadly easy, it's pretty wonderfully quick to whip these together, bang them in the oven for 10 minutes and then shut the back door because a) they're outrageously good, and b) you'll find them extreamily hard to share.

These aren't trying to be anything other than stupidly good cookies honeybunches, so they're not really free from anything other than animal products - which is something I think you'll find that once you wrap you're mouth around them, is absolutely fine.

Makes approx. 20 cookies (will depend on the size you make them)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup coconut oil (you could use cold vegan butter instead)
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (you could use coconut sugar here)
• 1 tsp vanilla (paste, extract, essence etc.)
• 1/4 cup plant mylk
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• generous pinch of cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup quick oats/oat bran/rolled oats (your pick)
• 2 handfuls vegan chocolate chips (or chopped dark chocolate)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. In a large bowl, combine the coconut oil and both sugars together with a wooden spoon until pretty well combined. If the coconut oil is really firm, you may have to settle with a mostly smooth crumbly texture which is fine.
3. Add the vanilla and mylk to the bowl and stir until smooth.
4. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into the bowl. Add the quick oats and stir with a wooden spoon until combined into a cookie dough. You will probably find it easier to switch to using your hand after mixing with the spoon for a bit. It will come together very easily with a bit of hand-action.
5. Add the chocolate chips and disperse throughout the dough.
6. Grab two baking trays and grease/line with baking paper. Roll balls of the dough (slightly smaller than a ping-pong ball is what I went for) in your hands and arrange on the tray with a little space in between. They don't spread like crazy though, so you can at least fit 12 onto a standard-sized tray. Don't flatten them down or anything as the oven will do all that magic.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven. They should still look a little soft in the middle when you take them out. Leave to stand (on the tray or on a drying rack) for at least 10 minutes before tucking in. Enjoy honeybunches!!

Alright so before anyone gets their nickers in a knot, let me just say that a vegan quiche of this kind (aka make with chickpea flour) is a creation of it's own. It's similar to eggs for sure, but the texture is not exactly what you might be hoping for. But DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU, because what this is honeybunches is a dashingly delicious quiche of a thing on it's own. It keeps better than any quiche you've ever had and actually tastes phenomenal cold - so move over red rover and get a piece of this deliciousness in your lunch box asap.

Makes one 22cm quiche (you could make it in a bigger tart tin if that's all you have & just keep an eye on it during the cooking time)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups plain flour (you could use GF if desired or a mix of wholemeal and plain too).
• 1 heaped tsp coconut sugar
• generous pinch salt
• 1/2 cup cold vegan butter
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 onion, sliced
• 50g vegan ham/bacon, finely diced (optional)
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• handful of button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large handful spinach
• 1 cup chickpea flour (besan flour)
• pinch black salt (if you have it, otherwise use normal salt)
• 1 heaped tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
• pepper
• 1 x 400g chilled coconut milk (just the hard cream off the top though is what you're using) as well as enough unsweetened soy milk to equal 1 1/2 cups of liquid with the coconut cream
• 1 tsp miso paste
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• vegan parmesan or vegan cheese chreds to sprinkle with

Method

1. In a large bowl combine the first three ingredients, then add the vegan butter and using a fork, mash and mix it together with the flour until if forms a crumbly-combined consistancy.
2. Add the cold water and mix until combined and the pastry comes together.
3. Tip the pastry out onto a floured surface and roll out into a circle (ish) with a floured rolling pin to a size around 5cm (or 2 inches) larger than your chosen quiche tin (mine was around 22cm). Grease your quiche tin with a little vegan butter or coconut oil and then using the rolling pin to help pick up the pastry, place the rolled out pastry over the tin and press into all the corners and up the sides. If there's some pastry overhanging, just run your rolling pin over the rop of your dish to trim off the excess.
4. Put your pastry lined tin in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill, meanwhile, preheat your oven to 200C.
5. Once the oven has heated up and the pastry is chilled, blind bake it (with some baking paper and pie weights/uncooked rice on top of the paper) for 15 minutes. Take the pastry out of the oven, remove the pie weights and set aside until needed. Turn the oven down to 180C.
6. Meanwhile in a nonstick pan add a little oil along with the onion, vegan ham and garlic and saute until the onion is softened and the ham slightly golden. Add the mushrooms and saute for a few minutes more, then add the spinach and stir until wilted and combined.
7. In a large mixing bowl combine the chickpea flour, black salt, nutritional yeast, vegetable stock powder and pepper, whisking until combined. Add the coconut cream/soy milk as well as the miso paste and whisk until smooth.
8. Create your quiche by adding half the sauteed veg mixture to the pastry crust, then topping with all the eggy-chickpea batter, and finishing with the tomato, remaining sauteed veg and some vegan parmesan or vegan cheese sprinkled on top.
9. Bake in the 180C oven for 30 minutes. Let sit for at least 5 minute before slicing and serving. Yumoo!!!