Banana Drop Biscuits (Vegan)

Prep Time: 5 mins  |  Total Time: 20 mins  | Makes: 12 Biscuits

I stumbled upon this recipe by vegan and GF recipe blogger, Peanut Butter & Jilly, last winter and have made these delicious biscuits at least a dozen times since then. Usually, when my bananas start to get a little ripe and look uneatable, I make my go-to GF Banana bread. BUT ever since discovering these little gems, my banana bread making days are history and I’m pretty much addicted to biscuits now. Disclaimer: Only make this recipe if you plan to eat more than desired in one sitting. Enjoy!

What You Need:

• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

• 1 overripe banana, mashed

• 1/2 cup butter, melted (can substitute vegan butter here)

• 1 tbsp maple syrup, the real stuff!

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 2 cups flour or gluten free flour *if using GF flour: best option is King Arthur, Measure for Measure GF flour. I have also used almond flour, but the biscuits come out a little more dense and flat.

Maple Butter:

• 2 tbsp butter, melted

• 2 tbsp maple syrup

How To Make:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together the almond milk, mashed banana, melted butter, maple syrup, and baking powder. Then, add the flour and mix just enough until a dough forms. If using gluten-free flour and the dough seems crumbly, add another 1 tablespoon of melted butter and 1 tablespoon of almond milk and work it into the dough. Don't over-mix or your biscuits will be dense.

3. Use a spoon to scoop the dough and drop onto the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Space evenly and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until the biscuits are golden. Option to broil the biscuits at the end for about a minute to give them more color on top.

4. While the biscuits are baking, melt the maple syrup and butter together, either in microwave or on the stove top, to create the maple butter.

5. As soon as the biscuits come out of the oven, drizzle the maple butter over the warm biscuits and enjoy!

Healthy Cake Batter Bites

This recipe is a new favorite of my middle school classes. I always get a kick out of watching their roller coasters of emotions when I tell them that 1. we’re making cake batter bites (extreme excitement!) 2. but they are healthy and made with nuts, oats and dates (frowns and skepticism) 3. try them, you will really like these (sheer bliss and they always want more!). As with all my recipes, these cake batter bites are really easy to make as a fun activity for the family or as an after school treat with friends.

What You’ll Need:

• 1/2 cup cashews (or almonds)

• 1/2 cup coconut flakes

• 1 cup oats

• 2 dates

• 3 tbsp cashew butter (or almond butter)

• 3 tbsp maple syrup - or a little more if you want them on the sweeter side. Use your best judgement :)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon all-natural sprinkles (plus more to garnish)

• Healthy frosting (Here is my favorite healthy Cream Cheese Frosting recipe that’s super easy to make) or feel free to use whatever frosting you’d like.

How To Make:

1. Add cashews (or almonds), coconut, oats, and dates into a food processor. Process on high until crumbly.

2. Add in cashew butter (or almond butter), syrup and vanilla and blend again until a dough starts to come together. If that's not happening, add water little by little until a sticky dough forms. Pulse in the sprinkles.

3. Form the mixture into balls.

4. Transfer to a plate, and spread the frosting on top or drizzle (might need to heat up a little to drizzle). Top with sprinkles to finish. Enjoy immediately, or for an even better texture, cool in the fridge for 30 mins or freezer for 10 minutes.

Time: 15 minutes (not including the cooling time)
Yields: 15-20 bites (depending on size)

No Joke, The Best GF Banana Bread

Jumping on the COVID-19 baking craze, I stumbled upon this delicious GF banana bread by The Kitchn that is seriously delicious. I’ve cooked a lot of GF things that turn out to be better door stops than actual food, but this recipe is easy, stress free and super moist (terrible word I know, but it’s true).

I pretty much followed the recipe to a tee with only a few modifications, which is very unlike me and why baking has never been a strength of mine. I prefer the game of “what can I make with what’s in my fridge” as opposed to actually planning a meal.

If you can still find bananas out there, I encourage you to try this recipe.

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray or vegetable oil, for coating the pan

• 3 medium, very ripe bananas

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup honey or maple syrup (I used maple syrup and used just under 1/2 - modification #1)

• 1/4 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt

• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil (I used 1/4 cup melted coconut oil - modification #2)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free oat flour (I made my own by adding old fashioned Quaker Oats to Cuisinart and ground up until looked like flour - about 3 mins in total)

• 1 cup almond flour

• 1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips (optional - modification #3)

• Cinnamon (optional, but I added about a teaspoon - modification #4)

Method

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Make sure oven rack is in the middle. Line an 8x5-inch loaf pan with a parchment paper OR coat the pan with cooking spray, butter or oil.

2. In a large bowl, mash up the bananas with a fork until not many large clumps are left. Add in the eggs, maple syrup, yogurt, coconut oil, and vanilla. Use the fork to whisk and combine. Add in the baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon (if adding).

3. Fold in the oat flour and almond flour with a rubber spatula until just combined. If adding chocolate chips, combine to batter and mix in to finish.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread into an even layer.

5. Bake for about 50-55minutes, until the top is browned and the edges pull away from the sides of the pan. Insert a toothpick into the middle of the loaf - if it comes out clean, it’s done.

6. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan to a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.