Refined Sugar-Free

Cookie Layer Bars

No-bake cookie bars made with a crushed cookie crust, dark chocolate center, and sweet almond butter fudge topping. Perfect for a fun dessert to share!

A few weeks back M and I had a dinner party at a friend’s house.

Whenever I have a group event coming up, I like to recipe test to pawn off the leftovers on my friends’ unsuspecting tastebuds.

On this particular event, I must have been feeling brave, because I brought these Cookie Layer Bars without even taking a bite first.

After wine and my first experience with the Impossible Burger, my girlfriend cut into the frozen slab and took a bite.

“Oh my god”, she said. “It’s amazing.”

At first, I thought she was just being nice, complimenting the recipe testing food blogger on her first Frankenstein.

But as more of the guests grabbed first and seconds, I started to realize that, hey, this stuff must be pretty good.

Since then, I’ve received several requests to make more in exchange for payment.

Just saying.

But today, I’m giving you guys the recipe for free!

These Cookie Crack Bars are made with a crushed cookie crust, dark chocolate center, and sweet almond butter fudge topping.

They’re the perfect fun dessert to share, or to win some popularity points at your next dinner party!

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Date-Sweetened Donuts with Chocolate Frosting

By Flora & Vino 4 Comments

Vegan cake donuts made with oat flour and sweetened with Medjool dates, topped with a two-ingredient dark chocolate frosting. Perfect for a healthy dessert!

Hi, friends.

It’s been a while since we last chatted.

June has been an absolute whirlwind for me and I can’t quite believe just *how* much has changed in the past two weeks.

For one, I’m moving!

I’m in the process of packing boxes and making plans to move to Maryland with M.

Secondly, I’m reconnecting with friends and family in a major way; scheduling dinners and hikes and hugs.

After a *very* trying 2020, all of this feels like a new beginning, a clean slate, a fresh start.

But between all of the positive changes in life, summer keeps running on, hot summer days spilling into cool summer mornings.

And what do you know, this weekend is dad’s day!

Let’s put all of the busy-ness aside for a second and celebrate dad, OK?

These Date-Sweetened Donuts with Chocolate Frosting are just what any man in your life needs this Father’s Day.

They’re totally vegan, gluten-free, and refined-sugar-free with a cake-y interior and a 2-ingredient chocolate ganache!

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Vegan Raspberry Sorbet

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Vegan raspberry sorbet made with coconut milk and frozen raspberries naturally sweetened with maple syrup. Enjoy in a cup or smashed between cookies!

Everything is changing– do you feel it, too?

The world is opening, blossoming, and inviting, and I don’t know what to do or where to go first!

Part of me just wants to stay indoors, maintaining the cozy COVID-bubble that I created with M.

The globe suddenly feels huge and I want to cling to the things that made me feel safe the past 15 months.

But as M said last week, change is good.

Change encourages momentum, clarifications, and answers to the questions I’ve been holding onto, like, what’s next?

COVID normalized a unified sense of “stuckness”, the world united by the fact that all of our plans, travels, and careers had changed or paused.

So who are we when we get “un-stuck”?

Because I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like the same Lauren that hunkered down last March.

I learned how to slow down, I grew out my hair, and I fell in love.

So maybe it’s all just about integrating our pandemic progress with our still relevant hopes and dreams of the past.

Kind of like smashing Vegan Raspberry Sorbet between cookies for a warm weather treat.

This Vegan Raspberry Sorbet is made no-churn with just 3-ingredients without any weird ingredients or fancy equipment!

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Cashew Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

//#ad This post is brought to you by Bare Snacks, but all words and eats are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that keep me hungry!

Light and easy stuffed strawberries made with a homemade cashew cheesecake whip and fresh berries. Perfect for a sweet summer side!

Memorial Day is upon us, friends.

For those of you who’ve been following me on Instagram, you might know that I haven’t seen my parents since before COVID.

I’ve waved at them from behind their sliding glass door several times for gift exchanges, but I haven’t wrapped them or my sister in a big bear hug since 2019.

We’re planning some sort of a cookout to reunite on Memorial Day weekend– the first weekend two weeks after all of us are fully vaccinated.

Hurray!

So I’m *really* excited to begin making food to share this summer, starting with these stuffed strawberries.

These Cashew Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries are perfectly presentable for spring and summer entertaining this year.

They’re light and easy, made with a homemade cashew cheesecake whip and fresh berries, perfect for a quick and creative sweet summer side!

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Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Pancakes

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Almond flour chocolate chip pancakes made with superfine almond flour, coconut milk, and plenty of dark chocolate chips. Vegan, gluten-free, and grain-free!

What’s your go-to “special occasion” breakfast?

For me, it’s pancakes.

For my birthday brunch this year, M made me a stack of Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Pancakes.

It felt like kind of a big deal after he admitted earlier that morning that he’d never made pancakes before.

So I didn’t expect much…but I was wrong!

The pancakes were so unexpectedly delicious that I knew I had to recreate his version to share with you guys.

Because everyone needs a sweet stack of pancakes in their life.

These Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Pancakes are made with superfine almond flour, creamy coconut milk, and plenty of dark chocolate chips.

They’re easy to whip up regardless of your pancake-making past.

Let’s flip some chocolate chip flapjacks!

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Strawberry Chia Seed Jam

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Easy strawberry chia seed jam to made on the stovetop with frozen fruit and chia seeds and naturally sweetened with lime and maple syrup.

This Strawberry Chia Seed Jam has been persistent in my recipes this past week.

In the past 7 days, it’s showed up in my Nut Butter & Jam Breakfast Quesadillas AND my SunButter & Jelly Brownies.

So I thought I might as well post it on the blog so it has a forever home here at F&V.

Because, and this is on record, I will love it forever.

It’s sweet, strawberry-y, and spreadable, with big strawberry chunks and a fantastic chia texture.

Oh, and it makes everything from breakfast to snacking to dessert more fun and delicious with minimal ingredients and cook time.

This Strawberry Chia Seed Jam is made with just 5 ingredients on the stovetop for a sweet summer spread!

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Cherry Tomato Salsa

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Fresh homemade salsa made with sweet cherry tomatoes! Enjoy as a dip with your favorite crackers or as an addition to tacos, burritos, and bowls.

Today I had a coffee date with a girlfriend that I haven’t seen in over a year.

We parked our cars outside of the Starbucks drive-through and socially distanced sipped on coffee, bridging the gap between our cars with conversation.

Guys, I had forgotten how nice it is to be in the company of another woman and catch up on life as we know it.

I came home with an empty coffee cup and a full heart, ready to take on a photo shoot and blog post writing.

Lately I’ve been all about mixing up my routine; making small changes to embrace an awakening world.

I’m currently enrolled in not one but TWO 7-day free trial via workout apps.

Which kind of goes hand in hand with the 6 AM alarm that startled me into waking up after the third snooze this morning.

I feel like I’ve been in a deep sleep or meditation for the past year and I’m just starting to regain consciousness.

Like, Rip Van Winkle level sleepiness.

An in-person game night with my cousins and sister is planned for two weeks out; the first date we’re all fully vaccinated.

We joked that no games would be played– the entire night will probably revolve around hugging.

So much hugging. And food!

What better way to embrace summer celebrations, in person and afar, then with a fresh dip?

This Cherry Tomato Salsa is made with just six ingredients and served with my favorite grain-free crackers!

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SunButter & Jelly Brownies

By Flora & Vino 4 Comments

Grain-free vegan brownies with a decadent SunButter & jelly swirl made with organic sunflower seed butter and homemade strawberry chia jam.

OK, let’s catch up because it’s been a minute since we’ve chatted.

Since I last wrote to you, I submitted my third round of cookbook edits and the manuscript is officially out of my hands and in the very capable hands of copy editors.

Woo-freakin-hoo!

I also received my second COVID vaccine and was totally wiped out for the following day.

Feeling shaking and immobile, I spent most of the day curled up in my favorite recliner, journaling, brainstorming, and dreaming of the future for me and F&V.

Thinking beyond my daily TO-DOs, beyond the cookbook, beyond the pandemic.

What’s next?

Well, these SunButter & Jelly Brownies are next for you, boo.

They’re entirely grain-free and refined-sugar-free with a swirly SunButter and homemade jelly top.

I mean, what’s better than combining PB&J and brownies?

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Everything Granola Bites

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Everything Granola Bites with SunButter, chia seeds, coconut, cacao nibs, and a hidden granola crunch! Perfect for a quick portable snack!

This past week M and I built a tent in my living room.

A mass of lime green nylon, woven mesh, and sturdy poles erected into a dome in under ten minutes.

As the weather gets warmer, I’m dreaming of summer adventures.

It’s been forever since I slept away from home, and I’m itching to pack up the car with my new camping gear and explore.

Do you like camping?

M will tell you that I’ve never *really* been camping, which is partially true.

I guess I’ve been *glamping*, i.e. sleeping in a camp cabin, with four walls and a roof and a screened in door.

So maybe I’m romanticizing all of it– sleeping under the stars, s’mores, and basking in forest sunlight.

But I think there’s the chance to make a camper out of me, yet.

Everything is starting to feel more and more possible– as people become vaccinated, as the book comes closer to a close, as my camping set is complete.

I’ve also been thinking about easy food to make while in the great outdoors, starting with easy snacks.

These Everything Granola Bites are a great portable snack to make in advance for all of your adventuring this year.

They’re made no-bake with simple ingredients that will fuel all of your summer fun!

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Raw Walnut Cashew Butter

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

#ad// This post is brought to you by Bare Snacks, but all words and eats are my own. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that keep me hungry!

2-ingredient homemade raw walnut cashew butter made super creamy in under 10 minutes Serve it with Bare Snacks Banana Chips for an easy snack!

Did you pull any epic pranks on April Fools Day?

After one of my aloe plants fell out of it’s pot for the fourth (or fifth?) time last week (it was poorly potted and in a precarious position), I had a plant funeral and buried the evidence in my trashcan.

RIP, aloe.

As part of an April Fools day joke, I purchased a new plant and propped it up on the late aloe’s plant stand on April the first, waiting for M to notice.

I smirked while he ate his breakfast, finally asking, pointedly, “So, do you notice anything different???”

After doing a lingering living room scan, he finally picked out the monstera deliciosa sitting pretty near the window sill.

I laughed, assuring him I would keep my plant murderess tendencies contained.

I’m so infatuated with this little green plant and it’s smooth heart-shaped leaves already turning towards the sunshine.

Let’s see how long it survives…

Hopefully longer than this Raw Walnut Cashew Butter that I made last week and served with banana chips.

It requires just two ingredients and a blender without any added sugars or oils.

It’s true: I wouldn’t kid about something as serious as nut butter, not even on April Fools!

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Refined Sugar-Free

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