Sweets & Treats

Five ingredient vegan ice cream made with coconut, cashew, maple syrup, and cacao. Stir in chopped dark chocolate chunks for an added chocolate crunch!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

How’s it going?

To be honest, it doesn’t feel like Memorial Day.

Sure, the temps are getting warmer, but I’m fiercely missing that rowdy sense of community that annually kickstarts the summer season via cookouts, BBQs, and backyard parties.

This time last year I was in a bikini pool-side baring my ghostly legs for all of the neighborhood to see.

Then afterwards I probably went to a winery with hundreds of other people, crowded onto picnic blankets on the winery grass.

This year, I’m holed up in my townhome, feverishly snapping photos of chocolate ice cream.

Ah, how times have changed.

But some things have stayed the same.

For example, as you probably guessed by the title of this recipe– I *still* don’t have an ice cream maker.

So I’m coming at you with a sweet dessert idea for Memorial Day that doesn’t require any fancy equipment and it definitely doesn’t require a crowd to finish off.

This No-Churn Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream is chocolate-y, creamy, and simple to make with just 5 ingredients!

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Giant vegan, gluten-free, and grain-free almond flour chocolate chip cookie for two! Lightly sweetened with maple syrup and dairy-free chocolate chunks. 

If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be living alone during a pandemic, I would have cried and then laughed and then cried some more.

Ah, 2019 Lauren didn’t have a *clue* what was about to go down.

If anything, current events have taught me about my own inner strength and perseverance in the face of uncertainty.

We just keep going, friend.

I hope that you, too, feel more capable than ever of getting through hard things.

Because we’re doing all of this together.

And today, we’re going to bake together.

Current events have also taught me a thing or two about baking a mean vegan cookie.

These Giant Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies are resilient, too, you know.

They’re chewy and sweet and popping with chocolate chunks.

Make them in one-bowl with pantry friendly ingredients you already have at home.

And they only take 15 minutes to bake in the oven.

Let’s bake a BIG cookie!

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Easy dessert eggs made with Stokes Purple® sweet potato purée, cashew butter, and dark chocolate. Perfect for an Easter treat or candy substitute.

Hey guys, it’s April.

And it’s my birthday!!!

This honestly might go down as the strangest birthday in my personal history.

I made a point to get up and get dressed today to carpe diem the sh** out of the big 3-2.

After being serenaded by my virtual yoga class via zoom, I dawned the blue polka dot dress that I originally had purchased for a vineyard celebration.

So I’ve been sashaying around the house all day, literally all dressed up with nowhere to go.

I figured since we’re all staying home, we could practice some easy recipes for Easter with pretty colors! 

These Purple Sweet Potato Cashew Butter Eggs are pretty in purple, packed with Stokes Purple® sweet potato purée, cashew butter, and dark chocolate.

No baking required, these easy eggs are perfect to make to share both physically or virtually this Easter!

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Vegan and gluten-free “bird’s nests” made with dark chocolate, toasted coconut, and your favorite oval shaped candy. Perfect for a sweet Easter treat!

Last night during a virtual game night with my friends, I recalled my career trajectory to where I am now.

From the time I was old enough to be asked, I told people that I wanted to be a writer.

After deciding that I wanted to be a writer, I couldn’t wait until I was older to have more life experiences.

I decided that I needed to do lots to be able to write lots and write it with authority, you know?

For the most part, this tended to be true.

Doing new things always inspired me to go home and scribble about them in my composition notebook journal.

Lately, though, being forced to stay in, I’m going inward to grab stories instead instead of going out.

And looking inward at my cabinets for pantry items to make sweet things with!

Luckily, you don’t need a lot of experience OR a lot of ingredients to make these Toasted Coconut Bird’s Nests.

They require just 3-ingredients for a simple sweet Easter treat!

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