Sweets & Treats

Tahini Date Caramel Dip

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!

Tahini date caramel dip made with Medjool dates, pure maple syrup, and a tahini twist. Perfect as a sweet dip for fresh fruit, crackers, or apple chips!

In my early conversations M we talked a lot about food.

It’s good neutral ground for conversation, and, well, I *am* a food blogger.

One day I remember asking him if he liked dates.

“The fruit, not the…well, date, date,” I said, blushing behind my iPhone screen.

As it turns out he liked both examples of the word, but I’m here today to talk about one.

The ooey gooey edible dates.

Because I just rediscovered them this past week and I blended them into something special for you.

This Tahini Date Caramel Dip is made with just 5 ingredients in the blender for a sweet snack with apple chips!

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Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie for One

By Flora & Vino 6 Comments

This almond flour cookie is grain-free, oil-free, and packed with dark chocolate chips! Perfect for when you need a single serve cookie fast.

Hi friends, how’s it going?

My cookbook manuscript is due in exactly one week so the nerves here are palpable.

M got me a beautiful new standing desk as an early birthday present that honestly couldn’t have come at a better time.

It’s just my style– sturdy, wooden, and rustic, with a spacious top and a lever that adjusts the height.

It will be put to good use as I feverishly finalize my manuscript writing this week and prepare to photograph the recipes next week!

Yes, my birthday is coming soon (April 2nd!); the second birthday spent in quarantine.

This past weekend was my 1-year quarantine anniversary, marking one whole year since I started staying home.

I felt inspired to put together a post on Instagram with some of my thoughts after 365 days of quarantine life.

But despite the heaviness of the past year and stress of the book, I feel lightness on the horizon.

This week has beautiful weather forecast, I signed up for my vaccine, oh, and I perfected the art of making a single serve cookie.

This Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookie for One is ready in 15 minutes for nights when you need a single cookie fast! …

No-Churn Vegan Pistachio Ice Cream

By Flora & Vino 3 Comments

No-churn pistachio ice cream made with coconut milk, cashews, and plenty of pistachios! Serve with crushed pistachios as a naturally sweet dairy-free dessert.

Hi, friends, and happy March.

I’ve been holed up, feverishly working on my cookbook draft that is due in less than two weeks!

The pieces are all starting to come together and the manuscript is starting to feel like a cohesive whole that I’m increasingly ready to send out into the world.

But I’m emerging from my writer’s den to share with something sweet and green.

We had some really warm days this week in Virginia where it felt like spring.

M and I walked jacket-less on our normal daily walk, watching the neighborhood awaken to the feeling of spring.

Joyful kids on scooters, geese waddling on grass, the silent promise green buds on trees.

As it starts to get warmer, I’m craving more cold things.

Smoothies in the morning, white wine in the evening, and ice cream…all the time.

When I mentioned making a vegan ice cream, M said that pistachio was one of his favorites.

I’d never had pistachio ice cream before (have you???) so naturally, I had to try it out for myself.

This No-Churner Vegan Pistachio Ice Cream is made with just four ingredients without an ice cream maker for a nutty and creamy dairy-free dessert!

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Date Caramel Nougat Bars

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Date Caramel Nougat Bars made with Medjool dates and an almond flour nougat base. Dunk them in vegan chocolate for a Snickers dessert feel!

Lately, I’ve been a recipe-testing machine.

I’m *this* close to finalizing my recipes for the cookbook, so the fridge is loaded with leftovers and the freezer is nope-ing out on any additions.

Not to mention the usual creative chaos of recipe testing for my first love, this space on the internet.

I currently feel like my attention is divided between two needy children, and I oscillate between them like a bobblehead; not wanting to play favorites.

Trying to keep things even.

Such as, which recipes do I save for the book and which do I keep for the Internet?

I imagine it’s how my mom and dad felt divvying up gifts for my sister and I on our birthdays (exactly one week apart in the Spring).

Particularly because I kept numerical score, carefully counting the number of Rachel’s wrapped gifts to compare to my own loot tally the following week.

Haha.

M and I have a system of passing on decision-making for the evening, meaning the other person has to make any and all decisions, including, but not limited to: what to eat for dinner, which yoga class to stream, and which show to watch on Netflix.

Life decisions during COVID are hard.

Luckily, the cookbook is meal-prep focused, which narrows down my scope a bit.

And while these Date Caramel Nougat Bars are highly delicious and addicting, they’re not a meal prep essential, freeing me to share them with you now.

Oh, but they *are* essential; essentially delicious with just six ingredients and an easy no-bake method!

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Dark Chocolate Tahini

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Dark chocolate tahini made oil-free with just three ingredients. Blend it up and serve with baked apple chips for dipping!

During quarantine, I became irrevocably infatuated with a store-bought chocolate tahini spread.

I used it like I would a chocolate dessert syrup.

Then I got M on the chocolate tahini train, too.

And, well…sharing is hard.

With a chocolate tahini shortage imminent, I knew I had one of two choices.

I could either hoard and hide those sweet sesame seed butter jars, or learn to make dark chocolate tahini myself.

Obviously, I took the higher path.

Are you proud of me?

This Dark Chocolate Tahini requires just 3 ingredients and 30 minutes to be yours to hide and hoard.

Or, you know, to share.

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Easy Almond Butter Cups

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Easy dark chocolate cups stuffed with creamy almond butter and sprinkled with sea salt. The perfect vegan, paleo, and refined-sugar-free treat!

Do you brush your hair, friends?

This past week I had a wicked knot in my hair.

For context, I don’t even use the word “wicked” in conversation; that’s how bad it was.

My fingers felt the resistance while I was shampooing and when I *still* couldn’t untangle it after conditioning, I knew I was in trouble.

I got out of the shower, dripping and downcast, sure I was going to have to cut out a massive chunk of my hair with scissors.

Instead, M sat me down with a brush and copious amounts of conditioner and we worked it out, one knotted strand at a time.

Bless him.

I sat criss-cross-applesauce like a child, arching my neck to counter against the pull of the brush, rejoicing every time the brush finished a clean stroke.

If you’ve seen me on Instagram you know that my hair is somewhere between straight and curly; falling in soft ringlets on a good day and sort of weirdly wavy on a not-so-good day.

Typically, I jump out of the shower, scrunch my hair a few times all over with styling gel, and, well, forget about it.

In my defense, brushing it tends to make my hair staticky, frizzier, and bigger.

As my quarantine hair gets longer and wilder, I’m debating adding a hair brush to my arsenal of self care tools!

Here’s something else that’s crucial for self-care: Easy Almond Butter Cups.

These sweet cups require just TWO ingredients for a vegan, paleo, and refined-sugar-free treat!

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Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Vegan raspberry cheesecake with a gluten-free almond-oat crust, dairy-free cashew coconut cream cheese filling, and a tart raspberry topping.

I’m writing to you today from bright snow-covered Virginia.

The snow started on Sunday and white stuff has been falling off and on since then for the last three days (it’s now Tuesday).

I dawned sapphire snowpants, my blue Northface down jacket, and a cerulean wool hat my sister knit me for Christmas to take my daily walk.

“The blueberry”, M and I fondly referred to the monochromatic ensemble, laughing as we made two sets of footprints in freshly fallen snow.

Yeah, you have to be pretty darn confident to rock that many shades of blue at the same time in public.

So I was feeling so conspicuous and cool that I decided to make my first snow angel in 15 years.

We staked out a fresh plot of snow away from the kids sledding and the half-built snowmen to imprint my likeness.

Have you made a snow angel recently?

I plopped down on my back and laid there for a second, feeling the cold clarity of the snow underneath me.

Guys, for a split second I wasn’t quite sure what to do.

Finally, I waved my arms and legs back and forth wildly, feeling snow shift around me in small mounds.

I stood up to admire my snow-art, giving M the thumbs up as he laughed, recording the ridiculousness on his phone.

It also snowed last week on M’s birthday!

Which brings me to my recipe for today; Vegan Raspberry Cheesecake.

It’s baked in the oven and made deliciously dairy-free with three layers!

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Chocolate Covered Raspberry Chia Cups

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Easy dark chocolate cups stuffed with a raspberry chia jam filling. Make them for a quick dessert or Valentine’s Day treat!

Lately, I’ve been contemplating love.

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and while I’m not out of the house much to see the teddy bears and flowers at the forefront of ever store, I feel the build up.

So my brain is all red roses, chocolate truffles, and candied hearts right now.

And I’ve been reframing and redefining what it means to truly love someone or something.

Because it’s more than the Oxford Dictionary’s “a great interest and pleasure in something” or “an intense feeling of deep affection”.

I think there’s a massive element of surrender involved, whether it’s to a hobby, a best friend, or a partner.

It’s to care endlessly and effortlessly without expectation, conditions, or control.

To adore just because; because you do, because you can, because you are…love.

Leaning into love doesn’t look or feel logical, whether it’s fondness for a passion, place, or person.

But then again, if we’re being honest, what did logic ever have to do with love?

It’s a hard but liberating thing to be that bold and unafraid with your heart of hearts.

What isn’t hard, however, is to fall truly madly deeply in love with this new dessert recipe.

You’re going to fall head over heels for these Chocolate Covered Raspberry Chia Cups.

Let’s be fearless with our feelings and make these easy dark chocolate cups are stuffed with a refined-sugar-free raspberry chia jam filling.

Ready to be totally Twitterpated?

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Dark Chocolate Chai Latte

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Chocolate chai latte with creamy coconut milk, dark chocolate, cinnamon, and ginger lightly sweetened with maple syrup. Perfect to unwind in the evening!

These past few weeks I’ve implemented a nightly tea time ritual.

I start boiling the water while working my way through the dishes and by the time the drying rack is full the kettle is whistling wildly.

My go-to lately is chai tea and M is all about the chamomile.

I let the tea steep for 11 minutes (yes, 11 minutes!), then curl up on the couch to watch The Mandalorian on Disney+.

On one fortuitous evening, I decided to eat a few squares of dark chocolate while drinking my tea.

I gingerly bit off a piece of dark chocolate then took a sip of chai.

The chocolate melted on my tongue instantly, washed down in a wave of warm cinnamon and spices.

Oh my gosh, you guys, it’s amazing.

“This is *so* good,” I told M between greedy slurps, wondering why I’d never thought to pair dark chocolate and chai together before.

So, naturally, I had to combine them in this Dark Chocolate Chai Latte.

Have your chocolate and chai at the same time in this delicious refined-sugar-free cozy drink!
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Blueberry Almond Protein Cookies

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Blueberry almond protein cookies with almond butter, oats, and almond protein powder sweetened with banana. Perfect for meal prep!

Yesterday I went to a coffee shop for the first time since last March.

After a “best coffee in VA” google search and a 20-minute drive, M and I found ourselves at local roastery gem.

The minute I opened the door the rich smells of coffee beans washed over me like seeing a long lost friend.

And then, I did see a long lost friend.

I was examining the whole coffee beans in colorful bags when suddenly my friend Walt was there, too.

Walt graduated from yoga teacher training in the same group as me, so, we’ve been through a journey together far before the world was on fire from COVID.

It felt surprising and fortuitous to see a familiar face during a global pandemic at a shop I only popped in by chance.

Life is funny.

He looked different with a mask and longer hair but the easy conversation was the same and we talked about yoga, hiking, and of course, coffee.

I just started drinking coffee, again, guys, which I told Walt with raised eyebrows.

Lately I love getting up 6 AM and sipping on warm dark roast coffee with a splash of almond milk.

You know what’s absolutely fantastic with coffee?

Something a little sweet.

These Blueberry Almond Protein Cookies are the best way to start your day with a burst of protein!

You bring the coffee and I’ll bring the cookie recipe.

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