Sweets & Treats

Vegan & Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins

Vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip muffins with superfine almond flour, oat flour, and vegan chocolate chips. Perfect for a sweet snack!

I first made these Vegan & Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins the day before we went to pick up Flora.

Luckily, I had the foresight to do some hefty meal prep because we brought the new pup home.

These muffins were a recipe founded on a craving in the midst of packing pee pads and toys and two sizes of crates (we weren’t sure which would fit!).

I had no idea how the muffins turned out as I threw them in the car for a healthy snack along with our Tupperware lunch and multiple Nalgene water bottles.

Our Aussie pup was a long 4 hour car ride away, but it was worth every mile.

About an hour before we scooped her up, I unwrapped a muffin from it’s liner and sunk my teeth in.

There weren’t a lot of things at this particular moment that could excite me more than the prospect of meeting my new doggie, but these muffins came close.

They’re fluffy, moist, and dotted with the perfect amount of dark chocolate.

“Oh my god. These are SO good!” I turned towards M in the driver seat, excitedly waving my muffin missing a big bite.

(M agreed later in the week that the muffins were indeed, delicious!)

It was a pleasant surprise and pick-me-up right before the biggest surprise of the year:

Meeting our Australian Shepherd girlie named Flora, who melted our heart at first glance, lick, and sometimes even now, affectionate nip.

I’m so excited to share these Vegan & Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins with you this fall!

They’re the perfect sweet snack to fuel you for back-to-school adventures, whether that is with or without four legged fur babies.

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Vegan Zucchini Bread

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Vegan zucchini bread made in 1-bowl with almond flour, oats, and grated zucchini. It’s the perfect late summer breakfast, snack, or dessert!

Friends, it’s crazy how fast a puppy grows.

It’s been just two weeks being dog mom to Flora, and already we can see her facial features changing, shifting, becoming.

Last night M looked at me and said mournfully, “Where did our puppy go?!”

It’s true, she is getting bigger and bigger every day, and it’s honestly getting a little difficult (for me) to carry her with one arm!

We’re loving every second of the chaos of being a new dog parent.

Luckily, she doesn’t seem to be bothered by my constant running around the kitchen or scared by my constant banging of pots and pans.

That’s good, because with my job and passion, I make a lot of food and make a lot of noise while doing it!

So far, the only “human food” we’ve given her is good ol’ peanut butter, which she laps out of her kong with alarming accuracy and speed.

Her current favorite *high value* treat are some peanut butter oat training bites that are GOLD currency in our house.

Whenever we need to get her to do something and do it fast, a peanut butter treat is the difference between the zoomies and obedience.

I’m sure Flora would love it if she could get her teeth on some of the smells coming from the kitchen, lately.

Like this Vegan Zucchini Bread that I’ve been making on repeat to use up summer zucchini!

This vegan zucchini bread is made in 1-bowl with almond flour, oats, and grated zucchini.

It’s the perfect later summer breakfast, snack, or dessert for my human friends!

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Strawberry SunButter Bark

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Strawberry SunButter Bark made nut-free with fresh strawberries, No Sugar Added SunButter, and vegan dark chocolate. The best sweet treat!

Hi, friends!

If you receive my weekly emails or if you follow me on Instagram, you know that M and I have some big news.

We’re getting a puppy!!!

Her name is Flora and she’s a red tri Australian Shepherd pup.

I’m counting down the weeks and days until we can scoop her up in early August.

Like with most new and large responsibilities that I take on, I’m a big fan of the little steps every day approach.

This means every day doing either: puppy proofing the house, watching a puppy training video, or just gushing over her latest photo updates with M.

Every day I think we get a little closer to being ready to be puppy parents.

Of course, it’ll be a learn as you go experience for all of us (Flora included!), but I’m so excited to take on this journey with M.

So now there actually IS a Flora from Flora & Vino, friends, and it’s not me!

This is kind of an inside joke because I have gotten countless emails over years the addressing me as “Flora” from people who saw my brand name and…assumed.

Also because I think the name Flora is adorable and it’s so on brand, isn’t it?!

You know what else is on brand?

My latest recipe that I’m about to share with you to beat the heat.

This Strawberry SunButter Bark is made nut-free with fresh strawberries, SunButter, and vegan dark chocolate.

Enjoy it for a fresh frozen treat this summer to beat the current heat wave!

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Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake

By Flora & Vino 4 Comments

Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake with a gluten-free oat crust, dairy-free coconut cashew cream cheese filling, and a blueberry topping.

We just home after a grand adventure through Wyoming!

M’s coworker just got married there, so we decided to make a trip out of it and visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park.

After living out of an RV for a week, I’m so very tired and excited to be back home.

Here’s an indication of just how exhausted I was after our travels; the first night back I slept 14 hours (yes, you read that correctly)!

It was a hard trip in the sense that we were on the go constantly.

While living in a camper allows you to have everything you need with you, there’s also a *lot* of maintenance and responsibility involved with keeping the van functioning that I wasn’t exactly prepared for.

You’re constantly filling water, dumping (gross) water, securing the van for driving, opening and closing windows, flipping switches, organizing, reorganizing, losing shit, losing your shit, rinse, repeat.

HOWEVER.

The RV did allow us access to the parks in a way that other accommodations wouldn’t have.

We were able to see everything we wanted to within Yellowstone, which is saying a lot, because Yellowstone is SO much bigger than I could comprehend.

My favorite Yellowstone highlights were the Upper and Lower Falls hike at the Yellowstone Grand Canyon, Mammoth Springs, and watching a playful bison take a dirt bath off the side of the road.

Grand Teton was probably more my style, with the beautiful backdrop of the Tetons ever present on the skyline.

My Grand Teton highlights were watching the sunset at Schwabacher Landing and doing the hike to Inspiration Point at Jenny Lake.

We saw moose, elk, bison, and lots of chipmunks, but no bears, much to my relief and M’s disappointment.

It was a hard beautiful trip that I won’t forget anytime soon.

Another recent unforgettable is that Vegan Blueberry Cheesecake.

It’s made with a gluten-free oat crust, dairy-free coconut cashew cream cheese filling, and a blueberry topping.

This beautiful dessert is guaranteed to be etched in your memory this summer!

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Lemon Almond Flour Macaroons

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Lemon Almond Flour Macaroons made with shredded coconut and super fine almond flour ready in under an hour for a spring dessert.

Friends, I miss having a dog.

Lately in the evenings I’ve taken to scrolling through local rescues and looking at the furry faces.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since I was last a pet owner!

I wanted you to hear it from me, first, that we’re casually looking for a four legged friend to join the family.

We have a few requirements, yes, but mostly I just want something fluffy to give my heart to.

In the past, I’ve used local breeders to get my pups, but this time M and I would love to do a rescue dog.

So, we’re in the very preliminary research phases of learning all we can about puppy adoption and how a new pup might complement our life.

I’m educating myself on the adoption process and looking into how to dog-proof our space.

Most importantly, how to keep a new dog baby away from my plant babies, and visa versa!

I’m excited and so tentatively hopeful that this could be the year I could become a dog mom again.

These Lemon Almond Flour Macaroons smell (and taste) like a fresh start, too.

They’re made with shredded coconut and super fine almond flour and ready in under an hour for a spring dessert.

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Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

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Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble with an oat and almond butter crumble topping sweetened with maple syrup. Serve with vegan ice cream!

Growing up, my mom made a *mean* rhubarb pie.

The recipe was first my grandma’s, who passed it down to my mom, who made it hers.

She made it delightfully tart and sweet by reducing the sugar by 1/2 of the original recipe, with a light buttery crust.

I love cutting into it warm and watching the sweet pink filling ooze out the sides, only to be scooped up by my spoon.

We didn’t have to eat it very often, because fresh rhubarb isn’t something that we found very often at the store.

So it was indeed a real treat whenever mom found the ingredients to make it.

I’m channeling that pie in today’s rhubarb recipe.

I asked my mom recently for the full recipe to adapt, and she commented that lately she’s been turning the pie into a crumble.

Perfect, I thought, because I can make a *mean* vegan crumble.

This Vegan Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble is made with an oat and almond butter crumble topping sweetened with maple syrup.

Serve it with vegan ice cream for dessert or plant-based yogurt for breakfast!

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Vegan Strawberry Brownies

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Vegan Strawberry Brownies with fresh strawberries, and dark chocolate chips. A fun dessert to combine strawberries and chocolate!

Have you ever stopped and actually done those “10 Questions for Your Girlfriend” quizzes that you swipe through on TikTok?

M and I have, because I think they’re fun.

It’s a welcome reprieve from doomscrolling an endless “For You” page of trending sounds and videos and an opportunity to interact in an otherwise antisocial sport.

So, anyway, back to the quizzes.

I mean, who doesn’t want to decide which dog their boyfriend is out of 10 different options or whether they’d choose cookies or brownies for dessert?

These are important questions that demand answers.

It was during a food-themed quiz that M informed me that he would rather eat brownies over cookies.

“WHAT?!” I shrieked, totally flabbergasted.

“Yes, over cookies, I would!” he vehemently argued.

This honestly doesn’t mean a lot coming from my dessert-opposed boyfriend who can eat raw rhubarb and think it’s sweet enough.

Friends, I don’t think I’ve seen M eat a single brownie during our four years of dating.

But, apparently he’s a brownie guy.

So, this brownie recipe is dedicated to the boy I live with who hasn’t touched this pan since I made them.

That’s OK, because these Vegan Strawberry Brownies are too good to share.

These vegan and gluten-free brownies are made with fresh strawberries and dotted with dark chocolate chips.

They’re essentially a chocolate covered strawberry in brownie form!

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Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

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Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake with almond and oat flour, SunButter, and dark chocolate chips. Perfect for a birthday or any celebration!

What are you growing this year?

Last weekend M and I planted our first seeds on the deck.

Each day since I peer outside first thing, searching for signs of green sprouts.

This is our second year trying our hand at outdoor planting, and I both love and hate the variability of it all.

It always feels a bit chaotic throwing seeds in dirt with water and hoping that they germinate and grow.

But despite all of my doubts and fears, something grew from nothing last year, and it was both beautiful and amazing.

I’m excited to be in for the journey again this spring.

Here’s what we planted:

Flower flowers, two kinds of both zinnias and nasturtiums.
For herbs, we have chives, Thai basil, and parsley seeds in the ground; herbs I hope will appear in a recipe this summer.
I’m waiting to plant my sunflower seeds for a few weeks!

Our indoor plant babies also got some love with the warmer weather!

Here are some highlights:

Our Bird of Paradise got a Neem Oil shower to remove some pesky mealy bugs.
My Swiss Cheese plant got a new stake that she’s climbing faster than I can complete a 5.7 at the climbing gym.
A few of my root bound cactuses and snake plants also received a new bigger pot so they can take off.

If you’re also waiting for seeds to grow, buds to blossom, and the stress of tax day to disappear, might I suggest baking?

I created this Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake around my birthday in early April, but am just getting around to sharing it with you.

This Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake is made with almond and oat flour, SunButter, and dark chocolate chips.

My version is totally vegan, gluten-free, and no-oil-added, finished with a 1-ingredient frosting.

It’s the perfect easy dessert to make and decorate for any occasion.

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Vegan Cashini Strawberry Shortcake

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Vegan Strawberry Shortcake made with Artisana Organics Cashini topped with macerated strawberries and fresh mint. A classy spring dessert!

Happy spring, officially!

Are you an April Fools-er?

I didn’t used to be, but ever since I’ve been dating M I’ve been letting my jokester flag fly.

Here is a brief history of April Fools Date at F&V HQ.

Three years ago I replaced a deceased plant with a live one and waited to see how long it took M to notice.

(Note: This plant was delivered nameless and tagless via a Whole Foods delivery during quarantine pandemic days.

This plant is now our largest Monstera which I fondly refer to as “our child” and has taken over an *entire* corner of the living room.

So, the ultimate joke might be on me?)

Two years ago I pranked M by filling an empty Artisana Organics Cashew Butter jar with Tahini.

This joke execution was made even more hilarious by the fact that I was at a bachelorette party on April 1.

M called me to check in and ask why the cashew butter tasted so bitter.

My girlfriends and I dissolved into piles of laughter.

Last year, I pranked M by telling him that Artisana Organics made jars of Cashini just for him because of said prank.

I watched him struggle with belief vs. disbelief, weighing my relationship with brands vs. my pranking history.

This year, I haven’t decided what the joke will be but I know it has to somehow involve Cashew and Tahini.

You know what else involves Cashew and Tahini?!

These Vegan Cashini Strawberry Shortcake that’s made with Artisana Organics Cashini topped with macerated strawberries and fresh mint.

It’s a classy spring dessert!

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Viral Date Bark (Nut-Free!)

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Viral Date Bark made nut-free with Medjool dates, No Sugar Added SunButter, sunflower seeds, and vegan dark chocolate. The best sweet treat!

I have a list on my phone for all of the “viral” trending recipes that I want to try from TikTok.

So many recipes, so little time!

Sometimes I don’t get around to making them until the trend is already old news on social media.

Like the baked feta pasta that I *just* got around to making a few weeks back (and wasn’t fully impressed with the vegan version!).

However, this week, I dug out some dates from the back of the refrigerator and decided it was time to try the Viral Date Bark, with a few variations.

I was surprised at how delicious this simple recipe is!

The few ingredients pair together beautifully to create a sweet and salty treat with an addictive crunch.

That paired with how insanely easy it was to make meant I have to share it with you.

You’re going to love my version of Viral Date Bark made Nut-Free with SunButter and sunflower seeds.

It’s perfect to store in the refrigerator or freezer for those instances you just need a little something sweet and healthy.

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Sweets & Treats

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