Sweets & Treats

Vegan Carrot Cake Moon Pies

Vegan Carrot Cake Moon Pies made with carrot cake cookies sandwiched with a vegan cream cheese filling. Perfect for a spring dessert!

Is anyone else spring dreaming right about now?!

While I do my best to stay in the moment and appreciate the beauty of every season, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited for warmer weather.

My first ever cake was a carrot cake, AKA the cake my parents got me that my grubby one-year-old hands tore apart orange piece by piece.

So carrot cake reminds me of my birthday, spring, and the promise of warmer days.

We’re still a little ways away from sunscreen and flip flops and floppy beach hats, but let me distract you with my latest and greatest.

I made Vegan Carrot Cake Moon Pies for upcoming National Carrot Cake Day!

These Vegan Carrot Cake Moon Pies are made with hearty carrot cake cookies sandwiched with a vegan cream cheese filling.

They’re perfect for a spring (or spring dreaming) dessert!

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DIY Vegan Holiday Food Gift Ideas

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

A collection of simple and delicious DIY vegan and gluten-free recipes that are perfect to make, gift, and give for the holiday season.

How’s it going with the gift giving this year?

Truthfully, I don’t like buying gifts just to have a wrapped box to give someone for the holidays.

As an aspiring minimalist, I don’t want to give you something that will add clutter to your home.

I also don’t want to give you something that doesn’t add value or inspiration to your life

So, sometimes homemade gifts are the best, because they’re heartfelt and meaningful while saving you money.

Unlike some of my crafty friends, I can’t make jewelry or crochet or sew, but friends, I can cook and bake for you!

Homemade holiday food gifts serve a purpose, too, because they will feed your friends and family into the new year.

I love showing up with baked bread, gooey cookies, or homemade truffles to share with the people I love.

If you’re going DIY these season, check out these DIY Vegan Holiday Food Gift Ideas.

I’ve included all of my favorite holiday recipes that are easy to make, gift, and love.

This post includes everything from vegan Christmas chocolates, to homemade granola, to fruit jams, and even dog treats for our four legged friends.

Bookmark this DIY Vegan Holiday Food Gift Ideas and come back to it whenever you need a quick gift idea without pulling out your wallet.

Spend time in the kitchen, not money, and show everyone on your list how sweet the season can be!

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Chocolate Sesame Tahini Cookies

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

1-bowl Chocolate Sesame Tahini Cookies made with oat flour, tahini, and cacao powder naturally sweetened with maple syrup for a healthy cookie.

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The end of the year is kind of a strange time, isn’t it?

I’ve been reflecting a lot in the past few weeks on goals, dreams, and intentions that I set for 2023.

In some areas, I absolutely achieved my goals.

I prioritized my health and wellness, made a lot of delicious recipes, and made lots of amazing memories with M, friends, and family.

But there’s other goals that have fallen flat: I can’t do an inversion yet, and it honestly feels like I’ve digressed a bit in my German.

My word for this year was abundance.

I described it best on Instagram, “abundance in all things – body, business, finance, spirit, relationship, movement, and stillness.”

Basically, I want to feel intense enough-ness, that I am enough, that there is enough, that there will be enough.

But, there’s never enough Chocolate Sesame Tahini Cookies…

So I invite you to make these 1-bowl Chocolate Sesame Tahini Cookies made with oat flour, tahini, and cacao powder naturally sweetened with maple syrup.

They’re the perfect hybrid of sweet treat and healthy cookie and you and yours will love them this holiday season.

Make a batch and count your wins this year, boo.

I bet that there are more of them that you think, and that your dreams are closer that you imagine.

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SunButter Gingerbread Bars

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

SunButter Gingerbread Bars made vegan and gluten-free with oat flour, almond flour, and molasses. Serve with a dollop of coconut whip!

Gingerbread has got to be one of the most seasonal desserts for the holiday season.

It’s sweet, spiced, and very distinct in its flavor and appearance.

My mom used to make it for us growing up.

I loved biting into the fluffy squares sprinkled with powdered sugar.

This version is special because it’s made vegan and gluten-free with oat flour, almond flour, and molasses.

These SunButter Gingerbread Bars are the perfect bar to slice and share to end 2023.

I loved sharing it with M, who said that the whole “gingerbread” flavor profile isn’t really a thing in Germany.

Sprinkle them while shredded coconut like I did or go classic with powdered sugar.

Serve them with a dollop of coconut whip for a sweet dessert to end the year!

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies made with natural peanut butter, dark chocolate chips, and hearty oats for the best texture and taste.

I was guilty of blasting Christmas music before Thanksgiving this year.

Because we leave for Germany in mid-December, everything holiday-related that I want to do here in the states has been a bit premature.

I resisted the urge to get a Christmas tree and instead have our gifts arranged under our giant monstera, now fondly referred to as the “Christmas monstera”.

What I really wanted to do was actually hang ornaments on the plant, but I care too much about her to risk damaging her structure for the novelty.

Anyway, so you get the idea, it’s been a truncated end to the year here at F&V HQ.

Being a recipe creator, I’m pretty used to being out of sync with the seasons.

As the goal is always to be ahead on content, that means creating holiday cookies before holiday cookie season.

Speaking of cookies, I have things to say about these circular baked goods.

I’m hereby proclaiming myself the cookie queen because I have the *best* new cookie recipe to share with you.

Save this one and share it with your friends, partners, parents, kids, and Santa himself.

These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are made with peanut butter, chocolate chips, and oatmeal for best texture and taste!

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Vegan Chocolate Chunk Cookies

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Vegan Chocolate Chunk Cookies made gluten-free with almond and oat flour and bursting with chocolate chunks. The perfect classic cookie!

It’s cookie exchange time!!!

My favorite part of baking is sharing my creations with others (yes, even more than eating them!).

That’s why I send M to work with platefuls of treats all year round.

So I’m *so* glad that it’s finally seasonally appropriate to bake cookies and give them to everyone!

It came to my attention recently that, while I have cookies with chocolate chips in them in my recipe archives, I don’t have a *classic* chocolate chip cookie.

You know, the chocolate chip cookies from your childhood, chewy and fluffy and loaded with chocolate pieces.

I might be biased, but I always preferred chocolate chunks to chocolate chips.

That’s because chocolate chunks are usually bigger than chips, and more chocolate is always a good thing.

These Vegan Chocolate Chunk Cookies are made gluten-free with almond and oat flour and bursting with chocolate chunks.

They are, dare I say, the perfect classic cookie!

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Vegan Holiday Fruit Cake

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Vegan Holiday Fruit Cake made with no-added-oil baked with almonds, applesauce, and Fruit Bliss Organic Fruit Medley for a sweet festive cake to share.

Friends, my house is officially decorated for the holidays.

Now, I’ve always been a “let’s wait until after Thanksgiving and then everything is fair game” kind of a Christmas enthusiast.

However, this year it feels like I need to get a head start.

It was a very rational decision I made based on the fact that we leave for Germany in a month paired with the very emotional allure of the Christmas box.

After much debate, I decided to put out all of my Christmas decorations this week!

I’ve got to say, I have zero regrets about it, as I write this post in the multi-color glow of the ceramic Christmas tree my grandma made for me.

And it’s fitting, really, because I have the ultimate holiday recipe for you today.

This isn’t your grandma’s fruit cake, this is Vegan Holiday Fruit Cake!

Unlike traditional fruit cakes, this one is vegan, gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, and made with no-added-oil.

It’s a sweet festive cake to share and one you can feel good about eating during the holiday season!

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Sweet Potato Pie Bars

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Vegan and gluten-free sweet potato pie bars with an almond flour crust, naturally sweetened with dates. The perfect portioned holiday bite!

While brainstorming pie flavors, I happened upon a recipe for sweet potato pie.

“Now that’s something I haven’t tried yet,” I thought.

Being a self-proclaimed sweet potato addict, I knew I had to make it happen before Thanksgiving to share with you.

As sweet potatoes are gloriously sweet all by themselves, I knew it would be easy to whip them into seasonal pie!

M’s brain tells him that everything orange is pumpkin, so he has referred to this recipe multiple times as “pumpkin pie”.

To which I corrected him with an exaggerated sigh and huffed, “it’s *sweet potato*!” in response.

While it’s understandable that you confuse the two (they’re both orange and delicious) I like to think these sweet potato pie bars are something special.

These vegan and gluten-free Sweet Potato Pie Bars are made with an almond flour crust and a fluffy sweet potato interior.

Served them in squares with a dollop of coconut whip for the perfect portioned holiday dessert!

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Peanut Butter Stuffed Dates

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Peanut butter stuffed dates for a quick and healthy snack made with gooey Medjool dates, creamy peanut butter, and dark chocolate chips. So good!

We’ve allllll been there.

It’s been a long day that just keeps going and you’re completely out of snack options.

Or maybe you’ve got all your snack options around but you’re just really freaking tired of them.

In times like this, keeping it simple is important.

These Peanut Butter Stuffed Dates were born from one of these exact circumstances.

It was a Sunday and I hadn’t been to the grocery store so the fridge was bare bones and my need for a snack was dire.

In a moment of inspiration, I grabbed a Medjool date, pitted it, then spooned in peanut butter and finished it with dark chocolate chips.

The moment I sunk my teeth in I new it wouldn’t be the first time I had this pairing.

Peanut butter stuffed dates are a quick and healthy snack made with gooey Medjool dates, creamy peanut butter, and dark chocolate chips.

Try them out for a quick snack or dessert when you’re in a pinch!

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Vegan Pumpkin Spice Bread

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Vegan pumpkin spice bread made in 1-bowl with a mix of almond flour, oats, and plenty of pumpkin. It’s the perfect fall breakfast, snack, or dessert!

This October marks a year since I ran my first marathon!

It’s hard to believe that a year ago I ran 26 miles because this year, well, I haven’t run much at all.

This week I decided to commemorate all of the work I put in last year running a 5K around my neighborhood.

It was humbling reminder of how goals change over time, and that that’s OK.

Last year I trained to run marathon, and this year I’m focused on being the strongest version of me.

I had forgotten how much I love running; propelling myself over concrete, grass, and asphalt while my worries take the backseat.

Do you know what else I missed?

The smell of vegan, gluten-free, and no-oil-added pumpkin bread baking in a glowing oven.

This Vegan Pumpkin Spice Bread is made in 1-bowl with a mix of almond flour, oats, and plenty of pumpkin.

Bake it for the perfect fall breakfast, snack, or dessert!

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Sweets & Treats

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