Archives for June 2012

Banana and Coconut Cream Pie

Are you drooling yet? I was when my sister sent me the original recipe! The absolutely amazing part about this pie is that it is made without any dairy AND is probably better than any I’ve tried over the years. : O

That’s right, dairy free and amazing! Full fat coconut milk is my new best friend. 😀

First off, don’t let the ingredient list and amount of steps scare you away. It is actually very easy to make, but you should allow for a full 24 hours to make it, to allow fridge-firming time, etc.

Plan ahead: Place the Mimiccreme box in the fridge the day before OR in the freezer for at least 45 minutes before using. If you want extra whipped topping, also place a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge the day before as well.

8″ pie crust
12 graham cracker sheets ground in a food processor to make 1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
3-5 tbsp. vegan butter or margarine (I used 3 and I think 5 would have made a firmer crust)
1 small banana

Add the butter to the crumbs and incorporate using your hands until all the crumbs are covered in butter. Gently start pressing the crumb and butter mixture into the pie pan to form the crust. Bake crust at 350°F in toaster oven or oven for 5-10 minutes or until the crust starts to turn golden. Once the pie crust has baked, thinly slice a banana and place slices onto bottom of crust.

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Banana Coconut Filling

1 tbsp agar agar (vegan gelatin)
3/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup full fat coconut milk (this can does not need to be refrigerated, that is for the topping)
2 tbsp coconut oil
Process the below ingredients in a food processor or blender and set aside.
14 oz. pkg. silken tofu
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 small banana

Heat the agar agar, maple syrup and coconut milk over high heat until it starts to boil. Stir constantly for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and add coconut oil, stirring until dissolved. (I keep my coconut oil in the fridge cause it melts in the hot AZ pantry in the summer at 80°F, so it’s completely solid.)

Add the heated mixture to the food processor containing the tofu, salt, vanilla and banana. Process until creamy. Pour into prepared crust. Add a few more banana slices to the pie filling if you’d like. Place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours to allow to set and firm up.

Creamy Banana Topping
1 box Mimiccreme’s Healthy Top (I got mine at Whole Foods – place in fridge overnight or freezer for at least 30 minutes)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 small ripe banana (processed until smooth and then refrigerated for 30 minutes)
refrigerated bowl and whisk/beaters

Place all the cold contents into an electric mixer and process on high speed for about 3 minutes, or until desired thickness is obtained. Spread over pie, and pile it on! This actually made quite a bit more topping than I needed, so I froze the rest – we’ll see how that works out for a future use. Maybe I can use it like Cool Whip and put it on my Coconut Banana Ice Cream?

Refrigerate pie overnight before slicing to allow for maximum firmness!

Now, you can also add even more whipped cream – but I didn’t. I figured we had enough calories! But that is where the chilled can of full fat coconut milk comes in. Simply whip it at full speed until desired thickness and serve as a whipped topping. You can also add your favorite sweetener if desired before whipping. Do this right before serving the pie.

Also, I added a few slices of fresh banana to each piece before serving. 

While I was photographing this slice, I had a hard time NOT EATING IT. It wasn’t holding up very well in the AZ heat anyway, so I did this slice a favor. I DID start eating it! I had to save it!! It was so freaking good. It may or may not have been my breakfast… [burp]. I will definitely use more butter on the crust next time to help it hold together better. It tasted amazing, but it didn’t come out of the pie pan very easily.

Zucchini Bread

A friend of mine (thanks Danielle!) introduced me to a new food blog called Oh She Glows. After reading her story and browsing the site I quickly added her to my list of favorite blogs. On a completely different note, I’ve had “Zucchini Bread” written on our dry erase board in the kitchen for the past 2 months. I’ve been WANTING to make a healthy zucchini bread but was waiting for the right recipe to come my way. I was ecstatic to see one titled “oil-free zucchini walnut raisin bread…” on Oh She Glows! I really liked all of the ingredients in this, so there was not much about it that I changed.

Zucchini Bread

2 c. spelt flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. powdered fructose
1/3 c. raisins
1/3 c. chopped walnuts
1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water, mixed and set aside for 5 minutes)
1 3/4 c. shredded zucchini with skin
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1 1/4 c. rice milk


Preheat oven to 375°F

Cinnamon Streusel Topping
2 tsp non-dairy margarine/butter
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

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1. Mix up the flax egg and set aside for later use. Spray a 9″x5″ loaf pan with oil spray and then line with parchment paper. (This will enable you to remove the loaf from the pan immediately after pulling it out of the oven.)

2. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (flour, powders, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, raisins & walnuts).

3. In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients (flax egg, shredded zucchini, lemon zest & juice, maple syrup, rice milk).

4. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just mixed. Do not to overmix; spelt flour can be over mixed causing it to not rise as much.

5. Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan. Prepare the cinnamon streusel according to instructions in above photo captions. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cooked Zucchini Bread

Look at those slices of zucchini!