Topic of the month: dessert

[kokonutmama]

Who has an awesome dessert recipe to share?

[moogie]

I suck with deserts so hopefully others can suggest some ideas.

My idea of desert is timtams and store bought ice cream and blueberry apple pie.

[jnezmama02]

Ok, I had to look up what a TimTam was...a brand of cookie to those of us in the US.  I just made some awesome oatmeal cookies the last week that turned out really good; it's an adaptaption of the Oatmeal Raisin recipe on the oatmeal container. This is NOT vegan, though you may be able to substitute appropriately to make it so.

Oatmeal Raisin & Wheat Germ Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened 
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 cup uncooked old fashioned oats
1/2 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy.
3. Add egg and vanilla; beat well.
4. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.
5. Add flour mixture to other ingredients and mix well.
6. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.
7. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Bake 10 to 12 min or until golden brown.
9. Cool 1 min on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

Makes 2 dozen cookies.  Recipe could be doubled easily.

Also, I've considered making them even more healthy by making them with whole wheat flour, but I'm not sure how they will be. So far, both kids will eat these and I'm afraid to "jinx" it. But, I may make a batch for just me and see if I like it first.

Oh, I can't remember if I posted this already, but I found a granola recipe base I liked. I added to it slightly. This is vegan.

Karen's Granola
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats, uncooked
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup light-flavored olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a baking sheet. 
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. In a glass measure, warm honey in a microwave until it is a liquid (about 20sec). Add oil & vanilla to honey and mix well.
3. Drizzle the honey mixture over the dry ingredients and combine together; all ingredients should look slightly damp. Spread the mixture onto a greased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 10-12min. Stir halfway. Remove from the oven and mix in wheat germ and raisins immediately. Let cool completely in pan (about 20min). Granola will look golden and not be crunchy at first; it will become crunchy as it cools.
5. Store in an airtight container. Keeps for about a week. Makes approximately 3 cups. 

I also have tons of other recipes, but they're not remotely healthy or vegan, lol!

[kokonutmama]

Great,  Hope!  I'm always looking for ways to use Wheat Germ.

[jnezmama02]

Ok, I ended up making a batch of the oatmeal raisin  & wheat germ cookies with stone ground whole wheat (graham) flour...just replaced the entire amout of all-purpose flour with the whole wheat. They actually turned out delicious.  Both DDs still ate them and didn't seem to notice the difference. Yeah!!

Then, today, the ILs were visiting and we ran out of cookies (they're big on junk food); yet, I was also out of raisins. So, I made these cookies WITH the whole wheat buat substituted milk chocolate morsels in place of raisins (also skipped the cinnamon). They turned out great too!!

So, now, I've got 2 cookies out of this once basic recipe: oatmeal raisin & wheat germ cookies  and oatmeal chocolate & wheat germ cookies. I suppose you could put any other dried fruit in place of the raisins (dried cranberries, dried apples, etc) or just skip that step altogether.

Although there's lots of butter and sugar in this recipe...I still consider it "semi-healthy" b/c of the amount of fiber it's got in it. This is such an important thing since Jessie gets clogged up often. lol!

[moogie]

do you guys have pavlova over there?  if not you're missing out big time.  Not vegan as it contains a ton of eggs but certainly yum.

Anyone have suggestions for somewhat healthy desserts.  'm afraid i've headed down the sweets track again this time.
somebody slap my hand away from that cookie jar. 

We've been without scales for 2 months now and i'm worried i'm starting to put on the kgs.

[kokonutmama]

Oh, healthy.  I was all geared up to post this amazing (refined sugar and margarine packed) chocolate cake recipe that I had for my birthday.  I guess I won't.

Hope!  You saved my life yesterday.  I was having one of those junk food cravings that just won't stop until I stick my head in a tub of tofutti or something, but there was NOTHING sweet in the house.  I remembered you, in the nick of time, and whipped up a batch of oatmeal cookies.  Ahhhh, sweet relief!! 

OKOK, here's a dessert I make sometimes when I'm feeling like something more than a piece of fruit, but not as bad as cake.

Wedge a few apples into slender wedges.  Heat a little margarine or smart balance or butter or canola oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add the apples to the fat and cook them until the juices start to ooze out, then add a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar.  Cook a little longer until they're shiny and gooey.  Eat.  Try not to add ice cream!

[moogie]

what the heck Adrienne, just post the chocolate cake recipe ok. lol.

[jnezmama02]

Adrienne, I do the same thing w/ apples, but just put the apples in a microwavable bowl w/ a few pats of butter, cinnamon & sugar. I just zap it until the wedges are tender.

Another quick treat I do is add granola, choc chips, sprinkles, dry cereal, or fruit to low-fat vanilla yogurt. It's a little healthier than ice cream, but still tastes yummy.

Megs, I've never seen Pavlova, but that looks delicious (looked it up).

[kokonutmama]

OK, I'm being lazy.  Here's the link to vegweb where I got the cake recipe.  vegweb is a good place for recipes, anyway, y'all oughta check it out.  you can build your own recipe box and even make grocery lists. 

http://vegweb.com/recipes/sweets/4740.shtml  I think the frosting he refers to is what made the cake so very special. that's at
http://vegweb.com/recipes/sweets/2044.shtml

[moogie]

Thanks Adrienne.

Hope, you've got to try the pavlova.

it must have fresh whipped cream on top with strawberries, kiwi fruit, passionfruit pulp(sparingly and shavings(grated) of chacoa;late.  It is so good.