Spiced Applesauce Cake for One

Even if Autumn is a just beginning, you can force the issue with this little cake. I’m so glad it made two little cakes! Yummmm.

For the Cake:

9 TBLSP all-purpose flour (1/2 cup plus 1 TBLSP)

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch ground nutmeg

Pinch ground ginger

Pinch of ground cloves

½ cup unsweetened applesauce

6 TBLSP brown sugar

2 TBLSP canola oil

1 TBLSP white or apple cider vinegar

Slosh vanilla extract

2 TBLSP raisins

2 TBLSP chopped walnuts

For the Icing:

6 TBLSP powdered sugar

1 ½ TBLSP maple syrup

1-3 TBLSP water or non-dairy milk

Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 4-inch baking pan. A single-serving casserole will do just fine, too. Mine went nicely into TWO four-inch pans, which meant I get cake tomorrow too! Yay!

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
2. In another small bowl. Whisk together the applesauce, brown sugar, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.
3. Add the wet mixture to the dry, and stir until just barely combined. Don’t overmix or you’ll get a tough cake.
4. Fold in the raisins and walnuts. Plop the batter into the prepared pan, making sure that the top is even. 
5. Bake for 35-40 minutes, rotating the cake once about halfway through. Keep baking until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely in the pan before removing. It will go faster if it’s up on a wire rack.

Make the Icing:

1. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and maple syrup together until it’s very smooth.
2. Add the water or non-dairy milk 1 TBLSP at a time until it’s a smooth and thick icing that’s still pourable.

Assemble the Cake:

1. When the cake is completely cooled, run a knife around the inside edge of the pan to loosen it. Unmold the cake and set it on your serving plate. You might want to put little rectangles of parchment paper under it so you can pull them out later and not have icing on your plate, but don’t worry about it too much.
2. Lightly drizzle some of the glaze over the top of the cake. If you want it sweeter, coat the top more thoroughly. There’s plenty of icing for both little cakes and some for the cook, too!

Cherry Cake for One

It’s cherry season, but even if it weren’t, frozen or canned cherries would be pretty good in this easy and quick cake. But fresh cherries made this little darling into something that made my taste buds do the happy dance.

7 TBLSP all-purpose flour

3 TBLSP granulated sugar

Pinch salt

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup water

¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

4 teaspoons coconut oil, melted and cooled

¼ cup sweet cherries, pitted and diced

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a mini loaf pan or a 5-inch cake pan. I have a 4-inch spring-lock pan that works nicely.

1. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda.
2. In another small bowl, mix together water, vinegar vanilla, and coconut oil.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and combine until just incorporated. Fold in the cherries until they’re just hidden in the batter. 
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
5. Bake for 40 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan and then to room temperature on a wire rack.

I made a little glaze out of 1 TBLSP vegan butter (softened), ½ cup powdered sugar, a slosh of vanilla extract, and about a TBLSP of almond milk, but it got lumpy, and the truth is, this cake is moist and lovely and doesn’t need it. 

Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Cake for One

If you want a dessert that’s moist, refreshing, and not terribly sweet, this is the cake for you. Feel free to use frozen blueberries if it’s not blueberry season.  When I was little, I told people that frequent consumption of blueberries was the reason my eyes were so very blue. That’s another reason to eat this cake. To maintain the paint job on your eyebulbs.

For the Cake:

3 TBLSP non-dairy milk (I like almond milk, but it’s your choice)

1 ½ teaspoon lemon zest

1 TBLSP lemon juice

2 TBLSP non-dairy yogurt (I like coconut milk yogurt, but it’s your choice)

¾ teaspoon ground flax seed meal

Slosh of vanilla extract

2 1/3 teaspoons coconut or vegetable oil

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 TBLSP granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

¼ cup blueberries

1 ½ TBLSP more blueberries

For the Glaze:

½ cup confectioner’s sugar

Pinch of lemon zest

½ TBLSP softened vegan butter

1 TBLSP lemon juice

Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 5-inch cake pan. I use a 4-inch spring-form pan and make it thick.

1. In a small bowl, combine the milk, zest, lemon juice, yogurt, flax, vanilla, and oil.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and blueberries.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just barely combined.
4. Plop the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, and then remove the cake and cool the rest of the way.  

You could stop right here, or you can make the glaze.

Make the Glaze:

1. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, zest, lemon juice, and butter. If it’s not runny enough, add more lemon juice.

Devour like the crude monster that you know you really are when it comes to blueberries and cake. Oh wait. That’s me. Feel free to consume this with your usual elegance. (Carry on.)

Variations:

• Instead of frosting with the glaze, try smearing some lemon yogurt on the cake.
• Instead of vegan butter in the glaze, use vegan yogurt. 

Buckeye Candies for One

There are times when you want a little sweet, something special, and something you don’t have every day. Well, these everyday ingredients go together in the nicest way. Here’s a shout out to my friends in (and from) Ohio!

1/4 cup peanut butter

4 teaspoons vegan butter, softened

Dash of vanilla extract

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

4 TBLSP vegan chocolate chips

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Line a dinner plate with parchment or waxed paper.

1. In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, butter, vanilla and confectioners’ sugar. You will need a little muscle for this.
2. Shape the resulting glop into 1-inch balls. You should get somewhere between a dozen and 16 balls, depending on their size. Place the balls on the prepared dish and refrigerate them.
3. Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a double boiler (or microwave the chips and add the oil to the hot chips).
4. Using a toothpick, pick up the peanut butter balls one at a time and dip them into the chocolate. You’ll only want to go part-way up the sides. Wipe off any extra on the edge of the chocolate bowl before placing on the dish so you don’t waste chocolate with big puddles underneath the buckeyes.
5. Refrigerate the resultant cuties for 30 minutes, or, even better, stick them in the freezer. They’re particularly yummy when they’re half frozen! Eat them when the chocolate is a nice hard shell.

If there’s leftover chocolate, toss some dried fruit (apricots, raisins, cherries—whatever you’ve got) or nuts in there and put ‘em on a plate in the freezer too. Yummmm.

Banana Cake for One

I love bananas, and I always have. When I was a kid, my mom always made me banana cakes for my birthday, but I thought why wait for once a year? This is a perq of being a grown-up. You can eat cake whenever you want to.

½ cup all-purpose flour

1/3 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch salt

A shake or two of nutmeg

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 TBLSP canola oil

1 ripe banana, smashed

1 TBLSP water

Slosh of vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 4- or 5-inch baking pan. I often use a single-serving casserole to great success.

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.
2. In another small bowl, whisk the sugar and the oil together, and then add the banana. Add the water and vanilla to this sloppiness and stir to combine.
3. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, just barely combining it all.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let it cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack, and then remove from the pan to cool the rest of the way.

Variations:

• Toss some raisins, walnuts, or chocolate chips in there. Or go nuts and toss in all three. About a TBLSP of each would do it.
• Frost with cream cheese-based frosting (2 TBLSP vegan cream cheese, 4 teaspoons vegan butter, approx. 10 TBLSP powdered sugar, slosh of vanilla), as seen in these photos.

Plum Torte for One

I love plums. I’ll eat them just about any way, but I find that this quick little treat is one of the best.

¼ cup plus ½ TBLSP granulated sugar, divided

2 TBLSP vegan butter

¼ cup all-purpose flour

Pinch baking powder

Sprinkle of ground ginger

1 TBLSP non-dairy plain or vanilla yogurt (I use soy, but use whatever you like)

1-2 small plums, quartered and pitted

½ teaspoon lemon juice

Sprinkle of ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 4- or 5-inch cake pan.

1. In a small bowl, cream the sugar and butter until they’re fluffy.
2. Add the flour baking powder, and ginger, and incorporate them well.
3. Add the yogurt and mix it all together.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, smoothing the top. Arrange the plums pleasantly on the top, skin side up.
5. Sprinkle lemon juice on the plums, just enough to get their surfaces shiny and wet, and then sprinkle the cinnamon and the ½ TBLSP of sugar onto it.
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool on a rack.

Chocolate Tofu Cake with Peanut Butter Drizzle for One

This cake is moist, VERY chocolatey, and has just the right amount of sweetness to make any dessert-monger happy without making your dentist nervous. You might want a more traditional frosting—I liked the lumpy bumpy glaze-style frosting because I’m not very good at frosting cakes, and this way, it could be the glaze’s fault.

For a Single-Layer Cake:

7 TBLSP all-purpose flour

6 TBLSP granulated sugar

3 TBLSP cocoa powder

1/3 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

¼ block silken tofu (about 4 ounces)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 TBLSP water

For the Drizzle:

1 TBLSP peanut butter

1 TBLSP non-dairy milk (I like almond, but any will do)

6 TBLSP confectioner’s sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the bottom of a 5-inch cake pan (I use a single-serving casserole pan or a mini-loaf pan) with parchment paper and mist lightly with cooking spray. Don’t forget the sides!

Make the Cake:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 
2. Blend the tofu into the flour mixture with a fork, crumbling it up. The batter will be wet but very thick.
3. Add in the vanilla and water. You might use more or less water, depending on how batter-like the mixture is. Dispense the batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Make the Drizzle:

1. Put the peanut butter into a microwave-safe bowl and nuke it for 30 seconds. (You can heat it on the stove just as well.)
2. Blend in the milk until the mixture is fairly smooth (if you’re using chunky-style peanut butter, you just have to be able to tell which lumps are peanuts and which need to be addressed.)
3. Add in the powdered sugar, half at a time, until it reaches a loose glaze consistency. You can make it thicker with more peanut butter and thinner with more milk, depending on whether you like it to be more like frosting or more like glaze.

Assemble the Darling:

1. Plate the precious cake and drizzle the peanut butter goodness over the top. Be as tidy or as neat as you like. I melted a few chocolate chips in the microwave, sloshed in a tiny bit of almond milk, and made a happy little hat with peanuts for my two-layer cake. Yummm.

Variations: 

• Make a layer cake. Double the batter (as described below) and split it into two pans. Bake for a little longer and level off the tops of the cakes when they’re properly cooled. Make the much larger amount of Drizzle (as described below) and slather it on the top of one cake. Perch the other one on top and slather or drizzle on top of that.

For a Two-Layer Cake:

¾ cup plus 2 TBLSP all-purpose flour

¾ cup granulated sugar

6 TBLSP cocoa powder

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

Pinch salt

½ block silken tofu (about 7 ounces)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup water

For a Two-Layer Drizzle:

3-5 TBLSP peanut  butter

2-3 TBLSP non-dairy milk

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

Follow the directions as written, although you’ll want to adjust the cooking time by a few minutes because the cakes are larger.

Carrot Cake with Pineapple for One

I’m really not good at cake frosting. Let’s set that aside for a moment. This carrot cake is moist, unctuous, carroty, pineapply, and scrumptious to the last bite! Why don’t you make one, frost it nicely, and send me an image? It would be nice to see it done properly. It tastes the same, though, even when it’s not pretty.

For the Cake:

1 TBLSP ground flax seed meal

1 ½ TBLSP water

½ cup granulated sugar

5 ½ TBLSP vegetable oil

Slosh of vanilla extract

10 TBLSP all-purpose flour, divided

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

Pinch kosher salt

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup chopped walnuts

1 cup carrots, grated and packed loosely

2 TBLSP diced fresh pineapple

For the Frosting:

3 ounces vegan cream cheese at room temperature

4 TBLSP unsalted vegan butter at room temperature

Slosh vanilla extract

1 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

For Decoration:

2 TBLSP diced fresh pineapple

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 5-inch cake pans. (I use single-serving casserole pans with great success.) Line them with parchment paper and then grease and flour the pans again.

Make the Cake:

1. In a small bowl, combine the flax and water and set it aside to form a glop that you will use as an egg substitute.
2. In another small bowl, beat the sugar and oil together until it’s homogenous, and then add the flax glop. Add the vanilla too, and mix it all well.
3. In another small bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet. (You’ll re-use the dry bowl in the next step.)
5. In a small bowl, combine the raisins and walnuts. Put a pinch of flour in there and toss them together. (This keeps the raisins and walnuts suspended nicely in the batter, rather than letting them sink to the bottom.) Add the carrots and pineapple.
6. Add the carrot mixture to the batter and mix well. It will be hard to get the batter integrated with all those delicious carrots, but just keep after it.
7. Divide the batter equally between the two pans.
8. Bake for 50-55minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. It will be quite dark.
9. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans on a wire rack. If it’s a warm day, you might consider sticking the little darlings in the refrigerator for a little bit.

Make the Frosting:

1. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Add in the sugar and mix until the whole thing is pretty smooth.
2. Let it rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to half an hour. It will spread better when it’s a little bit cold.

Festoon the Cake:

1. Place one layer of cake on a serving dish. I like to elevate it on top of a mug to make it easier to frost, but you do what works best for you.
2. With a knife or offset spatula, smear the top of that first layer with frosting. You don’t have to go quite to the edges and it will squish out a bit when you put on the second layer.
3. Place the second layer neatly on top of the frosted first one. Spread the frosting on the top and sides of the cake. Decorate with diced pineapple.

Pineapple Coconut Cake for One

I bought a whole pineapple. At first, I just ate slices of it. Then I put it into stir-fry. Now it’s time for something different. This cake makes you wait for it, but oh! It’s worth it!

For the Cake:

2 teaspoons flax seed meal

1 TBLSP water

¼ cup shredded coconut

5 TBLSP non-dairy milk, divided (I like almond, but coconut would be great)

5 TBLSP chopped pineapple (I used fresh, but canned—crushed—is fine)

¾ cup all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Large pinch of salt

3 TBLSP vegan butter

5 TBLSP granulated sugar

Slosh of vanilla

For the Icing:

3 TBLSP vegan butter

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond milk

1 cup flaked coconut

TBLSP chopped pineapple for decoration

Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 5-inch cake pan or two ramekins. I used two single-serving casserole dishes to get wider and flatter cakes.

1. In a small bowl (like a cereal bowl—you’ll be adding things to this mixture), combine the flax seed meal and water. It will become a nice gloppy mess while you do other things.
2. Put the ¼ cup of coconut into a mesh strainer and dangle the darlings over a bowl.
3. Bring ¼ cup of the milk (4 TBLSP) to a boil in a small sauce pan. Pour the hot milk over the shredded coconut, catching the liquid in the bowl below. Plop the pineapple on top of the coconut and let its juice drain through too. You might want to squish things around a bit to get the most juice.
4. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Now it’s time to use your flax seed glop. Add the remaining TBLSP of milk to the glop and give it a stir. Now add in the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract. Cream all of this mess together until it’s a gloppy but thin mixture and the butter has integrated, for the most part. If you’re doing this by hand, it won’t be completely smooth, and if you use a mixer, the flax glop will break down a bit if you keep going until it’s smooth. <shrugs> You choose whether you want chunks of buttery goodness or a softer and more delicate cake.
6. Add the coconut milk and pineapple juice that you collected to the flour mixture and toss in the butter and flax seed mixture too. Blend until well combined. (You can beat this enthusiastically to get out a few more of the butter lumps, too.) Add in the coconut and pineapple that you’d drained earlier, and mix until just incorporated. Pour evenly into the two prepared cake pans.  
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack (about 45 minutes if the day isn’t too warm), and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before frosting. Overnight is fine too. I leave ‘em in the pans until the refrigeration period is over because they’re sturdier then and less likely to crumble when you remove ‘em to the decorating plate.

Make the Icing:

1. Cream the butter in a small bowl. Keep going until it starts to seem a bit fluffy. Don’t shirk. This is an important step.
2. Add the powdered sugar two TBLSPs at a time, blending until the sugar is well-integrated.
3. Add the vanilla extract and the soymilk, stirring with considerable enthusiasm until the frosting is smooth, fluffy, and spreadable.
4. The frosting may need a few minutes to cool down so it doesn’t slide off your cake. You might even put it into the refrigerator for 10 minutes or so.

Festoon the Cake:

1. Put the cake on a pedestal (I overturn a mug and put a serving plate on top) so you can get a good angle for decorating the cake.
2. Center the bottom layer on the plate and then top with frosting. You don’t need to go quite to the edges as the weight of the other cake will push the frosting out a bit. Place the second layer on top and then frost the top and sides of the whole shebang. You don’t have to be tidy because the next step will cover up any crimes.
3. Sprinkle the flaked coconut (from the Icing ingredient list) on top of the frosting and press it into the sides of the cake. Make a pretty design or just plop the remaining pineapple on top of the cake.
4. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to allow the frosting to set.

Orange Cake for One

I admit that the first time I made this cake, I sat around making yummy noises all by myself. It’s not a terribly sweet cake, but it’s a wonderfully fragrant and flavorful cake. This recipe makes two servings, and the hardest thing about it might be not eating it all at one sitting!

For the Cake:

¼ cup whole wheat pastry

2 TBLSP all-purpose flour

Pinch of cornstarch or arrowroot

3 TBLSP powdered sugar

Pinch baking soda

Shake or two of salt

Zest of ½ an orange

¼ cup orange juice (fresh squeezed is best, but use what you’ve got)

½ TBLSP vegetable oil

Slosh of apple cider vinegar

Slosh of vanilla extract

For the Glaze:

1 ½ TBLSP powdered sugar

1 ½ teaspoons orange juice

OR

2 TBLSP orange marmalade

1 teaspoon orange liquor

OR

1 teaspoon orange juice

2 TBLSP orange marmalade

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 4-inch cake tin or two ramekins with parchment, or grease well and dust with flour.

Make the Cake:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flours, starch, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
2. Add the zest, juice, oil, vinegar, and vanilla, and mix until it’s smooth. Pour the batter in the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Cool for 10 minutes and remove from the pan. Cool completely before glazing and slicing.

Make the Glaze:

1. Combine the ingredients for the glaze of your choice.
2. If making the second or third options with marmalade, heat over low heat until it bubbles.
3. Slather or drizzle over the cake.\

Devour with the ravenous bad manners of a greyhound after an evening saunter.

 

 

Strawberry Oat Squares for One

You can get strawberries pretty much all-year-around, and this tasty treat can make just as good a breakfast as it can a dessert. What are you waiting for?

For the Jam:

¼ cup finely chopped strawberries

½ TBLSP granulated sugar

Slosh of vanilla extract

For the Crust:

1 slightly heaping teaspoon chia seeds

½ TBLSP warm water

3 TBLSP oats

2 TBLSP all-purpose flour

Pinch baking soda

Pinch salt

1 TBLSP brown sugar

1 ¼ teaspoons vegan butter, melted

1 TBLSP maple syrup

Make the Jam:

1. In a small pot, combine the strawberries and sugar. Heat over medium heat until the strawberries begin to lose their water.
2. When it has relaxed a bit, bring the little lovelies to a simmer, turn the heat down to low, and let it bubble away for 10-15 minutes.
3. When it’s thick, toss in the vanilla and set it aside to cool for 15 minutes or so. You can use the fridge to speed things up. Once it’s cool, use an immersion blender or food processor to make it nearly smooth. You’ll want an occasional lump, I promise. So maybe, if you chopped the strawberries small enough, you don’t even need the blender.

Make the Crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a mini-loaf pan with parchment paper and oil the sides and bottom. You could also make a much thicker crust in a ramekin and just make one big bar. Yummy!

1. In a small bowl, combine the chia and warm water. Set aside to form a gooey viscous glop.
2. In a small bowl, mix the oats, flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
3. In another small bowl, mix the brown sugar, melted butter, maple syrup, and the chia glop you made earlier.
4. Add the butter mixture to the oat mixture and combine thoroughly.

Assemble the Bars:

1. Using half of the oats, press the lovely mess into the bottom of the lined pan with your fingers, the back of a spoon, or a rubber spatula. Make sure it’s fairly smooth or the strawberries will try to escape.
2. Glop on the strawberry jam and smooth it across the oat crust.
3. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the top of the strawberry glop. I make little patties and placed them. It’s a very organized sprinkle.  
4. Bake for 20 minutes until the topping is little browner than golden.
5. Allow to fully cool before removing from the pan. Slice it into two bars, and then store it in the refrigerator until tea time.

Variations:

• This would be nice with any berry. Peaches, apricots, or plums would also be super good.
• Why limit yourself to fruit? These could be done with nut butters, chocolate nut butters, or even pumpkin butters! 
• Top with a coupled of pinches of sesame seeds or shredded coconut, or maybe even some crushed nuts.

Homemade Oreo Cookies for One

Makes 3 cookies plus a straggler.

Everyone likes Oreos, and everyone has their own way of eating them. As this recipe makes three cookies, I propose that you dip one in almond milk or cocoa, disassemble one and lick off the icing, and chomp the third like a sandwich. The best of all worlds!

For the Cookies:

1 teaspoon ground flax seed

1 TBLSP water

Pinch baking soda

Pinch salt

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 TBLSP cocoa powder

2 TBLSP vegan butter, softened

2 ½ TBLSP brown sugar, packed

1 TBLSP granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Filling:

1 TBLSP vegan butter, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

3/4 TBLSP teaspoon non-dairy milk (I like almond milk, but soy, rice, or coconut would do too)

Slosh of vanilla extract

To Make the Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

1. In a small bowl, combine the flax seed and water and set aside to become a glop.
2. In another small bowl, whisk together baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa powder. Set this aside too.
3. In a third small bowl, cream the butter and both sugars until it’s fluffy and well combined.
4. Add the flax-seed glop and vanilla to the butter and mix until it’s well combined. Then add in the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Using a tablespoon measure (you want the cookies to be roughly identical), make balls of the dough and place on the cookie sheet about 2-inches apart. You’ll want an even number of cookies. I got 6 regular-sized and 1 tiny one. (I probably should have made them a little smaller.) Flatten the little balls with the bottom of a juice glass. Keep the glass handy because you’ll be doing this again.
6. Bake for 7-8 minutes, and then take the pan out and press the little darlings flat with the bottom of a glass or a spatula—they will have puffed up a bit. Put them back into the oven for another 4 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
7. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a baking rack.

Let them cool completely before frosting. Make the filling while the cookies are in the oven to give it a chance to “set” before slathering on the cookies. If it’s a warm day, consider letting it rest in the refrigerator, too.

To Make the Filling:

1. In another small bowl (or one of those other ones, cleaned and dried), cream the butter until it’s smooth and a little fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time until it’s crumbly, like rough sand.
2. Add the milk and vanilla. Mix until it’s smooth. If you need more milk to make it spreadable, go slowly. You want this to be thick icing.

You might want to refrigerate it for a little while, like half an hour or so, while the cookies are cooling.

Assemble the Cookies:

1. Frost the bottoms (the flat side) of half the cookies and sandwich the bottom of the other half on top of them.

Variations:

• Try adding 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder to the frosting for chocolate filling.
• You could create the complex taste of chocolate and oranges by adding 1 TBLSP of orange zest to the dough and then replacing the milk with orange juice in the filling.
• You could make a smear of raspberry jam on top of the vanilla icing for a more grown-up cookie.
• Add a little peppermint extract and a drop of green food coloring to the filling for a little zing.
• Put ½ teaspoon of instant espresso powder in with the cocoa and flour mixture for a mocha cookie. You could use coffee instead of milk to make the filling, too. 

Bread Pudding for One

Some people make crunchy bits for their salads with day-old bread. But here’s a better and sweeter option that will get your engines purring like a Ferrari.

7 TBLSP non-dairy milk (I like almond, but soy, rice, or coconut will work just fine)

2 TBLSP brown sugar

1 ½ teaspoons maple syrup

Slosh of vanilla extract

Sprinkle of salt

1 ¼ cups bread cubes

TBLSP raisins

Sprinkle of ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a large ramekin or oven-proof bowl

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the milk, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt.
2. Plop the bread cubes into the milk solution and let it sit for 10 minutes or so, sopping up the delicious mess. You could toss in a few sprinkles of cinnamon if you’d like. Add in the raisins. (You could put them in earlier, especially if they’re a little hard. They’ll puff up a bit.)
3. Once the milk solution is absorbed, place the bread and etc. into the prepared baking vessel. Sprinkle the top with a little cinnamon.
4. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until it’s puffed and golden and the milk has been absorbed.

 Variations:

• Use a slosh of rum instead of the vanilla.
• Try dried apricots, diced small, instead of the raisins.

Rice Pudding for One

I don’t often make too much rice, but this is a great way to use it up, should there be any lingering around in the refrigerator. It’s also an excellent excuse for making too much rice.

½ cup vegan milk (I like almond, but any would do)

½ TBLSP agave or maple syrup

½ cup cooked rice (white or brown)

Dash of cinnamon

Slosh of vanilla extract

1 TBLSP raisins or other dried fruit

Cranberry sauce or jam to top

1. In a small pot, heat the milk to a simmer.
2. Add in the agave or maple syrup and mix in well. Then add the rice and continue to stir until it’s spread out nicely
3. Add in the cinnamon, vanilla, and raisins and distribute well with the vehicle that is your spoon. Let it simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice mixture is luxurious and thick. You can stir it vigorously if you’re so inclined, because you don’t mind breaking the rice kernels for this recipe. Be careful not to do this on high heat or it will froth all up and all over the stove. (Ask me how I know.)

Serve hot, topped with cranberry sauce or jam, or just a bit more cinnamon, whatever pleases you.

Variations:

• Stir chocolate chips into the hot pudding just before you take it off the heat for chocolate rice pudding.
• Try chopped dried apricots instead of (or as well as) raisins for a taste of sunshine.
• Top with granola for a crunch with your pudding.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies for One

I went to a choir retreat last weekend, and the retreat center made the most delicious cookie just for me. This is my first attempt to replicate it—theirs was much more hearty, so I’ll keep trying. Nevertheless, I was pretty pleased with the delicate flavor of my own invention.

For the Cookie:

2 ½ TBLSP vegan butter

¼ cup granulated sugar

½ TBLSP applesauce

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (about ¼ of a lemon’s worth)

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoon lemon zest (about all of the zest from a small lemon)

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

For the Glaze:

6 TBLSP confectioner’s sugar

½ TBLSP lemon juice (or water)

Make the Cookie:

1. In a small bowl, combine the butter, sugar, applesauce, and lemon juice. It will get light and fluffy.
2. Add the flour, zest, and poppy seeds, stirring until just combined.
3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. (Or you could freeze it for 30 minutes.)
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
5. The dough will be very soft and very sticky.  Heavily flour a surface and your hands, and break off 1-inch balls from the main blob. Roll the balls between your hand and then press them, one at a time, into flat disks on the floured surface. You will probably need to flour both sides by flipping the little darlings over and pressing from the other side too.  The disks should be about 2-inches across and a little thicker than ¼-inch. 
6. Transfer the disks to the prepared baking sheet. You should get about 8 cookies. You can settle them close together if you don’t mind a square-ish result, or give them an inch or more between them if you want the little circles. They will spread a bit.
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes.  They should just be getting golden around the edges.
8. Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the Glaze:

1. Put the confectioner’s sugar in a small bowl. You can sift it if you’re particular about lumps.
2. Add the lemon juice (or water) and whisk until it’s smooth. If it’s too thick, like frosting, add more liquid. If too thin and runny, add more sugar.
3. Drizzle glaze over the cooled cookies.

This recipe makes enough to share with a friend. You won’t want to, but you could do it.

Variations:

• This recipe works just fine with gluten-free flours, like almond meal.
• Try making a chocolate glaze with a little lemon tang by replacing one of the TBLSP of confectioner’s sugar with cocoa powder.
• You could make fewer, thicker cookies for a more substantial treat. 

Joyful Almond Cookie for One

This substantial cookie is reminiscent of an Almond Joy candy bar. You can shape it like a cookie, or, you can shape it like a candy bar and melt a few chocolate chips on the top. In one batch, instead of stuffing a third cookie, I sprinkled the left-over filling on top and studded with chocolate chips. Yummy!

Filling:

4 TBLSP dried unsweetened coconut

1 teaspoon coconut oil

1 teaspoon maple syrup

Dash of vanilla extract

Pinch salt 

Cookie:

1 ½ TBLSP ground flax seed

2 TBLSP water

1 ½ TBLSP coconut oil

1 TBLSP almond butter

¼ teaspoon almond extract

2 TBLSP maple syrup (or 1 ½ TBLSP agave nectar instead—agave is sweeter)

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 TBLSP unsweetened cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

10 whole almonds, toasted and chopped roughly

1 TBLSP chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Put the flax seed and the water in a small bowl to think about becoming egg-like.
2. Put all of the filling ingredients (coconut, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and salt) into a blender and whirl until it’s a smoothish mass. With so few ingredients, it’s isn’t going to blend all the way smooth, and plan to spend a lot of time scraping down the sides.
3. Now, make the cookie. In a small bowl, combine the coconut oil, nut butter, vanilla, and maple syrup. By the time you’re finished mixing it up, your flax seeds should be pretty viscous. Mix them in too.
4. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, and stir until just combined.
5. Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet and flatten into two gigantic pancakes or three mere-mortal-sized ones. Sprinkle the toasted almonds in a neat pile in the center.
6. Divide the filling evenly among the cookies, squeezing and shaping it into an oval or rectangle. Try to get it as tightly squeezed as possible, to make wrapping it easier. Then plop the filling into the center of cookie, on top of the almonds. fold the surrounding pancake up around it. Once the filling is mostly encapsulated, you can pick the pancakes up and roll them into balls between your hands or compress them into a boxy kind of shape on the parchment paper. Make sure the thing is sealed well. Press the chocolate chips into the top if you’re going that route.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Let them cool on the baking sheet or they will crumble!