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. 

Zucchini and Corn Fritters for One

It’s summer, and I’ve got zucchini coming out of my ears! And I’ve got ears of corn! (See what I did there?) After I’ve had my fill of it steamed and raw, it’s time to start playing with my food. Here’s the result of one such happy moment in time.

½ cup plus 2 TBLSP shredded zucchini

1 ½ TBLSP corn kernels (frozen and thawed is fine, fresh is better, canned will do)

2 ¼ TBLSP almond butter, tahini, or peanut butter

2 TBLSP flour (I use all-purpose, but any gluten-free will do just as well)

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon onion powder

Pinch sea salt

Ground black pepper to taste

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Place the zucchini in a strainer and put a couple of paper towels on top. Press down hard, and squeeze out the water. When it seems dry, wrap the zucchini in more paper towels and squeeze some more. You’ll be surprised how much water is in there.
2. Put the dried zucchini in a small bowl. Add the corn and nut butter, stirring to combine.
3. In another small bowl, combine the flour, garlic and onion powders, salt, and pepper, and stir until it’s well mixed.
4. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini and moosh it together until it forms a nicely homogenous glob. The result should be moist and sticky.
5. Divide the resulting glop into three or four balls and flatten them into patties, about ½-inch thick. Place on the prepared baking sheet and set them to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

This is a good time to make the sauce. I’ve used a nice lemon and pepper sauce (recipe below) for this photo, but ranch dressing, pineapple salad dressing, pesto, or just about any savory sauce or salad dressing would be nice.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

1. Bake the patties for 20-25 minutes. Use a spatula (because these little guys are delicate still), and flip them over. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, depending on whether you want them crispy or not. They will be a lovely golden brown color.

Let them cool for a few minutes before serving to increase their sturdiness.

Creamy Lemon Sauce for One

This tangy and creamy sauce goes great with fritters, but try it on noodles or rice, as a dip for crudités, onion rings, or chips, or on a pile of steamed vegetables.

2 TBLSP raw cashews boiled in water for 20 minutes

½ TBLSP fresh lemon juice

1-2 TBLSP water, as needed

Pinch onion powder

Pinch ground black pepper

Pinch sea salt

1. Place the drained cashews in a blender or food processor, add the remaining ingredients, and whirl until it’s a smooth sauce. This will take a couple of minutes, with several pauses to scrape down the sides and such.

This sauce thickens if you put it in the refrigerator. That’s a good thing if you want your sauce thick. If you want it thinner, or to re-thin it after a refrigerator adventure, just add a little water and stir.

Lemon Oreos for One

Makes 4 cookies plus a straggler

The trouble with commercial Lemon Oreo cookies being vegan is that one (ahem, no names to protect the guilty) is inclined to eat all of them at a single sitting. This recipe cooks up fast and it’s just the right number of cookies for that cup of tea and a good book.

For the Cookies:

1 teaspoon ground flax seed

1 TBLSP water

Pinch baking soda

Pinch salt

½ cup all-purpose flour

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

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons lemon juice

¾ teaspoon non-dairy milk (I like almond milk, but soy, rice, or coconut would do too)—may not be necessary

  

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, and flour. 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 8 regular-sized and 2 tiny ones. 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 previous 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 zest, milk and a little of the lemon juice. Mix until it’s smooth. If you need more lemon juice 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 (four or so) and sandwich the bottom of the other half on top of them.

Variations:

• It’s a very basic cookie, so you could put just about anything in there—chocolate icing (add 1 teaspoon cocoa powder and increase the amount of milk. Don’t add lemon juice), mint icing (add 1 teaspoon peppermint essence instead of lemon juice and increase the milk), strawberry jam—anything you can think of!
• You could make the cookie more lemony by adding zest to the dough.
• For a grown-up version, add a little chopped lavender to the cookie dough, the filling, or both!

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.