The Best Things About Autumn…

“There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!” -Percy Bysshe Shelley

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-The feeling of the first Autumn breeze, the first cool day of the year

– Watching the first Autumnal Harry Potter weekend while snuggled up in a fuzzy blanket

-The Endless amounts of fuzzy socks that are worn

-The baking! The fresh smells of cinnamon, pumpkin, and apple that fill the air, then indulging in amazing treats

-The very first orange leaf that pops up on the tree that you pass by everyday on the way to school

-The acoustic music that plays on repeat throughout the Autumn months

-The Autumn fashion; sweaters, boots, button up skirts, tights, you name it, we love it

-Freeforms 31 days of Halloween, those movies will get you in the spirit!

-The fall flavored coffee’s that come out

-Halloween decorations galore, cobwebs and all, an absolute 10 out 10

-Planning the best Halloween costume

-Rainy movie days consisting of popcorn and cookies

-Handing out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween night

-The Spooky feeling that fills the air throughout the month of October

-The light, freeness you feel because Autumn is a new beginning that must be taken advantage of. Enjoy every last moment of it.

Let’s Talk About These Cinnamon Sugar Donuts…

“Donuts. Is there anything they can’t do?”- Matt Groening

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Fun fact: I have a very unhealthy obsession with donuts. Sadly, they’re not the healthiest food in the world, who would’ve known! I’ve been searching around for a yummy, healthier donut recipe that could compete with the unhealthy donuts and that could make me forget about my one true love; apple fritters. So far, I haven’t been able to find a healthy version of an apple fritter, but I did find these gluten free cinnamon sugar donuts that I made vegan, and let me tell you, they have changed my life.

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(shout out to Kristina of Love & Zest for this wonderful recipe!)

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What you’ll need for this recipe is;

Butter (I used Earth Balance vegan butter)
Maple Syrup
Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
Baking Powder
Salt
Vanilla Almond Milk (I didn’t have unsweetened but it turned out just fine!)
Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
Granulated Sugar
Cinnamon

First off, your going to preheat your oven to 425 degrees and spray your donut pan, then set it aside because you’ll use it later. To start this off the batter , you’re going to melt 4 tablespoons of your butter in a large bowl, then combine the maple syrup and vanilla into it. Once that is well mixed, beat your egg in, then add the baking powder, salt and almond milk. I would recommend using a whisk to stir this in to get rid of the clumps because the baking soda WILL leave some clumps, but they’ll eventually whisk away. Next, add your flour, stir until it is completely combined, and you have your batter! I added about a teaspoon of cinnamon, simply because I love cinnamon, but that’s definitely optional. Spoon your batter into your donut pans, filling them almost to the top because I learned that they don’t rise very much, then pop those bad boys into the oven for 10 minutes. Once those are done, place them to the side and start working on the cinnamon sugar coating. The recipe calls for 1/3 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon, but as I started to coat the donuts, I noticed that there was a little too much cinnamon (surprising, I know). I would recommend keeping the 1/3 cup of sugar, but starting with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and adding more if its needed. Once the donuts are cooled, place your cinnamon sugar mixture in a plastic bag along with a donut and shake it all up until the donut is well coated. Repeat this step until they’re all done, and bam! You have yummy, gluten free, cinnamon sugar donuts!

These cinnamon sugar donuts are everything I would want and more in a healthier version of a donut. They’re fluffy, they have amazing flavor, and they’re is absolutely no guilt when you eat them! I absolutely recommend giving these a try. Not only are they delicious, but they were insanely easy.

Let’s Talk About These Apple Cinnamon Muffins…

“It’s all about a balancing act between time, temperature and ingredients: That’s the art of baking.” Peter Reinhart

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As the end of July approaches, my cravings for all things cinnamon, pumpkin, caramel heighten. When I saw these Apple Cinnamon Muffins made Healthier that have a cinnamon streusel on top, you already know I jumped on the opportunity to make them.

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(Shout out to Erin of Texanerin Baking for this amazing recipe!)

This recipe calls for numerous ingredients, which I’ll list off now!

For the muffins:

Whole Wheat Flour, Whole Spelt Flour, or Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (I used Whole Wheat Flour)
Baking Powder
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Allspice (I didn’t have allspice so I made some using 1/4 teaspoon of cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon)
Baking Soda
Salt
An Egg
Honey
Olive Oil or Canola Oil (I used olive oil)
Plain Yogurt or Buttermilk (I used plain greek yogurt)
1 Cup of Chopped Apples (This ended up being 1 apple)

For the streusel:

Whole spelt, whole wheat pastry, or whole wheat flour
Cinnamon
Brown Sugar
Melted Butter (I used vegan butter)

The first few steps of this recipe are pretty simple, ya pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees, line your muffin tin with, what she says to be 8 liners, but I ended up only having enough batter for 7 muffins, and then things get a little different. You have to then whisk your egg well, then add your honey, olive oil, and vanilla. This will look very weird, like Erin says in her instructions, but just keep mixing until everything is well combined and trust me, it’s all going to fall into place. To this, add your yogurt or buttermilk and once that is well combined, add your dry mixture. Be sure to not over mix in this step because you still have to mix in the apples, which will completely combine the mixture.

After you’ve folded the chopped apples into the mixture, it’s time to make the yummiest streusel. This part is super simple, basically you just combine the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour, mix, mix, mix, and it’s done! Pour your batter into the liners, sprinkle some streusel on top, pop them into the oven for about 16 minutes, and let them cool for about 5 minutes before indulging!

These were probably the best muffins I have had in the LONGEST time and if you’re someone like me who tries to push Fall and misses those Autumn spices, these are perfect for you!

Let’s Talk About These Peanut Butter Cookies…

WOW!

Now, when I look up on Pinterest “healthy vegan peanut butter cookies,” I don’t expect much to come up. One thing that everyone NEEDS to know about me, is that I am such a peanut butter gal. It is such a guilty pleasure. While I have tried to make the switch to almond butter and cashew butter, I can never be separated from my one true love. I stumbled upon these lil guys which not only were advertised as healthy, but also vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar free, so instantly I thought I had hit the jack pot, which I did.

(Shout out to Liz of I Heart Vegetables for creating this lovely recipe.)

This recipe only calls for six ingredients; oat flour (blended up oats), coconut sugar, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt and peanut butter, of course! I ended up not using salt because the peanut butter had enough already in it. After preheating the oven to 350 degrees, I sprayed my baking sheet with a bit of pam because I didn’t have the parchment paper that was suggested (whoopsie) and started mixing up my wet ingredients. This is where I changed up the recipe the first time, instead of using the creamy peanut butter Liz called for, I used Laura Scudder’s Natural Crunchy Peanut Butter, AKA the best peanut butter of all time, and lemme tell you, the crunchy peanut bits in these cookies CHANGED MY LIFE. I mixed together one cup of the crunchy peanut butter, 1 cup of coconut sugar, and 2 teaspoons of vanilla that I’ll admit, I eyeballed. This next part is where unless you already own oat flour, you are going to have to put a cup of oats in the blender and blend it until it becomes a nice flour consistency, which only takes about 45 seconds when on high. After that’s blended, add that into the wet mixture and this is when I realized mine was slightly dry. Because of this, I decided to add about a tablespoon of almond milk and mix, mix, mix until it has a stickier consistency. Roll em into little balls, press down with a fork to make the cute pattern, and pop them into the oven for 9 minutes!

Fair warning! These cookies will be very crumbly and will require being cooled completely before being picked up, but they are absolutely delicious!