C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, combine the pureed pumpkin, egg, and cinnamon. Make sure the egg is fully incorporated and mix until smooth. Cinnamon is optional. Slowly add the oat flour into the pumpkin mixture, stirring as you go. If you don’t have oat flour on hand, don’t worry. Just blend some rolled oats in a food processor or blender until they turn into flour. The dough will start to come together and should be easy to handle. If it’s too sticky, add a little more oat flour, one tablespoon at a time. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface. Cut the dough into shapes using cookie cutters, or if you’re feeling lazy (no judgment), just cut them into squares with a knife. Place the cookies on the baking sheet and pop them in the oven for 20-25 minutes. You’ll
know they’re done when they’re firm and slightly golden around the edges. The longer you bake them, the crunchier they’ll get, which is great for keeping your pup entertained with a longer chew. Let the cookies cool completely before giving one to your dog. Store them in an airtight container, and they’ll last for about a week. If you want to make a big batch and save them for later, you can also freeze them. Just thaw them out before serving.
Green Pea Pasta with Roasted Asparagus
This is a nice spring pasta, that is warm and lemony. Minnie’s mom is vegan, and pesto can easily be dairy free by switching nutritional yeast for the parmesan. But you can aways use what you prefer. A bowl of pasta always helps mend a broken heart.
Ingredients:
- Asparagus bunch
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Black pepper freshly ground
- 16 ounces pasta
Pea Pesto:
- 10 ounces frozen peas
- 1 cup fresh basil packed
- ¼ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves peeled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
Instructions: Preheat the oven to 425F. Remove the tough ends from the asparagus by snapping them off with your hands. Once removed, cut the asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and drizzle with oil, salt, and pepper. Mix to distribute oil and seasoning. Roast for 15 minutes, stirring halfway. Keep the oven light on and check periodically as all ovens differ. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Fill a small saucepan about a quarter of the way with water and add the peas. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and cook 4-6 minutes. Scoop out ¼ cup of water (it's okay if some peas sneak in!). Drain and add the ¼ cup of water and the peas to your blender. Add all of the pea pesto ingredients to the blender. Blend on high until smooth. Add sauce to the bowl with the pasta, toss in the roasted asparagus, and stir to combine. Serve with fresh basil and black
pepper.
Vegan Lemon Sugar Cookies
These are easy chewy cookies that will be done in 30 minutes to walk over to your friends house. They can be legal or use dairy butter dairy and egg, instead of a "flax-egg"
Ingredients:
- ½ cup room temperature vegan butter
- ½ cup+ 2 Tablespoons sugar ½ cup for dough, 2 tablespoon for rolling before baking
- 1 tablespoon ground flax
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 cup+ 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions: First add the butter and ½ cup of the sugar to a bowl and cream together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Then, add in the ground flax, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla and mix together. Next, add in sifted flour, baking powder, and salt to the mixing bowl. Mix until a smooth and thick cookie batter forms. Do not over mix or else you will form too much gluten and the cookies will not spread as much and be tough. Next, add the bowl of dough to the fridge, cover, and let chill for 30 minutes- 1 hour. Cover a baking sheet in parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350F. Next, remove the dough from the fridge and use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to form your cookie dough (30 grams per cookie of dough). Roll into balls between your palms and then roll in the 2 tablespoon of sugar that was set aside so that each dough ball is coated. Place the lemon sugar cookie dough balls onto the baking sheet. If you want flatter
cookies, you can slightly press the dough down with your palm, but leave as is for the cookies you see pictured. Make sure that each cookie is kept about 2 inches apart since they will spread while baking. Bake for 10-14 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned and the cookie is cooked through but has slightly soft centers.
The cookies will continue baking after they are removed from the oven so the centers should still be soft, but not glossy or raw, when they are removed from the oven. Remove the cookie tray from the oven and immediately tap the tray on the counter to produce a more "wrinkly" cookie. Then, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes. The cookies will be soft and puffy out of the oven and will naturally deflate a little while cooling. Once the cookies have cooled, serve and enjoy!
