Peach Walnut Blondies

I have been on a peach kick for a couple weeks because they are just so good! Is it just me or are they better then they have ever been this year? I have eaten at least one a day (sometimes 2) for at least the past 2 weeks and not once have I gotten a grainy, mealy one. Just sweet ass juicy peachy goodness. Dang do I love a good peach!

Since the peaches are so good, it made sense to bake them into something and that something was blondies. A cakey cookie bar thing that is really easy to make, everyone loves, and highlights that goodness of the peaches. I tossed in some walnuts because why not, and as soon as the heat wave broke and I dared turn on the oven, I popped the batch in. Two days later and they are pretty much gone. And will I make them again, for sure yes, but only while the peaches are still good.

So you should probably make them while the peaches are good. Hurry up!

To the peach walnut blondie!

The stuff. A nice ripe peach and some walnuts. Flour, baking powder, and salt. Melted plant butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and some aquafaba.

Start with dicing up the peach and chopping up the walnuts into smaller pieces.

Next grab the aquafaba and dump into bowl with the brown sugar. Beat with an electric beater on high for about 2 minutes until mixture is a light brown and somewhat fluffy.

Add in all the dry and the melted butter and gently fold it in until completely incorporated.

Lastly fold in the diced up peach and walnuts.

Dump and smooth batter into a well greased and lined square baking pan and place into preheated oven to bake.

Once the blondies are golden brown and tester poked into the middle comes out clean, remove from oven and let cool.

Cut into pieces and then, you know, eat them.

Get at those peaches while you can!

-C

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Peach Walnut Blondies

makes a 8x8 (you can use a little larger square) pan

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

• 1/3 cup aquafaba(liquid from a can of chickpeas)

• 1/2 cup plant based butter melted

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 medium peach (about 3/4 cup diced)

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350

Dice up the peach into small pieces and if the walnut pieces are whole or halved,, chop them into smaller pieces.

Dump the aquafaba and brown sugar into a large bowl and beat with an electric beater for around 2 minutes or until the mixture is a light brown and somewhat fluffy. Mix dry ingredients together in smaller bowl then gently fold the melted butter and dry mixture into the beaten sugar ans aqufaba. Once completely incorporated, fold in the diced peach and walnuts.

Grease and parchment line a 8x8 (or a little large) pan and dump blondie batter in and spread and level to the pan. Place into oven ad bake for about 30-33 minutes (if using a large sized pan, reduce cooking time by a few minutes) or until top is a nice golden brow and a tester poked into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Once cooled enough pop out of pan and coniunute to cool all the way.. Cut into pieces and eat.

Store uneaten blondies in a airtight container at room enrapture for 2-3 days but best stored in fridge or freezer when it is hot out. Plus they are amazing cold!

Peach Shortcake

My fruit bowl went from the odd apple and lots of oranges to an overflow of peaches cause its summertime fruit time!

I might have gone a little overboard with the first purchase of peaches and bought like 12 lbs. (Yeah I did). But I knew I wanted to make these shortcakes for the mr and Barb so I figured there is a couple pounds right there that are not going into my mouth so It was like I bought 10 lbs and I can eat 10 lbs of peaches in a week no problem. Facts!

It was weird, I don’t usually plan to far in advances on what I am going to bake but for some reason I had it in my head that I needed to make shortcakes with peaches. Everyone is always making strawberry shortcakes but then stops it there and I don’t know, it just seems like the world needs to expand their fruit and shortcake minds and mix it up. Yes strawberries are fantastic but so is all the other fruit out there. Especially peaches. Peaches are a good fruit to start mixing it up with.

See, I got you. Now to the peach shortcake!

The stuff. Flour baking powder, salt, sugar, coconut oil, plant milk, a can of coconut milk, powder sugar, and ripe peaches.

Start by cutting up peaches. Remove pits and dice small. You can peel them but why?

Place diced peaches into a bowl and toss with a little sugar. Set aside.

Make the biscuits. Toss all the dry together then cut in the very cold coconut oil. You want to have grainy, small little chunks of oil. Next add in the very cold milk and gently fold in with a fork until is is absorbed be gentle to not over mix..

Dump the shaggy dough onto a lighhy scoured counter and gather together.

roll dough out into a shape that is about 1 1/2 inches thick (I went with rectangle) and cut into 6-8 equal sized pieces.

Place cut biscuits on a lined baking sheet, brush tops with a little milk, and sprinkle the tops with a bit of sugar.

Pop into the oven to bake. 20-25 minute unlit golden brown.

Pretty bakes biscuits.

And last buy not least, the coconut whipped cream. Take the can of coconut milk from fridge and scoop our the thick cream part. Place into a cold bowl and beat until thick and creamy. Beat in a teaspoon or so of powered sugar if you want a little sweetness.

And then you add it all together. Cut a biscuit in half. scoop on some juicy sweet peaches, then top with a plop of coconut cream.

Summertime in the mouth.

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Peach Shortcake

make 6-8 shortcakes

• 2 cups flour

• 1/2 cup very cold coconut oil

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 cup very cold plant based milk

• 5-6 fresh ripe peaches

• 1-2 tablespoon sugar for peaches (greater amount for sweeter peaches)

• 1 can full fat coconut milk chilled for 24 hours

• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar whipped coconut cream (optional)

Start buy cutting up peaches. Remove pits,(peel them if you must) ,and dice into small pieces. Place into a bowl and toss with a tablespoon or so of sugar. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400

Now for the biscuits. Place flour, baking powder, 1 tablespoon sugar, and salt into a bowl. Mix until incorporated. Add in the very cold coconut oil and cut in with a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly but the oil is NOT completely in mixed in. You want the little chunks of oil. Next dump in the very cold milk. Gently mix with a fork unil all the liquid is absorbed and a shaggy dough has formed. Dump dough onto a lightly floured surface and gather together. Pat flat with hands into a rectangle that is about 1 1/2 inches thick ten cut into 6-8 equal sized pieces. Place onto a line baking sheet, brush tops with a little milk and sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Pop into hot oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a nice golden brown on top and bottom. Remove form oven and let cool on a wire rack.

For coconut cream. Remove canned coconut milk from fridge, open it and scoop to the top layer of thick coconut cream. Place into a cold bowl and whip with a beater or by hand until thick. If you want to add a little sugar, beat in a teaspoon or so of powdered sugar.

To assemble. Grab a biscuit, cut in half and place on plate or in bowl. Scoop on some peaches and then add a plop of whipped coconut cream. Grab a eating utensil (spoon or fork, you do you) and eat.

Plum Cake

This summer I have gotten like 5 lbs of blackberries, a humongo bowl of raspberries, so so so many pears, and lots of random veggies, all from my neighbors and their gardens We live in a very giving and generous neighborhood. And it helps that they can't possible eat all that they grow and that I am always willing to take it off their hands (and put it into my mouth) In return we have given out rhubarb and jars of honey and overall charm and smiles. (the charm and smiles are on the mr to give out)

The other day on a walk, the mr and I saw this sign outside of a neighbors house. Plums, please take some! Well pull my arm, I guess I will have too, because the sign said please right? Anyway, these little plums, not sure what kind they are, but they are so good. Sweet and bite sized and pretty. I ate a few then decided that I needed to share my shared plums and went about making a cake to stick those said share plums into.

I made the cake, invited my mom and a couple of sibs over. Mom didn't come but Barb and Paul did so they got the cake, Well they got half the cake, the mr ate the rest. I was told that this cake is one of the best. I bet it is when you used share plums because sharing is caring and sharing cake is all that good stuff.

The stuff. A bowl with flour, baking soda baking powder, and slat. Then you have brown sugar, coconut oil. vanilla extract, soy milk, and a little apple cider vinegar. And plums of course.

Once you have started preheating the oven, cut your plums in half and remove the pit.The best way to do this is to run the knife along the pit all the way around the plum and then twist to break in half. Pop the pit out with you finger.

Set plums aside while mixing cake

Warmed coconut oil, brown sugar, and vanilla all get mixed together into a smooth consistency then dumped into the bowl of dry stuff.

Soy milk and vinegar get added and mixed in.

Cake batter ready to go.

Batter gets poured into a very well greased cake pan and the plums get placed, cut side down,right on top. A sprinkle of sugar to top it off is not a bad idea.

Into the oven it goes to turn to cake!

Pulled from the oven looking so nice. Let the cake cool completely in the pan before taking it out. Hot cake is hard to handle!

And as soon as you get it out of the pan you can start eating.

Enjoy the last bits of summer. Share if you can!

-C

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Plum Cake

Makes a 12 inch cake

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking sods
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup coconut oil (warmed so it's liquid)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 12-14 small plums (the plums I used where golf ball sized so you might need less for larger plums)
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Preheat oven to 350

Start by slicing the plums in half and removing the pits. Set them aside. Hint. for slicing, the best way to do this is to run the knife along the pit all the way around the plum and then twist the plum in half. Pop the pit out with you finger or spoon.

In a large bowl, whisk together the salt baking soda and powder, and salt . In a smaller bowl mix together the coconut oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet into the dry and add in half the milk, mix together, then the rest of the milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix until all incorporated and smooth.

Pour batter into a well greased 12 inch round cake pan.  (If you don't have that a 9x9 square pan will work) Smooth out the top then grab your sliced plums and stick them, cut side down, on top. Give each plum a little push into the batter so it half submerged. Sprinkle the top with white sugar and pop into the oven

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a fork or toothpick stuck int he middle comes out clean.

Remove and let cool completely in cake pan, it's easier to remove the cake when it is not hot.
And once it's cool, remove cake gently and ta-da. Cake time

Arugula Peach Salad with Almond Dressing

I think I am a salad wizard. Give me some greens and a few simple, maybe not conventional ingredients, and wa la.. A freaking amazing, yet simple salad to please and appease all us salad eating people.

Some might say that fruit in salad is not right (the mr says that... pa-lease dude) but those folks are wrong. Fruit for sure belongs and brings a whole new world of flavor combinations. For this bowl of salad magic, we are going with spicy arugula paired with sweet peach, a nice crisp bit and tangy onion, topped with creamy, nutty almond butter dressing It hits all the flavor note: sweet, spicy, creamy, and a little acidic with the help of a lemon. What more can you ask for? (I would like to ask for a million dollars and a pair of metallic gold high tops.. if we get to ask for more) This is another winner in the my salad game.

Sure,  you are going to eat this for dinner, but as I am sitting here I am thinking this would make me happy to eat for breakfast. Think about that. (salad for breakfast is a thing)

The stuff. A big bowl of fresh and clean arugula, a ripe, but firm peach, half a sweet onion, almond butter, a lemon, a little tamari, a bit of honey, pepper, a splash of water, and some almonds.

The peach and onion get sliced super thin

And tossed into the bowl with the arugula. Take half of that lemon and squeeze the juice all over and toss around with a good bit of cracked pepper.

And for the dressing, just mix together the almond butter ,the juice of the other half of lemon, the tamari, and the honey. Add in enough water to thin it out enough that you can drizzle it on to the salad

The drizzle it all over. And go ahead and chop up some almonds and toss those in as well.

Share it or don't (I say don't)

A fresh,sweet and spicy salad to get this summer started.

-C

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Arugula Peach Salad with Almond Dressing

serves 1 hungry person or 2 side salads

• A few big handfuls of fresh arugula (about 5 oz)
• 1 ripe, but firm peach
• 1/2 a vidalia (or any sweet) onion
• 3 tablespoons almond butter
• 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon tamari. (soy, or liquid amino's work too)
• 2 teaspoon honey or maple
• 1-2 tablespoons water
• cracked pepper
• a few toasted almonds (optional)

Place clean greens in a big bowl. Thinly slice up onion and segment and thinly slice up peach. Toss into bowl with the arugula. Squeeze in the juice of the other half of lemon, crack in some pepper, and give it all a good toss.

Now for the dressing,. Grab a small bowl and mix together the almond butter, honey , tamari, and the juice of half the lemon. Once that's all mix together, mix in a little water until the sauce is thin enough to drizzle. (start with a tablespoon and add more if needed)

And now dress the salad. Drizzle and toss the dressing all over the salad and toss in a handful of chopped almonds. More pepper if you like. 

All you need to do now is eat it.