Puffed Cranberry Feta and Walnut Bites

If you're looking for a quick and easy holiday appetizer or even another small item to add to a Christmas breakfast buffet...you've got to try these Puffed Cranberry Feta and Walnut Bites. Made with crescent rolls, which happen to be accidentally vegan...you might have all the ingredients you need already in your pantry! They look way, way, fancier than they are and can be made either vegetarian or vegan depending on the cheese option you use!!

For this recipe you’re going to need cranberry sauce…and I make my own because 1. It’s easy and only takes about 7-10 minutes and 2. It tastes so much better than the canned stuff BUT you could just as easily use some canned cranberry sauce, or even some jam or preserves!

What you are going to need to buy:

Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

Fresh Cranberries

Maple Syrup

Small Orange

Cinnamon

Cloves

Dairy-Free Feta Cheese

Walnuts
 

What you are going to need to do: The Cookies

To start, in a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of maple syrup, the juice of one small orange, and 1 cup of fresh cranberries to a boil and let boil on medium-high until the berries start to burst.

With the back of a fork, crush the berries and continue to cook for 2-3 more minutes until the mixture thickens up. Add 1/2 teaspoon of cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and stir to combine. Remove from heat.

Preheat your oven to 350

Open a can of crescent rolls and roll out the pastry onto a clean counter or cutting board but do not separate into triangles. Instead, gently pinch the perforations closed and then cut the rectangle of dough into 12 equal squares

Push the crescent dough squares down into a mini muffin tin.

Fill with cranberry sauce and top with crumbled feta cheese and walnuts.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, turning halfway through baking until pastry is golden brown and set.

Let stand fro 1-2 minutes in the tin before removing to serve!

Mini Patriotic Fruit Pizzas (Dairy and Egg Free)

Well, it’s officially SUMMER, my favorite season, and one of the reasons why I love summer so much are all of the fresh berries that are now ripe! With Independence Day just a few weeks away, these red, white, and blue mini fruit pizzas, with icing made from Kite Hill Foods cream cheese, are a great idea for your Fourth of July menu if you're still looking for a little something sweet to serve!

My niece and nephew were in town this past weekend and among a lot of pool time and craft projects we also managed to whip a batch of these Mini Summer Fruit Pizzas! These kids are not plant-based by any means, but you should have seen them gobble up the result! We all had fun, and no one even knew the difference, just the way that Aunt Sarah Likes it!

What you are going to need to buy:

Flour (1.5 c)

White Sugar (1/2 c)

Butter, softened - (or vegetable oil, vegan spread) ( 6 tablespoons) - (We like Earth Balance)

Vanilla (1 tablespoon)

Pinch of Salt

1 Egg - (Or the vegan equivalent such as Just Egg, which is what we used)

Milk - (1-2 tablespoons) (Substitute your plant based favorite - we like the Vanilla Oat Milk, for this recipe, for obvious reasons! The Vanilla Oat Milk from Rise Brewing is great for baking.

Baking Soda (1 teaspoon)

Baking Powder (1 teaspoon)

Fruit, of your choice, diced into small pieces

Cream Cheese (from from Kite Hill Foods)

Powdered Sugar
 

What you are going to need to do: The Cookies

Let’s start with the crusts…which are basically just sugar cookies.
In a bow sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt.
In a smaller bowl whisk together the softened butter, vanilla, oak milk, and egg until well combined.

Combine wet and dry ingredients until the dough comes together. Do not overwork the dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Roll out dough and cut to desired shape…obviously for these I used a round cutter (actually a biscuit cutter because it had the pretty fluted edge!)

Bake at 325 for 8-10 minutes, depending on your oven.

Let cool completely before decorating.

The Icing:

This icing is so easy it’s hardly worth explaining. Into a small bowl mix together 1/2 container of Kite Hill Cream Cheese, 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, and a splash of vanilla. You can use the entire container of cream cheese if you plan to double to cookie recipe (This recipe makes 12 medium cookies.)

The Assembly:

After the cookie crusts are nice and cool, frost the tops of the cookies and arrange fruit (or other toppings) to your liking. Keep cool before serving.

Baked Oatmeal with Creamy Yogurt and Fresh Summer Berries

One of my absolute favorite breakfast recipes is baked oatmeal. You probably have most (if not all) of the ingredients that you need to make this delicious breakfast in your pantry right now! It’s easy to mix up, hard to mess up, and everyone, even picky eaters, seem to love it!

I had never heard of this dish until I spent several years living up in Ohio’s Amish County where, needless to say, there were not a lot of vegetarian dishes on the menu very often. Brunch potlucks and Saturday morning community breakfasts were always overloaded with bacon and eggs - biscuits and sausage gravy, and casseroles filled with ham but the bright spot in my little plant-based world was always the baked oatmeal! The great part about this dish is that it’s hearty enough to be satisfying and simple enough to make either a vegetarian or vegan option. A crowd-pleaser for sure!

What you are going to need to buy:

Quick Cooking Oats (3 cups )

Brown Sugar - (you can also use coconut sugar) (1 cup)

Baking Powder (2 teaspoons)

Vanilla (1 Tbsp)

Pinch of Salt

Powdered Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Clove - (you can also use pumpkin pie spice) (1 teaspoon each)

2 Eggs - (Or the vegan equivalent such as Just Egg, which is what we used)

Milk - (Substitute your plant based favorite - we like Oat Milk, for this recipe, for obvious reasons! The Vanilla Oat Milk from Rise Brewing is great for baking. (Almond and Cashew also work well) (1 cup)

Butter, melted - (or vegetable oil, vegan spread) (1/2 cup) - (We like Earth Balance)

Yogurt, for topping! (We used this non-dairy option from the Forager Project)

Honey - (or Maple Syrup/Agave)

Fresh Fruit
 

What you are going to need to do:

Okay, here is my disclaimer for this recipe: I know that I always say that I don’t do measurements and 99.9% of the time that is true…but baking is another whole animal. If I’m honest, I don’t do it often. I’m not great at it. (Which may be why I like this recipe, because it’s hard to screw up) Having said that…I did go ahead and offer measured suggestions for this recipe. Happy Baking!

The Baking.

Preheat  over to 350.

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients, oats, sugar, (yes, the sugar is considered “dry” for this recipe), baking powder, salt and spices.

In another bowl beat, by hand, lightly, the eggs and vanilla and then add the milk and the butter or oil. If you’re using the Just Egg, BONUS: no need to beat, just lightly mix to incorporate.

Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet until well incorporated.

Spoon into a nine inch pan that has been sprayed with baking spray and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Now, the timing on this one can be tricky. Every oven is different. Glass pan vs metal pan, etc. I like to check on mine at the 30 minute mark because you really don’t want to over-bake this dish. The center should be set, but if your toothpick comes out just a little sticky (not runny) you should be okay. In this instance we want the center to set but we are NOT looking for the toothpick to come out too “clean” or dry. The dish will continue to set up a little on the counter after you take it out of the oven.

Let rest 2-3 minutes before serving.

The Toppings.

Many of the Ohio Amish serve this dish, in a bowl, and pour milk over it. (Also, the way that a lot of them eat shortcake) but that’s not really my style. I like the creaminess of yogurt! I also like to mix in just a little honey (or maple/agave syrup for the vegan version) to slightly sweeten the yogurt and loosen it up just a little.

Top with your sweetened yogurt and fresh berries. Red, white, and blue seemed appropriate for Memorial Day, coming up at the end of the month, but use whatever fruit your family likes. In the fall this dish topped with stewed apples is a total game changer. We also love fresh peaches in the summertime!