Zucchini ‘Crab’ Cakes

Prep Time: 20 min.
Cook Time: 10 min. 

Four Cheese Margherita Pizza

Prep: 20 min.
Cooking Time: 10 min.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-1/2 teaspoons mincedgarlic
• 1/4 teaspoon seasalt
• 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced
• 1 (12 inch) prepared pizza crust or dough (bake according to directions)
• 1/4 pound shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 2 ounces shredded Fontina cheese
• 5 fresh basil leaves, washed, dried
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

THE EASIEST MOST DELICIOUS DONUTS EVER MADE BY FUTURE YOU
excuse my excitement but these things are RIDICULOUS.  Thanks to Pinterest, I came across Little Bit Funky’s ingenious canned biscuits into magically naughty donuts recipe.  If you love donuts and don’t give this a try you’re INSANE!  I love donuts but the notion of making them from scratch with yeast and patience is not something I had planned in the near future.  This recipe helped me cheat my way into donut heaven.

Ingredients
4 tbsp butter
white sugar
cinnamon
canned biscuits (any kind BUT the flaky sort, I used Homestyle - Southern) 
vegetable or peanut oil

Directions

1. Melt butter in a shallow bowl.  In another shallow bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon until you get the ratio of white n’ brown that you like— I did a nice medium brown.
2. Heat up your oil, it should fill the pan about a 1/2 inch.
3. Lay out your biscuits and cut a hole out of the center.  I just used a knife because we don’t have fancy cutters and such.
4. Throw them in the warm oil and flip them every so often.  You want a nice golden brown color and you can always cut one open to make sure they are cooked through.
5. Toss them around in melted butter and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar.
6. Eat them ALL before anyone has the chance to make you share!

Lemon Bars

Ingredients
Crust:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups flour
Filling:
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon extract (optional)

Powdered (confectioners) sugar to top

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour, and 1/2 cup sugar.  Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.
3.  Bake for 15 to 20 min, until firm and golden.  Meanwhile, in another bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/4 cup flour, eggs, and lemon juice.  Pour over baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 20 min. in oven.  The bars will firm as they cool.  When cooled, use sifter to top with powdered sugar, and cut into squares

Vegetable Calzones
recipe from A Cozy Kitchen, I only slightly modified the original

Ingredients
Olive Oil
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
Pinch o’ salt
1/2 cup butternut squash, peeled and cubed 
1/2 cup broccolini
1/2 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced 
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 12oz. prepared pizza dough
3 tbsp. jarred marinara sauce 
1 mozzarella ball 

Directions

1. In a medium skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and a pinch of salt to skillet and cook onions for 20 min., or until brown and caramelized. 
2. While onions are cooking, preheat oven to 400F.  Place cubed squash on baking sheet, toss in olive oil and sprinkle with salt & pep.  Roast for 15 min. or until soft.  Remove and set aside.
3. When the onions are complete, add the broccolini and mushrooms, saute for 5-10 min.  Add the garlic to the top and cook until just fragrant.
4. Flour your work surface and roll out pizza dough.  Transfer to a piece of parchment.  Add sauce to one half, top with vegetable mixture, add the butternut squash, and finish it off with a few slices of mozzarella.
5. Fold dough in half, over the filling, and crimp as desired to seal.  Transfer the parchment with the calzone onto a baking sheet.  Slice a hole at the top to allow steam to escape.  Cook in over until dough is puffed up and golden brow, about 15-20 min.

Notes
My un-fancy grocery store didn’t carry broccolini or cremini mushrooms.  No problem, though, I opted for plain old broccoli and simply chopped it into smaller pieces.  I bought baby bella mushrooms and they worked just as well.  I made three small calzones instead of one large.  I made extra veggies but I also should have purchased more pizza dough.  They were incredibly hard to seal because I had so little dough.  These would have also benefitted from a touch of basil in the filling.  Oh, and make sure you buy a good marinara sauce, preferably something with a bit of flavor, it will really help the final product pop!  These were outrageously good and I will be making them again.

This very well may be the BEST baked good I’ve ever made.  I found a basic vegan recipe for banana muffins somewhere and I modified it as I went.  I lost my original source so I apologize for that.

Vegan Banana Walnut Muffins

Ingredients

3 RIPE (overly ripe is best) bananas
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp vegan butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
cinnamon to taste
vanilla extract to taste 

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 360.
2. In large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until soft.  Add the oil, butter, (If you don’t have butter on hand, no sweat, you don’t really need it.) and sugar.  Cream together.  Add some cinnamon and vanilla, I’d say at least a 1/2 tsp each.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda.  Combine with banana mixture, stirring to combine.
4. Grease a muffin pan and fill each about 2/3 full with the batter.  Bake 25 min or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.

Like I said, this recipe is OFF THE CHARTS.  No one will know it’s vegan.  You can always add blueberries, strawberries, vegan choc chips…. the combos are endless so be creative!  You can easily make this into a bread, too.  It’s light, fluffy, flavorful, and definitely my new go-to.