I am a sucker for oatmeal raisin cookies, especially when the raisins are plump and fresh, as they add so much natural sweetness to the buttery cookies. Most of my oatmeal cookie variations are based around different spice combinations and mix-ins, but these Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies change up the flour for a cookie that is not only tasty, but suitable for those working with dietary restrictions such as gluten intolerance or a wheat allergy. They’re also a great recipe if you want to simply give gluten free baking a try!

The cookies start out with a gluten free all purpose flour blend. I like to use King Arthur or Trader Joe’s blends, both of which work consistently well in cookie recipes. The flour is blended with cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and baking soda, then added to the rest of the dough ingredients, which include butter, sugar and plenty of oatmeal.

Oats do not contain gluten but not all oatmeal is gluten free, as the plants where oats are processed sometimes also process wheat grains, leading to the potential for cross contamination. I am not on a gluten free diet myself, so this is not a problem for me, but you should take care to read the labels on your oatmeal to ensure that it is gluten free before using if you are baking for yourself or someone else with dietary restrictions.

I almost always prefer to use quick cooking oats in my cookies. Quick cooking oatmeal is nothing more than rolled oats that have been chopped up into finer pieces. These pieces cook more quickly when you’re preparing a bowl of oatmeal – hence the name – but they work well in cookies because they produce a very uniform result, while traditional rolled oats tend to produce slightly more rustic cookies with a bit more spread. Both types can be used here, but I recommend the quick cooking if you have the option.

The cookies have a great rise and become crisp at the outer edge, while remaining soft and tender in the center. They don’t get quite as much color as my cookies made with all purpose flour, so they may be somewhat pale when you take them out of the oven. Look for a bit of gold around the outer edge of the cookie to know when they’re done. I prefer baking these at 375F to 350F, as they overbake (and will become somewhat crumbly if they do) more easily at a lower temperature. The finished cookies will keep for several days in an airtight container.

Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1 1/2 cups gluten free all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups quick cooking rolled oats
1 – 1 1/2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together gluten free flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by milk and vanilla extract. Blend in the flour mixture, followed by the quick cooking oatmeal. Stir in raisins.
Shape cookies into 1-inch balls and arrange on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until golden on the outside edges of the cookies. Allow cookies to cool and set on the baking sheets for 5-6 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen

The post Gluten Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies appeared first on Baking Bites.

THIS is one of those soups that makes you feel good about your health and is still incredibly delicious and satisfying. Beans are probably the most underrated super food. They’re packed full of fiber, protein, and antioxidants, while still being super inexpensive and shelf stable. And when you get 15 different varieties all in one pot, you’ve got a serious nutrition powerhouse! Someone on Instagram asked me for a 15 Bean Soup the other day (sorry, your message got lost and I can’t find your name!) and it sounded really yummy at the moment, so I decided to add it to my menu for the week. I decided to make it a Vegetarian 15 Bean Soup (it’s actually vegan) to keep it simple and low cost, but you could always add some bacon, a smoked ham hock, or smoked turkey leg if you prefer.

“15 Bean Soup” mixes are fairly common in most major grocery stores, and they are sold right along side the other dry beans. They’re basically just a mix of 15 bean varieties in one bag, and they’re quite beautiful, with all their different colors, patterns, and sizes. They usually come with a seasoning packet, just like instant ramen, but I prefer to add my own herbs and spices.

While this soup itself is vegan, I ended up topping it with some shaved parmesan. Other good toppings would be a dollop of sour cream, Greek yogurt (you could do coconut yogurt to keep it vegan), or even some shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack. And I definitely suggest serving with some crusty bread on the side (try this no-knead bread).

This Vegetarian 15 Bean Soup will freeze great, so don’t be afraid of the recipe’s large volume! Just divide it up after cooking, cool, then transfer to the freezer for long term storage. This soup does take some time to prepare, but most of it is passive time. So plan this recipe for a weekend or your day off so you can keep an eye on it while double tasking with something fun, like watching a movie. :) And don’t forget to start soaking the beans the night before!

Vegetarian 15 Bean Soup

Step by Step Photos

The night before place 1 pound of the dry 15 bean mix (do not use the seasoning packet) in a large bowl. Cover it with enough water so there is double the amount of water as beans. Refrigerate the beans overnight, or for at least 8 hours. This is what they look like after soaking. When you’re ready to start cooking, drain the beans in a colander and rinse them well with fresh water.

Dice one yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Add the onions, garlic, and 2 Tbsp coconut oil (or your favorite cooking oil) to a large pot. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent. 

While the onions and garlic are cooking, peel and dice 4 carrots, and dice 3 ribs of celery. Add them to the pot and continue to sauté just until the celery begins to soften (about 5 minutes more).

Add the rinsed and drained beans…

And 6 cups of water. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let it come up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low or medium low, and let it continue to simmer for 90 minutes. Stir it occasionally as it simmers.

After it’s simmered for 90 minutes, the beans should be very soft and be breaking down. The broth will look all cloudy like this, and kind of pale in color. 

Now it’s time to add those top note flavors! Add one 15oz. can of diced tomatoes (with the juices), 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, some freshly cracked pepper, and a handful of chopped fresh parsley. Stir everything to combine, then let the soup simmer for another 20 minutes or so.

And now it’s looking much more vibrant. BUT we haven’t added ANY salt yet, so the flavors are still quite muted. Now it’s time to season with salt to taste. I ended up using 1.5 tsp, but I suggest starting with 1/2 tsp, and increasing from there until the flavors really pop. Keep in mind that as you refrigerate this, the salt will absorb into the beans some and become more muted, so you may need to add more the next day. 

Finally, stir in a couple teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to brighten it all up, and it’s done!

The post Vegetarian 15 Bean Soup appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Not too long ago I chatted with a client who told me, “I’m realizing more and more that I need to break my rules, because I made them all up.”

She delivered the words straightforwardly, and I didn’t have the feeling that she expected a big reaction from me. Still, I nearly fell out of my chair. Her sentiment—”I need to break my rules, because I made them all up”—might seem self-evident, but it’s a realization that has taken me the better part of twenty-five years. I was amazed at how neatly she articulated it and how little time it’s taken her, relatively speaking, to see it.

As I reflected on the conversation, I asked myself why it took me so long to see through my own rules, and then I realized that it was the wrong question. At the height of my anorexia, I did see through my rules. I knew that they had no inherent meaning. The real question is why was I so attached to them, if I knew that they were arbitrary and self-imposed?

The best answer I have is that I like rules. Rules make me feel safe. They give me sensations of meaning and order and calm, which I don’t have an easy time accessing on my own. They speak to the old and nagging belief that there’s something within me that can’t or shouldn’t be unleashed, an appetite so monstrous that it’ll consume me if I let it go.

I’ve bid farewell to my food rules, but the tendency toward self-limitation is still there. It shows up in the form of self-imposed deadlines and commitments, in small and subtle acts of me bossing myself around. It’s still a buffer between me and my fears, which is still a problem. The longer I tiptoe around my fears, the less certain I am that I can survive them.

Self-imposed rules and their safekeeping create a sense of fragility that doesn’t need to be there. I’m not so delicate that I can’t handle being triggered or uncomfortable. There’s nothing within me that needs to be shackled up. I learned this lesson as it applies to food when I was in recovery, and I’m still learning that it applies to the rest of my life, too.

When I encourage people to toss out their food rules, I’m not talking about mindful, self-aware intentions that make eating more nourishing and health-supportive. By “rules,” I mean arbitrary, limiting formulations that keep us from taking pleasure in food. I mean unnecessary and exhausting rituals, prohibitions so old that we don’t even remember why we came up with them, and constraints that make us feel safe, but also trick us into thinking that we can’t handle freedom.

Yesterday, I talked about my second recovery affirmation, which is “take up space.” Today’s affirmation, “break your rules,” is different but intertwined, because it’s impossible to be expansive and seek growth when you’re busy holding yourself captive.

The more permission you give yourself to eat what you want, the sooner you’ll recognize that there’s nothing wrong with your hungers. They’re OK. They’re more than OK; they’re beautiful, wise and nourishing. They won’t feel that way if you’re constantly trying to cage them up.

People often ask me how I let go of my food rules, and I don’t have a simple answer. I just got tired of a lot of them; at some point, letting go became easier than holding on. Studying nutrition has helped, because it’s shown me that bodies are magnificently resilient and that our diets can be beautifully capacious, which are things I didn’t use to understand.

The most important step, though, has been that of befriending my body. Connecting to my physicality through yoga, breath, cooking, eating, and sexuality has opened my eyes to how lovely my appetites are, how undeserving of senseless regulation.

I could say more about this, but instead I’d like to share Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese,” which is a poem that many of you probably know already. It was a guidepost for me when recovery was at its toughest, and I’ve cherished it ever since:

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

—Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese”

I’ll be back tomorrow with affirmation #4.

xo

This week, I’m working with GoFundMe to raise money for the National Eating Disorder Association and the work it does for people with eating disorders and their families. Your contribution will help to keep NEDA’s helpline, referral system, and legislative advocacy going, and I’d be so grateful for any show of support that feels right to you. You can learn more and donate here. 

The post NEDA Week 2018: Break Your Rules appeared first on The Full Helping.

Spinach Bacon Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Parmesan Cheese in just 30 minutes. The perfect dinner party recipe with hardly any effort needed.

 Spinach Bacon Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Hey guys its Sabrina again from Dinner, then Dessert! Here with a delicious, easy, fancy looking dinner that takes almost no effort at all!

This stuffed pork tenderloin recipe is a breeze to make and all it takes is a paring knife and a few quick ingredients. Plus, you don’t even have to know how to knot a roast to keep it together, using a kitchen string here is as easy as wrapping the pork.

The beauty of roasting off a pork tenderloin is that it can bake in just 30 minutes and with a stuffing you help keep the roast moist in the middle and avoid drying out what some people find to be a temperamental cut of pork.

Alyssa has some great pork recipes for you all too, including Creamy Parmesan Pork Chops and Slow Cooker Bacon-Wrapped Maple Glazed Pork which is made with a pork loin (larger than this tenderloin recipe but just as easy to make).

How to stuff a pork tenderloin?

• Slice just past halfway through the tenderloin and pull it apart.
• Keep the ingredients easy but flavorful and add a bit of fat (in our case cheese and bacon).
• Wrap the tenderloin tightly to prevent it from flattening out in the oven. (no knots needed here!).
• Roast at a high temperature to brown the outside while cooking quickly enough to avoid overcooking the interior.
• Coat the exterior in a fat and season aggressively to create a beautiful crust on the outside of the roast.

Pork Tenderloin Stuffing Variations:

• Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Pork Tenderloin: 2 cups spinach, provolone cheese, 1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts, garlic.
• Sun Dried Tomatoes and Spinach: 2 cups spinach, romano cheese, 1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes, garlic.
• Mushroom Herb Stuffed Pork Tenderloin: 8 ounces of mushrooms cooked in butter with salt and pepper until caramelized, garlic, fresh thyme.

Spinach Bacon Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

 

Print

Spinach Bacon Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Parmesan Cheese in just 30 minutes. The perfect dinner party recipe with hardly any effort needed.

Author: Sabrina from Dinner, then Dessert

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: American

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• 1 cup fresh spinach leaves
• ¼ cup crumbled bacon, cooked
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Slice just past halfway through the tenderloin and pull it apart.
3. Coat the pork inside and out in the salt and pepper.
4. Add the spinach, bacon and garlic to the center of the pork roast.
5. Wrap the tenderloin tightly with kitchen twine to prevent it from flattening out in the oven.
6. No need to tie, just wrap then tuck the ends into itself.
7. Rub the outside of the roast with the butter and cook for 35-40 minutes.
8. Let rest for five minutes before slicing.

Ultimate Garlic Pork Loin Roast

Brown Sugar Garlic Baked Pork Chops

Buy Clotilde's latest book, The French Market Cookbook!

• We had snow! In Paris! It was so fun!

Sure, the city and transportation system aren’t really equipped to deal with it so it was chaotic on many levels. But Paris is so gorgeous in the snow that it brings Parisians together, all twinkly-eyed and twelve at heart.

If you’re on Instagram, you can check my account to see two pictures of the Sacré-Coeur on two subsequent days (including the sunny one above) and my “Snowy Paris” Story Highlight.

• One of my most uplifting YouTube videos is this one, showing friends skiing down the Sacré-Coeur gardens in 2013. The same team shot a fresh one this year.

• I announced the pre-order bonus for my new cookbook, TASTING PARIS: 100 Recipes to Eat Like a Local! It’s an audio walking tour in which I take you along my favorite market streets in Montmartre to do some food shopping together. We had a lot of fun recording it, the food vendors played along brilliantly, and it is my pleasure to share with you the unique soundscape of my neighborhood.

To get your pre-order bonus, all you need to do is place your pre-order through the platform of your choice, and then fill out this form to receive the audio file.

• I was a guest on The Earful Tower, a cool podcast about Paris hosted by Oliver Gee. Listen to my interview and don’t miss Oliver’s hilarious video on faking French.

(If you prefer not to fake it, I recommend the email-based French course Frantastique, which many C&Z readers have tried and enjoyed. Use this link to get a free 7-day trial.)

• I got some postcards printed with a drawing I did some months ago of typical Montmartre apartment buildings, which I pieced together from photos I had shot around my neighborhood. I plan to give them as a little thank-you to guests I have on my walking tours, or to people who help support the launch of my new cookbook.

If you like that illustration, check out the shirt you can buy in different colors, for men, women, and children, on Amazon. (I also created this one, which reads “Do you live in Paris?” “No, in Montmartre!”)

The post Best of February appeared first on Chocolate & Zucchini.

Pour over coffee – sometimes written as pourover – is a style of making coffee that coffee enthusiasts love. But you don’t have to be a coffee fanatic to give it a try because it’s just a simple way to make a good cup of coffee. Pour overs don’t require a machine, and you will only need a pour over dripper – which resembles the basket inside a traditional drip coffee maker – that can be placed on top of a cup or carafe to brew your java.

How to Brew a Pour Over Coffee Step by Step

• Step 1: Place a filter in a pour over dripper and fill it with your coffee grounds, then place it on top of a cup or carafe.
• Step 2: Bring 1 cup of water to a boil for each cup you intent to brew.
• Step 3: Remove water from heat and pour a small amount over the grounds to moisten them.
• Step 4: Slowly pour the rest of the hot water over your grounds, filling the filter and replenishing it as needed until the whole cup is brewed. You will likely need to refill the filter 2-3 times. Your fresh coffee will drip out into your cup in just a few minutes.

How Much Coffee Do You Need?

Pour overs use about the same amount of coffee:water as most drip coffee makers do. Coffee that is ground for a drip coffee maker will work fine unless your filters have other instructions on them.

On the packaging of your coffee, it will typically direct you to use 2 heaping spoonfuls of coffee per cup that you brew and a typical coffee spoon holds 2 tablespoonfuls. That said, a lot of drip coffee makers are calibrated for relatively small cups. I like to use 3 heaping spoonfuls of coffee grounds for every 8 oz or so of water that I use. I will adjust this slightly up or down depending on how dark my roast is.

If you want to get very technical, weigh out your coffee to ensure a consistent amount every cup. This option will always produce a good cup of coffee, but takes an extra minute.

Why Try Pour Over?

I enjoy making pour overs because the ritual of making the coffee is relaxing. It only takes a couple of minutes to prepare everything and brew the coffee – and that time is a nice little mental break from work in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon when you might want to clear your head. It is also a very convenient way to brew just one cup at a time when you don’t need a whole pot. Finally, it is an almost silent way to brew coffee, so you won’t wake up a snoozing partner (or kids) in the morning when you’re brewing it to get your day started.

The post What is Pour Over Coffee? appeared first on Baking Bites.

We had a thunderstorm yesterday. I know that doesn't sound super out of the norm but when you live in California, rain comes occasionally but I've only been through a handful of thunderstorms. I love spring thunderstorms and it's one of the things I miss about the midwest. This stew is my idea of a perfect thunderstorm meal. Have a delicious piece of bread and a glass of wine; it's the perfect, cozy meal. Read more and see the recipe.

The post Pinto Squash Stew with Chimichurri appeared first on Naturally Ella.

Thank you for all of the NEDA week support so far! I’ve been chatting about my ED recovery affirmations this week, which are as follows:

1. Keep it real
2. Take up space
3. Break your rules
4. Be love
5. Keep faith

Yesterday I wrote about what “keeping it real” means to me in the context of recovery. Today, I’m moving onto #2: take up space.

For a long time I took this affirmation literally, because weight gain was a part of my recovery process, and it was hard. As time went by, recovery became less physical, but the idea of taking up space continues to guide and challenge me.

Like many women, I was given the message very early on that I was too much: too big, too loud, too messy, too hungry, too unusual. I think a part of me always sensed that there was something wrong with this framing of my identity, but young people can’t help but be influenced by the narratives that are handed to them, and this one stayed with me. I can’t remember a time in my life, childhood included, when I didn’t think of myself as being ungainly and monstrous, or didn’t worry that my uninhibited self would alienate the people around me.

I haven’t come close to undoing this idea; it’s so old that it populates nearly all of my unconscious fears. But I’m aware of it now, and if recovery has taught me anything, it’s that this way of thinking is ruinous.

Recovery is all about learning how to take up space again, to stop hiding, to inhabit your body and the world around you. If you’ve come to believe that you are lovable only if you make yourself as inconspicuous as possible, this is really hard work.

For me, it began physically, with weight gain and filling out clothes. I learned to stop draping my body in baggy layers and tucking myself away behind folded arms and hunched shoulders. I struggled with these changes, but the real work lay ahead of me, which was learning how to take up space in other, intangible dimensions.

Recovery has given me the courage to use my voice, to take pride in my appetite, and to own the fact that I want things: food, experience, pleasure, and love. It’s pushed me to stop trying to sanitize and tone myself down. It challenges me to let go of the notion that people will like me more if I give them less of myself.

This isn’t a leg of the recovery journey on I’m very far along; actually, I think I might still be navigating my way around the gateway. There’s still a part of me that fears my own wholeness, regards it as being fundamentally unmanageable or undigestible. I recognize the fear for what it is—untrue, limiting, outdated—but it hangs around anyway.

When I was sitting down to write this post, I thought of a quote from Geneen Roth’s Women, Food, and God: “You are not a mistake. You are not a problem to be solved. But you won’t discover this until you are willing to stop banging your head against the wall of shaming and caging and fearing yourself.”

I don’t really know how to shake off my own sense of being problematic. I have a feeling the best thing I can do is to be aware of it and invite myself to see its falseness while also accepting the fact that the belief is still there.

In the meantime, I try to embody sensations of fullness and wholeness and fully-realized selfhood, trusting that the more I longer I do it, the easier it will be. Anorexia recovery is a good teacher here, because the process asked me to embody a certain kind of self-acceptance long before it felt completely real to me.

I hope that some of this will resonate with some of you today. Perhaps NEDA Week will encourage you to share yourself more freely than ever with the world around you, to give yourself permission to be full and whole and real, rather than shadowy and obscured. Everyone, including you, will be enriched by having access to your most boundless self. 

More tomorrow. Happy Tuesday.

xo

This week, I’m working with GoFundMe to raise money for the National Eating Disorder Association and the work it does for people with eating disorders and their families. Your contribution will help to keep NEDA’s helpline, referral system, and legislative advocacy going, and I’d be so grateful for any show of support that feels right to you. You can learn more and donate here. 

The post NEDA Week 2018: Take Up Space appeared first on The Full Helping.

I love coffee cake, but I take issue with the false promises it makes right from the start. It strikes me as disingenuous to lure in the under-caffeinated with such a title, only to deliver a cinnamon-infused experience. I’ve heard the old argument that it’s simply suggesting how well it pairs with a cup of Joe, but that sounds like a poor excuse for deceptive branding, like “juice” that’s never seen a fruit in its short squeezed life. Coffee cake was an evolution, not an invention, derived from many other styles of baked confections in the early days of sugar cravings all across Europe, which can partially explain the indistinct, ambiguous definition of the form.

Some coffee cakes had fruits, others nuts, some were fashioned as loaves while others rose into towering rings and bundts; the one common factor that united them was the uncanny ability to eat them during a coffee break. Bearing out that logic, there would be some fresh hell to pay if we started calling all types of cookies “snack biscuits.” Can you imagine the anger and confusion that would result from the hangry sweet-toothed eaters receiving dry wafers when they were expecting rich, decadent brownies? That’s not a world I want to live in, quite frankly.

Steering clear of the controversy all together, I much prefer more accurate headline. for my coffee complement: Crumb cake or struesel cake are equally appropriate. No one can deny that coarse, buttery topping, no matter the flavor nor format, for lack or abundance of additional mix-ins. The issue is far from black and white, contrary to this unconventional expression of the concept.

Inspired by the jar of black tahini remaining in my fridge after a fortuitous visit to the Living Tree Community Foods offices, this particular coffee-free spin on the classic fully embraces and celebrates the very best part of its namesake. Living up to its moniker, unlike so many cakes of yore, the struesel topping is thick, bold and unmistakable.

While we’re disrupting the usual routine anyway, why should cinnamon have all the crumb fun? A touch of cardamom and a hint of lemon complement the nutty notes of sesame throughout, subtle yet unmistakable nuances against the tender crumb.

A strong cup of spiced Turkish coffee would certainly be a welcome accompaniment, but as we’ve established, far from mandatory for maximum enjoyment. Whether you serve your slices with tea, lemonade, or nothing else at all, they will always make good on the promise of a delicious sweet treat.

Black and White Sesame Streusel Cake

Black Sesame Streusel:

1/2 Cup Black Sesame Tahini
2 Tablespoons Vegan Butter, Melted
1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Black Sesame Seeds
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

White Sesame Cake:

1/2 Cup Raw Sesame Tahini
1/4 Cup Vegan Butter, at Room Temperature
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 Cup Plain Vegan Yogurt
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cardamom
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Cup Plain Non-Dairy Milk
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a square 8 x 8-inch baking pan; set aside.

Begin by preparing the streusel topping. In a large bowl, stir together the black tahini, melted vegan butter, and brown sugar until smooth. Add in the flour, sesame seeds, and salt, mixing with a fork to create coarse, chunky crumbs. Set in the refrigerator to chill while focusing on the cake batter next.

Place the raw tahini, vegan butter, sugar, and yogurt into the bowl of your stand mixer and thoroughly cream everything together using the paddle attachment. Pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed, making sure that all the ingredients are incorporated into a homogeneous blend before proceeding.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom, and cinnamon together into a separate bowl, whisking to combine. In a small pitcher, stir the non-dairy milk, lemon juice, and vanilla together as well. Add about half of the dry goods into the stand mixer, blending until mostly incorporated. Introduce half of the liquids, continuing to mix at a low speed. Repeat the procedure until both are smoothly blended in. Be careful not to over-beat the batter though; a few errant lumps are perfectly fine.

Smooth the batter into your prepared baking dish. Break up the crumbs with a fork and sprinkle them evenly all over. It may seem like a lot, but you want full coverage here, so don’t hold back.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan before slicing and serving.

Makes 9 – 12 Servings

Printable Recipe

Hi all! I made a free ebook for anyone who signs up for the 101 Cookbooks newsletter. It's a collection of favorite weeknight-friendly recipes, and by being on the mailing list, it'll be easier for me to send future recipes and content directly to you. I get the feeling that reaching many of you via Facebook, Pinterest, and other social networks is increasingly challenging (even if you've asked to follow 101 Cookbooks). So if you click on this link, or the graphic below, and sign up, you'll get an email with a link to your Weeknight Express PDF. If you're already on the mailing list, you'll get a link later this week. Enjoy!

Recipes in this collection include: Curried Tomato Tortellini Soup, Ponzu Pasta, Last Minute Red Lasagna, Spicy Tahini Noodles with Roasted Vegetables, Quick Vegan Enchiladas with Sweet Potato Sauce, Double Broccoli Buddha Bowl, Golden Crusted Sesame Seeded Tofu, Garlic Lime Lettuce Wraps with Tempeh, and The Ultimate Vegan Nachos. I love all these recipes, and hope you'll cook your way through them! (Sign up here)