I posted about this bad boy a couple of a months ago when I made it for my sister's birthday, and finally remembered that I promised a recipe. It's a bit of a tradition that I make a rich, slightly over-the-top chocolate cake each year for her birthday; she's got a sweet tooth rivalled by few, and who doesn't love an excuse for a killer, moist, chocolatey birthday cake? Not I. It's so good you guys, I can't explain. So moist. So rich. So delicious. This recipe is adapted from the one that's in the ebook I wrote earlier last year (which you can find here). Let me know if you make it, tag me etc etc.
What you need:

1/2 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bi carb soda
1/2 cup raw cacao powder + an extra tablespoon for good measure
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/3 cup raw cane sugar
A pinch of salt

1 cup of rice milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup mashed banana (about one large banana's worth)
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

What you need to do:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius, and grease/line your cake tin. In a bowl, mix together the rice milk and vinegar and set aside for a minute. Add the mashed banana, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla, and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients, then add to the wet whilst stirring quickly. Once combined, pop into your cake pan, and bake for about 50 minutes or until knife/toothpick/whatever comes out clean. FYI, I made this the day before her birthday and it was even more delicious the next day.

I made a choc avocado mousse icing for the cake, which was divine and I highly recommend. Simply blend together 1 ripe avocado, 1-2 tblsp of raw cacao powder and 2-3 tblsp of maple syrup, and leave in the fridge to chill for a bit. Wait for the cake to completely cool before icing. 
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On a bit of a cookie kick, can you tell? These are nutty, chewy-on-the-inside, crunchy-on-the-outside, and so easy to whip up and bake in a flash. I used unhulled tahini in them because it's what I had on hand, which gave them a serious nuttiness, however if you're after something a little more subtle then definitely go for hulled tahini. I'd also assume that subbing the tahini for drippy almond butter or melted peanut butter would work a treat as well; let me know if you try it! Miam, miam!
What you need:

1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup tahini (I used unhulled, however I'd say hulled tahini would offer a more subtle nuttiness/flavour)
1 tsp vanilla
1 flax egg (1 tblsp flax + 3 tblsp water)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup almond milk

What you need to do:

Mix the flax and water together in a small bowl and set aside for a few minutes. In a large bowl, whip together the sugar and tahini. Add the vanilla and flax mixture, mix quickly and well. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, stir. Add the almond milk, and mix until completely combined. Roll into balls, place on a baking tray, and pop into the freezer for 30 or so minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius 10-15 minutes before removing the cookie dough from the freezer, and bake the cookies for 18 minutes. After about 10 minutes in the oven, remove and press down on the cookies with the back of a big spoon/spatula before popping them back in. Allow to cool completely before removing from tray as they're still quite soft when they're first out of the oven. Enjoy!

2 comments
Whenever I bake, I tend to make things as healthy as possible. I'm usually subbing this and that out for their wholefoodie alternatives, adding things like mashed banana, raw cacao powder, maple syrup... you know the go. Often this works, sometimes it just doesn't, and then sometimes you just have to throw all of that out the window and bake some real. damn. cookies. This is one of those times. These are vanilla-y, choc chunk studded, buttery, sugary babies, ripe for dunking, chewing and crunching. I used a roughly chopped up vego bar (ugh life, so good) which I got from Sprout Market, but feel free to use any type of chocolate you like. 
What you need:

3/4 cup vegan butter like nuttelex, room temperature
1/2 cup raw sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean powder, or pure vanilla extract
1 flax egg (1 tblsp flax + 3 tbslp water)
1 3/4 cups brown rice flour (I got mine from Sprout Market)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Vego bar or dark chocolate, roughly chopped

What you need to do:

Cream the butter and sugar together. I did this by hand, but if you'd prefer to use a cake mixer then go ahead. Add the flax egg and vanilla, and mix very well. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, mix until combined, then add the chocolate and stir together. Scoop mounds/balls of dough onto two separate baking sheets (again, I just rolled them by hand, but feel free to use a cookie scoop) and pop into the freezer for 30-45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius during the last 10-15 minutes of the dough being in the freezer, and bake for approx 18 minutes. They'll still seem soft when you first take them out of the oven, but once they cool they harden, so be careful not to overcook them.

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