Happy Halloween! My edible bloody finger cookies are the stars of this story, and the perfect finger food for your Halloween party. They are adapted from Lindy Loo's cookies, which I made last year and have since reinvented. Enjoy! 

Bloody finger cookies
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached AP flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup sunflower or canola oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
1 cup whole blanched almonds
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Store-bought red decorating gel (check ingredients to make sure it's vegan)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, unbleached flour, brown rice flour, baking powder and sea salt. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, oil, vanilla extract and almond extract.
3. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and mix until a dough forms. The dough should stick together when pressed together. If it seems too dry, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of cold water. Refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.
4. Take 1/4 of the dough out of the fridge at a time and roll 1 tablespoon into a thin, round finger shape. Squeeze in around the middle of the finger to create a knuckle, and use a paring knife to make indents at the joints to resemble a finger. Press a whole almond firmly into one end for a nail, and insert a slivered almond in the other end to resemble a bone. Repeat with remaining dough.
5. Place cookies on a cookie pan that is lined with parchment paper and bake at 325 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the cookie bottoms are light golden (the tops should be dry but not browned). Allow cookies to cool before decorating.
6. Gently lift up the almond nails and squeeze red decorating gel into the nail bed and press the almond back into place, so the gel oozes out underneath. Add in gel at the stump end of the fingertip so it looks like it has been severed from a hand.
7. Allow the gel to firm up and then store them in an air-tight container for up to one week.

It's time to reveal another Daring Bakers challenge! This month's challenge was hosted by fellow Canadian Lori of Butter Me Up, who chose to keep things simple by challenging us to make a Canadian favourite: doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes, including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.


Lori gave us many options for baked, yeast or deep-fried doughnuts, and I'm happy she did! I don't think I could ever bring myself to deep-fry anything. Since I had so much fun making my baked apple cider doughnuts last month, for this challenge I made double-vanilla doughnuts using the same mini doughnut pan, and decorated them with a simple glaze and black and orange sprinkles for an upcoming Halloween party.

This recipe was inspired by Nancy Silverton's buttermilk cake doughnuts, but I removed the yeast and eggs and let some apple cider vinegar, baking powder and a vegan egg substitute do their magic, resulting in a light doughnut with a tender crumb. I also tried making a healthier version by replacing the sugar and margarine, but it was a total flop. Sometimes you just gotta go with what tastes good!


These mini doughnuts are similar to Lolo's mini doughnuts. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading her blog, Vegan Yum Yum, do yourself a favour and check out her recipe archive. Her photos and recipes have been an inspiration to me since I discovered her blog a couple of years ago, but she hasn't posted since earlier this year. She is sadly missed!

Baked double-vanilla doughnuts
1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Seeds of one vanilla bean
Ener-G egg replacer for one egg
4 tbsp vegan margarine (I use Earth Balance)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the nondairy milk, vinegar, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, egg replacer and margarine and heat on medium-low, stirring until margarine is melted. This mixture should not get too hot or it will burn (it should feel slightly warm to the touch).
3. Allow the margarine mixture to cool for about 5 minutes. Add it to the flour mixture and mix until just combined. It should form a very soft dough.
4. Spoon the dough into a mini doughnut pan, filling about 3/4 full. Smooth the top of the dough with your fingers so it's even.
5. Bake the doughnuts at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a doughnut comes out clean. Allow doughnuts to cool completely before attempting to remove them from the pan.
6. Decorate with glaze (recipe below) and sprinkles. 

Glaze with sprinkles
1/2 cup vegan powdered sugar, sifted
1 tbsp nondairy milk
bowl full of sprinkles

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and nondairy milk until smooth. Dip the top of the doughnut into the glaze, allowing some to drip off, and then dip the glaze-side down into the sprinkles.
2. Set the decorated doughnuts a wire rack that is set on top of a cookie pan or parchment paper (to avoid a mess underneath). Store the doughnuts in an airtight container in the fridge.

This is a quick update to let you know that Erik Marcus' book, The Ultimate Vegan Guide: Compassionate Living Without Sacrifice, is now available for FREE online!


If you're just getting started on the vegan path or would like to learn more, this book is for you. It covers everything you need to know about vegan living, including nutrition, food shopping, home cooking and activism. Marcus wrote this book to tell you everything he's learned in his 20+ years as a vegan. "I think the book's best quality is that it digs into the stuff that's truly important and offers real help in every key area of making the transition," he says about the book.

You can check out the book here. Happy reading!

When it comes to desserts, rich and decadent doesn't have to mean unhealthy, at least not in the raw food world. While they are not nearly fat-free, desserts in the raw contain a number of benefits that most baked desserts don't–one of the most important being that raw food ingredients are minimally processed and in their natural, nutrient-rich state. They are ideal for anyone looking for healthier dessert choices without refined sugars, or for people with special dietary needs, such as allergies to dairy or gluten.

Many raw desserts share similar building blocks: succulent dried fruit (usually dates); ground nuts (usually almonds, cashews and walnuts); a dash of sweetener (usually raw agave nectar); coconut meat, oil or butter; and sometimes a tablespoon or two of cacao powder. Delicious miracles occur when these ingredients are blended, soaked, strained, dehydrated or whipped into delicious pies, cakes, cookies or tarts. A food processor makes putting together raw desserts a cinch (I couldn't imagine life without one!) and chilling the desserts is a must to help them hold their shape.

For the brownie layer:
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raw walnuts
3/4 cup pitted honey or medjool dates
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

1. In a food processor, grind the almonds and walnuts to a meal, being careful not to overprocess or the nuts will become oily.
2. Add the dates and pulse until the mixture is combined and crumbly.
3. Add the cacao powder, vanilla extract and sea salt and pulse to combine. The mixture should stick together when pressed between two fingers.
4. Press the brownie mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan (or small square pan) and set aside.

For the top layer:
1/2 cup coconut butter
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
2 tbsp shredded coconut, for garnish

1. In a food processor, process the coconut butter and agave nectar until smooth.
2. Add the cacao powder and pulse to combine.
3. Spoon the mixture onto the brownie base and smooth out with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with shredded coconut.
4. Cover the pan with tin foil and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes until set. Cut into squares and serve, or store in the freezer for up to one month.

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about a Thanksgiving dessert? Here in Canada, the obvious answer would be a creamy, nutmeg-spiked pumpkin pie with a light, flaky pastry crust. If you want to kick it up a notch this holiday, here is a delicious and unexpected dessert that combines spiced pumpkin with a rich, fudgy brownie base–no crust required! Of course, Martha Stewart has already thought of the pumpkin and brownie combo, but she hasn't veganized it!


Thanksgiving can be a sad holiday for animal-loving vegans, but it's also an opportunity to visit with friends and family, reflect on all that we are thankful for, and share a beautiful meal together. I love holidays that give me the opportunity to share delicious and healthy vegan fare alongside my family's traditional recipes.

This rich, after-dinner treat will definitely be on my table this holiday. It highlights the flavour and spices of pumpkin pie but it doesn't involve the fussy and time-consuming aspects of chilling and rolling out a pie pastry crust. I loved how this dessert came out when I used individual tart pans with removable bottoms, but it also works using an 8-inch flan tin or springform pan. Enjoy!


Pumpkin brownie tarts (or pie)
For the brownie layer:
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tbsp arrowroot
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp sunflower or canola oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, arrowroot, baking soda and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, maply syrup, oil and vanilla extract.
3. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the melted chocolate.
4. Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to press the brownie batter evenly into the bottom of 8 individual oiled tart pans with removable bottoms (or an 8-inch flan tin or springform pan). Set aside.