Tag: christmas

Vegan Peppermint Marshmallows

Dandies peppermint marshmallows to top my mocha.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Today is a pretty low-key day. While my brother and sister go and spend the day honoring Christmas with their other side of the family, my mom and I are catching up on last-minute gift wrapping and are beginning to prep food for our family gathering tomorrow. This morning, I figured I would kick off the day with a super festive peppermint mocha, which is one of my go-to latte flavors, regardless of whether or not it’s the season for it. This time, however, I topped it off with more peppermint – VEGAN PEPPERMINT MARSHMALLOWS!

Now some of you may be wondering why marshmallows aren’t normally plant-based. Well, typically marshmallows are manufactured to contain gelatin…eww. If you don’t know why gelatin is gross, I highly suggest you read up on it.

Thankfully, gelatin is easily substituted in any foods that usually contain it. Dandies, which is sold at all of the Whole Foods and many other natural food stores, will meet all of your marshmallowy needs without the gross animal bi-products.

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I am going to get back to enjoying my peppermint mocha, so I hope you all have a lovely Christmas Eve. And if you are stopping by Whole Foods for last min holiday shopping, don’t forget your Dandies!

Dandies Locator

❤ Melissa

 

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Polvorones (Mexican Wedding Cookies)

The kind alternative to one of Christmas’ most popular cookies! Yum.

 

Polvorones or in other words “Mexican Wedding Cookies,” “Russian Tea Cakes” and “Snowball Cookies” are the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and nuttiness that melt and crumble in your mouth, similar to a shortbread cookie. It’s a fairly simple recipe and requires few ingredients, which is a plus during the hectic holiday season.

I first heard of this cookie recipe way back in my 7th grade Spanish class when we were asked to choose one Mexican or Spanish recipe to prepare and bring in for a Christmas potluck. I wasn’t a huge fan of nuts at the time (this recipe contains nuts), but decided to give this one a shot and it immediately became one of my favorite Christmas cookies. The recipe I was given in 7th grade contained butter, but I have been subbing plant-based alternatives for dairy butter and it has no effect on the taste or texture of these cookies. Hope you enjoy them just as much as I do!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter (I recommend using Earth Balance buttery spread)
  • 2 cups all-purpose white flour
  • 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
  • < 1/4 tsp table salt (slightly below measure — a heaping measure once ruined my cookies).
  • 1-1/3 cup crushed pecans (or nut of choice) Dislike nuts? Sub with mini choc. chips (Ghirardelli semi-sweet, Trader Joe’s semi-sweet or Enjoy Life variety).
  • Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste (I use about 1/2 tsp each).
  • Confectioners sugar set aside for dusting

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven at 350 degrees.
  2. Cream butter and vanilla until fluffy.
  3. Add sugar, creaming well.
  4. Mix in flour and salt.
  5. Stir in Pecans.
  6. Lightly form dough into approx. 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
  7. Bake at 350 for 10-12 mins.
  8. Once lightly golden on top, remove from oven. Cookies should appear slightly gelatinous as though they need to cook longer, but should firm up once cooled.
  9. Let cool for 5 minutes then, roll in confectioners sugar. Set aside to cool another 5 minutes and then roll a second time.

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