Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Crème Fraîche

These are too good. Admittedly not the healthiest, but oh so yummy. They can be a side dish or even a dessert. This recipe is for a single serving, but can easily be doubled, etc.

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato
1 tablespoon earth balance buttery spread
2 tablespoons crème fraîche
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon maple syrup

Directions:
Bake sweet potato at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until soft. Let cool enough so that you can remove the peel without burning yourself. Mash with potato masher or fork (or if you're making a larger batch and wanted it to be fluffy, break out the electric mixer!) Add earth balance, stir to melt. Mix in remaining ingredients and enjoy!

Fab Etsy Finds

Secret lovers hollow necklace from StrangelyYours

hand knitted ear warmer from Plexida

stoneware mugs from BackBayPottery

this "bee in flight" photograph from kellydbrown

map letters from littlewhitedog

Best Vegan Cookies Ever

So this is not the best photograph of cookies, but trust me, these are sooo unbelievably good. I have made them three times in the last week! They are moist, the perfect amount of sweetness, and buttery tasting. I've tried some other vegan cookie recipes in the past and they just didn't cut it, but this one is impossible to tell that it is vegan. Also no refined sugars, which is a definite plus for me. The original recipe I found is here, but I tweaked it a bit to my liking.

Ingredients: 

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup dry oats

1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut flakes

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon black strap molasses (don't leave this out!! very important for the taste)

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup coconut oil, softened or melted

1/2 cup chopped pecans 

1/3 cup non-dairy chocolate or carob chips

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium or large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, shredded coconut, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a glass measuring cup (or a small bowl if you don't have one) combine the maple syrup, vanilla extract and coconut oil. Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine until just mixed. Stir in pecans and chips. Spoon onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 11 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Makes 8-10 large cookies.