If you’ve been around here a while, you know that I spend 51 weeks of the year dreaming about my annual trip to Swans Island, Maine, and one week actually on the island. I hope to one day be able to make that more of a 40:12 situation (I’d settle for 50:2), but until then, I’ll just have to make the most of that week.
This is my fourth year going up to Swans Island, and my third organizing the trip. There’s something wonderful about the anticipation of it all. From the moment we start looking at vacation dates and rental houses, and then confirming guests, there’s a wonderful familiarity to the whole process.
We book the house. We choose a spot to stop overnight on our way up (usually Portland) and VJ books the AirBNB. We rent a car. We create a menu and make a grocery list. Throughout it all, we dream about this incredible place and probably annoy the crap out of the first-timers going with us 😉 
One of my favorite parts of the process is coming up with recipes we can all enjoy. VJ, my Swans Island ride-or-die, is a gluten-free vegan. In fact, she might be the world’s most adaptable gluten-free vegan—I’ve never seen her look at a menu and not be able to find *something* she can eat.
When it comes to my on-island baking adventures, VJ is always willing to help take process photos and is super supportive (she once sat on a rock in the dark outside the Swans Island Post Office with me so I could use their WiFi to post these Lemon Bars), but I rarely bake anything she can actually eat. As such, I’ve made an effort on these recent trips to make baked goods that all of us can get behind. Last year’s gluten-free vegan options included Cornmeal Pancakes and Salted Chocolate Hazelnut Granola. This year’s are going to include s’mores made with these easy Toasted Oat Graham Crackers!
The idea for these sweet little crackers came to me as I was falling asleep one night last week and the inspiration was so strong that I had to get up and type it all down before I forgot! Four test batches later, I’m serving up a delicious and deliciously easy recipe perfect for our vacation 🙂 
Toasted Oat Graham Crackers are crunchy and nubbly, and have just the right amount of sweetness. They’re everything you could want in a graham cracker, except where the traditional treats start with a specialty coarse wheat flour, these are made with ingredients you likely already have in your pantry, like old-fashioned oats, light brown sugar, cinnamon, coconut oil, and pure maple syrup.
Also, the dough is made entirely in the bowl of a food processor! Easy peasy.
Once the dough is made, roll it out between two sheets of parchment and give it a quick freeze before slicing it into crackers. A chef’s knife works well for this, but I am fond of this expandable pizza wheel.
Score each cracker down the center…
…and pierce it a few times with a toothpick. I use a wire cake tester.
Bake the graham crackers for twenty minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes and then, all bets are off! These crispy, crunchy, cinnamon-spiced Toasted Oat Graham Crackers are great by themselves, or topped with peanut butter. Or cream cheese frosting.
Don’t judge me.
These crackers can be kept whole or broken neatly in half along that score line. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m pretty sure these would make an amazing gluten-free vegan graham cracker pie crust!
One thing I know for sure is that they’re pretty damn good stacked with dark chocolate and toasted vegan marshmallow. Best vegan s’mores ever.
I can’t wait for vacation.
Toasted Oat Graham Crackers {Vegan, Gluten-Free}
makes about 3 dozen square crackers
3 cups old fashioned oats (use certified gluten-free for gluten-free crackers)
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
3-4 tablespoons water
Place oven racks in the top and bottom positions. Preheat oven to 325F.
Spread oats onto a dry rimmed sheet pan. Place in oven and toast for 5-7 minutes, or until fragrant. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
Transfer oats into the bowl of a food processor. Process for 1.5-2 minutes, or until there are no recognizable oats. Pulse in light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Add coconut oil, maple syrup, and 3 tablespoons of water and process until a dough ball forms. Add 1 more tablespoon of water if the dough is crumbly.
Sandwich dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll until 1/8-inch thick. Transfer to the freezer (on a baking sheet, if desired) for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, line two sheet pans with parchment. Set aside.
Remove frozen dough from freezer. Slice in 2-inch squares (scraps may be re-rolled). Place about 1.5-inches apart on prepared pans. Use a sharp knife to score lightly down the centers. Pierce a few times with a toothpick or the tines of a fork.
Bake 10 minutes before rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let crackers cool for 5 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely. Crackers will initially be slightly soft, but will harden as they cool. Repeat brief chill, slicing, scoring, and baking with any remaining dough.
Graham crackers will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for at least a week.
Did you know that you can make a spectacular chocolate cheesecake without ever opening a brick of cream cheese?
It’s true—this Chocolate Cheesecake is cool, creamy, chocolaty, and completely vegan!
It’s made primarily of softened cashews and coconut cream…
…and melted chocolate, of course 🙂 
Both the crust and the filling come together in the bowl of a food processor before being layered into springform pan and chilled until solid. No need to crank the oven for this no-bake cake!
Once the cake is chilled all the way through, remove it from the springform and give it a drizzle of 
Chocolate Cheesecake slices like a dream. It definitely stands on its own, but I couldn’t resist plating each piece with a few fresh sweet cherries!
You’ll love this smooth, creamy, chocolaty cheesecake! It’s easy to make, no-bake, vegan and grain-free—perfect for sharing with your favorite 
I’ve eaten a lot of desserts in my life—A LOT—but as far as sheer enjoyment goes, I still think it’s pretty hard to beat homemade chocolate chip cookies. The combination of caramelized brown sugar cookie and semisweet chocolate chips is about as perfect as it gets, don’t you think?
My favorite chocolate chip cookie 
That’s right—these delectable chocolate chip cookies are made with creamy cashew butter in place of a traditional flour base, making them gluten-free. If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I have a bit of an obsession with reimagining classic cookies with a cashew butter base. The smooth, buttery flavor of cashews is a perfect jumping off point for revamping all sorts of cookie jar favorites! I posted 
Another great thing about these Cashew Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies? They’re vegan! The natural oil in the cashew butter negates the need for butter, and the usual egg is swapped for a few tablespoons of 
You’ll notice that these cookies don’t have the slightly raggedy edges of my other forays into cashew butter cookies. That’s because I finally figured out that these cookies bake up in a more aesthetically pleasing way if you flatten them before they go in the oven.
*cue 
I’m going to gush a little more about these cookies and then I swear I’m done 😉 This recipe doesn’t require anything beyond a whisk, a silicone spatula, and a bowl. There’s no required chill either–if you turn on the oven right now, you can have an entire batch of cookies ready to go in just about an hour!
Seriously, there are so many good things to say about Cashew Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Their shockingly-close-to-the-real-deal flavor and soft & chewy texture are enough to capture just about any cookie-loving heart ❤ My favorite thing about them though is that they’re vegan and gluten-free, so I can share them with more friends. I’m pretty sure that the only thing better than a fresh homemade batch of chocolate chip cookies is having people to share them with.
Cashew Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies {Vegan & Gluten-Free}
It feels like I’m jumping the gun by posting a carrot cake-flavored recipe in the middle of March, just after the third nor’easter in twelve days, but Easter is on the early side this year, so I suppose I’m right on time.
I get that 
I think not. I could eat it any day, anytime, on a boat/plane/train/any other Seussical place without complaint. Except for the whole general health and well-being and needing bigger pants thing. But if those obstacles weren’t standing in my way, let me tell you, it’d be all carrot cake all the time. That and things made with 
As it stands though, I just bought a pair of Levi’s 501s that make me feel like a supermodel and I am trying to eat well (outside of the occasional 
This Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal comes together quickly and easily, and has huge flavor thanks to warming spices, the classic additions of raisins and chopped pecans, and maple syrup.
It bakes up in just half an hour. You could certainly serve it on its own, but I like an extra drizzle of maple syrup, just for kicks. A dollop of yogurt couldn’t hurt either.
Another great thing about this breakfast? It’s high in protein, so you won’t be starving two hours after you’ve eaten. Oh, and if you use certified gluten-free oats, it’s gluten-free too 🙂 Yep. This is the sort of everyday indulgence I can get behind.
I repeat recipes so infrequently that this is only the third time I’ve made this Chorizo Cornbread since discovering it three years ago. It came to be during a late-January snowstorm that was billed as the storm of the century (as all of them are), but was wholly unremarkable.
Except for the cornbread. That part was pretty memorable. Especially the near-perfect breakfast sandwich I made with the leftovers.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Before we talk about leftovers or magnificent fried egg sandwiches, let’s talk about how good salty, savory chorizo is when it’s enveloped in a barely-sweet piece of cornbread. Because it’s really, really good.
It’s easy too—this recipe takes just about an hour from the time you start browning the chorizo to the time you pull the finished cornbread from the oven. You won’t need a mixer or anything more than a bowl and a silicone spatula either 🙂
Start by browning eight ounces of raw chorizo and sautéing some diced onion and minced garlic in the rendered fat.
Mix together some yellow cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and a couple of tablespoons of sugar. I don’t usually add sugar to my 
Toss the chorizo, onion, and garlic with the dry ingredients. This allows some of the baking powder to adhere to the meat and keeps it from sinking to the bottom of the finished cornbread.
Add some milk, sour cream, and eggs…
…followed by some melted butter.
Spread it all into a parchment-lined pan…
…and bake until browned and a little, uh, dimply.
Slice it into pieces while it’s still warm. I like my Chorizo Cornbread served alongside a kale salad or with a vegetable soup or even just by itself, with or without a pat of butter.
But like I said, the best way to enjoy this Chorizo Cornbread is to sandwich your slice with a runny egg.
You can leave it simple (like I did) or jazz it up with cheese and greens and a big hit of sriracha. Either way, it’s basically the best egg sandwich ever.
Have a great weekend, y’all.
e2 bakes brooklyn 