MAPLE-VANILLA CASHEW CREAM / July 28, 2019 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

MAPLE-VANILLA CASHEW CREAM | dolly and oatmeal

we’re talking sauce this sunday, but one that’s creamy and sweet! weekday mornings have the tendency to be monotonous, and this cashew cream aims to jazz up those sometimes boring breakfasts into something that you look forward to. i can easily fall into the smoothie-every-morning routine, but i find that when i have this cream sitting in my fridge i’m more likely to prepare a breakfast that takes me out of the routine and starts my day in a fun, refreshing way. all we do here is soak the cashews for up to 5 hours (or overnight). then it’s a quick whiz in your blender with maple syrup, a couple teaspoons vanilla extract, fresh lemon juice, a splash of vinegar (i know, sounds weird, but a little bit goes a long way in giving this cream a little punch), a pinch of salt, and some water to get everything nice and smooth.

when i make this sweet cashew cream, i find that my weekend prep is a bit breakfast-heavy. sometimes i’ll prep a big batch of steel cut oats to heat up for breakfast, or i’ll either buy or make a big batch of waffles or pancakes to defrost throughout the week. i also find that i tend to purchase more berries and stone fruit both to top said oats and waffles, but also for dipping into this cream! i have a recipe on this site (which has always been a popular recipe here) for my favorite steel cut oats with sauteed peaches, and the addition of the maple-vanilla cashew cream takes that creamy note to the next level! a little bit of prep to make breakfasts more desirable goes a long way (in my opinion). i’ve always found that it’s the little things like making a cream/sauce like this that start your days off a little brighter. i hope that you find this as well!

happy sunday, friends! xo!

maple-vanilla cashew cream | v

| makes roughly 1 1/2 cups |

print the recipe

method

place drained cashews, water, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, vinegar, and salt in the container of an upright high-speed blender. blend o n high, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender, until the cream is completely smooth. taste and add more maple syrup if you want it sweeter, then blend again.
use right away, or transfer the cream to lidded jar and store in your fridge for up to 1 week. the cream will thicken as it’s refrigerated, whisk in a bit of water, a little at a time, until pourable.

ingredients

1 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked overnight (or at least for 5 hours), drained and rinsed
3/4 cup filtered water, plus more if needed
2-3 tablespoons good maple syrup (preferably grade b)
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
pinch of fine salt

Red Berry Almond Blondies / June 22, 2017 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

Red Berry Almond Blondies | dolly and oatmeal

this past weekend sasha from the beautiful site, tending the table made her way down to los angeles. she and i had been planning a shoot for almost a month before she got here. we went back and forth about recipe ideas - we originally were thinking gazpacho but somehow we made our way to these blondies ;) we also secured a sponsorship with one of our favorite brands, california olive ranch, and made it our goal to make a recipe that highlighted their delicious olive oil. so last sunday i met sasha at one of my favorite spots of all time, cookbook. we chatted a bit and then drove to the farmers market. we circled the market a few times scouting all the beautiful produce they had, and settled on a flat of strawberries, and another flat of blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.

when we got back to my place, we quickly got to work measuring out our ingredients and stirring everything together. once the blondies were in the oven we got to styling and shooting. i was most looking forward to having fresh eyes in my space. so often i reach for the same props or style things in a simple, time-saving way. but with a free (baby-less) day to work and being alongside sasha revived a feeling i haven't had in some time. it was so nice to focus on work and not have to worry about 5 other things simultaneously. plus, it was such a pleasure working alongside someone who's work i've admired for some time. we styled and shot things in a backward motion starting with a few ingredients shots, then some berries shots; and then, once the blondies cooled, we got to work on them. they weren't completely cooled when i lifted them from the pan (i should have listened to my recipe notes!), and they cracked a little in the center. i would normally freak out and try my best to squish them back together but sasha, very coolly, said that they looked better that way, so i went with it ;) after we finished we talked some more about life and work, and it couldn't have been a nicer afternoon.

you wouldn't guess by looking at them, but these blondies are quite rich. they're definitely on the sweet side which is why using olive oil is so key, as it helps to mellow the sweetness and provide a subtle earthiness. the berries are a bonus here as well. while they are sweet on their own, when paired with the blondies their flavor and slight tartness produces the ultimate summer treat!

xo's! and be sure to check out sasha's site and her beautiful strawberry shot below 😍

this post was made in collaboration with california olive ranch. all thoughts and opinions, as always, are my own. thank you so much for supporting the sponsors that keep dolly and oatmeal going ❤️

red berry almond blondies | gf & df

just like the perfect brownie, these blondies are quite dense and dare i say, gooey. they're grain free, naturally gluten free, and free of dairy. they're also on the sweet side. i would say these border on the almost too sweet side for my taste, but i know blondies/brownies are supposed to be ;) the berries really cut through a lot of the sweetness, so i wouldn't leave them out, but they could definitely be swapped for your (tart) fruit of choice.

| makes 16 blondies |

1 1/4 cups almond flour
1/2 cup arrowroot powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups coconut sugar
1/2 cup california olive ranch olive oil
2 large pasture raised eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup fresh strawberries, halved or quartered (depending on size)
handful of fresh raspberries
sliced almonds, for garnish
powdered sugar, for garnish

method

preheat oven to 350°F. grease an 8x8-inch square baking pan, and line it with a parchment paper sling.
in a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, arrowroot, baking powder, and salt. in another large bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar until the mixture looks like wet sand, whisk in the eggs and vanilla until combined.
add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine. spread the batter evenly into the corners and sides of the pan.
bake for 28-35 minutes, scattering the berries on top of the blondies halfway through baking. bake until a cake tester or toothpick come out mostly clean (you want a couple of crumbs to cling).
let the blondies cool on a rack. once completely cool, run a thin knife around the edges to loosen them. use the parchment paper wings to carefully lift the blondies from the pan.
dust with powdered sugar, and slivered almonds (if desired). slice into 16 squares.

similar recipes:

strawberry rhubarb & olive oil chocolate cake

Banana, Coconut & Cardamom Ice Cream / May 10, 2017 by Lindsey | Dolly and Oatmeal

Banana, Coconut & Cardamom Ice Cream | dolly and oatmeal

sorry for the silence here last week. i had every intention of posting this ice cream recipe, and i naively thought that i would have time to write something up to share with you all. clearly that didn't happen. i won't bore you with any details, but perhaps a little speed-date version of what's been happening over here since so much seemingly happened all at once.

frank got a new job in los angeles just over a month ago. he didn't start until the beginning of this month, but was back and forth a bit for training, etc. and i was back home in brooklyn, alone with amesy for the first time ever, while also packing up some of our last few items! looking back on it, the idea of being partner-less and solo parenting was much more scary than it actually was. it definitely wasn't the easiest, but i felt like amesy and i were a little team getting through the good and rough times together. then frank came back from LA a few days later and amesy and i left (that same day) to go upstate with my parents while frank and quint drove our stuff across the country! finally, amesy, my mom and me flew out the following last week to meet frank at our new apartment :) and we're here. together. and all breathing a bit easier.

this recipe is a quick, dairy-free, banana-based ice cream that's from chitra agrawal's new book, Vibrant India. i love a banana-based ice cream for so many reasons, but mostly because it's easy-breezy. there's some pleasure that comes to mind when i think that a frozen banana can be made into an ice cream-like treat. here, chitra flavors the ice cream with cardamom and cocnonut. two ingredients i might not have thought to pair together, but now i feel belong together. my tastebuds usually go the route of chocolate chip cookie dough, or peanut butter something, so the refined flavors of this ice cream were a welcomed change!

hoping spring has sprung where you are! xo

banana, coconut, and cardamom ice cream | v & gf

reprinted with permission from Vibrant India, by Chitra Agrawal

i doubled this recipe making for 4 servings, but kept the amount of cardamom at 1/4 teaspoon which was plenty for my tastebuds. you can freeze the leftover ice cream in ice cube trays and then blend it up in a Vitamix or blender for a "soft-serve" consistency. a quick note,i replaced the jaggery with coconut sugar and chopped up some vegan chocolate for the "chocolate chips".

| serves 2 |

2 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons dried unsweetened shredded coconut, plus more for garnish
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom powder
1 tablespoon bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
granulated jaggery or brown sugar, for garnish
sliced almonds, for garnish

method

peel the bananas and cut them into 1/2-inch disks. place in a glass bowl or freezer bag. freeze the bananas for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
using a food processor, pulse the frozen banana pieces. they will first get crumbly, then gooey, then look like oatmeal pieces, and then start to bunch on one side of the bowl. scrape down the sides and keep pulsing through these stages. eventually, the banana will become smooth and creamy resembling soft-serve ice cream. pulse the processor until the mixture aerates and becomes somewhat fluffy, then mix in the coconut, cardamom powder, and chocolate chips.
you can the ice cream immediately; it will be like soft-serve ice cream, or transfer it to an airtight container and freeze until solid, like traditional ice cream.
serve with a healthy sprinkling of jaggery, sliced almonds, and more grated coconut on top.