• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 tbsp. melted Earth Balance shortening or margarine
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup soy yogurt
• 4 tsp. vanilla almond (or soy) milk

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats (NOT quick-cooking or instant)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/4 cup carob chips (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)

1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients–flours, sugar, oats, baking soda, baking powder
2. In a medium bowl, mix all the wet ingredients–mash the bananas, add the applesauce, margarine, vanilla, soy yogurt and almond milk.
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
4. I cannot remember where I learned this next thing, but I want to say it was an older lady at one of the restaurants I worked at. It could be a total myth, but it seemed to really work for this. So get a few Tbsp of the all-purpose flour in a separate bowl. Add your blueberries and your carob chips and make sure they are coated with the flour. This ensures that they won’t sink to the bottom during baking.
5. Add the flour-coated blueberries and the carob chips to the mixture and combine.
6. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until fully cooked throughout.

Although this turned out all tasty and full of yummy things that are also good for you, I would probably just choose blueberries OR chocolate as both flavors mixed with the banana bread can be very dynamic. Not bad, especially if you like new things–just different.

She mentions pureed prunes.  I could not find non-dried prunes, so I used baby food prunes.  It was worth paying the $1.70 not to clean my heavy food processor.

Also, I reduced my balsamic vinegar to about 1/2 of its original volume.  What I didn’t use in the first recipe, I stored in the leftover baby food prunes jars.  Yay recycling!

Fat-Free Balsamic Fudge Cookies

These fudgy-but-fat-free cookies have three chocolate enhancers: cinnamon, prunes, and balsamic vinegar. You probably won’t be able to detect any of them in the finished product, but they lend the cookies a deeper, more chocolaty taste.

1 cup unbleached white flour (or use gluten-free baking flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch cinnamon (optional)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
2/3 cup demerara sugar (or other vegan sugar)
1/2 cup prune puree (see note)
1/3 cup soy yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (see note #2)
Vanilla sugar (I did this the quick way by pulverizing a vanilla bean with sugar in my blender)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Mix the flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt together and set aside.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the prune puree with the sugar and cocoa and stir to combine. Add the soy yogurt, vanilla extract, and balsamic and stir until mixed. Finally, add the flour mixture and stir just until it’s combined—don’t over-mix.

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets about 1 1/2-inches apart. Using the back of a spoon, flatten each cookie slightly and sprinkle with vanilla sugar. Place them in the oven. Bake for about 9 to 11 minutes—be careful not to burn the bottoms!

Remove from the oven and lift the parchment paper or silicone mats onto cooling racks. Allow to cool completely. These taste best cold and somehow even better the next day. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

*4 out of 5 for chocolatey goodness, but too cakey and sticky.

Vegan Balsamic Fudge Drops
(adapted from Habeas Brûlée)

*My changes are in italics and bold*
1 cup unbleached white flour (or use gluten-free baking flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine I used Earth Balance shortening.  You could use butter if you’re not going for the vegan version.
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup soy yogurt This is what replaces the egg.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar reduced is soooo good, even if you do have to open a window
Vanilla sugar (I did this the quick way by pulverizing a vanilla bean with sugar in my blender) I didn’t have a vanilla bean, so I just sprinkled with regular

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Mix the flour, soda, and salt together and set aside. In another bowl, mix the cocoa with the sugars and set aside.

Melt the margarine in a medium-sized saucepan. When it is completely melted, take it off the heat and add the sugar/cocoa mixture and stir to combine. Then add the soy yogurt, vanilla extract, and balsamic and stir until mixed. Finally, add the flour mixture and stir just until it’s combined—don’t over-mix. This is where I added the carob chips.  MMMMM double chocolatey flavor!

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets about 1 1/2-inches apart. Sprinkle lightly with vanilla sugar, and place them in the oven. After 5 minutes, switch the pans around so that the one on top is on the bottom and the front sides are in the back. Check again in 4 minutes. Be careful—depending on the type of pan you use, they can go from underdone to burned in seconds (I found out the hard way!) They shouldn’t need more than 11 minutes and will look soft on top, but they’ll harden as they cool.

Remove from the oven and transfer onto cooling racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies. I don’t have cooling racks.  I just put them on some paper towels on the counter.  These come off the parchment paper way easier because of the butter/margarine/shortening.  P.S.  I’m getting big into Earth Balance products–all natural, lower fat, non-dairy.  Nice.

*5 out of 5!  These are soooooo good.  I realize that they have more fat, but they are still vegan (if you don’t use butter) and better for you than most cookies.  I highly recommend!