Hi, I’m Brandi! Welcome to The Vegan 8! I started this blog October 2013 and I’ll share with you my passion behind it. I love simplicity when it comes to cooking. I like to create recipes that anybody can make, whether you are a novice in the kitchen or an experienced cook. I like to create food that wows anybody’s tastebuds, whether they are vegan or not. My favorite thing to do is bake. My passion is truly in creating the most amazing desserts where my creativity really flourishes.
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WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
The majority of recipes on this blog are vegan, oil-free, dairy-free, tofu-free, no added gums, almost all are gluten-free and 8 ingredients or less (not counting salt/pepper/water). This was my concept through 2020, but then I started to incorporate recipes with more than 8 ingredients to allow my creativity to flourish!
MY RECIPES
To make my recipes, I try to stick to the same flours, so I’m not using a different flour for every single recipe. Since there are so many allergies out there, I will often share many different versions. For example, some recipes I use almond flour in and others I will make nut-free. Some people can’t have oats, so some are focused on being oat-free. Basically, I try to create something for everybody. I find that baking is where I excel at and am very creative because I LOVE to bake so much and I love to help others enjoy baked goods and not have to miss out, just because of an allergy. You get the idea. Flours that you should keep stocked in your pantry for my recipes are:
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- Blanched Almond Flour: This is separate than almond meal, as the skins are removed and it yields a lighter, more moist result. I recommend the following brands the most: HEB brand (if in Texas) and Kroger “Simple Truth” brand are both okay, but Honeyville or King Arthur brands are even better quality and a finer grind. I really do not recommend Bob’s Red Mill almond flour, as it consistently yields poor results in baking. His flour is not finely ground up well at all, is quite gritty and everything always ends up flat, dense and wet. I have used it on occasion in a few recipes, but I no longer use it. Blanched almond flour is the star ingredient in a ton of my recipes, including my Vegan Double Chocolate Muffins.
- White Rice Flour: This is just white rice ground into a flour. It yields a neutral flavor to baked goods and a light, fluffy result. It also has great binding qualities. I love this stuff. Check out my Garlic & Chive Dinner Muffins.
- Brown Rice Flour: This is just whole grain brown rice ground into a flour. It yields similar results to white rice flour, but a tad less fluffy and leaves more of an earthy taste. Depending on the recipe, I will recommend white over this one. It’s what I use in my most popular cookie recipe, these Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies.
- Potato Starch: This is not the same as potato flour, so make sure to not buy the wrong one. Potato starch is simply the extracted starchy part of a potato that has been dried, whereas potato flour is the entire potato dried and made into a flour, big difference. I never use potato flour, but I use potato starch a lot. It yields a very light, fluffy result to baked gluten-free desserts. Check out my VeganVanilla Cake or my Life Changing Pancakes. I use this starch a lot.
- Tapioca Starch: In this case, tapioca starch and tapioca flour are the same. Both names are used interchangeably. This starch comes from the cassava plant. It also helps to yield light, fluffy results to baked goods, however it becomes very gummy or gelatinous than potato starch if too much is used. It has a bit better binding qualities. I use it a lot in my muffin recipes.
- Oat Flour: This is just simple oats ground into a fine flour. I use organic gluten-free quick cooking oats because they grind finer than the larger oats. Just use your vitamix or a food processor and get them really fine into a flour and keep stored in a container in the pantry. While dedicated gluten-free oats are labeled gluten-free, apparently some people still cannot tolerate oats, so use caution if you are sensitive. I use oat flour in so many recipes, like these Vegan Almond Butter Chocolate Chunk Blondies!
- Sorghum Flour: While I rarely use this one, I do use it more for seasonal type of recipes, where lots of spices like cinnamon and pumpkin are used. Sorghum is a grain and it leaves a rather strong, almost spice-like flavor, so it needs to be combined with other strong flavors to mask it. It also can make baked goods rather crumbly, so good binding additional ingredients are crucial. It is the perfect flour for my Pumpkin Caramel Muffins
- Spelt Flour: This is not a gluten-free flour like all of the above mentioned are. I do not use it in most baked good recipes, since I try to gear towards mostly gluten-free so everybody can make them. However, I do really love spelt for it’s nutritional properties, easy digestion and the soft texture it gives to baked goods. I use it to make homemade sandwich bread and also some killer Blueberry Pancakes.
- Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: This is my favorite flour to bake with that contains gluten. It gives incredible softness, tenderness and fluff to baked goods. It is ground from soft wheat berry, so it contains less gluten (protein) than regular all-purpose flour and definitely less than traditional whole wheat flour. In fact, it is more similar to cake flour. For this reason, it is my go-to for lots of cakes or muffins. This Almond Butter Cake With Chocolate Frosting is a perfect example of how beautifully it bakes up. Keep in mind, since it is whole grain, it does have a mild earthy flavor. So, I tend to use it in recipes where it will be complimented. I would not use this flour for a traditional vanilla cake, as the flavor will be too strong.
I use these flours in so many recipes, so they are a wise investment.
Thank you for visiting and stop by as often as you like, follow my blog, share with others and feel free to drop me a line with your thoughts! I’m here always to answer your questions, so you can contact me anytime.
Get in touch with me by shooting me an email at thevegan8@yahoo.com.
Please, if you have questions about a specific recipe, please leave a comment on that recipe in the comment box here on my blog, rather than sending an email. Due to the amount of messages and emails I receive on a daily basis, I simply cannot respond to every single email at this time.