sweet miscellany

As promised, here’s the second volume of the gift guide focusing on homemade treats to gift or enjoy on your own. Every item is gluten free and vegan with some even being grain free as well. There are cookies (of course), but there are also items like homemade applesauce and blood orange marmalade that will last longer into the new year. To cover your high vibing hippie homies, there’s a superfood white chocolate bark and homemade tulsi chai with whole spices. And because I’m still really proud of it, you can always gift the mini seasonal cookbook I collaborated on with my brother. You can find it here on Amazon for only $6 🙂

1. oat thumbprints with cranberry ginger jam (gluten free & vegan) — these look festive and taste like the holidays. You can package them up in a tin to give away or serve them on a platter. And, you can even make little jars of the cranberry ginger jam to give away separately.
2. fresh mint & toasted coconut chocolate chip cookies (gluten free & vegan) — nothing says the holidays like fresh mint and chocolate paired together. These little cookies might look humble but they make up for it in taste. Package some up in a jar tied with twine or in a tin. Or, make a batch for yourself and enjoy them with a little hot cocoa.
3. vanilla spice sugar cookies (gluten free & vegan) — the elusive gluten free & vegan roll out sugar cookie dough! This one uses coconut sugar in place of cane sugar for a nice caramel flavor. You can roll them out and decorate them with sprinkles or go the quicker route and scoop and smash the dough with a fork. Either way they’re a delicious cookie.
4. lime scented macadamia banana bread (gluten free & vegan) — this banana bread hints at the tropics with flavors of lime and macadamia nuts. You can make one large loaf or a few mini ones to give away. Ever had french toast made with banana bread? Now you have your holiday morning breakfast all sorted out 😉
5. candied ginger snow balls (grain free & vegan) — you can’t get any more festive than with a cookie that looks like a damn snow ball! These babies are grain free and filled with spicy-sweet chunks of candied ginger.
6. minty coconut dark chocolate patties (grain free & vegan) — these are essentially the hippie version of a york peppermint patty but with whole foods and no chemicals. No baking is required for these so you can give your oven a rest. 
7. superfood white chocolate bark (grain free & vegan) — if ever there was a hippie-fied high-vibing chocolate bar, this would be it. For this bark you make your own white chocolate with cacao butter and top it with good shit like hemp seeds, goji berries, golden berries, and pistachios. This does best when chilled so keep that in mind.
8. blood orange marmalade (grain free & vegan) — If you want to re-connect with the lost art of preserving, here’s your chance! Though it’s a long and tedious task, making marmalade is a very meditative and rewarding process. Plus, if you take the time to process the jars in a water bath, you have shelf stable goods that will last up to a year.
9. homemade applesauce (grain free & vegan) — applesauce is legitimately the easiest thing to make and preserve. Since apples have the perfect amount of naturally occurring pectin and acid, they don’t need any additives to make them shelf stable once processed in jars. You can also add any spices you like and still have them be shelf stable. Cardamom applesauce? Hell yes.
10. tulsi chai concentrate (grain free & vegan & caffeine free) — there is no comparison to the crap called “chai” in a carton versus the kind you can make at home with whole spices. With this version you can sweeten it yourself (or not), and, since it uses tulsi, it is caffeine free. You can either gift the dry mix in a jar with instructions for brewing, or gift the concentrate itself. And, if you just really want the added caffeine, swap in your favorite green or black tea for the tulsi.