During the holidays, we eat a lot of tasty treats and also create a lot of waste. These vegan, low waste, and easy-to-make fall/holiday recipes make sure that you can still enjoy some delicious baked goods without producing trash. Almost all of the ingredients used in these recipes can be purchased either zero waste or in recyclable packaging. For Davis residents, I recommend shopping for ingredients at the Co-Op, which has a huge bulk section! Enjoy!
Pumpkin puree and roasted pumpkin seeds
First, let’s make some pumpkin puree from scratch! This is a completely zero waste recipe, and you can even roast the seeds! Then use your puree to make some vegan pumpkin bread!
Pumpkin puree
Ingredients
1 sugar pie pumpkin
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cut your pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and guts. (Save the seeds to roast later!)
Place each pumpkin half on a baking sheet and bake at 400° F for 40-55 minutes or until the pumpkin can be easily pierced with a knife.
Once the halves have cooled enough to touch, peel off the skin (and compost it!)
Put the pumpkin flesh into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Roasted pumpkin seeds
Ingredients
The seeds from one pie pumpkin (~1 cup)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Seasonings of choice
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash your pumpkin seeds and lay them out on a towel to dry. If your seeds are still wet when you roast them, they won't get crispy, so make sure they're completely dry before you season them!
Season your seeds with olive oil and spices of your choice. I used garlic salt, onion powder, and nutritional yeast.
Spread the seeds out onto an ungreased baking sheet.
Bake the seeds for 12-15 minutes, tossing them every 5 minutes so that they bake evenly.
Vegan pumpkin bread
This low waste pumpkin bread is adapted from the “Depression cake” recipes that became popular during the Great Depression because they did not use any expensive ingredients like milk, sugar, butter, or eggs. All of the ingredients for this recipe can be purchased in bulk or in recyclable packaging.
Ingredients
1 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar or granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon allspice or pumpkin pie spice
½ cup water
⅓ cup vegetable oil
½ cup pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vinegar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and allspice/pumpkin pie spice in a large mixing bowl with a fork.
Mix in remaining ingredients.
Pour batter into an ungreased square pan, 8x8x2 inches.
Bake for 30-40 minutes.
Vegan apple muffins
Another low waste, vegan recipe! These muffins are adapted from Youtuber Mina Rome’s vegan berry muffin recipe. All of the ingredients can be purchased in bulk or in recyclable packaging, except for the baking powder.
Ingredients
2 cups +2 teaspoons flour
1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
¾ cup non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons aquafaba (chickpea water)
⅓ cup vegetable oil or melted vegan butter
1 apple
Instructions
Preheat oven to 355 degrees Fahrenheit.
For the aquafaba: drain the liquid from a can of chickpeas and set aside. (You will be using the liquid, not the beans).
Wash and dice one cup of apple.
Mix 2 teaspoons flour with ½ teaspoon cinnamon.
Toss apples in the flour/cinnamon mixture.
Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, powdered sugar, salt, baking powder, and the rest of the cinnamon.
In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients: non-dairy milk, unsweetened apple sauce, apple cider vinegar, aquafaba, and vegetable oil or melted vegan butter.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
Add the diced apple.
Let the batter rest for 10 minutes (this makes the muffins fluffier).
Fill a sheet of greased muffin tins ¾ of the way.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, then increase the heat to 410 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for 2-5 more minutes.
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