DAY TWENTY THREE: Halloween graveyard

I got creative in the kitchen this weekend with a few Halloween treats before I run out if time before the day itself!  I had a lot of fun 'Pinteresting' for ideas...I came across lots of ghosts made from bananas, pumpkins, amazingly decorated cakes, teeth made from apples...but as far as I could tell not many gravestones!!

So this is my spin on things... a cupcake-cookie complete with gruesome 'blood' for special effect!!  Since my Vegan Mofo theme is oats, both my cupcake and cookie cross are oat based recipes, but the same principle could be followed with your own favourite cookie and cupcake recipes.  I will be making these again for halloween itself and i'm tempted to opt for a gingerbread cross and a vanilla cranberry sponge cupcake....Mmmmm.

 

I have recently bought a new flashlight for my night photography set up, and thought i'd have a play with it. I have a long way to go before I get good night shots that actually look natural but luckily in this instance a contrasty look made for a much better effect!

I have provided the ‘mini muffin’ base below (it’s a variation of this recipe). The cookies will be with you tomorrow in a separate post since the original plan for these wasn't as a gravestone cross!

To assemble the gravestones, turn the mini muffins upside down and poke a slot in the ‘top’ they should be soft and cut easily. Melt a little jam so its nice and runny and drizzle on the top before gently inserting the bottom of the cross into the muffin…tilt at an angle for extra scary effect!! Mwaa haa haaaa....

Recipe: Halloween graveyard

Makes 6

Ingredients- mini muffin cups

1 cup regular oats

¼ cup buckwheat (or other GF flour of choice)

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbs ground chia or flax

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 apple grated

2 tbs ground chia or flax

1 tsp cinnamon

2-3 tbs agave or maple syrup

Approx. 1/3  cup preferred milk alternative

½ cup dried cranberries or cherries

Sugar free raspberry jam to decorate

Method

Mix the dry ingredients and then add the wet, mixing everything together well. Add the dried fruit in the final strokes.

Pack the mixture firmly into silicone mini muffins trays (silicone for easy removal and microwave compatibility). Microwave on full power for approx. 90 seconds until the top feels firm or bake for approx. 10 mins at 180C.

Come back tomorrow for the crosses recipe- or use your own  favourite ‘cookie cutter’ recipe!

What Vegan MOFO means to me.

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.