Friday, September 11, 2020 7 Brooklin Town Crier Preparing for snack time Plant-Based Eating by Sheree Nicholson Providing your children with healthy plant-based snacks can pose a problem as some supposedly healthy snacks are loaded with sugar and chemicals. As well, many commercially-made ones may contain almonds, cashews and walnuts, which have been banned in most schools due to nut allergies. Local health food stores like TNS Health and Healthy Planet carry a wide range of plant-based products and some are nut-free. TNS Health also sells fresh produce. Here are some great plant-based snack ideas some you can make at home or purchase. Homemade granola bars Fruit/veggies Real fruit roll-ups Hummus/crackers/pretzels/rice cakes Dried fruit Vegan muffins Plant-based yogurt Smoothies - send them frozen, so they are thawed by snack time. Plant-based cookies Healthy Fig Bars If you're new to plant-based baking, it's surprisingly good and I've had great success making muffins, cookies, and even cakes. When substituting regular milk for a plant-based one, avoid soy milk because of its overpowering flavour. Coconut milk is thicker and sweeter, so unless the recipe specifically calls for it, I wouldn't use it. Depending on what you're baking, I suggest cashew, oat or almond milk since their flavours are more neutral. You can actually "veganize" your favourite recipes by substituting real eggs for flax eggs, and butter with plant-based spreads. Try this healthy apple cinnamon scuffin recipe from the blog "Veggies Don't Bite" (veggiesdontbite.com): INGREDIENTS 1 ½ cups oat flour ¾ cup rolled oats 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ cup plain non dairy yogurt - unsweetened (Yoso is my favourite brand) ½ cup date paste leave chunky ¼ -½ cup non dairy milk 1 ¼ cup chopped sweet red apples Coconut palm sugar or other unrefined sugar as topping (optional) INSTRUCTIONS Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, date paste and milk then mix well. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in apples. Place large spoonfuls of the batter on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle tops with optional unrefined sugar and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until set or firm to the touch. Let cool before eating. NOTES When dates are used as a sweetener, the product isn't sweet like regular baking. If you prefer a sweet scuffin, sprinkle coconut sugar on the top. Let the mixture be a little chunky versus totally smooth. This gives the scuffins a few date pieces in them. For the milk, begin by using ¼ cup and add more, one tablespoon at a time, if the mixture is too thick when combined. If your yogurt and/or date paste is thick, you will probably need more milk. However, if it's a little runny, then you may not. Sheree's Hack: Homemade oat floor can be made in your Vitamix and will save you money. "I'm sure they said to meet at this intersection."