Vegan Macrobioitc Dessert |

Azuki Yōkan Dessert

As I wrote in my last blog, I love azuki beans.

I recommend Azuki Remedy Tea for supporting the kidneys and bladder.

If you haven’t read my blog on the Azuki Remedy Tea recipe and why it supports your kidneys and bladder, I recommend checking it out here.

When I do macrobiotics counseling, I recommend azuki bean remedy tea to many of my clients and encourage clients to make and drink azuki tea at home.

I’m often asked, “What should they do with the azuki beans after making the tea?”

The azuki beans after the azuki bean remedy tea can be used in cooking dishes or desserts.

Azuki and Kabocha Squash Dish/Stew (Love, Sanae,” cookbook page 209)

Azuki bean soup

Azuki spread (jam)/azuki glaze (Love, Sanae,” cookbook page 217)

Azuki desserts include Yōkan, Oshiruko, and Zenzai.

and more

I had been doing healing work for a client who was hospitalized in a room with central air conditioning. After visiting the hospital 2-5 times a week for 2 months, my body felt cold and started getting lower back pain, so I made an “azuki bean remedy tea” to support my kidneys and nurture myself. It made me feel warm, soothed, and relieved the pain.

I also made azuki yōkan (sweet bean jelly) with the beans after I made the azuki remedy teas for the first time in a while.

It was delicious.

I shared auzki yōkan with my new friend, Roni.

She loved it and asked me how to make it, so here is the recipe.

Azuki Yōkan Dessert’s recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked azuki beans – I used the azuki beans after Azuki Remedy Tea ( Azuki Remedy Tea Blog)
4~5 tablespoons rice syrup/beet sugar
2~3 tablespoons agar*
1 teaspoon maple syrup (optional)
Fruits (optional)

1. Cooked azuki beans:
1) If the azuki beans are soft, you add a half cup of water and start heating it up, and add rice syrup or beet sugar and mix well.
2) If the azuki beans are not soft yet, then you need to add one cup of water and cook for another 30 minutes or till the beans are soft.
After the beans are soft, add rice syrup or beet sugar.
2. Once the sweetener is mixed well, you can taste it.
Make sure it is mildly sweet enough.
The Yōkan in Japan typically utilizes two types of Azuki bean paste: Tsubu-an (coarse, mashed bean paste) and Koshi-an (smooth, sieved bean paste). Additionally, it contains a significant amount of refined sugar.
I use azuki beans after cooking as it is, so I don’t make any paste, but if you want, you can also make it into a paste.
3. You add agar and mix to cook(simmer) for 8~10 minutes or so.
4. You transfer it to a mold/glass container to cool it off.
Then you can put it in the refrigerator.
5. To serve azuki yōkan, cut them like cake, and if you like, top with fruit, then serve.
You taste yōkan, and if you need more sweetener, then you might add a tiny amount (a teaspoon) of maple syrup on top.

* Agar is a food that is expected to be highly effective against lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Sometimes, I want to make it softer like jelly or sweet sauce, then I reduce the agar or omit it altogether. I then eat it as jello or use it to make azuki glaze (Love, Sanae,” cookbook page 217) and drizzle it over cooked apples, peaches, and other fruits.

I hope you enjoy making Azuki Remedy Tea and Azuki Yōkan!

＊Yōkan (羊羹) is a wagashi which, is a Japanese confectionery made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar. It is usually sold in a block form and eaten in slices.

Love,
Sanae ❤️

Gluten-Free Oil Free Vegan Plant-Based Baked Donuts

Gluten-free and none-fried donuts and vegan plant-based?

Enough to satisfy health-conscious donut lovers.

Autumn and winter’s weather is getting cooler and cold, baking and longer cooking are warm up the house, and the aroma of baking foods and snack help to ground our energy. Instead of going out like summertime, we stay home and read, write or create inside at home is a natural universal order. Restful activities support our health for next spring.

The original recipe of Gluten-Free Baked Donuts is on Eric’s revised dessert cookbook “Love, Eric,” none-fried donut, but it has a little oil in the ingredients.

If you are interested Eric’s desserts cookbook, you can purchase from my website https://sanaesuzuki.com/product/love-eric-revised/

Gluten-Free and None-Fried Vegan Donuts Original with oil

Make 12 donuts

For the donuts:

3⁄4 cup gluten-free flour mix

1⁄2 cup almond flour

1⁄4 cup arrowroot powder

1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt

1⁄8 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1⁄3 cup maple syrup

1⁄3 olive oil

juice from one lemon

zest from one lemon

1⁄2 cup hot water

For the toppings:

1/2 cup almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans or any other nut of your choice

olive oil for brushing donut tops

To make the donuts:

1. Combine the flours, arrowroot powder, baking powder, xantham gum, salt, baking soda and rosemary in a bowl and set aside.

2. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients until creamy.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix, add the lemon zest and stir until the mixture is slightly lumpy.

4. Using a 2-ounce ice cream scoop, pour the batter into a donut pan and bake at 350°F until golden brown, about 16 minutes.

To make the topping:

1. Place finely chopped nuts on a plate.

2. Brush the tops of each donut with olive oil and sprinkle with chopped nuts.

Recently, Eric created gluten-free and oil free baked donuts recipe for Chef AJ’s youtube show. It will be on Saturday, November 14th, 2021, at 11 am by Zoom. You can see it on her Facebook too.

Now it is on YouTube.

Gluten-Free Oil-Free Vegan Baked Donuts

MAKES 12 DONUTS

For the donuts:

3⁄4 cup gluten-free flour mix

1⁄2 cup almond flour

1⁄4 cup arrowroot powder

1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1⁄2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt

1⁄8 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄3 cup maple syrup

1⁄3 coconut yogurt

1⁄2 cup purified hot water

For the toppings:

1 tablespoon kuzu (also known as kudzu medicinal starch)

½ cup purified water

½ cup strawberry jam or maple butter

To make the donuts:

1. Combine the flours, arrowroot powder, baking powder, xantham gum, salt, baking soda in a bowl and set aside.

2. In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients until creamy.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mix and stir until the mixture is slightly lumpy.

4. Using a 2-ounce ice cream scoop, pour the batter into a donut pan and bake at 350°F until golden brown, about 16 minutes.

To make the topping:

1. Mix the kuzu and water in a pan, bring to medium heat and frequently mix until clear and thicken. Add the jam or maple butter and mix again.

2. Top each donut of jam with a spoon.

I enjoy my baked donut with my roasted brown rice twig tea or grain coffee.

Enjoy your delicious baked donuts!

Love,

Sanae

Macrobiotic Plant-Based Vegan Dessert

We love simple and pure for making a little dessert for us.

The last weekend we taught a cooking class and one of recipe was “Dates and Almond Finger Sweets” as a traveling dessert. Everyone loved them so much there was nothing for us to taste!

Health Classics 2016 cooking class

It only has two ingredients with a small amount of water.
We chose three different coating this time.

Here is recipe for you!

Dates & Almonds Finger Sweet

Makes 12 pieces

To make the balls:

4 oz pitted dates

2 oz almond meal

1 tablespoon water

For the coating:

2 tablespoons grain coffee

2 tablespoons kinako powder

4 leaves of mint

mix in food processor the dates and almond meal to a paste, add water if necessary to make it sticky to hold together.
Divide the mixture into 12 pieces (about 0.5oz) and roll into balls between your hands.
Coat the balls in a small bowl with your favorite coating.
Keep refrigerated.

Which one is your favorite?
What do you think, let me know.

Love, Sanae

Amazake Meyer Lemon Pie – Plant Based Vegan Macrobiotic Delicious Dessert

When I moved to Santa Monica I decided to grow my own lemon tree, so I searched for the kind I would like most. It was not difficult for me to fall in love with the Meyer lemon, which is light and refreshing, sweet, and soft-skinned. I asked Eric to make a lemon pie as soon as my tree produced lemons. It was so delicious, and we could not keep it a secret, so Eric put the recipe in his first cookbook, “Love, Eric“, delicious vegan macrobiotic desserts. Each spring when my Meyer lemon tree produces fruit we make this pie, so I want to share the recipe with you so you can enjoy it like we do.

MAKES 1 PIE (9 inch pan)

For the pie crust:
1 cup spelt flour
3⁄4 cup unbleached flour
1⁄4 teaspoon sea salt
1⁄3 cup maple sugar
1⁄3 cup safflower oil
1⁄4 cup water

For the lemon filling:
1 cup plain amazake
1 1⁄2 cups lemon juice
1⁄4 cup rice syrup
1⁄4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract zest of
1 lemon
2 1⁄2 tablespoons agar flakes
4 tablespoons arrowroot
1⁄4 cup apple juice extra lemon zest for garnish

To make the pie crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Add the oil and water, and knead quickly to form a dough. Allow dough to sit for 15 minutes.
4. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough in to a circle to fit a 9-inch pie pan. (Dough thickness should not exceed 1⁄4-inch).
5. Gently line the pie pan with the dough and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

To make the lemon filling:
1. Combine all the ingredients, except for the arrowroot and apple juice, in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8 minutes, whisking constantly.
2. In a small bowl,combine the arrowroot and the apple juice, then whisk into the lemon filling.
3. Continue cooking and whisking a few more minutes. Remove from flame and allow to cool slightly.
4. Pour the filling into the baked pie shell. Garnish with lemon zest around the edges and refrigerate until firm.

from “Love, Eric “Delicious Vegan Macrobiotic Desserts Cookbook

Enjoy!

Love,
Sanae