Vegan Apple Cranberry Snack Cake

Don’t get scared…I meant to make something vegan for you today.

I know you’re probably wondering why on Earth I would be making something vegan.  I mean, I FULLY support using real butter in baked goods, I eat eggs on a daily basis, cheese is a staple in our house, and we have some sort of meat at every dinner.  So the vegan thing?  Yeah, I know…it doesn’t make sense.

 

But try this cake and suddenly you’ll see that OMG this vegan cake is face-rocking as it comes.  And I have big big BIG plans for making all kinds of crazy versions of it.  And may or may not be drooling just thinking about it…

Another reason I may make vegan baked goods from time to time is simple:  oops, I ran out of butter and eggs.  (blushing).  Hey, it happens…and thank goodness that there’s a way to still make this kind of magic happen even without butter and eggs because, well, a cake to snack on is clearly the cake for me.  And just so you guys know that this is REALLYREALLYREALLY good…I had to ask Nate to take it away from me yesterday so I wouldn’t keep eating it.

 

Don’t take that lightly…I think he was a little scared to do it at first.  But it was necessary!

VEGAN APPLE CRANBERRY SNACK CAKE

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 vegan eggs (2 Tbsp chia seeds OR milled flax + 6 Tbsp warm water, let it sit for about 3 minutes to gel)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened plain coconut milk yogurt OR unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour (or a combo of the two)
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups grated apples (I used Fuji apples, about 4 of them)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat your oven to 325.  In a bowl whisk together the oil and sugar until combined.  Add in the vegan eggs, yogurt/applesauce, and vanilla and whisk until well combined.  Add the flour, baking powder, and spices and whisk until combined.  Fold in the apples and cranberries until evenly mixed.  Pour into a greased 8×8 cake pan; bake at 325 for 60-70 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.  Serve warm or at room temperature!

Seriously.  This cake.  There are no excuses…it’s practically health food!