If you find you are feeling scattered or more anxious during this vata season, it’s time to use some food as medicine to calm and ground. What’s a better way to nourish your body and mind than a batch of freshly baked cookies?

The sweet taste is calming to vata dosha, and these “everyday cookies” can be enjoyed as the augmenting part of a meal (they’re also great to include in a child’s lunchbox). 

By Rachel Saum

I affectionately call this “veggie pie” when my friends ask what I’m cooking.  It has been a hit at potlucks, and is an easy way to get the appropriate ratio of sweet, grounding to extractive, cleansing vegetables. Serve with hummus or another legume for a balanced meal. Here I used beets and turnips, but you could easily make it with carrots or squash. Happy baking!

The beautiful thing about Ayurveda is how it can so easily be integrated into every aspect of your life, even the holidays. If you have a tradition of sharing cookies with your loved ones, here are three Ayurvedic cookie recipes that will make them feel even more loved. Each one is simple to make, lovely to eat and sweetened without even a dash of refined sugar.

There’s another benefit to these Ayurvedic cookies – they are based on foods that build ojas. Considering the role strong ojas plays in supporting health and immunity, these cookies couldn’t come at a better time as many of us are traveling during the holidays.

There is such a thing as Ayurvedic carrot cake. 

We love making Ayurvedic versions of traditional recipes, so when we had a request for an alternative to a typical carrot cake, we jumped at the chance to share our Carrot Love Loaf. 

This Carrot Love Loaf is grounding, delicately sweet and satisfying. The best part is that it’s free of chemicals, such as baking soda and powder, refined sugar and eggs. No consequences here! 

There’s nothing better than a warm pan of muffins made with love. Treat yourself and your loved ones with this simple recipe.

We’ve offered a basic template for a recipe for delicious Ayurvedic muffins, but there are plenty of variations you can bring in. We’ve added dates, maple syrup, substituted different combinations of spices and flours and even used tea in place of the rose water. Let your intuition and taste buds guide you and enjoy!