Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies

It's hard to make good vegan cookies. I almost never trust recipes and instead look up older, tried-and-true non-vegan recipes and substitute ingredients. I modified another recipe to make these, and they were fantastic. Seriously, just the right combination of sweet and chewy and oozy. Cherries are a bit more expensive than raisins, but I think they really made the cookie.

1 cup Earth Balance, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup organic white sugar

2 Ener-G egg replacer equivalents

2 t. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

3 cups oats

1 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks (or just regular vegan chocolate chips)

1 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup dried cherries

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Start by sifting the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In a separate bowl, cream the Earth Balance and sugars together, then stir in the egg replacer and vanilla extract. Slowly stir in the flour mixture until a dough forms - be wary of overmixing! Stir in the oats then add the chocolate chunks, walnuts, cherries, and stir until well combined.

Drop tablespoon-sized balls (I like big cookies!) onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes then allow to cool on a baking sheet. They'll harden significantly once they cool down, so don't be afraid of taking them out too early.

Enjoy!

Winter Crepe Duo

Blogging from a train. Technology these days, huh?

I'm a big fan of Lauren Ulm's Vegan YumYum blog and cookbook, and I recently decided to do a spin-off of her Spring Crepes Three Ways with some wintery crepes. The first is a roasted vegetable crepe with  a balsamic reduction sauce and the second a caramel apple crepe. 


I still used her basic crepe recipe, it works just fine for me. I just whipped up one recipe, used the first half for the savory crepe, then added a teaspoon of vanilla and some sugar for the dessert crepes. Easy as pie (er, I mean, crepes...). 

Roasted Vegetable Crepes

Filling
1 potato, sliced thinly lengthwise then cut in half
6 carrots, peeled and chopped into thick matchsticks
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 T. olive oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
1 t. dried thyme
1 T. fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste


Balsamic Glaze
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3 T. brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a kitchen knife
1 large sprig rosemary
2 T. Earth Balance
1 T. olive oil


Preheat your oven to 400°F. Toss the potatoes and carrots with the olive oil, 1 tablespoon vinegar, thyme, rosemary, and salt and pepper and roast for 20-30 minutes. Add the onion, mushroom, and the rest of the balsamic and roast another 20 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are tender.


For the glaze, bring the vinegar, sugar, garlic, and rosemary to a simmer in a small saucepan for about 20 minutes, until the liquid is reduced by at least half. Remove from heat and remove garlic and rosemary. Stir in the Earth Balance and olive oil. Your sauce should be sticky at this point, but enough to create a nice drizzle. As it cools it may become too thick, in which case you should reheat it.


For assembly, while your crepe is cooking (or heating up again), transfer a few spoonfuls of your filling into the center. Fold the first third over, spoon some balsamic sauce onto that as a "glue", then fold the other third over. Drizzle more sauce and serve with baby arugula.


Caramel Apple Crepes

Truffles

I can't remember the last time I had a truffle, nevermind a vegan one. I used full-fat coconut milk in place of heavy cream and they turned out super well. Definitely eat them up quickly though, as if that would be a problem, because the texture is the best immediately.

4 oz. baking chocolate, chopped
4 oz. vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 Tsp. almond extract
1/2 Tsp. almond or hazelnut extract
Decorative items such as nuts, coconut, cocoa powder, powdered sugar

Bring your coconut milk and extracts to a near-boil, then pour into a bowl with the baking chocolate and chocolate chips. Stir until melted, and voila! Ganache.

Let cool then chill for two hours.

Once solid, roll the mixture out into teaspoon-sized balls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet... quickly, because the chocolate will start to melt. Chill overnight.

Now for the fun part! Roll your truffles around in whatever suits your fancy... I did sifted cocoa, powdered sugar, coconut, and chopped walnuts. Serve immediately or continue chilling.

Chai Cake

Ooh, oozy.

A birthday is a perfect excuse for some cake experimentation, right? ...kidding, it's actually a week early, but I decided to go for it anyway. For this'n I combined my love of chai lattes with inventing interesting desserts. Voila!

Steepin'

I started with the ppk's Chai Latte Cupcake recipe, basically just doubling it and then baking it in two 8" cake pans. The cake itself turned out relatively well... I've read  that these particular cupcakes are more muffin-y than others in VCTOtW... next time I'll try tweaking the recipe to fluff it up a bit.

Next is where my creative juices actually began flowing. Rather than a logical and bee-filled honey icing, I decided to try out my two favorite tea sweeteners: agave nectar and maple syrup (obv the real stuff). My recipe was approximately:

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
8oz vegan cream cheese
1/4 cup softened Earth Balance
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. fresh grated ginger

Blend together, and... yum! I decided to add blackberries as well, because, well... why not? I spread some blackberry preserves on the first layer than added a few healthy dollops of the icing for good measure. Plopped the second layer on top, and proceeded to drizzle and/or drown the chai cake with gooey goodness.  On went the blackberries, and the cake was complete!

I brought this cake with me to a small birthday gathering where it was quite a hit. Success!

I use slabs of parchment paper to keep my
display plate nice while I decorate.

Ohhhh yeaaaaah

And my mom made me pink bean-avocado
enchiladas for my birthday! Very tasty.

Binner (Brunch for Dinner)

Breakfast Sandwiches


Gadzooks! These used to be my absolute favorite food before I went vegan. I've attempted them several times, and thus far this attempt has been the best.

4 English Muffins

Tofu Omelet
14oz extra firm tofu
2 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. flour
2 Tbs. nutritional yeast
1 Tbs. tamari
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Tempeh Bacon
8oz tempeh
3 Tbs. maple syrup
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. tamari
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1/2 tsp. cumin
Black pepper to taste

Optional
Sliced tomato
Sliced red onion
Veganaise
Earth Balance
Ketchup

Preheat the oven to 375°.

Starting with the tofu omelet, puree the tofu, olive oil, and 2 Tbs. water in your blender. Once smooth, move to a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Transfer to an oiled baking dish, I used an 10" cast iron fry pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until light brown. Let cool then either slice into either squares or circles (using a biscuit cutter or glass).

OPTIONAL: I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with tempeh, so before using it I usually marinate it to make sure it isn't too bitter. I begin by simmering 4 cups water, 1 vegetable bouillon cube, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 Tbs. minced ginger, and some fresh ground pepper and then add my tempeh. I'd suggest doing this with several packages at a time to make the most of your marinade broth. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, then drain tempeh and use in all your favorite recipes!


Continuing with the tempeh bacon, slice your block of tempeh in half length-wise, and slice each block into 1/4-inch thick rectangles. Lay the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Mix together the maple syrup, oil, tamari, liquid smoke, cumin, and black pepper, and brush on the tempeh slices. Flip over and brush the other side, reserving a few tablespoons of liquid for after baking. Bake the tempeh slices for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Once removed from the oven, immediately brush lightly with some of the reserved liquid. 


To assemble your breakfast sandwich, begin by toasting the english muffins. Spread each side with Earth Balance or Veganaise if desired, and pile on the tofu omelet and tempeh bacon. Top with tomato, onion, or ketchup (I used up some leftover bruschetta!) if desired and enjoy! Om nom nom.

Happy New Year!