Cookie Failure… February 24, 2008

Well…since I’ve been avoiding sugar for a while now, I thought I’d try to come up with a reliable sugar-free cookie, so that I can enjoy treats too. I tried a recipe that I found online, but it is in DIRE need of more stevia. Maybe next time I’ll add a little agave or maple syrup too, so that they spread, and are sweeter.

Does anyone have a good sugar-free recipe for cookies? I’m not opposed to using grain-sweetened chocolate or carob chips, maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, or stevia–or any combination thereof. Just no sugar, brown sugar, or raw sugar. I’ll definitely make these again, with some changes, and I have a couple more to try, but would love recipes or book suggestions for baking without refined sugar. I’ll post the recipe, in case anyone wants to make them (better), but for sure add more stevia or something; these came out a little like salty shortbread, with chocolate chips & walnuts. Not bad, but they don’t quite do it for me.

Stevia-sweetened Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 egg (2 tablespoons of egg, which is gross to measure)

1/4 teaspoon stevia concentrate (white powder that I got in packets at Trader Joe’s-at least double or triple this amount!)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon sea salt (I’d reduce this to 1/8 tsp. next time)

1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350*F and either grease a cookie sheet or cover one with parchment paper. Mix the egg, vanilla, and stevia together. “Cream” the butter in, which is not really possible in the way that butter & sugar cream together. Do your best. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder. I ended up using my hands because I didn’t want to activate the gluten too much, and the mixture was “different.” Add the chocolate chips and nuts. Form dough into 12 balls and place on a cookie sheet. These won’t spread at all, so if you don’t want balls, flatten ‘em–the recipe I consulted left that part out! : ) Bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden on the bottom. *makes one dozen cookies

**Thank you to my friend Diane, who sent me two cupcake towels, along with a bunch of other lovely/tasty gifts for Valentine’s Day!

Double Cookie Post… February 16, 2008

My 10-year-old brother and I baked these double chocolate chip-peanut butter beauties together, when he was visiting me last weekend, as a present for his dad. It was such a blast, and brought back many fun memories of my favorite kitchen helper. He used to help me wash bake & wash dishes, in his pajamas, beginning when he was about 4-years-old. What can I say, he’s a natural.

I can’t remember where either of these recipes came from, but I know that I’ve been making them for years, and that they’re both veganizeable. Bake up a batch or two with someone you adore!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened (or margarine)

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup natural peanut butter

1 egg (egg replacer also works!)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or coconut, as Sean recommends)

1 cup whole wheat white flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (or more dark ones)

Preheat oven to 375*F. Cream the first 4 ingredients together, then add the egg and vanilla, and cream until fluffy. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, mixing carefully until combined. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips by hand, in order to get them evenly distributed.

Use a cookie scoop (or two spoons) to drop by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheets. Flatten them down a little with your hands, otherwise they’ll stay in globs. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden. Makes a few dozen.

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I just cranked out these homey ginger cookies as a housewarming gift for my sister, who is hosting a dinner party tomorrow night. They’re definitely a wintertime staple around here.

Chewy Ginger Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened (or margarine)

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 Ener-G egg replacer (or egg)

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

pinch cloves

turbinado sugar for rolling (regular sugar works, but isn’t as pretty!)

Preheat oven to 375*F. Cream the first 3 ingredients together until blended well. Add the egg replacer and beat until fluffy. Combine remaining ingredients (except turbinado sugar) in a separate bowl, to distribute the spices and leavening well. Add to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined.

Form into 1-inch balls (a cookie scoop is handy here) and roll in the turbinado sugar. Place on a cookie sheet, 2 inches apart, and bake for 8-10 minutes until crinkly and no longer puffy in the center. Makes a little over 2 dozen cookies.

Happy (Late) Valentine’s Day! February 15, 2008

Last night, my friend came over and we shared a nice feast, over Mr. Show. We had cheese & mushroom pizza, along with hot sauce glazed tempeh (from Veganomicon) and blue cheese dressing.

The tempeh was so tangy and delicious–he couldn’t stop raving about it! Sorry that the picture isn’t the best, but it was s steaming and begging to be eaten.

Hot Sauce-Glazed Tempeh (from Veganomicon)

1 (8 oz.) package tempeh

1/2 cup wine (I used Merlot)

1/4 cup hot sauce (Frank’s!)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoon soy sauce

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

Cut the tempeh chunk into 8 triangles. Steam them for 10 minutes, in order to prepare it for slurping up the delicious marinade. Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a bowl or casserole that will contain the tempeh once it’s steamed. Toss the hot tempeh into the marinade and let it soak for an hour. Turn the triangles a couple times to make sure all sides are taken care of. Preheat oven to broil. Using a rimmed baking sheet, place the tempeh on it, scooping some marinade over the tops of the pieces. Broil for 5 minutes. Flip them and put some more marinade on the new sides. Broil for another 5 minutes. When these sides are nearly done, spoon on some more sauce and cook for another 30 seconds.

Later, once we were in the mood for something sweeter, I concocted this glossy fudge dip to be scooped up with crunchy apple slices. It was way better than I thought it would be!

Vegan Fudge Dip

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup maple syrup

3 tablespoons cocoa

pinch salt

Stir everything together in a small pan over medium heat, for about 5 minutes. Place in little bowls and serve with fruit, pretzels, or just a spoon!

*the first two photos are courtesy of Ethan. Thanks Eth!

Convenient Dinner, Thanks to Trader Joe’s! February 7, 2008

Forgive me for posting food that was in a plastic bag in the freezer not too long ago, but I made the sauce myself! These are Thai Vegetable Gyoza from the beloved Trader Joe’s. The sauce was simply half maple syrup, half shoyu, and a little sprinkling of toasted sesame oil. Yum.

Deliciously Creamy Soup… February 5, 2008

When I decided earlier that a batch of soup was in order, it was mainly due to the little tidbits of veggies that were lurking in my fridge, just waiting to go bad. Well, I have never been as pleasantly surprised with a soup I’ve made! It’s *almost* as good as my sister’s.

The mushrooms were finely minced, since their texture sometimes bothers me, even though their flavor is amazing. The result is like a cross between a potato chowder and cream of mushroom soup, and would surely please <former> fans of clam chowder.

After racking my brain over a little-studied-for mid-term earlier tonight, this soup is exactly what I needed. Of course the ingredients were just what I had, but soup ingredients are pretty substitutable. Wing it!

Creamy Potato Mushroom Soup

1 tablespoon butter
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 medium carrot, peeled & finely diced
4-5 button mushrooms, minced
4 russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
milk (I used 2% and unsweetened soy milk)
vegetable broth powder (I used Rapunzel)
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1 teaspoon dried parsley
salt & pepper to taste

In a 3-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and carrot; saute, stirring often until veggies are tender. Stir in the mushrooms and saute for a few more minutes. Add the potatoes, then pour in the milk until everything is *just* covered. Add some broth powder, tasting as you go–don’t make it too salty, or you will be sad. Turn up the heat until the soup gets boiling, then turn it down to a simmer. Stir often and either skim the foam off the top, or keep mixing it in (like I did!). When the potatoes are tender, but not falling apart, turn off the heat. Add the corn and parsley, then season to taste.

I’m Back… February 3, 2008

Sorry it’s been a freakin’ eternity since I’ve posted anything, but I have had a lot of unwanted drama in my life, and have moved two times in the past few months!  Yuck.  Anway, here is a luscious chocolate orange cupcake that I made for my sister’s birthday.  It’s from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.   Happy Birthday Smels!!!        

Vive Le Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies October 20, 2007

I don’t own this book, but checked it out from the library recently & figured I might as well try out the cookies that I’ve heard good things about. The guinea pigs? My co-workers, of course! I doubled the recipe & made huge cookies, since that’s fun to do sometimes. To be honest, I am not too fond of them, mainly because they tasted like oil. Maybe more salt would help? Maybe my canola oil is gross? It’s from Trader Joe’s & I’ve never had problems with its flavor before. Oh well. They turned out absolutely beautiful. My friends at work loved them & appreciated the treats at the end of the work week.

Chocolate Chip Cookies from Vive Le Vegan

2/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons oil
1/2 cup sugar (I used brown)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon molasses
2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (I recommend more)
2/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (not in original recipe, but nummy)

Preheat oven to 350*F. Whisk wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the dry ones, stirring to combine. Drop dough in 1/4-cup blobs onto large cookie sheet. I got 10 cookies out of this batch, 5 on each cookie sheet. Flatten into circles about 1/2-inch thick. Bake for 13-15 minutes, until crinkly & lightly browned. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from sheets.

Vegan Cheezy Black Bean Enchiladas October 19, 2007

Last night we had our great friend, Jeremy (who is vegan), over for dinner, which was long overdue. We always have such amazing conversations about reality, feminism, racism, capitalism, etc. I made some cheezy enchiladas that were inspired from this recipe on VegWeb. They were really good and satisfying. Everyone had seconds, so that is a good indicator! I also made a nice organic salad, with purple cabbage, tomatoes, green onions, and cucumbers. The Goddess dressing wasn’t homemade obviously, but my mom gave us two 1-liter bottles of the stuff, so we have to eat it up.

While we ate, we watched an amazing documentary on the revolt in Attica in the 70’s. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to witness the injustices that go on in this country & are then quickly swept under the rug, never to be talked about or taught in schools. It’s actually quite sickening, but inspiring when you realize that there are people that care & who choose not to forget. The film is called The Ghosts of Attica. Please watch it and keep people you know informed & aware.

On to the food. The recipe is really flexible; I can’t wait to try other combinations of beans and veggies. Here is how I made the ‘ladas, with my own homemade sauce. It tastes so much better than the tinned kind, that always seems bitter & metallic. If you have a good brand of pre-made sauce that you’ve found, just sub. it in. The original recipe called for two small cans of enchilada sauce, so proceed accordingly.

Cheezy Black Bean Enchiladas

enchilada sauce:
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
15-oz. water
salt to taste

Over medium heat, whisk together the oil and flour until fragrant. Add the spices, whisk, then stir in the tomato sauce & then a can-full of water. Whisk occasionally until sauce thickens up and bubbles away. Season with salt until perfect. Set aside.

cheeze sauce:
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup flour
2 cups water
1 teaspoon mustard
salt to taste
1/2 cup nutritional yeast

In a large saucepan, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in the flour; it will be thick, but try to cook it a couple minutes (so the sauce won’t taste flour-y). Stir in the water, whisking until smooth. Keep whisking every so often, until sauce thickens up. Add the mustard, yeast, and salt to taste. The original recipe called for 1 teaspoon of salt, but I had to add more. The sauce will be super thick. Once everything is smooth and thick, set 1/2 cup of it aside. To the big pot of it, add:

3 cans black beans, drained (I think they’re around 15-oz. each)
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
1 can black olives, chopped
1 small can green chiles (I used 7-oz.)
1/2 cup salsa (Herdez is so delicious/authentic)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

10 large whole wheat tortillas

Preheat oven to 350*F. Plan on using 2-3 casserole pans, depending on size. I used 3 because they are smaller Pyrex ones. Plop a little enchilada sauce in the bottom of one pan, so they enchiladas won’t stick. Place 1/2 cup of filling in each tortilla before rolling them up. Place them, seam side down, in the sauced pan. Repeat, using as many pans as necessary. Evenly distribute the remaining enchilada sauce over the tops of the ‘ladas. Take the remaining cheeze sauce (add more water if necessary) and sort of splat it over the tops of all of them. It will add a yummy cheezy flavor to the finished product. Bake the pans, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes, until bubbling hot and you can’t handle the lovely smell any longer! Serve with extra cilantro, vegan sour creme, whatever. Share with the people you love!

Salad shot…

Tabouli Feast October 16, 2007

Since there has been a lot of frying/cheesing going on around here, we went shopping today for TONS of veggies/fruits/whole grains to make up for some crappy college eating. Tabouli has always been a favorite of mine, but I never thought to make it myself! I cannot tell you how delicious & simple this food is. Besides a lot of chopping, it’s just a “plop it all into the bowl” type of dish. And it’s a pretty damn well-rounded meal too. Super fresh & wholesome. This recipe makes quite a lot, so halve it if you aren’t able to consume it within a couple of days. I don’t think we’ll have much trouble there.

Tabouli

2 cups bulghur
2 cups boiling water
1 cucumber, diced
2-3 tomatoes, diced
1 bunch green onions, sliced
2 cups chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint (I used spearmint)
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons each salt & pepper

Pour the boiling water over the bulghur; let sit, uncovered, for about 1/2 hour until the water is absorbed. Plop everything, including the soaked bulghur into a huge bowl. Stir to combine. This is even better after sitting a while & is really at its tastiest at room temperature. Goes well with pita, hummus, falafel, & any other delectable, savory, Middle Eastern treats.

I also baked a Lentil & Mushroom Loaf tonight, but haven’t taken photos of the finished product. The red lentils are rather pretty though…

I Love pEaNuT bUtTeR! October 15, 2007

These babies are from “Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook”. I’m totally over her snobbery & elitism now, but I wasn’t last summer when I “had to have” the book. So I might as well use it, eh?! These are a homemade, higher quality, version of Nutter Butters-crispy, delicately buttery peanut butter cookies, sandwiched with a rich & creamy peanut butter filling. Yum yum.

I made a few substitutions, using white whole wheat flour in the cookies, and soy milk rather than heavy cream in the filling (because who has cream lying around all the time?). It’s great that “Martha” (or whomever really writes the recipes) specifically called for natural peanut butter. Too many times, I have found, recipes warn against the use of natural peanut butter. Who knows why? I only use it & have never had a problem with cookies turning out weird or flat. More unhealthy hydrogenation propaganda for the masses, I guess.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

3/4 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup peanut butter (I used chunky Adam’s)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg (free range, of course!)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat together the first four ingredients until fluffy. Add the egg & vanilla & continue beating until super fluffy and light in color. Carefully stir in the flour, baking soda, & salt until combined. Wrap the dough in plastic & chill overnight.

Make the filling:

6 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoon soy milk or cream

Beat the first three ingredients together until fluffy. Only add enough soy milk to give it a good, creamy consistency, not runny or gooshy.

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Preheat oven to 325*F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness, either between parchment, or with a little flour on the counter. Slice into 2 1/2-by-1-inch rectangles. Using a fork, drag lines into the cookie tops for decoration (or do any other sort of pattern you like). Chill the cookies for 15-20 minutes to firm them up again. Then place on the baking sheets 1 1/2-inches apart & bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden & firm. If you are baking two sheets at once (which I have some OCD about & cannot do!), rotate the sheets halfway through the baking time.

Let cool completely before filling each pair with a tablespoon of filling. Martha says that once they are filled, the cookies should be eaten within a day. I haven’t tested this yet. I assume they’ll lose their crispness, but still be delicious anyway. You could always just fill ‘em as you go if you’re worried about textural changes.

The recipe says it’ll make 3 dozen sandwich cookies, but I only baked up four of them, since I don’t need a house full of cookies. It doesn’t seem like it will make that many though. Most cookbooks seem to “stretch the truth” in that area anyway.

I also made some deliciously spicy yellow curry with peas, for dinner. The curry is from a huge, 2-lb. bucket of mix that was less than $5 & is composed of all natural ingredients. We go to this totally awesome restaurant supply store that’s sort of like COSTCO, but you don’t need to be a member. There is also no minimum purchase amount & they take debit cards, despite their name, “Cash & Carry” (also known as “United Grocers”). I highly recommend looking them up to see if there’s one in your area. So fun! Sorry for the blather, here’s the curry…