Pancakes & Cookies

Hey. I just had the most delicious pancakes in the universe! They’re the coconut ones from Vegan With a Vengeance, though I didn’t make the pineapple sauce to go along with them. I have a hard time not eating maple syrup on my pancakes (along with peanut butter, usually!) because I am friggin’ addicted to that tasty tree sap. But even then, they have this donut-y-ness to them that is really nice to wake up to. Here’s how I made them, which is pretty much the exact recipe in the book, but I subbed white whole wheat flour for the all-purpose, because I like the nutty, healthy taste that it adds to food:

Coconut Pancakes by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh!)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 cup vanilla soy milk (the recipe called for plain)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup shredded coconut

Basically, mix all the dry stuff (first 4 ingredients), then whisk in the wet stuff, which you first combined in a smaller bowl. Whisk these two mixtures together, then add the coconut. Heat up a big cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add a little margarine or veggie oil to the pan, then pour somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of batter in the center. Once bubbles form on top, flip it, and cook for a couple more minutes. Repeat, greasing the pan a little each time. The last step is to eat a huge stack of pancakes, dripping with maple syrup & a blob of margarine, and feel a deep contentment with life.

Okay, more sweets. Last week, I made the Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Veganomicon. They were so perfect. At the time, I was out of vanilla (!), so I subbed a combination of orange extract & almond extract, which turned out surprisingly delightful. I highly recommend this cookbook, and especially this recipe. The cookies are perfectly chewy, and have the right mix of spices for that “grandma cookie” type of flavor. Here’s a picture:

Now I get to watch the two-hour LOST episode from last night, since I don’t have a T.V., and stall on writing my papers!