Trader Joe's Cornbread Mix

The kids and I trotted into Trader Joe's last Saturday and nearly ran over a giant dancing box of cornbread.  Trader Joe's is busy rolling out their fall fare to the delight of my always-trolling-for-samples children.  This weekend, the featured delicacies were all crafted using Trader Joe's Cornbread Mix.  Now ordinarily I avoid mixes, but upon perusing the ingredient label, I succumbed to the ardent pleas of my children and purchased a box.  I appropriately veganized the add-in ingredients and whipped up a batch of cornbread muffins.  After beating my children off with a stick, I had the delight of trying one myself and they were marvelous!  Hats off to Trader Joe's for making my dinner a child approved meal tonight!

1 box of Trader Joe's Cornbread mix
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup oil 
3/4 cup rice milk (I used Trader Joe's Original)

Preheat oven to 350. 
Grease 10 muffin tins with vegan cooking spray.
Empty the content of the mix into a bowl and add the applesauce, oil, and rice milk.
Stir just until moistened and divide among the 10 tins evenly.
Bake 15 minutes and check with a toothpick for done-ness.
Remove from the tins to a cooling rack immediately.

In addition to the delightful taste and texture, I am extraordinarily pleased to note these muffins did not crumble at all!

Blueberry Pie

This week we have finally received a desperately needed deluge in parched Atlanta, allowing the kids and me the opportunity to go berry picking.  We returned drenched, with blue tongues, stained fingers, and a plan to bake a blueberry pie.  Eight years ago, my son and I went berry picking with his Nana and she taught me her recipe for blueberry pie.  Here is a veganized version of her beloved family favorite.

Create the crust.

Sift together:

1 1/4 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

Cut in:

1/3 c. Butter Flavored Crisco until the pieces are pea sized

Sprinkle:

3-4 Tbsp cold water over the flour mixture.

Gently toss the moistened flour to one side of the bowl until a soft dough forms.

Add additional water a Tbsp. at a time. The dough should not be sticky.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin.

Do not handle the dough!!

Using a very thin metal spatula dipped in flour, work the dough gently up off the counter top.

Fold in half, then quarters.

Transfer to a pie plate, crimp edges with a fork, and cut off excess dough hanging over the edges.

Create the Filling.

4-5 cups fresh blueberries (frozen work in a pinch)

1 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon melted dairy-free margarine (I used BlueBonnet Lite)

3 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca

Mix fruit and ingredients and allow to stand for 15 mins before adding to shell.

Create the Crumb Topping. 

Combine:

1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Cut in:

1/4 cup Butter Flavored Crisco

Stir in:

1/3 c oatmeal

Bake at 350 for 45-60 mins until bubbling. 

Divine Oatmeal Cookies

Wow, it has been quite some time since I last chronicled my baking!  Let me assure you; this does NOT mean we have not been noshing away.  I did this crazy thing.  I somehow came to the conclusion that obtaining a Master's in Elementary Education, while working full-time, and being a single mom was a good idea.  So eating?  Yes!  Taking pretty pictures and posting cute stories?  Not so much.  This week I made a batch of oatmeal cookies for a friend recuperating from surgery.  The few that actually reached her house received raves!  Somehow I even managed a few pictures before they vanished.  As many of you may remember, I bake vegan due to my food allergies.  That said, I want to give you a heads up about one of my ingredients.  My recipe contains some honey.  I have researched an found a few alternatives for the honey in this recipe and include them here along with my opinions of each.
        -Agave- Many people love agave.  It does substitute well in recipes but it has a very lite taste that is nothing like honey.
        -Maple syrup- This makes an excellent substitute and has a rich, full flavor reminiscent of honey.  You may need to add a tiny bit of flour as maple syrup is more viscous than honey.
        - Lyle's Golden Syrup- I found this suggestion on another vegan blog.  I have never tried it myself but it is reported to have a delicious sweet flavor and substitute well.        - Just Like Honey-Gluten Free Rice Nectar-This honey substitute is gluten free, thick, rich flavored, and said to taste exactly like honey.


3/4 cup Butter Flavored Crisco
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Cream ingredients together.


1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder


Beat into creamed ingredients.


1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup quick cook oats
1/2 cup coconut, flaked
1 cup raisins


Combine with creamed ingredients and mix well.


Bake for 8 minutes, in a 375 oven.  Cookies are done when they look barely cooked.  Watch carefully or the bottoms will scorch.  Allow to cook in pans for 2 minutes before removing.

           

Lemon Pecan Fruitcake

Fruitcake. One of the most controversial, polarizing holiday delicacies: fruitcake. People seem to really like fruitcake or utterly despise it. My Grandma used to whip up a dozen fruitcakes in little tin pans each year and, when we arrived in a rush of cold air and snow, she would pull several from the freezer to thaw. I have been scornfully informed that my fruitcake isn't fruitcake because it is not dripping with brandy or some other beverage, the smell of which, would make your eyes run. Perhaps. Bear in mind, my grandmother made it this way (plus a few eggs) and she was not one to be crossed in the kitchen. Therefore, I challenge you to try this lightly flavored, heavenly, citrus packed delicacy before judging its lack of alcoholic content.

!/2 lb Butter Flavored Crisco

1/2 lb brown sugar

3/4 cup applesauce

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 lb pecan pieces

1 lb candied fruit (I used cherries & pineapple mixture)

1 oz bottle of lemon extract

Cream Crisco and brown sugar. Add the applesauce and baking powder. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Grease a pan. I used a small 8" pie tin instead of the small loaf pans my grandma used. The cake held together better in the pie tin. I have found the lack of eggs and the loaf pans cause a great deal of crumbling. Bake 2 hours at 275. Allow to stand 6 weeks (if you can). I freeze mine.

The original recipe is double this size, so feel free to double the recipe!

New "Ultimate" Brownies

I am SO very excited! I have not indulged in chewy, chocolaty brownies since my egg and milk allergies were diagnosed. My brownies were always requested at get togethers and were often worshiped as the holy grail of all that a brownie should ascribe to be; chewy edges and gooey, fudgey centers. Alas, my ultimate brownies contained no less than three eggs and an indecent stick and a half of real butter. Over and over, I have tried to replicate them and been bitterly disappointed by the dry, crumbly, cakey results. Then, a month ago, a friend dropped by a bag of goodies for me and my little family. In the bottom was a brownie mix. I grumbled under my breath a bit and chucked them up on a shelf. One night in a chocolate induced craze, I pulled out the box and read the ingredient list; completely VEGAN! But still, the instructions called for three eggs, oil and water. I had already eaten the scant quarter cup of left-over chocolate chips and needed more of a fix. I decided to give the mix a shot. I would like to say my children got a taste of the results. They did. A "taste" each...the rest blissfully ended up somewhere on my posterior. While some may consider this reckless use of a mix to be cheating, you did NOT taste these brownies! I cannot promise every mix will respond this way, but here is what I concocted.

1 Baker's Corner Fudge Brownies: Traditional Chewy (from Aldi's)

The recipe called for oil, water and eggs. I put the water, oil, and 3/4 of a cup of Nasoya Silken Tofu in my blender and blended until it was completely liquefied and frothy. Stir into the mix and follow the instructions on the box. I used an 8x8 pan.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving brings with it visions of succulent turkey (or Tofurky), mounds of steaming mashed potatoes, tangy cranberry sauce, AND cool slices of pumpkin pie. Due to a Tryptophan overload, I am going to cut to the chase and dish up the recipe.

Create the crust.

Sift together:

1 1/4 c. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

Cut in:

1/3 c. Butter Flavored Crisco until the pieces are pea sized

Sprinkle:

3-4 Tbsp cold water over the flour mixture.

Gently toss the moistened flour to one side of the bowl until a soft dough forms.

Add additional water a Tbsp. at a time. The dough should not be sticky.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin.

Do not handle the dough!!

Using a very thin metal spatula dipped in flour, work the dough gently up off the counter top.

Fold in half, then quarters.

Transfer to a pie plate, crimp edges with a fork, and cut off excess dough hanging over the edges.

Create the filling.

Combine:

2 1/2 cups pumpkin puree

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vanilla almond milk

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup Nasoya Silken Tofu

Batch blend in a blender to completely incorporate the tofu and pour into the pie crust.

Bake 375 for about an hour until the top and crust are lightly browned (the knife will not come out cleanly). Cool and then chill to finish the firming process.  Serve at room temperature.

Chocolate Peanut-butter Chip Cookies

My grandma was never satisfied to serve just ONE dessert. She would always have at least two cakes-Texas Sheet Cake and Black Walnut were her favorites, fruit salad-complete with sour grapefruit and loads of maraschino cherries, ice-cream-never peach, an entire traditional buffet stacked with shiny glass jars loaded with all sorts of candies, and usually Peanut-butter Chip Chocolate Cookies. So naturally, I had to convert this recipe!

Finding vegan peanut-butter chips has been somewhat of a challenge. I found mine in a tiny Mennonite grocery located in south central Pennsylvania. As I am located just north of Atlanta, I have found it necessary to import them. This summer's import resulted in disaster. My mother (aka "importer") seemingly forgot that peanut-butter chips melt in 100+ degree weather and sheepishly handed my a peanut log that closely resembled something one might find in the Mennonite's farmyard (as opposed to their grocery). Digging through my baking supplies in search of a bag of flour, I found one last hidden store of peanut-butter chips (necessary because I eat them by the pound) and here is my revised version of grandma's Peanut-butter Chip Chocolate Cookies.

1 cup Butter-flavored Crisco or non-dairy margarine

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 Nasoya silken tofu

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

2/3 cup cocoa

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups peanut-butter chips

Cream the first four ingredients. Mix in the baking soda and salt. Add cocoa and finally, flour. Stir in peanut-butter chips. Bake at 350 for 8-10 mins. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute before removing.