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.

Snicker-doodles

Wow...it has been four months since the last time I blogged. I got a new job in August, working for school nutrition (yes, this does mean I am a cafeteria lady). While I truly miss teaching music, this has also been an excellent experience for me. I recently was given the sole pleasure of cookie making for the cafeteria. I say "sole" because my boss (smug grin) is absolutely incapable of NOT burning the cookies. I did try to tell him they were done.....but yeah. In any case, in the midst of all that cookie making, I have somewhat neglected my own cookie jar.

This week, it came to my attention that my little boy needed to bake cookies as part of earning his Bear Badge for Cub Scouts. We pondered our choices and he selected Snicker-doodles. Snicker-doodles have been a holiday tradition in my family for as long as I remember. After all, what is not to love about tangy, chewy shortbread-like cookies, crusted in crunchy sugar and cinnamon?

I have taken the liberty of modifying the recipe to "veganize" it, but no one will be the wiser; I promise.

Snicker-doodles

1 cup Crisco Butter-flavored shortening or non-dairy margarine

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup Nasoya Silken Tofu

2 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream the first three ingredients. Beat in cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Thoroughly mix in flour.

Form 1 inch balls with your hands and roll in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar (2 tablespoons cinnamon to 3 tablespoons sugar). Bake for 8 minutes on 350.

Lemon-Yogurt Tea Cakes

When I was a child, my mother was a "stay-at home" mom. Everyday she would meet my brother and me at the bus stop when school let out. We were carefully escorted home, seated at the kitchen table, and served some variety of freshly baked goods while she plied us with questions about our day. One snack she served was lemon-yogurt tea cakes; a dense, moist, tangy treat. Fast forward 20 years, I am the one serving the teacakes and dairy-free milk to my two kiddos after school. Unfortunately, mom's recipe contained both eggs and milk and I wanted my kids to taste these delightful treats. After some love, research and a wee bit of experimentation, I give you the new and improved Lemon-Yogurt Teacakes!

2 medium lemons

1 1/4 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 Butter-flavored Crisco or non-dairy margerine

8 oz vanilla SO Delicious Coconut Milk Yogurt

1/4 cup applesauce

Line 12 muffin cups and preheat oven to 350.

Grate the lemon and reserve 2 "generous" tablespoons.

Mix flours, sugar baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cut in the Crisco/margarine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Mix yogurt, applesauce, lemon juice and peel.

Combine with the dry mixture, stirring just until moistened.

Spoon into paper liners.

Bake 18-20 mins.

Streusel Coffee Cake

When I was a little girl, my mother used to bake this treat for Sunday breakfast. My brother and I would beg for multiple pieces to no avail. This week, I heard the same pleas echoed by my children. They had no better luck than I, for this time, I was hording some of the extras all for myself!

Cake:

1 1/2 c. flour

3 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. butter flavored Crisco

3/4 c. coconut or rice milk

1/4 c. applesauce

Streusel topping:

2 Tbsp. butter flavored Crisco

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Pour cake batter into greased 8x8 pan and sprinkle streusel topping generously on top. Bake 20-30 mins.

Glaze:

1 c. confectionery sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond

2 Tbsp. vanilla coconut milk

Spoon over warm cake.

Infamous Apple Pie

The woman that first noted, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach" must certainly have counted apple pie as a crucial part of her arsenal. Tart juicy apples, cinnamon, crisp crumb topping, all cradled in a thin, flaking crust are the very definition "pie".

At this point, you probably are chuckling at me. Most men jab their fork into my apple pie, shovel it into their mouths, and then mumble some sort of shocked marriage proposal. To be fair, only three of them were serious, but none the less, please allow me to share the few essential secrets to the perfect apple pie. Oh, and did I mention, every morsel is vegan!

Everyone has their favorite apple, but when it comes to pie, you MUST use Granny Smith and ONLY Granny Smith. Over the past 15 years I have baked hundreds of pies. Without exception, Granny Smith apples make the best pie. They are a firm, very tart apple. They maintain their shape well, juicy nicely, and have a flavor I have been unable to replicate with another apple. Try them.

The second secret to an exceptional pie is the crust. A perfectly good pie can be completely ruined by a bitter, tough crust. There are two secrets to a perfect crust. The first element is ice water. Before you slice an apple, pull out the flour, or even pre-heat the oven, fill a bowl with ice cubes and cover the ice with refrigerated water. The second key to a tender crust is to handle the dough as little as possible.

Make and set aside your ice water.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Thinly core, peel and slice 6 cups of Granny Smith apples.

Toss apples with:

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Set aside to allow apples to juice.

Next prepare 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

Finally, the crust that pulls the ensemble together. If you are afraid to try a crust, you can finish the recipe with out the crust and spray the pie plate with cooking spray and bake. You could also try a store bought crust. Try the crust. It isn't as intimidating as it seems!

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.

Fill the crust withe the apples and top with crumb topping.

Bake 1 hour and check with a fork. Apples should give easily and topping should be lightly browned and bubbling around the edges.

One final tip....if the crust tears as you are transferring the dough, or the dough doesn't exactly cover the pie plate, do NOT panic! Dip pieces of the excess dough in the ice water and patch any holes or tears, using the water to smooth the seams! Enjoy!