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.