Molasses Cookies

One of Riz’s favorite cookies are Molasses Cookies. I thought I’d be a good partner and make a batch just for him (since I usually bring the things I make into work). They’ve got a bit of crispiness on the outside, but soft and chewy when you bite into them.

Molasses Cookies

2 cups of flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 Earth balance, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tbs canola oil
1/3 cup molasses
1 Egg replace measurement.

Before baking:

Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves in a medium bowl. In another bowl, beat Earth Balance and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the oil just until blended. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the molasses and egg replacer – beat until blended. Then stir in the flour mixture until well combined. The mixture may look a bit crumbly, but once you mush it together in a ball it’ll come together. Wrap ball in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 3 hours.

To bake:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Measure dough into tablespoon size pieces and roll each piece between palms to form a 1 inch ball. Roll balls in sugar to coat. Put on baking sheet 2 inches apart. Sprinkle tops with sugar. Bake until the surface is barely dry – about 9-10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream

I needed to bake today – badly. I was hoping to be able to participate in the WorldWide Vegan Bake Sale, but unfortunately time wouldn’t allow it. So I baked cupcakes to share with my coworkers tomorrow to prove to them – yet again – veganism has a major sugar tooth as well.

Mini pots and another creation

I’ve finally gotten myself back to the studio again. It’s been a while, but it feels so great to get my hands dirty. Sometimes you need to take a break from something to appreciate it more. The first picture is a few small narrow neck bottles I made for a project. It was called “Evolution”. You take one piece and see how it evolves into something else, but keeping the basic shape. As you can see they morphed into many different shapes but keeping their narrow necks.

These are my 60’s Teardrop bowls. I needed something cool and kitschy for my turquoise kitchen – thought these were the perfect addition. The advantage to being a potter? You can create EXACTLY what you want for your house.

Gluten-free Vegan Brownies

I believe I’ve developed an intolerance to gluten but I need to always get my baking on, so when I heard that BabyCakes (a vegan, gluten-free bakery in NYC) came out with a cookbook – I knew I had to get it. I have many friends who have allergies to wheat, gluten and dairy so this book is perfect. This is their brownie recipe. I believe you can find the recipe in this issue’s VegNews (or last issue – the one with all the bakery recipes in it). The brownies came out amazing. Moist, light and absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to try out the rest of the recipes.

Cinnamon-Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

I made these cupcakes for my friends daughter who is allergic to dairy, chocolate and so many other things I can’t even count. Her mom doesn’t know how to bake vegan so I offered my services.

The recipe for the frosting and cupcake came from VCTOtW but I tweaked the cupcake recipe a bit to change the flavor around adding a tbs of cinnamon and a tsp of almond extract. A large glass of soymilk is definitely needed with these!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAIGE!

Strawberry Napolean

This recipe is from VegNews courtesy of Hanna Kaminsky of Bittersweet. Very delicious Very yum.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolatey goodness…yum. Vegan…even better!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup Earth Balance, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 egg replacement equivalents

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups AP flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, beat together sugar, egg replacer and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir into earth balance mixture until blended. Mix in chocolate chips and pecans. Drop in rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool slightly on the cookie sheets before moving them to wire racks.

Tempeh Bourgignon

I get emails sent to me from Vegetarian Times with daily recipes. Some of them are great, some…so so. I received one for Tempeh Bourgignon a while back and never thought to make it though it sounded really tasty. I had one of those nights where I couldn’t figure out what to make so I searched through my recipes and came upon this one. I had all of the ingredients except for the shitake mushrooms – so I substitued portobella’s instead. I also served it over quinoa instead of rice.  Just as tasty!!

Tempeh Bourgignon

• 2 cups medium-bodied red wine, such as Pinot Noir
• 1 8-oz. pkg. tempeh, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped (about 1 Tbs.)
• 3 Tbs. olive oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp. herbes de Provence
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbs. tomato paste
• 7 oz. sliced shiitake mushrooms (about 4 cups)
• chopped parsley, for garnish

1. Combine wine, tempeh, onion, carrot, garlic, 1 Tbs. olive oil, herbes de Provence and bay leaf in large bowl. Cover, and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Strain vegetables and tempeh, and reserve wine.
3. Heat remaining oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add tempeh and vegetables, and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until tempeh cubes are browned on all sides. Add vinegar, and quickly stir to coat evenly. Add tomato paste, and cook 1 minute. Stir in red wine marinade, scraping bottom of pot to release any stuck brown bits. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes, or until carrots are tender, stirring occasionally. Add water if mixture seems too dry before carrots are fully cooked.
4. Add mushrooms and 3/4 cup water, and simmer 10 minutes, or until tender. Remove bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve over rice.

Raw Curry Nut Salad

This salad is unbelievably filling. Good fat and protein plus Omega 3’s from the walnuts makes it quite good for you too. Plus it tastes yummy hehe.

Raw Curry Nut Salad

1 cup raw almonds

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup raw pecans

1/2 cup raw walnuts

1 red pepper – diced into small pieces

1/4 cup yellow or red onion

2 stalks celery – diced small

Juice of two small lemons

1 tsp of black pepper

1 tbs curry powder

pinch of sea salt

Put all nuts into food processor and pulse a few times until chopped (be careful not to run it too long or the nuts will grind up too much).  Combine with peppers, celery and onion. Add lemon juice and mix together. Add curry powder, salt and pepper. Mix together thoroughly. Enjoy!

Moroccan Red Lentil Chickpea Soup

I haven’t been cooking much lately. It really sucks when life gets in the way of food creativity doesn’t it? That’s about to stop though!

On this overcast, blustery day I needed soup. So this is what I came up with:

Moroccan Red Lentil Chickpea Soup

2 tsp olive oil

2 1/2 cups red lentil

1 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas

2 qt vegetable stock

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

In a soup pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until transparent over medium heat. Add vegetable stock and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and add tomato paste, being sure it’s completely incorporated into soup. Lower heat and add spices. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add chickpeas and simmer for 5 more minutes.