Desserts Archives - Page 4 of 6

GORP Cookies

October 26, 2010 by epicureanvegan

Easy, somewhat healthy and delicious! Need I say more?

INGREDIENTS:
1 C Earth Balance margarine, softened
1 C brown sugar, lightly packed
2 tsp almond milk (or 1 tsp almond milk and 1 tsp vanilla)
1 tsp baking soda
2 C flour (or 1-3/4 C flour and 1/4 C wheat germ)
1 C raisins
1 C peanuts, roasted and unsalted
3/4 C dark chocolate chips (Ghirardelli Semi-sweet chips)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and brown sugar. Add milk (and/or vanilla) and baking soda. Mix in flour (and/or wheat germ). Stir in peanuts, raisins, and chocolate chips.

Drop a tablespoon of batter onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake 10-12 minutes. Cool on baking racks–makes 45-48 cookies. Enjoy!

Almond Sour Cream Coffee Cake

September 27, 2010 by epicureanvegan

I love almond anything. I even love anything almond-scented. This cake was a breeze to make and has a cake/cookie consistency. In fact, the dough is very cookie dough-like, so don’t be alarmed–it’s supposed to be that way! A slice of this is perfect for dessert or with that morning tea or coffee.

INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
1/2 C Earth Balance margarine
1 C sugar
3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer
4 Tbs water
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1/4 C Tofutti sour cream
2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
Strudel:
1/2 C brown sugar
1 Tbs flour
2 Tbs butter
Glaze:
1/2 C powdered sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
2-3 tsp non dairy milk

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg replacer and water; set aside. In a large bowl, cream together margarine and sugar. Add “egg” mixture to butter mixture and combine well. Add vanilla and almond extracts and stir well to combine. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the flour and sour cream to the butter mixture, but do it alternatively; starting and ending with the flour. The mixture will resemble cookie dough.

For the strudel, chop up the butter, add the brown sugar and flour and use a pastry blender to make it crumbly. Grease a bundt pan and sprinkle 1/3 of strudel in the pan. Next, take take 1/2 of the dough and using your hands, spread it somewhat evenly in the pan, on top of the strudel. Add another 1/3 of the strudel, then the other half of the dough. Sprinkle with remaining strudel.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, almond extract, and the nondairy milk. Drizzle over warm cake and enjoy!

(It will most-likely look like an over-grown doughnut)!

Recipe: Adapted from cooks.com

Gooey Chai-Spiced Brownies

September 10, 2010 by epicureanvegan

I can’t remember the last time I made a batch of brownies. I was craving them, however, I didn’t want just any ordinary brownies, so I added some chai spices. With only 5 minutes of prep time and about 25 minutes to cook, they make a quick, go-to dessert for last minute guests.

INGREDIENTS:
1 C flour
1 C granulated sugar
1/4 C cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 C water
1/4 + 1 Tbs C vegetable oil
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 C dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamon, ginger, cloves, and fennel (basically all the dry ingredients) in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the water, oil, and vanilla and add to the dry mixture. Combine well.

Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into a lightly greased 8″ baking pan. It will have a thick pudding-like consistency.

Bake for 25 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

August 28, 2010 by epicureanvegan

These cookies are delicious—just like Mom’s. The recipe is from The Joy of Vegan Baking and doesn’t disappoint! It called for 1 cup of nuts, but I left them out since we’re kind of opposed to nuts in cookies and brownies, with the exception of macadamia nut cookies. . .anyway. . .these are yummy. The recipe calls for brown sugar and I have found that storing it in the freezer is the way to go–it only takes about 20 minutes to thaw and once it does, it’s always soft. Just remember to pull it out of the freezer to thaw before using it.

INGREDIENTS:
4-1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer
6 Tbs water
1 C Earth Balance margarine
3/4 C granulated sugar
3/4 C firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2-1/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1-2 C nondairy semisweet chocolate chips (Ghirardelli is great)
1 C chopped nuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375. In a food processor or blender, whip the egg replacer and water together until its thick and creamy. The recipe recommends this for better consistency that what you’d get by doing it by hand. In a large bowl, cream the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add the egg replacer mixture to this wet mixture and thoroughly combine. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the wet mixture until it begins to form a dough. When it is almost thoroughly combined, stir in the chips and nuts, if using.

Scoop out 1-2 tablespoons of batter onto a nonstick baking sheet (or lined with parchment paper) and bake 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. The recipe says it makes 1 dozen, but they must have been BIG cookies because I got 35. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

August 20, 2010 by epicureanvegan

So I finally got The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, author of my other favorite cookbook, The Vegan Table, and as you can see . . . I’ve already picked out some recipes to try.

Ideal timing for the coming fall and winter! The 6th Grader was craving coffee cake, so that’s where we started and it didn’t disappoint. The recipe is quite easy and perfect for throwing together for last minute guests.

INGREDIENTS:
Cake:
1 C nondairy milk (I used almond milk)
1/3 C canola oil
1 Tbs white distilled vinegar
1 C unbleached, all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour (I used all purpose)
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
Crumble:
3/4 C unbleached all purpose flour, or whole wheat pastry flour (again, I used all purpose)
1/4 C granulated or brown sugar (I used brown sugar)
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C chopped walnuts (I used pecans as I was out of walnuts)
1/3 C canola oil or nondairy butter, melted (I used Earth Balance butter)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9″ square baking dish/cake pan. To make cake, combine milk, oil, and vinegar in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Add the milk mixture and stir until just combined. Pour into the prepared baking dish.

To make the crumble, in a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and walnuts. Add the butter or oil and use your hands to thoroughly work it into the dry ingredients. Spoon on top of the batter (I found sprinkling with my hands worked better) and covering the entire area.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool slightly and serve warm or at room temperature. I think this would also be yummy if drizzled with some some icing once it cooled completely. . . Enjoy!

Lemon Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

August 18, 2010 by epicureanvegan

These are perfect little, squatty, tasty, cute cupcakes. The outside is crispy, slightly sticky with lemon cake goodness on the inside. They are easy to make and once frosted, gone in seconds!

INGREDIENTS:
1 C soft Silken tofu
4 heaping tsp egg replacer powder mixed with 10 Tbs water
3/4 C granulated sugar
2 Tbs lemon juice
Rind of 1 lemon, grated
1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
Frosting:
1/2 C vegan margarine
2 C confectioners’ sugar
1 Tbs plain or vanilla soy milk
3/4 tsp pure lemon extract, or vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325. Using a mixer, mix the tofu until smooth. Add sugar, lemon juice, and lemon rind. Mix until thick, about 5 minutes. In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Slowly add to the tofu mixture and mix until smooth and thick.

In the medium bowl with the egg replacer and water, add the cream of tartar and mix for about 5 minutes until it is well combined and a little fluffy. Fold it into the tofu and flour mixture. Grease a muffin tin and fill each one with a 1/4 cup of the mixture. I got 11 cupcakes. . .why not a dozen? I have no idea. Oh well.

Bake for 35-40 minutes–the edges will get a little brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool before removing them from the pan and frosting them.

To make frosting: Let margarine sit out until room temperature. Using a mixer, mix the margarine until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, soy milk and flavoring. Combine thoroughly. You may need to adjust the consistency to how you’d like it by adding more milk or more sugar. Since all I could find was one lonely frosting tip and no pastry bag, I snipped off the corner of a zip lock back as a substitute. It worked lovely. Enjoy!

Vegan Doughnuts

July 16, 2010 by epicureanvegan

Yes, they’re as yummy as they look. Plus, they were very easy to make. The recipe, from Vegan Yum Yum, says to place plastic wrap over them as they cool in the pan so that they remain soft and fluffy. They will definitely be more cakey and cookie-like otherwise—which is still great. The recipe also says to use an ungreased petite doughnut pan, but let me tell you. . .I found out the hard way that the pan should be greased! Don’t let this happen to your doughnuts. . .only one made it out unscathed from the first batch:

INGREDIENTS:
Petite doughnut pan (I borrowed one—Thanks, Kristin!) I’ll be buying one for sure.
1 C all purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tiny pinch cinnamon (both my non-vegan friend and I who had these, agreed that there should be more–maybe 1/2 a teaspoon)
1/2 C soy milk
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Egg substitute for 1 egg
4 Tbs Earth Balance margarine

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon with a whisk and mix thoroughly.

Combine soy milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, egg substitute, and margarine in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and mix well until margarine is melted. It shouldn’t get too hot, just slightly warm.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. It should form a very soft dough or thick batter.

Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out the dough into the greased, nonstick mini-doughnut pan Smooth out the top of the doughnuts with your finger, clearing off the post in the middle of each one.

Bake for 12 minutes until the doughnuts are almost browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Invert the pan over a cutting board or cooling rack to release the doughnuts. Allow to cool completely before decorating (unless you’re making powdered sugar ones; see below) Makes about 20-22 doughnuts.

(A much better second batch)!

Chocolate-dipped doughnuts (the ones I made): Melt 1 bar of your favorite dark chocolate in the microwave. (I melted some carob chips in a saucepan over low heat and added some soy milk to reach a good consistency). Dip the pretty top side of the doughnut in the chocolate and place on a rack. Top with sprinkles.

Powdered Sugar doughnuts: While doughnuts are still warm from the oven, roll them in a bowl of powdered sugar.

You can also whisk some powdered sugar and soy milk together to reach a desired consistency and glaze the doughnuts. Enjoy!

Lavender Tea Cookies

July 1, 2010 by epicureanvegan

These are so delicious and have the perfect combination of sweetness and lavender, with a hint of lemon. Being shortbread, they will fall apart easily when taking them off the baking sheet, so be careful. Depending how thick you make them, the recipe makes anywhere from 2-4 dozen. I first made some thin round ones using a 2/3 measuring cup and then some thicker rectangle/square ones using a pizza cutter. Either way, you’ll love them!

INGREDIENTS:
1-1/2 C nondairy butter (3 sticks of Earth Balance), room temperature
2/3 C granulated sugar
1/4 C confectioners’ sugar
3-4 Tbs finely chopped fresh lavender or 2 Tbs dried culinary lavender (I used 3-1/2 Tbs of dried culinary)
2 tsp lemon zest
2-1/2 C all purpose flour
1/2 C cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium-size bowl, cream butter, granulated sugar, and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy. Add lavender and lemon zest. Stir to combine. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, and salt. When thoroughly mixed, add to the wet batter, and stir until well blended. You should have a thick cookie batter.

Divide dough into 2 balls, wrap in plastic wrap, and flatten to about 1 inch. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

When ready to prepare the cookies, preheat oven to 325. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into shapes and place on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 18-20 minutes (less if thinner) or until the cookies begin to brown at the edges. Remove from the oven, cool for a few minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe Source: The Vegan Table

Balsamic Strawberries

May 28, 2010 by epicureanvegan

Wow, talk about a smorgasbord of flavors! I was very intrigued when I saw the recipe—balsamic vinegar, sugar and pepper, so I had to try it. These are delicious by themselves, but spooned over some soy vanilla ice cream is absolutely to die for!! Great as a quick summertime dessert.

INGREDIENTS:
16 oz fresh strawberries, halved or quartered lengthwise
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground black pepper, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Place strawberries in a bowl. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with sugar. Stir gently with a rubber spatula to combine. Cover and let sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour, but not more than 4 hours. Just before serving, grind pepper over berries. Enjoy!

Recipe source: The Vegan Table

Coconut-Lemon Bundt Cake

May 18, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This cake from Veganomicon, is incredibly easy to make, but most importantly, it’s moist and delicious! It’s a great dessert to throw together when you don’t have a lot of time on your hands, but need a dessert quick.

INGREDIENTS:
1-1/2 C granulated sugar (I reduced it to 1 cup)
2/3 C canola oil
1 (14-oz) can coconut milk
1/4 C soy milk (I typically use almond milk)
1/4 C lemon juice
3 Tbs lemon zest
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 C shredded unsweetened coconut
A few tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8 or 10″ Bundt pan. (A 10″ pan works best. Some readers have noted that the cake overflows in an 8″ pan.) In a large mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar, oil, coconut milk, soy milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the wet ingredients in batches, mixing well after each addition. Stir to combine, then stir in the coconut. Pour batter into the Bundt pan, Bake 1 hour or until a knife inserted through the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes, then place a cutting board over the cake pan, gently flip over and release the cake from the pan. Let cool completely. Once cooled, sift a sprinkling of the confectioners’ sugar over the tip. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Recipe source: Veganomicon