MINI PIES

THE PPK: Pecan Pie is the spot where I got the recipe for the filling for these little treasures. I used a cupcake pan and this pie crust recipe to make them.

Then, I made mini apple pies for a total bust of a dinner party that Sam and I went to and unknowingly were the only people who thought that there should be food at a dinner party/brought anything. And they made fun of my mini vegan apple pies because they were too cool for tiny, precious desserts.

Again, any old apple pie recipe will do, but because these guys are so small, i precook the filling on the stovetop, because the crusts don't take very long to cook. I didn't follow a recipe for the crusts, but I just eyeballed it with some all purpose flour, a little brown sugar, oil, water, and salt. The above recipe is my standard crust guide. If you choose not to do lattice, remember to vent the tops. You can also use dough scraps to decorate the tops with adorable shapes, like hearts. When you fill these guys try to squeeze out a little extra moisture, because they got pretty bubbly and there was some spillover that complicated the baking stone in my oven that I forgot to take out (just kidding I never take it out, ever. it's too heavy).

Crate and Barrel had a whole "mini pie" making section the last time I was there, including some wider/shallower mini-pie pans that I may eventually invest in-- despite the fact that I hate unifunctional kitchen items Because seriously look at this mini pie pan set it is amazing.

MINI PIE!

Vegan Carrot Cake

I can't believe I haven't posted this yet, because I make it all the time. Here it is on Sam's Birthday. I also brought it over on Mother's Day with a crushed pineapple icing. This morning, I made it for brunch, because my parents and a bunch of Sam's friends randomly decided to come over. Sam was making potato pancakes and tofu scramble, but I was worried there wouldn't be enough food. The recipe is adapted from my friend Jolinda at vegetarian.about.com, and I highly recommend her recipes.

Ingredients:
-3 c. all purpose flour
-1 c. almond milk
-1 1/2 t. baking soda
-2 c. carrots, shredded (i usually shred one cup really fine, and grate one cup more coarsely)
-1.5 c. raisins (when we get the ultra-sweet raisins, I use less)
-2 c. water
-3/4 c. sugar
-1/2 t. salt
-1 1/2 t. cinnamon
-1 t. cardamom
-1 t. allspice
-1 t. cloves
If you are missing any of the above spices, vanilla, nutmeg, pretty much anything will make a nice substitute. unless you are out of cinnamon. You can't go without cinnamon.

In a pot on the stovetop, combined the carrots, raisins, water, and spices and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the sugar and salt and cook for a little longer (maybe 2 minutes). Remove from heat, and allow to cool. I am usually in a hurry, so I usually cool it in the freezer for about 20 minutes stirring Q 5 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Mix everything together, including the almond milk, and stir by hand until just mixed.

Bake at 350 for 1 hr in a greased pyrex dish.

NOM.

Caramel Rolls

My sister-in-law made these for easter, they were off the chain. Great for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. Also a great thing to bring to someone's house when you are invited over.

Ingredients:
-2 loaves frozen bread dough (she used Rhodes Bake-N-Serv White Bread)
-1 cup brown sugar
-1/2 cup Earth Balance
-1 large pack vanilla pudding "cook & serve" - NOT INSTANT (Jell-O Brand has polysorbate 60 which isn't vegan, but Dr. Oetker's has a vanilla pudding mix that is vegan)
-2 T. almond milk
-1 t. cinammon
-chopped pecans

To Prepare:
1. Thaw bread until you can cut it / tear it into pieces
2. Cover bottom of 9X13 greased pan with pieces of bread
3. Melt butter and mix in remaining ingredients and pour over bread
4. Let bread rise for about 3 hours (or overnight in the fridge)
5. Bake for 30 minutes at 350. All the goo will sink to the bottom, DON'T PANIC!
6. Once done, flip it over onto a serving tray (carefully!) and top with pecans.

Mochadoodles: Variation on a Theme

Last fall I posted a recipe for Mexican Snickerdoodle via The Post Punk Kitchen as inspired by The Ann Arbor People's Food Co-Op. This evening while I was napping, I dreamt that I made Mexidoodles with instant coffee (in the same vein as my Roti Boy recipe, so when I woke up, I decided to make them. I made some blondie ones and some choco ones, just because I wanted to see how the instant coffee behaved in the cookie (without being masked by the cocoa), but they both turned out well, so I'd advise you do the same. Makes about 18-20 cookies.

1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. maple syrup
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. refined sugar
3 T. milk
2 t. (or 2 servings) of instant coffee crystals (I used crappy Kroger Brand)
1 t. almond milk
1 2/3 c. flour
1/4 c. cocoa powder.
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon

a couple more teaspoons of sugar and some cinnamon for the sugary topping.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the oil, syrup, vanilla, sugar together. Dissolve the crystals in the almond milk, and add that. Stir briskly until blended. Slowly sift in the flour. Add in the baking soda, salt, cinnamon and just one heaping tsp of the cocoa powder. Set the rest of the cocoa powder aside. Stir until blending. Roll walnut-sized balls of dough, press into a mixture of cinnamon and sugar (ratio of your choice) and bake for about 7-10 minutes. The tops will get crackly. Be careful, as this recipe will turn crispy fast if you overcook them (I prefer chewy). After the first batch (9 cookies on my cookie sheet), add in the rest of the cocoa powder and finish the rest of the dough balls.

Yum.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I have been on an insane running kick, and am therefore on an insane sugar/carbohydrate kick. It's strange/convenient how few sweets my body craves until I start exerting myself on a daily basis... and when it does... I blew through about 3 dozen cupcakes in 5 days (granted, i gave 4 to my sister and 9 to my veterinarian, and Sam ate approximately 4). I used the recipe from my red velvet birthday cake and used Pillsbury storebought cream cheese icing (VEGAN WTF) as well as rainbow sprinkles. They are pretty much the cutest and best cupcakes ever.

Caramel Corn

1.5 c. unpopped kernels
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. Earth Balance/any soy margarine
1/3 c. Agave/corn syrup/maple syrup
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2-1 c. peanuts, shelled (optional)
nonstick cooking spray/oil to grease a pan.

Preheat oven to 250. Pop the popcorn in an air popper, set aside. In a saucepan, melt the butter, sugar, syrup, and salt together over medium heat, stirring constantly. The mixture will begin to boil, and then get frothy. Let it go for 5 minutes at froth-stage stirring continuously all the while, then remove from heat. Immediately stir in the baking soda and the vanilla and pour the whole mixture over the popcorn which is in a greased baking pan. Stir thoroughly.

Cook for 60 minutes at 250 degrees fahrenheit stirring the mixture every 15 minutes. Let cool on paper (rip open a paper grocery bag and lay it flat, let it cool on there).

RICE PUDDING

We received some free "written off" brown rice from the food co-op. By "some" i mean about 6lbs. I'm not a fan of rice, really, but i AM a fan of pudding. Specifically rice pudding.

I soak my rice overnight (1:2 rice:water) ratio with about a tablespoon of something lactobacilli-containing-- plain kombucha or soy yogurt, in a covered tupperware. It supposedly makes it easier to digest. I don't rinse or drain in after soaking, it just goes straight to the stove for the usual 45 minutes.


Rice Pudding!

Ingredients:
3/4 c. cooked brown rice
1.5 c. almond milk (may have to add more if it thickens prematurely)
2 t. light brown sugar
1 T. white sugar
1/2 t. cardamom
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla extract
dash of salt

Simmer everything until it's rice pudding consistency adding more almond milk as you see fit, stirring often. Serve warm or cold. Garnish with almonds, cinnamon, raisins, or in my case, a ginger-o cookie.

VEGAN ROTIBOY!!!!!!

Rotiboy is a delicious Malaysian mall-bakery coffee bun, that I believe were taken from a traditional Mexican treat. They are extremely unvegan, but extremely irresistible when you are at Simpang Lima Mall in Semarang Indonesia, half starved but determined to use the internet. The nice thing about Rotiboy, is you don't need to speak any language, just hold up fingers for however many buns you want, because the bun (with no variation) is the only thing Rotiboy sells. This morning I woke up thinking about Rotiboy. I am going to Haiti tomorrow to do some relief work, and so I made these for dessert after my going-away dinner. They are a work in progress, but it tastes like Rotiboy. The recipe is a 3-parter-- dough, filling, topping.

Dough:
4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. Earth Balance, softened
about 1 c. Plain Almond Milk
2 t. active yeast
1 t. salt
Ener-G egg replacer for 1 egg (1 heaping tsp + the recommended amount of water)

Proof yeast in a mug with some sugar and a little bit of the milk warmed, set aside to do it's thing. Sift 4c. flour into a bowl, add sugar and salt. Stir in the liquid ingredients. Knead in the butter. Dough should be smooth and stretchy, not sticky. Add more milk or flour accordingly. Knead for approximately 10 minutes. Separate dough into round balls a little bigger than a golf ball (I was able to make 17)... let them rest for about 10 minutes while you make the filling.


Filling:
1/3 c. loosely packed light brown sugar,
7 T. Earth Balance stick, softened (use all but 1 T... it makes sense when the recipe is complete)
1/2 t. vanilla

Mix the three ingredients with a hand mixer. The butter has to be quite soft, but NOT MELTY. I turn on the oven for 30 seconds and then turn it off and put the butter inside to facilitate butter softening in our frigid home.  Set aside.

So by now, your dough has rested. Smoosh each ball down (about the size of a coaster?) and spoon a dollop (shooter marble sized?) of the butter filling into the middle. If you have leftover, add a little more to each one. Use it all up. You won't be sorry.

Next, close them up. I folded mine in the middle (like a taco) and then folded each side in and sealed the edges, then I manipulated the shape so they were rounded squares. Place them on a cookie sheet with tin foil underneath and let rest for 45 minutes somewhere toasty (again, I used the oven trick).

While they are resting, make the topping.

Topping:
 The topping is THE most important, the original recipe called for 3 eggs, and this is certainly where there is the most room for improvement. Sam claims my only problem was that I didn't use enough topping per bun, I thought it was a little... dry. And less melty in your mouth...

2 T. instant coffee dissolved in 1 T. warm water
1.5 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. flour, sifted
1/2 t. cinnamon
7 T. Earth Balance stick, softened
Almond Milk as needed (since I didn't put in eggs. Maybe a higher fat milk (coconut milk?) would help with the dryness)

Mix together the dry ingredients, stir in the wet ingredients, use a mixer to whip them up. The consistency should be like really thick frosting. Load this business into a pastry bag or a ziploc with the tip cut off and squeeze it onto the top of the buns right before you cook them. I thought the icing would spread out a little as it got warmer and cover the entire surface of the bun, but it didn't.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until the top is brown.

cinnabons

so, this one time i went to the airport when i was little to drop my mom and sister off. my sister was going to a big national champion swim meet. i was supposed to go, but i had a bad ear infection, so my pediatrician said flying might rupture my eardrum. the eardrum ruptured anyways, but i wasnt able to fly. at the airport, i got a cinnabon. i was a meticulous child and i ate the bun from the outside in, saving the inside for last because it is the most delicious. walking through the airport (pre 9-11, so we were still allowed to go as far as the gate) by dad reached down and chomped the last tiny center bit of my delicious bun-- that i had been saving. it's been nearly 20 years since the incident and i am still traumatized by it, and now that im vegan i never get to eat cinnamon rolls.

ive just discovered vegan yum yum and i am blown away by her recipes. here is hers for her cinna-bunz which she swearing are spitting images of the kind my dad traumatized me with as a child. the recipe is really involved, and i havent tried them yet, but im hoping to be able to simply the recipe and repost my modified version in the future.

on a similar but unrelated note: weird al is vegan?

and i wish i still believed my friend when he told me dunkin donuts are vegan. i wish the nutrition info on dunkin donuts' website was still unavailable. i wish the midwest had a delicious vegan bakery so i could eat donuts comfortably and without shame or abdominal discomfort.

Pineapple Basil Sorbet

I'm obsessed with the pineapple-basil combination for spring and summer because it makes me feel alive.

-2 cans of pineapple
-fresh basil
-3 tablespoons coconut milk

Open the cans and dump EVERYTHING into a freezer bag or tupperware and freeze overnight. Throw it in a food processor with as much basil as you like (or as much that needs to be picked from your mom's basil plant when you are still living at home even though you are employed) along with about 3 tablespoons (give or take) or coconut milk or any other creamy dairy alternative you have laying around... something sweetened, in my book. Food process it until its homogenously creamy and the basil bits are chomped up.

Yumsville.

Banana Rum Cake

My friend Jolinda, who I met in West Sumatra, writes for vegetarian.about.com. She made this recipe for vegan banana cake which I modified and am posting here.



-2 cups flour
-1.5 t. baking soda
-0.5 t. salt
-0.25 cup oil
-0.25 c. soy/almond/hemp/whatever milk
-3-4 bananas (very ripe)
-1 cup sugar
-1.5 T. rum extract
-1/2 t. cinnamon
-1/2 t. ginger powder

preheat oven to 350. combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Mix together suger and oil, add milk, mash in banana, the extract, and the flavorings (i used a potato masher, then a egg beater thing with the hand crank... no clue what that's called... fast stirring with a spoon and a strong bicep muscle or an electric hand mixer will work). Bake for like 45 min (til a toothpick comes out clean).

You can ice it, or just serve it with vanilla ice cream. i don't really like icing, so... you can google how to make plain icing if you don't know how, but i'd just serve it with ice cream if i were you.

I tried to estimate calorie content, because my parents are on a diet, and i think the entire cake has about 2500 calories, so don't eat the entire cake if you are on a diet. It looks like it'll make 12 slices so that comes out to about 210 calories per slice (but i didn't put it in a bomb calorimeter or anything, just googled "number of calories in 2 cups of white flour", etc).

Oatmeal Choco Cookie

Adapted Plagarized from The Garden of Vegan by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer. This cookbook is so worthwhile. Every recipe is delicious. Buy it.

-3/4 cup flour
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 c. quick oats
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-half a banana (RIPE)
-1/3 cup oil
-1/2 cup maple syrup
-1 tbsp vanilla extract
-1 cup choco chips (Bakers' semisweet chunks are my favorite. I used carob once and they bombed)

Mix the first 5 ingredients together in a bowl. Food process everything else (except the chocolate chips) and mix the 2 bowls together. Stir in chocochips. Spoon onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 until done.

You'd best double the recipe.

The secret ingredient is: banana.