Dutch Apple Pie

With fall comes baking. Here is an amazing pie recipe. Enjoy!

5 1/2 cups peeled cored sliced cooking apples

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Topping

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup butter or 1/3 cup margarine, room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Fit pie crust into pie plate.

3. In a large bowl, mix sliced apples, lemon juice, both sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.

4. Pile into crust.

5. Prepare topping: In a medium bowl, with a pastry blender or a fork, mix flour, both sugars, and butter until coarsely crumbled.

6. Sprinkle evenly over apples.

7. Bake at 375°F for 50 minutes.

Vegan Blackberry Pie

Do you know what warms my heart more than anything? No, not an amazing sale at Target- geeze…A yummy warm berry pie.

4 cups fresh blackberries

½ cup white sugar

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

2 tbs almond milk

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tsb cinnamon

Combine 3 ½ cups berries with the sugar and flour. Spoon the mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Spread the remaining ½ cup berries on top of the sweetened berries, and cover with the top crust. Seal and crimp the edges. Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon.

Bake at 425 degree F for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand for several hours before serving.

Vegan Blackberry Pie

Do you know what warms my heart more than anything? No, not an amazing sale at Target- geeze…A yummy warm berry pie.

4 cups fresh blackberries

½ cup white sugar

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

2 tbs almond milk

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tsb cinnamon

Combine 3 ½ cups berries with the sugar and flour. Spoon the mixture into an unbaked pie shell. Spread the remaining ½ cup berries on top of the sweetened berries, and cover with the top crust. Seal and crimp the edges. Brush the top crust with milk, and sprinkle with ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon.

Bake at 425 degree F for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 375 degrees F and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand for several hours before serving.

Pear Crumb Pie

I have the EASIEST pie recipe you will bake. Last week while lying around the house, I had this overwhelming craving for an apple pie. I get these cravings every now and again, and they mostly go away- this one did not. Upon inspection of my kitchen, I had all the necessary ingredients to make an apple pie- but no apples. In my refrigerator were 7 pears, and I knew my fancy would be tickled.  The best part about this recipe- you can sub the pears for any fresh fruit (apples, peaches, berries) and the recipe remains the same! Enjoy!

FILLING:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 dash ground nutmeg

6 cups thinly sliced peeled pears

1 tablespoon lemon juice

TOPPING:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup cold earth balance

CRUST:

1 premade 9” pie crust (use whole-wheat or organic)

Combine filling ingredients; spoon into the crust. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes. For topping, combine flour and brown sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over filling, bake 40 minutes longer. Cover edges with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning if necessary.

BAKE THIS ON A COOKIE SHEET! It will bubble over…..

Walnut Oat Scones

I am SOO excited for fall. Why am I so excited? BAKING!!! I love scones, cakes, cookies- well, everything. I will begin posting all of my baking recipes. Here is a classic from last winter. I encourage you to make this---AND--- invite me over for scones and coffee.

Walnut Oat Scones

    2 tbs vegan  margarine
    1 3/4 cup rolled oats
    3/4 all-purpose white flour
    3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
    3/4 cup sugar
    1 tbs baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 cup chopped walnuts
     1/2 cup sour soy milk (add 1 teaspoon vinegar)
    2 tbs canola oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F; spray cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray, or parchment paper or my new favorite: silpat pad!!

Combine dry ingredients and walnuts in a large bowl. Melt margarine and combine in a small bowl with soymilk, and oil; add to dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead a few times to form into a ball; flatten dough into an 8-in.-diameter circle and cut into eight wedges.

Put wedges on cookie sheet and bake 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool slightly on rack.

These are best eaten right away!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Okay- I have to admit that I HATE the cupcake craze of the last few years, and I cannot wait for it to pass! Putting my feelings aside, I made a batch of red velvet cupcakes for my friends 32^nd birthday!

Cake
2 cups coconut milk (not from a can)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder (or carob)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 ounces red food coloring (make sure it is vegan)
4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Add vinegar to coconut milk, and set aside to curdle. Sift flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add vegetable oil, food coloring, and vanilla extract to the curdled soy milk, and mix. Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix. The mixture will be very thin- it is supposed to be that way! Fill cupcake liners ¾ full.

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes or until done.

Frosting
½ cup earth balance, room temperature
½ cup Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups sifted vegan powdered sugar

Cream margarine, cream cheese, and vanilla extract.  Slowly mix the confectioner’s sugar into the creamed sugar, and then beat until smooth and fluffy. Frost cooled cupcakes.

Vegan Coconut Cake

To me, nothing says Easter time treats like a thick slice of coconut cake! I made this cake for Easter 2011 and it turned out AMAZING, sort of. This cake ended up on the floor due to my two left feet and a dog that would not leave me along. How do I know it turned out amazing- because I ate a piece off of the floor- that’s right, I have NO SHAME. Anyway, this is a great, rich, tasty spring time treat! Enjoy!




Cake:
8 ounces silken tofu
2 1/3 cups sugar
2 cups coconut milk (from the can)
12 ounces coconut flakes
1 cup canola oil
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda


Icing:
2 cups soy margarine
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 cups shredded coconut
Directions


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Put first 5 ingredients the bowl of a food processor and puree until thick and uniform in texture. Add last 3 ingredients and process until incorporated. Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) parchment lined cake pans that have been coated with non-stick cooking spray. Bake for about 1 hour. It is very important that you line the pan with parchment paper, this cake tend to stick.


For the icing, mix ingredients until incorporated. Spread on cooled cake. Add the coconut after you have frosted! Yum!

Brown Sugar Maple Scones

YUM! I made these this past Sunday for the ladies- we sat at Peet’s coffee, enjoying the first day of sunshine in weeks, eating scones and drinking coffee! These scones are not very sweet, but they have a good maple flavor. These are also good with almond or walnut pieces in them.

Brown Sugar Maple Scones

2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, loosely packed + 1 Tablespoon
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Vegetable Shortening (non-hydrogenated)
3/4 Cup Milk Alternative
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (if you don’t, your scones will BURN). In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, 1/4 cup of brown sugar and salt. Add and cut in the shortening with pastry cutter/food processor or a couple of knives to a coarse crumb texture. Add the milk and maple syrup and stir well with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together, finishing up by hand if necessary to form a ball. The mixture will be more watery than you think, but go with it. With a big spoon, scoop out a glob and put it on the parchment paper- you should get about 10 scones (oddly shaped, just how I like ‘em). Sprinkle more brown sugar on top. Bake for about 20 – 25 minutes or until golden.

Blueberry-Lemon Scones

These are my “go-to” breakfast treat when I have friends over. Trust me; you cannot go wrong with these. Your dairy loving friends will gobble them up and ask for more.

Blueberry-Lemon Scones

    1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    2 teaspoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon salt
    1/2 cup sugar in the raw sugar
    1/2 cup margarine
    zest of 1 lemon
    1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (or a berry of your choice)
    1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I use almond, coconut is also good)
    extra sugar and vegan milk for top of scones

Directions:


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray cookie sheet lightly with oil or vegan cooking spray. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well to distribute ingredients evenly.  Add sugar, margarine, zest, blueberries and milk and stir until everything is mixed. Divide dough into six round pieces and place onto cookie sheet, flattening them a bit. Brush milk on tops of scones and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for about 13-15 min. or until scones are a little brown on top.  Enjoy!

If you use blackberries or raspberries- fresh are best. You can choose to use frozen, but they tend to break up and turn the scone red/purple.

If you prefer your scones to be more “uniformed”  follow these simple steps: Flour a large surface (I prefer wood/bamboo cutting board) and flatten out the dough. Work the dough into ½ inch thick circle. Once the circle is made, cut in half, then cut each half into thirds! Presto- bistro style scones!

I like mine to look crazy, uneven, and oddly shaped (the Gary Busey of scones)

Avocado Coconut Smoothie

Avocado Coconut Smoothie

This smoothie is what I call the miracle smoothie. It has a few basic ingredients and is a complete meal! The best part, if you have kids or ANY age- they’ll love it. The ingredients in this smoothie have the properties known to kill viruses that cause influenza, herpes, measles, hepatitis C, SARS, and other illnesses. It’s also know to kill bacteria that cause ulcers, throat infections, urinary tract infections, gum disease and cavities, pneumonia, and gonorrhea, and other diseases.

WOW! All that from a simple smoothie? Sure, if you always lead a healthy lifestyle, make wise choices and exercise!!

Here we go

1 bag frozen pineapple (or ¾ of a fresh pineapple)

1 whole avocado (minus the skin and seed of course)

1 can lower fat coconut milk (I use the Trader Joes organic)

3 kiwi skinned

Wiz this all in your blender until creamy! Serves 2

Want to add a bit of spice? I add “chili lime spice”

Want to REALLY jazz it up? Add some coconut rum and lime juice!

Vegan Snickerdoodles

My favorite cookie is the snicker doodle. This fluffy and crunchy, sugary, buttery delight is a treat from the gods. If snicker doodles were around in the 1600’s I’m sure the Spanish would have conquered the country of origin and used them as currency (I would have). I made about 300 of these god like cookies over the holidays and gave them as gifts, brought them to parties and forced them upon my coworkers.

This recipe is quite simple. If you’re a vegan baker of any type, you already have these ingredients. If not, you might need egg replacer. You can buy it at your local co-op, store or Amazon.  I buy mine from the Sacramento Food Co-Op.

Snickerdoodles
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Earth Balance (or other vegan butter)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Prepared Ener-g Egg-Replacer Egg
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/4 tsp Baking Soda

Cinnamon Sugar, for rolling

Cream sugar, Earth Balance, and vanilla extract together. Prepare the Ener-G Egg by following the package instructions, and add it to the Earth Balance and sugar mixture. Mix all the ingredients together. Do all of this in a METAL bowl.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. When they are all incorporated, mix into the wet ingredients. Slowly mix together until a nice firm ball forms. Cover the metal bowl and chill for 30 minutes. Put two cookie sheets in the refrigerator.

Pre heat oven to 375 (adjust temperature based on elevation).

Using an ice-cream scoop, scoop out a ball of mixture. Roll the mixture into a ball and roll in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place on cold cookie sheet and slighty flatten. Repeat this step about 18 times!

Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and place on a cooling rack. Cookies are best served the next day.

For an additional treat- heat up a cookie and serve with a scoop of coconut milk vanilla ice cream.

Vegan Carob Muffins with Frosting

I made carob cupcakes with fluffy vanilla frosting for a good friend’s birthday. I knew I would be the only vegan at the party, so the cupcakes needed to stand out. I took a basic vegan chocolate cupcake recipe and made it my own (carob, with other changes)…I have attached the version I made. Oh- and yes—they were a big hit.

• 1 cup coconut milk (NOT from the can- they type you would put on your cereal)  
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil and havelnut oil mixed together (total of 1/3 use more canola)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup carob powder  
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Preheat oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

Whisk together the coconut milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and almond extract, if using, to the coconut milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, carob powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain .

Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Carob muffins are best served the next day after a full 12 hours of rest.

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated shortening
• 1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine (earth balance)
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted if clumpy
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup plain soy milk or soy creamer

Beat the shortening and margarine together until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy.

Once I made the frosting, I put it in a large zip lock bag- I cut of a small corner and decorate the cupcakes!

Happy Baking