ULTIMATE Chocolate Chip Cookies

ULTIMATE Chocolate Chip Cookies

 This is the winner! 

Yield: 

24 cookies

Equipment:

Baking sheet
Parchment paper

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance Shortening  + 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar (vegan of course!)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup pastry flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Directions:

1. 
In a bowl, cream together the shortening, oil, brown sugars.
2.
Mix in the apple sauce and vanilla extract.
3.
Sift the baking soda, salt, flours, and combine the dry ingredient with the wet ingredients.
4.Mix in the vegan chocolate chips, put them on the baking sheet and back for 15minutes!

Soft & Chewy Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies

Christmas is just around the corner and I am getting into the mood early!  What better way to start the Christmas feel than by baking a fresh batch of Ginger molasses cookies.  This was the first time ever making such a flavour cookie.  Firstly, I'm not a fan of cinnamon, and secondly, I find ginger too spicy.  However, as time goes by, and I get older, my pallet has grown to acquired this spice combination and I now think it's pretty tasty.  I surprised myself on how tasty these turned out.  Soft and chewy inside and crispy outside!  

This recipe pretty much was adapted from the snickerdoodle recipe, but substituted a few minor ingredients to now a more classic ginger cookies ingredients.  This was when I used my culinary brain and the outcome was fantastic!  Proud of myself!

Ingredients:
Cookies dough:

• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of molasses
• 3 tbsp soy milk (or non- dairy milk of your choice)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt

Sugar Topping

• 2 tbsp sugar

Directions:


1. 
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In plate or a bowl, place 2 tbsp of sugar on the plate and set aside.
 2.
In a bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, molasses, non-dairy milk, and vanilla extract.
3. 
In the same bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger and mix until the dough is combined.
4.
Roll the cookie dough into a ball about the size  of a golf ball and flatten it to a small hockey puck shape.  Dip one side of the cookie dough into the sugar topping mix and place the cookie "sugar side up" on the cookie sheet
5.
Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Vegan Cinnamon Chocolate Snickerdoodles

A mountain of COOOOKIES!!

  I saw a beautiful post of Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodle.  I didn't know what snickerdoodles were but the name was too cute and the cookies look wonderful! This recipe I've posted is an adaption of IraChandra's snickerdoodle recipe (Here) because I didn't have cayenne peppers, I just used cinnamon and chocolate and it turned out DELICIOUS.  This post is slightly picture heavy because I just love the way they look!

 

 

Yield:

24-30 Cookies- this depends how large you want you cookies.

Equipment:

Baking sheet
Parchment paper

Ingredients:
Cookies dough:

• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup of maple syrup
• 3 tbls soy milk (or non- dairy milk of your choice)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 2/3cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt

Sugar Topping:

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbls sugar

Directions:


1. 
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In plate or a bowl, combine the Sugar Topping mix.
 2.
In a bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, maple syrup, soy milk, and vanilla extract.
3. 
In the same bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and  cocoa powder and mix until the dough is combined.
4. 
Roll the cookie dough into a ball about the size  of a golf ball and flatten it to a small hockey puck shape.  Dip one side of the cookie dough into the sugar topping mix and place the cookie "sugar side up" on the cookie sheet
5. 
Bake for 10=15 minutes.

Enjoy with an ice cold glass of milk!

Vegan Mint Green Tea Cupcakes- Happy Birthday Hope!

It's Hope's Birthday and I've whipped a batch of Peppermint Green Tea Cupcake.  This was actually the second attempt, the first attemp turned out lovely, however the actual cake was dark black.  It wasn't burnt, but it did looked like chcoolate cake.  I think it had to do with the green tea matcha that turned the cake was completely black if baked too long.  This time around, I closely monitored the cupcakes, I noticed it turning brown even though it wasn't completely cooked but turned out a dark swamp green... oh well, it may not have a grass green colour, but its all natural without food colouring!

Yield: 

12 Cupcakes

Equipment:

Muffin Pan
Muffin Liners (12)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup organic sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper mint extract
• 1and 1/3cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp green tea matcha powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. 
In a bowl, combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar together, the soya will thicken.
2.
In a separate bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and  matcha powder.
3.
In the soy milk and vinegar mixture, combine the sugar, vanilla extract, peppermint extract, vegetable oil and whisk until frothy. 
4.
Combine the sifted dry ingredients with the wet.  Don't over mix, just until the lumps are gone and that the dry ingredients are incorporated.
5. 
Bake for 15-20 minutes in a preheated 350 degrees oven.

GREEN TEA ICING

Equipment:

Electric Mixer or Stand Mixer

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Earth Balance
• 3 tbsp matcha green tea powder. 
• 3 cup vegan powdered sugar
• 1-2 tbsp of soya milk

Directions:

1. 
Whisk together the Earth Balance butter. Add powdered sugar and whip until light and fluffy! (5-10 mins)
2.
Dissolve the matcha powder in the soya milk and whip with the icing until combined.
3.
Decorate your cupcake!

Vegan Chocolate Cupcake with Sunflower Butter Frosting!

Quick post on the success of these BEAUTIFUL, MOIST, and AMAZING vegan cupcakes!  I dare anyone to taste these and tell me they taste vegan!  Now that I am a vegan, I couldn't live without my sweets, which is why I needed to experiment with vegan baking!  I have such a sweet tooth...  I absolutely love this easy recipe and will be making it for my boss's birthday this coming Wednesday.  I won't be telling the office crew that the cupcakes are vegan until everyone's have had a bit!

Here is the site where I found this recipe (Click Here).  I've made tiny tiny modification from the original recipe. See below!

Yield: 

12 Cupcakes

Equipment:

Muffin Pan
Muffin Liners (12)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup organic sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 1 cup all-purpose whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup, rawcocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. 
In a bowl, stir in the soy milk and apple cider vinegar together and set aside for 5 mins. The soy milk should curdle!
2.
In a separate bowl, sift together the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and  raw coco powder.
3.
In the soy milk and vinegar mixture, combine the sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, vegetable oil and whisk until frothy. 
4.
Combine the sifted dry ingredients with the wet.  Don't over mix, just until the lumps are gone and that the dry ingredients are incorporated.
5. 
Bake for 15-20 minutes in a preheated 350 degrees oven.

Soooooo good! Enjoy with a cup of soy milk in your favourite cup!

Now to whip up a batch of Vegan Butter Cream!

Equipment:

Electric Mixer or Stand Mixer

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Earth Balance
• 1/2 cup of Sunflower butter.  (Click for image)
• 1 cup vegan powdered sugar
• 1-2 tbsp of soya milk

Directions:

1. 
Whisk together the Earth Balance and Sunflower butter. Add powdered sugar and whip until light and fluffy! (5-10 mins)
2.
If the mixture is too stiff add 1 tbsp  at a time.
3.
Decorate your cupcake!

Vegan Brownies?!?

Please excuse the poor quality of this photo,,, took it from my iPhone and not my usual DSLR.

I've just recently watched an amazing movie called Earthlings which is a  2005 movie about humanity's use of animals as pets, clothing, entertainment, scientific research, and food.  This movie has opened my eyes particularly towards what I consume in my diet.  I've watched Food Inc. a few years prior, but hadn't effected anywhere as disgusted as this film.  After watching this film, I was so confuse on the direction I wanted my diet to move.  After pondering and sharing to my feeling with co-workers, one of them had made a good point regarding the consumption of meat.  Natives who live in cold climates need to hunt animals to eat in order to survive because vegetation is so scarce.  I then thought about the fact that even in the animal world, they hunt other animals for food for survival.  I came to the conclusion that I do not wish to become a vegetarian, or vegan, but a Flexitarian .   I now do my research to make sure that the meats, eggs, dairy, items I purchase were from animals that had a a live.  Free range, organic, and not from a genetically modified chicken that lays over 20 eggs a day.  You get what I mean.

Its hard... but I've been doing a bunch of research and found some really cool recipes.  I stumbled upon a Vegetarian Brownie from a site called Love Food Eat.(Click on the link to go to her site)  I read the comments and those who made the recipe were very happy with the results and most importantly, the taste.

So here it is, my first attempt on a Vegan Brownies, I've modified her recipe and cut all the ingredients pretty much in half because I wanted to make a small batch to test it out. 

Yield 12

Equipment:

Baking Pan 5x8
Parchment paper

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup vegan chocolate chips
• 3 table spoon of olive oil
• 3/4 cups water
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 ripe banana mashed well.

Directions:

1. 
Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well.
2.
Mash the banana, and combine all the we ingredients together
3.
combine the wet and dry ingredients.
4.
Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and pour the batter into the pan.  Spread the batter so its all even, and place it into a 350 degree oven for 15-20 mins.    You may want to check earlier if you want a gooey consistency.

Looks like Brownie batter =D

All in all it tasted pretty good!  Not the best I must admit, I think I added too much banana, I should have just used 1/2 because it was a bit gummy.  Practice makes perfect!  My next attempt, Double Chocolate Cookies,  researching right now!

My Procrastination Syndrome...Themed Cake: Angry Bird

Shame on me.... what's my excuse this time.... Diablo 3!!  I've been playing this game for the past 3 months now... enough excuses...  I should make it my goal to post at least 1 entry every month!

My co-worker's daughter's birthday was on June 10th.  Two week prior I overheard her in the next office talking about how she wanted to buy a themed cake for her daughter's 8th birthday and was waiting on pricing confirmations from bakers.  As soon as she passed my office door, I waved her inside and asked her about the cake she was going to get her daughter.  She showed me some Angry Bird Cakes.  I ashed her which cake had she planed on getting her daughter from the pictures she showed me and it was a 2 layer cake, being a rectangle base, and a circle second layer.  I then asked her how much she would be charged for such beautiful cakes and I was astonished to hear that it would be approximately $400.  I looked at it and said that I could replicate that cake and charge only half the price.  She was a bit skeptical, but I quickly whipped out my iPhone and showed her my past wedding cakes and she was convinced.  For the next half hour we planned out the detail of the cake.  It took me a whole week to plan out her cake and prepare the marshmallow fondant ready a few days before.    I took the Friday off to baked the cake in the morning and masked it in the evening. 

 On the day of her daughter's birthday, I delivered the cake with my car's AC BLASTING because it was incredibly hot!.  I was soooooooo afraid the cake was going to melt.

Everything turned out well.  I assembled the cake at her house and all the kids were excited.  It made me really happy **blush**

Piggies make out of Timbits wrapped with marshmallow fondant!!!

 
It was very tiring and labour intensive.  All-in-all I was very pleased with the results! It's a matter of time before I do another cake!