Vegan Raspberry Chip Cookies

They taste just like regular cookies!

These are an amazing alternative to chocolate chip cookies. This recipe was so good that I am going to experiment with other types of cookies with this recipe as the base (like oatmeal raisin, sugar cookies, etc.)

oops, I ate one

Vegan Raspberry Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened, plain soy milk
• 1 tbsp tapioca flour
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cups chocolate chip
• 3/4 cups raspberry "tidbits" (or any flavor chips, nuts, dried fruit, etc. you like) 

The only thing that isn't great about this recipe is the dough- it's oily and strange, I recommend waiting until they're baked ;)

Super Vegan Pancakes

Dear Gina, I turned your pancakes vegan, I hope you're OK with that...

If this makes you uncomfortable, please find comfort in knowing that they rocked- wish you where here to eat them with me!

Vegan Pancakes

(with banana, wheat germ & ground flax seed)

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp wheat germ
• 1 tbsp flax seed meal
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened, plain soy milk
• 3 tbsp melted margarine (earth balance)
• 1-2 very ripe bananas, thinly sliced into disks

Mix everything except for the banana slices together. Once well-mixed, stir in the banana. Scoop the batter onto a hot, margarined pan/skillet.

If you want thinner pancakes, add more soy milk and maybe a tbsp of canola oil.

Vegan Cherry Bourbon Brownie Cupcakes

Last weekend I made vegan brownies, or what I thought where going to be vegan brownies. It turned out to be more like a loaf of chocolate bread. ... Pretty disappointing.

A week later, after gathering all of the ingredients I was finally ready to make Isa and Terry's Brooklyn Brownie cupcakes, hoping to get my vegan brownie.  But first I had to pick up black cherry preserves, whiskey (a bit unusual I was out of this one) and soy yogurt (harder to find in my area of SF then I thought).

I wish you could smell this! (Melted Ghirardelli chocolate, cherry bourbon wet ingredients and chocolatey dry ingredients)

The batter tasted kind of like whiskey :)

The cupcakes were moist and sweet and the hints of cherry and whiskey were a flavorful surprise nestled in the middle of the cupcake. But still not at resembling the amazing cakey/fudgy texture of my uber chocolatey brownies. The next challenge is to take my recipe and turn it vegan while trying to keep the brownie's texture- Can it be done?!

Vegan Banana Bread

I just turned my mom's banana bread recipe vegan! It didn't rise as much as the regular recipe but the flavor and texture are on point.

iPhone 3G :/

Vegan Banana Bread

 
Preheat oven to 350. Margarine and flour a 9 x 5 x 3 inch pan.

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 salt

1/4 cup margarine (earth balance is good)
1/2 cup sugar

3 very ripe bananas, pureed
8 tsp unsweetened, plain soy milk

Sift the flour with the baking soda and salt.

Cream the margarine and gradually add the sugar. Add the bananas and blend thouroughly.

Slowely and alternetly fold in the flour mixture and milk mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Blend well after each addition. Pour into pan and bake for about an hour until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Bagels

I spent Sunday afternoon in La Victoria Bakery's industrial kitchen! La Victoria Bakery has been a staple in the Mission for 60 years and makes amazing pan dulces.

They also let other bakers use their amazing kitchen. This is how I ended up making bagels with my baking class partner, Sonja, through a Sour Flour class.

The art of bagel making can be elusive. Though it only has three ingredients, getting the right consistency is...tough. Over the past year I have been working more with pastry dough and gentle kneading is required. Not so with bagel dough. You need seriously strong hands.  Here is some of the low-down I got from Danny, Founder of Sour Flour.

Bagels are made from starter (a piece of dough in which yeast continually grows by adding flour and water to it daily), high gluten flour, and salt- That's it. It's best to measure with a scale but Danny says, "If not, a cup of flour is usually around 125g, water 225g."

Six bagels can be made from 500g of dough. "The trick is to divide your ingredients by the total dough percentage." Flour is marked at 100%, hydration (water) at 54%, and salt at 2%. So the total for the flour is 1.562. (Wow, this not me talking math, it's Danny via email.)

500g/1.562=320g of flour

320g x .54=173g of water

320g x .022=7g of salt
and 5g of starter

(You will also need baking soda to put in the boiling water)

I was going to send you to a link now that explains, simply, how to make bagel dough, but apparently there is nothing out there...So, just go take Danny's class or try to figure it out in your kitchen and don't be fooled by other recipes that call for other ingredients!

This bagel dough kind of went to hell & back before being boiled & baked...