Party Time Vegan Cupcakes

YOU GUYS. These cupcakes are so, so good. I used this cupcake recipe and this frosting recipe. (Both from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook.) And I am never going back to buying store-bought frosting. And I am never going to stop licking frosting off of spoons. I brought these to a party and everyone got super blissful expressions on their faces as they ate them. I know because I stood in the corner behind the food table and creepily spied on people, okay?

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (I just used white vinegar)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract (I used almond extract and it really did add a nice hint of almondy flavor. Definitely worth it.)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

 First off, add the vinegar to the soymilk in a bowl until it curdles. I KNOW, this is gross. Don't even worry about it.

I too was skeptical of a recipe that starts out with curdled soy milk, but seriously, these cupcakes are amazing.

Then stir in the sugar, oil, and assorted extracts. Meanwhile sift together the dry ingredients in another bowl and then add them to the wet ingredients and stir until all the big lumps are gone. Pour the delicious batter into 12 cupcake cups and bake for 18-20 minutes. Lick some batter off your finger.


Frosting ingredients:

• 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening (This is the first time I've ever bought shortening! It made awesome frosting so that's cool)
• 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup plain soy milk or soy creamer
• Optional: some crushed-up cookies to make cookies n cream frosting! I used the Meijer store brand of chocolate Teddy Grahams. They are Dinosaur Grahams which is obviously way better.

 Cream together the shortening and the margarine until they're blended. Then add the powdered sugar and beat it for 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and soy milk and keep beating for 7 minutes. (Says the recipe. I gave up earlier because I don't have a mixer and my arm hurt.) Add crushed cookies at the end if you want. And you DO.

Mmm, frosting.

Cookies n cream frosting! This is like 30 dino grahams mashed up in here.

Then after the cupcakes cool, frost them! The frosting recipe makes enough for probably 50 cupcakes. So if you don't make that many cupcakes, you'll have plenty of delicious frosting, which you can put on dino grahams, pretzels, or fingers.

The worst part about this recipe is that it only makes 12 :(

Dessert & a movie: The Social Network

For The Social Network (which I liked, by the way, although I don't think it quite lived up to all the Best Picture of the Century hype), we went with a fancy college food theme. We had a salad and a delicious homemade pizza, which I unfortunately didn't take pictures of. And for dessert, I made Vegan Milanos from the Post-Punk Kitchen! I was a little afraid they would be above my skill level, but they turned out pretty well. If I do say so myself, they were a hit. Not as big of a hit as Facebook, of course, but if I had a bigger kitchen 500 million people might want to eat these cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup rice or soy milk (I used soy)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Scant 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest (I didn't use this but I bet it would make the cookies even awesomer)
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (or use chocolate chips)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease two cookie sheets.
2. Mix the sugar, oil, milk, vanilla, and zest.
3. Add half of the flour, along with the cornstarch, baking powder and salt and mix well.
4. Add the remaining flour and mix until you have a soft, pliable dough.
5. Set aside a little bowl of flour and dust your hands before making every cookie!
6. Take a small spoonful of dough and roll it into a log in your hands. Then squish it flat until it's like, the shape of a Milano.
7. Keep making Milanos until you use all the dough, then bake them for 10-ish minutes.

8. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate. I use a makeshift double-boiler of a small pot inside a slightly larger pot of boiling water. If you don't melt chocolate often, let me stress... stir the chocolate like there is no tomorrow or it will burn and be horrible! Also don't let any water splash in there or it will also be horrible.

9. OK, so the recipe advised you to dip each cookie facedown in the chocolate and then push them together to make a sandwich, but I was afraid I'd drop the cookies or something. So I just dropped about a spoonful of chocolate on a cookie and then squished another one on top of it.

10. Put them on a tray in the fridge for an hour or so. Then let them get back to room temperature before serving them.
11. Hurrah!

Spinach Smoothie

I've read on multiple food blogs that you can put spinach into smoothies and you can't even taste it. So, I decided to try throwing a handful of baby spinach & greens mix into my regular smoothie recipe, which is just:

1 thing of yogurt (I think it's 6 oz)
1 yogurt-thing full of soy milk
1 handful of frozen berries
(In this case it's raspberry yogurt and frozen raspberries, but sometimes I mix it up.)

Blend until it looks, you know, smooth.

Anyway, I could taste the spinach, but not really in a bad way. Just like an extra bit of, uh, earthy flavor? Honestly it probably tastes slightly better without the spinach, but I'll keep adding it when I make smoothies, since it's such an easy way to eat more spinach!

(Sorry if this post is super obvious to everyone, but I only recently learned how easy it is to make smoothies at home. And only recently-er did I try adding greens.)

2 great uses for candy canes

1.) Peppermint bark
This is my favorite Christmastime recipe! It's sooo easy and sooo delicious. And its perceived fanciness level is higher than the level of difficulty in making it.

Ingredients:

• 12 candy canes
• 1 lb vanilla almond bark*

* When I lived in California literally no grocery store knew what I was talking about when I asked for almond bark and they kept trying to sell me almonds. Umm no, almond bark is a chocolate-ish substance designed for melting. Technically nowhere on this package does it say almond bark, but, IDK, that's what my mom always called it.

I misread "CandiQuik" as "Candique" which sounds a lot fancier.

Anyway, all you do is crush all the candy canes. I used a dumbbell. Be careful because even if you put them in a nice Ziplock bag you'll probably still crush right through the bag and get candy cane dust on the counter. And if the counter is wet, the candy cane dust will melt into a pink crust that is really hard to get off the counter. Not that that exact thing happened to me OR ANYTHING.

Then, melt the almond bark, either in the microwave or in a double-boiler on the stove.

Then, add the crushed candy canes and pour it out on waxed paper on a flat surface.

Let it cool for about an hour (or put it in the fridge if you're in a hurry) and break it up into pieces. Oh, and some recipes will call for you to melt dark chocolate and drizzle it over the top. This does admittedly make it look even fancier, but I think it tastes better with just white chocolate. Also, some recipes call for you to add peppermint oil, but... let's be real, with 12 candy canes in there it is straight-up minty enough.

For an extra fancy touch, you can put it in festive little bags!

2.) Peppermint brownies

Again, the perceived fanciness here exceeds the difficulty level.

Ingredients:

• 1 box brownie mix and everything the box says you need to make said brownies (eggs, oil, whatev)
• 1 can buttercream frosting (or you can make the frosting yourself if you are like that)
• 1 tsp peppermint oil
• Crushed candy canes (I used 6)
• Red food coloring*

*Some might make a case for green here. I will only say that my college dining hall had green mint-frosted brownies that were universally referred to as "toothpaste brownies."

Make the brownies like usual and let them cool. MEANWHILE mix half the can of frosting in a bowl with the peppermint oil and food coloring until you get minty, appropriately-colored frosting. Frost the brownies and top with crushed candy canes. BAM.

peanut butter swirl brownies

I got it into my head that I really wanted to make peanut butter swirl brownies, but for some reason I either found really elaborate recipes that called for melting down baker's chocolate, or really basic recipes that started with a box of brownie mix. I had neither baker's chocolate nor brownie mix on hand and I didn't want to go out and buy anything since I was confident I already had the makings of peanut butter brownies on hand. I ended up combining this recipe and this recipe and they turned out pretty great, if I do say so myself.

Brownie batter:

• 1/2 cup butter (I used Smart Balance)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

Peanut butter filling:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (again, I used Smart Balance)
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (I used white sugar and it was fine)
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Then, in one bowl, first mix all the wet ingredients for the brownie batter, and then add the dry ingredients. Set them aside and mix up the peanut butter filling. Then grease an 8x8 pan and fill it about halfway with brownie batter. Drop in several spoonfuls of peanut butter filling and swirl it around with a butter knife or something. Don't get TOO swirly or it will just blend together. Then pour the rest of the brownie batter over this, and then the rest of the peanut butter filling in spoonfuls and swirl it again. Bake it for like 20 minutes. Or until they're done.

Swirls!

bread!!

You guys, I totally made bread. From scratch! With yeast and everything! Not going to lie, I'm pretty impressed with myself. I followed the recipe from here pretty exactly.

• 4 cups of all purpose or unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt      
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 package dry yeast     
• 1 3/4 cups hot  water

First: mix the flour, salt, and yeast in a big bowl. Then it said to "form a well" in the dry ingredients and stir in the water and then the oil until it looks like dough. It specifically said to use a wooden spoon but I don't have one so I used a plastic one?? It turned out okay. I don't know what effect a wooden spoon would have but use it if you've got it, I guess.

Then, on a "well-floured" work surface knead the dough for 10 minutes or until it feels "elastic." I have no idea what that means because if you ask me it was elastic to start out with? So I just set a timer for 10 minutes and did that.

Then I put it in in a big bowl (the same one from before but I rinsed it out and then sprayed the inside with olive oil spray) and covered it with Saran wrap for an hour and a half.

Here again I diverged from the recommendation of that website because I don't have any "bread bowls." I have one metal loaf pan. And after the dough has risen for an hour-ish, you're supposed to divide it in half and put the halves in whatever you're going to bake them in (greased) and let them rise again for 20 30 minutes. But only one batch of the dough went in the loaf pan and the other half stayed in the bowl. It turned out okay I guess?

I forgot to say, pre-heat the oven to 375 and bake it for 20 minutes or until it turns "golden brown."

OH and I decided to make one loaf of cinnamon bread so I just mixed 1/4 cup of sugar and a couple good shakes of cinnamon in with the dough. There is maybe a more scientific way of doing that but it turned out pretty tasty.

It is tasty! Kind of dense and I wondered if maybe I didn't knead it enough, or whatever, but my friend Mary (who is an accomplished breadstress and sent me this recipe) says the recipe is for kind of dense bread and if I want something lighter I should try this recipe. WHICH MAYBE I WILL.

Oh and Mary says this recipe also makes good pizza dough which I will definitely try in the future. 

Also I have to say that clean-up after this was a bitch and there is still bread dough stuck to my sponge. Worth it? I guess?

PS I consulted with Mary and she said I should leave it out longer for the second rising and it will be fluffier. I made another batch of bread and left it out for more like 30 minutes on the second rising and it totally worked. Yeah bread!

Vegan-ish Chocolate chip Oatmeal Cookies

These are almost vegan except I used regular chocolate chips. If you get vegan ones, or just use raisins instead, they will be vegan! Whoaaa.

I kind of made this recipe up based on the oatmeal cookie recipe that came on the Meijer brand oatmeal package. They are delicious, if I do say so myself!

Ingredients:
1 cup applesauce (just the regular kind from a jar. I thought using my homemade applesauce would make it too apple-y and cinnamon-y, but who knows, maybe it would have been awesome)
1/2 cup Smart Balance spread
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
3 cups oats
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

So, first I creamed together the sugars, applesauce, and Smart Balance. Then I added the vanilla, flour, salt, and baking soda. Last I stirred in the oats and chocolate chips! I baked them for like fifteen minutes at 350, but I like my cookies crisp and golden brown. Start checking them after 10 minutes if you want them softer.

PS this makes really delicious dough that you can eat without fear of salmonella! Yeah!

banana bread

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter  
3/4 cup brown sugar* (the original recipe, which I think came from AllRecipes.com, calls for brown sugar, but brown sugar is hard to come by in the DR so I use raw cane sugar. You could probably even use regular white sugar if that's all you have.)
2 eggs
3 or 4 mashed overripe bananas

I like to bake on Sunday evenings and bring in fresh baked goods on Monday morning! My co-workers like it too :) Banana bread is great because you feel like you are a hero for not wasting nasty bananas. But I really like banana bread so sometimes I just go out and buy brown bananas for this exact purpose.

The bananas should basically be straight-up nasty looking. If your bananas reach this nasty stage and you don't feel like making banana bread yet, you can freeze them and then thaw them later. (By the way, I like taking pictures of all the ingredients for the blog, but also I always set everything out before I start making something to make sure I have everything! It's super frustrating if you get halfway through a recipe and realize you're out of eggs.)

If your butter is in the fridge, set it out and let it get to room temperature before you start baking. Microwaving it makes recipes turn out a little weird.

Anyway, measure out the dry ingredients except for the sugar and mix them up in a bowl. (I spaced out this time and mixed the sugar in with everything else and it worked out okay though.) Cream together the butter and the sugar in a different bowl, and add the eggs and bananas (mashed with a fork). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix it with a fork enough to moisten everything, but don't over-stir it or you'll eff it all up!! Just kidding, but it will make the bread more tough. Not like in a Joan Jett way, but just like not quite as tasty.

Pour your batter into a lightly greased pan of some sort. (This might make two loaf pan-sized loaves.) I use this Dutch oven, because I don't have a real oven. Tip: sprinkle a little sugar on top of the batter! It'll give your bread a shiny, delicious top. If you are using a Dutch oven, which you are probably not, cook this on a low-ish flame for like half an hour. If you are using a real oven, the original recipe calls for 60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Are you... curious about my Dutch oven?

 

As you can see, it's round with a hole in the middle, so everything I make with it looks like a Bundt cake! Or a wreath! It fits over a gas stove burner and it directs the heat so it bakes evenly. Pretty awesome! There are also Dutch ovens for camping, which are basically just cast iron pots with lids that you can stick directly into coals to bake with.

 

Mmm, it's done when it's golden-brown and a toothpick (or fork, because who the hell has toothpicks?) comes out clean!