Vegan/Allergy-Friendly Banana Bread!

 (from ambitiouskitchen.com)

INGREDIENTS:

Wet

3 big bananas mashed, 4 or 5 if you have shrimpy ones (1 1/3 cup mashed)

1/3c melted and cooled oil (called for coconut but canola was fine)

1/2c packed brown sugar

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

2tbsp dairy-free milk of choice

Dry

1 3/4c flour of choice (Bob's 1-1 is a great gf option)

1tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2tsp salt

1/2 cup dairy/soy-free chocolate chips (Enjoy Life is the best brand!)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Line a tin (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 is recommended) with parchment paper and grease inside of pan. *Wasn't sure if they meant grease the pan under the liner or the liner...so I did both!

Mix WET ingredients together in a big bowl.

Mix DRY ingredients together and whisk. 

Add DRY ingredients to WET ingredients and mix together until just combined. Lumps are ok!

Add in chocolate chips and mix.

Put batter into pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Allow bread to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes then remove from pan and place on a wire rack to finish cooling. Slice and eat when cool!

Double Chocolate Tofu Donuts

 Kicked off the Thanksveganing day of cooking and eating with a bit of a dabble into baking - this recipe seemed worth a shot!

Recipe

• 1 pack silken tofu, drained
• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1/4 c sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 c cocoa powder
• (dark) chocolate bar for topping

Mash up the tofu. Mix up the dry ingredients (flour, sugar & powders), then add in the tofu. Keep working it until it comes together and stops being crumbly (a couple minutes). Roll the dough into a long snake and cut into 8 pieces, and curl them into rings.

From here, you can fry or bake (375 degrees, ~15 mins). Meanwhile, melt your chocolate topping and dip the finished donuts.

Notes

1. The above doubles the original recipe. I got halfway into this before thinking, what else am I going to do with half a pack of silken tofu (especially with T-giving leftovers incoming...).
2. The dough took a little time and effort to come together, so be patient! Just when you think you messed up, it comes together.
3. I am not a baker and actually did mess up though. I forgot the baking powder, and made melting the chocolate topping kind of gross. Which left me with a dense and less-appealing final product.
4. All that said, I still liked them! Worth trying again soon :)

T-giving bfast for the coffee drinker in the house...

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten-free, vegan, and allergy-friendly! Also DELICIOUS.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups pureed pumpkin (1 15 oz. can is fine)

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c molasses

2 c rolled oats

1 c flour *substitute gf flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

***for the spices, a pumpkin spice mix would be amazing

1/2 c raisins *OPTIONAL--I say GROSS.

1 c chocolate chips/chunks of your choice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix pumpkin, sugar, and molasses together.

In small bowl, combine oats, flour, spices, and baking soda.

Mix together with pumpkin and sugar. Mix in chocolate and/or raisins.

Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet. (I sprinkled a little kosher salt on top–highly recommend) 

Bake 11/13 minutes.

NOTES:

I was really impressed with these as they stuck together super well despite the lack of egg and they came out nice and chewy. 

I think the bake time was a little longer than written? Just watch for your desired level of chewy. 

And the batter was so good we ended up cooking a tray-full of the batter then eating the rest straight out of the mixing bowl over the course of a couple days.

Savory Soda Bread

Savory Soda Bread

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp finely chopped herbs of your choice
2 tbsp chopped scallions
2 oz. cubed sharp cheddar cheese *or cheese of your choice
2 oz. shredded cheddar *or cheese of your choice
1 cup buttermilk (1 cup milk and about 1 tbsp lemon, which you let sit 5-10 minutes)
1 large egg
1 tbsp melted butter
1/4 c roasted sunflower seeds
a bunch of cloves of garlic, chopped and sauteed until golden brown
at least 4 slices of cooked and largely crumbled bacon


DIRECTIONS:

1.) Preheat oven to 425. Line sheet pan with parchment paper, sprinkle lightly with flour

2.) In a medium-large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Add herbs, scallions, cheese, sunflower seeds, bacon, and garlic. Stir again. Run through the dough with fingers to break apart diced cheese that has stuck together.

3.) Combine the egg and buttermilk in a small bowl or cup until well combined.

4.) Make a well in the center fo the flour mixture and add the buttermilk and egg. Stir just until all the flour is incorporated.

5.) Turn the dough out onto a work surface that has been generously dusted with flour. Turn the dough several times to coat with flour then form into a round loaf. If the dough is sticky and difficult to shape, add a little extra flour to the work surface and your hands if need be.

6.) Transfer the loaf to the sheet pan. With a sharp derated knife, cut an "X" on top of the loaf (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep).

7.) Bake for 20 minutes. Cover with foil if getting too brown. Bake for another 8-10 minutes. The top should be a nice golden brown.

8.) Remove from oven. Brush the loaf with melted butter and allow to cool for about 20 minutes before slicing.

Concord Grape & Thyme Bars

I emerged from a mountain retreat bearing its bounteous fruits: a pitcher of cool apple cider (too simple a concept to be included here?) and a heaping bowl of concord grapes (no turkeys - this time...).  What to do with the grapes?  It took a little more research than usual, but as always, the internet came through with an intriguing recipe.

Recipe

1 lb concord grapes, stemmed

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

2 c sugar

2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

3 c all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

16 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into 1/4" pieces

Squeeze the grapes to separate skins from pulp.  Process the skins until roughly chopped.  Boil the pulp in a saucepan, then simmer until they lose their shape.  Pour the pulp through a sieve, pushing through as much as you can minus the seeds.

Combine the pulp, skins, lemon juice, and 1 cup sugar in the saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then simmer about 30 minutes.  Add the thyme and simmer until reduced and jam-like.

Combine the flour, baking powder, 1 c sugar, and salt; add the egg and butter and get into a crumbly dough.  Press 2/3 into the bottom of a baking dish (13x9 or similar), spread the jam over, and crumble the rest of the dough on top.  Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.

Notes

The grape preparation sounds elaborate, but it does seem to make sense (as we discovered by trying to cut corners).  So stick to that.  Otherwise, it's straightforward baking, with all the butter and sugar that apparently entails.  Great stuff, good use of our concords!

Snickerdoodles!

I vaguely remember making snickerdoodles for a colonial fair in elementary school.  So I've always had a soft spot for that lesser-known cookie - or maybe it was just because they're delicious.  So when I happened across an easy recipe online (one in a cookbook I have required tartar sauce? (correction: cream of tartar, but still, what is that and who has it lying around?)), I was excited to give it a go:

Recipe

3 tbsp room-temperature butter
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

cinnamon sugar: 1 tsp granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Whisk together the butter and sugar, then the egg yolk and vanilla.  Stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder, then refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Heat oven to 350 and mix your cinnamon sugar.  When the dough has hardened a bit, divide it into two cookies (this is a very small-batch recipe), roll them in the cinnamon sugar, and place on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet.  Bake 16-18 minutes.

Notes

Keeping things in the ADKs theme, I used maple sugar instead of the first batch of sugar.  Either because of that or because of a weak/too short refrigeration period, the dough was still super gooey when I tried to roll it and ready it to bake.  The end product was still delicious!  If not picture-worthy...

Fresh Corn Cornbread

You can always count on America's Test Kitchen for a delicious recipe.  Sure, there might be much simpler versions out there on the internet, but you get to feel like a real chef.  Here's the latest:

Recipe

1 1/3 c cornmeal
1 c all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp salt
3 ears-worth of corn kernels
6 tbsp butter
1 c buttermilk
2 eggs plus another egg yolk

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Process the corn kernels until smooth, then cook in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir constantly until thick and rich yellow.  Remove from heat and add in 5 tbsp butter, then the buttermilk, then the eggs.  Mix into the dry ingredients.

Meanwhile, melt the last tbsp butter in a cast-iron skillet or baking dish.  Spread batter into the dish, then pop it in the oven.  Bake about 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick/fork/knife/whatever comes out of the middle clean.  Let cool and sit for a while if you can.

Notes

As much as I'd like to follow these intricate recipes as closely as possible, I did take a couple liberties.  Regular milk, only two eggs, but also what I think was a nice idea - using maple syrup instead of sugar.  My baking dish was also a little smaller than what they recommend (10" skillet), and it rose a bit to give me a surprise the first time I checked on it.  Since it was thicker, I had to bake it longer to let it set; it got a nice crust, maybe a touch dry and crumbly, but very nice!  Not too sweet, so if that's what you prefer, up the sugar (or syrup).  Finding a few different uses for the rest of the loaf (e.g., the base of an open-faced bacon & egg sandwich).

Peanut Butter Cookies

Build lean muscle while eating cookies?  Worth a shot...

Recipe

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup Splenda (really? maybe plain sugar instead?)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
sea salt

Mix the peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg until doughy.  Line a cookie sheet with foil, lightly oil, and plop spoonfuls on there.  You can flatten them out and give them the standard press pattern with a fork if you want.  Give a very light sprinkle of sea salt.  Cook 10-15 minutes at 350, until golden brown.

Notes

Simple enough, but I don't think I got a single ingredient right in my first attempt.  I had chunky peanut butter, honey, and almond extract.  OK, an egg is hard to mess up.  And sea salt.  So not as bad as I thought, but still...  I said what the hell, I'll make it work through sheer force of will.  It was... interesting.

Jalapeno-Cheddar Scones

This was a clear first choice from A Snap Cookbook: Good and Cheap.

Recipe

2 1/2 c whole-wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
4 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 jalapeno, diced
2 eggs, beaten
1 more egg, beaten
1/2 c milk
salt & pepper

Prep things first because your hands will get messy: Pop the butter in the freezer, preheat the oven (400), and put out a baking sheet with some parchment paper.  And do the other stuff like dicing the jalapeno, grating the cheese, beating the first couple eggs, etc.

First, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Next, grate the (hardened) butter in and squish in with your hands.  The cheese, jalapeno, two eggs and milk go in next, and mix it all in with your hands.  Plop it onto a flat surface and shape it into a disk about 1 1/2" thick.  Cut it into six wedges, put them on the baking sheet, brush with the last egg, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook for about 25 minutes.

Notes

These came out pretty good, although I wasn't blown away by the flavors.  Use a big jalapeno and plenty of cheese.  And they're probably best going with something rather than just on its own.  But overall it's a nice savory pastry.

Beer Bread

I haven't been much inclined toward baking, but I also kind of hate buying a whole loaf of bread that I'll use sporadically and then throw out half.  So why not try my hand at something more interesting that I'll actually want to use?  This just looked so simple it was worth a shot.

Recipe

2 1/2 c flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 12 oz beer

Preheat the oven to 375.  Combine dry ingredients, and slowly mix in the beer.  Get the dough nice and even, put into a *greased* loaf pan, and bake about 45 minutes.

Notes

I understand none of the chemistry of how this works, but whatever. Having tried it twice with very positive results, I think if beer wasn't a major component, this would be the recipe you have your kids bake you.

The recipe also promises to be easily customizable, whatever you want or have on hand in terms of flour, sweetener (except I will save you the Googling - baking powder and baking soda are not substitutes).  I fully encourage experimentation, with corresponding labels such as "honey-lager bread" or such.