Pomegranate White Chip Cookies

It's my birthday! So, as a birthday present to everyone, here is one of the first gluten-free cookie recopies I came up with, and also one of my favorites. They're pretty healthy what with quinoa and flaxseed meal, and the coconut flour adds a delicate sweet flavor. These are great for winter when pomegranates are ripest.

Ingredients:
Flour mix (this makes about 4c, and you only need 3; you could always do a quadruple batch to make up the difference!)
1 c brown rice flour
1/2 c almond flour
1/2 c hazelnut flour
1/2 c quinoa flour
1/2 c coconut flour
1/4 c flaxseed meal
1/2 c oat flour
1 tsp xanthum gum
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Other ingredients:
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tbsp EnerG egg replacer
6 tbsp warm water

Add-ins:
1 pomegranate's worth of arils
1 recipe white chocolate chips

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2) Mix all the flours together in a big bowl - as I said, you'll have too much flour, but I'm too lazy to scale it down.
3) Melt the butter. Mix in the sugar and vanilla. Process the egg replacer and warm water in a food processor until foamy, then add to the butter mixture.
4) Add 3 c of the flour mix to the butter, and combine.
5) Scoop a level tbsp of dough into your hand, and press several pieces of white chocolate and five to six pomegranate arils into the ball and fold to combine. This is labor-intensive, but ensures that each cookie has both the mix-ins, and that the cookies don't turn purple from pomegranate juice. Flatten the ball out to about 2in diameter.
6) Bake each batch for 12 minutes, then let them cool for several minutes before transferring them off the cookie sheet. I got a rhythm going where I'd let them cool for about 6 minutes, then make the next batch, so by the time I had a full cookie sheet the one in the oven was done baking. Again, it's labor intensive, but so worth it.

White Chocolate Chips

For all you vegans out there that have felt deprived of white chocolate, this post is for you! The ingredients are a bit pricey, but the actual process is really easy - you only need a few bowls and a microwave. You do have to move sort of quickly once the cocoa butter is melted, but it's not that bad. It's a good idea to make a big batch and store them in the fridge. Try them in chocolate cookies, or pomegranate white chip cookies.

Ingredients:

1/4 c and 1 tbsp powdered sugar
1tsp soymilk powder (not protein powder)
pinch salt
1/3 c cocoa butter (try looking for food-grade butter with hand lotions and body cream)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1) Prepare a flat surface for your chocolate chips. I like to line a cookie sheet or plate with parchment paper, but you could easily just pipe them onto a pan or plate, you'll just have to do a bit more cleanup at the end.
2) Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
3) Melt the cocoa butter in a double boiler, or in the microwave. Be careful - it gets very hot.

4) Add the vanilla, and mix the dry ingredients into the melted cocoa butter.

5) Once combined, quickly scoop the chocolate into a ziplock bag or frosting bag. Cut off a small hole in the corner.
6) Quickly and confidently pipe out chocolate-chip sized dollups onto your surface; size depends on your preference, but bigger chips are faster.

7) Pop your chocolate chips in the freezer for about 10 minutes, then take them out and put them in a sealed container. They'll keep for several weeks in the fridge.

Carrot Rosemary Bisque

This soup idea comes from my cafeteria. They make carrot dill, carrot rosemary, carrot thyme, and so on. If you need a healthy dose of beta-carotene, this is the way to go!

Carrot Rosemary Bisque:

1/4 small onion
2/3 small red pepper
2T olive oil
3c vegetable broth
2lbs carrots
3 sprigs rosemary
2 bay leaves

Directions:
1) Chop all the veggies. I'd chop the rosemary, too; you can try and cook the springs and remove them later, but all the little leaves will fall off and end up in your soup anyways, so I think it's best to chop them now.
2) Sauté the onion and red pepper in your pot for 5-10 minutes until the onions are translucent. 
3) Add the carrots and the vegetable broth - the broth should just cover all the vegetables. Add the rosemary and bay leaves. 
4) Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 40 minutes, stirring and checking to see if the carrots are done every so often.
5) Let the soup cool considerable, then blend. If you have a fancy immersion blender use that, otherwise blend it in parts in a blender (but make sure it's not too hot, and hold the top - steam can cause it to pop off).

S'mores Cake

My friend swears that this is spice cake, but I don't question the identities of my baked goods. Perfect example: this started out as an attempt at brownies, but from the beginning, my cake knew that it was cake, not brownies. Lesson: don't let others define you, no matter how much chocolate and egg replacer they pump into you. Also I know this looks complicated, but it works; I'll try figuring out what pieces are essential and which aren't later.

VGF S'mores Cake (Made 48 little cakes like above)
1 1/2 c vegan butter
1 1/2 c sugar
1 container coconut yogurt (maybe 3/4c - you could use soy)
3/4 c nondairy milk (I used soy)
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp potato starch
2 tsp tapioca starch (aka flour)
8 tbsp warm water
1 1/2 tsp xanthum gum
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 c sorghum flour
1 c oat flour
1/4 c coconut flour
1/2 c brown rice flour

Coconut "Marshmallow" Frosting (this makes too much frosting for all the cake)
1/2 c vegetable shortening
1 can coconut milk that has been sitting in the fridge for at least a few hours (you want 1/2 c of the solid that separates out on top)
Vanilla
LOTS of powdered sugar.

Also, 1/2 bar or 1/2 c chocolate for decorating.

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350.
2) Melt the butter in a big microwave-safe bowl.
3) Mix in the sugar, yogurt, milk, molasses, and cinnamon.
4) In a small bowl (or a dirty cup measure, because washing dishes is lame) mix the potato and tapioca starch, then add the water and mix vigorously with a fork until everything is well combined. This is your egg replacer; add it to the butter mixture.
5) Add the xanthum gum, baking soda and salt to the butter mixture and combine well.
6) Add flours one at a time (or you could be fancy and mix them in a separate bowl, but again, more dishes) and mix well.
7) Generously spray whatever pan(s) you are using (I used a standard cookie sheet with sides, so it was very thin). Bake at 350 until it passes the toothpick test - maybe 20 to 30 minutes, but I didn't time it. This cake is very moist, so if you want it drier bake it a little longer.
8) While the cake is baking, make the frosting - melt the shortening and beat it with the solid coconut stuff and vanilla. Then add powdered sugar and whip until it's nice and thick.
9) Once the cake was cool, I cut it into about 1 1/2 inch squares and piped the frosting onto each one. Then I melted the chocolate in the microwave and used a whisk to drizzle the cakes with melted chocolate.

Enjoy!

Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie

Modified from Oh She Glows, for a 10 inch pie.

For the crust:

2c pecans

1c oat flour (or other GF flour)

2T sugar

1/2c GF rolled oats (omit if you don't do oats)

1t cinnamon

1t salt

1T canola

1/4c agave

Preheat the oven to 350. Process the pecans for 30s to a minute until they are completely chopped and start to release oils. Mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl, then press into a greased pie pan. Prebake the crust for 8 minutes, then set aside to cool. (This crust is so good I've used it to make oatmeal cookies!)

For the filling:

2 15oz cans pumpkin (not pie filling)

1/2c sugar

1/3c nondairy milk

1T canola

1/4c pure maple syrup

3T cornstarch

2 and 1/2t vanilla

1T cinnamon

1/2t ginger

1/2t nutmeg

pinch cloves

Whisk the maple syrup and cornstarch in a bowl, then add the other ingredients and mix. Scoop into the crust and bake for 50 minutes. Let it sit at room temperature for an hour to cool, then refrigerate overnight - I didn't try eating it after refrigerating, but Oh She Glows warns against eating before fully set.

"Yo Dawg" Oreo Cookies

This cookie was born about a month ago when we had extra Oreos that no one wanted to eat. So, naturally, I baked them into something! Since then, everyone who's tried them has pestered me constantly to make them again, and again, and again. These are especially good with mint Oreos.

Equipment: Oven, bowl, spoon, measuring devices, pan.

Ingredients:
1/2 c vegan butter (Earth Balance; or an equal amount of canola oil)
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp chocolate extract (optional; throw in some mint extract if baking with mint Oreos)
1/4 c potato starch mixed with 1 c water (equivalent of 8 eggs)
3/4 c cocoa powder (I always use Hershey's special dark)
2 tsp baking soda (or 3 tsp baking powder)
2 c flour
8 double stuf Oreos (the minimum requirement, of course)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar and extracts. Rigorously mix the potato starch and water with a fork in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture. Add the cocoa powder and baking soda. Finally add the flour and mix until a dough consistency is achieved. Crush up the Oreos; quarter-sized pieces are perfect. Knead them into the dough. Grease a cookie sheet. Form 2 tbsp of dough into a ball, then squash a little. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes; it's hard to tell when the cookies are done, so I'd suggest trying one after 10 minutes to make sure it's been cooked all the way through. Feel free to share these, but be aware that you may gain a few stalkers if you do.

Settlers of Catan Cookies

So, apparently I never put up my FAVORITE vegan sugar cookie recipe! This recipe is adapted from Perfect Vegan Sugar Cookies, and it is one of the few recipes that I don't mess with, because they actually are perfect. They work great in all kinds of shapes, and you can get really fancy with them. Anyways, here's the recipe:

Equipment:
Oven, cookie sheet, large mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons. (For fancy cookies: rolling pin/wine bottle, cookie cutters, lots of little bowls, toothpicks, ziplock bags and scissors).

Ingredients
Cookies:
1c vegan butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs (1 tbsp egg replacer, corn starch or potato starch mixed with 2 tbsp water, or mixed in dry if you're lazy like me.)
1 tsp vanilla
1 one-serving container of coconut yogurt (or soy yogurt, or 1/4 c vegan cream cheese or sour cream)
2 tsp baking powder (or 2 tsp baking soda with a little more corn starch, potoato starch, or egg replacer powder)
4 c flour (an estimate, add as much as you need to get the consistency you want)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 F. Warm or melt the butter. Mix in the sugar, egg equivalent, and vanilla. Add the yogurt/cream cheese/sour cream and mix until combined. Mix in the baking powder. Add flour two cups at a time, mixing first with a spoon, then kneading with your hands until the dough is pliable, but stays together very well. If you are cutting cookies in shapes, roll out the dough (I use an empty wine bottle for a rolling pin), then use cookie cutters (or a Settlers piece wrapped in foil) to cut the cookies into the right shapes. Cookies can be baked pretty close, since they don't spread, for 10-15 minutes, just until they start turning golden brown on the edges. Let the cookies cool for at least an hour, then prepare the icing.

Icing:
Vegan milk
Corn syrup
Powdered sugar
Flavor extracts (I like almond, but anything will taste good)
Food coloring

Mix together the milk, corn syrup, and powdered sugar until you get a thick icing (you really just have to experiment with proportions, but start with a few cups of powdered sugar, 2 tbsp milk and 1 tbsp corn syrup, then adjust based on how the cookies are coming out.) Add flavor extracts and food coloring. Once cookies are thoroughly cooled, dip them in the icing, then hold them upside down for a few seconds to let the excess drip off, and put them on a covered surface to dry.
For fancy cookies, use plastic bags as icing bags or toothpicks to add details. If you decorate while the icing is still drying, the colors will mix a bit, and the icing will be smooth. If done correctly it can look really cool and professional. If that doesn't work, wait for the icing to dry for at least an hour, then decorate with other colors on top of the dry icing.