Apple Crumb Bars

A few weeks ago I came across this post from CookingClassy.com. As I went on a jam-jarring rampage last fall, I sure have plenty to make some treats with.

But instead I decided to try my apple sauce. I followed the rest of the recipe as is, except I used vegan butter, and about 1 cup instead of a half.

These came out really well. They almost seem like they're good for you!

I plan to make more of this with some of my jams, and might try using some gluten-free flour - hopefully the crumble won't crumble TOO much.

Brownies (pt 2) - Black Bean Brownies

I know. It sounds crazy. But hear me out. These are gluten-free and made with oats and texturally they are somewhere between an undercooked brownie and silk. The texture from the beans is creamy and yummy. The maple syrup flavor is a bit rich as suggested, so I recommend swapping it out for grade A syrup, which has a less pronounced maple flavor, or swapping some of the syrup for sugar. Or follow the directions and then only eat one brownie per sitting (I guess some people might think this is the sensible route, but it just feels wrong to me).

Chocolate Covered Katie's Black Bean Brownies

Apple Chimi-chimi-changas

I had bookmarked this recipe from RecipeSweet.net quite awhile ago. And one night I just decided to make them.

Rather than prop my laptop up on the counter like I usually do, I did this one from memory. And because of that, I forgot a few steps. But I wasn't starting with the original recipe either, so I guess I was just winging the whole thing.

A few weeks ago I was staring at all my jars of jams I made last fall and thought - dang, I really gotta start using these. I don't foresee the apocalypse coming so soon (or should I?...) so let's use these up. So rather than make the pie filler from the recipe, I used my Apple Pie Jam I made last fall with fresh apples I picked (similar to this recipe.)

I spread about 2 tablespoons of the jam on flour tortillas, rolled them up, and fried in veggie oil for a few minutes on each side until they got crispy. I laid them on paper towels to help soak up the grease - mistake as the towels stuck and I had to pick off the paper! Maybe I'll use cheesecloth or something similar next time.

I forgot about rolling the tortilla in the sugar mix (which might cover up some of the stickiness from the oil and eliminate the need to absorb that up) but honestly the pie jam was sweet enough. But they turned out well as is - as my coworkers cobbled them right up!

Brownies (pt 1) - Single-Serve Microwave Brownies

Winter is brownie season. Not because of Girl Scout cookies, but because what is better on a cold winter night than a brownie? Nothing, that's what. With all of the snow we've been getting hit with on the east coast, I have tried out some of the biggest internet phenomenons in the brownie world. This post highlights the single-serve microwave baked goods wave. I love everything about this recipe except for the fact that there are no leftovers. I microwave mine for 60 seconds instead of the recommended 50, because mine were coming out very underdone in the middle. I love how quickly these brownies are from start to finish. About 3 minutes from getting your butt of the couch to getting your butt back on the couch, including cleanup time. Can't beat that.

Preety's Vegan Mug Brownies


(I apologize for not adding a picture, but it is incredibly hard to get a nice-looking picture of a brownie in a mug, especially when that mug is also the mixing bowl)

Fresh Apple Cookies

Fall is here! So that means I get to buy loads and loads of apples. First up, yummy apple cookie recipe I found at Food.com.

I recommend pushing down the dough balls with your hand of the back of a spoon. I had followed the instructions and left them as balls on the pan, but that's how they cooked then - they didn't flatten out.

See the baking mat in the picture? A friend involved with Chico Chef asked me to try it out since I bake pretty often. I ordered the silicon mats off Amazon.com. When I took the mats out of the packaging, they had a weird oily feel to them, so I was a bit apprehensive. But once I pulled the cookies out of the oven, I totally saw their worth. The cookies didn't stick to the mat at all, the baking pans stayed clean, and the mats cleaned up very easily. So, if you're looking to save a few minutes in the kitchen, pick up one of these mats!

Lavender cookies

I just realized I never shared this recipe before! Shame on me.

Lovely cookies to snack on - not too sweet, and great with a cup of tea! From Food.com.

Rather than eggs, I used ground flax seed. I also used gluten-free flour rather than all-purpose, and they came out just fine.

No Guilt Lemon Cookies

Wouldn't that be my luck that my neighborhood bakery that sells gluten-free desserts would be closed the day I need to pick up stuff for my gluten-allergic coworker?! So I had to quickly google some recipes while I was riding the bike at the gym when I came across this recipe from TheVedge.org. I just had to pick up the coconut oil on my way home and I was set.

For some reason, my dough wasn't moist enough with the ingredient amounts posted, so I added a little more of each liquid.

These cookies pack a surprise: They are a little bit crumbly/powdery, but once it hits your tongue, they become a bit creamy (possibly because I added more liquids?). Very tasty, plus vegan and gluten free!

Blueberry Pie

I've never been a big pie person. Nor have I ever really made pie from scratch. But I decided THIS is the summer where that will all change.

So I started with Google and found a few great recipes from VeganDad:
Blueberry Pie
Homemade flaky pie crust

So yeah, now I'm a pie person. This pie won me over. My crust didn't turn out as pretty, but it was sure damn tasty.

Pancake puffs

Is it breakfast or dessert? Who can tell? But it doesn't matter - they're super tasty!
Pancake puffs from Vegan Fling.

I made several different ones - blueberry, strawberry, banana, and chocolate chip. It's very easy to make each puff differently since you don't add the variations to the batter, but to the muffin tin itself. It'll be fun to experiment with different ingredients!

Choco-berry Crispy Cups

This recipe is loosely based on a recipe for Chocolate Cranberry Crunch Bars. I made a bunch of changes, though to make it exactly to my liking.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Almond butter (or any other nut/seed butter you prefer)

3/4 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips

1-3/4 cups Rice Crispies-type cereal

1/2 cup freeze-dried raspberries (strawberries would also be great, just crush them a bit first)

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Directions:

Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or in the microwave (for about 1 minute).

Combine the nut butter and chocolate in a large bowl, whisking until relatively smooth. Stir in the cereal and raspberries until well coated. Finally, gently stir in the maple syrup until well combined.

Press the mixture into an 8×8-inch dish lined with parchment or wax paper, 9 to 12 muffin cups, or 24 to 30 mini muffin cups. If using a muffin pan, I suggest lining the pan with wrappers to get them out easier.

Chill for 15 minutes. If making bars, remove the batch with the parchment paper and cut into bars while still a touch soft. Return to the refrigerator or freezer to chill completely. To maintain their crispiness, store these crunch bars in an airtight container in the freezer. Pop one out when guests arrive or when the cravings strike!

Cinnamon Apple Swirl-overs

A simplified version of my simplified apple turnovers.

Ingredients:
1/2 package (1 sheet) of puff pastry, thawed
1 large apple (any variety) peeled & sliced thinly (use more if you want it super apple-y)
cinnamon sugar (I use this ratio, very cinnamon-y and good)
a pinch of nutmeg (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Line a small cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease it. Unroll the thawed puff pastry sheet and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar. Lay apple slices over the entire sheet. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar and a pinch of nutmeg. Carefully roll the long side away from you (as you would sushi or cinnamon rolls). Lay the log on the cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the log and slice it into 1/2 inch rolls (be careful, it's hot!). Place rolls back on the cookie sheet and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Allow a few minutes to cool after removing from the oven before eating.

Champagne wishes and cupcake dreams

Tired of mimosas? Got leftover champagne? Here's a tasty way to use up some of that bubbly.

A easy recipe surprisingly from Wikihow.com

For the frosting, I whipped up my own batch:
1 cup vegetable shortening
2 tsp raspberry extract
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk

1. Beat the shortening to soften and mix in extract.
2. Slowly add the sugar, throwing in milk as needed to make creamy.

I added a little food coloring and topped with red and yellow sprinkles for some charm.

Cinnamon pull-apart bread

(it was mostly gone when I took this picture, because who can resist?)

Cinnamon bread is my #1 favorite quick late-night snack. This presentation makes it "fancy" enough to serve to company. I basically followed the instructions here, but changed around the amounts. This is  my version:

Ingredients:
1 unsliced round loaf sourdough bread

1/2 cup margarine, softened (I just eyeballed it, actually and surely used a lot less)

2 Tbsp + 2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Optional:
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp soy milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the bread lengthwise into 1/2" slices, without cutting through the bottom crust. Spread vanilla honey butter in between slices.  Rotate the bread 90 degrees and slice the bread again into 1/2" pieces, without cutting through the bottom crust. Spread more vanilla honey butter in between new cuts. This doesn't need to be perfect - just make sure there is lots of butter in between all the cuts. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Generously sprinkle in between all cuts.

Wrap in foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until bread is warm.  Unwrap cinnamon bread and place on serving platter.  Combine powdered sugar and milk - adding milk until you get the consistency desired.  Drizzle icing over bread and serve immediately.

Minty Chocolately cookies

Merry Christmas, everyone! I know you're probably sick of all the sweets already, but he's a cookie to top all cookies! I was looking around online for a recipe, and just couldn't decide. So I combined my favorite ones.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate powder
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp mint extract
1 cup almond milk
1/2 bag chocolate chips
Crushed peppermint candy canes

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and chocolate. Set aside.
2. Beat the butter until creamy. Add vanilla, flour mix, and milk in batches.
3. Stir in chips. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes for the dough to get sticky.
4. Roll a large spoonful of dough in your hands and flatten into a patty. Press one side of patty in candy canes.
5. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and bake at 325 degrees for 11-12 minutes and cool. 

So rich and sweet. A yummy Christmas treat.

Chai Spice Snickerdoodles

Warning: These cookies get hard very quickly and the recipe makes 2 dozen. So make them the day you plan to serve them to some hungry people or sit in front of the TV all day watching a Biggest Loser marathon.

From The PPK

For the topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch cloves

For the cookies:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix the topping ingredients together on a dinner plate. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together oil, sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix for at least a minute, until it resembles applesauce. Then mix in vanilla.

Sift in remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added mix until you’ve got a pliable dough. Get in there with your hands to mix, it’s the easiest way to get the dough to come together.

With clean, moist hands, roll dough into walnut sized balls. Pat into the sugar topping to flatten into roughly 2 inch discs. Transfer to baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread a little). This should be easy as the the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, they should be a bit browned on the bottoms. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Candy cane syrup

A few weeks ago, I came across this post for Candy Cane Syrup by Chica and Jo. We always have plenty of candy canes laying around...

...and leftover ice cream from Thanksgiving - put two and two together and you get an awesomely sweet sugar high.

The directions made it sound like it would take just a couple of minutes, but I used 7 candy canes and it took quite a while for them to entirely melt. So allot yourself some time.

October goodies - Apples

The next installment of October treats centers around apples. So go pickin'!

Apple Sauce

Apple Oat Bars

Apple turnovers

Slow-cooked Apples

October goodies - Pumpkin

Happy October! A monthly of ghostly parties and monstrous treats! To start the month, here's a list of our Eat Well and Prosper blogger's pumpkiny desserts:

Chocolate-soled Pumpkin Cookies:

Pumpkin Apple Muffins:

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Bars

Pumpkin Pie Cake

Zucchini brownies

Sparkpeople.com has yet to let me down. This recipe from Sparkpeople is a great vegan alternative to the classic brownie, and you wouldn't even know it's vegan! Main ingredients - apple sauce, bananas, and zucchini. That means it's healthy, right?

Wine of the Week - STO 2011 Late Harvest Dolcetto

This is a thick, rich dessert wine from Sort This Out.  The first Dolcetto I've ever had, and I was impressed. On the nose was mostly plum, with a hint of spicy pepperoni and scent that I could closest equate to worcestershire sauce. When you taste it, expect all sorts of plum.  That's definitely the dominant flavor.  But there's complexity.  I tasted some raspberry and some cherry.  Very long, sweet finish, with sustained acidity. This wine is a little on the young side, and a bit harsh, but I decanted it (with a stopper) for a day and it was great.  (Unstoppered, it would probably need three or four hours to decant.) As a late harvest dessert wine, you know it's going to be heavy on the alcohol.  17.5% to be exact.