Vegan Red Velvet Cupcake

So many people love red velvet cake and cupcakes. I haven’t ever really been one of them, probably because I was never given too many opportunities to try them. When I finally had a red velvet cupcake several years ago in New York, I was underwhelmed. The flavor wasn’t very memorable – mainly it was just pretty. But then I made them myself a few weeks ago, and I got why they were special: chocolate.

Don’t mistake me – red velvet cupcakes don’t have a very strong chocolate flavor, but you do have a hint of it, which is sometimes all you need. This particular recipe is a winner because the flavor, color and texture is all exactly what you’d want in a red velvet cupcake. It’s sweet, mild on the chocolate, the color is a lovely shade of dark red, and moist, plus the cupcake holds together pretty well. The frosting is not very thick, but it complements the cupcake with a creamy, sugary finish. I shared these cupcakes with some friends, none vegan, and they all agreed that they were delicious!

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes
This recipe is taken from Food.com
Yields approximately 12 cupcakes

For the Cupcakes:

• 1 cup vegan milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup vegan granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vegan red food coloring* or two small bottles of red food coloring
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon chocolate extract, optional (this can be hard to find, so omit it if you cannot locate it in your local store)

For the Frosting:

• 1/4 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1/4 cup vegan cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups vegan powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line muffin pans with liners.

Whisk together the vegan milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle. Note that I have only used soy milk in this recipe, so I do not know if other vegan milks will thicken in this step.

Curdling soy milk with apple cider vinegar

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.

Sifting the dry ingredients

Add the oil, food coloring, chocolate extract (if using), vanilla extract and almond extract to the curdled soy milk. Whisk well to combine.

You'll use about two small bottles of red food coloring

Make well in center of dry ingredients and gently fold wet ingredients into dry, mixing until large lumps disappear. Do not over mix, or your cupcakes will turn out gummy – small lumps are okay.

Finishing up the batter

Fill cupcake liners about three-quarters full as these cupcakes will rise fairly high. And make sure you use the right size of cupcake liners – mine were too small for my pan, but I used them anyway!

Filling the liners with the batter

Place in hot oven and bake 18-20 minutes until done, or until toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean.

Cool cupcakes in the pan for five mintues, and then transfer to a cooling rack or surface to cool completely.

Cooling on the rack

Using a hand mixer (or by hand), cream together the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese until just combined.

Mixing it all by hand

Whip in the powdered sugar in 1/2 cup batches. Scrape down the sides and mix until smooth and creamy. Mix in the vanilla.

Now it just needs to chill to firm up a bit

Keep tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

When ready, spread some frosting on each of the cupcakes.

Spreading frosting on red velvet cupcakes

Then serve and enjoy!

Worth it.

What is your favorite cupcake?

Fried Green Tomatoes

Summer conjures up a lot of culinary tastes and images for me, from corn on the cob to peach cobbler to strawberry lemonade. It’s a season of indulgence and surprise as I rediscover loved fruits and vegetables from my childhood, especially since everything is dripping with freshness and none of it is vacuum-packed in plastic.

One food from my childhood that I had just yesterday was fried green tomatoes. If you have never had one, and if you are one of those people that do not like tomatoes, you’ll be amazed at the unexpected flavor and texture. Fried green tomatoes taste nothing like tomatoes – they are tart and lemony, and while they are tender after fried, they do not have the same mouthfeel as a ripe red tomato. It’s a treat that I allow myself only a few times during the summer, but only because I often cannot bear to take a tomato before its prime. Still, if you’re swimming in tomatoes, consider trying this as a new way to enjoy your bounty.

Fried Green Tomatoes

• 1 to 2 unripe, green tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon white flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Olive oil or vegetable oil

When you select your tomatoes, be sure that they are very firm to the touch and do not show signs of ripening. You can still fry them as they are just turning a tinge of pink, but it’s best to use them when they are not ripe at all.

Fresh green tomato

Slice your tomatoes thickly.

Slicing a green tomato

In a small bowl, mix together your dry ingredients. I usually just guestimate the amount of cornmeal and flour I’ll need, so do not worry if the measurements are not precise.

Mixing together the dry ingredients

Take a tomato slice and press it into the dry mixture, then turn it over and press again. Make sure that each side is well covered, but be sure to knock off any excess.

Coating the green tomatoes

Heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat, then add a tablespoon or two of oil. Once it’s hot, add your coated tomatoes to the pan.

Frying green tomatoes

Let them fry for a few minutes, then check to see how they are coming along. Once they are golden brown on each side, remove from the pan and put them on a paper towel-lined plate to get rid of some of the extra oil.

Checking the green tomatoes

Let the tomatoes cool for a few minutes, then serve.

Because tomatoes are naturally juicy, they will become a little soggy and tender, but they still are delicious. You may also find that you’ll need to add extra salt once they are on your plate.

YUM.

Have you ever had fried green tomatoes? Did you like them? And what is your favorite method of frying them up?

Carrot cake muffin with vanilla soy yogurt

A couple of weeks ago when we went strawberry picking at Boxx Berry Farm, we also had the fortunate opportunity to pick some vegetables from a small farm called Half Acre Farm located on the same property. They had a variety of vegetables ready, but we decided to pick only a couple of items – some Walla Walla onions and two of bunches of carrots. As we dug the vegetables up, we had a really nice visit with the couple who are running this one-acre farm (yep – it’s one acre). They both work full time, but are passionate about gardening, so decided to start up a little vegetable farm. Seems ambitious, but I admit that we were standing there feeling a bit jealous. In our minds, being able to garden and have a positive impact on the community is a worthy combo.

When we got home, Matt opted to juice the carrots which resulted in a rich and sweet liquid. The other thing that resulted was about a cup of carrot pulp that I couldn’t face throwing away. After doing a little bit of research I realized that juicing takes away a lot of the flavor of the carrots, so if you try to make dishes where grated carrots are a large part of the ingredient list, you’ll find that you won’t taste them quite as much. I finally decided to try making some muffins. In the end the carrot flavor was definitely mild, but if you are not a big fan of carrot cake, this may be a viable alternative for you.

Carrot Cake Muffins
Makes about 12 regular sized muffins

• 1 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons hot water (or egg replacer for one egg)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup vegan milk
• 1 cup grated carrots or carrot pulp
• Vegan vanilla yogurt, optional

Turn on your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners or grease them with vegan butter (or spray with a cooking spray).

In a large bowl, sift your flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger together. Mix in the brown sugar.

Mixing together the dry ingredients

In a separate bowl, mix together the flax seed mixture or egg replacer, oil, vanilla extract and vegan milk.

Mixing the wet ingredients together

Take the shredded carrot or carrot pulp and mix it in with the wet ingredients.

Mixing in the carrot pulp

Add the carrot mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until it is just combined.

Carrot cake muffin mixture

Add the mixture to your cupcake/muffin tin, and then bake in the oven for 25 or 30 minutes.

Carrot cake muffins about to go into the oven

Allow the muffins to cool before serving. You can serve with vegan butter or with a dollop of vegan vanilla yogurt.

Fresh out of the oven carrot cake muffins

The carrot flavor of the muffins was definitely mild, but I felt that what really made these was the addition of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. They added a nice balance of spice with the other ingredients. The muffins were also dense, yet moist.

Also, while I don’t really like nuts or raisins in my muffins, I am sure the addition of a handful of walnuts, pecans, raisins or cranberries would be a nice complement to these.

Carrot cake muffin

Do you ever bake or cook with carrots? If so, what is your favorite recipe?

Mexican Cornbread

Most of my childhood was spent in the South – Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. I grew up with things like fried green tomatoes, grits and boiled peanuts. I liked them all, but one Southern food I never enjoyed that much was cornbread. It was just okay and I often found it to be dry and bland. But my whole family seemed to enjoy it, so we had it with frequency. I was eventually introduced to Mexican cornbread, and I loved it. It was flavorful and moist, and ever since then I have thought off and on that I should try and make it.

As I was trying to decide what to make yesterday, I realized that I had everything I needed to make Mexican cornbread. This recipe doesn’t contain cheese (of course), but we tried it with some vegan butter and nutritional yeast sprinkled on top and it added a nice extra saltiness and savory flavor.

Mexican Cornbread

• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
• 2 1/2 cups vegan milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• Egg replacer for two eggs (if using flax, mix together 2 tablespoons ground flax seed and 6 tablespoons hot water)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 or 1 onion, chopped
• 2 jalapeños, stemmed, seeds removed and chopped (if using sliced jalapeños from a jar, measure out about 1/8 cup)
• Corn, optional
• Sweet pepper, chopped, optional

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan. If you are using a smaller pan like I did (I used an 8×11-inch pan), you may want to preheat to 350 or 375 degrees Fahrenheit, because it will take longer to bake and you don’t want the bread to burn.

In a small bowl, combine the cornmeal and vegan milk. Make sure to mix it well so there are few or no lumps left. Set aside.

Mixing cornmeal with vegan milk

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. I like to use a wire whisk to make sure everything is well incorporated.

Mixing dry ingredients

If you haven’t already, prepare your onion and jalapeños, and set aside in a bowl. The pepper will not yield a lot of heat in the end, so you could probably add more if you wanted.

Chopping up onions and peppers

Add the liquid cornmeal mixture, egg replacer and oil to the large bowl of dry ingredients and mix well so that no lumps remain. Whisk together for several minutes (maximum of five).

Mixing the wet and dry ingredients together

Stir in the onions and peppers, as well as any other optional ingredients (like corn), then pour into your baking dish.

Stirring in the onions and peppers

Put in the oven and check after 35 minutes of baking. Insert a knife or toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean then take it out of the oven. Because of the size of my pan I baked probably a total of 55 minutes, with the last 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mexican cornbread, fresh from the oven

This was really very good, and was extremely moist from the fresh onions and jalapeños. Because of the level of moisture it had to be eaten with a fork. Still, it was flavorful and delicious, especially with some vegan butter spread on it. This would be great as an accompaniment to soup or salad.

Do you ever make Mexican cornbread? What extras do you like to add?

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to tell you that I am a little surprised with myself that I have not shared a chocolate chip cookie recipe with you yet. It’s not like I never make them – I probably make these every few months. Plus it’s not like I don’t like them either, because if you put one of these things in front of me it would be hard for me to resist them. When it comes to cookies, these are my weakness.

So hard to resist!

So here I am finally with a pretty fantastic chocolate chip cookie recipe. I don’t remember the blog where I first came across this recipe, but I do know that it can be found in Vive le Vegan! by Dreena Burton, and I have to say that this is the best vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve come across. As far as flavor is concerned, they have a perfect balance between chocolate and cookie, a nice hint of saltiness, and a buttery sweetness to top it off. Also, although they do firm up, they are still a little bit chewy the next day, and even nicer if you warm them up for a few seconds in your microwave or for about 30 seconds to a minute in your toaster oven.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about a dozen regular-sized cookies. Based upon the chocolate chip recipe found in Vive le Vegan! by Dreena Burton

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup white or unrefined sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon blackstrap molasses
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract OR 1 1/2 teaspoon rum or brandy and the seeds of 1/4 of a vanilla bean pod
• 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Sifting the dry ingredients

Add the sugar and salt, and stir until well combined.

We ran out of vanilla extract, but I had some vanilla bean pods on hand, so I took the seeds of about 1/4 of one of the pods and let it sit in about 1 1/2 teaspoons of rum for a few minutes. Here’s a nice video on how to split open a vanilla bean in case you’re interested in trying it out for yourself.

Scraping the seeds out from a vanilla bean

In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup with the molasses and vanilla, then stir in the oil until well combined. As you can see, it separates quickly, so just before you add it to your dry ingredients give it another quick stir.

Liquid ingredients for chocolate chip cookies

Lately we’ve had a hard time finding vegan chocolate chips, so what I’ve been doing is chopping up Trader Joe’s Pounds Plus 72% dark chocolate which is vegan (here’s a handy .pdf which Trader Joe’s provides showing all their vegan products, and this product is on the list). Here you can see I chopped up six squares.

Chopped dark chocolate used in place of chocolate chips

Add the wet mixture to the dry, along with the chocolate chips, and stir through until just well combined (do not overmix).

Chocolate chip cookie batter

Place large spoonfuls of the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and flatten a little. Alternatively you can roll a spoonful in your hands and then press down a little on the baking sheet (this is what I’ve done).

Chocolate chip cookies about to go into the oven

Bake for 11 minutes until just golden (if you bake for much longer, they will dry out). Let cook on the sheet for no more than one minute (again, to prevent drying), then transfer to a cooling rack.

Homemade vegan chocolate chip cookies

What’s your favorite kind of cookie?

Vegan Blueberry Muffins

For the last several weeks, many farmers at the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City have had a sea of organic blueberries covering their tables. They’re both good looking berries – a purplish blue – and have a lovely flavor when you pop them into your mouth. If you are luckier than I, you will be able to go to a pick-your-own farm and get to harvest your own bounty. If you’re in that situation, you may already have a list of blueberry-themed foods you can make, but hopefully at least one of those you plan to have are good old blueberry muffins.

This is a very easy recipe and doesn’t take long to make, plus it just tastes good. If you top your batter off with a good sprinkle of sugar you’ll wind up with a crunchy top, which adds to your texture experience as you’re eating the muffins.

Blueberry Muffins
Based on VegWeb.com’s Very Simple Blueberry Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup vegan milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup frozen blueberries (if you don’t have frozen, you can use fresh)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place baking cups in a muffin pan.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl.

Mixing dry ingredients

Add vegan milk and oil, and mix.

Adding vegan milk and oil

Fold in blueberries. (Hint: If you mix the blueberries first in a little bit of flour, the blueberries will not sink to the bottom of your muffins.)

Folding in the blueberries

Add the batter to the baking cups.

Adding blueberry muffin batter to baking cups

Sprinkle some sugar on top of each muffin prior to putting them in the oven to make the tops crunchy. Or you can leave them as is.

Adding sugar to muffins

Stick in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes prior to serving (if you can wait that long!).

Fresh Homemade Blueberry Muffins

What’s your favorite muffin? And if you have a nice bounty of blueberries in your neck of the woods, how have you been using them?

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

I love it when I see a new Daring Bakers challenge that allows for easy veganizing and gives me a chance to try something truly new. This month’s challenge was all about the phyllo dough – you know, that paper-thin (or thinner than paper-thin) stuff you buy in boxes in the frozen foods aisle at your local grocery store. As with pretty much most challenges, we had to make the dough. The other stuff, the filling, was a piece of cake.

Before I launched into making the strudel, which is a good afternoon’s project by the way, I decided to see if there were any good videos on how to make it. Sometimes you need real time footage instead of photographic play by plays, but I was amazed and discouraged! When I did a search for “apple strudel video” all I came up with was a focus on the filling and then they used the stuff you buy at above said aisle in above said food store (shame Paula Deen, shame!). I finally came across a video that showed me exactly what I wanted to see and I was ready to rock.

Aside from substituting vegan butter for regular butter and brandy for rum, I followed this recipe exactly.

Apple Strudel

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum (or brandy)
• 3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) vegan butter, melted, divided
• 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
• strudel dough (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
• 2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking) Note that I used three Granny Smith apples

Mix the rum or brandy and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

Heat three tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands).

Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself.

Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel Dough

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

• 1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed.

You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.

Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric.

Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.

Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands.

Stretch and pull the dough until it’s about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time.

Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Making this recipe was a good challenge for me, although I’m not entirely sure if I’ll be trying it again any time soon. I’m not big on nuts in desserts, and I’m not a huge fan of this type of pastry, however it was delicious and if you like flaky pastries filled with fruit, this dessert may be a good project for you. It’s rich, though, and high in calories (I don’t know how many calories, but believe me, one taste and you’ll know that it’s packed with them), so keep that in mind when you’re having a slice or two or three (I believe I had three yesterday).

One warning: if you store this, it will likely loose its flakiness, which is one of the things that makes it so appealing in my opinion. It’s best eaten on the day it’s made, so be sure you have family or friends around to share in the goodness.

These last couple of weeks have been a bit of an adjustment for our cat, Pixel. When we first got him, he was still young and pretty resilient, but I think as he has gotten older he’s become a bit more fussy and picky. Even though we moved very close to our last apartment, he was fairly traumatized and weirded out by the whole thing. Here’s the palatable version – pretty soon his system essentially stalled and we were desperate to figure out how to get things moving along again. After a failed visit to the veterinarian (don’t get me started), we relied on the internet for hints on what to do. One way to get a cat or dog to do its business? Feed it pureed pumpkin.

Now things are back to normal and I had quite a bit of leftover pumpkin, so I decided that I’d use it for less practical purposes and indulge in making some pumpkin muffins for breakfast.

Unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan (I did not fully read all of the instructions on the recipe, plus I’m still getting used to our oven), so my muffins didn’t exactly turn out right. Thankfully not all was lost, so I wound up with pumpkin bread instead.

Pumpkin Bread
For the original recipe that this is based on refer to theppk.com for their Pumpkin Muffins

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin (fresh or from a can)
• 1/2 cup soymilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons molasses

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease muffin tin(s) and/or small cake or bread pan with vegetable shortening or vegan butter.

Sift together dry ingredients.

Quick note – I ran out of granulated sugar so without really thinking, I dropped in some turbinado sugar to be sifted as well. The grains are too large, so they would not sift.

Anyway, I just stirred them in later. :)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.

Pour wet into dry and combine.

If you are making muffins, fill the tins 2/3 of the way, then bake for about 15 minutes (you’ll need to check to make sure they don’t need more time).

If you make pumpkin bread, bake for 27-30 minutes in a baking pan, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Unfortunately, I was doing something else as I was making these and didn’t pay full attention to the original instructions which says to bake your muffins for less time if they are not going to be jumbo muffins. So I wound up with six very sorry and burned muffins. Sadly, they were beyond repair.

Thankfully I did use the rest of the batter in a larger pan and made pumpkin bread. The edges were only slightly singed, but otherwise it turned out pretty well.

Aside from being a bit overdone, these were very moist and chewy. I spread slices with vegan butter, but they didn’t really need it. It was nice, but they were so rich on their own that it was just probably unnecessary.

I definitely plan on making these again – just next time I’d better pay closer attention so I can make sure to not miss out on all of the chewy goodness. Also, I hope that next time I go out and buy pumpkin that it isn’t in a desperate attempt to fix the cat. :)

This morning I thought I’d check in on the Daring Bakers website to see how much time I still had to make this month’s challenge. I discovered that today was my deadline! I had actually hoped to get this one created earlier in the month, but we had family over, then I was sick last week – and sadly I’m still sick. I am on the verge of wellness, so I figured that I could still make and post these lavash crackers and dip today. And hooray! Here we are!

I was very pleased to see that this month’s challenge was vegan. Usually every month I wind up doing some sort of science experiment by changing this ingredient to that and trying to get the ratio of the new ingredients to make sense. I’ve had a lot of interesting results, mostly good, but I was still so glad to see that us vegans and gluten free bakers can take a break and just make a recipe without having to think too hard.

I’ve made crackers before, but not of the lavash variety. This recipe, which I am posting mostly word for word, also has a gluten-free option which is great for people who have celiac disease. Note that I did not make gluten-free crackers – next time! :)

Lavash Crackers
Thank you to this month’s hosts – Shellyfish of Musings From The Fishbowl and Natalie of Gluten A Go Go

• 1 1/2 cups (6.75 ounces) unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 teaspoon xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
• 1/2 teaspoon (.13 ounces) salt
• 1/2 teaspoon (.055 ounces) instant yeast (Note from Samantha – I used 1 full teaspoon because I’ve had this yeast for a while. It worked perfectly.)
• 1 tablespoon (.75 ounces) agave syrup (a.k.a. agave nectar) or sugar
• 1 tablespoon (.5 ounces) vegetable oil
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (3 to 4 ounces) water, at room temperature (Note from Samantha – I used about 1/3 cup water, and that was plenty.)
• Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter.

Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test (see WikiHow for a description of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

or

For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour.

Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down.

Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes.

Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

or

For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper. Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt – a little goes a long way.

Quick note from Samantha – I used a variety of spices to vary the flavor. On some crackers I used garlic and salt, and on others I used dill. I also used this McCormick seasoning, Smoky Sweet Pepper.

If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

Note from Samantha – I found that 10 minutes worked pretty well. My suggestion would be to check this every five minutes and rotate the cookie sheet to try for evenly distributed baking. It all depends on your oven.

When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

Final note from Samantha – I wound up dividing the dough into three sections, so I had three batches of crackers. Making the dough “paper thin” made it kind of impossible to fit on one cookie sheet, and two batches still didn’t seem quite right. It all depends on how much space you have in your oven, too. Our stove is one of those narrower ones, so we can only put our cookie sheets in the oven one way, and there’s most certainly not room for two cookie sheets on one rack.

I had hoped to create a soy-free dip for those of you who are anti-soy as well as for those of you who don’t have Tofutti where you shop, but it just didn’t happen. The nice thing about this recipe is that it is extremely flexible – so if you eat dairy, you can use regular cream cheese or if you’re vegan, you can probably create a creamy base with nuts like cashews or use tofu instead.

Artichoke and Sundried Tomato Dip

• 1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained
• 4 sundried tomatoes
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 package Tofutti cream cheese, Plain

Check to see if there are any tough pieces of your artichoke hearts that need to be cut away. The tough areas will be on the outer leaves, and unless you blend the dip well then you’ll still run across tough pieces when eating it.

Put the artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, garlic cloves and salt into a food processor and pulse the ingredients until they are chopped.

Add the Tofutti cream cheese, and blend together for about 10 – 15 seconds.

Taste test at this point to see if you need to add any other ingredients or balance out the ones you have in there.

The end result will be a creamy and flavorful dip that goes well with these crackers.

These crackers turned out really well. I don’t make crackers very frequently, but it is definitely good to have another reliable recipe on hand for future use.

The dip was also a great accompaniment. Both my husband and I scarfed down a few crackers and quite a bit of dip before restraining ourselves so we’d still have some for later. That’s always a good sign. ;)

It has been amazingly hot here in New York City. “Heat wave” doesn’t even do it justice. It has only been yesterday and today that we’ve seen a reprieve from 100+ degree weather – today was high 80s, and tomorrow promises to be a cool 82 degrees.

A couple of weeks ago, however, when the weather was more tolerable I spent some time in front of a hot stove and made some Indian food. While I’ve made food from other cuisines like Chinese, Mexican, and Italian, I’ve rarely made Indian food, aside from that mango lassi I made in February. Perhaps I’ve been too intimidated by it – the exotic spices, the unusual breads, the aromas… The whole cuisine is almost other-worldly.

Lentil Curry
Based upon a Red Lentil Curry recipe from Allrecipes.com

• 2 cups red lentils
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3 Tbsp. curry powder
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. white sugar
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 1 14.25 oz. can tomato puree
• 1 pkg. firm or extra firm tofu, drained and cubed

Wash the lentils in cold water until the water runs clear (this is very important or the lentils will get “scummy”), put the lentils in a pot with water to cover and simmer covered until lentils tender (add more water if necessary).

While the lentils are cooking: In a large skillet or saucepan, caramelize the onions in the oil.

While the onions are cooking, combine the spices in a mixing bowl, and mix well. When the onions are cooked, add the curry mixture to the onions and cook over a high heat stirring constantly for one to two minutes.

Stir in the tomato puree and reduce heat, allow the curry base to simmer until the lentils are ready.

When the lentils are tender drain them briefly (they should have absorbed most of the water but you don’t want the curry to be too sloppy). Mix the curry base and tofu into the lentils, and serve immediately.

Roti
Recipe taken from Manjula’s Kitchen

• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water (use more as needed)
• 2 tsp. vegan butter
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour for rolling

In a bowl, mix the flour, salt and water. Add more water if the dough is too hard. Knead the dough well to make a medium soft dough. The dough should be soft but not stick to your hand. Set the dough aside and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough rest for at least ten minutes or more before you start rolling.

Divide the dough into eight equal pieces, and roll each piece into a smooth ball, then press flat. Take one ball and press it in dry flour from both sides and start rolling it into a six-inch diameter circle. If the dough starts sticking, dust it with more flour.

Heat the skillet on medium high heat. According to Manjula an iron skillet works best, but I used a non-stick skillet and it worked fine. To see if the skillet is ready, put a couple of drops of water on it. If the water sizzles right away, the skillet is ready.

Put the rolled roti in the skillet. You will see the roti puff in different places and change color. Turn the roti over. Flip again after a few seconds. Take a flat spatula and press lightly on the puffed parts of the roti. This will help the roti completely puff. Flip the roti again. The roti should have light golden-brown spots on both sides. Butter the heated side of the roti (the side that is facing the skillet).

Make sure to put the rotis in a container with a paper towel covering the bottom, and then cover the container after each roti is made. This will keep the steam in and ensure the rotis are soft.

Whenever I make a new recipe, I usually rely heavily on a paper version of it. This time all I did was watch Manjula’s very informative and helpful video.

I also have to say that I wouldn’t mind going to her house for some homemade Indian food, especially since she has some great vegan recipes on hand. ;)

Overall both recipes turned out really well. I did mess up and put way more tomato puree into the lentil curry than I should have. This dampened the taste of the spices, but not so much so that I couldn’t taste them at all. I also froze the tofu, which, if you have never done that, makes the tofu’s texture a little more spongy.

The roti was also very easy to make, which was a nice surprise. I had actually intended to make naan, but it was going to take a little more time than I had. Roti was an excellent, easy, and fast alternative.

Making this has made me realize that Indian cooking, so far, is not that difficult. I’ll need to make some other Indian food…but let me wait until it’s at least in the 70s again. :)

P.S. In case you are interested, I made this handy little image to let you know which spices are which.