Baked apples

I am a big fan of apple crisp – the sweet, crunchy topping with the tender, juicy apples – but sometimes I just don’t have the right amount of apples or time on my hands. And sometimes I don’t really want to make all that extra effort of peeling and cutting up the fruit. I decided to try to find a recipe that would allow me to make apple crisp on a smaller scale and that would still have the taste of crisp without too much extra effort.

This baked apples recipe is so versatile – it’s hard to mess it up. Make it yours – add raisins and walnuts, or bake it in apple or orange juice. It’s really up to you what the final dish will be. Plus it’s great for breakfast or dessert.

Baked Apples
This recipe yields four servings.

• 2 apples, cut lengthwise and cored
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup white flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Cinnamon
• Dash of salt
• 2-3 tablespoons vegan butter
• Raisins or nuts, optional
• 1 cup water

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare your apples by cutting them in half. You can also peel your apples if you do not like the skin, and you can also discard the stem.

Cut your apples in half

Core your apples with a melon baller. It might not be entirely even, but that’s okay because you’re going to cover it up with topping.

Coring apples with a melon baller

Mix all of your dry ingredients together. Note that since this is a small batch, I didn’t measure out the cinnamon. I just sprinkled in a little bit (probably about 1/4 teaspoon).

Mixing the dry ingredients together

Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, add the vegan butter and incorporate with your bare hands. It should become a crumbly mixture, yet still a little moist.

Mixing in the vegan butter

If you want to add in nuts or raisins, now would be a good time to add those. Just mix them in with a spoon or with your hands.

Place the apple halves in a deep dish and spoon the topping onto each apple. The topping should cover as much of the top of the sliced apple as possible.

Adding the topping to the apples

You can add the raisins and nuts on top of the topping, but when I did this it did dry out the raisins a little bit.

Add the water to the baking dish (don’t pour on top of the apples), cover with foil and put in the oven for about 30 minutes. The apples may not be entirely done at this point, so remove the foil and bake for another 10 or 15 minutes. Check with a knife to see how soft the apples are. If you need to continue baking them, allow them to bake for 10 or 15 minute intervals.

Once done, allow them to cool for a few minutes and then serve. You can serve with a vegan ice cream, vegan whipped topping or just by themselves.

Yum - the taste of apple crisp without too much effort!

I do admit that the apples didn’t seem to bake long enough. I think that next time I might try increasing the oven temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or I might try to bake for a little longer. Still these turned out really nicely, and I liked the addition of walnuts and raisins.

Do you ever make baked apples or apple crisp?

Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

I guess you could say that I’m on a cookie binge lately. I really love cookies, but I don’t make them very much because I don’t really like to share, which always means more for me! – but also means, more for my thighs! If only “vegan” preceding “cookie” meant calorie-free, bland, and boring in our household; I’m afraid it’s quite the opposite.

I have been meaning to try to find a vegan oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, but haven’t really spent the time and effort until just the other day. Luckily for me I found a winner on the first try which doesn’t always happen. This is an amazing recipe: plump and sugary raisins, a little crispy where the brown sugar didn’t get fully mixed into the rest of the batter and still chewy on the second day. It’s a rich and hearty cookie, too, so you only really need one or two before you’re satiated.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Via VeganFamilyFavorites.com

Note: I halved this recipe and it still yielded me 14 cookies. For bigger cookies or for two dozen normal sized cookies you can make the full recipe.

• 1 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Egg replacer for 2 eggs (If using flax, you can mix 2 tablespoons ground flax seed with 6 tablespoons of hot water)
• 1-1/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups oats
• 1-1/2 cups raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat margarine, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Mixing the first part of the batter

Add egg replacer eggs and beat until well blended.

Adding egg replacer

In another bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Gradually add to margarine mixture (or vice versa, which is what I did!) until well blended.

Continuing to work on the batter for oatmeal raisin cookies

Stir in oats, raisins, and nuts (if using).

Finally - the stars: oats and the raisins!

On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or a nonstick cookie sheet) drop the dough by 1/4 cupfuls (or large spoonfuls) and pat down slightly. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until edges begin to brown.

Ready to go into the oven

Let stand for 3 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

Yum - vegan oatmeal raisin cookies

A lot of cookies allow for a ton of creativity, but these cookies are kind of fun with how much you can do. Maybe next time I’ll add in some peanut butter and/or peanuts, and substitute chocolate chips for the raisins. How do you make your cookies?

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.

This is the third post in a series focusing on how to save money by making foods that you would normally buy already made. Not only is it cost-effective to make a lot of your own food, it’s just so much more satisfying and rewarding.

With Mexican being one of my husband’s favorite foods to eat, we nearly always have tortillas or tortilla chips in the house. We’ve kept saying that we should try to make tortillas instead of buying them since it would probably save us money, but we never have done it. With my recent foray into trying to make more things from scratch, however (like pita bread, for example), I decided to just go ahead and do it. I tried a couple of recipes, but while the first was decent, I found it to be too dry. The second recipe I found is a keeper, though, and I’ve already made two or three batches of tortillas using this recipe. It’s now been weeks since we’ve purchased tortillas at the store.

A lot of times when I am trying to find a good recipe, I often look for videos that walk you through the process. I found the following video, which I found to be interesting because instead of using shortening or oil, they use walnuts to make their tortillas. I decided to try it and we really like this recipe.

Whole Wheat Tortillas
This recipe makes about 16 8- to 10-inch tortillas

• 2 cups hot water
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup walnuts I think you could probably also use pecans
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups white flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Blend together the hot water, rolled oats, walnuts and salt for a couple of minutes. If you have a high power blender you can probably get away with less time, but lower powered blenders probably need a full two or three minutes.

While your liquid mixture is blending, stir together the white and whole wheat flours in a large mixing bowl.

Pour your liquid mixture into the flour and mix.

I like to stir it by hand first…

…then use an electric mixer to knead.

Once the tortilla dough is done mixing it will be soft.

Cover the mixing bowl with a damp towel or with plastic wrap, and let the dough rest for about thirty minutes.

After the dough has finished resting, flour a clean surface and take a piece of dough about the size of a ping pong ball or golf ball and roll it out to your desired thickness.

You may find that it’s challenging to make it perfectly round, but with practice you’ll find that it gets easier. You could also use a tortilla press, but it’s not necessary.

Heat a large skillet or pancake griddle over high heat. Place a tortilla on the skillet. Watch it closely, and once you see small bubbles forming turn it over.

It should continue to form larger bubbles.

Wait about 15 to 20 seconds, then turn it over again and let it go for about 10 seconds.

Repeat the process until all tortillas have been made.

These tortillas have a really nice flavor, and you can’t taste the walnuts at all. They can be used for burritos and wraps, or torn up and used for dipping.

They also are pretty cheap to make. Let’s look at the cost difference.

Looking up a random grocery store’s prices on the internet, we can see that a package of whole wheat tortillas (a count of six tortillas) costs $2.89, while a package of eight 8-inch white flour tortillas costs $3.19.

When looking at our ingredients list, the most expensive is the walnuts which is $6.03/pound. There are four cups of walnuts in a one pound bag. Next, the rolled oats comes in at $5.29/42-ounce canister. In this size, there are 15 cups of oats. The whole wheat flour is $3.19/5-pound bag, and the white flour is $3.69/5-pound bag. A 5-pound bag of flour contains 20 cups.

Based upon the above we can see that it costs us 300% more per tortilla if we were to buy the whole wheat version at the store or 233% more per tortilla if we were to buy the white flour version. That’s just crazy how much you can save by making your own! Sure, it can be a little time consuming, and a bit of a workout if you roll each out by hand, but believe me, it’s completely worth it. They taste great, and they keep well in the fridge for about a week, if you’ll let them last that long. :)

Do you have a favorite tortilla recipe?