Chloe Coscarelli's Vegan Brownie Bites

I haven't been blogging much lately because, well...I moved. I closed on the house I bought 2 weeks sooner than I thought I would, so just like 3 months ago, I had to pack up everything I own and move in about 5 days. Not fun. I know you should never say never, but I never want to move again. Or at least not anytime soon. I figured it out...in the past 3 years, I've moved 5 times. 5 times! I could say so much about that, but the only thing I think I need to say is that I love my new house and hope to live in it for as long as I can. Especially because I have no plans to move in with anyone in their house again in this lifetime.

The house I purchased is great. Roomy. Lots of storage space. And a really well designed kitchen. With appliances from 1971. That's right, folks! They're avocado green! Since I really love to cook and bake I was a little bummed to be buying a house with such an outdated kitchen, but I figure this is a good excuse for me to save up my pennies and build my dream kitchen down the road. If it were updated, I'd be more likely to just live with whatever the house came with. But since my appliances are older than me, odds are, I'm going to have to start replacing things sometime soon.

The other night, I decided to test out my stove and make some brownie bites from Chloe Coscarelli's cookbook, "Chloe's Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way." I'd share the recipe, but...Miss Chloe probably wouldn't like that. And I really think her cookbook is worth buying. I will say that this recipe was ridiculously easy. There were just a couple ingredients and I had almost everything I needed to make the brownie bites in my pantry already. (I normally would have had all of them...someone forgot to buy almond milk at the store last week!) In under an hour, I was able to whip up brownies from scratch (something I'd never done before) and turn them into tasty little bites. (or as I liked to call them, balls) I took them to a party my running club had last night and they were a hit - with the vegans and the non vegans!

I'm looking forward to trying out more recipes in this cookbook. There are some "old favorites" like spinach artichoke dip, broccoli soup, and macaroni and cheese, but there are also recipes for things like moo shoo vegetables with homemade Chinese pancakes. I think there's a good mix of classics that vegans and non vegans would like plus some more exotic dishes that your meat and potatoes friends might not enjoy as much. As an added bonus, Chloe offers options for making many of the recipes vegan AND gluten free. If you're looking for a last minute gift for the vegan or vegetarian in your life, I'd definitely consider picking up this cookbook.

Recipe: Vegan "Sour Cream" Coffee Cake

As a general rule, I'm not much of a "cake" person.  Give me ice cream, brownies, pie...heck, even a cupcake, but I will never go out of my way to eat cake.  But one day, while surfing through my favorite vegan recipe site - VegWeb - I discovered what looked like a simple and delicious vegan sour cream coffee cake I could make for a bake sale at work.  (I love having to bake things for work functions.  You get instant feedback and if you don't particularly like what you've made, there are bound to be scavengers around who will eat it.)

I was a little nervous to make this coffee cake because 1. it's vegan and some vegan desserts are not so great, as I've learned from my adventures in cooking/baking and 2. I'd never made a cake from scratch before.  Honestly, as a kid, I may not have even realized that cakes could be made from scratch.  But I gave it a whirl and was very happy with the results.  

Ingredients:

Coffee Cake:

•     1/2 cup vegan butter
•     1 cup sugar
•     2 egg substitutes (1/4 cup soy yogurt = 1 egg)
•     1 cup vegan sour cream (no sour cream?  use more yogurt!)
•     1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•     2 cups all-purpose flour
•     1 teaspoon baking powder
•     1 teaspoon baking soda
•     1/4 teaspoon salt

    Topping/Filling:

•     1/4 cup sugar
•     1/3 cup packed brown sugar
•     2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
•     1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F, and grease 9x13" pan. In a mixing bowl, cream vegan butter and sugar. Add egg substitutes, sour cream and vanilla; mix well.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and beat until combined.

3. Pour half the batter into prepared pan. Combine topping ingredients, and sprinkle half of topping over batter.

4. Add remaining batter and topping. Bake for 40 minutes or until done.

Voila!  Easy peasy, cake baking!  

Some things to note:

• The batter is more like bread dough than a traditional cake mix.  Don't panic!  I thought I'd ruined the coffee cake, but it ended up being a-ok in the end.  (It wasn't the prettiest cake I've ever seen, but...)
• Walnuts are hella expensive at most grocery stores right now.  (They were $10 a bag at one store I went to) Places like Whole Foods have them at a "normal" price.
• This cake was extremely well received by everyone I work with.  I've never gotten so many requests for a recipe before.  It makes a ton of cake and will be enjoyed by vegans and non vegans alike.

For more helpful tips, view the original recipe over at VegWeb.

Vegan Holiday Desserts From Terra Bakery

In keeping with my "non cooking" theme this week, thanks to my busted kitchen sink (new Moen faucet should arrive today!), I thought I'd send a shout out to Terra Bakery.

As one of the first vegan bakers to hit the scene in Cleveland (or at least come across my radar), Lea (the baker behind Terra Bakery), offers up her delicious vegan goodies at the Geauga Farmer's Market during the summer and takes orders during the colder months.  For Thanksgiving, Lea offered up vegan coconut cream pies, pumpkin cheezecake, carrot cake, and so many other amazing sounding treats.

Visit the Terra Bakery Facebook page to read about Lea's current offers or to find out how to place an order for the upcoming holidays. 

Hands on vegan cooking classes in Cleveland with Foodgazi

Admittedly, I'm not a great cook.  My skills have gotten better with lots of practice, but I'm never going to be a person who can easily whip up a recipe.  I used to stress out about cooking, but I've come to accept that some things I try to cook just aren't going to work out.  (I'm talking about you, vegan pumpkin alfredo) But to try to mitigate my cooking failures, I recently took a Foodgazi vegan cooking class. 

What's that?  You've never heard of Foodgazi? 

To be honest, I hadn't either until the nice ladies at Foodgazi, one of Cleveland's vegan cooking/catering operations, offered up a Groupon (discount coupon) a few months back.  Not that I had the sense to buy a Groupon to take a cooking class on the cheap, but...like any good marketing campaign, just reading about Foodgazi got me interested in taking a class with them.  So I signed up to take an Italian cooking class. 

For a mere $65, you're provided with cooking equipment, ingredients, and witty banter from the front ladies of Foodgazi.  The classes take place in a Cleveland area church, and every aspect of the class is hands on.  The Foodgazi gals guide you through cooking 3 different recipes and then sit down with you to eat the finished products.  In all, it's a 2 hour experience, but I can honestly say I learned some knife skills that I hope to continue using.  So for me, the cost was well worth it.  Heck, I'd even pay more just to support vegan cooking in Cleveland!

Classes take place every few weeks on Thursdays, and the upcoming class schedule can be found on the Foodgazi web site.  (though May 2011!)  'Tis the season for gift giving, and if you're so inclined, you can even buy a gift certificate for Foodgazi cooking classes.

I hope to take another class in the new year to learn even more helpful cooking skills!

Fall Flashbacks - My Favorite Vegan Fall Recipes

Have you ever made a recipe that you that was so fantastic that you just wanted to make it again and again and again?  During last year's Vegan MoFo, I discovered a couple "keeper" recipes that I just can't live without, and I thought I'd share them again this year.  (I mean, if tv shows can have reruns, why can't my blog?)


(in no particular order, although the roasted squash is my absolute fave!)


1. Butternut Squash Pasta Bake - Think vegan macaroni and cheese, if cheese were replaced with squash and lite coconut milk.
2. Vegan Roasted Squash - Always a crowd pleaser!  Has a nice unexpected kick!
3. Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillow Cookies - I'm from Ohio, the land of chocolate and peanut butter.  What's not to like about that combo?
4. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies - Maybe the most popular food item I've ever made.  No matter how many batches of these suckers I whip up, they're always gone before I know it.  Great for fall parties.
5. Vegan Pumpkin Pie - Just like mom used to make.  Well...not unless your mom's a vegan, but still pretty darn good.

And a bonus recipe (although not vegan but probably could be veganized with a few tweaks- sorry folks) - Pumpkin Pie Martini. 

What are your favorite fall recipes?

Vegan MoFo 2010

It's November!  And do you know what that means?  It's vegan month of food!  Also known as Vegan MoFo!  Hooray!
 
The goal of Vegan MoFo is to increase awareness of veganism and to encourage bloggers around the world to share their knowledge of all things vegan throughout the month of November.  Kind of neat, huh?  I've taken the pledge to blog about veganism this month and hope to share some interesting recipes and useful information. 

Note that I am not a vegan, but I do respect the lifestyle.  I challenge myself to cook vegan food quite often and share its deliciousness with others in my life.  I. myself, was skeptical about vegan cooking and baking for a long time, but once I tried it, I discovered how much I liked it!

Here's to a month of adventures in vegan blogging!

Recipe: Vegan Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pie

Editor's Note: December 2013 - I originally wrote this post in my early days of food blogging, long before I even considered becoming a vegan. My vegan baking skills (and blogging skills) have improved since then, so I've updated this recipe a smidge to make it even better than it was before. Enjoy!

If there's one thing in life that I think a person should not have to do without it's dessert.   A little chocolate, or ice cream, or pie every once in awhile - or in my case daily - really can't hurt you as long as you enjoy your decadence in moderation.  (although I'm no expert on moderation...I think I could easily eat an entire tray of brownies...but I'll talk about that some other time)

One of my favorite cooking/baking games is "feed your friends and family vegan food without telling them."  Admittedly, I'm not a vegan, and I'd be a hypocrite to say that I'm even close to being completely vegan (darn you, dairy ice cream!), but I understand the benefits of limiting daily dairy intake, from a calorie perspective as well as from a "holy cow, what kind of awful stuff is put into dairy these days" perspective.

But I digress.

For a recent holiday, I was given the task of creating a dessert to share with my completely non-vegan extended family.  My vegetarian mother has been secretly feeding them vegetarian food for years, but vegan food is a whole 'nother ballgame.

I decided to try my hand at making a vegan peanut butter chocolate pie.  I mean, who doesn't like peanut butter and/or chocolate?  And the recipe went something like this:

Ingredients:

• 1 container extra firm tofu (not the "lite" kind - very important - it will taste like tofu if you use the wrong kind)
• At least 1 1/4 cups of melted vegan chocolate chips
• 1/2 to 2/3 cups peanut butter
• Soy/almond/etc. milk to desired texture - at least 1/2 cup
• Vegan pie crust (something like a graham cracker crust works nicely) 

Method:

Get your blender ready!  The key to creating a delicious, non-tofu-y pie is blending.  

1. Combine the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and soy milk and heat until all ingredients are melted/more malleable. 
2. Put the tofu and melted chocolate mixture in the blender.  
3. Blend until smooth - note that you might need to add extra non-dairy milk to make the pie filling easier to work with. Use your best judgement.

And now you're done!  Not really, but sort of.  At this point, you'll need to taste the pie and see what needs to be added.  Perhaps more chocolate?  Or more milk, if the texture is too thick...or more peanut butter, if you feel like you're tasting chocolate and tofu and not chocolate peanut butter goodness.  Once you think you have the flavors "right," put the filling in the pie crust and set in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour.  If you're like me and hate plain looking dessert, feel free to use a little more melted chocolate to decorate the top of the pie before chilling.

The finished product:

(Might I mention that this recipe is lifted from the kind folks at VegWeb.  For the original recipe and some helpful user commentary, click here.)

And the result?  A delicious, non-vegan tasting pie that my family gobbled up.  Or at least enjoyed.  My dessert was in direct competition with an ice cream cake, but if I do say so myself, my dessert was much better!

Happy Thanksgiving, Ya'll

I used to get sad on Thanksgiving.  It's not exactly the most vegetarian friendly holiday.  But, I've come to focus on the positives of Thanksgiving (togetherness, the opportunity to let meat-a-tarian people eat delicious vegan and vegetarian food, forcing myself to learn how to cook outside of my microwave comfort zone) and not the negatives (mass turkey murders). 

This year my boyfriend and I are hosting Thanksgiving dinner.  (After I run in the Turkey Trot - what better way to prepare for a feast than with a 5 mile run in normally inclement weather!)  You couldn't pay me to cook a turkey, so my boyfriend (who can out cook me any day of the week) will be preparing that while I make the majority of sides and desserts.  I set out on a mission a few months back to 1. cook more often and 2. learn how to make some healthier fare.  So...my contributions to this year's Thanksgiving dinner (our first dinner on a grown up dining room table - woo!) will be all vegan.  I know...a little risky...but I've done plenty of "trial runs" on the dishes I plan on making, so hopefully my boyfriend and his family won't be disappointed. 

Here's my menu:

Appetizers:

Vegan cheeze ball and crackers (I haven't actually made this before - I hope it doesn't stink)

Veggies and dip

Sides:

Butternut squash pasta bake

Smashed Potatoes (no peeling + nutrient rich potato skins = WIN)

Salad (with dressing from Pizzazz - did you know you can buy it by the pint?)

Roasted garlic cauliflower (I'm using purple cauliflower!)

Arrowhead Mills chestnuts and sage stuffing (minus the meaty stuff and using vegan ingredients)

Dessert:

Tofu pumpkin pie 

Peanut butter pillows

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

I generally end up making more than I plan on, so I might thrown in another veggie side or two (Brussels sprouts, anyone?) and another type of cookies. No matter what you end up eating tomorrow, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Recipe: Magical Coconut Bars

In preparation for the upcoming holiday, I've been cooking and baking up a storm.  I like to do "trial runs" ahead of time, especially when I'm using new recipes.  Like I am this year.  I think I'm only using one tried and true recipe - for smashed potatoes.  And if I were able to find a way to mess up smashed potatoes, I should be banished from the kitchen.

Since I love the combination of coconut and chocolate, I decided to make Magical Coconut Bars from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Jar.  (Follow the link to see the recipe.  I don't want to publish a recipe from this awesome book without permission.)

My results:

 

Not the most exciting photo, I know.  But I can tell you that people I work with raved about these bars.  As with all of the other vegan recipes I've been making lately, no one could tell they weren't "normal."  

I thought they were just ok.  I used light coconut milk in an attempt to make them less gluttonous, and I feel like it game them an odd flavor.  I also under-baked them accidentally because my oven hates me.  (Time to invest in an oven thermometer!) But...if you're looking for a dessert to make for an upcoming holiday, this is a great recipe.  It makes a heck of a lot of bars (24) and could feed a small army. 

I have a few more trials runs to complete this weekend...stuffing...vegan pumpkin pie cheesecake.  Good thing I'm running in the Pigskin Classic 5K tomorrow morning to at least burn off a few of the calories I'm going to pack on. 

Vegan Dessert Options in Cleveland

Another weekend went whooshing by.  Unlike most weekends where I barely have a chance to breathe let alone do anything fun, I got to do quite a few neat things over this past weekend. (I'm a day late, I know...yesterday was busy!)

On Friday, I went with some friends to the Tremont Art Walk.  I'm sure the artwork that was on display was lovely, but we spent the majority of our time eating pizza and free popcorn or petting the cat in Edison's Pub, trying to not go deaf from the loud oldies being played at the Flying Monkey, and then finally, not trying to not fall asleep at the Treehouse because we're not used to staying out that late.  It was great.  I always forget how much I like hanging out in Tremont until I go back.  Living in a land-locked part of the east side sometimes deters me from going there, but I need to make it a point to hang out there more often.

I had so much fun in Tremont on Friday that I decided to go back on Saturday.  Well, that's not exactly true.  Tremont Scoops had a vegan dessert tasting.  Or as I'd like to call it, a formerly fat girl's dream.  The owner had prepared samples of the vegan "ice cream" and baked goods that she's added to her plethora of tasty treats.  I got to sample carrot cake, chocolate cheesecake, a mini ice cream sandwich (made with Tofutti - my favorite non-dairy ice cream), a chocolate brownie, apple crumb...and probably some other things.  (Mini-sizes - I didn't ingest 10,000 calories for lunch)  Everything was so good, I sort of lost track.  All of these tasty vegan items - and more - are available for special order from Tremont Scoops' all vegan dessert menu. (just in time for the holidays!)  Surprise the vegan or lactose intolerant person in your life with some delicious dessert this holiday season...or at least stop in to Tremont Scoops to show your support for this new menu.  The owner really put some time and effort into developing her line-up of vegan items.  Like the slice of pumpkin chiffon pie I purchased before I left the store.  (I felt guilty for having so many free samples - I wanted to at least buy something!)

    

It's exciting to have one place to order vegan desserts from...but can you believe there are even more vegan bakers around town?  If you're looking for holiday vegan cookie trays, Lea over at Terra Bakery is  now taking orders.  She's posted pictures of some of her most recent creations and they look fantastic.  She takes special requests, too, so if you're looking for something in particular, she'll be able to whip up something to meet your sweet-tooth needs.   

And if you'll excuse me, I need to go run off all the calories I took in this weekend. :)    

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Jar Today and Mexican Snickerdoodles

My most favorite cookbook hits stores today - Vegan Cookies Invade Your Jar.  I was lucky enough to snag a copy early (Thanks, Cosmos Vegan Shoppe), but if you're at all interested in baking, not just vegan baking, you should check this book out.  The recipes are, for the most part, super simple, and the finished products are always packing some decadent flavor.  It will be holiday party time before you know it, so why not wow your friends (or enemies) with some "I can't believe they're vegan" treats.

Over the weekend I made the Mexican Chocolate Snicker-doodles, featured in the aforementioned cookie cookbook and also on The Post Punk Kitchen's blog.  (See the recipe here.)  Chocolate + cinnamon + cayenne pepper?  Pretty interesting, actually.

 

I'm a wuss when it comes to spices, so although I appreciate the kick that these little cookies  have because of the pepper, I think I may have liked regular old chocolate snicker-doodles better.  (As my boyfriend said, "Why don't you just make them without pepper next time.  Then they'd be really good."  If you're a fan of spiciness, or spices in unexpected places, you might like these cookies more than I did.  I thought they were good...but they made me a little hot around the collar. 

I look forward to trying more of the recipes in this book...there are 100 of them, so it's going to take me awhile to find out which ones will be my favorites!

Recipe: Vegan peanut butter chocolate pillow cookies

Is it really Monday already?  Despite having taken the day of on Friday, I feel like I've been on the go since Thursday.  In between going out with friends, running in a 5 mile race, and nearly dying from what I gather was food poisoning, I made time to work on my vegan baking skills. 

Last week I mentioned that I was able to get my mitts on a copy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar a smidge early.  There are so many fantastic sounding recipes, I can't wait to try out almost all of them, but being a lover of all things peanut butter and chocolate, I decided to try my hand at making peanut butter chocolate pillow cookies.  (which I realized after the fact were featured months ago on the Post Punk Kitchen blog)

I'll leave the wit and humor to Isa on the Post Punk Kitchen blog, but I will tell you a few things about these cookies:

1. In the book, they're in the "fancy" cookies chapter.  Why?  Because they're fairly difficult to make.  I equate this recipe to being similar to making pierogis or ravioli.  You need a lot of time and a lot of patience to roll out the chocolate dough and then carefully seal in the peanut buttery filling. (I was so angry at the cookies because of their level of difficulty, I didn't eat one until nearly 24 hours after I baked them.  No joke.)

2. These cookies look pretty boring (if not mis-shapen) when you take them out of the oven, or in my case, take them to a party.  But when you bite into them - WOW!  It's like eating the cookie equivalent of a peanut butter cup.  The outer chocolate cookie is firm but the center is soft and delicious. 

3. These cookies are a lot of work but are definitely a crowd pleaser.  I got multiple compliments on them - and plenty of "I can't believe these are vegan" statements.  I definitely plan on making them again when I want to impress someone or for a fancy cookie exchange. (The compliments helped me feel better about the disastrous mess in my kitchen and the hours spent making these cookies.)

Stay tuned for additional adventures in vegan baking.  I hope to try out at least one new recipe from the cookbook every week...later this week I plan on making magical coconut cookie bars.