Eggnog Pancakes

Finally! Finally I’ve made eggnog pancakes. And even though its not even Thanksgiving yet, I think it’s a great way to ring in the holiday season.

Of course this version is vegan. I used Silk Seasonal Nog as a replacement for your typical eggnog. In the past I’ve thought that the Silk version of eggnog didn’t match up to the real thing. I still can’t say its the same exact taste and thickness, but for some reason it just tastes so much better this year! (I think this is a sign I’ve been vegan for too long.) Either way, I really enjoyed these pancakes.

Best, served with a glass of Silk Seasonal Nog.

The Recipe:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt (slightly less)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder (I used 2 1/2 in my version and it was too much)
1 cup Silk Seasonal Nog (or other dairy-free eggnog of your choice)
2 tbsp vegan butter (I used earth balance), melted
1 egg replacer egg
nutmeg, to taste
cinnamon, to taste
pumpkin pie spice, optional

Mix dry ingredients, then add wet ingredients and mix well.

When I made these pancakes, they were way too thick! I typically love thick pancakes, but these were so thick it was difficult to cook them. So I lowered the amount of baking powder. As you can see from the following photo, I had to start making tiny pancakes in the hopes that they would cook more thoroughly. I just ended up tossing them in the microwave for 30 seconds before I ate them to make sure they were cooked all the way through.

I really enjoyed these pancakes. I’d definitely recommend drinking some (soy) eggnog with them, it really helps to enhance the taste.

Green Velvet Cupcakes

If these cupcakes seem eerily similar to a recipe I posted last month, you’re right. Last month, for Valentine’s Day, I posted a recipe for vegan red velvet cupcakes. This is basically the same recipe, except these are Green Velvet Cupcakes.

The Recipe:
1 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp red food coloring

Mix together dry ingredients. Add soy milk, oil, food coloring and vanilla. Mix well. Add the vinegar until just blended.
Bake at 350 F for 13-20 minutes.

My Review:
These cupcakes turned out great. They tasted better than my original batch of red velvet cupcakes, because I baked them for the appropriate time. However, they didn’t come out quite as vibrantly green as I was hoping for, but no one complained about the color. And I’m sure if you use more food coloring (I only used 1 tbsp) that it will work out better for you.

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Why I love going home for Christmas…

For some reason this year when I left for home for winter break, I was skeptical about whether I could handle three weeks trapped in my parents house. Typically I find myself going into a sort of “hibernation” over winter break. I spend the majority of my break at home, cozied up on the couch reading book after book after book. This is definitely one of my favorite parts of going home, however, I always get cabin fever after about a week of seclusion. Thankfully, the solution to this is easy: see my friends! Who would’ve thought it could be that easy?

Thanks to this solution I’ve had a very pleasant winter break thus far, and am looking forward to the next week and a half of relaxation and bliss.

One of the other benefits of going home, however, is all of the awesome stocking stuffers I received on Christmas day. I told my Mother this year that all I wanted was a stocking (because she makes the most awesome stockings, of course!). I thought that this request might reduce the amount of gifts I received, however, this just caused my Mother to give me three stockings to open on Christmas morning!

Some of the awesome vegan and cooking-related gifts I got for Christmas are as follows:

My considerate Mother armed me with loads of delicious vegan chocolate this year. I’ve never tried the different dairy free chocolate bars from Chocolate Dream, but I’ve been wanting to for some time. I’ve also recently fallen for the brand Chocolove. They’re not all vegan, but several versions of the dark chocolate are… and they’re also quite decadent and delicious. Plus, they all include a famous love poem inside the wrapper. Just another plus!

By far the best, and funniest gift I pulled out of my stocking was a bottle of wine. This seemed extremely appropriate, because I gave both my Mother and Step-Dad alcoholic beverages for Christmas as well (wine and beer respectively). I saw this as definite proof that I am my Mother’s daughter.

This could prove to be the most useful gift I received this year. I first read about this on VegNews.com, and found the cookbook on Etsy. The cookbooks only cost a couple of dollars, and the proceeds go to benefit an animal shelter in Iran. What could be better? Oh yeah, all of the delicious Middle Eastern recipes loaded in there. And they’re vegan too, of course. Hopefully I’ll be posting some recipes from this soon.

The final cooking-related gift I received was a variety of cooking and baking utensils. My Mom gave me a paring knife, an egg beater (?) and that other weird thing you see in the picture (she says I can use it to make better pie crusts). So we’ll see how this all works out. I’m sure they’ll all come in handy.

Other than that, I hope everyone had pleasant holidays, and enjoyed some delicious vegan food!

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Vegan Bake-Off #3 – This Could be a Winner

The third monthly vegan baking challenge is tomorrow. The theme: Christmas. This month I chose to bake chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting topped with peppermint bark. I think I picked a winner.

(Too bad peppermint bark isn’t vegan.)

I used my heavenly chocolate cake recipe, which I’ve used for cupcakes before, and it never fails to please.

I also wanted a thick vegan frosting, so I used one I found online, which I think just happens to be from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

The Frosting:
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup vegan butter (Earth Balance)
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup soymilk

Beat shortening and butter together until fluffy. Add powdered sugar (one cup at a time) and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add vanilla and soymilk. Continue mixing for about 5-7 minutes, or until preferred consistency is reached.

I can’t wait to take these into work tomorrow! YUM!

Tried and Tested: Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes

Sorry for the uber late Thanksgiving post. But, hopefully some of these recipes and ideas can at least benefit someone for next year’s Thanksgiving:

I’m honestly not sure if I took any photos over Thanksgiving, which is a shame, because I have a ton of great recipes to recommend. Either way, I feel it’s necessary to share all of the great (and easily convertible) vegan recipes we made over Thanksgiving dinner.

1. Vegan Pumpkin Pie

I searched for days to find a delicious and simple recipe for vegan pumpkin pie. Last year at Thanksgiving my vegan (and gluten free) pumpkin pie recipe was a failure, however, this year things turned out much better. I found this recipe on a blog called So Good and Tasty. I didn’t use the recipe for the crust (although it looked delicious), because it seemed too time consuming, however the important part- the pumpkin center- was all that really mattered to me.

I love this recipe because it uses coconut milk, which just seems like a stroke of genius. I made the pie on Wednesday evening after returning home from school. Once I arrived home my Mother gave me a list of demands to accomplish, (all baking oriented of course) and I got to work. The first thing on my list was this pie. It was also the last thing I put in the oven, so it ended up a little overcooked. (However it was still fantastic!)

2. Cornbread

I can’t remember the last time I ate my Mom’s cornbread. Its the most delicious treat, and made even better by the fact that I can pour syrup all over it without an ounce of guilt. I used a recipe from an old cookbook that my Mom always uses, and made it vegan. Thankfully, it was quite simple to convert.

3. Cranberry and Orange Muffins

I’m not really sure how this is a traditional Thanksgiving food, but it was on the list of things my Mom wanted me to make once I returned home. I pulled the recipe out of my Mother’s Betty Crocker cookbook, and made it vegan. Also quite a simple conversion. Unfortunately, I can’t say how good these were because I still have yet to try one! However, they did disappear quite quickly…

4. Veggie Loaf

This recipe was all my Mother’s doing. She’d emailed me about this delicious vegetable loaf she’d eaten a few months ago and said that she would make it for me for Thanksgiving dinner. Good to her word, the loaf was actually quite good, however I’m not sure it really suited my tastebuds well. It tasted a little too much like stuffing, which I’ve never been a fan of. However, I have to recommend this recipe to anyone who might just love it!

5. Pumpkin Spice Cookies

When I came home I found a bag of these sitting on the counter with my name on it. Literally, a dream come true. A bag full of delicious, homemade cookies, just for me! Apparently these cookies freeze well, because my Mom said she baked them over a month ago and simply stuck them in the freezer for the next time I came home. I would never have guessed, because they tasted delicious and freshly baked.

6. Zucchini Banana Bread Pancakes

Again, I have no idea how this relates to Thanksgiving, but my Mother made them for breakfast on the big day, and they were just as delicious as usual.

7. Pumpkin Bread

Again, my Mom is taking on vegan baking on her own time. She made loaves of pumpkin bread to give everyone on Christmas (freezing them again), and I got to taste one of the fresh baked loaves. Delicious, and highly recommended.

8. Mashed Potatoes

These are super easy to veganize. Just peel and boil the potatoes, mash them, add a bit of vegan butter and soymilk, and keep mixing until desired consistency is reached. Vegan mashed potatoes don’t typically come out as creamy as “regular” mashed potatoes, however I’ve never heard any complaints about them, and I think they taste just as delicious!

Friendsgiving

I am excited to write this post. Last Saturday night myself and a few good friends got together to celebrate Thanksgiving with a giant, delicious potluck dinner. We all contributed delicious vegetarian dishes to the meal, and drank lots and lots of wine. It was so great seeing Beth and Kim (from the Fourth Broomstick,) as well as our friends Meaghan and Dianna.

My friend Meaghan came over to my house before we left for Friendsgiving in order to make vegan spring rolls. It turns out that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, however, I will vouch for them: they were delicious! She chopped up cucumber, mango, apple, and red pepper and put them in spring rolls, then made a delicious dipping sauce from a combination of natural crunchy peanut butter, soy sauce and a clove of chopped garlic. (Mixed together and heated briefly in the microwave – add water as needed.)

While Meaghan was making her spring rolls, I was baking a delicious brownie recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie, her Chocolate Pumpkin Pie Brownies. I’d actually never made a recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie before, even though I’ve been admiring her blog for a long time. These brownies were a huge hit with my friends. I didn’t really think they tasted much like pumpkin, however the pumpkin did a fantastic job of making the brownies soft and delicious. If I make them again I might try adding a bit of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.

My brownie photo isn’t the best, but that’s never stopped me before. I’ll vouch for their complete deliciousness.

Once we got to Beth’s place, we found out what everyone else prepared for dinner. Beth made a delicious risotto with squash and barley, with a pumpkin dip for bread. While Kim made a very delicious salad, and Dianna prepared a green bean casserole. And like I said, we also drank lots and lots of wine.

The above photo is of mulled wine, which was Kim’s amazing idea. The entire time they were talking about making this, I thought everyone had been saying “mold wine,” and I kept thinking: “What a strange name. That doesn’t sound appealing at all.” But, I guess that’s just our Michigan accents playing tricks on my mind.

Overall the night was fantastic. We had great food, great wine and great conversation. Win, win, win.