Damn Right It's Cookin' Crunk!

About my absence: most people assume when a vegan blogger lays off the blog love, that they've mysteriously developed an inexplicable craving for bacon and cheese and have given a fat middle finger to veg heads everywhere. They create a huge assed entry about how they're not vegan anymore because of an iron deficiency-(bullshit), or were "listening to their bodies" and message boards are on fire with the news.

Sorry, I don't have that drama for you. I've just been busy. Really busy!

I travel a lot now, and I've had adventures finding vegan eats while on the road to Terre Haute, IN and Indianapolis. Found a great Mom and Pop diner in TH that serves Lebanese food. Homemade grape leaves. I'll post on that later. I promise it won't take a month to read about it, either.

Then there's my new love affair with the garlic jalapeno flavored Daiya wedge. You can eat vegan cheese cold! Whuuuut? A vegan cheese that tastes good cold?  GTFOH.Yes.

I started a new job I love, parent two small children, and have had limited time to cook. In the long-long ago, I tested for my buddy Bianca Phillip's bad-ass cookbook "Cookin' Crunk: Eatin' Vegan in the Dirty South." That's when I really  had my game on. I could hardly wait for the book to come out.

Then it did. Got my copy. Let it sit on the shelf. Baaaaaaad Jen.

The photos above are of the pulled BBQ tempeh, caramelized onions&cabbage, and of the Chocolate Fudgy Puddin' Cake. DUDE: THE CAKE HAS A POOL OF HOT CHOCOLATE PUDDING ON THE BOTTOM. Goes perfect with a couple scoops of vanilla vegan ice cream. Yum.

I tested MANY recipes for this book. Stuff like sweet potato bread, coconut pie, country fried tempeh and gravy, country potato soup, and the jaw splitting chicken fried tofu and waffle sandwich. What are you waiting for, Elvis to come back? Just go out and buy the book already. You won't regret it.

An American Vegan Kitchen Fave!

When I hear people whine about missing out on dessert as a vegan, I want to shove a pie in their face. This VEGAN pie. This is the Crispy Bottom Peanut Butter Pie with Chocolate Fudge Sauce from my favorite go-to vegan cookbook, American Vegan Kitchen. WARNING: this is a super decadent, peanut buttery, and fudgey nosh. You might have to sign up for diabetes supplies after eating a slice.

Just buy the book already. Amazon gave it five stars, and you know the internet does not lie. IMO, this book has the best selection of dishes for the newly vegan to fully enjoy the transition from meaty to meatless. With recipes like Sweet Garlicky Ribz, Fried Avocados, and Greektown Gyros, you'd think you were eating stuff from one of them there restaurant places that has a bunch of stuff hangin' on the walls. When I was on vacation, I made a bunch of stuff from this book and felt like I was eating out every day.

More Praises for "Hearty Vegan"

 I decided to dust off my growing cookbook collection and get to gettin' with the cookin' if you know what I mean. I opened up Hearty Vegan: Meals for Monster Appetites by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman. The pictures had me drooling. Yowza! I picked a few dishes based on ingredients I had at home, made a shopping list for what I didn't have, and was off to work.

The first picture is of the Cheesy Chili Bake. I had a few cups of chili that was looking lonely and wanted to do something creative. This was a great move on my part. This ain't your momma's chili mac-- the shit was fabulous, the stuff of ultimate comfort food. Then again, that's Hearty Vegan in a nutshell for you-- ALL the recipes are for mouthwatering, homestyle, and rib sticking delights. The chili bake has a cheesy sauce inside the bake and another one on top for twice the cheese goodness. This is a must make for anyone craving cheese. I topped the casserole with some french fried onions for flair.

Breakfast, anyone?

These are the Chocolate Pecan muffins from the breakfast section of the book. Don't be fooled by the chocolate top. The muffins contain three types of grains to keep you filled and energized to tackle what the work week may bring you. 

Brrrr, it's cold outside! How about a Pot O' Lentil Stew?

This was a delightful way to end my Sunday: a nice lentil stew served with some Smoky Pub Cheez. Who knew you could recreate the bar cheese sensation with oatmeal? I know I've hit your curious nerve. Now go make it? The spread has a nice mellow bite and is perfectly smoky, a must bring to a party. The lentil stew warms you up from the inside out and is full of lentily-vegetabley goodness. 

I made all of this and that's just the tip of the iceberg for this cookbook! The instructions are easy to follow, the pictures are drop dead gorgeous, and the recipes are inspiring. I mean, don't you want to make your own vegan peanut butter cups? How's about waldorf salad wraps? And what in the hell are Irish nachos? You'll have to buy the book to find out. 

I'll be covering more vegan cookbooks in future entries to ignite the spark within you all.

Vegan MOFO Day #22: Go Fudge Yourself

 Michonne is a gal of very few words.

 What gives this superbabe her amazeball powers? Dip. Yeah, that's right--dip.

 Not just any dip, it's her signature Go Fudge Yourself Dip

you'll need:
1/2 c. black beans
2/3 c. chocolate chips melted
1/2 c. vegan vanilla yogurt
1/2 t. vanilla

Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler and add to the beans, yogurt, and vanilla. Blend in a blender or use a food processor. Serve immediately with graham crackers or fruit. You'll wanna keep any unused dip in the fridge. Once cooled, the dip takes on a different texture which reminded me a lot of chocolate mousse.

Summertime Can't be Beet

 Hey readers! I've been so busy diggin' it up in the garden, cookin' in the kitchen, and just loving this weather. It's official, I'm a convert to beets. Never thought I'd like them. Always loved the colors, but would scrunch up my nose at borscht. Then I had Biotta brand beet juice last year and felt differently. This year I wanted to grow some in my garden and this is the first harvest of candy striped beets. Aren't they just bee-you-tiful? I can't bring myself to cook them, so I'll eat them raw. Good thing, they taste like sugar. Seriously. Toss that in some vinegar, oil, with a little dill and salt, --BOOM! Salad time. Or you could do the whole sweet n' salty thing by making a nice vegan feta like spread and dip the beets in them.  I played scientist with some of the slices and am letting them soak in the leftover brine from a jar of banana peppers. What color will they turn? Tune in and see.

Did you know Stauffer's chocolate animal crackers are accidentally vegan? Yep. I like to melt chocolate and dip them in it. Then I stick 'em in the fridge and I have a portion controlled sweet treat to eat when it is hotter n' balls outside. I made this batch with a nice chili chocolate, which is a pleasant surprise after sticking a frozen piece of chocolate cookie in your mouth--wait for it, wait for it! Feel the burn. I love to torture myself.

Berry Whites

So I know these strawberries don't look so sensual. What's going on there? Don't knock it until you try it.
This here is my own concoction and saving grace from eating an entire pie. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I gots to be careful of that stuff and moderate my sugar intake. No problem!

So here's how you make these Berry Whites...get it Barry White? He would rise from the grave to nosh on one of these.

You'll need:

4 Large strawberries BIG ONES. ZOMG! The more ginormous, the better

2T Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter

1/3 cup of Cracklin Oat Bran Cereal and one single coffee bean, run through the coffee mill and set aside. Really, any vegan cereal will do. I just like me some COB.

• Wash and pat dry the berries. Set aside.
• Prepare your Cracklin' Oat Bran Dust. Set aside in a shallow dish.
• Make an assembly line near the pot: strawberries, pan, dish of cereal, wax paper.
• Heat the JNB on super low heat on a non stick skillet or pan. Stir constantly. Watch that butter!
• Lightly brush or roll each berry in melted JNB. 
• Roll each berry IMMEDIATELY in the pulverized cereal.
• Set on wax paper. 
• Stick in fridge.
• Eat once cooled. 
• Impress your friends.
• You're welcome.

Sorry, I've Been Abducted by Aliens

Here's a shot of the Magic Bar Cookie Pancakes from the long long ago!  NOTE: the Kroger Valu Brand Chocolate Chips are not vegan. Boooooo! They changed their formula a year or so ago and I'm pissed. Have no fear: Private Selection Organic Semi-Sweet Chips as well as 60% Cocoa Baking Chunks are vegan and have the obligatory blurb about being produced on shared equipment.

Dearest Readers,

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted. I've seemed to have a ton of things going on in the past year that has thrown a monkey wrench in doing what I love...blogging! Well, I say no more to being overworked. I'm back, that's that, and I'll be doing my thing more often. Where was I?

I'd rather not talk about it. To squelch any blogging rumors, I am still very much vegan. I have not had a fall from vegan grace. Human grace perhaps, but I've dusted my butt off and am moving on. I appreciate any fan letters and thoughts of encouragement during my difficult time. My life needs a magic cookie bar pancake right about now, but I need to watch my sugar intake. I've had some medical issues arise where I now take a medication that automatically raises my blood sugar, so I'm actually having to rethink how I eat. Yay?

Included with my real life difficulties are technical ones. I just returned from an awesome trip up north to my old stompin' grounds of Kalamazoo. Guess what? Vegan pancakes and burgers to be found at the Studio Grill. Took pics and everything. Met the chef and he is gnawdorable and oh-so-kind. The staff are amazingballs.  It is my luck that the damned photos will not load, so I'm working with tech support on the problem. Fun, right?

So I'll save the high holy praises for that place once I can post the pics. Just know that if you live in the Kzoo area or are from D-Twat and looking for a great day trip, get to The Studio Grill on W. Michigan (near the corner of Michigan and Church St. downtown) and get yo'self some of that pancakey goodness. They are life changers. They have plenty of soymilk on hand for your coffee.

Never underestimate the clearance section

While shopping at my local food co-op, I came across a whole mess of these chokolit bars for 69 cents a piece. The packaging was different, because it was a line made to donate extra money to endangered animals. Neato, huh? I grabbed several dark with coconut, and one with chili. I haven't tried the chili ones yet, because I want to make some Mexican hot chocolate cookies and thought that would be a nice touch added in the dough.

The story of Louis is SO inspiring. I wish I had the initiative to be a chocolatier at such a young age! Being a teen is hard enough, but to overcome adversity like he did just made my heart smile. Never underestimate the power of dreams and determination. I know, I sound like one of those posters.

He does have a non-vegan line, but all of the dark bars are made without dairy. YES, there is a "may contain nuts and milk", but I really think that is because it is produced on the same equipment as the other bars. So if you are super allergic to milk, or just can't ethically deal with trace amounts in your stuff, well there are other vegan chocolates. The chocolate is also made without palm oil, so you are making orangutans feel a little safer.

All Hail Justin's Nut Butter

Did you ever think you'd be addicted to a blog written by Beavis and Butthead? I giggle every time I think about Justin's nuts and his butter, and cannot stop my mind from producing a bunch of dirty jokes. I also cry a little because it is so incredibly expensive. I don't care how tasty one's nut butter is, I can't spend justify spending that much on something like that.

Well, Mr. J. picked some up on sale for $3 less than regular price and surprised me with it. Wow! After having some on a peanut butter pretzel, I remembered why it is nice to pamper oneself with luxury items. How often do we waste our money on stuff we think will work but doesn't? C'mon, I know you have a thighmaster collecting dust in your basement, and a DIY Botox kit by Ronco hidden in your garage. You bought those things thinking they would be life altering. Three installments of $39.95 and you'll be so much better than you already are. Really?

How often do we invest in ourselves by getting something we love? For me, not often enough because I just feel like it's wasteful or something. Would we hesitate to do this for someone we love? Of course not. I get caught up in being ashamed of being working class and justify not getting myself nice stuff because I should be taking care of other things. Really? Is spending the full price of $9.99 gonna break me if I do it a couple times of year? Nope.

And Justin doesn't put a bunch of trans fats and sugar in his nutty butter either. I mean, his products with honey aren't vegan, but I don't buy those. It's not like I'm buying that other brand that rhymes with rubella that has a bunch of milk fat in it. So, do something nice for yourself and splurge a little. It's honestly okay. You're worth it.

OYMST Day #25: 6 Days and counting

Man-oh-man, I'm so looking forward to ending this month. I'm going to make some S'molve Pie and/or cookies and pass out for a few days. I kid, really Operation Yank My Sweet Tooth has brought me closer to myself, namely my insatiable need to consume more sweets than vegetables, which isn't the ideal path for a vegan.

Some of the cravings have subsided. I have noticed that when I eat something even mildly sweetened, it is a little too much for me. I've come to appreciate dates on a whole new level. Dried figs are my new buddies. I cherish the flavor of a fresh orange or apple slice. This is important because as much as I declare myself a hard-core-vegan-foodie, there is something to be said about mindlessly noshing away. I personally found myself not appreciating the flavors of sweets so much as I thought I had to have them, like a smoker has to have a cigarette. For me, I want to avoid that.

What will happen post-project? I'll still eat sweets, but I'll look for new takes on old favorites. My tried and true loves will be eaten less often so I can really appreciate their flavors. I'll make more stuff with fruit.

Before the project, a fellow PPKer sent me this incredible care package loaded with chocolate. One of the gems in this package was made by The Tea Room (?) and was the best chocolate I've ever tasted with the exception of Enjoy Life's Boom-Choco-Boom dark bar. The chocolate fusion bar was super dark with fruity tones and a distinctive coffee flavor. I melted it and used it to coat cookies--divine!

Have you ever taken a break from something you enjoy because you were losing your respect for it? Tell me about it.

OYMST Day #10: Sweet Grits?

I'm totally addicted to Food Network's hit show Chopped. Pure genius watching chefs get stumped with a basket of obscure-(and often gross!) ingredients. If only they'd come up with a vegan version. Imagine the hilarity of chefs being stumped by what to do with tempeh, Speculoos, and durian. I'd totally be the host. I'm funnier and much better looking.

So in the dessert round of one of the episodes, a chef from Senegal made sweet grits with carrots and cream. I felt a little happy on the inside because I like my grits sweet as well. I don't know why, I just do. To some people that just spells D-U-M-B, or C-R-A-Z-Y, but I like to call it G-O-O-D.

Pictured above is my experiment from yesterday: I cooked my instant grits with 1T of dark chocolate, 1t agave, 1.5 brown rice syrup, chopped up banana, and pecans. It reminded me of cocoa wheats. Very warm and filling.

I've also made them with a little Earth Balance and brown sugar. On day 2 of this experiment, I was hungry for my usual cookie meal, but replaced it with grits with chopped figs, dates, cinnamon, ginger, and a little soy milk. Wow. One of these days, I'll have them as intended--plain or with some cheeze and hot peppers.

The Big Bake Easy HOLIDAY EDITION!

Hey there kid, GET AWAY FROM THE TABLE! Yep that's my boy. Standing behind a table of sweets completely pantsless. Kind of priceless, don't you think?
Here it is pre-sale. Even if I had the best camera in the world, I'm pretty sure my food photography would suck because I cannot get my hands to stand still. Perhaps it is because I engaged in lots of sampling prior to party time! Seriously, I ate a lot of sugar. It doesn't matter if it's organic. Sweets are sweets.

I had this in-home bake sale to try to raise a little money for my family and for a local animal care facility. I was really banking on getting a holiday bonus from my regular job, but it turns out that I shouldn't have assumed that. So, instead of feeling sorry for myself I thought I'd hold a bake sale and expose peeps to vegan goods. Here's the menu:

Mocha Cappuccino Cookies from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur, made gluten free with 1c teff flour, 1 c soy flour, and 1.5 t of xanthan gum. I have found this to be a great combination for cookies. You might need to add more liquids (a T at a time) though because those flours are grainy and absorb quite a bit of water.

Lower Fat Chocolate Bundt Cake from Veganomicon, made gluten free. This time I think I got the flour combo better: 1/3 potato starch, 2/3 teff flour, and 1 c garbanzo flour. I liked the way the cookie crumb held together with the 1.5 t of xanthan, so I added that much again. This produced a delightful moist cake. I made them into cupcakes that I topped with Ricki Heller's amazing whoopie pie filling-(go here to try it!) and a smaller cake that I topped with the peanut butter caramel recipe from Veganomicon. I threw some chocolate chips into the caramel for the hell of it. Good choice.

Chocolate Crinkles from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Gingerbread Biscotti from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar- I topped them with a saffron/lemon buttercream frosting. This was nice.

Smolve Pie from Veganomicon. Now I know what everyone is talkin' about. HOLY SHIT that's good pie.

Chocolate Mint Wafer Cookies-(aka thick mints) from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur

Seven Layer Bars from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur

Oatmeal Scotchies from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur



I ran out of time to make Celine's Black Bean Brownies and CCKatie's Fudge Babies. Have no fear, there's still time before Christmas! I think it's laughable that I worried that I didn't make enough food.


I made impromptu serving trays with old records, paper towel tubes, gift wrap, and a little glue. After the party I used them as a holder for washcloths in the bathroom.


SMOLVE PIE!
Lower Fat Chocolate Bundt Cake made GF and topped with chocolate peanut butter caramel with baby cupcakes and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Gives you the diabeetus.

Butterscotch No Bakes from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur- I made these gluten free by omitting the flour and adding 1/3 c. butterscotch chips to the soft boil mixture. The dough is a little testy, but the cookies do hold up just fine without the flour.





I spent about $35 on the ingredients. I made $33 yesterday and have 9 people who couldn't make it to the event wanting $4 goodie bags. Not a bad haul. $69 total, and when factoring in the 25% to charity, that's $17.25 that Wildcare didn't have before the sale! So I made back what I spent and spread the good news of vegan goods to my buddies. Yay! Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen. Never doubt the power of baked goods whether making them, eating them, selling them, or all of the above. Vegan baking is easy and good for the soul.

Happy Humpday! Praises for Alternative Baking Company

Ever had a care package swap? No? You don't know what you're missing. This is just one of about a dozen shots of my tricked out vegan care package from Petunia of the Post Punk Kitchen Forum. Among the oodles of chocolate goodies was this giant Double Chocolate Chip Decadence cookie from the Alternative Baking Company.

I never buy their cookies because I'm a cheapskate, too busy making my own, and I honestly wasn't sure if their cookies were good. I'm generally leery of prepackaged vegan cookies because I suffer from that "But What If It Isn't As Good As It Looks?" syndrome.

Well, I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, and wrong. And so, so happy to be wrong.

That cookie was spectacular. Alternative Baking Company, please hire me as your company taster. I will happily nom-nom-nom all day long and preach the gospel of your products. And you new vegans, vegans-to-be, or curious folk should do a care package swap once just to see what an awesome experience it is. So much love goes into it and it is super fun to shop for someone and test yourself on buying products that are vegan. You might make a BFF and BCFF (Best Cookie Friend Forever)!

I'm Such a Scientist

I don't know what I did wrong to get the chocolate chunks to look like they were unearthed from an 1883 time capsule. Such a disgrace. Fortunately, it didn't affect the taste and that cookie is sitting in my intestines as I type this.

I figured Isa has had plenty of love and attention for the past several days, so I'd talk up Ms. Kelly Peloza's Vegan Cookie Connoisseur. Believe it or not, these are the Mocha Cappuccino Cookies. Why don't they look like the picture in the book? Why aren't they all spread out and packed with little speckles of coffee? Well, I'm ever the scientist and decided to try to make them gluten free. I'm having an in-home bake sale this Saturday and have some GF peeps to satisfy.

I used 1/2 c. teff flour, 1/2 c. soy flour, and 1 1/2 t of xanthan gum. The dough didn't spread at all, it was very thick and I had to add some extra liquids to keep the dough from being sandy. I rolled each cookie into a little golf ball and smashed it with the back of a spoon. Then I plugged the chocolate chunks into the dough. 350 for about 8-9 minutes should do it. Don't bake any longer than that or you will have a rock.

The taste? Well, it was a little gritty because of the flours, but good--notably good for dunking in milk, if that happens to be your thang. Guess what? NO CRUMBLES. Yep, that's right, the cookie didn't crumble like my past GF experiments. This tells me for now, that the teff/soy combo works. Most people think to make a cookie GF all they have to do is add whatever non gluten flour and ((((blamo!)))) you have a GF cookie. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. You have to play around and see what happens. Other blogs will tell you the xanthan or guar isn't needed, but if you don't your going to have a cookie that turns to a fistful of crumbs.

Hot Cocoa Mexican Style

I'm sicker than a dog right about now. That won't stop me from eating cookies, though. Especially these Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. Packed with a chocolate punch, followed by very subtle sinus clearing chile powder--these cookies will separate your plate from all the fruitcake at the company Xmas party. Are you convinced that you need to get this book for the holidays? I hope so. You're welcome Isa, you know how much I love you.

I'm having a Holiday Bake Easy to raise some extra $ for our household and give some to charity. Tomorrow will begin a week long marathon in me making cookie dough to refrigerate for the big day. I also plan on attacking the infamous Smolve Pie from Veganomicon.

I haven't picked out a charity yet, but 25% of the funds from the bake sale will go to a local organization. I know y'all are awesome, after all--with all your help we raised $10 for the local animal shelter and $10 for my local food bank. That doesn't sound like much, but every penny helps! If you would like to contribute to the Holiday Bake Easy, send an e-mail to jennifermolica@gmail.com

Portion Control, I Haz It.

Well, not really. I've been known to get up in the middle of the night and sleep eat. Hell, it's not even sleep eating--I'm awake and can't stand for the cookie jar to be full. For some strange reason, making cookies or brownies in a muffin/cupcake pan does the trick for me every now and then. It's a must for office parties or pitch ins. Otherwise, I'm making one giant cookie for me and cookie pellets for everyone else. True story.

So, are brownies cookies? No, so I guess I suck at that 20 days of cookie thing I've been aiming for. These are the Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. They are just as rad as they sound. Don't be fooled by the shadows in the photo, there's some heavy fudge on the bottom. (((((snickering))))) I typed "fudge on the bottom."This is for those vegan cheesecake doubters. Yes, you can has cheezcake.

I Can See Your Peanut Butter Pillows

Now, wouldn't the epic thriller Carrie have been more of a heart touching tale of overcoming adversity if her mother had simply made a plate of Peanut Butter Pillows from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar instead of letting her go to the prom? Think about it, she would have taken a couple of bites, said to her momma,

"You know what? Screw those bullies. In 20 years they'll be washed out and still living here in Anytown. I'm gonna use my telekinesis to bank big in Vegas. You can stay here and read the bible. Keep making awesome cookies, ma."

You wouldn't have to see the buckets of blood or fire. Instead you'd just see Sissy Spacek rolling around in hundreds on her bed from Circus Circus. Her mom would decide to start going to Buddhist retreats, and everything would be dandy.

That's how awesome these cookies are.

A Little Crinkle for St. Nickle

Chocolate Crinkles from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. They taste like a brownie and a cookie did it and had children. Slightly crispy on the outside, but fudgey and gooey on the inside. I bet if you put a bit of mint extract in this you would have a nice after dinner cookie after you have a cookie dinner.

A vegan short cut with cookies

Thanks to FoodBuzz's Tastemaker Program and Duncan Hines for the awesome care package! I received 8 coupons for FREE DH products, and a free coupon for Comstock Pie Filling. I'll post about the pie at another time. Of course, I'm not going to eat all 8 boxes, so I'm giving some to my church to put in gift baskets for people during the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Tastemaker's program is an awesome opt-in program that is part of their Featured Publisher's group. If you get selected, you get gift packages from various companies to play around with and plug to the blogosphere. Pretty cool deal, if you ask me. Not all companies are vegan, but if you know your stuff, you can figure out which items will work for you. To me, there's no better way to spread the news than to mingle with gaggles of omnivores and traditionally non-vegan companies and telling them how you played scientist with their food. Cutting oneself off from others because of your diet is never a good way to get things done.

If you're new to veganism and have difficulties with baking, I feel you. I've been there. I have a short cut for all you newbies and wannabes! Most commercial cake mixes, are accidentally vegan not all--but most IF you use a vegan egg instead of a chicken egg. The ingredient list is on the processed and chemical side which causes skepticism for those who serve on the vegan police, but don't sweat it--this is a lifestyle choice about having fun and being creative. Don't let a select few bully your efforts in trying to do this! For further inspiration, read this article by Vegan Outreach.

These cookies are **awesome** and remind me of the big ass soft baked ones that I bought at the mall when I was an Aqua Net Hair Spray Diva and listening to Whitesnake.

So, I took the Devil's Food cake mix, and made the following subs:

*2 vegan eggs: 2 T ground flax seeds and 6T warm water. Whisk and set aside. The mixture will get kind of gelatinous after a few minutes.

1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce

1/4 c. canola oil

1/2 c. chocolate chips


Preheat that oven to three fiddy. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil lightly sprayed with canola oil spray.

After the vegan egg has gelled a little, whisk it with the oil and applesauce. Add this mixture to the dry cake mix. If you find it is too dry, add a T or two of more applesauce, but it really should be fine. Fold in the chocolate chips and get out a lightly oiled ice cream scoop.

Using the scoop, dole out single scoops on the cookie sheet, making special care to leave a few inches between each cookie. You should really only get 6 per sheet. If you want smaller cookies, ((sigh)) fine, use a tablespoon instead. I don't know why anyone would want smaller cookies.

Bake 'em for 10-12 minutes AND NOT ONE SECOND LONGER. Do you hear me, you doubting cookie Thomas? Let 'em cool for a minute or so before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.


Enjoy! Remember, this way of eating is really not a pain in the ass. It's a cinch. You can do it! Thanks again to FoodBuzz and Duncan Hines for making this post happen!


*=if you don't have access to ground flax seeds, don't fret. You can double the amount of applesauce-(for the record, I don't like the results), use 1/4 c. of pureed silken tofu-(in the aseptic package in the Asian aisle of your grocery store), or one mushed banana. If you go the banana route, your cookies will have a distinct flavor, but some people like banana--so there you have it.

Cocoa Season Begins

Instead of Hunting Season or obsessing over the "perfect" turkey, wouldn't be awesome if we had Cocoa Season instead? Imagine the possibilities: Special camos for nature walks and fancy thermoses that hold all kinds of sugary, chocolatey, blissey, and frothy delights? Wouldn't a vegan IHOP be adorable with two grown men discussing the batch of white chocolate and fig hot cocoa over a stack of flapjacks? Wouldn't it be wonderful to see people in pick up trucks with kegs of cocoa instead of an animal? I thought so. One day, people. One day.


I officially declare November 11, 2011 to be the very first Hot Cocoa Season Ever. That's right. Put the guns down, grab a mug, and see what you can make. Tell me about your favorite hot cocoa moments! Don't have one? Well, make one up. You know that one about your boy/girl friend from Canada that we've never met? Who would you love to sit down with and discuss your favorite movie/band/stuffed animal with over a big cup of cocoa?


For my non-vegan readers asking, "How do I make cocoa vegan?" Take a looksie:

Milk Options:

• oat milk
• hemp milk
• almond milk
• soy milk
• coconut milk
• cashew cream or milk
• tahini milk
• peanut milk
• pistachio milk
• the list goes on and on!

You can basically make any non dairy milk by soaking 1 c. nuts to 2 c. water overnight. Put it in a blender and strain. Use the pulp for baked goods, hummus, or sauces. Store milk in fridge and shake before using because it will settle.

For oat milk, I take 1 c. oats to 3 c. water, blend, strain, and use in cocoa or baked goods. This saves $$ on buying soy milk at $3-$5 a pop.

Coconut milk is very mainstream, quite possibly the new black. You can find it everywhere. If you really want to indulge and get the creamiest out there, go to an ethnic grocer and buy the fatty mc fat version of it in a can. Seriously. Don't be freaked out by the fat at the top of the can, it's good for you. Just give the can a good shake.


The cocoa part:
I generally like to add 1 T of quality cocoa for every 6-8 oz of milk. Now that might be too strong for some and too weak for others, but there you have it.

Alternatives are as follows:

• 1/4-1/3 c. chocolate chips in warming milk. Whisk continuously until mixed
• " with vegan chocolate of butterscotch chips. Where do you purchase them? Here and here. If you're one of those lucky ducks on the east coast, Price Chopper Brand butterscotch chips are vegan-(or so I've been told.)

Flavor variations to add to your cocoa:

Using chocolate:

• peppermint
• spearmint
• cinnamon & cayenne
• cardamon & ginger
• pumpkin
• orange
• vanilla

Using butterscotch:
vanilla

• cinnamon
• cardamon
• ginger
• maple
• molasses
• nutmeg

Using white chocolate:

• cranberry
• persimmons
• kiwi
• lemons
• limes
• raspberry
• blueberry

To make flavored syrups, you can buy the commercial syrups-(I can't guarantee veganness), or you can be all punk rock like me and wear a lab coat over your pajamas while mashing the fruit or fruit juice and mixing it with agave nectar or some sugar and water to make a simple syrup.


Mix your chocolate/butterscotch/white chocolate, milk, and syrup or sugar-( I usually throw 3T per every 8 oz.) over med heat until everything is nice and mixed. Don't set the heat on high or you'll burn your milk. Do you hear me? Trust me on that one.


What are you waiting for? Get moving. There's a 10 oz. mug of maple pecan butterscotch lurking in your pantry or grocery aisle.