Vegan Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have two new favourite vegan cookie recipes. I know there are a million chocolate chip cookie recipes but these are too good not to post about. Not to mention ridiculously easy to put together. They don't spread too much, don't puff too much. They have nice crisp edges, and soft but not cakey middles. I've tried them with all purpose flour and with spelt (all purpose was better with crispy edges, spelt resulted in a cookie that spread more and was softer - light spelt might work well though). I've tried them with chocolate chips and with M&Ms (not vegan, I know). It's a great base cookie recipe to add in whatever you like.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Chocolate Dipped Cherry Shortbread
Chocolate Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vegan Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Vive le Vegan!

Makes 8-10 large cookies

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unrefined sugar (I use sucanat)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup oil (I usually use olive oil but safflower or canola would be good too)
1/3-1/2 cup non dairy chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the sugar and salt, and stir until well combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, vanilla and oil. Add the wet mixture to the dry, along with the chocolate chips, and stir through until just well combined (do not overmix).

Place large spoonfuls of the batter on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat, and flatten a little. Bake for 11 minutes, until just golden (if you bake longer, they'll dry out). Let cool on the sheet for no more than 1 minute, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Spicy Potato & Corn Salad

I love potato salad, as I'm sure most of us do. I don't eat it often and never make it though, as I don't want to eat tons of mayonnaise. But this potato salad has no mayonnaise and just 2 teaspoons of oil. And I love that it has beans, chipotle peppers, cilantro and of course my favourite corn.

It's a nice twist on traditional potato salad and makes a great meal salad. I liked eating it warm better than cold. It's too bad I didn't post in the summer when corn was in season! But I've added in instructions for using frozen corn which I'm sure would be just as good.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Know Your Roots Salad
Back On Track Wheat Berry and Chickpea Salad
Quinoa Corn Salad
Spiced Squash, Lentil and Goat Cheese Salad

Spicy Potato & Corn Salad
Adapted from Appetite for Reduction

Serves 6

3 ears corn, shucked (or about 1 1/2 cups frozen corn)
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I used red, white and blue)
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 canned chipotles, mashed into a paste
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp agave
2 tbsp water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic, grated on a Microplane grater or minced very finely
2 cups pinto beans, cooked (a little less than 1 cup dry or a 16 oz can drained and rinsed)
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Mixed greens, for serving

Prepare your steaming apparatus while you prep your veggies.

First, if using fresh corn, steam the corn for about 5 minutes. Remove from the steamer and set aside until cool enough to handle. If using frozen corn, warm it in the microwave or on the stove with water, drain, then set aside.

Place the potatoes in the steamer, and steam for 7 to 10 minutes. The potatoes should be tender enough to pierce with a fork, but not falling apart. Remove from the steamer and set aside to cool.

In the meantime, prepare the dressing. In a small mixing bowl, stir together vinegar, chipotles, oil, agave, water, and salt. Grate in the garlic.

When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut it from the cob: Place it directly in a large mixing bowl, pointy side up, and use your chef's knife to cut down the sides. Once all the corn is in there, just break it up with your fingers. If using frozen corn, add the drained corn to the mixing bowl. Fold in the cooled potatoes, pinto beans, and red onion.

Add the dressing and toss to coat. Mix in the cilantro and taste for salt. Add more chipotle if desired. Either serve immediately over mixed greens, or if you want it cold then chill until ready to serve, then serve over mixed greens.

Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!

E wanted to make a happy pumpkin, while I went for a crazy vampire pumpkin.

I wanted to make some Halloween cookies for E to bring to work and I have my Halloween cookie cutters that must be used! I was looking for a vegan sugar cookie recipe but then came across these chocolate cut-out cookies which seemed like more fun.

The dough was super easy to roll out, which made me so happy as rolling out dough can be stressful. The cookies tasted good, though I didn't love them. They could have been more chocolate-y. The texture was like a chewy sugar cookie. I was going to use royal icing to frost them but saw this confectioner's icing (which is vegan) and the recipe said it dries hard. Perfect! Sadly, it does not dry hard. Or maybe I put on too thick of a layer - but I did follow the recipe. The icing does dry to some degree, just not hard like royal icing. Which means if you stack the cookies for a length of time, the icing will come off on the cookie on top of it. Anyway, I had fun making them and go to use up some of my black sprinkles too. :)

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Sugar Cookie Bars
Ginger Spice Cookies
Dark and Dangerous Triple Chocolate Cookies
Peanut Butter Chocoalte Pillows

Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies
Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Makes 2-3 dozen 2-3 inch cookies (depends on your cookie cutter, I got about 28)

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup safflower oil
1/4 cup nondairy milk (I used unsweetened plain soy)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1. In a mixing bowl, vigorously mix the sugar, oil and nondairy milk. Mix in the vanilla extract.

2. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well combined. The dough should be stiff but pliable. Divide in half, and form into discs; flatten and refrigerate for about an hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. Roll dough out about 1/8 inch thick onto a lightly floured surface. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes and a thin spatula to transfer the cookies to the baking sheets. Roll the dough scraps out to get a few more cookies.

4. Bake for 7 minutes. Let cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before moving them to wire racks to cool completely. Store in a tightly sealed container.

Confectioner's Icing
Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 tbsp nondairy milk

1. In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients using a wire whisk until smooth. Combine to form a glaze that can be easily spread with an icing spatula or piped from a pastry bag with a small round tip.

2. If the icing is too thick, whisk in 1 tsp at a time of either nondairy milk or water. If too thin, whisk in more powdered sugar by the tablespoon until a desired consistency is reached.

Baked Goods from Sweet Freedom

Ricki's baking book, Sweet Freedom, is one of my favourite cookbooks. Though I don't post about it often, I actually bake from it quite frequently and always love the results. Here's what I've made recently from it.

Raisin spice tea bread. I tried to make an earl grey tea bread many years ago and remember it being a disaster and not cooking in the middle. This bread was a completely different experience. It's so soft, and I love the spices. I wrote on the recipe "make it all the time". E doesn't love this one, but that's because he's not a big spice fan.

Fluffy fruited pancakes. I've made these SO many times, though I've only ever made them once with berries. They are seriously the perfect healthy fluffy soft pancakes. I freeze the leftovers and reheat them in the toaster where they become crispy mmm. The recipe is also on Ricki's blog.

Banana oat bars. E loved these. They're nice and soft, and have raisins, coconut and of course lots of oats. I'm not a big baked banana fan so while I do think these are good, I would rather have the raisin spice tea bread! The recipe is also on Ricki's blog. (I should've frosted mine like her!! Yum.)

Carrot snack cake. I made this to bring to a friend's house for dinner. It was so so good, really moist and very flavourful. It had raisins, cinnamon, ginger, lemon and coconut. Everyone loved it and I can't wait to make it again. It's like a healthier and more flavourful version of regular carrot cake.

Oatbran banana muffins. I know I said I don't like banana baked goods yet I keep making them! I love that these muffins are oat bran based (using 1 1/2 cups of it!). I think I baked mine a bit long though as they were a little dry. The flavour was good though.

Orange oat muffins. These are my new favourite muffins. I would call them orange and date muffins though. I love how strong the orange flavour is, and they're so moist. I get really sick of sweet muffins sometimes, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of these ones.

Pasta with French Lentils and Kale

I love all the stuff in this pasta dish, but especially the lentils and kale. I didn't expect much of this recipe, but I was looking for a recipe to use up kale so thought I'd try it. And it's actually quite good for such a simple and healthy recipe.

I know I've mentioned before that sometimes when I look back at the food I've photographed for the blog, I can't remember what some of it is. Drives me crazy. It only took me 4 years to figure out a better system! I'm now keeping a notepad file where I write all of my meals to blog about and the date, as I make them. I have no idea what this dish above is. And since it was both not very memorable and doesn't look that appetizing, I guess that's no real loss. My best guess is that it's Thai red curry, from The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Lime Peanut Noodles with Seitan and Kale
Spaghetti and Beanballs with Onion & Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce
Artichoke Rotini Pasta
Fresh Pear and Curry Pasta

Pasta with French Lentils and Kale
Adapted from The Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health

Serves 4

1 cup French green lentils (or other lentils)
3 cups water
8 oz chunky-shaped whole grain pasta
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 tsp paprika or smoked paprika
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 cups chopped kale
2 tsp dried thyme
2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
Ground black pepper

1. In a covered saucepan, bring the lentils and water to a simmer. Cook covered until tender but firm, about 20 minutes. Drain, cover, and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large covered pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve about a cup of the pasta cooking liquid, and drain.

3. While the pasta cooks, in a skillet on medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onions and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring now and then, until softened. Add the garlic and salt, and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the carrots, paprika, and red pepper flakes and cook until the carrots are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the kale and about 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water and cook until the kale is tender, adding more water if needed. Stir in the thyme and tomatoes and remove from the heat.

4. In a serving bowl, toss together the cooked lentils, the pasta, and the vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste.