Gingerbread Cupcakes

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It’s finals week.  And I got roped into making cupcakes for two classes.  Two.  Plus, I needed gifts for people.  So somehow, yesterday morning, I found myself in the lounge for five hours making four dozen gingerbread cupcakes.

I have never liked gingerbread.  I make it every year, because I know how much everyone else loves it; plus it’s  a Christmas classic and the little men are super fun to decorate.  But I never actually ate it myself.  However, I had a bit of a coming around this year.

I made gingerbread cookie dough on Sunday and stuck it in my fridge for this week.  And the dough tasted pretty good – for gingerbread.  So then I though since I had the dough, I might as well make cupcakes and use the cookies as little toppers.

And the cupcakes were good too.  I brought them to dinner at my writing prof’s house last night, and someone asked me, “are you sure you’re not lying to me?  like, these are actually vegan?”

Yes they are.

GINGERBREAD CUPCAKES (from “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

• 1 1/4 c. AP flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3 tsp. ground ginger (I happen to not like ginger that much, so I did about half of this and you could still really taste it in the cupcakes)
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves (I left these out and the cupcakes still tasted great)
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1/3 c. light molasses
• 1/2 c. maple syrup
• 1/4 c. soy milk
• 2 tbsp soy yogurt (I couldn’t get my hands on any soy yogurt, so I just used “sour milk”:  add a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a cup of soy milk and let it sit for a few minutes.  The important thing about using the  yogurt is the enzymes in the yogurt, and the vinegar/lemon juice will do the same thing)

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line cupcake tin with liners.  Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl.  Whisk the oil, molasses, maple syrup, soy milk, and yogurt in a separate bowl.  Add the wet to the dry and mix just until combined.  Scoop into your cupcake liners and bake for about 19 minutes.  Top off with cream cheese frosting and a gingerbread cookie (see recipe below).

 

GINGERBREAD COOKIES

• 1/3 c. canola oil
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. molasses
• 1/4 c. soy milk
• 2 c. AP flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. each ground nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon (again, I didn’t have any cloves but they still tasted great)
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Keep your oven at 350°F from your cupcakes.  Whisk together the oil and sugar for about 3 minutes.  Add the molasses and soy milk.  Sift in the dry ingredients in two additions, mixing in between.  Wrap up the dough and stick it in the fridge for a few hours (up to three days in advance).  Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4″ thick and cut out shapes.  Place on baking sheets and bake for about 8  minutes.

 

**Note:  You might want to make your dough beforehand, either a day before or just before you start making your cupcakes so that it can chill before you bake it.

‘Tis the Season for Cookies

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As far as getting things done, this weekend has been the antithesis of productive.  As far as doing things, it’s been fairly productive.  Let me explain:  I have an essay, and outline, and a presentation due by Wednesday of this week.  I haven’t worked on any of these things.

But, I have made a lot of things this weekend.  Saturday morning we made pancakes.  Then, my RA and I went shopping for ingredients to make tamales for our wing dinner.  We also bought a white coconut (un coco blanco) and busted it open for dessert.  And today, I’m continuing my countdown to Christmas with cookies.

These come from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and are absolutely delicious!

However, one batch of these only makes about 16 cookies.  So, if you’re bringing them to a cookie exchange or Christmas party, you’ll want to at least double the recipe.

CHOCOLATE CRINKLE COOKIES

• 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1/3 c. granulated sugar
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1/3 c. canola oil
• 2 tbsp. dark corn syrup
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. nondairy milk
• 1 tbsp. ground flax seeds
• 4 oz. (1/4 c.) chocolate chips, melted
• 1 1/4 c. + 2 tbsp. AP flour
• 3 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift the powdered sugar onto a plate (or bowl), and pour the 1/3 c. of granulated sugar into a small bowl.  Set aside.

Combine the sugar, oil, corn syrup, vanilla, nondairy milk, flax seeds, and melted chocolate in a large bowl until smooth.  Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and mix until a dough forms.  (Note:  don’t try baking them now – the dough will be difficult to handle and just make you cranky).  Chill for 20 minutes to half an hour.

For each cookie, take a scoop of dough and roll it in the granulated sugar.   Then roll in the powdered sugar.  Place the dough at least 2 inches apart on your baking sheet, and bake for 14 minutes until the cookies are puffed and cracks have formed on the surface.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

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Nothing says Saturday morning like homemade pancakes.  Especially when it leaves the smell of cinnamon and maple syrup floating in the lounge for the rest of the morning.

My roommate and I had planned on making pancakes at some point for about a month. Then, we woke up this morning and the internet was down on campus.  Meaning neither of us could start on our four page Spanish essays due on Wednesday.  Oh, well.  We took that as a sign to whip up a batch of panqueques.

So we got out of bed and made pancakes in our brand new pajama onesies that we bought at Target yesterday.  Morning well spent.

I got this recipe out of my go-to vegan baking guide, The Joy of Vegan Baking, and added a few little touches to make them my own.

APPLE CINNAMON PANCAKES

• 1 c. flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Cinnamon
• 1 c. nondairy milk
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 3 tbsp. maple syrup
• 1/2 to a whole apple, sliced super thin

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon (just enough so you can smell the cinnamon and see the color in your batter), and salt in a bowl (I usually whisk my dry ingredients together to lighten up the batter).  In a separate bowl or a 2- or 3-cup measuring cup, mix the milk, oil, and maple syrup.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk just until combined.  Add in the apple slices.  Be sure not to overmix your batter so that your pancakes don’t get tough.

Heat your non-stick skillet or pan over medium heat (add some oil or nondairy margarine).  Pour the batter onto your pan, and cook the pancakes for a couple of minutes.  You can tell your pancakes are ready when the pancakes start to bubble on top and the edges start to pull away from the pan.  Flip your pancakes and cook just until the bottoms are golden brown.

Serve with maple syrup, peanut butter, or any of your other favorite pancake toppings (though you really don’t need anything because the pancakes are so flavorful), and enjoy!

‘Tis the Season for Cookies

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Today sucked.

I woke up with a sore throat and an earache.  I had to force myself to eat something for breakfast because I had no appetite whatsoever.

Then I went to class with my nice warm cup of tea to try to soothe my throat, and ended up spilling it all over my arms, desk, and pants (I still have a burn mark on my arm).  I ran out of the room to grab some paper towels right as my prof walked in – I’m pretty sure she thought it was something she said.

After class, I went on our school website to order a ‘sick meal’ from the University Center, but none of their options are vegan.  Then I looked up the menu for the day to see what the soups were.  No vegan soups.  Monday, two out of the three soups they served were vegan and today, the one day I actually wanted a bowl of soup – nothing.

So I did everything I knew my mother would tell me to do (or do for me) if she were here:  drank warm fluids, took Tylenol, tried to rest.

I still felt like crap.

But then I remembered that today is December 1st.  The first day that I can make Christmas cookies and not get the stink-eye from society.  So I did.

Mom, these cookies are for you.

Every year, my mom and I make peanut butter cookies with Hershey’s  kisses in the middle.  Some people call them ‘peanut butter blossoms,’ but my mother, sophisticated, mature woman that she is (bless her heart), calls them ‘tit cookies’ – because, well, you know…

many thanks to my roommate for posing for this picture :0)

Anyway, every year we make these, and one of the big rituals is unwrapping all the Hershey’s kisses.  But, since I’m vegan now, and Hershey’s chocolate has milk in it, I decided to make a mini version of these cookies and use chocolate chips instead.

So I made myself the first batch of many Christmas cookies to come this season.  My throat doesn’t feel any better, and my ears still hurt, but at least my spirits are lifted, and so will yours when you make these cookies.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES (a veganized Mrs. Fields recipe)

• 2 c. AP flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 c. non-dairy margarine
• 3 eggs worth of Ener-G and water
• 1 c. peanut butter
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300°F.  In a large bowl, cream the sugars, margarine, and peanut butter.  Add the vanilla and egg replacer.  Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed until just combined.  Don’t overmix!

Drop onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and bake for about 7 – 10 minutes.

Once they come out of the oven, stick a chocolate chip in the middle before they cool completely, then enjoy!