Vegan Chocolate Chocolate Cheesecake

This recipe nailed it.

I have made vegan cheesecakes in the past. Some were raw versions, which are a bit runny. To solve that texture issue I could add coconut oil, but I don’t like coconut. I scoured baked examples and found other ingredients I wasn’t interested in, such as cornstarch.

So, the search for the perfect cheesecake continued until I got very, very creative. I combined ideas from just about every vegan cheesecake recipe I found. And it worked.

My chocolate chocolate cheesecake is rich, but not too dense. It’s got chocolate filling and a chocolate crust, so the taste is amazing. And it is baked in the oven so the texture has the firmness I remembered from non-vegan cheesecakes. Also, the presentation is gorgeous. (Hubby said I could sell it in restaurants.)

The process it took to get to this treat took a winding path, from varying ingredients to changing baking pans. At least I looked at vegan recipes so I didn’t have to make alterations for that. Luckily, I also didn’t have to adjust for high altitude.

Here is my creation, in all of it’s restaurant-worthy glory. I hope you enjoy it for Valentine’s Day, Galentine’s day, or just when the mood strikes you.

Vegan Chocolate Chocolate Cheesecake

for the crust

vegan shortening or vegan butter to grease the pan

1-1/2 cups vegan oreo-style cookie crumbs

1/4 cup vegan butter, melted

for the filling

2/3 cup vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

7 ounces vegan cream cheese, at room temperature

12.3 ounces extra firm silken tofu

3/4 cup organic granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the decorations

vegan white chocolate chips, melted

vegan oreo-style cookies, whole or crumbs

Preheat oven to 350F. Place a parchment round on the bottom of a 9” round springform pan, then grease it and the sides of the pan.

In a bowl, combine cookie crumbs and melted butter, and mix until the crumbs resemble wet sand. Pour the crumb mixture into the prepared springform pan, pressing it down with the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake the crust for 5 minutes, then set it on a wire rack to cool a bit while you prepare the filling. Leave the oven on.

Add the semi-sweet chocolate chips to the top of a double boiler. Allow them to melt almost fully, then stir the chips until they are completely melted.

In a food processor, combine the cream cheese, tofu, sugar, vanilla, and melted chocolate, and process until smooth. Spread the filling evenly onto the crust. Bake until just firm and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 23-27 minutes.

Transfer the springform pan to a wire rack and let the cheesecake cool completely, about 2 hours. Refrigerate the cheesecake in the pan for 3 hours, cover it with plastic wrap, then refrigerate it for 4 hours or more.

Remove the cake from the fridge. If the top of the cheesecake collected moisture, then blot it gently with a paper towel. Carefully release the springform pan and transfer the cheesecake to a serving plate. Decorate the cake with melted vegan white chocolate and additional cookies.

Until next time, happy baking!

Convert to a Different Cake Pan Size and Blueberry Cake recipe

Jan28

Recently I posted on how I made a Moderate Midnight Chocolate Cake in a smaller-sized bundt pan. The conversion for that recipe was easy as all I had to do was cut the ingredients in half from the full-sized bundt pan recipe amounts.

I thought it would be fun to make another small bundt cake, but this time I looked at a recipe that used a loaf or a round cake pan. So, how do you go from one cake pan to a very different one and still make a successful cake? To start you need to know how many cups your pan holds.

The recipe I found originally called for a 9-inch round cake pan or a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan. Upon searching the internet, I found out that these each hold 8 cups so it made sense that they were interchangeable sizes. I knew from my research on bundt pans that my small pan holds 6 cups. Quick math told me that my pan was 75% smaller (or 6 cups divided by 8 cups). That meant I needed to multiply each measurement in the ingredient list by 75%. So far so good.

Next, I needed to throw in a few small tweaks for altitude, which gave me more flour and plant milk and less baking powder. After that I made an adjustment to the baking time to account for the overall smaller size of the cake. I began with 75% of the time used for the smaller pan in the original recipe, figuring I could add more time if needed. The reduced time was right on the mark, and the cake baked beautifully.

I was inspired to add lemon to complement the blueberry flavor. You could also make this with chocolate chips instead of blueberries to be more decadent. Or you can turn it into 6 cupcakes if that is what you prefer, but be sure to reduce the baking time by at least half because cupcakes are much smaller and bake faster.

Vegan Blueberry Cake with Lemon Glaze adapted from Vegan Blueberry Cake

shortening, to prepare cake pan
2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra to prepare cake pan
3/4 cup organic sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1.25 – 1.5 cups frozen blueberries (depending on their size), still frozen
1 cup non-dairy milk, unsweetened and unflavored
3 ounces canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
lemon glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon non-dairy milk, if needed

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 6-cup bundt pan, making sure to get into every crevice. Set aside.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Remove 1/2 cup of the flour mixture and place it in a medium bowl. Add the blueberries to the medium bowl and lightly toss them to coat in the flour mixture.

Add the non-dairy milk, oil, and vanilla to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture. Stir with a spatula until just combined. Add the flour-coated blueberries and fold gently to incorporate them into the batter. Do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Hit the pan lightly oil the counter to level the batter.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes away with a few crumbs. Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan set on a wire rack, then gently loosen the center and cake edges from the pan using a small spatula. Invert the pan onto a wire rack and let the cake cool for 20 minutes.

To unmold, pick up the rack with the pan on top and lightly tap both on the counter to loosen the cake. Remove the pan from atop the cake and place the rack on the counter to allow the cake to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze by sifting the powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Stir in the lemon juice. Keep stirring until no dry sugar remains. If some dry sugar remains, then add the 1/2 teaspoon non-dairy milk and stir until incorporated. The glaze should be smooth and glossy but not so thick that it won’t pour.

Once the cake is fully cooled, pour or drizzle the glaze over the cake.

chocolate chip cake with mocha glaze — chocolate chip version

Until next time, happy baking!

Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Sandwiches

Dec22

It’s cookie season! Well, to me cookies are always in season, but cookie baking seems to be at an all time high right now. Especially in my kitchen where I recently baked dozens and dozens of cookies for holiday gifts and cookie exchanges.

When making many cookies I love to try new recipes, but it’s nice to fall back on favored creations from the past that have already had the kinks worked out. And yet, sometimes it’s nice to riff on a favorite. That’s where this cookie sandwich comes in.

My Chocolate Roll-Out Sugar Cookies are vegan and gluten-free, but for this baking frenzy I realized I was out of gluten-free flour. So after swapping in all-purpose flour, and a few other ingredients for ones I was low on, I decided to create a cookie sandwich. With a simple peppermint filling I turned a nice cookie into something magical.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Sandwiches adapted from Chocolate Roll-Out Sugar Cookies

Chocolate cookies
1.75 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup dutch process cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon + a pinch fine sea salt
1 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 cup unsalted vegan butter, softened
1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon unsweetened non-dairy milk
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
Peppermint frosting
2 cups organic powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vegan butter, softened
3 teaspoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

To make the cookies, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cane sugar and 1/2 cup vegan butter until creamy. Beat in the non-dairy milk, vanilla, and 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined.

Split the dough into two discs and wrap each in plastic wrap. Let the dough discs rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a flat surface, lay out a large piece of plastic wrap. Place a rested disc of dough in the center and top with another piece of plastic wrap. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until the dough is just under 1/4-inch thick. Cut the dough using a festive cookie cutter. Place the cookies on a baking sheet. Repeat with the second disc of dough until all dough, including the scraps, has been cut into cookies.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the cookies firm up on the edges. Remove baking sheets from the oven and place on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the peppermint frosting by placing the 2 teaspoons vegan butter into a bowl. Smash the butter with a spoon to soften. Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl, then stir together.

Gradually add the water, one teaspoon at a time, and stir until the frosting is smooth. Stir in the 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract until well combined. The frosting should be spreadable and slightly stiff. If it is too stiff, stir in more water. If it is too runny, stir in more powdered sugar.

To assemble the cookie sandwiches, spoon a dollop of frosting onto the bottom of a cookie. Place another cookie on top, bottom side down, and press lightly until the sandwich holds together. If the frosting starts to dry out during assembly, then stir in a few drops of water. Store the cookies in an airtight container.

Until next time, happy (holiday) baking!

Moderate Midnight Chocolate Cake

Nov27

I do love a good sale, so Black Friday is loads of fun. What does that have to do with baking? For the purchase of baking pans, of course!

Bundt pans are very useful for high-altitude baking, so when they go on sale I scour the internet with glee. There are several 10-cup Bundt pans in my arsenal; it was time to get a more manageable 6-cup model.

With the smaller version in hand, I looked back at favorite Bundt pan recipes. My Midnight Chocolate Cake has always been well-liked, so I chose that for the new pan. Checking the recipes on Nordic Ware led to the tip that you can simply halve a full-sized recipe to use in the more petite pan. Whew! That makes things much easier.

When my hubby saw me making a half-sized version of the cake, he asked why. My response was a query of what would two people do with a large cake. His reply, “Eat it!” With that, I give you my sensibly-sized revision.

Moderate Midnight Chocolate Cake

Shortening, to grease pan
1/2 cup cocoa powder (packed tightly) + extra to dust pan
1 cup + 3 tablespoons boiling water
1.25 teaspoons instant coffee
1.25 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon salt, depending on how salty your butter is
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegan butter (at room temperature)
1.5 cups organic cane sugar
1/2 cup pureed silken tofu
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vanilla pastry cream and crushed peppermint candies, for decoration

Preheat the oven to 350F. Use shortening to grease a 6-cup bundt pan then dust the inside with cocoa powder. Set aside.

Mix boiling water with 1/2 cup cocoa powder and instant coffee and whisk well. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, sift together the flours, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and tofu. Alternate adding cupfuls of dry ingredients then cocoa liquid to the creamed butter mixture. Scrape down the sides as needed. Add vanilla and beat until fluffy.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out with a few specks clinging to it.

Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan set on a wire rack. Gently loosen the center and cake edges from the pan using a small spatula. Invert the pan onto a wire rack and let the cake sit for 20 minutes.

Until next time, happy baking!

Snicker Bar Sugar Cookies

Oct15

October means only one thing to some people … Halloween candy! I often make candy to celebrate the season, but I found an idea for a new tasty treat. This was the year for cookies reminiscent of the flavors of a candy bar.

My holiday sugar cookies have a simple dough, so they make a great base for additional flavors. Peanuts, dates, and chocolate can mimic the tastes of a Snicker Bar, so adding chopped dates and peanut pieces to the dough then dipping the cookies in chocolate makes a wonderful cookie-meets-candy-bar.

My recipe was already high altitude and vegan, of course, but I made a few tweaks to accommodate a drop cookie. I also made a chocolate dipping sauce and sprinkled crushed peanuts on the dipped cookie. Halloween candy has nothing on this decadent delight!

Snicker Bar Sugar Cookies inspired by Vegan Snickers Cookies

4 tablespoon non-dairy milk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
2.25 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1.5 sticks vegan butter, at cool room temperature (I used Country Crock)
1/4 cup organic sugar
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar
1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 soft medjool dates, pitted and chopped
6 tablespoons unsalted peanuts, chopped and divided
3 ounces vegan dark chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine non-dairy milk and vinegar. Let sit for 15 minutes to curdle.

Place the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in medium bowl. Whisk together, then set aside.

Place the vegan butter and both sugars into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well-combined and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the vinegar-milk mixture and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour-leaveners mixture and mix on low until incorporated. Stir in the dates and 4 tablespoons of peanuts.

Place the bowl of dough in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to stiffen. After 10 minutes, scoop out balls of dough the size of walnuts then place them on the baking sheets. Flatten the balls with the bottom of a measuring cup.

Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until cookies are set and beginning to brown on the edges. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

While the cookies cool, melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler set on the stove. Dip the cooled cookies, one at a time, into the melted chocolate. Let the chocolate go halfway up each cookie. Place the dipped cookies on a wire rack set over a piece of parchment paper (to catch the drips). Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of peanuts over the melted chocolate on the cookies. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate has fully cooled. Makes 25 cookies.

Until next time, happy baking!

Vegan Honey Mini Cakes for a Sweet New Year

Sep29

This week was a celebration of the Jewish New Year. The tradition is to eat honey cakes at this time to ensure sweetness in the upcoming year. Because honey is not a vegan food, vegan bakers can turn to a honey substitute to have a sweet new year.

I have a honey-like syrup in my files from my “A Sweet New Year Apple Muffins,” so I went in search of a honey cake recipe that I could use it in. What I found was perfect because the spices in the cake would go well with the fruit in the vegan honey. Also, the cake was already vegan, but I amped it up by using my own egg substitute described in “Super Flegg – A Perfect Egg Substitute.”

Next I put the high altitude spin on it by adding flour and liquid (in the form of applesauce), then reduced the leaveners. The batter was divvied into mini cake pans to help with rise issues caused by altitude, but that had an added bonus. I now had several mini cakes so each person could have their own tasty treat to enjoy while ringing in the new year.

Vegan Honey Mini Cakes for a Sweet New Year adapted from Vegan Honey Cake for Rosh Hashanah

for the vegan honey
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
1/8 cup pure maple syrup
1/8 cup agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon vegan sugar
1/2 organic orange, thinly sliced
1/2 organic lemon, thinly sliced
for the cakes
1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
3 tablespoons aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas)
1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1.25 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup raisins, optional

To make the vegan honey, combine the syrups and sugar in a medium saucepan with high sides. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Add the sliced fruit. Lower the heat and cook at a low boil for 15 minutes, stirring a few times. Adjust the heat as needed to maintain a low boil. Once a syrupy consistency is reached, pour the liquid through a mesh strainer into a heat-safe measuring cup, discarding the fruit. If you do not have 1/2 cup of syrup, then add agave syrup to reach that amount. Set aside to cool.

For the cakes, preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour the cups of a mini cakes pan, or a muffin tin.

Prepare the super flegg by putting the ground flaxseeds and the aquafaba in a small bowl and stirring well. Set aside to thicken.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves into a large bowl. Place the applesauce, oil, vanilla, vegan honey, and super flegg into a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Stir in the raisins, if using.

Divide the batter among the cups of the pan you are using. Do not fill the wells completely or your cakes will overflow while baking. Bake for 18 to 23 minutes, depending on the pan used, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out with a few small crumbs. Place the baking pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then tip the cakes onto a wire rack to fully cool.

Until next time, Happy New Year and happy baking!

Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches

Jun25

While I was shopping recently I decided that it was so hot that I deserved a treat for running errands in extreme conditions. Sauntering over to the frozen foods section, I spied vegan ice cream sandwiches. They seemed like the perfect snack — until I looked at the price. They were over $5 each. Each!

Armed with the ingredients needed to construct them myself, I returned home to my kitchen. A quick recipe search brought up a biscuit that would be soft enough to mold into a sandwich but sturdy enough to contain ice cream. And a look around my cupboard revealed mini chocolate chips for decoration.

Cookies do not generally require high altitude changes, so that wasn’t an issue. However, the recipe I found was not vegan; it didn’t even list ingredients found in an American market. So, I set out to adapt it to my needs. I lightly ground my oats in a food processor to closer resemble the porridge oats called for in the recipe, then I did the same with my vegan sugar so it would be like caster sugar. Vegan versions were brought in for butter and milk replacements.

The final change was to make the cookies a bit larger so they would make decent-sized sandwiches. This meant they needed to cook longer, but I kept an eye on them to see what the new time would be. The result was a wonderfully chewy cookie that was the ideal backdrop for both my vanilla and chocolate ice creams. I’m ready next time the extreme heat rolls in.

Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches with cookies adapted from Oat Biscuits

for the cookies
75 grams old fashioned rolled oats
50 grams vegan sugar
75 grams vegan butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
75 grams whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
for sandwich assembly
vegan ice cream
garnishes: mini vegan chocolate chips, vegan sprinkles, or chopped nuts

for the cookies:
Heat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Lightly chop the oats in a mini-food processor until the oats are broken down in half. Place the oats in a bowl. Place the sugar in the food processor and grind it until it is less coarse but not until it is powdered. Add the sugar to the bowl of oats and set aside.

Put the butter, maple syrup, and milk in a small pan and heat gently until the butter melts. Take the pan off the heat and stir until the ingredients are combined. Set aside.

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Whisk in the baking powder and oat-sugar mixture. Pour the melted butter mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Place scoops of batter onto the baking sheet and shape it into round cookies. The batter is wet so the cookies need to be coaxed into rounds. The cookies also need to be spaced apart as they will spread a bit more.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the sides are firm and the bottoms are golden brown. Move the parchment paper with the cookies to a wire rack. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 8-10 cookies, depending on how big you want your sandwiches.

for sandwich assembly:
Remove the ice cream from the freezer while the cookies are cooling. When the ice cream is soft enough to scoop but not runny, spread large spoonfuls of it onto a flipped over cookie. Place another cookie on top to complete the sandwich. Take a garnish and push it into the ice cream along the sides of the sandwich. Repeat until all cookies are made into sandwiches. Place the sandwiches on a tray in the freezer for 15-30 minutes to firm up.

Until next time, happy baking!

Spring Flower Cookies

May21

Spring has fully sprung. The flowers are popping up everywhere, including my kitchen. These cookies are flower-inspired and are cute for a garden party. (Okay, I’m not the best pastry artist, but you get the idea.)

For my floral cookie, I found a recipe that was already vegan. To adjust for altitude I swapped leaveners and I added more applesauce. I also jazzed up the flavor with the addition of cinnamon and vanilla.

You can leave the cookies thumbprint-style or make an icing to create a flower petal design. If you are better at decorating than I am, you can use different petal patterns and colors to create a festive bouquet.

Spring Flower Cookies based on Vegan Thumbprint Cookies

1 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted vegan butter
1/8 cup vegan sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup jam

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the vegan butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cinnamon, vanilla, and applesauce and beat until smooth. Add the flour mixture in several batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix until a uniform dough forms.

Scoop the dough into 12 balls about 1.5 tablespoons each. Place them on the baking sheet and flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand. Make an indent in the center of each with a small spoon, then fill the indentation with jam.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies begin to brown. Place the baking pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a rack to fully cool. Enjoy as is, or decorate with icing.

Until next time, happy baking!

Spring Quiche for Mother’s Day

May7

The sun is shining and plants are reaching towards it. Yes, it’s lovely springtime. This weekend also happens to be Mother’s Day in the U.S., so I thought I would head to the kitchen and make a celebratory brunch.

To me, the perfect brunch starts with quiche. Next add a salad made up of veggies, fruit, and a bright dressing. Include warm bread slathered in olive oil to complete the meal. You can also serve mimosas to make it more joyous.

My refrigerator had everything for my feast except the quiche, so I dug up a recipe that a friend had shared with me. It was already vegan, and needed no altitude adjustments, but I changed the flavors to suit my tastes and what I found in the fridge. I used fresh asparagus and vegan salami with a bit of dill and parsley and had delicious results. So whether you are celebrating Spring or Mother’s Day, this quiche makes a wonderful brunch entrée.

Spring Quiche for Mother’s Day adapted from Easy Vegan Quiche 2 Ways

crust
2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup vegan butter, cold from a brief time in the freezer
2 – 4 tablespoons ice water
filling
8 asparagus spears
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1/4 cup chopped vegan salami (I used Renegade Food s)
sea salt, to taste
1/3 cup vegan feta, broken into small pieces (I used Violife)
1 (12-ounce) bottle Just Egg, cold and shaken
2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

For the crust, sift together the flour and salt and place it in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse several times until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Gradually add the ice water, pulsing until the dough just comes together.

Sprinkle a light layer of flour onto a clean surface. Turn the dough out onto the floured surface and use your hands to bring the dough into a ball. Lightly sprinkle the dough with flour, and roll the dough ball out into a roughly circular shape. Keep rolling the dough until it is 3 inches larger than the dish you are making your quiche in.

Carefully lift the dough and place it in the dish. Gently press the dough into the sides of the dish, bringing it up and slightly over the top of the dish. Trim any excess with a knife and crimp the edge with your fingertips. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork, then place the crust in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put a baking pan on the center rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400F. Line the chilled crust with parchment paper and fill the crust with dried beans or pie weights. Place the crust dish on the baking pan in the oven and bake for 12 minutes.

Remove the dish from the oven and reduce the temperature to 325F. Remove the beans and parchment paper and return the dish to the oven for 10 more minutes, or until the crust is slightly golden brown. Place the cooked crust on a wire rack to cool. Leave the oven on with the baking pan still on the center rack.

For the filling, bring a large skillet of salted water to a boil. Place the asparagus in the skillet and blanch for 3 minutes but don’t fully cook it. Rinse the asparagus in a colander under cold running water, drain, then pat dry. Take half of the stalks and trim the ends, placing them aside for the top of the quiche. Take the remaining spears and cut them on the bias into slices 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 inch wide.

Dry the skillet and set it over medium heat. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, sauté the shallots
for about 2 minutes. Add the salami and cook 1 minute more. Season with salt, then scrape into the crust. Add the cooked asparagus over the shallot-salami mixture, spreading everything out evenly. Scatter bits of feta over top.

Place the Just Egg, dill, parsley, and nutritional yeast in a bowl. Whisk together, then pour the mixture into the crust. Artfully arrange the reserved asparagus spears over the top of the quiche. Bake for 60 minutes, or until the center is set. Place on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes to cool before eating.

Until next time, happy baking!

Oatmeal Cookies with Pumpkin Seeds and Ginger

Apr9

In last week’s post , I wrote about prepping a dough and then stashing it in the freezer. Today I present the cookie recipe that I used, with notes on how I baked the frozen dough. You can make these cookies and bake them straight away for immediate gratification, or you can pop the dough into the freezer to make daily fresh baked goodies.

I found a recipe for vegan oatmeal cookies, but I wanted to boost their flavor so I added pumpkin seeds, dried apricots, and ground ginger. The high altitude adjustments were adding more applesauce and vanilla to combat dryness, and reducing the amount of baking soda.

To make the cookies more cohesive I used a trick I just learned — pulse the oats a few times in a food processor to make them a bit smaller so they blend in better. The pumpkin seeds also needed chopping so I added the oats with them in the processor and let my kitchen appliance do the hard work.

My tasters enjoyed these as a midday snack and with tea for breakfast. Hubby even liked them, despite their lack of chocolate, so I knew I had a winner.

Oatmeal Cookies with Pumpkin Seeds and Ginger adapted from Vegan Oatmeal Cookies

1.25 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup + 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup diced dried apricots
6 tablespoons vegan butter
6 tablespoons organic sugar
1/4 cup organic light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the oats and pumpkin seeds in a food processor and pulse a few times to break them into smaller bits. Set aside.

Sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the oats-seeds mixture and the apricots. Stir with a spatula to mix together and set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the vegan butter and both sugars. Add the applesauce and vanilla and beat to combine. (Don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled.) With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in two batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Continue mixing until a cohesive dough forms. Remove the dough and wrap it in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, set the oven to 375F.

Once the dough has chilled, use a 2-tablespoon scoop to make 22-24 dough balls. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheets, 3” apart. Press each ball down slightly then bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies harden and the bottoms become golden brown.

Place the baking sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes to allow the cookies to cool slightly, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

To freeze the cookies then bake later, make the dough balls and place them on the baking sheets. Put the baking sheets in the freezer for 30 minutes, or until the dough balls are firm and solid. Place the dough balls into freezer-safe zipper top bags and store in the freezer for up to two months.

To bake from frozen, preheat the oven to 355F. Place the desired amount of dough balls on parchment lined baking pans with the cookies 2” apart. Bake for 14-15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies harden and the bottoms become golden brown. Place the baking sheets on wire racks for 5 minutes to allow the cookies to cool slightly, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Until next time, happy (freezing and) baking!

Vegan Baking Up High

making tasty vegan treats at high altitude

Tag Archives: baking

Convert to a Different Cake Pan Size and Blueberry Cake recipe

Chocolate Peppermint Cookie Sandwiches

Moderate Midnight Chocolate Cake

Snicker Bar Sugar Cookies

Vegan Honey Mini Cakes for a Sweet New Year

Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches

Spring Flower Cookies

Spring Quiche for Mother’s Day