Tag Archives: chocolate chip

Coffee Ice Cream Pie

coffee ice cream pie

coffee ice cream pie

While writing this post I learned a few things: 1) my husband does not like whipped topping, and 2) you can make a fantastic vegan caramel sauce without coconut (coconut, ewww). I had been determined to find a recipe for a yummy caramel sauce for years. In my search I also ran across many chocolate sauce recipes so I decided to make them both. The question was – what to do with them? I grabbed the Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream I’d made over the summer and combined everything into a frozen pie. That’s where my husband’s lack of desire for whipped topping came to light. So, my pie has no vegan whipped topping, but if you want to garnish your pie with some then you go right ahead.

Let’s start with the sauces …

Caramel Sauce adapted from GoDairyFree.org
3/4 cup plain almond milk
3/4 cup vegan sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 TBS water
1 TBS arrowroot powder
2 TBS vegan margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
Place milk, sugar and maple syrup in a small saucepan and whisk well to combine. Cook over medium heat, while whisking occasionally, for 3 minutes. In a bowl, whisk together water and arrowroot, and then whisk mixture into pan. Cook mixture, while whisking constantly, an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until it thickens. Remove pan from heat and whisk in margarine and vanilla. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.

Chocolate Sauce adapted from KitchenTreaty.com
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup vegan sugar
1 cup cold water
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 TBS vanilla extract
In a medium saucepan, whisk together cocoa powder and sugar until blended. Add water and salt, and whisk over medium heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Continue boiling until mixture thickens, for 3-4 minutes. It will still be fairly thin. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool. Store in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator. It should keep for at least a month.

Now we put it all together in a chocolate shell …

Coffee Ice Cream Pie
1-1/2 cups vegan chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (can use gluten-free, if desired)
3 tablespoons vegan margarine, melted
4 cups vegan coffee chocolate chip ice cream, softened
1/4 cup caramel sauce (see recipe above)
2 TBS chocolate syrup (see recipe above)
In a small bowl, combine cookie crumbs and margarine. Press into bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9” pie plate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Spoon ice cream into crust. Spread caramel sauce over top. Drizzle with chocolate syrup. Freeze until firm. Remove from freezer 10-15 minutes before serving.

Until next time, happy unbaking!

Mini Chocolate Chip Bundts

Mini Chocolate Chip Bundts

Mini Chocolate Chip Bundts

Specialized baking pans fascinate me. I sit in the store, staring, and wonder what I will create in them. My mini bundt pans have been calling to me since I bought them a few months ago. They came to mind when I decided I needed a treat that would bake in far less time then a full sized cake. A quick bread recipe seemed perfect to adapt to the mini bundts.

To veganize the recipe, I used the vegan equivalents of butter, eggs, and yogurt. For high altitude I added non-dairy milk for a bit of moisture. To make the recipe healthier I used mostly whole wheat flour. To then make the recipe tastier I added chocolate chips because chocolate is always welcome in my baked goods. The mini bundts turned out adorable, but if you don’t collect pans (as I do) you can make standard-sized muffins and bake them at 350F for 26 to 30 minutes.

Mini Chocolate Chip Bundts adapted from Mini Yogurt Tea Breads
2 TBS flaxseeds
6 TBS water
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup + 1 TBS all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
4 TBS vegan margarine, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup vegan sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBS non-dairy milk
1 1/4 cup plain non-dairy yogurt
2/3 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325F. Spray mini bundt pan with cooking spray. Whisk together flaxseeds and water and put aside to gel. Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together melted margarine, oil, sugar, vanilla and milk for 30 seconds. Whisk in flaxseed slurry. Whisk in yogurt in 3 additions, alternating with additions of flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Divide batter in prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 14 to 16 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove mini cakes from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Until next time, happy baking!

Decadent Baked S’mores

decadent s'mores

decadent s’mores

Don’t you just want to reach through the picture and grab one of these? Yes, they are that good. But I digress. Last week’s American holiday barbecues had me dreaming of S’mores. During the summer I do become infatuated with that wonderful combination of chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers. But I needed to find a way to make them less messy and more decadent. Enter – baked s’mores.

The recipe I found was already vegan so no changes were necessary on that front. The bars didn’t need high altitude tweaking either. What I altered was to make them more decadent by adding a layer of raspberry jam. This did make them sweeter so only one square is necessary for melty marshmallowy chocolatey bliss.

Decadent Baked S’mores based on S’mores Bars
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup vegan margarine
3/8 cup vegan sugar
3 TBS seedless raspberry jam
3/4 cup vegan dark chocolate chips
6 large vegan marshmallows, cut in half
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8” pan with parchment paper. Combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, margarine, and sugar in a food processor and pulse until a dough forms. Press crust into pan and bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove pan from oven and change heat to broil. Spread jam over crust, sprinkle on chocolate chips, and then add marshmallows. Broil for a few minutes, until chocolate is melted and marshmallows are golden brown. Let cool a little before slicing.

Until next time, happy baking!

Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookie

Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookie

Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookie

My husband was craving chocolate chip cookies, which is quite the norm. I didn’t feel like churning out the same old cookie so I looked for something I could make into a chocolate chip cookie. The recipe I found was for a bar sugar cookie, but I solved that by baking it in a pie pan. I added chocolate chips and created a big chocolate chip cookie.

For altitude, the only adjustments were less baking powder and more liquid (in the form of added non-dairy milk). The more interesting changes I made were by choosing alternate forms of sugar. The recipe called for powdered sugar, but I found that I was out of the kind of powdered sugar that is used for making frosting. However, I did have several other powdered sugars. They are more expensive but have richer flavors. I tried lucuma powder here for a maltier taste. I also swapped some standard vegan sugar with sucanat for a deeper flavor. I think using mesquite powder or coconut sugar would have equally tasty results. In fact my husband thanked me for the cookie I made him which he took to be a single serving. Or, in his words, “You only made one cookie. What are you going to have?”

Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies adapted from Vegan Sugar Cookie Bars
2/3 cup vegan buttery spread (not sticks)
3/4 cup vegan sugar
1/4 cup vanilla non-dairy yogurt
1.5 TBS plain non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 TBS powdered sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F. Place buttery spread and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed until fluffy. Add yogurt, milk, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and mix. Mix chocolate chips in with a spoon. If dough looks too dry, add a little more milk. Batter will be a little thick but smooth.
Place dough in a 9” pie plate and press batter evenly down. Bake for 27-29 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes then turn out on a wire rack to fully cool. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Until next time, happy baking!

Chocolate Chip Mini Cupcakes

chocolate chip cupcakesIt seems that when I bake cupcakes they are always chocolate. It’s kind of the norm. So when I decided to make cupcakes this week, I went in search of a vanilla cupcake recipe. What I found was a recipe for cupcakes with chocolate chips and knew it would be perfect.

To adapt for high altitude I added milk and a little flour. I then reduced baking powder and oil. They were already vegan so that was simple, but I did add more chocolate chips and a drizzle so they wouldn’t seem too un-chocolatey. They weren’t the usual, but they were pretty good.

Chocolate Chip Mini Cupcakes adapted from Vegan Chocolate
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup + 2 tsp almond milk
1/2 cup + 1 TBS all purpose flour
1/2 cup + 1 TBS whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup + 1 tsp organic sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 cup less 1 tsp canola oil
1 TBS vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini vegan chocolate chips, divided
melted chocolate for decoration
Position a rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 350F. Line a mini cupcake tin with paper liners. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and milk. Set aside for 10 minutes to clabber. Place a wire mesh strainer over a medium bowl. Add flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to strainer. Stir with a whisk to sift ingredients into bowl. (If any small bits remain in strainer, add them to bowl.) Whisk to aerate the mixture. Whisk oil and vanilla into clabbered milk. Add wet ingredients to dry and whisk until batter is smooth. Stir half the chocolate chips into batter.
Divide batter evenly between cups, filling each halfway full. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top of batter, dividing evenly between cups. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with a few crumbs. Cool tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Lift cupcakes onto rack to cool completely. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Refrigerate cupcakes in a covered container for up to two days. Makes 28-30 mini cupcakes.

Until next time, happy baking!

Almond Cookies with Chocolate Chips

almond cookies with chocolate chips

almond cookies with chocolate chips

These cookies started out as a desire to make gluten-free thumbprint cookies. After looking around I found that almond flour was a popular choice for thumbprint cookies, usually with a jam center. But after checking out a few examples I realized they would probably flatten out at altitude and not look very thumbprint-y. So I morphed a few recipes together, added chocolate chips (of course) and came up with these.

The original recipe that I started with had too much sugar for my liking, and excess sugar is bad at altitude. So, I removed some sugar. I also used less baking powder for high altitude, and added milk to counteract the dryness. The next change was to substitute vegan margarine for the shortening because I prefer the taste. Then I decorated the cookies with chocolate chips because all the best cookies have chocolate in them somewhere.

Almond Cookies with Chocolate Chips loosely adapted from SarahBakesGFFree
1 3/4 cups almond flour
1/4 cup vegan sugar
1/4 cup tapioca starch
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup vegan margarine
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 TBS almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
chocolate chips for decoration
Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, whisk together almond flour, sugar, tapioca starch, baking powder and salt. Mix vegan margarine, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla in a stand mixer. Add in flour mixture and mix until combined. Place tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough onto cookie sheet. Flatten with palm of hand. Top with a few chocolate chips and gently press into cookie dough.
Bake cookies 15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet sitting on a cooling rack. Remove cookies from pan and place on cooling rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container. Makes 24 cookies.

Until next time, happy baking!

Chocolate Chip Shortbread

chocolate chip shortbreadToday, December 4, is National Cookie Day. In honor of that glorious day I had to bake cookies. It’s a busy time of year, so to make things simple I found a cookie that bakes in a pan. This eliminates the need to spoon out dough and keep shoving trays into the oven. So hurrah for Cookie Day and easy cookies.

To make the recipe vegan I used vegan sugar and vegan chocolate chips. To adapt for the dryness at altitude I added some milk. The last change I made was to make the cookies a bit healthier by using half all purpose and half whole wheat flour. The trouble was they were so healthy my husband and I finished off most of the pan in one sitting. Maybe not so healthy after all, but oh so good.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread adapted from Earth Balance’s website
1/2 cup Earth Balance® Original Buttery Spread
1/2 cup vegan sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp non-dairy milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup mini vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F. In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer beat together the buttery spread and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and milk. Add in flours and salt. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Press dough into ungreased 9×9” baking pan. Bake for 15-17 minutes until edges are golden brown. Let pan cool. Slide a spatula around the edges and turn cookie out onto a cutting board. Cut cookie into bars or triangles.

Until next time, happy baking!

Zucchini Bread with Chocolate Chips

zucchini bread with chocolate chips and gingerI became a victim of an overabundance of zucchini. I also became a victim (or hero) of my baking science geekiness and picked up “Naturally Sweet” by America’s Test Kitchen. The cookbook analyzed familiar recipes and devised ways to make them with less sugar. One recipe in the book required baking with zucchini so I jumped at a chance to try it.

For high altitude I added more flour and less baking powder. I opted for applesauce as my vegan egg substitute because it would add in some moisture needed at high altitude. For a flavor boost I swapped the spices with ginger and the nuts with chocolate chips. The bread is loaded with zucchini but also low in sugar, so it’s good for you. Right?

Zucchini Bread with Chocolate Chips adapted from Naturally Sweet
1 1/2 lbs zucchini, shredded
3/4 cups coconut sugar, plus 1 TBS for sprinkling
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350F. Grease a four-cavity mini loaf pan. Place zucchini in center of a dish towel. Gather ends together and twist tightly to drain as much liquid as possible. Discard liquid. In a medium bowl, whisk 3/4 cups sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla together. Stir in zucchini until combined.
In a large bowl, whisk both flours, ginger, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Using rubber spatula, stir in zucchini mixture until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Scrape batter evenly into cavities of prepared pan, smooth tops, and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of a loaf comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 28-32 minutes. Let loaves cool in pan for 30 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool 30 minutes more.

Until next time, happy baking!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie

peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie

What happens when you combine peanut butter cookies with oatmeal and chocolate chips? You get perfection. My choice for this cookie was simply pure decadence. And the fact that my husband said I hadn’t baked cookies in awhile (hint, hint).

Originally I was lazy and tried this as a non-gluten free cookie. They were so good that my husband ate 10 of them instantly. (He did say he was cookie-deficient.) When those were gone, two days later, I tried them again as gluten-free. I adapted them for high altitude by adding milk to the recipe, and the oats were ground slightly to make a more cohesive dough. I also switched out the oat flour and shredded coconut for a gluten free flour blend that a friend had given me for experimentation (again – hint, hint).

The results on the second round? Deliciousness.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies adapted from the Beaming Baker
1 cup gluten free rolled oats
1 1/4 cup gluten free flour blend
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup peanut butter (made from peanuts only and no additives)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup organic brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 flax eggs (2 TBS ground flax + 6 TBS warm water, whisked together, set aside for 5 minutes)
1 1/2 TBS almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in top third of oven. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Put oats into a food processor and grind them slightly. In a medium bowl, whisk together oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, use a rubber spatula to mix together peanut butter, oil, brown sugar, maple syrup, flax eggs, milk and vanilla. Add dry mixture to wet mixture. Using a rubber spatula, fold into a dough. Fold in chocolate chips.
Scoop 2 tablespoon-sized cookie dough balls onto cookie sheet, spaced evenly apart. Flatten slightly – these cookies won’t spread much. Bake each baking sheet individually for 13-15 minutes. Carefully slide parchment paper with cookies off baking sheet onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks. Makes 24 cookies.

Until next time, happy baking!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pan Cookie

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pan Cookie

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pan Cookie

Have you ever wanted to make cookies but didn’t want to deal with pulling cookie sheets in and out of the oven? I was craving cookies but was too lazy to babysit cookie sheets, so I made a pan cookie. It’s basically a cookie in a baking pan that makes one big cookie with less work than baking up a few dozen. It’s instant cookie gratification.

There was a recipe that made a version of a pan cookie, but I made a few changes. I didn’t have the pan size called for so I reduced the ingredients to fit in the pan I had. (It’s times like this that make me glad I am a math person.) Then I changed the egg substitute to my new favorite – aquafaba. I also found the amount of salt to be what I deemed a typo – the first try made extraordinarily salty cookies – so I changed it accordingly. I also added flour and reduced baking soda to account for high altitude.

After the cookie was done and cooled, I used a star cookie cutter to make pretty cookies. Then I could pretend that I slaved over rolling and cutting dough to make cookies. It’ll be our little secret.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pan Cookie adapted from Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Cake
1 1/2 cups + 2 TBS whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened, plus extra to grease pan
3/4 cup sucanat sugar
3 TBS aquafaba
1 TBS almond milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup peanut butter, unsalted
3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease an 8 x 8” pan with vegan margarine. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together vegan margarine and sugar on low-medium speed until light and fluffy. Add aquafaba, milk, vanilla and peanut butter to sugar mixture and beat well. Slowly add dry flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Using a spatula, fold in chocolate chips until combined. Add batter to prepared pan and smooth out the top. Bake until cookie is lightly browned on the outside, but still slightly under-cooked in the center, for 15-16 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Until next time, happy baking!