[Whole Grain] Spelt Mountain Bread

When we first had Landon tested for allergens, his skin test only showed an allergy to eggs. And I agreed with that considering ingesting even the faintest amount of egg sent him into a vomitting frenzy. But here we are nine months later and I can count on one hand the number of “normal” dirty diapers the kid has had. [Why am I including this in a food post?!] I asked my allergist to re-test him and she declined [and we found a new allergist]. I asked my pediatrician for advice and he said it was either toddler liquid bowel syndrome or a food allergy. Since the first thing sounded fake [sorry Dr. K (Kidding. I’m sure that’s totally real. And totally awful)] I decided to start an elimination diet to see if I could clear it up. Landon doesn’t care for cheese and drinks almond milk anyway, so I decided gluten would be the first culprit to check.

I eliminated gluten from his diet and he stopped having awful diapers. I food tested him once with some pretzels [I’m not condoning food testing your own kids. It’s a scary business but our pediatrician suggested it.] and he immediately had a rough diaper that caused a rash everywhere the dirties touched. So, moral of the story: I have two wheat-free kids now. Because half of our family can’t have wheat, it made me question why I don’t have a from scratch gluten-free bread recipe that I love.

I hate to say it but this isn’t the recipe that solved all of my gluten-free bread woes. I made my Mountain Bread recipe like normal but used a Bob’s Red Mill pizza crust mix for the flour and added 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid. I used the pizza crust mix because I was looking for a flour that was high in protein so that it would stretch and trap the gases from the yeast. I used the mix because I’m not a use fan of keeping more than eight or ten different kinds of flours on hand and a lot of bread recipes that I come across call for some rather obscure stuff. Well. The kids liked the bead. It was beyond edible, maybe even close to good. But it wasn’t the kind of recipe that I’d make to impress my gluten-free friends [If you have such a recipe, be a dear and share it in the comments section: don’t forget it has to be vegan.].

The recipe was wonderfully soft but also a little dense and gummy. [Although I will say it made some superb toast the next day and stayed soft for a couple days.] So while I am going back to the books [and grain bulk bins] in search of the perfect recipe for gluten-free bread, I did find one that is going to work for our little family of four using spelt flour.

It’s probably a little confusing, but because Lucy and Landon are allergic to wheat and not gluten they can eat spelt flour. Spelt is an ancient grain and we’ll call it a cousin to wheat but there are a few differences. First, it’s more soluble [read: easier to digest] and secondly, it’s such a grain of antiquity that our bodies haven’t built up an allergy to it. Here: this explains it pretty well.

Spelt is so delicious. If you want to agree that it’s wheat’s cousin then it will be wheat’s light and hearty cousin that everybody loves from the first moment they meet. And really, more people should try it. NPR told me one-third of Americans are trying to give gluten the cold shoulder but I think those without obvious gluten aversions [celiac, diagnosed or not] should try to diversify their grains instead of giving them up. Whole grains are good; mixing it up is good.

So, this recipe was also based off my original Mountain Bread recipe.

Mountain Bread [with vegan adaptations]
Makes 1 loaf

starter:
3/8 cup warm water
1/2 tablespoon active dry yeast
a pinch of sugar

bread:
3/4 cup warm milk [almond milk]
1 1/2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter [earth balance vegan spread]
1 1/2 tablespoons honey [agave]
2 1/2 – 3 cups spelt flour
1/2 tablespoon salt

[If you want your bread to be light and airy make sure you’re measuring the flour by scooping it into the measuring cup with a spoon.]

Start off by mixing the warm water [about 100F, but I don’t usually use a thermometer], yeast, and sugar. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.

While this is resting, heat up the milk and butter. After the starter has rested, add the milk and butter, honey, flour, and salt. Mix until JUST coherently blended and cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Let it rise for 30 minutes. [*Listen up: this is important. Spelt isn’t like wheat flour. It’s more of a delicate flower. This is for sure a no-knead bread. Mix it until everything is combined and let it be. The spelt gluten isn’t as tough as wheat gluten so it will become dense if you give it a heavy hand.]

Because it’s chilly here, my bread needed a warm and cozy place to do its rising so I put it on top of my toaster oven and turned the oven on for a couple minutes. Some ovens have ‘proof’ settings or otherwise you could put your rising bread on your oven rack with a bowl of boiling water below. Heat your oven up to the lowest setting it will give you [maybe something like 170F to 200F] and then turn the oven off and leave the rising dough in the oven. If you have a cold or drafty kitchen that should give your bread a leg up.

Punch down the dough and let it rest for 30 more minutes. After 30 minutes transfer the dough to a baking mat or parchment. It is a loose dough but let it rise for another 45 minutes. Now would be a good time to preheat your oven to 375F.

About 20 minutes into the last rise you might realize the dough is spreading too much. I like to pull the sides of the bread back to the top and make it look a bit more like the mountain it was named for [whip it into shape]. You can see where the bread was before I pulled the sides up. After that I sprinkled the top with flour, you know for the snow-capped mountains. It’s not necessary but you could add it and then tell all your friends you made your own artisan bread. ;)

After the final rest, bake the bread for 25-30 minutes. I transfer it to and from the oven with a pizza peel. You should be able to knock on the bread and hear a soft hollow sound when it’s done.

I like to serve ours with some faux honey butter. Put a couple tablespoons of butter in the microwave [not too long] to soften and then stir a teaspoon or so of honey. Somehow having “fresh” honey butter makes it feel like a feast!

I’m not giving up my quest for a hearty, delicious gluten-free, vegan bread. In fact I’m committing to trying out a few more recipes and different flours. And hoping we don’t have too many bread failures before I find “the one”.

Orange Cranberry Scones

I hesitate to share this recipe because… it’s amazing. I know that’s sort of selfish but this is my back pocket recipe. The one I pull out when I want to impress people. It doesn’t let me down. It freezes well, it’s easy, and it re-heats well. Best of all, this is one of the few recipes I have that translated well from conventional to vegan. This recipe, my friends, is a gem.

As we’re entering [what I hope to be] the last days of winter, I’ve decided that instead of disparaging the season with my disdain I would embrace the culinary creations winter affords us. Because, after all, there are a few things about winter that I’ll miss when the season passes.

One of my favorite winter flavor combinations is orange cranberry so I adapted our favorite scone recipe to suit it.

Orange Cranberry Scones [vegan adaptations]
adapted from King Arthur Flour’s Basic Scones
makes 16

3 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup non-fat dry milk [soy milk powder]
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 tablespoons cold butter, diced [Earth’s Balance Buttery Sticks]
4 tablespoons shortening
2 large eggs [Ener-g Egg Replacer]
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup orange juice
zest from 2 oranges [you can use less if you don’t love orange zest]
1/4 cup cranberries

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon milk [almond or soy milk]
Raw sugar, to sprinkle

Preheat oven to 450F.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, dry milk, salt, baking powder, and orange zest. Cut the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients with a fork, until you have small pea-sized crumbles.

Add the eggs, vanilla, and orange juice [if you juice two oranges and don’t have quite enough you could fill the rest of the way with milk, or replace the orange juice with milk altogether].

You will have a dry batter but if you fold it together and knead it with your hands it will come together to form a ball. Turn it out on a floured surface and knead until cohesive. Divide into two balls. Press out on parchment into two circles, and then cut into 8 wedges. Separate the wedges to give them at least an inch on all sides. [p.s. you’re looking for a kind of dry biscuit dough, if you’ve ever made those. If it seems way too dry you might have to add a little milk, like a tablespoon at a time. ]

Put the coconut oil and milk together in a microwave safe dish and heat until the oil is just melted. Brush onto the scones and then sprinkle the sugar on top [if you don’t keep coconut oil handy you could use one beaten egg with one tablespoon of water for an egg wash to give your scones that beautiful golden color].

Bake the scones for 7 minutes on your pre-heated stone. Turn the oven off and leave the scones inside. Leave them in for 10 more minutes.

Best enjoyed warm and with a friend so that you’ll have to exhibit some modicum of restraint.

The Beeeeeest Brownies

I don’t say that lightly. I like to think of myself as a bit of a brownie connoisseur. So I’m here today to offer what I think are the two best brownie recipes. Ever. In the history of brownies. It’s that serious, y’all.

So I’m going to share the amazing gluten-free, vegan recipe that we enjoy presently and the ‘real food’ brownie treats of yore [sigh].

Gluten-free, Vegan Brownies
adapted from Babycakes
makes 16

1 cup garbanzo-fava bean flour
1/4 cup potato starch
2 tablespoons arrowroot
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup vegan sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup applesauce, warmed
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 cup hot water
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease 8 or 9 inch brownie pan.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, starch, arrowroot, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt. Add the oil, applesauce, vanilla, and hot water to the dry and stir until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour into greased pan. Bake 30-35 minutes. [I used a pre-heated stoneware 8 inch pan and needed about 32 minutes].

Use a toothpick to check for doneness [if you poke it in and it comes out clean]. If you want them to be a little gooey take them out a little early, if you want them fudgier leave them in the full time.

After you take them out of the oven leave them in the pan for at least 10 minutes. This is a great time to make a little brownie frosting. I mean if you’re going to make brownies why not go all out, right?!

Brownie Frosting
covers 1 batch

3 tablespoons butter [I used earth’s balance vegan sticks], softened
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup confectioners sugar

Use a mixer to cream the butter, cocoa, and sugar. Add in the honey and vanilla. If it’s thicker than you like add a milk of your preference one tablespoon at a time. Frost while still warm.

[This is how Lucy ate hers. Straight from the oven. Gooey with strawberries to dip. On her Dora plate. We made them together when Landon was napping and when he woke up she gave him a few bites. Melt.My.Heart.]

You will have to have a bit of patience to let the brownies set up before you enjoy them. If you try to take them out of the pan too soon you’ll get a goopy mess. I had some major concerns when I first dished these out because the middle looked like chocolate cake batter [I couldn’t convince Lucy it wasn’t] but after an hour or so they set up really nicely. They were moist and honestly, quite divine.

Before we became a [mostly] vegan and [sometimes] gluten-free family this was our go to recipe. We usually didn’t add the frosting to it because we didn’t need to. It’s one of those glorious brownie recipes that’s actually better than a boxed mix [is it just me or is that really hard to do]. And these brownies do that using only real ingredients, which you just won’t get with a box. I mean I’m not saying these are healthy, but I am saying if you want to enjoy a brownie every once in a while try these out.

Real Food Brownies
makes 16

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8 or 9 inch pan.

Melt 1/2 cup butter [I usually melt it in the microwave in a glass bowl that I’m planning on using as my mixing bowl]. Stir in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat in the dry ingredients.

Spread into your pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.

If you like, cover with frosting while the brownies are still warm.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

Yesterday my sweet sister sent me her pumpkin bread recipe because she was going to make muffins out of it and wanted my opinion for a cooking time. And then my thoughts for the rest of the day were consumed with pumpkin muffins.

So when my sweet husband offered to go to BOTH of the grocery stores I needed to go to last night, I seized my opportunity and whipped up a batch. It’s always a game of baking roulette when you’re replacing more than one egg with flax “egg” but I’m happy [very happy] to report these muffins as winners.

Chocolate-Chip Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Adapted from my sister’s adaptation of this recipe [hehe]
Makes 15-18 muffins

1 cup spelt flour
1 cup oat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1 1/2 cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pumpkin purée
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce, warmed
2 flax eggs [2 T flax meal mixed with 6 T warm water. Let sit 5 min]
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3-1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with paper cups. In a medium sized bowl whisk together flours, spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl add applesauce, flax eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, and pumpkin. Cream in the sugar. Add the dry to the wet. Fold in chocolate chips. Scoop batter into muffin cups, 2/3rds full. Bake for 20-25 minutes [I baked for 15, rotated my pans, and baked for 8 more].

They were a delicious compliment to this morning’s greek yogurt [sweetened with a little honey & brown sugar, topped with sunflower seeds, granola, & blueberries].

Kid verdict: They both liked them. Though Landon ate 2 and 1/2 and Lucy only ate 1/2 in an attempt to find as many chocolate chips as she could. She’s in this phase where her diet is consisting of broccoli, blueberries, vegan cheese, corn tortillas, strawberries, and rice cakes smeared with sunbutter.

Making the ‘more’ sign [sort of].

UPDATE: I’ve had success making these gluten-free by subbing the spelt flour with a cup of Bob’s Red Mill and 3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum.

Campfire Cookies

When I first started baking vegan treats everything failed. Seriously. Everything. There were tears. There were moments when I questioned if it would be easier to buy new cookie sheets instead of scrubbing off weirdly textured baked on “treats”. There were more tears and phone calls to my mom. There were hours [and hours] researching on the internet. Batches [and batches] of cookies and brownies that gradually improved.

Trying to bake gluten-free treats without eggs or dairy. Desserts that didn’t stray too far from our healthy eating regime. Things I wouldn’t mind sharing with friends who didn’t have dietary restrictions.

So when I saw these cookies on Pinterest I desperately wanted to recreate them to make them vegan-friendly.

To the tune of the three little pigs I made three batches of the chocolate cookie before I landed on a winner. The first time I made them they were soft and flat. They tasted good but they couldn’t handle the marshmallow. It was too much for it. The second time I made them, I succeeded in making the chocolate pillows I had in my head but unfortunately they were dry and cakey. So the third time: just right. Chewy gooey chocolate cookies reminiscent of brownie dough. I’d call them a brookie if I didn’t hate when people did that…

Campfire Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies
adapted from Joy the Baker

2 1/2 cups flour [I used 1/2 spelt and 1/2 gluten-free all purpose, but you could use all Bob’s Red Mill all purpose gluten-free]
1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flax seed meal
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon soy milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugars. In a small bowl mix together warmed coconut oil, applesauce, and flax meal. Let that sit for a few minutes and then add the wet to the dry. Add the soy milk a little at a time until you’re able to incorporate all of the flour. We’re looking for a stiff dough. Add in the chocolate chips and vanilla.

[If there’s one thing I’ve learned in vegan baking, it’s that the state of the dough doesn’t determine the final product. I’d say in “normal” baking a stiff dough would produce a dry cookie, but here we need it to keep the cookie stable.]

Using a cookie scoop, drop 30 cookies onto your parchment-lined sheets. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes until they no longer look “wet” but before they’re completely baked [I went a little under-baked but I’m a chewy cookie person]. While the second batch is in the oven, cut 15 marshmallows in half and prep your chocolate. I’ve tried taking chocolate squares broken into four pieces and using a couple chocolate chips and both ways worked fine.

Top each cookie with some chocolate and then put the marshmallow on cut side down [I used my kitchen shears to cut mine in half]. When the second batch is finished with the oven turn your broiler on high and place the cookies on the top rack for a minute or so. You really have to watch them the whole time they’re in there because they go from almost to overdone very quickly.

[This picture is from the cakey cookie batch. They were baked a little too long. Baking=science.]

Prep your other cookie sheet and bake those as well. When the marshmallows are cool enough to touch smoosh them down a little on the cookie so they’re spread over the whole cookie. When both batches are finished, leave them on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes or so. They’ll firm up a little more while they cool.

Dinner, Sans Meat

Did anybody else know yesterday was World Vegan Day? I feel like I can’t let it go unrecognized in this little space, even though we are not vegan. Chuck and I are flexitarians [no, I didn’t make that up], if you feel the need to label us. We try to eat healthy but we don’t have strict rules about what we can’t eat. We focus instead on what we do want to eat.

One of the hardest things I faced when deciding to take the meat out of some of our dinners was how to put together a full meal without meat as the anchor dish. Meat is heavy and calorie dense. It’s flavorful and easy to build a meal around. So how [in the world] do you make up a dinner plate sans meat?

Start by thinking of what you do want on the plate. Think about adding something that will replace the meat protein: beans, lentils, leafy greens, nut butters, and quinoa all pack a bit of a protein punch.

Of course you’ll also want some veggies on the plate. I like to see how many veggies I can sneak on there. I’m always looking to beat my personal best of nine veggies in one dinner. I know, I’m a total nerd.

I also like to try to add a whole grain in with dinner. Not only are they hearty but they’re super good for you [So says the Mayo Clinic].

Fruit is a good option for the dinner dessert. After your savory feast those natural sugars are sure to delight. And let’s face it, cutting up some fruit is way faster than baking up a tasty treat. You may have to shift the family’s view of dessert a little.

So here’s an example of one of our meat-free meals this week:

We had wild rice pilaf with a side of roasted zucchini and a veggie muffin.

The rice pilaf recipe was created to be a side dish so I had to beef [hehe] it up to make it work as our main dish.

Wild Rice Pilaf with Squash and Herbs
A Whole Foods Health Starts Here recipe

1 cup wild rice
3 1/2 cups broth, divided
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup diced yellow squash
1 cup diced zucchini
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cook the rice in 3 cups broth. While that’s going add your onion and garlic to a hot skillet. When it begins to stick add 1/4 cup broth. Cook 3 to 4 minutes until onion turns translucent. Add in the squash and zucchini with the last 1/4 cup broth and cook about 8 minutes longer until the veggies are tender. Stir in your herbs and seasonings. Mix in the rice.

So here’s how I changed it up to make it a bit more hardy:
I added 3 carrots and 2 stalks of celery in with the onions. After those were softened I added about 3/4 cup of chopped mushrooms. When the mushrooms had cooked down a bit I realized I wouldn’t have room in my skillet for the zucchini [I just used 2 cups of zucchini; it was what I had on hand]. So I threw the zucchini in the oven which was still warm from the veggie muffins. To finish off the pilaf I added a big handful of chopped pecans. I held off on the seasonings until I served the kids because they both cannot handle black pepper. It makes them crazy-eyed.

So here’s the rice pilaf before seasoning. I used mostly dried herbs so I used at least half of what the recipe called for. I wish I had a bounty of fresh herbs at my constant disposal…

p.s. For the veggie muffins I cut the coconut oil to 1/2 cup and added 1/2 cup apple butter. And I sprinkled the top with roasted sunflower seeds.

I think the thing I’ve noticed most about our meat-free meals is that you have to eat more vegetables to feel full. I mean, as I type that I’m thinking, “Duh”. But when we started this journey that thought never occurred to me and I still have to be cognizant of that while I’m cooking to make sure I prepare enough.

Apple Pie Muffins

Muffins are a friend of mine. They’re portable. They remind me of cupcakes. And they’re the perfect snack. Muffins, for the win. These are some special muffins. These are the muffins that are going to make your house smell amazing. They’re vegan and gluten-free. I think they’re my new favorite.

Muffins are also a great place to start if you’re new to allergen-free or gluten-free baking. They’re a little more forgiving than cookies or breads.

Am I gushing? I kind of am. I actually had to freeze these after I made them because I ate four in a row and called it a taste test. I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Here we go!

Apple Cinnamon Muffins
inspired by Babycakes Apple Cinnamon Toastie
Makes 11-12 muffins

For the filling:
1 cup apples, peeled and diced
1/4 cup apple butter
1/4 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

For the muffin:
1 cup garbanzo and fava bean flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup arrowroot
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup apple butter
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 cup hot water

For the streusel:
2 tablespoons oat flour
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter [we use earth balance]
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

[If you don’t need your muffins to be gluten-free you could try using 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour in place of the bean flour, potato starch, and arrowroot. You can then omit the xanthan gum. I haven’t tried that yet because there’s a little miss here who takes big offense to baked goods she can’t eat. Maybe someone could let me know if they try it.]

Preheat your oven to 325 F. Line 11 muffin tins.

Dice the apples [it’s about an apple and a half] and put them in a small bowl. Mix up the apple butter, apple juice, cinnamon, and nutmeg and pour the mixture over the apples. Set aside.

In a medium bowl mix the garbanzo flour, potato starch, arrowroot, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar. To the dry ingredients add the melted coconut oil, warmed apple butter, and hot water. Mix well. Add in the vanilla. Set aside.

Next, mix up your streusel topping. Put the flour, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut in the butter. Set aside.

Take a scoop of the muffin batter [maybe 1/8 of a cup] and mix it into the apple mix. Then scoop the muffin batter into your lined muffin tins. I like to fill my muffin tins up quite a bit so it only makes 11 muffins but if you try [if you care] I think you can stretch it to 12. After you’ve filled the muffin tins with the batter take a tablespoon to scoop your apple mixture and add it to the middle of the muffin tins. Do it for all 11 [or 12] muffins. Finally, sprinkle the top with the streusel.

Bake the muffins for 15 minutes, rotate and bake another 10-12 until a toothpick comes out clean.

Did the kiddies like them?

This sneaky little lovely snuck two off the cooling rack.

Chocolate Cupcakes and This Week’s Meal Plan

We were having work done on our house this week so we were away from our house from Sunday through Thursday. Oh man. It was a stressful week but tomorrow is a new one, so here we go!

Sunday: We have a party every fall where our church hangs out and eats lots of food. Yum.
Monday: We went out to eat [instead of using the hotel’s kitchenette…eek.] at Chipotle.
Tuesday: Some friends of ours had us over for dinner. We had tacos with quinoa, black beans, and ground turkey.
Wednesday: Another dinner with more friends. We bought a rotisserie chicken and made some quinoa and green beans for sides. We also had a spinach salad.
Thursday: Fend-For-Yourself doesn’t make it on the menu much but I didn’t feel the least bit guilty about it. We had some pita bread in the freezer so I through a few pieces in the oven. Pick your own mix-ins.
Friday: The first normal meal of the week. Thank goodness. Although we did switch Friday and Saturday because the glorious fall weather put me in the mood for soup. We had this baked potato soup that is so [so, so, so, so] good. And it sneaks in some cauliflower. We switch out greek yogurt for the sour cream.
Saturday: We’re having Roasted Acorn Squash with a Wild Rice Stuffing from here. Fancy pants at the Baker’s tonight!

So nothing is better after a stressful week than a gloriously yummy cupcake, right?!

The Babycakes cookbooks kind of represent a turning point in my vegan baking quest. After baking from allergy-friendly cookbooks with limited success, the vegan, gluten-free cookbook from the Babycakes Bakery made cooking without eggs, wheat, dairy, and peanuts feel easy! Every recipe brought an edible result [yeah, it was that bad]. So, that’s a really long-winded way to say Babycakes holds a special place in my heart and I’d recommend either of their cookbooks.

Chocolate Cupcakes
adapted from BabyCakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York’s Most Talked-About Bakery
makes 24 cupcakes

1 3/4 cups garbanzo-fava bean flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1 cup cocoa powder [dutch processed]
1/4 cup arrowroot
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup coconut oil
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tablespoons vanilla
1 cup hot water

Get your oven heating to 325 F and line your muffin tins. Whisk together all your dry ingredients [flour, potato starch, cocoa, arrowroot, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, sugar, and salt]. Add the wet to the dry [oil, applesauce, vanilla, and hot water]. *A little tip for working with coconut oil. You want it to be liquid when you add it to the recipe so you may have to melt it a little. You should measure out the 1 cup needed for the recipe from melted coconut oil. But you also have to make sure that nothing else that you’re adding is going to cool down the coconut oil too much [its melting point is 76 F]. So if you’re getting your applesauce out of the fridge you’ll need to warm that too. Otherwise your coconut oil will solidify when you add all the liquid ingredients and you’ll get coconut oil chunks in your cupcakes.*

Pour 1/3 cup of batter into each of your muffin cups, almost filling it up. Bake them on the center rack for 15 minutes and then rotate them and bake for 7 more minutes. Use the toothpick trick to make sure they’re done in the middle. The finished cupcakes will bounce back when you gently press the center. Keep the cupcakes in the tins for 20 minutes and then switch them over to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Spice Frosting
[will lightly frost 24 cupcakes]
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup pumpkin butter [you can make your own]
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream the oil and pumpkin butter at a med-high speed for 30 seconds. Sift the powdered sugar into the mixing bowl and add the vanilla. Mix in on low for 30 seconds. Scrap down the sides. Mix on med-high for 2 minutes. If it’s not as fluffy as you would like add more powdered sugar, 1/4 cup at a time.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle [lightly] with pumpkin pie spice.

Real Food Breakfasts

This is the post where I gross my sister out. Just kidding, sort of. You see, we’re on diametric sides of the oatmeal spectrum. My sister likes her oatmeal thick. She likes to be able to hold it upside down without a shift. I, on the other hand, like a soupy oatmeal [I’m not even offended if you call it slop]. She likes her oatmeal with a little maple syrup and brown sugar. I like mine fancied up like a toddler in a dress up closet. If it’s good, put it on. So during our summer vacation I enjoyed grossing her out every morning with my soupy, smells like a sandwich oatmeal. Yum! If you like a soupier oatmeal [or are willing to give it a try]: read on.

Start yourself off with some thick-rolled oats. Go in two parts water for one part oatmeal. So if you make a 1/4 cup of oatmeal add 1/2 a cup of water. Sprinkle on a little salt and put it in the microwave. If it’s 1/4 of a cup of oatmeal or more I cook it for three minutes. Anything less and I cook it for two and a half. I should mention, because I love you, that thick-rolled oats [besides taking a little longer in the microwave] bubble up a lot more than your standard quick oat while cooking. I make mine in a mixing bowl and eat them cave-man style every morning.

So these are a few of my favorite things: sunflower seeds [unsalted and roasted myself], a handful of walnuts, a tablespoon of peanut butter, a teaspoon of maple syrup, and as much almond milk to make it as creamy as you can handle. Add another little pinch of salt and you are on your way to oatmeal dreamboat city [population: you].

You can totally tell me if soupy oatmeal weirds you out. I won’t judge you. More soupy oatmeal for me. And because it’s my favorite meal of the day I decided to do a little breakfast round-up of goodness from around the internet.

1. Apples and Cinnamon Quinoa
2. Apple Pancakes
3. Lemon Blackberry Muffins [I leave out the ginger, cut down on the flax, and add chia like they’re poppy seeds]
4. Kath Eats Real Food Tribute to Oatmeal
5. Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa
6. Polka Dot Banana Bread [Makes great muffins, too.]
7. Very Vanilla Vegan Pancakes

I LOVE BREAKFAST! Such an important meal. Anybody else have any favorite breakfasts to add?

Green Beans and Red Potatoes

So I’ve talked before about how it’s taken some time to make good [and tasty] food for dinner each night. Part of the problem was a complete lack of understanding about how to properly cook vegetables. My mom is kind of this mix between Paula Deen, Sandra Lee, and Ellie Krieger [if you know your Food Network personalities]. She has this unusual gift to seemingly always win. Everything she serves is delicious, with a little southern flair, it didn’t take the whole day for her to prepare, and it’s pretty healthy for me. [What’s up big shoes?]

After a few failed attempts to make things taste exactly like mom used to make, I gave up. Horribly. I just bought the canned veggies; all you have to do is reheat them. [Sigh.] Thankfully, I think, staying home with Lucy gave me lots of time to practice cooking veggies right. So I thought I’d share how we cook green beans. Maybe you’re a shark in the kitchen and the simpleness of this will make you smile, but that’s alright.

Green beans will serve you up Vitamins K, C, and A as well as some manganese and fiber. So it’ll help your cuts and bruises heal up, help your pms calm down, and do it’s part to keep cancer at bay. I love livestrong for a head’s up about what my veggies are giving back to me.

Let’s start the usual way: giving the fresh green beans a little bath in the sink. I like to take this opportunity to spray them with a veggie spray. While they’re soaking I fill a larger pot [usually my dutch oven] with water and get it boiling. After they’re clean you can take your knife and cut the ends off [or snap them off, whatev]. When they’re all trimmed it’s to the boiling water with a timer set for three minutes.

After the green beans have boiled for three minutes I pour them into a colander and use the same dutch oven to heat up some oil [usually either olive or coconut]. To the hot oil I’ll add a medium onion. As soon as it starts to turn translucent I’ll add a few minced garlic cloves and stir that for a minute or so. Add your green beans in next and let them saute until they’re as soft as you want. [Since I knew they were going to join up with some potatoes that had lemon juice I added some lemon juice at the end too. Made for each other. So romantic.]

So that’s how green beans come to life at the Baker house. But this week we wanted to make a meal of it so we added a starch. Red potatoes love green beans. They’ve got some carbs and fiber, but they’re kind of a vitamin and mineral storehouse. They’re rich in potassium, vitamin C, niacin, magnesium, iron and vitamin B6. Red potatoes are heart friendly; all that potassium is good for your ticker.

To prepare the red potatoes this time I made a vinaigrette of olive oil, the juice from half a lemon, ground mustard, dried dill, nutritional yeast, a tiny bit of thyme, salt, and pepper. I mixed it up a bit and coated the potatoes with it. I baked them at 450 for 15 minutes, gave them a little shuffle, and put them back in for 15 more.

[I’m sorry. Did I just lose you at nutritional yeast? That’s alright. It’s a great source of vitamin B12 and a lot of vegans love it because it adds a cheesy or nutty flavor. You can buy it for pretty cheap in the bulk bins at Whole Foods. Sneak it into your dishes and see how long it takes your family to notice. (Cat’s out of the bag, now)]

I really enjoyed this meal. You could really play with the taste by mixing up the vinaigrette. I think next time I might try something like this one because I really liked the mustard and green bean combo.