Tuesday, April 27, 2010

(vegan) fresh apple cookies


Fresh Apple Cookies

1 cup butter, at room temp (margarine)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 large apples, peeled and grated

Cream butter and sugars, add vanilla and apple, then dry ingredients.

In a shallow bowl, mix together:

8 TB sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Roll cookies in cinnamon sugar mix. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until light brown on the bottom.

I love to drizzle caramel ice cream topping on top of these cookies. Not vegan friendly though...

Monday, April 19, 2010

(vegan) chocolate chip cookies


Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup margarine, at room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs ( 3 tsp egg replacer, 4 TB water)
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 TB vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips- (semi-sweet or carob, if you like it)

Cream sugars and butter on low until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Beat in the vanilla. Add the chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom.

If you have any left over, store in a ziplock bag.

Friday, April 16, 2010

(vegan) cheesecake

Many years ago, I was Vegan. It wasn't a "hard" way to live, but I really missed dessert. So I started adapting my Mom's recipes so that I could still eat sweets. Because honestly, all the Vegan "desserts" at the time had ingredients like whole wheat flour and carob. Not really my idea of sweets!

It took 6 months for my mom and I to perfect this recipe. It's really simple, and it's been thoroughly tested and approved by many!


Shortbread Crust

1 stick margarine
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350.
Cream margarine and sugar together. Add flour. Beat in vanilla. Press into greased pie pan or springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes- do not brown. Let cool.



Basic Cheesecake

3 pkg Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese, at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
4 1/2 tsp egg replacer
6 TB water, at room temp
1 TB vanilla extract

Combine the egg replacer and the water. Set aside. Beat the cream cheese and the sugar on low until smooth. Slowly add the "eggs", then the vanilla. Pour into crust. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until the sides are set and the middle wiggles like pudding.

Let cool completely. Cover and let chill for at least 4 hours before serving.



A Favorite Variation:

The most requested and popular cheesecake that I have made is Lemon.

Add 1/4-1/2 cup of lemon juice to cheesecake mixture after the vanilla. Top with Lemon Sauce.

Lemon Sauce

1/2 cup sugar
2 TB cornstarch
3/4 cup water
2 TB margarine
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 TB lemon zest

Combine the sugar and the cornstarch in a small dry saucepan. Add water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Simmer for about 2 minutes, or until thickened. Take off of heat. Add lemon juice, zest, and margarine. Stir to combine. Tops one cheesecake. You can also add fresh blueberries to the mix after it has cooled- an amazing summer dessert!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

retro jessica makes an appearance


Years ago, when I was vegan, I started baking. I adapted a lot of my Mom's recipes, so that I could still have dessert. (So today, while having an artistic block in a project that I am working on, I decided to dust off my recipe box and start typing.)

These are the recipes that started it all- I made these over and over again, sharing with friends and family. My love for baking has expanded since then- and so have my skills.

There was a point when I wanted to write a vegan recipe book. It was an ambitious idea, one that was too large for me- I didn't want a year or 2 of my life taken up by it.

So over the next few weeks, I will be posting some of my "old school" recipes. All of them can be made vegan, or in the usual ways. Both of which are (almost) equally delicious.