Diet, Dessert and Dogs

[Unretouched photo of unidentified, disk-like objects, hovering in the air over my kitchen table]

Before I metthe HH, I’d read exactly one science fiction novel (Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End, when I was about twelve) and seen only the standard TV shows or movies, such as Star Trek (in all its incarnations–though Deep Space really was an inferior specimen, don’t you think?) or Planet of the Apes.  It’s not that I’m uninterested in what might be happening on other planets or other universes; it’s just that, frankly, I have a hard enough time dealing with just this one–I mean, who needs more stress? 

Still, as a huge fan of all types of film (except anything with violence–which, I suppose, eliminates just about everything on screen these days, even down to Shrek the Third or Get Smart ), I was perfectly agreeable when the HH offered to introduce some of his favorite SF films to me, shortly after we first got together (of course, I was still trying to impress him back in those days, so I was pretty much agreeable to almost anything he suggested*). 

From La Jetée (the inspiration for Twelve Monkeys, aka The Only Film in which Pretty Boy Brad Pitt was Actually Any Good) to the original The Day the Earth Stood Still to Blade Runner, I have to admit I’ve enjoyed them all.  And these days, we’re both hooked on Battlestar Gallactica,  that terrific Canadian-U.S. co-production that’s not only well written and well performed, but a fascinating allegory for today’s political and religious climates (oh, and hunky Jamie Bamber in the role of Lee Adama doesn’t hurt, either). 

It seemed fitting, then, that I’d spy a recipe the other day for something with the oh-so-clever name of Cosmic Cookies (ie, they’re “out of this world”–get it?) at the new Planet Organic store that opened recently not too far from us. This was a monumental ouverture, as it was the first Big Organic Market north of the city (Toronto does have Whole Foods, but that’s way downtown in the tony Hazelton Lanes/Yorkville area, a far way to go for those of us orbiting out here in the ‘burbs).

 Well, I couldn’t wait to amble through the aisles and explore this newfound “planet.”  The atmosphere seemed amenable: I spent about 45 minutes inspecting the inventory, from prepared foods (salads, veggies, patties, croquettes, loaves, etc.)  to vegan baked goods (the orange-cranberry muffin I bought was, unfortunately, disappointing) to pastas, produce and packaged goods. 

Pleased overall, I ended up purchasing “just a few things” (at the checkout, once I regained the ability to breathe, I calculated that my little spree worked out to approximately $1.00 per minute. Clearly, this is no impoverished planet).

Here’s my haul:

1) Veggie patties.  Fittingly alien-looking with nubby edges and a deep carmine color, these little creatures were a mélange of carrots, beets, almonds, and an array of spices.  A bit too sweet for my taste; nevertheless, good lunch food.

2) Teriyaki tofu “steaks.”  Basically the first tofu recipe I ever cooked for myself: slabs of tofu marinated in the ubiquitous mix of soy sauce, ginger, something sweet and garlic. These were fine, if less than inspired.

3) A slice of bison meatloaf for the HH.  He loved it.  Enough said.

4) The pièce de resistance, the holy grail, the UFO (Unidentified Flour Object) I’d been seeking for weeks: a bag of coconut flour. I’d read about this elusive ingredient many times (it’s a mainstay in Deb’srecipes) but had never been able to find it before.  The coconut flour will provide me with hours of kitchen fun, playing with recipes for yet more cakes, cookies, bars, muffins, or pies free of wheat, eggs or dairy–and now, perhaps, free of gluten, too (it’s a GF flour).

In the meantime, I whipped up a batch of the store’s own Cosmic Cookies, a signature sweet made primarily of oats, seeds, raisins, chocolate chips and coconut.  I was so fixated on my coconut flour that I forgot to add the shredded coconut to the mix; they still came out fine. Since the store published the recipe in their own flyer, I assumed they wouldn’t mind my sharing it here as well.  

And though I enjoyed my visit to the store, I think I’ll restrict any future inter-planetary shopping to just the coconut flour. As much as I enjoyed the visit, it seems more like a special-occasion, rather than a regular, destination. Just like every other planet.

*No, nothing like that, you perverts!

Planet Organic’s Cosmic Cookies (verbatim from their flyer)

I modified this recipe ever so slightly. These are not too sweet and very filling, yet somehow, strangely addictive.  Could it be the extra-terrestrial influence?

2-1/4 cups quick cooking oats [I used old-fashioned]

2 cups spelt flour [I used whole spelt]

1 cup sunflower seeds

3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened

1/4 cup flax seeds [I used ground flax]

1 cup granulated cane sugar [I used Sucanat]

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

2-1/4 tsp. sea salt [I used only 1/2 tsp.]

1-3/4 c. dairy-free chocolate chips

1-1/4 cups raisins [I used dried cranberries]

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup blackstrap molasses

3/4 cup canola oil [I used sunflower oil]

1 cup soymilk

Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking trays with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (everything from oats to raisins).

In a separate large bowl, combine the wet ingredients (everything from water to soymilk). Add wet ingredients to dry and mix well to combine. Do not overmix.

Portion cookie dough using a 1/3 cup measuring cup [I used a large ice-cream scoop] and place onto lined baking tray. Gently flatten cookies before baking. Bake for 24 minutes or until lightly browned.  Makes 24 cookies.

Despite my constant whining about winter (When, oh when will it finally be over?? How much longer must I endure this bleak, bleached, desolate wasteland of frigid snow? How many more days must I suffer through this torturous, crystalline hell on earth? ), I fully recognize that the season Below Zero does have at least a few minor benefits. 

For one, you get to cuddle closer to your honey while watching Battlestar Gallactica or a DVD.  You feel justified when you stay home from that excruciatingly boring dinner meeting (”but the roads were impossible. . . “).  You have a legitimate reason to cover up your all-time high weight of mumblemumbleundisclosednumber pounds and wear loose sweaters.

And then, when the season finally begins to wane, you have the opportunity to eat fresh maple syrup.

Although technically, the trees aren’t tapped until early spring, in Canada you can purchase real maple syrup year-round (yay!). When I first changed my diet and left white sugar in the dust, maple syrup quickly became one of my baking staples.  Its subtle, buttery, vaguely smoky and intensely sweet flavor is the perfect enhancement for so many foods–pancakes, of course, but also baked beans, scrambles, chocolate pudding, even some noodle dishes or casseroles.  Whether you enjoy the lighter grades that contain a higher water content (the syrup darkens in color, thickens somewhat and intensifies in flavor as it’s condensed) or the richer, darker varieties, true maple syrup is a unique and noteworthy enjoyment.

When we were kids, I never realized that what my mom referred to as “maple syrup” was actually artificially-flavored corn syrup.  My dad and sisters loved the stuff, and would slather it on a stack of pancakes so thickly that the syrup soaked right through to the cake on the very bottom of the pile, rendering them all a soggy, sticky mess. 

I could never warm up to those heavy, dense, wet cakes.  It wasn’t until I began to purchase pure maple syrup as an adult that I truly learned to appreciate pancakes.  At first, I was skeptical, cutting just a corner of the pancake and tentatively dipping it into a little pool of syrup on my plate, as if I were testing lakewater with my big toe; but once I experienced that authentic light and sugary elixir, I felt comfortable pouring it on and plunging in with gusto.

Tasting genuine maple syrup also called to mind a childhood event when I was lucky enough to sample the “real thing” away from our corn syrup-infused kitchen at home.  Once, on an extra-curricular school trip in April, our grade three class visited a maple farm north of the city.  There, we attended an event known as “Sugaring Off.”  (To this day, the term sounds vaguely like an expletive to me: “Why, you sonofa–just sugar off!”  “Oh, yeah?  Well you sugar off! And your mother wears army boots, too!”)

The maple farmers would hold these events just as the sap began to run, using freshly tapped syrup.  They’d heat it just enough so that it caramelized instantly when poured over a base of pristine, white, freshly scooped snow that had been spread evenly across a long metal table.  Immediately, the syrup was transformed into toffee against the frosted snow, and we kids wielded soup spoons, scooping in a frenzy of delight as we dug in and all shared the huge slab of sweetness. 

Of course, these days, the practise would be banned for hygienic purposes. When I was a kid, however, no one worried about the snow harboring parasites, or fox pee, or fungus-infested decomposing pine cones. . . we just ate it.  We all double-dipped, even triple-dipped, sharing the same enormous, rectangular, metal plate. And it was delicious.  Like soft, warm, just-cooked caramel. . . . oh, how I loved it!

 So when I heard about this week’s Root Source challenge to create a recipe with maple syrup, I knew I had to participate.  Since I’ve been baking exclusively with natural sweeteners for the past few years, anyway, this task didn’t strike me as very different from what I’ve already been doing. And while I had a few maple syrup-based recipes in my repertoire, I wanted to create something original for this event.

Since I’m off chocolate for the time being, I considered other foods with which maple syrup can be paired successfully.  One of the most common combinations–walnuts and maple syrup–exists precisely because these two ingredients complement each other so well. So I decided this was no time to buck tradition; maple and walnut it is!

The result of my kitchen playtime is these Maple-Walnut Cookies.  They’re light, crisp, and really showcase the unique flavor of the syrup, especially the day after you bake them, when the flavors mature. If you prefer a chewy cookie, reduce the baking time by two or three minutes. 

 Maple-Walnut Cookies

Because this was a test batch, I made a relatively small quantity.  You should be able to double this without any problems.

1/2 cup (50 g.) walnut halves

1/4 cup (30 g.) ground flax seeds

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (45 g.) whole barley flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. sea salt

2 Tbsp. tahini (sesame paste)

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350F.  Lightly grease a cookie sheet, or line with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a food processor, process the walnuts, flax, barley flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until you have a fine meal. The nuts should be finely ground into the mix; no large pieces of nut should be detectable. 

Add the tahini, vanilla, maple syrup and apple cider vinegar to the processor.  Pulse or process on low speed until the mixture comes together to a sticky dough.

 Using a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon, scoop balls of dough and place on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Wet your hands and flatten each cookie slightly (or use the back of a glass).

Bake about 10 minutes, until golden brown, turning the sheet once about halfway through.  Cool before removing from sheet.  Makes about 15 cookies. These freeze well.

[Ed. Note--This recipe won the CookThink Recipe Challenge for Maple Syrup, and was published on the CookThink site.  Almost as exciting as a good sugaring off party!]

Nope, not one.  Not a single one.  Not even the tiniest smidgen of one. 

That’s right: for the first time ever in my adult life, I have not seen ONE of the movies nominated for Best Picture tomorrow night. (And YOU thought I was going to say “not one piece of chocolate!  Ha ha on you!! Well, I haven’t had a single smidge of that, either.)

And that is all I will be saying about the Oscars.

I’ve decided that I must have been a cacao overlord in a previous lifetime, and now as part of my atonement, I’m seeing chocolate, chocolate everywhere–just when I’m trying most to avoid the stuff (for those of you who just joined us in medias res, I’m attempting a detox to clear my body of the influence of the Devil Chocolate–and so, the Week of Chocolate Asceticism). 

As I mentioned before I began my week, I did whip up a few delectables before I started so that the blog wouldn’t be entirely bereft of the sweet stuff for the entire time.  Then, last night, I even dreamt of some new chocolate-based dessert I could make! 

And, of course, other bloggers are flinging chocolate this way and that, directly into my field of vision all this week: Eat Me, Delicious has just posted about a mouth-watering Chocolate Cookie Bark; The Good Eatah made a very rich, very creamy chocolate pudding;  Vegan Noodle of Walking the Vegan Line made some wicked-looking truffles; Hannah made her own–homemade!–white chocolate bar; that rascal, Michael Clayton, made nothing; Cate from Sweetnicks made Chocolate Pots de Creme (how did she find the time??) and Ivonne from Cream Puffs in Venice has even devoted an entire month to the stuff (please, somebody save me!)

And so, I decided I couldn’t escape it.  Although I am still determined not to let one mote, not one spec, not one shaving, not one MOLECULE of chocolate enter my mouth until I’ve given my system a decent break, I thought a little virtual indulgence wouldn’t do any harm.   

So here I’ll share some photos of chocolate-based recipes I’ve played with over the past few weeks, as well as some goodies I had to bake for customers.  

When I expressed some dismay that I wouldn’t be able to taste-test any of my catered goods, my friend’s very helpful teenaged daughter piped up:  “Well, you could just take a bite, chew it, and then spit it out.” Remember that episode of Sex and the City, where Miranda has dinner with an ex-boyfriend?  And they haven’t seen each other in years, and when they do, he’s lost a ton of weight?  And then they go out to eat at a swanky NYC restaurant, and he orders steak?  And then she catches him spitting a gnarly, saliva-soaked wad of chewed steak into his napkin?  Yep, that’s the one. And so you see why I couldn’t take the daughter’s advice. 

As it turns out, I’ve made most of these items several hundred times, so I didn’t have to break my WOCA and sample anything. 

The first item was a Double Chocolate Mint Explosion Cookie, part of the treats table at a birthday party.  These are fudgy on the inside, just slightly crispy on the outside–a definite winner with kids and adults alike. 

Then I revisited a recent experiment with vegan chocolate-covered caramels (to which I must devote an entire post, anon):

After that, the chocolate rush subsided a bit, leaving just the chips in a Chocolate-Chip Blondie, baked for a school event (yes, indeedy, that is a kitchen towel behind the plate):

 Next up, a Chocolate Satin Tart.  These were a holiday item last year, which I baked for a vegan meal-delivery service here in Toronto to give to their customers (I hear they’re thinking of expanding to Calgary, where the Canadian Music Awards–called the Junos–are taking place this year).  A shortbread-like crust is filled with chocolate ganache, then dusted with cocoa:

And I ended the virtual pig-out with a memory of a recent experiement, with sugar-free, gluten-free chocolate buttercream frosting:

After this heady daydream, I felt prepared to snack on my lovely carob pudding, or raw fig and cherry bars (recipe to follow eventually).  And while it’s true that this No-Chocolate Land is a tough place to be (and it’s no country for old men, either, believe me),  I do feel more energetic, a bit more in balance, and happy about my healthy eating ths week.

WOCA Update:  Big, massive, seismic cravings today. And just when I thought they’d all passed!  Serves me right for being so smug about it last post.  But I shall persevere. . . I shall battle the demon with all my wits and all my inner resources. . . and I shall overcome. . . the scourge. . . that is Chocolate! Watch out; it’s possible there will be blood. (Oooh. Do you think I could maybe get away with just one little, tiny, eensy-weensy piece?  Naw, didn’t think so.)

And to those of you who watch them, enjoy the Oscars tomorrow (and sorry about that Juno reference.  It was either that or mention the mythological daughter of Saturn.)

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog entry about the trio of chocolate desserts I’d created for Valentine’s Day, each with at least one “secret” ingredient that conferred extra health benefits.  I promised to post the recipes for each one, starting with the Gluten-Free Brownie and followed by the Vegan Molten Chocolate Cakes. Since I’ve already posted the first two recipes of

****BULLETIN****BULLETIN****BULLETIN*****

We interrupt this blogcast to bring you this breaking news that Ricki’s recipe for Vegan Molten Chocolate Cakes has been voted the winner of the Vegetable Love contest over at Susan’s Fat Free Vegan Kitchen ! (Well, okay, maybe it was by a very small margin, but we’re not complaining).  The contest asked participants to submit recipes for romantic, vegan, low-fat dishes that contained vegetables.   Skip on over and take a look at all the fabulous entries!

I have to admit that I was completely taken by surprise (thanks, Veggie Girl, for the heads up via your comment!) and absolutely thrilled.  Baking, like writing, is something I love doing so much that I’d still do it even if I weren’t being paid for it (hey! wait a second. . . I am doing it and I’m not being. . . ).  But it’s so great to have the positive feedback on this blog (Your comments are great!  Keep ‘em coming!!) and to know that people out there enjoy the recipes. 

So thank you all for voting, thank you for reading, and a big thank you for encouraging me to keep on doing something I adore.  (Now, if only I could figure out how to put that cute little heart-beet icon on my blog page. . . ).

****WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INTERRUPTION. AND NOW, BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED BLOG ENTRY, ALREADY IN PROGRESS.****

the trio, I thought today, Valentine’s Day, would be the perfect time to post the final recipe.  These aren’t exactly what I’d call “romantic” cookies (at least, not in the same way that an oozing, gooey, warm molten center might be), but they are definitely a heartfelt offering of love.

Pairing eggplant puree with chocolate and peanut butter, these cookies provide some heart-healthy fats (monounsaturated in the peanuts) and great antioxidant benefits (the anthocyanins in the eggplant, flavonoids in cocoa), plus great fiber.  They’ve also been kid-tested and approved by several of my friends’ and colleagues’ children, and I am happy to report that absolutely NO eggplant was detectable in the fudgy, peanutty, chocolatey treats.

Finally, I’m going to beg solicit plead implore ask you once again if you’ve got any neat ideas for a Valentine’s Day dinner that my HH and I will share on Saturday (we’re deferring the Big Day by two days, so you still have time!!).  Since you’ll all be done with your own dinners by then, how about telling me what YOU all had?  Then I can copy plagiarize reproduce honor your great dishes by trying some of them out at our own dinner.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!  Hope it’s both sweet and loving.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudgies 

These cookies present the ultimate mixture of chocolate and peanut butter, with a base that’s crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle.  No one will ever guess that they’re housing some hidden eggplant in the batter!  

1/2 cup natural crunchy peanut butter

2/3 cup Sucanat or other unrefined evaporated cane juice

1/4 cup sunflower oil or other light-tasting oil

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup pureed cooked eggplant (you may substitute another moisture-rich vegetable, such as cooked zucchini)

1-1/2 cups light spelt flour

1/3 cup dark cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup sea salt

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Lightly spray two cookie sheets with nonstick coating, or line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, cream the peanut butter with the Sucanat and oil.  Add the maple syrup, vanilla, vinegar, and eggplant and mix to combine well.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  

Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir to mix well.  You should have a slightly sticky dough, but one that still holds its shape.

Using a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop, place mounds of dough on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Wet your hands and flatten the cookies slightly (to about 1/4 inch thickness) with your palms, or use the bottom of a glass dipped in water. 

Bake in preheated oven about 12 minutes, rotating pans halfway, until cookies are puffed and cracked on top.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the sheets (they will firm up as they cool).

Makes about 30 cookies.  These may be frozen.    

Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve had an ongoing love affair with the antipodes.  Well, come to think of it, that would be a one-sided love affair, since I’ve never actually been there. But hey, that’s okay.  I’m accustomed to those; my entire adolescence was flush with unrequited love.

I’ve dreamt of visiting the Land Down Under since I was about 13.  When the Australian Women’s Weekly cookbooks finally made their way across the Atlantic, I was first in line to buy them (favorites include Biscuits and Slices, Vegetarian, and Chocolate titles).  I’ve read The Thorn Birds and Oscar and Lucinda; I dutifully watched the Crocodile Dundee movie and delighted over Babe; I was a devoted fan of the Dame Edna show and ran out to buy the first Crowded House CD to hit our airwaves (though I never became a fan of Kylie Minogue). I adore the whole lot of Australian thespians: Hugh Jackman, Naomi Watts, Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, and of course Nicole Kidman (I mean, how could you not?  She’s just so NOT Julia Roberts). 

Age and years didn’t dampen my ardor, either. While studying for my PhD, I had a searing crush on a fellow student, Charlie Ferrall (I know! Can you believe his name is a homophone for “feral”??), whose Australian accent, the same one my friend Sterlin and I tried to imitate and had decided was the most incredibly sexy sound on earth, was his natural way of speaking. (Hey, Charlie, if you’re reading, G’day! How ya doin’, mate? Ever get that dissertation finished?). 

 Then, several years ago, I managed to arrange a teaching exchange with a college professor in Melbourne.  Yippee–an entire year of Living the Dream! The arrangement had us trading jobs while still technically employed by our “home institutions”–perfect for me, considering that the Canadian dollar was worth more than the Australian dollar at the time. We got as far as the final stages of the exchange–down to specific dates, meeting places, and a steamer trunk purchase–before the other woman backed out at the last moment. 

“I’m so sorry to do this to you at such a late date,” she wrote in an email.  “But we looked into the rentals in Toronto, and simply can’t afford to live there.”  Apparently, Toronto has recently been dubbed ”the New York of Canada,” and astronomical rents may be one reason why. In fact, if I remember correctly, that Australian teacher ended up in Manhattan.

In the end, all I had to cling to were my memories of my (one-sided) intercontinental romance, a bad imitation of an Australian accent, and yet another CD to sell on eBay. 

Well, I had been disappointed in love before, so I decided to stop whinging about it and just get on with it–no worries!  And since I’ve entered the blogging universe, I’ve come across several fabulous Australian-authored blogs, many of which have become bookmarked favorites, so I can at least pursue a vicarious existence across the Pacific.  If I couldn’t actually live there, I could cook as if I did.  After all, this Sheila can still bake, right? And that made me one happy little Vegemite (though I probably still wouldn’t eat the stuff; sorry).

I’d read about Anzac cookies several times over the years, and always wanted to give them a try.  A quick search on the internet turned up some interesting information. Apparently, the original cookies, baked for soldiers abroad during World War One, were created so that something nourishing (they contain whole oats) could be sent to the troops in Gallipoli without spoiling before they got there.  In order to accomplish that lofty goal, the biscuits had to be able to withstand a two month-long boat ride without refrigeration. The resulting biscuits were very dry, not very sweet, and baked within an inch of a career as Tony Soprano’s favorite footwear.   

Modern Anzac biscuits, I’ve discovered, have a bit more sugar in them than the traditional kind, but are still crispy biscuits made with only a few basic ingredients.  Every recipe I’ve seen calls for boiling water mixed with baking soda, which is then poured into the cooked sweeteners.  All the cookies contain flour, oats, and coconut, but no eggs (or salt or vanilla), so they’re naturally suited to vegans, too.  My HH adores coconut, so it was a fair bet he’d like them. 

I decided to play with the traditional recipe somewhat and add the missing salt and vanilla.  I also used a combination of brown rice syrup (to duplicate the golden syrup of the original) and Sucanat for a little more sweetness.  And, of course, I baked them a little less than the traditional kind, as I am fond of my teeth and would like to keep them. The result was a spiffy little biscuit–and that’s no skite.

Well, enough yabbering.  Time for the recipe.  You reckon?

(”Mum, you know we love you and everything, but sometimes, you can be such a whacker.”)

Anzac Biscuits (original recipe from Kitchen Classics’ Sweet and Savoury Bites, edited by Jane Price )

[Note:  mine really did turn out pretty yellow, though not quite as Day-Glo as in this photo.  I think it had something to do with the combination of brown rice syrup and being north of the equator.]

125 g. (1 cup) all purpose flour (I used spelt)

140 g. (2/3 cup) sugar (I used Sucanat)

100 g. (1 cup) rolled oats

90 g. (1 cup) dessicated coconut

125 g. (4-1/2 oz.) unsalted butter (I used coconut butter)

90 g. (1/4 cup) golden syrup or dark corn syrup (I used brown rice syrup)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 Tbsp. boiling water

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick spray.

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the sugar, oats, and coconut and make a well in the centre. Put the butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan and stir over low hear until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat.

 Dissolve the soda in the boiling water and add immediately to the butter mixture. It will foam up instantly. Pour into the well int he dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.

Drop level tablespoons of mixture onto the cookie sheets, allowing room for spreading. Gently flatten each biscuit with your fingertips.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until just browned. Leave on the tray to cool slightly, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

I find it fascinating how certain ideas make the rounds in the world of food, blogging or otherwise. I’ve mentioned before about how it galls me that Mrs. Jerry Seinfeld has an over-hyped, over-acclaimed, skyrocketed-to-bestseller-status cookbook in print, all because she thought to add some vegetable purees to existing recipes (Oh. And because she’s Jerry. Seinfeld’s. Wife. Right.).  No matter that others–writers, or, naturally, vegan chefs–have been doing this sort of thing for years (and even my little baking company has been selling carob muffins with hidden spinach in them since 2004–so there!). 

[Note to readers:  Please permit me this puerile rant.  It's January 28th, it's been snowing and way below 0 degrees C for weeks over here, and there is no end to winter in sight.  I am grumpy.  I hate ice and snow.  I have been consuming highly insalutary amounts of chocolate. But I assure you, this is just a rant. It will pass and I will be better tomorrow.] 

Well, when I was asked a while ago by VegFamily magazine to come up with a trio of chocolate desserts for Valentine’s Day, I decided to jump on this veggies-in-sweets bandwagon.  Maybe MJS has dumped some veggies into regular recipes, all full of eggs, refined flours and white sugar.  But has anyone seen vegan versions, and without wheat or refined sweeteners?  Gotcha!  And so I had my angle.  

 I had been working for some time on a brownie recipe  made with pureed white (navy) beans, and decided to include this in the VegFamily piece by stretching the original concept somewhat.  Then, the other morning, I took a peek at Celine’s fabulous blog and–voila!–there is a recipe for Black Bean Brownies, based on a still-earlier version from Activist Mommy.  See what I mean?  It’s that 100th monkey effect (or, in this case, 100th black bean effect. And that’s not just a lot of hot air, either.  Unless you eat too many, of course.). 

Next up, I wanted to do something really decadent, and also really romantic.  One of the most romantic desserts of all time is the Molten Chocolate Cake, so I was determined to re-create a healthier, vegetable-rich, vegan version. 

First of all, regular molten chocolate cakes rely on lots of eggs, and the batter is only partially baked to ensure a soft, oozing, chocolatey centre.  I solved this problem by including two mixtures: one for the cake, and one for the centre, then combining before baking.  The result was a rich, gooey, warm and definitely decadent treat.  Oh, and just for fun, it has hidden zucchini and spinach in it! I’m happy to say that the result was enthusiastically “HH Approved.”  He’s even asked for them again, on the real Valentine’s Day.

The last item was a very fudgy, very peanut-buttery, chocolate-peanut butter cookie.  These were an immediate hit with Gemini I’s kids as well as my colleagues at the college.  And because they’re all used to my weirdo creations already, nobody batted an eye when I told them the cookies incorporated eggplant puree in the batter.

I’ll be posting all three recipes on this blog after the article is published.  If you’d like to check out the recipes before then, head on over to VegFamily once their February edition is up on the site.

Whether you’ve just woken up to find the Big Guy has already arrived, or whether you’re spending your day in some other way, here’s wishing you a day filled with fun, happiness, and the love of friends and family.

If you celebrate Christmas, I hope it’s wonderful. 

If not, enjoy the nearly empty movie theatres today.

Talk about under the wire.  Here it is, the LAST DAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and I’m still experimenting with baking cookies (and still posting to Holidailies).  And guess what?  I think I’ve hit on something.

I’ve been wanting to do a Christmas sugar cookie for years.  Ever since I had to alter my diet and cut out wheat and refined sugars, it’s been a bit difficult to bake traditional treats (though there are so many great cookbooks out there, not to mention a whole lot of blogs using all-natural ingredients, which makes it easier and easier). 

 After baking with agave nectar for the past few years, I felt pretty good about that.  But a sugar cookie?  Wouldn’t it be kind of heretical to take the sugar out of it?  (And what would I call it, anyway–”agave cookie cutouts”?). 

But recently, I also started baking with Salba.  Salba is actually made of chia seeds (yes, those selfsame seeds that used to grow into little animals in pottery shapes for kids), only edible.  One could say that “Salba is the new flax,” since it contains the same healthful Omega 3 fatty acids, only more so than flax.  Further, Salba is lighter in color and texture–perfect for a creamy white, snowy “sugar” cookie.

Sugar cookies are also, traditionally, rolled and cut.  When baking with agave, however, the cookie dough is more often soft and most suitable for scooping or smoothing into pans, to be cut later into bars (since agave is a liquid sweetener, after all).  So what to do?  I decided that the combination of coconut butter instead of butter (since it’s also solid at room temperature), and salba as an egg substitute would work best, since the salba would absorb some of the excess moisture in the agave. That way, I would be able to use almost the same ratio of flour to sweetener in a “regular” sugar cookie.

I’m happy to report that the dough came out beautiful!  It was a teeny bit softer than expected when first mixed, so I split it in two parts, and scooped the first half (at room temperature).  These cookies came out just barely golden on the bottoms, uniform in shape, with a beautiful, tender crumb and delicate flavor.  Truly, they were delicious–a great plain all-occasion cookie that’s not too sweet. 

I put the second half of the dough into the fridge to sit for an hour or two and firm up.  I’m going to roll it out later, cut it into shapes (should be interesting, as we haven’t yet unpacked all my baking supplies, and I’ve got neither a rolling pin nor my cookie cutters), and bake it that way; I’ll post those photos as soon as they’re ready. [Later addition: The dough was perfect once chilled--firm and easy to roll.  I rolled it quite thin and cut it into decorative shapes, which I've posted in the next blog post.]

In the meantime, I’ll share this recipe for those of you who may want to play around for next Christmas!

Ricki’s Sugar Agave Cookies

6 Tbsp. (140 g.) light agave nectar

1 Tbsp. ground Salba

2 Tbsp. unflavored soymilk

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. pure lemon flavoring

2 cups (300 g.) spelt flour

1-1/2 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder

1/8 tsp. sea salt

1/2 cup (110 g.) organic coconut butter (I use Omega Nutrition)

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick spray.

In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine the agave nectar, Salba, soymilk, and flavorings.  Mix well and allow to sit while you prepare the dry ingredients, or at least two minutes.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the coconut butter and pinch the mixture repeatedly between your thumb and fingers until all the coconut butter is blendedin, no little lumps remain, and the mixture is crumbly.  (It should hold together when you squeeze it in your palm).  This should NOT be the same consistency as when mixing pie dough; you want all of the coconut butter to “melt into” the flour, with NO pea-sized bits of butter visible.

Pour the wet mixture over the flour mixture and stir until well blended.  You should have a soft and slightly sticky dough, but one that holds together. 

For drop cookies, you may use the dough immediately.  Drop from a teaspoon or small scoop onto a cookie sheet about one inch (2 cm) apart.  Flatten slightly with the back of a glass or the palm of your hand. 

For rolled cookies, gather the dough together and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate about an hour, until firm.  Roll out to about 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thickness on a lightly floured board.  Cut into desired shapes and place on a cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, until edges are just golden.  Cool before removing from sheets and decorating as desired.  Makes 24-30 cookies.  May be frozen.

(”Agave is also low-glycemic, Mum, so it should be just fine for dogs.  How about some agave biscuits for us?”)

Every year, when my sisters and I were kids, for our birthdays we each got a made-from-scratch, personally decorated birthday cake for our party.  One year it was Little Bo Peep, another it was Barbie, still others it was a pretty array of colorful frosting flowers splashed across a chocolate rectangle.  Cake, always cake; but never can I recall having cupcakes for my birthday.

Well, times have changed. In just a few years, cupcakes have become all the rage.  Little cupcake-only shops have sprouted in every major city; and my friend Angie tells me that, in Dallas, they’ve reached a peak of price and exculsivity. One might even say that cupcakes are poised to take over the world!

And so, this season, though I’ve been asked to bake for several children’s parties and an at-home Christmas celebration, in every case I’ve been asked to bake up a batch of cupcakes. 

As a vegan baker who uses neither refined sugar nor margarine, I can sometimes find it incredibly difficult to come up with substitutions that will approximate the same look and taste as conventional recipes (even though I own, and have carefully persued, every page of Isa and Terry’s phenomenal book, and send major cudos their way–especially for the agave-based vanilla cupcakes).  I find it fairly easy to substitute organic coconut butter for margarine, but sugar really is one of a kind, especially when you’re talking buttercream.

So, while I continue to experiment with an agave-based buttercream frosting (and to post to Holidailies), I am left with my old standby, agave fudgy frosting, for cupcakes.  Though delicious and thoroughly chocolatey, it’s not airy in the least, and not as easy to pipe into ruffles or scallops or drop flowers. It tends to sport a high-gloss finish, and can be a bit stiff, sometimes firming up so much that it won’t agree to be piped at all.  When the vanilla version is colored for decorations, it resembles the type of gel-like icings you buy in little tubes in the grocery store–not much fine detail to work with, there. 

[cupcakes with a scoop of frosting, waiting to be transformed. . . ] 

So, when I received an order for some last-minute cupcakes decorated with a holiday theme, I wasn’t sure what to do.  Without any formal training in cake decorating (which, I’m fairly sure, wouldn’t be much help with this type of frosting, anyway), I had to improvise.  So I thought about simple line drawings of bells or bows that I could pipe onto the cupcakes, or how I might fill in an outline with colored frosting, which would then be smoothed flat, with something like a stained glass effect.

[The blank canvas waiting for inspiration] 

Well, in the end, I would say the experiment was a semi-success.  You can tell what I was trying to achieve, but the icing just wouldn’t smooth out, so my holly leaves have little bumpy ridges on them.  Still, they tasted great (what? I couldn’t very well give them away without sampling to ensure quality, now, could I?), and I know that the kids who’ll be eating them will be thrilled. 

[chocolate and agave holiday cheer] 

With precious little time left before the holiday and so many people on the lookout for Christmas recipes, I’ll contribute one more festive cookie.  These are a dense, chewy round that combines a peanut butter base with chocolate chips and cranberries.  If you bake them the full suggested time, they’ll be crispy on the edges and soft but dry inside.  Bake a little less, and they’ll cool to a moist and chewy goodness.  These are actually better the second day, as the PB flavor intensifies.

Hmm.  Peanut butter, chocolate and cranberries. . . I may just have to bake some of these myself. In the meantime, I’ll keep working on that sugarless vegan buttercream.

Holiday Cranberry Chippers

This big-batch cookie recipe is a great way to involve the kids.  They’ll love helping out, especially since they can use their hands to mix the dough.

1/2 cup silken tofu

1/2 cup natural almond or peanut butter

1/2 cup soft coconut butter (or substitute 1/3 cup sunflower oil)

1 cup Sucanat

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

3 cups whole spelt flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup large flake old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional (or substitute an extra 1/4 cup chips instead) 

Preheat oven to 375F and lightly grease two large cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

To measure tofu, spoon it into a measuring cup and “chop” it with the spoon or press it to pack down.  Drain off any excess water.

In bowl of a food processor or using a whisk, combine nut butter, coconut butter, tofu, Sucanat, cinnamon and vanilla.  Blend until perfectly smooth and no lumps of tofu remain.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, soda, oats, chips, cranberries, and nuts, if using.

Pour wet mixture over dry and combine to make a dough that is firm but not dry (you may need to use your hands at the end of mixing the dough to combine it well).

Using a heaping tablespoon or small ice cream scoop full for each cookie, roll dough into balls and place on lightly greased cookie sheets about 1 inch apart.  Flatten the balls slightly with your palm or the bottom of a glass.

 Bake at 375F for 8-12 minutes, until edges are golden.  Cool and remove from sheets.  Makes about 3 dozen.  May be frozen. 

I never tire of baking.  When I used to have spare time (which would include time for Holidailies) in my twenties, I’d bake up tins of holiday cookies for special people in my life and give these as Christmas gifts.  Every recipe was lovingly chosen, delicately placed on frilly doilies in the tin, and sealed with a decorative ribbon.  One year, I even drew, by hand, a legend with descriptions of each cookie, like you’d get in a box of chocolates. 

It made me happy to carefully set out my ingredients, plan the recipes, measure and stir and scoop and time and bake and inhale the aromas as they escaped in little bursts from the oven: cinnamon, and chocolate, melting; coconut, fresh ginger, overripe bananas;  peanut butter, and other nuts–walnuts, hazelnuts, or cashews,  toasting slowly and evenly, before being chopped and added to a variety of doughs. 

When I was done, I’d have dozens of rounds, bars, brownies, balls, squares and cutouts to share with friends and family.   These days, I’m lucky if I can whip together a coffee cake or batch of brownies for our own consumption.  Mostly, these days, I bake for other people, or I experiment with recipes that will ultimately also be offered to others.

In many ways, this is a good thing.  Knowing that the baked goods are going to someone else, someone who wouldn’t otherwise be able to enjoy a sweet treat, always makes me feel good.  And when, in particular, I’m able to bake up a birthday cake for a child with food intolerances and hear that this is the first birthday cake s/he has been able to eat with friends since birth, well, it’s sometimes enough to bring me to tears.  (True, long distance telephone commercials also bring me to tears, but still.)

So yesterday’s agenda included several baked goods, none of which we would ultimately eat.  I did have fun decorating the birthday cake, though, and was able to complete two Berry Crumble Cakes (coffee cake dotted with mixed berries throughout and topped with a crumble topping), one for a customer and one for our house, so that my HH could at least enjoy a slice with his morning coffee. 

Wish I had a decent camera (or would that be “decent photography skills”?) so that I could show these desserts properly.  The berry cake is moist, dense, and really yummy, sweetened with agave and made with whole spelt. 

But the chocolate layer cake is my favorite, not merely because it’s chocolate and tasted delicious.  After tinkering with varied and sundry permutations of an agave-based frosting, I finally came up with this one, pictured below on the chocolate cake.  Its consistency is thick and rich, and–what’s best–it can be stirred, refrigerated and brought back to room temperature repeatedly, piped, swirled, or whatever else you wish, and still retain its soft, smooth, creamy texture.  I think of it as my gift to all those kids on their birthdays.