Strawberry Vanilla Muffins

Well, so much for me reducing my sugar! In my defense though I had some strawberries and soy yogurt that needed using and I have been wanting to try a muffin recipe for awhile now.... These turned out really well despite all my efforts to the contrary. I didn't have enough soy yogurt so topped up with vegan sour cream, I didn't have enough strawberries, I ran out of plain flour and had to top up with self - raising flour, then the batter was too dry and I had to add some rice milk at the end (right at the stage where you should not be adding liquid in a muffin batter!) But, despite all that they turned out lovely, great flavour, super moist and were even better the next day. I then made them again as I was supposed to and I couldn't tell the difference, still light and moist and tasted great, so I will post that recipe.

Now, almost all baked goods call for some vanilla extract but I wanted these to really, really taste of vanilla - as it's a flavour that goes so well with strawberries. So in these I used 1 tsp vanilla extract (real stuff please!) as well as the seeds from one vanilla pod. If you click on the pics below you can see the little black specks in the muffins. Do dust with powdered sugar once cool - I left them plain just for the photo but they taste great with a good dusting.

Strawberry and Vanilla Muffins:

350g (2 1/2 cups) plain flour
150g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
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240ml (1 cup) plain, unsweetened soy yogurt
120ml (1/2 cup) rice milk
160ml (2/3 cup) vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 vanilla pod, split open and seeds scraped out
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2 cups chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 190C. Brush a 12 hole muffin tin with vegetable oil and set aside. In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients then fold in the strawberries. In another bowl whisk together the soy yogurt, milk, oil and vanilla's - whisk well so that the vanilla seeds don't clump together. Pour the wet into the dry and fold gently until just moistened - do not overmix. Fill each muffin cup until almost full and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave in the pan to cool for 5 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool fully. I had to let them cool upside down due to the bottoms being quite delicate at this stage. Dust with powdered sugar once cool, or at least room temp, and serve.

Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking .

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Banana Coconut Chocolate Drops

I really didn't know what to call these, it's not my recipe but was featured on Heidi Swanson's blog as 'Nikki's Healthy Cookies' - but I had to give them a different name so, Banana Coconut Chocolate Drops it is! Now, how are they healthy? Mainly from no added sugar and the use of coconut oil, but also they are butter, flour and egg-less.... now, obviously I can get on without butter, flour and eggs but the sugar-less aspect had me very skeptical. However, they are very good and I will definitely be making these again! I can't say I missed the sugar, they are still sweet and as Heidi says the coconut gives them an almost macaroon quality -yum! I really want to cut down on the sugar and it's a great way to still have something sweet and not stress about it too much. They are still quite calorific mind you, so don't confuse 'health cookie' with 'diet cookie'! Just click on the link above for the original recipe in cups, I have adapted it here in grams, I also recommend halving this as I did, recipe makes a lot!

3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
60ml extra-virgin coconut oil, barely warm so liquid
220g rolled oats
70g ground almonds
44g shredded coconut (recipe calls for unsweetened, I did use desiccated sweetened as that's what I had)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
170 - 200g dark chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat oven to 180C and line baking sheets with paper. Combine the bananas, coconut oil and vanilla and set aside. Combine oats, almonds, coconut, cinnamon, salt and baking powder. Add dry to wet and stir till combined, it will be 'wetter' than most cookie doughs. Fold in chocolate then drop dough 2 tsp apart on sheets and bake for 12 - 14 minutes or until golden. Let cool on racks.

3 Bean Salad with a Lemon Dill Vinaigrette

I love this salad, it's a change from 'traditional' 3 bean salads as I personally don't like all that sugar in those. As I love dill and lemon I thought I would try them together and it works really well, a nice light fresh salad. 

While the green and kidney beans are traditional I know the flageolet are not....but they should be, their mild creaminess go perfectly in this. Besides, given the choice I would use flageolet in place of almost all beans, king of beans they are!! Salad is best the next day when it's had time to soak in the flavours.

Served with corn on the cob and fresh from the oven biscuits. (recipe below!)

3 Bean Salad

1/2 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed (130g)
1/2 tin flageolet beans, drained and rinsed (130g)
130g fresh green beans, topped, tailed and chopped into 1" pieces
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2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp vegan mayo
1 clove garlic, pureed (I use a fine microplane)
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
fresh dill or 1/4 tsp dried dill
-optional - 1/4 tsp of sweetener of your choice. Only if you feel it needs it, sometimes I add 1/4 tsp of Sweet Freedom Syrup (it's vegan and tastes just like honey) depending on my mood!

Steam the green beans until just fork tender then refresh under cold water until cool. Place in a bowl with the other beans and mix. In a small bowl add the olive oil then slowly whisk in the lemon juice and mayo until well mixed. Whisk in the salt and dill then pour over the beans and gently fold in with a rubber spatula. Chill well, preferably overnight.

2013 update - I've been loving this salad wrapped up into large romaine leaves - goes beautifully together! It is a *little* messy, but worth it :-) Just spoon some of the bean salad on a large leaf, trim the stem to make it easy to wrap, fold the ends in then roll up.

Hot "Buttery" Biscuits

These biscuits go great with this meal which is why I'm blogging them together. So quick and easy to throw together and very yum. British readers may be a bit confused on their name, these are biscuits in the American sense, more like a savoury scone I guess, but lighter and flakier. I grew up with these, my brother and I impatiently waiting for them to come out of the oven to slather them with butter right away! Sometimes I add 1 finely chopped spring onion and 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill to the flour stage - very good....

Biscuits:
140g plain flour (1 cup)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
30g vegetable fat (shortening - 2 Tbsp)
80ml dairy free milk (1/3 cup)
- lots of vegan butter to spread on!

Preheat oven to 200C/ 400F. Whisk all the dry ingredients together. Add the fat and cut in with a pasty cutter or two knives until crumbly. Stir in milk with a fork until it just comes together. Gently knead on a floured surface 8 - 10 times. Pat out a thick circle (about 1 1/2 - 2 ") and cut out circles, you should get 4 depending on size of cutter . Place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and bake for 12 minutes or until risen and golden on top. Serve immediately split open and spread with vegan margarine.

Mixed Leaf and Avocado Salad with a Ginger, Sesame and Lime Dressing

This post is mostly just about the dressing here. One of our favorite restaurants, Mizu, does this amazing side salad which is simply mixed leaf with sliced avocado on top but with a delicious ginger sesame dressing. Everytime I have it it reminds me of the Otsu dressing minus the cayenne and with lime instead of lemon. So, I tried it without the cayenne and replaced the lemon with lime and it is almost identical to the restaurant version, soooo good! I also had to omit the salt, for some reason the spicy otsu version isn't too salty but this did not need it. I highly recommend it served simply like this or you can toss it with cold soba noodles and tofu cubes, like with otsu - either way it absolutely has to be served with avocodo - essential!

Ginger, Sesame and Lime dressing: (this should serve 2)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp peanut oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp caster sugar
7g peeled fresh ginger (about a 2 inch cube), pureed or grated finely
zest of 1/2 lime

Add the oils to a small bowl then slowly whisk in the vinegar, lime juice and soy sauce. Whisk in everything else. Place some mixed leaf in a bowl and top with half a hass avocado, sliced, pour dressing over and sprinkle with black sesame seeds (optional).

Strawberry Lemonade

Well as it has gotten so lovely and hot here lately it's time to stop the baking and get on with cool drinks and fresh salads. Haven't made this since last summer but it is so refreshing, you can use blackberries too but the nice British strawberries in the shops now are so good! For some reason it went a little thick this time, more smoothie like so I had to add a bit more water, just adjust to how you like it.

200ml fresh lemon juice, about 7 lemons squeezed and pulp strained away
400ml water
400g strawberries
100g caster sugar

Process in blender till liquidized, add more water and or lemon juice if too thick. Serve with lots of ice and slices of strawberries and lime.

Quadruple Layer Chocolate Cake

So, here we are with another sweet baked good....but, I did have a good excuse this time as it was my husband's birthday on friday :) I was planning on making something quite different (which I won't mention now in case I ever get around to it!) but couldn't do as tofutti cream cheese is getting hard to find - there's a little hint for you! Anyway, decided to just make the chocolate wacky cake again as it's so good, but, decided to go a little more decadent and make it four layers with a very yum chocolate 'butter'cream. It turned out very good, these aren't the best pics but the cake is so moist and light against the rich, fluffy buttercream. I was also thinking of drizzling a ganache all over the top of this but then calmed down and regained my senses! They aren't in the photos but I served this with fresh strawberries which went so well with it.

Chocolate Cake: Best to make these the day before.
375g plain flour
300g caster sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
60g cocoa powder, I used bourneville - sifted
3 tsp vanilla extract
160ml vegetable oil
2 Tbsp white distilled vinegar
480ml cold water

Grease and line two 7 or 8 inch round cake pans - set aside. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Combine all dry ingredients and whisk well. Combine all wet ingredients and whisk well. Pour the wet into the dry and gently whisk until just combined. Pour evenly into the two pans and place in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Check with a toothpick, it should come out clean or with just a few crumbs clinging to it - mine needed 35 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool but leave them in the pans, they will split while cooling if you remove them. When cool remove from the pans, wrap firmly in cling film (again to prevent splitting) and place in the fridge overnight, this will help prevent splitting and will make slicing the layers easier.

Chocolate 'Butter'cream:
500g icing sugar
125g vegan margarine
90g dark chocolate, at least 70%, melted and slightly cooled
2 Tbsp oat or soy cream, slightly warmed

Cream the margarine and sugar in a stand mixer, when it starts getting dry add the chocolate and quickly mix until incorporated. Add cream in stages until you get a nice, thick but spreadable frosting.

Assembly:
Remove the cakes from the fridge and place on a cutting board. Using a long, thin serrated knife slowly and carefully cut the cakes in half. It really isn't as hard as it sounds as long as you go slow and keep turning the cakes, don't worry about cutting the centre until you've worked around the edges. Place the top layer, top side down on to your serving plate and spread with some of the frosting. Place the other cut layer bottom side up on top and frost this. Repeat with the other cut layers and then frost the top with the remaining frosting. Serve with fresh strawberries.

Trillionaire's Shortbread

No, not millionaire's shortbread this is trillionaire's, as it's that much richer you see ;) I've been wanting to experiment with this since making Veganomicon's Smlove Pie . While I thought the pie was very yummy I was most impressed with the peanut butter caramel and maple candied pecan topping. I wasn't sure if it really went with the chocolate tofu base as they kind of overpowered it and kept thinking they would make a great bar cookie with a shortbread base, like millionaire's shortbread.

I just used my shortbread recipe from the cinnamon toast cookies then followed the recipe for the caramel and pecans. They are very good but I'm still not 100% happy with my cookie recipe, it's nice and light and crumbly but the taste isn't as good as could be. I think it just needs some more sugar, next time I would add 75g and some vanilla extract, I think that would solve it.

Only other change I would make is the pecan topping, I was trying to be too fancy laying them out in rows where really you want a bite of pecan everywhere so next time would chop them up and sprinkle all over, or even chop them and stir them into the caramel.... either way they are yum and fantastic with a cup of coffee!



You'll need to make the pecans first:

Maple Candied Pecans: (this makes more than you need but they are fab to snack on!)
110g pecans (1 cup)
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/8 tsp salt
2 Tbsp maple syrup

Cover a large baking sheet with baking paper. Add pecans to a saucepan over medium heat and stir frequently for 3 minutes. Cook, stirring for 2 minutes more - be very careful not to burn them, I didn't go the full extra 2 minutes there. Add the oil and salt and cook for 1 minute, stir constantly. Add the maple syrup and stir until the mixture is mostly dry. Transfer to the baking paper and let cool. As they are cooling break separate them with your hands. They should cool crisp and glossy and not be tacky.

Base:
110g vegan margarine
50g caster sugar (I will use 75g next time)
2 Tbsp cornflour
135g plain flour
pinch salt
*1/2 tsp vanilla* - not in original recipe but would be nice

Beat the marg and sugar together until creamy, beat in vanilla if using. Stir in the cornflour, then stir in the flour and salt. Press into a 8" square non-stick pan and place in the fridge for 1 hour. Preheat oven to a low 140C, prick all over with a fork and bake for 30 minutes or until lightly golden and edges start to pull away. Set aside to cool.

Peanut Butter Caramel:
1/3 cup smooth natural peanut butter
3 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp brown rice syrup

Place all in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until all smooth and thickened, it should fall like ribbons from a fork. Pour over the base and spread out with a spatula. Gently press the pecans into the caramel, either whole or chopped and leave out till the caramel sets.


Chocolate Drizzle:
50g dark chocolate

Melt in microwave and drizzle over! I used a sandwich bag with the corner snipped off.

Nacho Quesadilla

Yes, I do love my cheezly....I didn't really want to do too many posts requiring specific ingredients that a lot of people probably can't buy, like this nacho flavour cheezly. However, any vegan cheese could be used here, I usually just use the super melting edam or mozza anyway. This one isn't super melting but doesn't matter - it melts beautifully. When I first got it I made nachos with it prepared to put up with un-melted cheeze on top but it did indeed melt and made very good nachos.....which got me thinking about making a nacho flavoured quesadilla. I love quesadilla's and would have them quite often in my dairy eating days, so glad cheezly works in these! No hard and fast recipe here and of course you can put whatever you like in a quesadilla but the nacho flavours work really well.

1 large wrap (I find using 2 wraps makes just too much, although I know that's more traditional!)
1/2 avocado, mashed
40g nacho flavour cheezly, grated
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1/4 red pepper, finely chopped
10g black olives
vegan sour cream to serve - also serve with salsa, I added extra chillies in mine to make it spicier so I wouldn't need salsa as I've recently discovered just how much salt is in those jars - shocking!

Place the wrap on a non-stick frying pan and spread half with the avocado, top with everything else then heat up the pan. When the wrap is warm and softer fold over and cook until both sides are golden, crisp and the cheeze is melted. Cut into triangles and serve with sour cream and salsa.

Bryant Terry's Banana-Maple Pecan Cornbread Muffins

Well, you knew I couldn't stay away for long! Like I mentioned below I have been very eager to try things from my new cookbook, Bryant Terry's Vegan Soul Kitchen. Naturally I was drawn to one of the sweet, bakery items in the book - these fantastic Banana-Maple Pecan Cornbread Muffins. Everything in this cookbook is very healthy, no white sugar or bad fats and a direction I could certainly start going down!

They turned out beautifully and while I am certainly used to my muffins being much sweeter than these I didn't miss it at all. They get their sweetness from just 2 Tbsp raw cane sugar and maple syrup plus the ripe banana - then you get a nice hit from the maple glazed pecans. Lovely. I'll post the recipe I used here, not exactly the cookbook version as I had to make a few changes. First I can't buy whole wheat pastry flour here, which it called for 1/4 cup, and second his pecans were 'double maple glazed' - first with maple syrup and then with maple sugar, a LOT of maple sugar. Now, the only place I can get maple sugar is in Brighton, it's a small bag and costs like 6 quid, meaning I treat that stuff like the granulated gold that it is. So... I used the maple glazed pecans recipe from Veganomicon's Smlove Pie that I posted earlier. Turned out just fine.


Muffins: (recipe was for 24 mini muffins but I don't have that size tin, these are 12 regular)
165g cornmeal
3 Tbsp unrefined corn oil
3/4 cup plain flour
2 Tbsp demerara sugar (raw cane)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
190g banana (about)
240ml rice milk (unflavoured)
2 Tbsp maple syrup

For the Maple Glazed Pecans:
110g raw pecans
2 tsp canola oil
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1/8 tsp salt

First make the maple glazed pecans. Set aside a sheet of baking paper. In a saucepan over medium heat lightly toast the pecans for a couple minutes. Stir constantly for a couple minutes more until lightly toasty -careful not to burn. Turn heat down and add the oil and salt, stir for about a minute more. Add the maple syrup and stir constantly - it will bubble up then get dry. Tip onto some baking paper and spread out with a spatula. Leave to cool, as it's cooling, break the pecans up with your hands. Set aside.

For the muffins, grease 12 muffin tin holes with some of the corn oil and set aside. Heat the oven to 220C. In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients and whisk well. In a blender add the banana, maple syrup, rice milk and remaining corn oil and blend until smooth. Place the tin in the oven for 5 minutes to get the oil really hot. When there is 1 minute remaining stir the wet into the dry gently - do not over mix, then fold in the nuts. Spoon batter into the tins 3/4 full and bake for 13 minutes or until golden on top and well risen.

He then states to serve immediately and they certainly are good fresh from the oven!

Still here!!

Just wanted to let you all know I'm still around. I ended up in hospital for 2 weeks - I have lupus which is largely under control but now and again it flares up. So if I'm ever not blogging for long periods of time it's probably because I'm in hospital again enjoying the 'vegan' food. This time they gave me egg salad, cream of mushroom soup, a tuna fish sandwich and even offered me oxtail soup! The worst was when I asked for soy milk on my cereal, I could see it on the trolley and they gave me cows milk. For some reason (I blame the medication) I couldn't tell it was milk until I was near the end, then ended up so sick they had to inject anti nausea medication into my butt - nice.

Anyway, I did have some very good meals too, it wasn't all bad and I am on the mend but still very weak so it may be awhile before I'm blogging again. When I do be sure to expect lots of entries from the new vegan cookbook I got - Vegan Soul Kitchen: Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African American Cuisine by Bryant Terry . It was featured on Heidi Swanson's blog and I had to get it right away. Can't wait to start trying things, it looks amazing and I think it will become a favorite. Love it when new vegan cookbooks come out!!