Chocolate chip cookies!

Copied from Vegweb, this wonderful recipe:

Recipe submitted by Denise

Happy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp.salt
cinnamon to taste (optional)
vegan chocolate or carob chips - put in as many as you like
1 cup raw sugar (turbinado #1, sucanat works too but sucks up a lot of the moisture)
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water

Directions:

VERY IMPORTANT-make sure all ingredients are at room temperature. It will work if they're not at room temp but it works MUCH better if they are. Also while your oven is pre-heating put the cookie sheets you are going to use on top of the oven so they get preheated as well. Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon (if you choose). Add chips. Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a medium size bowl mix vegan sugar and oil. Mix it well. Add the vanilla and then add the water. Mix it well. Add the wet to the well in the dry. Mix it well but be careful not to overwork it. Add more chips if you need to. Spoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Put them in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes and then flip and rotate the sheets.(top to bottom,and 180 degree rotation) Bake another 4 minutes and check them.

The cookies are done when they seem a little bit softer then you want them to be. They will harden up some as they cool. I usually go in two minute increments from here untill they get to where I like them.

Take them out when they are done and move them to wire cooling racks. If they split or come apart when you try to remove them let them sit on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring them to the racks.

These cookies have come a long way, lots of time and tasting spent on getting them to where they are now. Vegans and non vegans LOVE them. In the words of my 6 year old son-Mom, you're the greatest because you know how to make the best cookies. Enjoy and let me know if you have questions. Sweet travels.

Serves: almost two dozen

Preparation time: 15 mins?-10 to 12 cooking time

Strawberry pie/food of the FSM

a la incredible Kittee, from the blog Cake Maker to the Stars

Strawberry Pie
What You Need:

* A pre baked and cooled pie crust
* 1/4-1/3 tub Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
* Approximately 1 1/2 quarts of fresh strawberries (enough to fill an entire pie plate, plus an extra cup to mash), washed and with the hulls cut off. Cut the tops as straight as you can so the strawberries stand up easily in your pie plate.
* 1 cup unbleached granulated sugar
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1/2 cup water

What You Do:

1. Mash up enough strawberries to make one cup. Mash them really well, or throw them in your food processor and pulse them a bit, go slow so you don't end up with soup. I used an immersion blender and went well.
2. In a medium saucepan, blend together the sugar and cornstarch. Stir in the water and mashed berries.
3. Over medium high heat, cook stirring all the while until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce heat so you don't get splattered and keep stirring for one minute. Remove from heat and cool.
4. While the jam you made cools, stir the cream cheeze until soft, and spread it onto the bottom of the cooled pie crust.
5. Top the Tofutti with your strawberries, pointy side up. I started in the middle and worked my away around in circles. You will want to place them along the edges too. I found that putting the tallest in the center is best, because the jam is deepest there. You might have to rearrange them a bit to get it to look the way you want, but don't worry about making it look perfect since the jam covers up a lot and fills in any gaps (especially on the sides).
6. Pour the cooled jam evenly over the whole thing and refrigerate several hours until set.

date-walnut-coconut truffles

I found this on the wonderful Weekend Warrior blog, thanks to her posting at ppk! I have been looking for something like this - now I have to go get some dates RIGHT now :) (well, ok, tomorrow - stores are closed today).

1 c. chopped dates
3/4 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

Place dates in a small saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 8-10 minutes. Stir and let cool.
Combine cooked dates and walnuts in a food processor. Roll the mixture into balls and cover in shredded coconut. Place on wax paper and store in the freezer.

Makes about twelve 1-1/2 inch truffles.

How simple can it get! These look so good, too.
Follow-up notes: it wouldn't hurt to add a bit more sweetness to these, maybe by mixing in a handful of chocolate chips (er well, there go the health benefits :). A good add might be some puffed grain cereal for crunchiness.

chocolate pudding!

1 (12 oz.) package of Mori-Nu silken tofu (Firm)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

In a small food processor, blend the tofu until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Chill several hours, if you can - it thickens a bit. that's it!

This is copied from Millennium Hippies - I'm so grateful she shared this luscious and super-easy pudding, because it's whats for dessert tonight! (afternote: I am cutting the amount of sugar (original calls for 1 c, but it's a bit too sweet for me). I'm thawing out some puff pastry & will make little cups by tucking pastry squares into cupcake tins for baking. topping them with a sliced-up strawberry (maybe some with bits of banana? we'll see.

Follow-up note: This is such an easy and elegant recipe. I wouldn't hesitate to serve it to guests.

Also: leftover asparagus quiche from Veganomicon, after seeing a pic of it posted at the PPK forum, yumm-ish. we both felt that needed something, and think that 'something might just be more tomato. it's a time-consuming recipe, but it makes a ton. great piecrust, too. Afternote: I made a superquick 'sauce' for this by taking about 3/4 of a gargantuan organic tomato and chopping it up, then briefly cooking it with some sauteed onion and garlic. it adds just what's needed! I think a light bechamel with a touch of mustard would also do well here.

Carrot Halva

1. shred carrots to produce about two cups.
2. cook with e.b. until soft soft soft.
3. add 1/4 sweetener, ground cardamom, let sugar melt.
4. 1 cup soymilk and sultanas if you'd like, and cook until liquid reduced down to thick paste, stirring occasionally to keep from burning. You can add shredded coconut, cashews, and more sweetener depending on your tastebuds- the point is, there is actually a recipe that is essentially carrot frosting/fudge, so, enjoy.

posted at ppk by gwen, here

Chhhhocolate pie

with the best piecrust I have ever made (this is a pretty short list, as I've only made piecrust about 4 times in my life). The pie: a silken tofu-based, not too sweet (but certainly decadent) bit of indulgence. served up with jackfruit bbq on whole wheat buns, and stirfried rainbow chard with carrots and crispy bits (slivers of quick-fried corn tortillas tossed with Chinese 5-spice).

The jackfruit bbq:
Fry up some onions in olive oil, add the jackfruit until it starts to brown, dump in about a half cup water, and cover. Periodically add more water and turn the jackfruit. It should soften up in about thirty minutes or so. Then mix up the jackfruit with copious amounts of BBQ sauce. Put on bread. (from the ppk forum, here: http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=43976)
Note on this: I won't be making this again. Neither of us thought it was all that great, and it's a hassle for us to find the jackfruit. I've never liked spaghetti squash due to its insubstantial texture, and jackfruit is similar. There's a far better recipe for bbq tofu here... I don't really have to have something because it 'looks' like meat (although in fact the soy curls I just got work far better as a bbq sandwich.

The pie:

Vegan Chocolate Pie
Submitted by Ava
prep time: 15 minutes | cooking time: 35-60 mins | makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients
1 Block of Silken Tofu (drained)
1 Pie Crust
1 cup
1 cup soy milk with a t of chocolate powder stirred in (optional; also, you could add some instant coffee for a bit of depth, I think!)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*optional 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut block of tofu into small chunks and put into the blender. Add the soymilk, sugar, vanilla extract, and cocoa powder and blend well until there are no large chunks of tofu. If you'd like add chocolate chips. Once all are combined pour into the pie crust and bake for 35-60 mins (depending on your oven) or until the top appears solid. Chill for 1-2 hrs before serving.
adapted from here http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=235

The piecrust

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cinnamon Icing

courtesy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz

1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup oil
1 c granulated sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. preheat oven to 350.

2. in a med. bowl, stir together pumpkin, oil, sugar, soy milk and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir together with a fork -- don't use a mixer, as it will make the batter gummy. Once well combined, fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Fill cupcake liners two-thirds full. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let fullly cool before icing.

CINNAMON ICING
1/2 c. confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 T. margarine, melted
1 T. soy milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Place sugar & cinn. in small bowl. Add margarine, soy milk & vanilla and stir with a fork until smooth. Keep at room temp until ready to use. THe mix should look opaque and honey brown; if it's glistening a lot or looks too liquid, add a little conf. sugar.


Put the icing in a small sandwich bag and cut a hole in it (or use a pastry bag). Pipe icing on in stripes or zigzags or swirls.