Monkey Bread

Okay I'll admit, I still get ridiculously excited on Christmas morning and tend to wake up at 6:30 or 7am to go open my stocking with my brother. Maybe slightly embarrassing, but hey, I'm not sure if the Christmas morning magic ever fades. My dad lights a fire in the fireplace, we turn the tree lights on, and take our sweet time enjoying each and every present we unwrap. 

Our beautiful Christmas tree!

Christmas loot

Continuing with the theme of tradition in the last post, our holiday breakfast tradition is to make monkey bread- a delicious twist on traditional cinnamon rolls. Of course we're all in a sugar coma by lunch time, but it's totally worth it. Again, we had never tried making this vegan before, but my mom and I made a few adjustments and everyone agreed it was actually the best we had ever made!

Monkey Bread with Caramel Glaze (adapted from the Martha Stewart Holiday Magazine 2002)

Bread:
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus a pinch for the yeast
1 package yeast
2 tbsp earth balance
3/4 cup soy milk, warmed
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup applesauce or 1 egg replacer
3 1/4 cups flour

Coating:
1/2 cup earth balance, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Caramel Glaze
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 tbsp earth balance
6 tbsp soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Put the warm water and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast over the top. Stir and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
2. Place the earth balance, warmed soy milk, salt and applesauce in a large bowl. Grease a medium bowl.
3. Once the yeast is foamy, add it to the bowl and mix well. Slowly add the flour and knead for 5 minutes. Put the dough in the greased bowl, cover with plastic and let it rise for 20 minutes.
4. To make the coating, pour the melted butter in a bowl and combine the cinnamon and sugar in another. Grease a bundt pan.

5. Divide the dough into 4 sections and roll each section into a long rope, about 1/2" thick or less. Cut the ropes into tiny pieces and roll them into balls. Dip each piece first in the butter, then coat it in cinnamon sugar and place in the bundt pan. Repeat until all the dough is used up.

6. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about an hour. 
7. Preheat the oven to 350º and bake bread for 30 to 35 minutes. Let it cool for 15 minutes in the pan before turning it onto a plate.
8. Make the caramel glaze by combining the brown sugar, 2 tbsp of earth balance and 2 tbsp of soy milk in a sauce pan. Cook over low heat until dissolved, then cover and cook for 3 more minutes. Take the cover off and let it simmer without stirring. 
9. Turn of the heat then stir in the remaining ingredients. Drizzle it over the monkey bread right before serving. 

It's a little labor intensive, but can be really fun if you get family and friends involved in rolling up the dough balls. I guarantee this bread will give you a great reason to wake up in the morning, even if it's not Christmas!

This post was featured on Sweets for a Saturday!

Creativity and Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

"Creativity is problem-solving"

That's what my choreography teacher said to my class the other day and it just completely makes sense. In dance, when you get stuck in a pattern of the same movements, you have to solve the problem and find some new way to move. In photography, if the angles or the lighting aren't working out, you have to solve the problem and find a way to make the picture beautiful differently than you had originally planned. Even creativity in cooking is problem-solving. If something goes wrong, you just have to see what you can do with what you're left with. 

Remember way back over Thanksgiving break when I messed up that pecan pie caramel sauce and ended up with this? Well, even though it wasn't what I was trying to make, that sugar tasted pretty yummy- kind of like maple candy. I couldn't just throw it away! Instead, I decided to save it and use it to top off these delicious muffins. See? Problem solved, muffins made.

These taste like something you would get at Starbucks, but vegan and much healthier! 

Iced Banana Chocolate Chip Crumble Muffins

2 1/2 large bananas
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp molasses
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
maple sugar
1/2 recipe white icing

To make the maple sugar:
Combine 1 cup of brown sugar with 1 cup of maple syrup in a sauce pan. Stir over medium heat and let it boil until it turns into crumbly sugar then immediately remove from heat. If you don't feel like doing this, just a sprinkling of brown sugar would be tasty too.

1. Preheat your oven to 350º. In a large bowl, mash the bananas, then stir in the applesauce, oil, sugar and molasses. 

2. Stir in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Fill muffin tin with the batter, about 3/4 way full for each. Top with maple sugar or brown sugar, and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

4. Once the muffins are out of the oven, let them cool for 10 minutes and then drizzle with white icing.

Muffins are best made and served with love.

Pear Muffins

Finally, a recipe! After weeks of non-stop commotion, I finally had a chance to take a breather and bake.

Muffins are one of my absolute favorite things to make. They are so simple and so delicious and you can put almost anything in them and still have them taste great. Also I'm all out of oatmeal and cereal and it's been to rainy and gross to walk to IGA, so these little gems just solved my breakfast problems. Seriously. When I don't have breakfast, it's a big problem.



Pear Muffins

(make 18 muffins, or 12 muffins and 1 small loaf of bread)

3 cups flour

¾ cup brown sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 ½ cups soy milk

½ cup canola oil

2 tsp vanilla

2 pears, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400° and line a muffin tin with paper cups.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients together, then add the wet. Stir until just combined.

3. Fold in the chopped pear and pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 25 minutes, let cool and enjoy!





This song has been my jam this week.

Banana Peach Spice Bread

Yay we got our oven back! Just in time. I finished a difficult paper for my literature class last night, so baking this bread was the perfect stress release. There is no better way to begin a week than by making some good old-fashioned banana bread.... except this recipe has a twist. I realized I didn't have enough bananas for the recipe I had planned on using, due to my late night peanut-butter-and-banana snacking, so I decided to mash up an overripe peach instead. Bananas and peaches go together great in smoothies, so why not in bread as well?

Banana Peach Spice Bread

(adapted from Susan's recipe)

2 large bananas

1 peach, peeled

1 tbsp white vinegar

1/3 cup soy milk

½ cup sugar

2 cups unbleached flour

¾ tsp baking powder

¾ baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp cloves

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray or wipe a 9×5-inch loaf pan with oil.


2. Mix the soymilk with the vinegar and let it sit until it curdles into vegan “buttermilk”


3. In a large bowl, mash the bananas and the peach together. Add the “buttermilk” and sugar and stir.


4. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until it is combined.


5. Spread the mixture evenly in your loaf pan and bake until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean or for about 50 minutes. Cool and eat!

This actually might be one of the best banana bread recipes I've made. It's not only vegan, but super low-fat, which a lot of people are usually skeptical about. However this quick bread will hush up any skepticism. It's moist, just the right density and full of tummy-warming flavor. Use this to surprise anyone who thinks vegan baking is bland!

On a different note, I know I set out with the intent that I would have new posts on here every other day, but between classes, Fearless and Loathing, work, being in a dance piece and actually trying to have some sort of a social life, I think that's gonna have to change. Here's the deal, I can promise at least one new post per week. Depending on my schedule and how often I cook, sometimes it'll be more, but I think once a week will suffice! I have so many recipes that I can't wait to make and share with you all, so stay tuned. :)

Speaking of staying tuned... does anyone else have to have music when they cook or bake? I know I do. This is a song from my banana bread baking music.

An Abundance of Plums

God, it feels good to be back at school. Classes don't start for another week, but it's nice to be on campus early when everything is quiet and the weather is still all summery and beautiful. However, the quiet part will definitely change when the freshman start arriving tomorrow.

I've checked out the kitchen in my new dorm and it's so much nicer than my old one. I can't wait to start cooking in it! But for now, here's something I made a couple weeks ago...

I kind of went on a plum kick for a bit. You already know about this little treat, but what you don't know about are the amazing plum and blueberry rolls I made for my aunt's birthday. Okay I suppose I have also been on a breakfast rolls kick... but they're just the perfect thing to wake up to in the morning.

These rolls might be one of my favorite things I've ever made. They were also the most labor-intensive, but it was totally worth it. You make a vegan dulche-de-leche spread first so that you can use it in the dough, which is a genius idea. It adds a subtle carmel flavor to the buns, but then you can pile on even more of the spread later to make them extra yummy.



I also got this recipe from seitan is my motor, who apparently shares my love of plum-filled desserts. My aunt absolutely loved these- I think they trumped the non-vegan cupcake she had afterwards! The filling is such a perfect combination of flavors, especially with the rosemary (I know it sounds strange, but trust me) and lemon zest. In fact, just imagine that plum and blueberry sauce poured over some soy ice cream... mmm. I might have to make another batch all by itself.



These are definitely something to wake up for!

Chocolate Raspberry Buns with Chocolate Ganache

Yesterday I got back from a second (and final) vacation to the cabin this summer. This time the whole family came along and it ended up being the perfect weekend of walks along the beaches, a 5 mile hike through gorgeous northern woods, knife throwing (did I mention I have a 15 year old brother?), sailing adventures, and, of course, good food.

In our cabin's backyard, we had an abundance of raspberries and lots of cocoa powder in the cupboard.... what was I to do? Well I decided to experiment a little and came up with my first almost original recipe! I'd say they turned out beautifully... although the recipe could maybe use a little tweaking.



Dough:

• 1 cup plain soymilk heated over the stove until warm- not hot!


• 2 1/4 tsp (or 1 0.25 oz packet) active dry yeast, at room temperature


• 2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce


• 2 Tbsp canola oil


• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour


• 1 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour (plus up to 1/4 cup for kneading and rolling)


• ½ cup cocoa powder


• 1 Tbsp baking powder


• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar (or 1/4 cup for a sweeter dough)


• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon


• 1/4 tsp salt

Filling:

•  1 cup smashed raspberries


• ¼ cup sugar


• 2 T melted earth balance


• 1 tsp cornstarch (I didn't actually add this, but the filling came out pretty watery and spilled out the sides when I rolled the dough up, so next time this is what I would try!)

Ganache (adapted from  Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World):

• 1/3 cup soy milk


• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


• 2 Tbsp maple syrup

1. Coat an 8×8 inch square baking pan, or 9-inch round cake pan, with canola oil baking spray. Set aside.


2. Scatter yeast over warmed milk and allow to activate for about 10 minutes, or until foamy.


3. Meanwhile, stir together both kinds of flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.


4. When yeast and milk mixture is bubbly, stir in the applesauce and oil. Add wet ingredients into the dry and mix. Transfer dough onto a clean lightly floured surface and knead for about 2 minutes. You may have to add extra flour to make it less sticky. Let it rest for 5 minutes.


5. Lightly flour work surface again and roll dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness, about a 12-inch x 9-inch rectangle.


6. Mix together the smashed raspberries, sugar, earth balance and cornstarch. Spread the filling onto your chocolate dough, leaving a 1-inch space around the edges.


7. Roll up the dough starting from the 9-inch edge- beware of oozing raspberries!!


8. Pinch the edges of your dough and cut the log into 8 even pieces, then place them in your prepared pan. Cover buns with a cloth and let rise for 1 hour.


9. Preheat your oven to 35o° F and once the buns are done rising, bake them for 30 minutes.


10. While they bake, prepare the ganache by heating up the soy milk until boiling. Add the chocolate chips and maple syrup and stir over heat for 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and continue to stir until it is smooth and chocolatey.


11. Let the buns cool for about 10 minutes, then drizzle them with the chocolate ganache and serve warm.

They got the family stamp of approval.