Classic Apple Hand-Pies

As much as I love new food and new flavors in foreign places, sometimes I miss the taste of home.

Tangier is an incredibly sensory city. Every sight, smell, sound and texture is all-consuming and ever-changing. At first it all felt so foreign and chaotic, until I walked by a little Moroccan donut stand and the smell of fried dough and sugar suddenly brought me back to being up in Northern Minnesota, sitting by Lake Superior in the middle of July and eating a glazed donut from the World’s Best Donut Shop. Bizarre how just one little smell can transport you so far away from where you are.

Late night parade in the Old Medina

Now the chaos feels familiar to me. The hollering street vendors, sticking my hand into bags full of dried fruit and grains, music from the mosque rising up to the rooftops- this is my home for now. But I still like to walk past that donut stand and think about Grand Marais.

I wanted to recreate the smell of something comforting and familiar in my own kitchen (well, my friend’s kitchen, seeing as I’m ovenless) and what better way to do that than with classic, all-american apple pie. I completely missed the apple pie season... but better late than never, right?

Oh and since everything in Tangier is artisanal and unstructured, good luck finding any sort of measuring cup. I’ll give you guys the real measurements, but the way I actually measured everything was a little less exact:

Despite this, they still ended up absolutely delicious and my friend from Chicago and I savored the sweet flavors of apples, cinnamon and nostalgia.

Classic Apple Hand-Pies

makes 6 hand-pies

Dough (adapted from Oh, Ladycakes):

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup vegan butter or margarine, cold

1 tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

6-8 tbsp cold water

Filling:

4 apples, peeled and sliced into small pieces

3 tbsp water
1 tbsp vegan butter

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp all-spice

1 tbsp flour

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and cut it into the dry ingredients, using a fork or two knives. Once the mixture is crumbly, stick the bowl in the freezer for about 15 minutes to get everything nice and cold. Take it out and add the water, one tablespoon at a time, just until the dough sticks together. Knead for a minute, form it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and put the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour. 

Prepare the filling by combining the apples, water, butter, sugar and spices in a medium saucepan. Turn the heat on low and mix occasionally, cooking until the apples are soft. Stir in the flour to thicken and remove from heat.

Preheat your oven to 400º. Once the dough has chilled, roll it out onto a floured surface and using a bowl or cup, cut circles about 5 inches wide. Spoon the filling onto half of each circle, leaving a small border so that you can fold the dough in half and press the edges down with a fork. Poke holes in the top of each hand-pie for ventilation and sprinkle the tops with granulated sugar. Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. 

Aaand I Am Back in the Game!

Oh hello

It’s been a while, my dears.

I have missed you, I have missed the kitchen, and I have missed being vegan.

Yep, that’s right, during my travels I decided to lapse from a strictly vegan diet for a little while. I know I know, but I’m supposed to be SO vegan. However, I really wanted to be able to fully immerse myself into new places and new cultures, and if that meant trying the local cuisine, which usually happened to include eggs or meat, I wouldn’t say no. Hey, nobody is perfect. But I have missed the lighter, healthier feeling I had when I didn’t eat animal products. I am still a vegan at heart and everything I cook and bake for myself and on this blog will always be animal-free.

If you have been keeping up with my travel blog, you will know that right now I’m writing from somewhere far from my tiny college kitchen, far from my hometown kitchen in Minneapolis, and for that matter so far from anything and everything in my previous life. I am writing from Morocco- the wonderfully strange city of Tangier, to be exact. 

I have been living here for 3 weeks now, interning at the Cinematheque de Tanger and exploring the tiny winding streets, overflowing food markets, and beautiful ocean vistas.

The markets here are really what inspired me to start blogging again. I have never seen so much gorgeous, fresh, and sinfully cheap produce in my entire life, so I figured I had better make use of it! There’s only one problem with starting up a blog dedicated primarily to baking while I’m here…

I have no oven in my apartment.

Some friends who live nearby have one, so maybe once in a while I can sneak a cake down the street, but otherwise you may be seeing a lot of no-bake desserts. Time to get creative.

Like I said in the very very beginning (oh god, what a long time ago), let’s start simple.

4 Ingredient Chocolate Orange Mousse

makes 4 small servings

200 g bittersweet chocolate (I used sweetened chocolate, but if yours isn’t very sweet you may want to add some agave or other sweetener to the recipe)

1 ½ avocados

½ tsp orange zest

1-2 tbsp non-dairy milk

Break up the chocolate and place it in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for about 2 minutes or until the chocolate is completely melted. In a food processor, spoon out the avocado flesh and puree until smooth. Add melted chocolate, orange zest, 1 tbsp of non-dairy milk and blend. If the mixture seems too thick (it should be pudding consistency) add another tbsp of milk. Scrape the mousse into a bowl and let it chill for about 1 hour. Serve topped with chocolate shavings, walnuts, or more orange zest.

If you are curious about where else I have been in the world so far, check out my other blog Wanderment. I will continue to update it with my traveling adventures, while That’s So Vegan will once again document my food adventures. I am so happy to be back!

Oh, and can you tell I'm getting ready for Valentine's Day? 

Pie and Goodbye

Well this is it. I leave on Wednesday to embark on my daunting European journey. Every time I think about it I have an "Oh my god this is really happening" moment and then I have to calm myself down so I don't hyperventilate from excitement and terror.

I have been thinking a lot about if and how I want to blog while I travel and I have come to a conclusion- I'm starting a new site from scratch, devoted completely to travel stories and photos. 

As much as I love food, this trip is about so much more than just eating and finding vegan-friendly places around Europe. Once I return, I look forward to getting back to sharing cakes and cookies with you all, but for now That's So Vegan will lay low for 8 months. 

If you happen to like me for more than just mouth-watering food porn, please follow my travel blog, Wanderment. Click on the photo below to check it out. I would love all of your insights, comments and advice on the crazy adventures I will be having :)

For now, I will say goodbye with pie.

Blueberry Maple Pie

1 pre-made pie crust (I used this recipe)
3 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp maple extract (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 400º and lightly grease a 9" round pie pan. Roll out half of your pie crust into a large circle and press into the prepared pan, folding over the edges.
2. In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, syrup, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon and extract. Stir to combine and let sit for about 10 minutes to let the flavors blend. 
3. Pour the filling into the crust and top with either strips of dough for a lattice effect or a whole round piece of dough with slits cut into the middle. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with vegan vanilla ice cream and say a bittersweet goodbye to summer!

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Wait just a minute. Where in the world did this summer go? I feel like it was just two days ago that I was starting my hostessing job and unpacking all of my college things. Now suddenly it's the middle of August and I am leaving for Europe in exactly three weeks. Whoa.

I always begin the summer with a list of things I want to do. Usually by the end, I have only checked off about three of those things, but done a million other things that were not on the list in the first place. While I did not go kayaking (yet), go camping, or salsa dance (again, there's still time...), I did go to Chicago twice, I went to see a movie in the park, ate at new restaurants in Minneapolis, and made new friends through my job. Summers always have their ups and downs, but overall this one has been pretty successful.

One thing on my list that I didn't quite accomplish was to "frequently sit on the back porch and drink lemonade." I sat on the back porch a lot, but I tended to drink cup after cup of coffee instead. To make up for my lack of actual lemonade, I decided to make lemonade cupcakes and throw in some strawberries, because strawberry lemonade was always my favorite.

These cupcakes are light and fluffy and perfectly sweet. They are a great farewell-to-summer dessert, reminiscent of lemonade stands and picnic lunches on the beach. You can get the recipe from my post on One Green Planet!

Do you ever make summer to-do lists? They are great in theory, but a little more difficult in execution. It's funny how sidetracked life can get you!

Chocolate Lovers Brownie Cookies

I have a little bit of advice for you: the best way to repay someone for letting you crash at their place (besides chipping in for groceries-that's a nice thing to do) is to bake them cookies. As I have preached before, nothing says thank you, you're the best better than chocolate.

I crashed at my friend Mel's family's house this past weekend for Lollapalooza, a huge 3-day music festival in Chicago. The trip was definitely an experience, complete with it's ups and downs.

The downs included:
-being evacuated from Grant Park for three hours along with 70,000 other people because of severe thunderstorms
-the mud after the thunderstorms
-having mud balls thrown into the crowd during Calvin Harris
-almost passing out because of heat exhaustion during J. Cole. Don't worry, I chugged some water, ate a granola bar and I was fine.

The highlights, however, were:
-watching the amazing way that Florence and the Machine practically hypnotized a whole crowd with Florence Welch's incredible voice
-finding possibly the only vegan food at the whole festival (tasty veggie-stuffed dumplings)
-raging with Mel
-despite being so sweaty that I looked like I had taken a shower, getting a guy to dance with me at Kaskade
-getting a pedicure after the hell my feet had been through. It was only slightly embarrassing how horrified the woman looked when I put my feet up for her to see...

To repay Mel and her parents for providing me with a place to sleep and lots of granola bars, I made them a big batch of these. 

These cookies should come with a warning: you have to really love chocolate. They are dark, fudge-y, and as rich as the 1%. There is some seriously sinful chocolate flavor going on here.

Chocolate Lovers Brownie Cookies (loosely adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar)

makes 2 dozen cookies

1/3 cup non-dairy milk
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sucant
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla 
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven to 350º and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the milk, flax seeds, canola oil, sugars and vanilla until smooth. Sift in the remaining ingredients (not including chocolate chips) and stir until a dough forms. Fold in the chips.
3. Roll the dough into about 1 1/2" balls and place them on the cookies sheets, at least 2" apart in case of spreading. Bake for about 10 minutes- they will still feel soft and gooey to touch, but trust me, they firm up as they cool. 

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! If you're not, make a batch of these and it will instantly get better. These cookies are a dream come true. Is that over the top? Well excuse me, I'm still in a chocolate coma :)

Rosemary Biscuits with Plum Compote

This past weekend I bought my backpack for my trip. It could probably hold all three of my fat cats plus a pair of shoes. I mean, that's all I'll really need in Europe, right?

I have the itinerary for this year basically planned, but I left some wiggle room for spontaneity's sake. Here's how it will go:

September-November: 3 month internship in London
Paris in December
January- all over Spain
February- Morocco (to get outside of Europe for a bit)
In March: Italy, visiting the several friends I have studying abroad there
and April and May will consist of traveling to Cyprus for a bit, then back to the UK area until I fly out of London in late May.

Gah.

Can you even believe this is real? I can't.

It will be nice to begin by settling in a place where everyone still speaks English. Whenever I picture people in London, I picture them eating biscuits and jam during tea time- yes I realize it's probably a silly stereotype, but the more I thought about biscuits and jam the more I felt the burning need to make some of my own. 

These biscuits are amazingly flakey, especially for vegan biscuits, and the sweet & savory thing that happens with the rosemary and plums is truly delicious. 

Rosemary Biscuits with Plum Compote

Biscuits (adapted form Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes):

1 cup almond or soy milk
1 tsp white vinegar
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp crushed dried rosemary
1 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp cold vegan margarine

Compote:

3-4 plums, cored and sliced
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Make the compote by mixing together all of the ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down low and continue to cook until the plums are very mushy and the compote begins to thicken. Remove from heat and store in the fridge until use.
2. To make the biscuits, combine the milk and vinegar in a measuring cup and let sit for a few minutes or until it curdles. Meanwhile, mix together all of the remaining ingredients except for the margarine in a large bowl. 
3. Add the margarine by cutting it into the dry ingredients with a fork until it becomes coarse and crumbly. Quickly stir in the milk and form the dough into a ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 15-20 minutes.
4. Preheat your oven to 450º and line a 9x13" pan with parchment paper. Place the dough in the pan and press it into a large rectangle, not quite touching the sides of the pan. Cut it into 12 pieces and slightly separate them, so that once they are baked they can be easily pulled apart. 
5. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let the biscuits cool, then pull apart and serve with plum compote and a cup of tea. Pinkies up!

Simple Coconut & Pecan Macaroons

One of the difficulties of planning this trip for next year is trying to imagine living out of a backpack. It's really true that people- including me- have too much stuff these days. I wouldn't quite consider myself a pack-rat, but I definitely like to hold on to things for memory's sake or because "oh, I might want this someday." It's time to simplify. I feel like we tend to measure our lives by our stuff and what we own. If that is the case, my life is about to become a lot smaller and more compact. 

In reality, however, I'm pretty sure my life is about to get even bigger and more exciting. You would think. 

I want to measure my time in experiences, not in material things. Seems like an obvious goal, but it's easier said than done.

Speaking of simplifying, these cookies are possibly some of the simplest little treats I have ever made. One bowl, one baking sheet, one batch of melted chocolate and you are good to go. Simply delicious.

Coconut & Pecan Macaroons

makes one dozen cookies

3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 tbsp coconut milk

1. Preheat your oven to 350º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, syrup, flax seeds, coconut milk and salt until smooth. Mix in the coconut, pecans and flour. Roll the dough into 1" wide balls and flatten them onto the cookie sheet. Bake for about 12-15 minutes.
3. While the cookies bake, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave or over a low flame on the stove, stirring occasionally to prevent clumping. Add in the coconut milk and whisk until smooth. Let the macaroons cool for about 10 minutes, then one by one dip the cookies in chocolate, just coating half of the top. 
4. Place each cookie back on the sheet and refrigerate for at least 2 hours so that the chocolate can set. If you can't wait that long, go ahead and eat a cookie or two and ignore the gooey chocolate mess. It's totally worth it.

Caramel Peach Sticky Buns

Sometimes I like to tell you about my life. 

But other times, the food is just so much better than anything I could possibly ramble about. So let's just get right to it, shall we? No foreplay. All buns. 

Caramel Peach Sticky Buns

makes 8 buns

filling:

2 cups chopped fresh peaches

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup rum

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp cornstarch

dough (adapted from here):

1 cup non-dairy milk, warmed

1 0. 25 oz. package active dry yeast

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1/4 cup applesauce

First, grab some beautiful, ripe peaches and chop 'em up. I thought about skinning them too, but that's just so much work and the skin really just ends up cooking into the sauce.

Once your peaches are nice and diced, grab a saucepan and toss in the peaches, cinnamon and brown sugar. Salute Captain Jack and add that splash of rum. Heat over medium low heat, stirring constantly until the peaches are nice and mushy. Combine the water and cornstarch in a separate bowl and add into the peach sauce. Stir until thick and remove from heat.

Now onto the hard part: yeasted dough. If I can do it you can.

Sprinkle the yeast over the warmed soy milk and let sit for about 10 minutes or until frothy. Meanwhile, stir together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Once the yeast mixture is ready, add the applesauce and whisk until combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold together.

Turn your dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 2-3 minutes or until smooth (add some flour if it's too sticky). Let it rest for 5 minutes, then roll it out into a 9x12" rectangle.

Spread the peach filling all over the dough, leaving a 1" border. Begin to roll the whole thing up, jelly-roll style, taking care that the filling doesn't squeeze out the edges.

Slice the log into 8 equal pieces and place in a 9" round pan. Cover with a dish towel and the buns let rise in a warm place for about an hour. 

Turn on some music and dance around while you clean up a bit :)

Preheat your oven to 350º. After the buns have worked their magic and doubled in size, stick them in the oven for about 25-30 minutes or until they turn a lovely shade of golden brown. Let them cool for about 15 minutes. But wait, you can't eat them yet.

While the buns bake or cool, whip up a batch of caramel sauce. I used this recipe, but used almond milk instead of coconut milk. Just make sure you are paying attention the whole time, otherwise it will boil too much and turn back into granulated sugar!

See these buns? I know they look good...

But let's kick it up a notch.

Ooooh baby, pour that caramel sauce.

Now we're talkin'.

Pull apart and enjoy the best summer breakfast ever. 

Happy Friday!

Blueberry Molasses Cake with Lemon Icing

When life slows down a bit, it is nice to be able to indulge in simpler pleasures. It's been a while since I made a link-love list for you guys, so I figured it's time to share the things I have been enjoying these days...

-Roasted berries, especially in this incredible looking frozen yogurt from Oh, Ladycakes
-Simple, gorgeous life photography
-Snail mail: sometimes it's fun doing things the old fashioned way
-This song. Her voice is incredible.
-I've been dreaming about chocolate lately. This should cure the craving. Holy jesus.
-I want to learn how to salsa dance. I could totally do that in those heels. No problem.
-This video cracks me up because it is the truth.
-Take me to this bizarre and beautiful lake.

Aaand I've been loving this cake. 

Always cake.

Blueberry Molasses Cake with Lemon Icing

makes 8-12 servings

Cake:

2 1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup molasses

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 cup non-dairy milk

1 1/2 cup blueberries

Icing:

1/4 cup non-dairy milk

1/3 cup vegan margarine

1/4 cup granulated sugar

zest of 1/2 a lemon

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat your oven to 350º and grease and flour a 9" round cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and spices. Set aside and whisk together the remaining ingredients (minus the blueberries) in a smaller bowl. Add the wet to the dry and stir until just combined.

3. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and sprinkle the blueberries on top. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.
4. While the cake bakes, prepare the frosting. Cream together the margarine and sugar. Stir in the soy milk, lemon juice and lemon zest and finally the powdered sugar. Mix until smooth and creamy.
5. Let the cake cool completely before flipping onto a plate and pouring the icing over the top. Slice and enjoy!

I hope everyone is having a great start to the week! What little things have you been loving lately?