Bananadoodles (Vegan)

Spring is here!  FINALLY.  If you had as much snow as we did around here in good old New England, I'm sure you are as ecstatic as I am to kiss winter's patootie goodbye.  Thankfully the sun has been shining brightly and the temperature has been steadily creeping up to a bearable degree.  There is hope!  Although it was a little cooler today, the sun was still out full force so I decided it seemed like a good morning to bundle up and lace up my running shoes.  I dragged Dave and Tucker along with me and it ended up being a really nice to start the day by taking a run around town.  (Although by the end of the excursion, I was the one being dragged along...)  Once we finally got home and I was able to catch my breath, I was very happy to have started my day off productively.  And then when it came down to me and the bananadoodles facing off in the kitchen, I didn't have so much guilt about eating ten zillion of them.  Which, by the way, I am still digesting. But hey, that's totally okay with me because these are reaaaal good.

If you like banana, cinnamon, and soft yummy cookies, these are most certainly a wonderful choice.  And they are a great pick for your vegan friends and family members too!  Dave and I had some friends over last night so while the boys were watching their "boy shows", the girls were in the kitchen and I had some bananadoodle dough in the fridge that needed to be rolled into a cinnamon-sugary goodness.  So, with their help we got to baking these cookies and enjoying some spoonfuls of dough along the way.  And even better, no worries from the Salmonella Police! Remember, these cookies are egg free...so eat on!  Just be sure to leave some dough to actually get some cookies out of it.  Luckily they don't take long to bake so just be patient, because the cookie is even yummier than the dough!  Then once they cooled a little, we brought some in for the boys (who won't touch anything if they know it's vegan), and they actually approved.  ...And then we laughed and revealed our little secret.  So you see, sometimes ignorance can be bliss.  :)


Vegan Bananadoodles
Yield: About 2 dozen
 

Ingredients:
Cookie Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon molasses

• 2 large bananas. mashed

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly grease.
• In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• Using either a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat the oil, sugar and molasses at medium high speed until light, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add bananas beating well after addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Scrape down sides of the bowl and beat 30 seconds more. At low speed, add the flour mixture and beat until just blended.
• In a bowl, make topping by mixing cinnamon and sugar together.
• Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes (or up to a week in the fridge.) Shape the cookie into 1 inch balls (about 1 tablespoon of dough.) Roll each ball into cinnamon sugar mixture to coat completely and arrange balls on the baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Flatten each cookie into a 2 inch disk. Bake cookies one sheet at time, 14- 18 minutes until tops are crinkly and they are puffed and lightly browned around the edges. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Note:  I only cooked mine for 10 minutes and the next day they were still extremely soft and delicious.  If you'd like them a little crisper I would keep an eye on them after the 10 minute mark.  These are a little bigger than tablespoon size, which yeilded a little more than 2 dozen big, soft, and delicious cookies to enjoy.  


Source: Week of Menus

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Sunday, everyone!  And Happy Birthday to me!  I am FINALLY 21!  I thought the day would never arrive, and before I knew it, it was here.  I don't have much to post that is food related because the second I finished decorating my cake, Dave and I needed to skidaddle to our friend's house for the festivities which left no time to photograph. (Unfortunately, 21 years into life and I'm still not very good with my time management).  I will inform you that it was a chocolate and white layer cake with cookies n' cream frosting and it was very, very scrumptious!  :)

I ended up taking most of this week off from work so I could enjoy my special day (or should I say week), and I was very fortunate to have absolutely beautiful weather for my birthday weekend.  (Considering last year it was raining buckets the whole time!)  I've been very busy having fun, but it unfortunately hasn't left me much time for my baby blog.  Leading up to today, I have been lucky enough to spend time with a lot of friends, some whom I have not seen in a while.  I spent a couple days in Boston visiting one of my best friends from high school which was really great because it had been so long since I had last seen her.  A band we've gone to see quite a few times happened to get back together, so in order to keep up with tradition we went to see them again.  Not only was the show amazing, but it was really great to finally visit considering she and I practically used to be attached by the hip!  (Thank you again Tani!) 

Then yesterday rolled around and I was so happy that I finally got to spend the day with another one of my best friends whom I also had not seen in a while.  We spent the day be-bopping around some stores and chatted the day away.  I happened to be swooning over a particular cupcake stand in one of the stores, and being the awesome friend she is, she scooped it right up and got it for me for me.  (Thank you oodles of noodles, Poopsie!)  After spending a beautiful day out and about, I headed home to finish up my cake, get ready, and spend the night out with my friends.  We stuffed our faces with dinner, cake, and of course a few drinks.  Oh yes, and then one of my other best lady friends got us tickets to go see Buddy the Cake Boss' tour this spring!  So exciting!  Good food, good friends, good times!  (Thank you so much Chicky!)

I have to say, I didn't feel much different waking up as a 21 year old this morning except for the hour of sleep I lost due to daylight savings.  But luckily that was all remedied with a wonderful brunch.  I got a fire-roasted fruit pizza that had kiwi, strawberry, banana, and marscapone cheese on it that was absolutely amazing, and then washed it down with a delicious glass of pink sangria followed by a mimosa.  Oh yeah, I wasn't messing around this morning.  YUM!  Dave and I then meandered around a bit while the sun was shining, and I got to sit on a big old boot (as seen above!), and made a few purchases.

This was my highlight purchase of the day.  I am pretty excited about sporting my new Lululemon yoga pants and my new jacket from Urban Outfitters (not together though..I would look quite silly), but these 3 beauts were by far my favorite things I picked out today.  As they sit chilling in the fridge, my biggest decision I face is to figure out which one I want to try first.  Hmmm, decisions, decisions....

Oh!  And I got this little guy too!  I decided it was totally okay for someone else to make me a treat for once, so thanks to Whole Foods I also enjoyed a yummy little chocolate peanut butter cupcake.  But if you'll now excuse me..I think I hear one of those nicely chilled beverages calling my now legal name!  :)

Butterfinger Cookies

 

"Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger"....cookies!  Just kidding, of course! ...I'm not that greedy (for the most part).  If you haven't noticed, I am a complete sucker for anything with chocolate and peanut butter in it. So, it pretty much goes without saying that whenever Halloween rolled around, I was always so thankful that my brother hates peanut butter.  (I swear he was adopted or something! ) Once we made our rounds being all cute and dressed up, we would head home and spread our candy out all over the floor.  This was where my "big sister" negotiating skills kicked into high gear.  I would then very strategically trade him some of my candy for his (1 for him, 2 for me), and then my mom and I would get to hoard all of the Butterfingers and Reese's to ourselves.  Not a bad deal if you ask me! Unfortunately, by society's standards we are both too old to go trick-or-treating now...so I guess whenever the day comes that I end up having children of my own, I will have to teach them to be very good at sharing. :)

On a side note, it really amazes me how candy is crazy expensive now! (like just about everything else in life)  So, when I happened to be perusing the aisles in the grocery store after work one day and saw that it was significantly marked down, I scooped up a few bags of everything in hopes of making something delicious.  And these my friends, certainly are delicioso!  I love using candy in baking and making new ways to enjoy old favorites, and a cookie that contains all of that sweet and salty, chocolately, peanut buttery goodness of a Butterfinger is a sure win in my eyes.  These are so unbelievably soft and chewy, which is the perfect way for a cookie to be (just my opinion).  And even better is that they really take no time to make!  I happened to wake up just a little bit early for work, so I decided with that extra time I would whip up a batch of these bad boys to bring in with me.  Let's just say no one had any complaints.  I didn't even have any left to bring home!  And everyone knows when that happens it means you have a good recipe on your hands.  (....Well, there may have been a slightly different outcome if I happened to have brought them home while visiting my parents and brother.  But that just means my mom and I could hoard them to ourselves for old time's sake.  And that would be completely fine by me.)  :)

Yield:

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon iodized salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted, cooled
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• >1 cup chopped Butterfinger candy bars (I used 11 "fun size" candy bars)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In another bowl beat together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy. Beat in vanilla. Beat in eggs 1 at a time.
4. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until well combined.
5. Fold in chopped Butterfingers.
6. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet. Cook 8-10 minutes or until edges start to brown and cookies are set.
7. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

Source:  Life's Abrosia

Vegan Chocolate Fudge Truffle Cake with Strawberries

 

Now that's a bit of a mouthful of a title for a cake, but I promise every single word is actually completely vital to it's description.  It's vegan, it's chocolate, it's fudgy, it's decadent like a truffle, it's a cake, and it has strawberries.  See!  I told you so. :)  (Unfortunately the front piece had more strawberries tucked inside than you could really see...I know this because I ate it right after I finished photographing!)  

I really had no reason to make this...except it is my birthday week so I figured I could use that as an excuse for this ultra rich and gratifying treat.  I actually consider the whole month of March to be a celebration for my birthday..and I'm definitely one of those people who is obnoxious about letting you know the countdown til my day comes.  (By the way, it's March 13th and I will be 21 finally!  Only 5 more days to go!)  And in case you're wondering, I hold my mother and my Grammie completely responsible for the monster/princess they created when it comes to this.  You see, my mom was always the same way as a child.  She was the only one out of of her brothers and her sister that was like that and let's just say the apple didn't fall far from the tree.  I just really love my birthday and I love telling everyone that it's my special day (whether they care or not, but that's beside the point!).   Coincidentally, it's usually in March that my pants begin to feel a liiiiittle more snug because I frequently use the excuse "But it's my birthday!" to indulge (and maybe slightly overindulge..), but hey, you only live once!  And I definitely enjoyed every second of indulging in this little slice of heaven.

I'm sure Betty Crocker didn't think I would see this cake and then decide to turn it into a vegan version, but guess what lady, I DID!  I mean, just take a second look at the title.  It says "vegan" so it must be dry, bland, and unappetizing, right?  Nice try!  I bet if I didn't include that little "v word" in the title, you would have had no idea it was.  And, if I sliced a piece and handed it to you with a big old grin on my face, I'm sure you still wouldn't know it was vegan until I gave you the recipe and you gasped and said "But where are the eggs!? The heavy cream!?  How did you...?"  And I would simply explain that vegan doesn't automatically mean flavorless, lifeless meals and desserts.  This cake is unbelievably delicious, rich, dense, and fudgy...it's simply amazing!  The addition of the strawberries make it seem like the perfect "March" kind of dessert.  You really never know what to expect from the weather this month, with the lingering winter and the (hopefully) approaching spring, which is why the chocolatey cake (which is quite comforting on the colder days) really benefits from the strawberries (which really add a great fresh and spring-like feel to the cake).  So, if you're looking for an excuse to try this out (just like I was)...just say I made you do it.  You'll be pleasantly surprised and happy you did. :) 

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

• 2 cups soy milk
• 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
• 1 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Ganache Filling and Topping:

• 2 packages (8 oz each) semisweet baking chocolate, finely chopped (Baker's semi-sweet is vegan)
• 1 1/3 cups soy milk
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance vegan butter
• 2 cups cut-up fresh strawberries

Garnish

• Fresh strawberries

• 1/4 cup vegan white chocolate chips

• 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease an 8x8 pan.
2. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).
3. Pour into pan, smooth top.  Bake for 28-35 minutes.  (I checked mine every few minutes after 25 minutes just to make sure it didn't overcook)
4. Cool completely, about 1 hour
5. Meanwhile, in large bowl, place chopped chocolate; set aside. In 2-quart saucepan, heat soy milk and Earth Balance (or other vegan butter substitute) over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until "butter" is melted and mixture comes to a boil. Pour "cream" mixture over chocolate; stir until smooth.
6. Line bottom of 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper round. Cut cake into 1-inch cubes. In large bowl, beat half of the cake cubes on low speed until cake is crumbly. Add remaining cake cubes and 1 3/4 cups of the ganache (reserve remaining ganache for topping). Beat on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed until well combined (mixture will look like fudge). Fold in 2 cups cut-up strawberries. Spoon mixture into springform pan; smooth top. Cover with plastic wrap; freeze 45 minutes or until firm enough to unmold.
7. Run knife around side of pan to loosen cake mixture. Place serving plate upside down on pan; turn pan and plate over. Frost side and top of cake with reserved ganache. Arrange strawberry halves on top of cake.
8. In small microwavable bowl, microwave baking chips and 1/2 teaspoon oil uncovered on High 45 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds, until melted. Place in small resealable food-storage plastic bag; cut off tiny corner of bag. Drizzle over top of cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cake is best served the same day.

Adapted from: Betty Crocker
Source for Cupcakes: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

Thin Mint Truffles

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner and what says "Luck o' the Irish" better than mint chocolate desserts!?  Uhh, nothing, obviously!  And, being in the spirit of Girl Scout season and all things deliciously minty, I decided to try making these cookies even yummier than before.  Cake truffles, brownie truffles and now, thin mint truffles!  Talk about taking things to a whole other delectable level.  Basically rolling things into tiny little morsels makes them even more irresistible than their full-sized counter part.  Personally, I am partial to the pint-sized versions because I think they're just the cutest little things..plus you can dress them up to suit any occasion, even if it's just to sit on the couch popping them into your mouth one by one.  I really do love celebrating all holidays, and the fact that St. Patty's day is just after my birthday makes me like it even more.  (Especially this year because I'll just have turned 21! Woohoooo!  I digress...) 

I have always thought mint and chocolate's harmonious joining was something only a genius could come up with (thank you, whoever you are!).  And ever since the glorious day the two met, the flavor combination has become a staple to Girl Scouts, and the Irish alike.  (And as I'm sure you can tell, I have a lot of Irish in me with my red hair and the spelling of my name and all.) So, if you love a good Girl Scout cookie and have been thinking of a new way to go about enjoying it, this is definitely something to try!  They are seriously addicting.

Ingredients:

• One box Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies
• 3 oz softened cream cheese
• 1/2 lb Dark mint chocolate candy melts (or regular chocolate chips/candy melts)
• 1/4 cup green candy melts (or sprinkles, shaved chocolate, anything you'd like to decorate with) 
• 1 tbs shortening (+ 1 tsp)

Directions:

• Put both sleeves of cookies into food processor, process until finely chopped crumbs are formed
• Pour crumbs into a bowl and add softened cream cheese
• Mix together with a fork (I used my hands to combine it together well)
• Roll into truffle sized balls (I was able to get 15 out of mine)
• Refrigerate for an hour (or freeze for 30 minutes)
• Melt chocolate and shortening in a double boiler (a microwave works just as fine, use 30 second intervals if you go this route)
• Carefully cover each truffle in chocolate and tap off excess
• Place each truffle on wax paper on a cookie sheet (top with sprinkles or any other decorations before chocolate sets)
• Refrigerate until chocolate is firm

 To Decorate:

• Melt green candy chips & 1tsp shortening in a double boiler (again the microwave can be used as above)
• Pour chocolate into plastic bag, snip a very small piece off of the corner of the bag
• Drizzle over truffles
• Refrigerate again until chocolate is set