Scraps and Snippets ~ Layered Cheesecake Jars

Layered Cheesecake Jars

1 Package (20 ounce) pulverized Oreos or equivalent Jo-Jo's (you just want the crumbs, but I did leave the middles intact so it was a moister crumb and was easier to do since I didn’t have to crack them open and scrape out the middle.

Sprinkle half the crumbs into the bottoms of 12 ramekins or small juice glasses or jelly jars. (I seriously use glass votive holders.) Set the remainder of the crumbs aside.

1 container of Vegan cream cheese (8 ounces)

1 Can full fat coconut milk (cream only after chilling for several days,  discard or reuse water or use Trader Joe’s which is creamy from the get go and has very little water)

¾ Cup of sugar (powdered or regular)

pinch of salt

splash of vanilla

3 TBSP of add in. 

(These are the Add-ins: Peanut Butter, orange marmalade, raspberry, strawberry or cherry preserves or jam, or crushed candy canes. Or cookie dough, or crushed Oreos,  or 2 TBSP melted chocolate chips and 1 TBSP instant coffee, or ???? what have you always wanted to put into cheesecake covered with Oreo crumbs?)

Mix the cream cheese, whipped cream and sugar together with a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla. When completely mixed, add the add ins and whir away or stir in.

Dollop evenish amounts of the cream over the bottom crumb crusts. Top with the remaining crumbs and chill until serving. Chill at least 2 hours.

Take it to the next level. If you are making peanut butter cheesecake jars  mix together pretzel bits, peanuts and crushed peanut butter cups (a TBSP or 2 each would be plenty) with the Oreo crumbs and top them with the mixture (you could do the bottom crumbs that way, too). If you are using strawberry jam you could dip fresh strawberries in chocolate and set one on top of the crust topping in each cup/jar. If you are using cookie dough add a few little cookie dough balls to the top of the desserts.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Banana Pecan Bundt Cake

I told you'd I'd have a bundt recipe for you today. Saturday was national Bundt Cake Day, and I needed to take a dessert to church for a missions conference. 

Let me tell on myself. I had two desserts to toss together and both were going to be bundt cakes but DANG IT I couldn't find my bundt pan. I gave up and put the Peanut Butter Mocha cake in a 9 x 13. 

Then I found the pan. Duh. Right where I put it. 

I'll share the Peanut Butter Mocha cake when I have a chance to tweak it and put it into the bundt cake scenario. 

But until then, here's a lovely, dense, moist Banana Pecan Bundt Cake. 

The cinnamon frosting glaze and crunchy pecan topping is pretty tasty. The texture is a nice mix of banana bread and cake. 

1 Cup non-dairy milk
2 TBSP ground flaxseed
2 teaspoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
1 1/3 Cup sugar (add more sugar if you want a sweeter cake. This is not a super sweet cake, but the topping and frosting are.)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/3 Cup flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 Cup shortening, coconut oil or Earth Balance
2 ripe bananas 
1/2 Cup chopped pecans 

In a small bowl mix the milk, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice with the flax seed and stir. Let sit while you cream the shortening and sugar. Add the bananas and mix well. Add the baking powder, salt and cinnamon and blend well. Poor the milk mixture and vanilla in the bowl and blend. Add the flour and pecans and stir until incorporated. 

Let mixture sit while you mix the following. Preheat the oven to 350.

Cinnamon Pecan Crunch 

1/2 Cup chopped pecans
1/4 Cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon sugar 
(Double if you want more crunch and sweetness.)

Mix and pour into a greased bundt pan. 

Pour the cake batter over the crunch. 

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

Remove and let sit for 20  minutes. 

Pop the bundt cake out onto a plate. 

Mix the frosting and pour over the cooled cake. 

Cinnamon Frosting

2 TBSP non dairy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Cup powdered sugar

Mix. Add either powder sugar or additional milk until the consistency is right. 

Sprinkle with additional chopped pecans if you desire. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Chocolate Fudge Cake Two Ways.

 This is the chocolate fudge decadent cake I made for my brother and sister-in-laws' wedding in October. It was dense, fudge, moist and delicious. All that was left on the plate was a few smears. 

A week or so later the little kids and I whipped up a batch as cupcakes. Delicious. Even after the near misses that happen when 7, 5 and 3 year olds are involved in a baking process. And even though the batch made enough cupcakes we had some several days out. 

Chocolate Fudge Cake and Cupcakes 

27-32 cupcakes (60ish mini cupcakes) or 3 round or 8 x 8 layers

2 1/2 Cups sugar

1 Cup and 2 TBSP of Earth Balance or coconut oil or mix

3 teaspoons baking powder

1+ teaspoon salt

1 Cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 Cups strong hot coffee

1 1/2 Cups milk of choice (chocolate soy or almond adds a nice punch)

1/2 Cup chocolate chips

3 TBSP apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla

In small bowl place milk and vinegar, set aside. In an additional small bowl pour the hot coffee over the chocolate chips and stir on and off until they are melted, add vanilla and set aside. Cream butter substitute and sugar together. Add salt and baking powder and mix well. Add the milk and vinegar mixture and incorporate. Pour in chocolate mixture and mix and finally mix in the flour and stir until the flour is fully mixed in. 

Grease and flour pans or line cupcake pans. 

Preheat oven to 350. Pour the batter into the pans equally or fill the cupcake liners almost 2/3rds full. 

Bake 20-25 minutes testing the cake/cupcakes with a knife that should come out clean for cakes. Cupcakes bake for 15-18 minutes (mini cupcakes 12-14 minutes) 

Remove and let cool

Frosting. 

Ratios because I do something different every stinking time: 

Approximately 1 cup vegan butter, vegan cream cheese or shortening to 3 cups powdered sugar (for fudge frosting use 2/3 or to taste cup of cocoa for powdered sugar). A splash of vanilla (about 1 teaspoon) (if you want wedding frosting taste use a half splash of almond extract, too)  Mix well. Add more powdered sugar or cocoa if wet or if too stiff add a TBSP or so of non-dairy milk (or coffee if you are making fudge and want mocha frosting) until you get the consistency you want. 

When the cake or cupcakes are cooled, frost. For the raspberry wedding cake I had washed and dried 2 cups of raspberries and placed them on the frosted cake. I then melted 1 cup of chocolate chips in a heated 2/3 Cup of non-dairy milk. Then drizzle over the raspberries and cake layers. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Salty Caramel Apple Drizzled Apple Blondies

Apple Blondies With Salty Caramel Apple Drizzle

Blondies are brownies without cocoa so they are chewy, a touch caramelly due to the brown sugar content and delicious.

1 Cup brown sugar

½ Cup coconut oil or Earth Balance

3 TBSP applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2 Cups flour

2 apples diced

Toast a cup of chopped pecans or walnuts and toss those in if desired for an extra yum factor.

Mix sugar, Earth Balance, vanilla and applesauce well. Add the baking powder and salt and stir very well. Add the flour and incorporate. Finally add the apples (and nuts if using). Grease a 9 x 13 and press the dough into the pan. Bake at 350 for 33 - 36 minutes. A knife should come out clean.

Salty Caramel Apple Drizzle

1/2 Cup packed brown sugar

1/4 Cup applesauce

1 1/2 TBSP Earth Balance or coconut oil

2 pinches of salt

1/2 TBSP vanilla
1/2 apple diced

Put sugar, applesauce and Earth Balance in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and drop temperature and low boil for 8-10 minutes until it comes together and thickens. Add vanilla and stir until completely incorporated, remove from heat then add salt and stir well. Add the diced apple and stir.

Pour the caramel sauce over the blondes and refrigerate an hour before serving. Or slice the blondies still warm from the oven, top with a blob of vegan ice cream and drizzle the caramel over that.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Caramel Pumpkin Cake Roll

Next cake on the docket: 

Caramel Pumpkin Cake Roll

I found a recipe that I of course had to modify. Here's the original. I did a trial run and thought it was a little thin and I wanted a little more cake body. So I doubled and tweaked it to this. 

1 1/2 Cups flour (I used whole wheat pastry)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch of cardamom   
1 pinch of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 Cup pureed pumpkin
2/3 Cup sugar
2/3 Cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 TBSP oil, melted coconut oil or melted Earth Balance

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix the sugar with the oil, pumpkin, vanilla and spices. Blend well. Add salt and baking powder and stir completely. Blend in flour. 

Preheat oven to 350. Oil a 11 x 15 Jelly Roll pan. Place a piece of parchment paper over the pan. Spread the batter evenly over the parchment paper. Place in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes. Poke with a knife and when it comes out clean, it's ready. 

Let cool for a few minutes. While cooling spread 1/4 cup of powdered sugar over the top of the cake and then cover the cake with a towel. Turn upside down and peel the parchment paper off the cake. Roll the cake, carefully, into a spiral. The towel is going to be taking the place of the frosting and it's going give the cake shape. 

Let cool on a cake rack (in the towel) for a couple of hours. The filling and frosting are: 

1/2 Cup Vegan cream cheese
1/2 Cup caramel (vegan recipe)
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 Cups powdered sugar
1 Cup flour (or you can use additional powdered sugar but the flour cuts the sweetness a little bit).

Blend together. 

Cinnamon sugar pecans for topping. 

1/2 Cup chopped pecans. 
1/2 TBSP sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a frying pan toss the pecans and toast over medium heat. Cook approximately 1 minutes and then add the sugar and stir until the pecans are coated. Add cinnamon and stir. 

Unwrap the cake. There may be some cracks. You will frost it so that doesn't really matter. Remove the towel. Spread frosting over the cake. Reroll. Spread the frosting over the top of the roll. Or pipe a design. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar pecans. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ German Chocolate Bundt Cake

I used a favorite chocolate bundt cake recipe from An Everyday Vegan and modified it. I've linked to her recipe and am sharing mine as I made it. Her's is delicious. So was mine. I will make a change next time though. I placed the "filling" on top of the batter thinking it would sink. Next time I'll simply pour in half the batter, add the filling and cover it with more batter. Simple fix. 

2 1/4 cups Whole Wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp vinegar

3/4 cup non-dairy milk

1/4 cup strong cold coffee
1/2 cup unsweetened natural apple sauce

Filling and Topping

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips divided
1 cup toasted coconut (see below)

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 TBSP sugar

1/2 TBSP cocoa

1 Cup non-dairy milk

Preheat to 350 degrees. 

Place coconut shreds on a pan. Place in oven and bake for 8 minutes. Stir and bake another 2, check for golden color. Remove from oven. Separate 1/4 cup for topping. Dump the remainder in a small bowl for filling. Add 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Set aside. Prepare pecans. In a frying pan over med to high heat toss pecans. Stir as you heat them and when aromatic (about a minute or so, add the sugar and cocoa and stir until sugar melts and nuts are coated, about a minute or two.) Let the nuts cool for 5 mins then separate 3/4 cup into the filling bowl and 1/4 (approx) with the remaining coconut for the topping. Prepare your bundt pan with oil/margarine etc, then flour. If your bundt pan is silicone a thin layer of grease should be plenty. 

Mix the vinegar with the milk in a large bowl. Let sit for a few minutes. Add the cooled coffee, sugar, oil and cocoa powder and stir well. Pour in the baking powder, salt and applesauce and incorporate. Add vanilla and stir. Completely mix in the flour. 

Pour the one half of the batter into the prepared bundt cake pan. Using a spoon scoop the chocolate chip/coconut/pecan mixture into the center trying to stay away from the sides. Cover with the remaining batter.  Bake for 40 minutes in the middle of the oven. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes. Turn the pan over onto a plate.

Heat the cup of non-dairy milk in a saucepan. Remove from the heat, pour in the remaining chocolate chips (1/2 cup) and stir until melted. Let sit for 10 minutes or so. Pour over the cooled cake and top with the remaining pecan/toasted coconut mixture.  

Scraps and Snippets ~ Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

 A co-worker brought a yogurt strawberry bundt cake into the office a few weeks ago. I tasted it and decided I needed a recipe so I could veganize it and make it my own. I wanted to serve it at my brother's wedding. Why would I use a cake I'd never made for an occasion like that? Good question. Insanity? But the lemon and blueberry marriage just sounded heavenly. And I uber increased the lemon so I knew it'd be off the charts. I don't know the origin of the original recipe but if you google Strawberry Yogurt Cake you'll find lots of options. 

Now onto my Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake of deliciousness. 

1 Cup of room temperature Earth Balance

2 Cups of sugar

3 TBSP egg substitute (just the dry portion, the wet is coming up) ( I used homemade EnerG. and her recipe says rounded 1/2 TBSP to 2 TBSP liquid I go 1 full and 3 respectively for my subs, generally)

8 ounces non-dairy yogurt. The containers I buy are 6 oz. I used a full vanilla and 2 ounces from a blueberry.

1/3 Cup Non dairy milk (pretty much anything but chocolate)

1/3 Cup lemon juice

zest from 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 Cups whole wheat pastry flour (set aside 1/4 cup)

1 and 1/2 to 2 Cups fresh blueberries

Preheat over to 350. Grease and flour a bundt pan unless you have silicone then a light greasing is good enough. 

Mix milk and lemon juice together in a separate bowl and let sit for a couple minutes. In a separate bowl combine Earth Balance and sugar, add in lemon zest, salt and baking powder and mix well. Add the yogurt to the lemon juice/milk blend and stir well. Add the egg substitute powder and when incorporated pour the liquid into the sugar/Earth Balance bowl and stir very well. Add the flour (remember to set aside 1/4 cup) and blend. Then toss your blueberries with the reserved flour and pop them into the batter. Stir and pour into the bundt pan. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour. A knife should come out clean.  

Glaze. Approx 2 TBSP lemon juice to 1 Cup powdered sugar. But. You have to mess around with that to get it to the consistency you want. The cake is very moist. In hindsight I would have added another 1/2 Cup or so of sugar (or flour) to give it more body. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Pinterest Inspiration ~ Cookie Pizza (Vegan)

Cookie Pizza. This kind of tastes like the best donut/cookie ever.

Pizza dough for one pizza. (I used Trader Joe’s pre made which was perfect for the job.)

Cookie Dough (Recipe I used below) use your favorite. You’ll need approximately a half batch size. Get creative by using peanut butter, sugar, snickerdoodle, brownie, etc. I used chocolate chip.

Caramel Sauce (Recipe Below)

Chocolate Ganache (Below)

Cream Cheese Icing (Recipe Below).

Preheat oven to 400 - 425 (use temperature your pizza dough suggests)

I used parchment paper with a round pizza pan. I’d suggest that parchment paper is a great choice. If not I’d grease the pan. Press the dough into a circle or rectangle and leave it about a ½ inch thick overall. Press flat but don’t stretch, you want a little bready texture.

Press your blobs of cookie dough directly onto the pizza dough leaving a pizza dough around the outside edge. You want the blobs to be normal cookie dough blobs with less space in between and pressed down a little so they meet.

Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes and check. If cookie dough is semi-baked (you want gooey but not soupy) and pizza crust edge browning, it’s safe to remove it. If not give it another 5 minutes of so and check again.

Remove from oven and let cool ten minutes.

Drizzle with caramel sauce, the ganache, and then squirt on the icing.

Cookie Dough (this is a half recipe)

1/4 Cup room temperature coconut oil or softened Earth Balance

1/3 Cup sugar

1/3 Cup brown sugar

1 egg substitute of choice

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/3 Cup flour

1 /3 Cup chocolate chips

Cream coconut oil and sugar. Add baking powder, salt, egg and mix well. Add milk and vanilla and stir completely. Pour in flour and stir well.

Caramel Sauce Recipe

2 cups sugar (brown or white)

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup agave nectar or corn syrup

1/2 cup full fat coconut milk

1 1/2 T. Earth Balance or coconut oil

pinch of salt

Over medium high heat bring the sugar, corn syrup/honey/agave and water to a boil while stirring very well to dissolve the sugar. Turn heat to low and simmer approximately 11-12 minutes until the color changes. Stir frequently. Remove heat. Add (carefully as the mixture is very hot) the milk, Earth Balance and salt and stir until smooth.

This makes approx 1 and ½ Cups. (You can halve the recipe if you want)

Ganache: Melt 1 cup chocolate chips with ⅓ cup non-dairy milk or full fat coconut milk.

Icing. Mix 2 - 3 ounces of non-dairy cream cheese with 2 cups of powdered sugar (if you want chocolate replace ⅓ cup of powdered sugar with ⅓ cup cocoa powder. Mix until combined. Add a splash of vanilla and stir well. If too thick add a splash of non-dairy milk and mix and repeat to get the consistency you are looking for.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Snickerdoodle Blondies

Snickerdoodle Blondie

1/2 Cup plus 1 TBSP room temperature coconut oil
2/3 Cup sugar
2/3 Cup brown sugar
2 TBSP egg replacer (I used an Ener-G DIY recipe)
6 TBSP non-dairy milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 2/3 Cup flour

Additionally, 1 TBSP brown sugar, 1 TBSP sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. 

Cream coconut oil and sugar. Add baking powder, salt, egg replacer, cinnamon and mix well. Add milk and vanilla and stir completely. Pour in flour and stir well. 

Grease a 9 x 13 and press dough/batter into pan. 

Mix the cinnamon and sugar together. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the dough. 
Bake for 30 minutes. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ German Chocolate Puppy Chow or Poopies (Vegan)

If you like coconut and chocolate and delicious crunch...you might want to make this ASAP... Leave out the pecans if you want and use more coconut for pure chocolate/coconut magic. This is amazing and doesn't feel or taste weird or vegan or healthy. It is decadent. Make sure your ingredients are vegan (i.e. powdered sugar and semi-sweet chocolate chips if this is important to you.) (If your cereal choice is gluten free, these will be, too.)

German Chocolate Poopies (German Chocolate Puppy Chow)  

Serves 4 - 8

3/4 Cup toasted coconut

3/4 Cup toasted pecan pieces

3 1/2 Cups cereal (rice or corn chez or mix of cereals)

¼ Cup coconut oil

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (This can be decreased. I only had about 3/4 of a cup the last time I made it and so I added an additional 3/4 cup of toasted coconut the bag with the powdered sugar...they weren't as well coated, but still tasted amazing.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Dump the coconut and chopped pecans on a baking sheet (lightly oil if the coconut is sweetened) Place in oven and toast approximately 10 minutes. Check at 7 to make sure the coconut is not browning too much. You will be able to smell the nuts. You want the coconut golden.
2. In double boiler or microwave melt coconut oil and chocolate chips. Add toasted nuts, coconut and cereal and stir until all coated in chocolate.
3. Pour powdered sugar into large plastic bag, the chocolate mixture to the bag and shake until all is coated. Place in fridge for an hour or so to harden the chocolate. If there is any left you will want to store it in an airtight container.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Muddy Buddies/Puppy Chow Cereal Treats

 Sometimes I forget how easy it is to veganize some things. Puppy Chow aka chocolate peanut butter sugar dusted pillows of deliciousness were an easy go to recipe back in the day. Nostalgia reared it's head last week when I was working on some vegan chex mix savory mixes. I still had cereal, and a little voice requested puppy chow (so she's 27 and it was clearly a grown female voice, but that's beside the point). 

Here's what I did. And the result? Ahhh. sugar dusted chocolate peanut butter pillows of deliciousness! 

4 Cups of cereal of choice, like Chex. I used half rice/half corn. 

1/4 Cup peanut butter (I used natural chunky, just peanuts and salt)

1/2 Cup vegan chocolate chips

1 TBSP oil (I used coconut oil but Earth Balance margarine or equivalent should work)

2/3 Cup vegan powdered sugar. (You can make your own if you have the patience and a high speed blender...)

Melt peanut butter, chocolate chips and oil. Mix well. Dump in cereal and stir until coated. 

In a large zipper bag dump the powdered sugar. Then dump the cereal mixture over the sugar and close bag and begin shaking until all the cereal is coated. Serve. Enjoy the nostalgia. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Berry Coconut Cupcakes and Frosting ~ So Delicious

 I'm entering this recipe into the So Delicious Spring Fling Recipe Contest. 

Berry Coconut Cup Cakes (makes 18)

1 egg substitute (1 TBSP ground chia or egg replacer)

1/2 TBSP baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 Cup So Delicious coconut milk (at room temperature)

1/4 Cup jam (I used organic strawberry all fruit)

1/2 Cup of coconut oil (melted)

1 1/4 Cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/4 Cup flour

Put milk and egg replacer powder together in a bowl and set aside. Cream coconut oil and sugar together. Add salt and baking powder, mix until incorporated. Pour half the milk and the extracts in and mix. Pour in half the flour and mix well, add the rest of the milk, stir then the additional flour and mix for two more minutes.

Fill cupcake liners 1/2-2/3 full. 

Bake at 350 for 15-17 minutes or until knife comes out clean. If you want vanilla, use 1 Cup of So Delicious and no jam.

Berry Frosting

3 TBSP berry jam

3 TBSP Earth Balance or coconut oil

1/2 tsp of vanilla

2 Cups powdered sugar

If too thick add just a splash of coconut milk, if still too wet add a little more powdered sugar.

When the cupcakes are cool frost each cupcake.  

Scraps and Snippets ~ Salted Caramel Apple Fritter

Salted Caramel Apple Fritter

Makes 8

1 package of vegan crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350 (or temperature on the package)

Lightly grease a muffin tin. 

Take each crescent roll triangle and place the triangle into the muffin tin. Press and stretch/break off tips as needed to make the entire muffin tin filled so it looks like a little pie. Bake these for 10 minutes (or until golden.)  Remove from oven. These won't be flat and pie shaped any more, but no worries. You could also do this with pie crust or phyllo dough. 

While the crusts cool make the Salted Caramel Apple Filling/topping.

2 Apples diced (I seeded them but did not peel them.) 

1/3 Cup sugar (or brown sugar)

1/4 Cup maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 Cup chopped pecans (or walnuts or dried cranberries)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 TBSP cornstarch (or arrowroot)

1 TBSP water

Toss diced apples into a saucepan, add syrup and sugar and begin simmering. Simmer about 10 minutes until apples begin to tenderize and release the juice and sugar melts. Add the salt and pecans and stir well. While simmering, in another cup or bowl mix the vanilla in the TBSP of water and add cornstarch, stirring until the cornstarch dissolves. Then pour the cornstarch mixture into the simmering apples. Stir well and simmer for an additional 7 or so minutes until the mixture thickens and reduces into a caramel. 

Scoop mixture into the crescent cups. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Pink Piggy Cupcakes...

Strawberry Frosting. Yum. And cupcakes to place under it, with a fun little decoration idea. 

Coconut Vanilla Cup Cakes (makes 14)

1 egg substitute (1 TBSP ground chia or egg replacer)

1/2 TBSP baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Cup almond or coconut milk

1/2 Cup of coconut oil

1 1/4 Cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/4 Cup flour

Put milk and egg replacer powder together in a bowl and set aside. Cream coconut oil and sugar together. Add salt and baking powder, mix until incorporated. Pour half the milk and the extracts in and mix. Pour in half the flour and mix well, add the rest of the milk, stir then the additional flour and mix for two more minutes. 

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 17-19 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Strawberry Frosting

3 TBSP strawberry jam

3 TBSP shortening. Earth Balance or coconut oil

1/2 tsp of vanilla

(if you are making the pigs, scrape the middles of 7 golden oreos into your frosting and set the cookies aside)

2 Cups powdered sugar 

If too thick add just a splash of coconut milk, if still too wet add a little more powdered sugar. 

When the cupcakes are cool frost each cupcake.  If you are making pigs you will need four chocolate chips for each cupcake and will need to save a little frosting for glue to put the chocolate chips on the cookies. (If you want to make ears you could use a triangle of fruit roll up type snacks. I tried extra chocolate chips and they didn't look right. An extra dollop of frosting would work.) Place a cookie round on the bottom 2/3 of the frosted cupcake. Place two chocolate chips for eyes right at the edge of the cookie. Then dip two chocolate chips in frosting and glue them right inside at 9 and 3 (where they would be on a clock) on the cookie.

Scraps and Snippets ~ So Delicious Coconut Chippers...For Reals

So Delicious Coconut Chippers

3/4 Cup room temperature coconut oil
2/3 Cup sugar
2/3 Cup coconut sugar (or use brown)
2 TBSP egg replacer (I used EnerG)
6 TBSP So Delicious vanilla or original coconut milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/3 Cup flour
2/3 Cup chocolate chips

Cream the sugar, coconut oil, milk and egg replacer. Add baking powder and salt and mix well. Add vanilla and stir. Stir in flour until blended and finally add the chocolate chips. Roll dough into balls. 

Preheat oven to 350. 

I made half the batch in a 20 count silicone pan and baked them for 14 minutes.

The rest I baked on a cookie sheet for 12 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen. 

I'm entering this recipe in the Spring Fling So Delicious Recipe Contest. It's open til May 19th. Got a recipe to enter? Go there. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Fudgy, Chewy Brownies AKA Panic Brownies

I had about 5 minutes to find a brownie recipe on Friday. My day had gone differently than I had planned and I had just enough time to whip up brownies, get em baked and get out the door. I looked through 5 vegan cookbooks trying to find one. They were in there...but each called for time consuming or unavailable or texture tweaking ingredients like coffee, espresso powder, tofu, two different fat sources, bittersweet chocolate, maple syrup etc.  Sometimes brownies are cake-like anyway so I didn't want to gamble on texture. I grabbed a traditional 1,000 recipe cookbook and spied a blondie recipe. Since I wanted the chewy of a blondie, I thought that would be a definite, but I needed chocolate. 

The blondie recipe was kind of the inspiration for these brownies as the time wound down to nothing. I say inspiration because I changed every single ingredient. Seriously. And this is what came out. And they were delicious. This might be THE brownie go to recipe. A huge plus for this on that particular evening was that they were a thinner batch that didn't need to bake for 40 minutes. 

Panic Brownies

1 and 1/2 sticks Earth Balance (3/4 Cup)

1 1/3 Cup sugar

2 TBSP egg replacer (I used EnerG)

6 TBSP water or non-dairy milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 Cup cocoa

1 2/3 Cup flour

1/3 chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 13. Mix Earth Balance and sugar until blended. Add cocoa, egg replacer and water/milk, vanilla and mix well, add salt, baking powder and vanilla and stir. Pour in flour and mix. It will be thick and more like cookie dough. Press into pan. Bake for 23-26 minutes. I believe I'll try it in an 8 x 11 and bake it for 10 minutes more and see how it does in a thicker brownie.

Frost with failed Easter candies experiment. (Ha. Ha.) That's what I did. Unfortunately,  I'm not able to recreate that easily. Nor do I want to. 

A simple chocolate ganache or frosting would be great.