…to myself that I need to make another batch of these soon. I think I remember halving the recipe, adding dried cranberries and nixing the nuts, as well as obviously baking them in the shape of jumbo muffins for about 30 minutes. either way: deliciousness aplenty.

I made another version of the mole bread that I think will beat the former one to a pulp, in terms of taste. and even though I still have leftovers of the chickpea-based carob spread, I decided to whip up a new batch made with black beans and other goodies.

and this time, if the results satisfy, I swear it won’t take me forever and a day to share the recipes.

the bread rose so high and so quickly that I had to pinch myself (and subsequently scream in pain) to believe it. I decided to make it into 2 smaller loaves instead of the usual rolls or bigger loaf.
(if you want to make it into 6 rolls, simply divide the dough into, you guessed it, 6 and shape into balls, bake for about 20 minutes instead)
you could absolutely throw in a few nuts, raisins, 1 t cinnamon, or anything you’d like in it.
me? I’m still stuck in my conservative ways of thinking ahead and aiming for both savory and sweet uses. I sucketh! but I so see some (1/3 cup worth, perhaps) chopped hazelnuts in there, it makes me dreameth.

as for the spread: it will get rather thick once chilled, but still remain spreadable. I’ll be perfectly honest: while it’s already very good as is, I think there’s room for improvement in the way of texture and flavor. do I dare mention that I made a couple of truffles out of some of it? yum!
I’m planning on using black beans instead, as well as agave nectar, and adding dried cherries or dates. playing around with it will definitely bring out something even better.
but anyway, I’m throwing the recipe out there [below the bread one] to use as a guideline for future experiments.

Carrot Bread

for a 1 1/2 pounder, or about 12 slices

3/4 cup soy milk [room temperature or slightly warmed up if in the fridge, to lukewarm]
1 cup finely grated carrots [moisture will depend on the quality of the carrots in use, you will have to play around with the amount of flour]
2 T turbinado sugar
2 T canola oil
1 t sea salt
2 T vital wheat gluten
about 3 cups light spelt flour, might need more or less: up to you to find out as you knead
2 t bread machine or instant-rise yeast

if you want to proof your yeast:
heat your soymilk to lukewarm, add yeast and sugar. let sit for 10 minutes: it should get foamy.

add rest of ingredients, only 2 cups of flour to begin with. stir with a wooden spoon, pour onto a clean, lightly floured surface and add flour as you knead until the dough isn’t too sticky anymore, and that it’s smooth and elastic.

place in a large bowl coated with a little oil, swirl ball-shaped dough a little until it’s lightly coated with oil, cover, and let rise (in a warm, draft-free area) for 90 minutes or until doubled in size.

20 minutes before dough is done rising, preheat oven to 375F.

punch dough down and flatten it with your hands in a rectangular shape. cut in two in length, roll each portion tightly in the shape of a loaf. place on a parchment/Silpat-lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, or until the bottoms sound hollow when tapped, the top is golden brown, and if you have one: that an instant-read thermometer gives you a 190-200F reading.
note that if you have to leave your breads in longer and that you notice they are getting a bit too tanned, cover them with some foil to prevent any further, uhm, tanning.

let cool on a rack before slicing.

Carob Spread

1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans, rinsed
2 T shredded coconut
2 T carob powder
2 T nut butter of your choice [I used cashew/macadamia]
2 T coconut oil
2 T maple syrup
1/2 t pure vanilla extract

place all ingredients in your food processor, and mix until completely smooth, stopping often to scrape sides with rubber spatula.

chill for a few hours and enjoy on your favorite bread, or in your oatmeal, for breakfast.

makes approximately 1 1/2 cups.

my head was elsewhere in the past few days, which explains the late-itude in responding to comments and in posting the recipes that were promised; hopefully I can get back on track now.

I may not have had any cake, but I got wonderful tasty oatmeal cookies my friend Cat baked for me!

I’ll be working on baking & mailing out a few thank-you packages in the coming days, but alas: no chocolate involved as the temperature has definitely started to soar and wouldn’t make for a friendly package-opening discovery.

“oh dear god, what is that? it looks like…”

yeah, I can almost picture it.

the happy for today: a card from Bazu!
and on the side, the infamous VWAV crispy peanut butter cookies that I made using sock_buttons‘ trick of adding 2 T each of molasses and whiskey to the wet ingredients. it’s coarse sea salt you can see on the top, by the way.
(I also used less (Turbinado) sugar and whole wheat pastry flour, but that’s beside the point!)

miss B, upon hearing about my quest for healthier eating & drinking
also sent a myriad of goodies, including maple sugar, date sugar, lavender, detox teas, etc…
let’s not forget her world-famous sourdough starter! and even a charming piece of origami I’m assuming she made herself. can you even…?

it’s good to know that even from afar, friends are watching my back. thank you, Bazu!

totally unrelated, but for breakfast today: I had some carob hummus. yes, carob hummus. and it was delicious! who knew?
if anyone wants to give it a try, I’ll hook you up with the recipe.

if you don’t know about Nut and Bee yet, you have to click on the above picture to check out their stuff. I could spend hours looking at all the fun, cute things they make.

on the food front, I was lazy and didn’t bother with pictures of any of the following. I’m feeling both iffy and busy, so while I’ve been working on several goodies, it’ll take me a while longer to get around and posting about it all.

in the meantime, here are a few new things we had during the weekend, that will definitely be on rotation over here from now on:

• Urban Vegan’s English Muffins
• Eat, Drink & Be Vegan’s Cumin Lime Tofu: I’m trying to learn and love cumin, and recipes like this one? definitely help.
• Bon Appétit’s Rustic Plum and Port Tart with the usual pie crust (scroll down for recipe): just be sure to let the dough cool down completely before handling it, it’d make for a mess if it were too warm since there’s no pie pan involved.
• Yellow Rose Recipes‘ Green-Wa: so easy to prepare, healthy, AND satisfying.
• Quick-Fix Vegetarian’s Green Onion & Lime Hummus (only used 1 green onion as I eat the stuff for breakfast too…if you catch my drift)
• Vegan Planet’s Cilantro Pesto: thick and delicious spread on bread! I finished the leftovers mixed in with the Lime Hummus and some tomato sauce, all of it stirred into flax whole grain pasta.
• Quick-Fix Vegetarian’s Curried Pumpkin Soup, sans pecans, but throwing in some Kale and White Beans for good measure instead…

hope you all had a great Mother’s Day celebration!

for those of you who like the adapted black bean brownies I’ve talked about over and over again: I lowered the sugar amount to 1/2 cup, and they came out just as perfect. I’m making them at least once weekly these days, freeze them, and end up thawing them up day after day after…well, you get the idea.

anyway, this up here? it’s a mole (thank you, Ricki, for reminding me of the word!) bread. a savory sort of bread, with a spicy kick. it’s made of 100% whole wheat, too, if you’re into that kind of thing.
(you can see Robin Robertson’s Black Bean Chili with Chocolate from the April 2008 issue of VegNews behind it)
I’ll post the recipe for the bread once life stops being crazy like it is today.

happy Friday, everyone!

they are absolutely delicious, but I want to work on them again when it comes to appearance. there’s a couple of things I didn’t think about prior to getting started with the kneading: I would have loved the chocolate part to be darker, which will be corrected by adding cocoa powder to the dough, instead of thinking that grated bittersweet chocolate will do the trick.

I’m already plotting the next bread, and let’s just say it will make good use of the chili I was wondering what to do with…

on another note, check out the menus I have in mind for the coming days.
I.
can’t.
wait!

the subtle flavor of nutmeg goes really well with the eventual nut butter you might slather upon these babies. I know my taste buds are still dancing for joy…

adapted from my gal Betty Crocker’s Bread Machine Cookbook, but no bread machine involved here.

for 4 rolls:

1/2 cup sweet potato purée [I used homemade but you can find it canned too; if it was in the fridge prior to use, bring it to room temp. if it is still hot, you want to let it cool down to being lukewarm, so as not to kill the yeast]
1/3 cup + 2 T pure water
1 T canola oil
2 T pure maple syrup
1 cup bread flour [spoon and level]
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour [s & l]
1/4 cup dark rye flour [s & l]
1 T soy milk powder [optional, but it helps with the texture and adds protein, albeit a trivial amount]
4 t vital wheat gluten
1 t sea salt
1/4 t ground nutmeg
3/4 t bread machine or instant-rise yeast

if your yeast isn’t too fresh, proof it by whisking it in lukewarm water along with the syrup for about 10 minutes. it should bubble up and foam. you’re good to go if that’s the case, if not? toss and grab a new pack of yeast and do it all over again.

I usually don’t bother because I buy so much yeast that it doesn’t have time to go bad.

whisk in oil and sweet potato. start adding the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon, until you need to start using your hands to knead the dough. place on a clean, lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, for about 5-10 minutes. you might have to add a little more flour (a little at a time!) until it’s not too sticky anymore. shape into a ball.

lightly coat a large bowl with oil, swirl the dough around to coat it so that it doesn’t go dry while rising. cover with lid or plastic wrap, let rise in a warm area for 90 minutes.

20 minutes prior to dough being done rising, preheat oven to 400F.
lightly coat 4 mini Bundt pans with non-stick cooking spray, add flour and shake it around so that it covers the whole pan. if you don’t want to use Bundt pans, simply line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.

punch down dough, flatten it a bit and divide into 4 equal parts. shape into balls.

if using mini Bundt pans: make a hole in the center of each ball of dough, like you would with a bagel. place it in the pan and press it down with the flat of a spoon.

if not using Bundt pans: place on prepared baking sheet.

bake for 20 minutes, until the bottoms sound hollow when tapped, the rolls look golden brown, and that an instant-read thermometer reads the rolls to be 200F in their center.
(there’s no need for a second rise with the type of yeast used here, but if you use active dry yeast instead? definitely cover them up with plastic wrap and let them rise again before putting them in the oven.)

let cool on a rack.

Sweet Potato Bread baked in a mini Bundt pan

[Buffy fans might recognize the wannabe-copycat title here. if not, well, good for you not being a Buffy-geek?]

in the past few months, I’ve been making bread in function of what we need:
“Chaz needs sandwiches today, so I shouldn’t make sweet bread.”
“I wish I could use pecan nuts…but crap, Chaz hates them!” (mmm…see a pattern here?)
and so on…but now I’m bursting with crazy bread ideas and I can’t put them on the backburner anymore.
there will be more inventive bread creations in the coming days/weeks, as dough is my witness, and I hope they’ll turn out as nicely as I envision them to be.

a little tip if you want to avoid wasting plastic wrap for when you put your bread to rise: get yourself a set of Pyrex bowls with lids. when the dough is rising, simply whip out one of the lids and pop it onto your bowl. it’s so easy being green! one less plastic wrap cover to end up in the trash.

did you know that raw yeast is harmful to cats and dogs? it will keep on expanding once ingested, causing pain and even rupture of the stomach or intestines. just a note to keep the stuff away from your four-legged babies while baking bread, and to make sure to clean up any possible spills.

here’s a list of other foods that are possibly harmful to cats and dogs.

NB: I know that in some cases, it’d take massive amounts of the foods listed to cause any harm, but I’m totally paranoid when it comes to Buff and Will [yes, another proof of Buffy-geekdom] and I prefer being safe than sorry.

these are fairly healthy (and delicious): not too rich in fat (especially if you use a milk alternative other than soy creamer), made with whole-grain flour, and containing no refined sugar.
they also look pretty dark because the carob powder I’m getting now from Bulk Foods is, well, darker than the ones I used to get before for some reason. it’s also tastier, so no one’s complaining.

for 6 muffins:

preheat oven to 325F. line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup + 2 T pumpkin purée
1/4 cup soy creamer [can use milk alternatives instead]
2 T canola oil

whisk together in a medium bowl.

1/2 cup + 2 T whole wheat pastry flour (spoon and level for the cup, scoop and level for the T)
1/4 cup carob powder [or cocoa powder if you prefer]
1 t baking soda
pinch sea salt
if you have access to Butty’s Pain d’Epices spices, add 1 t of it instead of the following. otherwise, this should do the trick:
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
pinch cardamom

sift together in a medium bowl.

1/4 cup carob chips [or chocolate chips]

mix wet + dry + chips together until well combined. fill all 6 muffin cups. bake for 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

let cool on a rack.

Is there anything a chocolate chip cookie can’t do? I didn’t think so.

But before I get started on these ones (the recipe is at the very bottom of this page), here’s a list of a few things I had fun with this weekend:

- Vegan Bacon from VegWeb: quite crispy when sliced thinly and left to cool down. wonderful to have in a freshly baked roll along with some sliced avocado! granted, Lightlife’s tempeh bacon is still number one in my book, but this recipe is pretty nifty to have around when you’re in a pinch.

- Breakfast today: the sweetest teeth out there might find this to be a bit lacking. I’ll add a touch of cinnamon and maybe even just a drop of maple syrup the next time I make it. I played it on the safe side and just prepared what I needed: about 1 T crunchy natural PB and the same quantity of pumpkin purée.

- Tamarind Wild Rice with Brown Sugar & Chile Tamarind Pieces: adapted from V-con’s recipe, but using an 8oz bag of uncooked wild rice for it, upping the liquid to 2 1/3 cups, throwing in a few chopped pieces of that Trader Joe’s tamarind stuff I like so much, and preparing it all in a rice cooker. I only cooked the medium shallot I used, as well as the other spices, in a small saucepan with 1 T coconut oil and threw it all in the cooker before actually getting started with the rice.
Verdict of the adaptation? I have trouble putting my fork down in between bites, it’s so good.

Back to the cookies, finally: I decided I needed to make these Vegetarian Times’ Chocolate Chip Spelt Cookies again, and thought I might as well post the downsized recipe here, for 2 big cookies (think store-bought size):

preheat oven to 375F. prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. I actually used the toaster oven again and didn’t even coat the sheet with anything, it worked out fine.

3 T crunchy natural peanut butter
3 T pure maple syrup
1/4 t pure vanilla extract

whisk all these ingredients in a medium bowl.

1/4 cup + 1/2 T light spelt flour (spoon and level for the cup, scoop and level for the T)
1/8 t baking soda
pinch sea salt
2 T semisweet chocolate chips

whisk together in a small bowl, add to wet ingredients and stir until well combined.

separate dough into two, flatten it to about 1/2-inch thickness: the cookies will flatten down just a little bit while baking.

bake for 12-15 minutes, you want them to be golden brown and set. let cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes. finish to cool on rack.

That would be me.

These were baked in my faithful muffin top pan. NO bread machine required.
Of course you can make them sans muffin top pan, simply shaping them the way you want them to be. But where’s the fun in that?

The fun thing about muffin top buns is that they’re a bit more spread out which means they have more room to spread the stuff you like the most, such as Earth Balance, homemade jams, Pateline or Not-ella, nut butters, et cetera…

Anyway, I was planning on posting the recipe for the buns you saw the other day [you know, the ones with the apricot jam?], but then I decided to go nuts and make Teese buns instead. yes, TEESE buns. I froze the package of Teese and grated it like it’s never been grated before. Be sure to wear your mittens, because your hands are gonna feel it. It’s totally worth it!

You know what would have been ace? If I had had some leftover marinara I ate yesterday with lentil miso balls (and teese on top). I would have totally hidden some in the center of the unbaked dough, for a delightful tomato-ey surprise. Do it if you have some!

Adapted from the good ol’ Betty Crocker Bread Machine Cookbook.

for 4 buns:

2/3 cup pure water, at room temperature
1 cup white whole wheat flour [spooned and leveled; plain whole wheat will work out fine too]
1 cup bread flour [spooned and leveled too]
1/2 cup shredded Teese
4 t vital wheat gluten
1 T agave nectar
2 t soy milk powder
1 1/2 t dried minced onion
1/2 T canola oil
3/4 t sea salt
3/4 t rapid rise yeast or bread machine yeast

place all ingredients in a large bowl, in the order mentioned above. stir with a wooden spoon, then start using your hand to start the kneading process in the bowl. pour the dough onto a clean, lightly floured [if need be] surface and knead away for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. shape dough into a ball.

lightly oil your large bowl, swirl dough to coat with oil. cover with plastic wrap, let rise in a warm, draft-free area for 90 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

preheat oven to 375F, about 20 minutes prior to the dough being done rising.
spray 4 of the muffin top pan cavities with non-stick cooking spray. sprinkle cornmeal in pan, tapping it gently to make sure cornmeal covers the whole cavity surface, removing excess.

place now-risen dough on a clean surface, punch it down. flatten it a bit and divide into 4 equal parts. shape into balls. place in muffin top pan cavities and press down with knuckles to cover the whole area.

bake for 20 minutes, or until your instant-read thermometer finds the buns to be at 200F in their center. if you don’t have a thermometer, just be sure the buns are golden brown and that their bottoms sound hollow when tapped.

let cool on a rack a little, enjoy while still warm.

alas, gotta be a grown-up sometimes and not only go for the sweeter stuff. I suppose.

fooled you with what you see up there, namely apricot jam with fresh-out-of-the-oven buns [recipe coming up later, by the way], but here’s the recipe for something I made some days ago and that definitely keeps me going from the early hours on.
oh, and it’s quite tasty too, which never hurts.
(I don’t have a picture of it yet because I eat breakfast when it’s still way dark outside, but I’ll try and snap a shot sooner or later…don’t hate me because I’m a morning person, yo!)

Whole Wheat Couscous Bowl Of Doom, makes 6 portions
adapted from Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure, by Lorna Sass

1 1/2 cups whole wheat couscous
3 cups unsweetened milk alternative [I used soy milk, but whatever you have is fine. even sweetened, or vanilla-flavored]
1 1/2 t pure vanilla extract [optional if using vanilla-flavored milk]
1 cup chopped walnuts [feel free to sub other nuts for this]
1 cup chopped dates [use other dried fruits if you prefer]

once couscous is couscous-ked, I mean, cooked:
3 t rosewater [optional]
maple syrup, agave nectar, more milk alternative, fresh fruit [all optional, to taste]

place all ingredients in a medium saucepan. cover with a tight-fitting lid, bring to a boil, lower heat and let simmer for 5-10 minutes, until liquid is absorbed. add optional 3 t of rosewater, fluff with a fork.
divide into 6 portions: you can let them cool down and…

a. freeze them for later use at this point: simply thaw out portion the night before, add a little milk alternative, pop into the microwave for a minute or so, and throw in your favorite sweetener and other add-ins,

or

b. serve immediately when still hot (but not hot enough to peel off your palate), with a little more milk alternative if you want, fresh fruit, and sweeten with agave nectar or maple syrup, to taste.

yes, it’s that time of the year when I decide to kick grocery shopping to the curb and make do with what’s at home, so that means: no baking or cooking allowed until we’ve gotten rid of most items we already have. such a sad, boring time: Buffy’s expression says it all.

I’ve recently nixed refined sugar from my breakfast*, and attempted to add a bit more (healthy) fats to it so that it lasts me for a longer period than my good old Luna Bar did. and it works! this morning I had a sweet corn muffin top to which I added some cashew & macadamia nut butter from Trader Joe’s. what a treat!

so of course I am now looking all over the place for inspiration and recipes that would fit the bill of such breakfasts, and let me tell you: I can’t wait for the pantry to get more acceptably empty so that I can whip out the apron and whisk all over again!

in the meantime, I’ll just try to benefit from the culinary (as well as photography) break and grab some energy for what’s to come.

*I’m considering getting rid of it for every meal, in the long run, but considering I just successfully lowered my caffeine intake, let’s take things a bit slow, shall we?
but anyway, I’m doing it because my blood sugar has been a bit wonky for a little while. besides, I work out so much in the morning that I need something more nourishing than a Luna Bar, no matter how tasty these can be.

this blog was rated E for e-nnoying by Lindy Loo. ps? she doesn’t like my boobies.

my turn to spread the love to two blogs of merit, and in their case? E definitely stands for Excellent. although if I really wanted to give my vote to everyone whose blog I can’t get enough of, let’s just say this post would obviously never end.

my vote goes to Anni and Heikki of tofu for two, and to Anna of twelve22.