Two-Step-Back Pie

This pie is not for the faint of heart (or pancreas).  It was originally called Maple Cream Pie.  It does have maple in it, but flavor-wise it just wasn't prominent enough for so deserving a title (in my opinion).  But then I was stumped on what to rename it.  What description would sum up something so smooth, creamy, buttery, with smackerels of brown-sugar chewyness?  It's just freakin' good.  To quote my eldest daughter..."It's so creamy!  I think it's the best pie I've ever had!"  The pre-veganized version called for heavy cream and butter.  Back in the day, I thought "wow, this really puts ya two steps back on your diet." And so, for lack of nothing better, we have Two-Step-Back Pie.

You might try throwing some pecans on top because it's almost reminiscent of a pecan pie, only not so over-the-top sweet, and more creamy.  Great for any holiday dessert table.  Just try to stay out of it while it's waiting patiently in the fridge, though.  Lock up the spoons!

Pie Shell (or use your favorite):
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup walnut oil
4 Tbsp water

Mix the flour and salt.  Add the oil, and mix with a fork until combined.  Add the water, and mix again.  Roll out, or simply press into a pie plate with your hands. 

Filling:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup

Mix all with a fork and sprinkle evenly over the pie shell. 

Pour 1-1/2 cups almond & cashew cream (I used MimicCreme brand) over the flour/sugar mixture, and gently stir around a bit.

Dot the top with 3 Tbsp Earth Balance buttery spread.

Cover the edges of the pie with foil, and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 60-65 minutes, til set.

Let cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate.

This is pure dessert decadence....but worth every step back.

Secret Agent Peanut Butter Cookies

 

I can't really consider these "secret agent" since my 9-yr-old watched me make them and sampled along the way, with giggles of ecstasy as she licked her fingers, the bowl, the scoop, and then at last nibbled down the finished cookie warm from the oven.  "Oh my goodness!" and "can I have another one??" is a sure sign of success, especially from that girl.

I did see a glimpse of my chickpea-hating husband sneaking off to the other room with a handful, though, before any ingredient info could be given.  What he doesn't know is good for him.

The original recipe came from www.texanerin.com.  The recipes are not all vegan, but she's got some good-looking whole-grain/natural-sugar recipes on her site, so check it out!

My daughter talks of a peanut butter hummus they made at school, and I have a sneaking suspicion the recipe is similar, because this uncooked dough would make a really yummy dip!

So, enough already - you're hungry -  let's make cookies!  This makes about 18 small ones.

Preheat oven to 350.

In a food processor, blend til smooth:

1-1/4 cup canned drained and pat-dried chickpeas
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup

Add (mix in or pulse a few times in the processor):
1/3 cup dairy-free chocolate chips

Using a 1/8 scoop, drop onto a sprayed baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. 

These are especioally yummy right out of the oven!

Autumn Shepard's Pie

This is just one of many variations for veggie shepard's pie that I make, depending on the friends and family it will be feeding and the season in which it hits the table.  This one is particularly yummy, if I do say so myself.  I was going to rename it something snappy like "Shep-less Pie," but like an autumn evening with friends bundled around a fire (gazing in vain at an overcast sky for the Harvest Moon), there's just something comforting in the name. 


Toss and roast at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes (squash roasts faster than carrots, so I use a separate pan):
1/2 of a good-sized buttercup squash, diced large (peeled, if you don't know where it came from)
4 large carrots, sliced
2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
Salt & pepper
Dried thyme
Garlic powder
4 Tbsp EVOO

Whip:
3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced, boiled til fork tender
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup Earth Balance buttery spread
Salt & pepper

Set aside:
2 cups fresh or frozen corn
1 cup frozen edamame

Make gravy by simmering/whisking in a small saucepan until thickened:
2 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (such as Annie's Naturals)
2 Tbsp flour (and/or corn starch) & 1/4 c water (eyeball the measurements), whisked

Layer in a casserole dish, pressing down as you go:
Squash
Carrot/onion/celery/edamame mixture
Corn
Gravy
Mashed potato

 

 

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes, covered loosely with foil.

 

 

Energy Balls

These originally came from an episode of "Get Fresh with Sara Snow," which I used to watch diligently back in the day.  I changed the recipe just a bit and have been making them for years.   They make a good school snack or breakfast.  With my early-morning work hours it's nice to have something to grab quick and munch on to tame the beast that is my tummy.

This makes about a dozen.

2-1/2 cups oats
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1 TBSP spirulina
1 TBSP cinnamon
1/2 cup nut or seed butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup fresh-brewed (hot) coffee

Mix all until thoroughly combined, adding the coffee last.  Let set until no longer sticky.

Using a 1/4-cup scoop, place balls on parchment or other surface until set enough to transfer to an airtight container. 

Store in the refrigerator. 

GF Banana Bread

I'm kinda sick of bananas at present...and I'm kinda fussy about banana bread too...but just saw a recipe posted on-line for some and got to pondering the three disheveled and blackened once-yellow and robust fruits in my refrigerator.  There's been a twinge of fall in the air the past couple days, what with school starting and the first changing of the leaves, and I've been hankering to be in the kitchen.  So, alone in the house, yelling at the dog who keeps getting into the rubbish, and swatting away the fruit flies that promptly appeared out of oblivion when I moved said bananas from fridge to counter,  I set to work.  Warm banana bread will make it better.

That inspiring on-line recipe was a Hawaiian variation which included macadamia nuts and coconut.  I went old school to avoid the grunts and looks of disgust from my youngest child.  But feel free to add nuts, etc to your own batter.  It was also not gluten free, but I feel better about baking with less wheat of late.  I'd never used quinoa flour before, but it gave the bread a nice nutty richness and apparently can be readily swapped out for white/wheat flour.  Way cool. 

Makes one loaf.

3 overripe bananas
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup Earth Balance buttery spread
1/4 cup almond milk
2 cups quinoa flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Coat your grandma's bread pan with baking spray.

Whisk maple syrup and buttery spread together in a bowl, and then add bananas, mashing as you go.  Add milk, and combine.

Add the dry ingredients, and mix until you have a nice silky batter.

Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

 Let cool a bit, then transfer to a wire rack.

Put the naughty dog to bed, set out a jar of vinegar for the fruit flies, and put your feet up on the backyard swing, enjoying a buttered slab of banana bread and one of the few remaining lazy evenings of summer.

Quickie Stirfry Wrap

My uncle gave me a cabbage the size of a bowling ball, and I never seem to think about making coleslaw until it is already dinner time (it's so much better if it festers for a few hours).  So, I've been whipping (er, shredding) up these wraps for a few days as a quick and yummy lunch.  I do not measure - just eyeball it...my filling is generally too much for the wrap, but you know where you keep the forks and napkins.

A Tbsp or so peanut oil
Bragg's Liquid Aminos, a good squirt
1-2 cups shredded/sliced cabbage
4 oz tempeh, sliced thin
A handful of sungold tomatoes, halved
A generous shmear of Nayonaise
One wrap (I used one made from rice flour)

Heat the oil in a medium saute pan. 

Add the cabbage, tempeh, and sungolds.  Stir and fry until tender and browned, about 5 minutes, adding the liquid aminos during the last couple minutes.

Warm the wrap over the top of the pan, if you like, to make it more pliable.  And then spread the middle with Nayo.

Pour veggies onto the center of the wrap. 

Messy and delicious!  The way lunch should be.

Blueberry Oat Muffins

The family picked a quart or so of blues off our two bushes the other day.  They were a bit tart.  It hasn't stopped my youngest (a serious blueberry aficionado/lover) from gobbling them down.  But before she could annihilate the entire container, I whipped up some muffins this evening.  I only had (gasp!) all-purpose white flour in the cupboard, so I just quickly whizzed up some oatmeal in the food processor to make my own oat flour.  Easy peasy and so much more nutritious and hearty. 

Makes 12 regular-sized muffins

2/3 cup sweetener of your choice
1/4 cup Earth Balance butter (or oil)
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water
2 cups oat flour
1/3 cup oatmeal
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup rice milk (or other nondairy milk)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a muffin pan.

Mix sweetener, buttery spread, and flax mixture together. 

Add dry ingredients and milk/vanilla alternately into the wet mixture.

Add blueberries, mixing just until evenly distributed.

Scoop into muffin tin, and bake for 20 minutes. 

Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack. 

But don't let them cool too much...they need to be warm to slather more butter on (of course!)

Soft, moist, and blueberry-y-y...simple and delicious.  Blueberry muffins always remind me of my gramma's baking on weekend mornings at our family camp on Crescent Lake when I was a kid.  We'd pick the berries from the bushes by the water, and she'd toss them into her little Jiffy mix.  But I swear the 30 seconds it takes to make oat flour is just as convenient and even more yummy!