Fun With Your Food

To be technical these are Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pies with a Cashew Cream filling. That title seemed a little too long for some reason.

I think I love coworkers birthdays more than my own. I get to bake something that I’ve never made and everyone gets to try it. Don’t get me wrong, I bake on my birthday too but there’s something about baking for someone else that makes me joyful. Do I sound like Betty Crocker? Martha a little? Gesh, I better stop that.
I used a recipe from La Dolce Vegan (of course I modified it). I’d like to make a LOW fat version of this recipe because it’s just far too much butter for me. The cookies do taste good though.

Oatmeal cookies

Ingredients
½ cup vegan margarine (at room temp)
¼ cup maple syrup or agave (you can add more for a sweeter cookie)
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup flour
¼ cup “milk”
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
¼ cup of nuts (optional- I like sliced almonds)
Chocolate chips to taste. About a ¼ to ½ a cup

Pre heat your over to 325 degrees. Cream the margarine with your sweetener and vanilla. Add the oats, flour, milk, baking powder, spices, nuts and chocolate to the margarine mixture. I started with a fork and then ended up doing it with my hands and almost kneading it. I prefer smaller cookies so I scooped the dough into teaspoon size balls but you can use a tablespoon for larger cookies. You must shape these cookies and press them flat, they will not spread while baking.
Place on oiled cookie sheet. For smaller cookies bake for 8-10 mins. Larger cookies will take from 15-20 minutes.

Cashew Cream
1 cup cashews
¼ cup H20
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1-3 tablespoons agave
Large pinch of lemon zest

Soak the cashews for at least 8 hours. Place in food processor with all other ingredients and blend until smooth. You can really change this recipe up a lot (add spices, different extracts…). The most important part is soaking the nuts. You can change the amounts of most anything else to suit your taste.

I’m the only who has tried these so far but I like them!
Teddy

Thank you for your bday wishes! I’ve been enjoying my visit home and I hope every one’s holidays have been as good as mine



Dessert first, as always, vegan chocolate sour cherry loaf with chunks of dark chocolate. A week or two ago I took a quick breads class and this was my favorite I instantly knew that I was making it for Thanksgiving.

Okay this is the last time (I think) I’ll post cashew cream but this really tops of the heavy thick chocolate loaf very nicely so it HAD TO be done.

Lightly curried sweet potato & tempeh filling for my sweet potato pastry puffs.

Fresh from our oven: Sweet potato & tempeh pastry puff (any ideas for names on this one? not sure I like this name.)

How fantastic is this retro serving platter I found at my grandma’s place? I wish I had a house full of random retro plates!

I swear I didn’t eat the whole sweet potato casserole…. Yet

Sweet potatoes topped with cinnamon maple syrup and pecans. I noticed some family members picking at this dish and munching the pecan topping. That’s a success in my book.

MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT. A chef’s jacket that has my name embroidered on it. Best. Present. Ever.

How was your holiday?

Teddy

This weekend I am cooking at the Natural Epicureans annual vegan thanksgiving brunch. Look at the insanity of my schedule for the last few days:

Thursday: 730-1030 find a wheel and tire
11-6pm work
6pm-8:30pm school
Friday:
8am-530pm work (getting a tire installed at some point today as well)
6pm-10pm prepare for tomorrows feast- including baking 6 pies.. AH
Saturday
630am -3pm Thanksgiving brunch event
3pm- NAP TIME
10:00PM perhaps back to the future at the draft house

Insane right? I thought so. A great breakfast was needed to start this busy 2 days.

Pumpkin Oats with new and improved cashew cream. What made this batch of cream better? I soaked it for 2 days and added some cinnamon.

Work time for Teddy. Signing off and urging you, once again, MAKE SOME CASHEW CREAM

Teddy

My oh my that is one orange dessert. Don’t be scared. As orange as it is, this dish is a throw back to those crazy jellos of the 60’s. Only this dish is vegan and perhaps a million and 3 times better. Although, you’ll probably need an adventurous group to try this one.

Simply 4 ingredients make this one:
Carrot juice, 1 tablespoon organic pumpkin pie filling, apples and agar-agar.

What makes kanten irresistible is cashew cream. I think I could eat cashew cream on just about anything and it’s so simple to make. Soak raw cashews (NOT ROASTED OR SALTED) in H20 for at the very least 2 hours (up to 2 days if you’d like). Vroom it in the food processor with some lemon juice, agave and flavorings of your choice until it is smooth and creamy. Give THAT one a try sometime for sure
Teddy