Paint it Pumpkin (VeganMoFo)

Happy Halloween!  I hope everyone has had a weekend full of costuming, scary movie movie watching and festive treats…or whatever it is that makes you smile (or scream!) during this special time of year.  Tonight I plan to dress up in my homemade wind-up doll costume and hand out candies to lil treat-or-treaters.  I spent Friday night out on the town in my nifty costume with friends and on Saturday my man and I enjoyed a scary movie double feature.  During intermission we wanted a festive treat so we decided to make pumpkin cookies.  We veganized this recipe from All Recipes and omitted the frosting.  They were scrumptious (and quite easy)!  These went perfectly with the strong coffee we brewed to keep us up for our second thriller.  

Boyfriend and I have a little tradition of making waffles on weekend mornings that we spend together at his house. He has a fancy waffle maker and all.  This weekend we jazzed our waffles up a bit by adding the remainder of the canned pumpkin we used in the cookies (about ½ a cup).  They made for a great weekend breakfast.  

 

We use Bisquick for our waffles and just follow the recipe on the side of the box, subbing soymilk and egg replacer for the non-vegan ingredients.  

Today also marks the last day of VeganMoFo!  I’m a bit sad, however I am so, so happy that I made it through and kept up posting on an almost daily basis.  I’ve learned a lot and added quite a few new blogs to my reader as well.  It’s been a scream!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread (VeganMoFo)

My go-to recipe for banana bread is the version found in La Dolce Vegan but when I’m in the mood for something a bit more decadent, I make my Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread.  This is a recipe that I adapted from a non-vegan version I found long ago in Vegetarian Times magazine.  It’s rich and delicious and just plain wonderful, although there’s really nothing plain about it.

 

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup natural sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ripe bananas

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Cooking spray (or vegan butter)

Equipment:

Medium - large mixing bowl

Small - medium mixing bowl

Oven preheated to 350 degrees

Loaf pan

Procedure:

1.  Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in your mixing bowl. 

2.  In the smaller bowl, mash the two bananas and combine with peanut butter, canola oil and applesauce. 

3.  Pour the banana mixture into your dry ingredients and mix well.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

4.  Spray a standard loaf pan with non stick cooking spray or rub with vegan butter.

5.  Pour batter into loaf pan and distribute evenly. 

6.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester can be inserted in the middle of the loaf and come out clean.  Allow to cool before slicing.

7.  Enjoy with coffee or hot tea.

Sweet Nut Puree Fruit Topping (VeganMoFo)

I often make this sweet nut puree when I have fresh berries on hand.  Because my farmers’ market continues to carry troughs of ripe, juicy strawberries, I have been devouring them like mad.  My latest batches of strawberries have been divine in Homemade Pop Tarts with coffee over the weekend and straight up as a snack, but my favorite way to enjoy these berries at breakfast lately has been topping them with this sweet mixture of raw nuts, sweetener and spices. 

This has been a great work breakfast for me because it requires no heating and is filling enough to get me to lunch.  I change up the kind of nuts I use for this depending on what I have in my freezer, although I almost always include cashews in the mix.  

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups raw nuts, soaked overnight (my favorite combo is cashews, pecans and slivered almonds)
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup, or other sweetener of choice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
Water or non-dairy milk, as needed

Equipment:

Medium bowl with lid of some sort
Food Processor or high speed blender

Procedure:

1.  In a bowl, cover your nut mixture with filtered water.  Place lid or plastic wrap on bowl and let sit overnight in the refrigerator.

2.  Drain your nut mixture the next morning.  Add to a food processor or high speed blender with the rest of the ingredients.

3.  Blend until fairly smooth, adding a splash of water or milk for a thinner consistency. 

4.  Place a healthy dollop on top of fresh fruit for a satisfying breakfast or afternoon snack. 

Homemade Pop-Tarts (VeganMoFo)

Recipe adapted from Food Coma.

Once I saw the delectable homemade pop tarts that Emma over at Food Coma made I began to salivate.  When I read about how easy they were to make, using store bought puff pastry, I had to try my hand at them.  These were sinfully delicious and made a perfect partner to my morning coffee and reading. 

I decided to make a strawberry version using my latest batch of strawberries from the farmers’ market.  I simply chopped up a pint and added a spoonful of sugar to them.

Cut each of the two sheets of puff pastry that come in a package (found in the freezer aisle of the grocery store) into 6 equal squares, for a total of 12 squares.  On them, place your fruit filling, making sure not to go all the way to the edges.  

Feeling a bit wild, I added a few semi-sweet chocolate chips to the filling for the second sheet of puff pastry.

Place a puff pastry square on top of the square with the filling and press around the edges with a fork to seal them.  Place squares on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a 375 degree oven for 16-18 minutes.   I rotated the baking sheet once during the cooking time, but you may not need to do this if your oven bakes evenly (jealous!).

 

While your tarts bake, make your glaze.  Taking cue from Emma again, I mixed powdered sugar with a splash of soy milk and a bit of Earth Balance.  I kept stirring in powdered sugar until I got the consistency I wanted.  

Remove tarts from the oven and allow to cool slightly.  Drizzle glaze on top and chow down as you sip your favorite morning beverage and catch up on some reading.