Get Your Sweet Tooth Ready!

Recipe Testing Update: Thank you to everyone that e-mailed with interest in testing the Gingerbread Folks. The requests came in quickly, and so I no longer need any testers. There'll be other goodies to test out in the future though!

It's time for the sweetest thing about being vegan - desserts! As I say in ed&bv, "sugar and spice and all things nice... that's what vegan desserts are made of". Vegan desserts... and girls, of course! :)

Starting with the topic of girls, I made a batch of my Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies this past week for a drive and outing that we had with the girls. I knew they would become fidgety in the car, so at the right time I pulled out a cookie for them to enjoy. Our 4-year old (who has her mom's sweet tooth), said "mommy, you are really kind", with a big chocolate-coated smile. Melted my heart. I love baking for the smiles it brings to people - especially the ones I love the most!

And, do you notice these cookies look rounder than most of my chipper posts? I used a cookie scoop... for the very 1st time! I've been wanting a cookie scoop for a while, so I bought myself a good stainless steel one. Fun to use, because all the cookie dough looks like miniature scoops of ice cream (mmmm). And, of course, all the cookies are uniform. I didn't press these down before baking at all, just for an experiment. Next time I will just a little, since I prefer the taste and texture of the cookies when flattened slightly. I love using the scoop though, and if you decide to buy one, be sure observe for the right size. Some are too tiny for my use, and others too large. But, you may want smaller/larger ones for your own use.

And, did you get a peek of the plate beneath the cookies? My mom had these plates done for our family years ago. One for every member in the family. I have five sisters, and we all have one with our name and with a slightly different looking girl. Don't forget you can get this chipper recipe here.

On to chocolate bark. If you are fairly new to my blog, you need to know that making Sublime Chocolate Bark is my Christmas tradition. I made a large batch this week and have it all ready for packaging and gifting! I sometimes make a couple of batches to vary flavors, but for sure I always make my signature flavor, which is almond-cranberry-ginger. It is outstanding when you use a high-quality chocolate. The recipe is here. It's easy, go make it and gift it (if you manage to keep it long enough to give away)!

Next, I received an e-mail from Christine, who sent this adorable photo to me. That's right, folks, you're looking at cupcake veggie burgers! You knew they were veg burgers, didn't you? :) She mentioned that she baked my vanilla and chocolate cupcake recipes, and her sister D'Anne decorated, following an idea they found in a book called "Hey There Cupcake!". (anyone familiar with this book?) This photo was just too darn cute to keep to myself! Thanks for sharing, Christine!

Finally, like many of you, I've been doing some holiday baking. Though, admittedly, I've been eating most of these so far... a new recipe for (wheat-free) Gingerbread Folks.

Not only wheat-free, they also don't have margarine. I really love these, though the decorating portion is not my passion, so I'm not winning any awards with my decorating skills here! Nevertheless, simple is always good, and these folks are no exception, imo. They are especially delicious dunked into soy nog!
You can see I've used my KitchenAid mixer for this batter, and the batter is just ready here in this photo. See how it's come together and moved cleanly away from bowl? It's now ready to roll out, cut, and bake! Now, I've *just* finished tweaking the recipe, and I really need to run through it once more myself. But, if any of you have a desperate need for a wheat-free or margarine-free gingerbread, e-mail me and I'll set you up as an official tester! I may only need a couple of testers, so get your e-mail in soon to dreena@everydayvegan.com.


If you're wondering about some other cookies for holiday baking, don't forget that my Chocolate Mint Melties, Coconut Raspberry Squares, and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are all great choices that won't having you slaving away at the stove for hours. Skedaddle... get baking!