Saturday, December 13, 2008

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!

22 comments:

nora said...

Oh Dreena! Everything looks GREAT! I so wish i could volunteer for testing, but I won't be home until next Saturday (the 20th), and I have a feeling you might want the testing done before then! (if that's not too late though, I'd LOVE to!)
cute story about your daughter! it reminds me of this time when i was little and my dad was driving me to a blues music festival, and i turned to him and said, "daddy, you're a nice man to take little children to the blues fester!" haha
--Nora

janelle said...

That's so sweet about your daughter! What a great compliment. Everything looks delicious and those veggie burger cupcakes are so fun!

Anonymous said...

Those burger cupcakes are adorable! As are those gingerbread cookies!!! =) I wish I could be a tester but I don't use any fats in my cookies which might prevent me from making them. But I will for sure be looking out for the recipe!

allularpunk said...

i am definitely going to be baking some of your cookies this week! that chocolat bark looks asolutely amazing!

Anonymous said...

Those gingerbread people look delicious !!! Of course so do the homestyle chocolate chip cookies (which we bake once a week !!)

Michelle said...

this year, we made your Chocolate Mint Melties, White Choc. Chip Macadamia Nut, Choc. Chunk Spice Cookies, and the Chocolate Bark for gifting.. yum!

Animal-Friendly said...

I'm loving all of this sweet stuff! I'm obsessed with my ice cream scoop and can't remember the last time I made a cookie without it! Thanks for the tip of flattening the cookies out a bit before baking them- I'll keep it in mind next time I make your chocolate chip cookies. Oh, and those cupcake veggie burgers are TOO CUTE!

Anonymous said...

I'm completely addicted to your Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies (I know the recipe off by heart now!). I'm not going to tell you how many batches I've made since I found your recipe a month ago!
I like the idea of the chocolate bark, I think my hubby might find some of that in his stocking!
Thanks for the wonderful ideas!

Anonymous said...

i love those chocolate chip cookies, too!! i thought i'd never say that a cookie was better than the refrigerated cookie dough ones (i used to eat those all the time), but these are.

i have the book "hey there cupcake." they have so many cute cupcakes, but most of them are pretty time consuming. the designs are all really funky though. i love those veggie burgers!!!

Anonymous said...

yum, yum, yum... yum, yum and YUM!

I know someone else who shares your genetic tendencies towards sweets!

(I have my plate hanging over my stove... a friend just commented on it the other day... ha!)

aTxVegn said...

Aww, you will always remember your daughter telling you that you are really kind.

I seem to wear out and buy a new cookie scoop every year. It's definitely an essential kitchen tool!

All the treats look wonderful, Dreena!

Teresa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Teresa said...

OOOhhh I love gingerbread, and I haven't eaten it since going vegan. I can't wait to try this recipe!

That plate is just too cute. I love your mom already! And your daughter... she's one smart cookie!

Speaking of christmas gifts... I just made a bunch of batches of your hempanola to pass out to various people this holiday!

urban vegan said...

I love your cookies best of all, Dreena.

You should do an all-cookie book one day.

nora said...

i think isa's beatin' her to it haha

Anonymous said...

Thank you Dreena for opening my eyes to vegan baking! I made extensive use of the cookies recipes from your cookbooks for my holiday baking this year and everything turned out GREAT!

http://wscwong.typepad.com/dessert_by_candy/2008-vegan-holiday-cookies.html

Anonymous said...

your food makes my mouth water...

Anonymous said...

Everything looks GREAT!
--------------------------------------
Everything looks delicious and those veggie burger cupcakes are so fun!

Anonymous said...

Everything looks GREAT!
--------------------------------------
Everything looks delicious and those veggie burger cupcakes are so fun!

Anonymous said...

I'm not going to tell you how many batches I've made since I found your recipe a month ago!
--------------------------------------
I like the idea of the chocolate bark, I think my hubby might find some of that in his stocking!
Thanks for the wonderful ideas!

Anonymous said...

I seem to wear out and buy a new cookie scoop every year. It's definitely an essential kitchen tool!
--------------------------------------
All the treats look wonderful, Dreena!

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