Sparkled Ginger Cookies and Mexican Wedding Cookies

These ginger cookies are from Vegan with a Vengeance and they're a favorite in our house. They're beautifully spiced (ginger, cinnamon, and clove) and bedecked with a sugar topping. They have a nice winter feel so they made it into the Christmas cookie bags I put together for everyone at work.


The second cookie in the cookie bag are the Mexican Wedding Cookies (or Snowballs) from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I'd never had these before but they seemed appropriately festive. They were mighty tasty I have to say. Messy, but tasty. I used a combination of pecans and hazelnuts for the chopped nuts. This recipe made so many cookies: 3 cookie sheets of balls, something like 75 cookies; it was supposed to make 36, so I guess I made them small, but I followed the directions with 1 teaspoon per ball. The size worked well, allowing many cookies per person and perfectly bite-size cookies (they're quite cute). It also took me probably close to half an hour to roll all those balls. These bake longer than any other cookie I've made before, about half an hour.

I can't even think about eating anything with sugar in it now. Hopefully everyone likes their treats! Happy Holidays!

Biscuits with White Bean and Tempeh Sausage Gravy

This is another favorite here in our house. The biscuit recipe I get from The Joy of Vegan Baking, I like this one because it doesn't use shortening, which I prefer not to use whenever possible. The gravy recipe is from Vegan with a Vengeance.

For the gravy, the tempeh is cooked up with some spices (I double the crushed red pepper) first and then pureed white beans, olive oil, and water are added. The resemblance to white gravy is uncanny--although this version is protein-packed and cruelty free! I have made this dish for more non-vegan than anything else. They've all loved, so it has great crossover appeal as well!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday. We're heading out to a party in just a bit. We have a small group that will all be dressed as tourists (we found some great Hawaiian shirts and fanny packs at our local Goodwill store). I whipped up a batch of the Chocolate Almond Brittle from The Joy of Vegan Baking for the occasion. This whipped up pretty quick, then just had to set for a couple of hours. It tastes great, but the chocolate starts to melt pretty quick in your hand.

Alright, have some fun, and may your night be filled with more treats than tricks!

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

We were heading over to visit some friends so I decided to whip up this pie from The Joy of Vegan Baking. The only cooking is of the crust. I made a graham cracker crust, but since I ran out of graham crackers (most had been used up for s'mores) I threw in some animal crackers to make up enough crumbs. The filling is extremely rich; made of tofu, soymilk, peanut butter, and melted chocolate. After assembly, it just needs to cool in the fridge for a couple of hours and it's good to go.

The crust didn't stay together too well for me, but that's no big deal. It tasted great, but was so rich that the slice above would be too much for just about anyone.