How It All Vegan!: Irresistible Recipes for an Animal-Free Diet (27 page)

1 cup raisins

1 tbsp vegan margarine

¾ cup sugar

2 tbsp ground flax seeds

3 tbsp water

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 unbaked pre-made pastry tart shells (3 inch)
or
home-made pastry dough

½ cup walnuts, finely chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Put raisins into a medium bowl and cover with very hot water. Set aside for 10 minutes. Drain hot water off of raisins and add margarine, sugar, flax seeds, water, and vanilla. Stir together well. Spoon 1 tbsp of mixture evenly into each tart shell. Sprinkle each tart with finely chopped walnuts. Bake for 15 minutes and serve at room temperature. Makes 12 tarts.

STICKY FINGER BUNS

It takes a few hours to make these buns, but you can do other things while you’re waiting for your dough to rise (like organize your closet, read a book, or thoroughly wash your hands—because you’ll be licking your sticky fingers after you’ve devoured these buns).

Buns:

2½ tsp
or
one packet dry active yeast

¼ cup warm water

1 tsp sugar

1 cup vegan milk

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup vegan margarine, room temperature

¼ cup ground flax seeds

1 tsp salt

3½ cups all purpose flour

Topping:

¾ cup vegan margarine

¾ cup sugar

½ cup pecans
or
walnuts, finely chopped

Center:

¼ cup vegan margarine

¾ cup sugar

½ cup walnuts
or
pecans, finely chopped

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Buns

In a small bowl, stir together the yeast with warm water and 1 tsp sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes (if your yeast mixture is not foamy, your yeast is dead).

In a mixer or a large bowl, blend together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, margarine, flax seeds, salt, and 1 cup of flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, kneading dough until smooth and elastic (add a little extra flour if the dough is too sticky).

Knead dough into a ball for 3–5 minutes, before transferring to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Turn dough until covered with oil, cover the bowl with cloth, and set aside in a warm, non-drafty spot and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume.

Topping

When dough is almost done rising, in a small saucepan on medium heat, melt the margarine, stir in the sugar, and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Pour topping evenly into the bottom of a lightly oiled 9 inch x 13 inch pan. Sprinkle evenly with pecans. Set aside.

Center

In a small saucepan, melt the ¼ cup of margarine. Set aside to cool.

Punch down dough and knead out air bubbles. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a large rectangle (18 by 9 inches). Brush the surface of the rolled dough with 2 tbsp of melted margarine (leaving a 1 inch border around the edge). Sprinkle margarine area evenly with sugar, pecans, and cinnamon. Starting at the long edge, tightly roll up dough into a log and pinch the seam to seal. Brush the outside of the log with remaining 2 tbsp of melted margarine. With a bread knife, cut log into 16 pieces and place cut side down in pan with topping. Cover with cloth and set aside in a warm, non-drafty spot and let dough rise for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake for 25–30 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let sit for 5 minutes and then remove buns by flipping them over onto another pan or serving tray. Spoon any remaining topping back over the buns. Serve warm. Makes 16 buns.

For added yummy, you can drizzle with the tops of your buns with “Cream Cheese” Frosting or Quick Cake Glaze (recipes below), but wait until buns are completely cooled before you frost.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

½ cup vegan “cream cheese”

2 tbsp vegan margarine

½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup vegan icing sugar

In a food processor, blend all ingredients together until smooth. Makes approx. 1½ cups.

QUICK CAKE GLAZE

1 cup icing sugar

1 tbsp vegan “milk”

In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients until smooth. Makes approx. 1 cup.

PEPPERMINT PATTIES

Is there anything better then the sweet marriage of mint and chocolate? Wrap these treats in candy foil for a great home-made gift.

Center:

2 cups powdered icing sugar

1 tbsp vegan margarine

2 tsp peppermint extract

2 tbsp vegan milk

Coating:

1½ tsp vegan margarine

4 1-oz squares (28-g) unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate

Line the bottom of a cookie sheet with wax paper. Set aside. In a food processor (using the dough blade), pulse together sugar, margarine, extract, and milk. Turn up speed and mix for another minute until it attains a creamy dough-like consistency.

Spoon out 1 tsp of dough and drop onto prepared cookie sheet. Continue until all dough is on sheet (approx. 24 small patties) and place in freezer for 15 minutes. (Alternately, use 2 tsp per patty to make 12 larger patties. If you would like to make differently shaped patties, you can roll the dough out onto a lightly powdered icing sugar surface and then cut with small cookie cutters before next step.)

Remove cookie sheet from freezer and quickly roll each candy into a ball shape (be careful not to handle the patties too much), and gently flatten each one with palm of hand and set back on sheet. Place cookie sheet back into the freezer for 15 more minutes.

While dough is in freezer, in a small saucepan on medium-low heat, melt the margarine. Add the chocolate and melt, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside to cool down a little.

Using a dinner fork like a spatula, lift a patty off the cookie sheet and quickly dip into the melted chocolate until fully covered. Holding the fork over the pot, allow chocolate to run off through the tines of the fork before dragging the back of the fork on the side of the saucepan to remove excess chocolate. Lay coated patty back on wax paper by pushing gently off fork with your finger or another fork. Repeat for remaining candies. Tap the top of each dipped candy with the back of the fork to add a little decorative touch.

Place cookie sheet into refrigerator and let chill for 1 hour before serving. Makes 24 small or 12 large patties.

CHARMING CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Cupcakes are great. They’re easy to make, portable, and take the formality out of cake. It doesn’t matter whether you serve them out of a plastic container or off a silver platter – your guests will love them.

1 cup molasses

1 cup soy milk

2 cups chocolate
or
carob chips

6 tbsp oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp cornstarch

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

6 cupcake paper liners

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a small saucepan, whisk together the molasses, ½ cup of the milk, and the chips. Cook on medium heat until chips have melted, stirring constantly with a spoon. Add the oil, vanilla, cornstarch and stir until well mixed. Remove from heat and set aside. In a medium bowl, sift the flour and baking soda together. Add the remaining milk and the chocolate mixture and stir. Spoon into cupcake paper liners and bake for 15-20 minutes. Test with a knife to see if done. Once cooled, you can frost with
icing
. Makes 6 cupcakes.

CHOCOLATE PECAN BROWNIES

Whoever thought a vegan dessert could ever be so rich and decadent? Try these tantalizing confections and chide yourself for ever thinking vegan baking was dull. There are two brownie recipes here to test the most critical sweet-tooth’s palate.

1 cup soft
or
medium tofu

1 cup dry sweetener

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp oil

4 tbsp cocoa
or
carob powder

1
cup whole-wheat pastry flour

2 tsp baking powder

¾ cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a blender or food processor, blend the tofu, sweetener, vanilla, oil, and cocoa powder until smooth and creamy. In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the pecans and tofu mixture, and mix together gently until “just mixed.” If the batter is too dry, add a splash of water. Spoon the batter into a lightly oiled 8x8 cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Test with a knife to see if done. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before
icing
and cutting into squares. Makes 6 large brownies.

MAPPLE WALNUT BROWNIES

1
cup flour

cup cocoa
or
carob powder