Peanut Butter Cookies

With only 6 ingredients, these cookies are extremely easy to make. They're a bit fragile until completely cooled but after that it is safe to drizzle them with vegan chocolate.

Peanut Butter Cookies


¼ cup soy margarine, softened
1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
½ cup sugar
½ cup agave nectar
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda


Cream together the margarine and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl, then add the sugar and agave until . In a measuring cup or small bowl, blend together the baking soda and flour. Add the flour mixture to the large bowl and mix thoroughly. Place TBSP size balls of dough 1 ½ inches apart on a cookie sheet sprayed lightly with nonstick spray (or lightly greased). Use a fork to flatten them to just under ½ an inch thick and leave a criss-cross pattern on top. Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for about 11 - 13 minutes; they should look like cookies instead of dough but not be browned and will be still soft to the touch. Allow the cookies to sit on the tray for a moment to firm up before moving them to a cooling rack.

Want My Cookies?

I give family and friends some of my homemade cookies every year during the holiday season. This year, I'm going to give some to one of you!

As much as I'd love to send cookies to every one of my twitter followers, I'm an unpaid intern and well, ingredients and postage cost money. So, the best I can do is to randomly choose one person to receive some of my homemade vegan cookies. If you want a chance to be that person, here's what I'd like you to do:

1. Pick any one of the recipes on my blog to try making yourself.

2. Post a comment about that recipe; was it easy? did you like it? what did you serve with it? INCLUDE YOUR TWITTER HANDLE.

3. Tweet @thevegankitchen with a link to the recipe on which you commented.

4. Make sure you've done all those things on or before Wednesday 12/23/09. I'll put the twitter handles of all participants in a hat (or maybe a mixing bowl) and have my 3 year old randomly choose one; he can't read yet, so that's as random as it gets. I'll then notify the lucky person who will receive the cookies via twitter on 12/24. I will not be mailing the cookies until after Christmas so they won't arrive right away, possibly in time for New Years?

5. Please Note: These cookies will be made in my little kitchen at home so it's just like getting cookies from a friend. They are not from a commercial kitchen and will probably be made with the help of a 3 year old.

Happy Holidays!

Brownies

It took me a long time to figure out a vegan recipe that would give me extremely chocolate, fudge-like brownies without any odd ingredients or an overly-gooey texture. Finally, I can make brownies just the way I like them anytime the craving strikes! If you like chopped walnuts or chocolate chunks just add a little to the batter, or, if you like Mexican chocolate try adding a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.

½ cup margarine, melted OR 1/2 cup safflower oil*
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup warm water mixed with 1 TBSP enerG egg replacer
1 cup flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt* (* if using oil instead of Earth Balance, use 1/4 tsp salt)

Combine and mix margarine/oil, sugar, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Add enerG and stir. In a measuring cup, blend flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir thoroughly. Prepare a 9x9” metal pan with nonstick spray then spread the brownie dough evenly into the pan. Bake it at 350 degrees for 22 to 25 minutes or until done. Allow to cool before cutting.

Banana Bread

When I was little I always looked forward to bananas getting past their prime because that meant my mother would make banana bread. I still love the way it smells when it bakes and the way it tastes when still warm from the oven; this is a comfort food! Although I couldn't find her recipe to adapt, I did manage to create one of my own and the resulting banana bread is possibly the best I've ever had.

1 cup Earth Balance or other dairy-free margarine
2 cups sugar (can be partly brown sugar)
1 package firm Japanese style silken tofu (Mori Nu)
4 cups flour (1 can be whole wheat)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
5 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 10-oz package of dairy-free chocolate chips (Enjoy Life work well)
2 cups chopped walnuts
cooking spray

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar. Mash the tofu then mix thoroughly into the creamed mixture. In another bowl of a measuring cup, stir together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda; add this to the large bowl and mix until lumps are gone. Stir in the bananas (you may have to use a hand to do this) and then the chocolate chips followed by the walnuts. Distribute this batter into 2 glass loaf pans sprayed with cooking spray or greased with margarine. If you prefer, bake as muffins in lined muffin pans. Bake at 325 degrees until the top is golden brown and the center is cooked, about 1 hour to 75 minutes.

Vanilla Pumpkin Custard Pie **

For the pie crust you can use any type of 9" pie crust you like. Make one from scratch, buy a graham cracker crust, or buy a frozen pie shell; as long as the pie shell is baked before you make the filling it will be fine! Unless you have a very large pie shell there will probably be some extra filling which can be cooled in a dish and eaten like pudding.


pictured with Soyatoo brand rice whip. made with almondmilk and Wholly Wholesome brand gluten free crust

Vanilla Pumpkin Custard Pie

½ cup corn starch
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground clove
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups plain soymilk or almondmilk (some can be substituted with vegan creamer for a creamier pie filling)
1 cup pumpkin
9” pie crust, pre-baked

Combine in a large saucepan the corn starch, sugar, and spices. Whisk in the soymilk and vanilla. Continue whisking gently over medium heat until it begins to thicken and then add the pumpkin. Whisk thoroughly to mix in the pumpkin, remove from heat, and quickly pour into the pie crust. Allow to cool then refrigerate until set.

Lentil Stew *

This stew is mild but flavorful and goes well with homemade mashed potatoes, rice, or slices of sourdough bread.

Lentil Stew

3/4 cup dry lentils
2 cups water
3 sundried tomatoes (not the kind packed in oil)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp nutritional yeast
A pinch of salt

Rinse the lentils and chop the tomatoes. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring it to a boil, and then turn down heat and cover. Simmer the stew covered for 30 minutes then uncovered 15. The stew is ready when the lentils are tender.

Creamy Peanut Sauce *

Unlike the sesame peanut pasta which I make in large batches to use as leftovers, this sauce should be made in small enough amounts to be used right away. It has a more delicate texture and flavor that goes very well with rice noodles.

Ingredients:
2 TBSP sesame oil
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
¾ cup plain soymilk
¼ tsp ginger

Put the sesame oil in the bottom of a small saucepan and add the peanut butter and soymilk. Heat the mixture over medium low while whisking the ingredients together with a small whisk. Once the sauce reaches a smooth, creamy consistency add the ginger and stir well with whisk.

Makes enough sauce for 2 – 3 cups cooked rice noodles. To keep the noodles from sticking together, toss with a tsp of sesame oil before adding the peanut sauce.