Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

A Cookie Day favorite.  A Christmas holiday favorite.  A birthday favorite (substitute the peppermint cream with Banana Ice Cream and freeze).  Whatever the case may be,  these sandwich cookies are decadent and delicious and they make a great ice-cream sandwich, if you opt for that version.  The layer-steps in the recipe and instructions make it look more daunting than it really is, so dont let that deter you.  If you’re tempted, try them out because its so worth it.  (Photo to come with next batch).

Ingredients

Makes 2-3 dozen

Sandwich Layer

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips (or carob chips)
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder (or carob powder)
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Peppermint Cream

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 2 tablespoons soy milk, plus more if needed

Chocolate Layer

• 1 1/4 cups chocolate or carob chips
• 2 tablespoons shortening

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Sandwich Layer

Melt the chocolate chips either in the microwave or in a glass bowl placed in boiling water. Remove from heat and stir in the soy milk and the cocoa powder. Cream together margarine and sugar with a strong fork, then add in the chocolate/soy milk/cocoa mixture and stir until incorporated. Add the vanilla, then the flour and salt. No need to sift.  In cupcake tins, press out the dough into small round disks and place in tins. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until the center is firm and the edges are done, then cool.

Peppermint Cream

Meanwhile, cream together the margarine and powdered sugar. Add in the peppermint extract. Gradually add the soy milk until the mixture kind of resembles frosting. If it’s liquid, add more powdered sugar. If it’s stiff or dry, add more soy milk. Chill in the fridge until the bottom layer is cooled.

Chocolate Layer (Make this at the last minute)

Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in a glass bowl in boiling water, or over a double boiler.

Spread the bottom layer evenly with peppermint cream, then chill in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Remove, then spread the top with the chocolate, creating a swirl pattern if you like. The chocolate will not spread out evenly due to the peppermint layer, but if you want it to be smooth, do a second layer of chocolate, halving the chocolate layer ingredients.

mangia!

A Reason to Celebrate

Birthdays are the best these days because they’ve become a reason to cook delicious meals.  So for KARs birthday last night, given the recent transistion of spring air, we decided it would be appropriate to celebrate in a green fashion – with a well-balanced vegan, green (get your greens in!) meal.  The menu included a beautiful Spring Green Pizza (recipe below), Roasted Kale, Easy Breezy Broccoli Soup (below) and for dessert (drumroll please….) we went for the ever-fab, decadent carob-ice cream-sandwiches (which actually ended up as sandwich blobs, but still tasted yummy).  So there you have it.  A birthday feast.  And I bet you want to be my friend now, dont you :)  Well, truth be told, when you have good people + good food, it only means one thing..eat, drink and celebrate!

Spring Green Pizza

serves about 4

Ingredients

• 1 Pizza Dough Crust
• 1 cup of Vegan Basil Pesto

For the ‘Ricotta’

• 1 cup tofu
• salt, pepper, garlic salt, cayenne
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• juice of 1 lemon

For the Toppings

• 1 cup broccoli, steamed
• 1 cup spinach, sauted or steamed
• 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• olive oil
• fresh basil, chopped

Instructions

Make the pizza dough and let rise for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the Basil Pesto and set aside.

Next, for the ‘Ricotta’ crumble up the tofu until it resembles ricotta and add the lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic salt and cayenne.  Then blend in the nutritional yeast and add 2 tbsp olive oil.  Set aside.

Next (or simultaneously), steam the broccoli and spinach (separately) and set aside.

To assembly the pizza:  Stretch out your dough (making sure to add enough flour or cornmeal to the bottom of the pizza stone or pan).  I like to cook my dough for about 5 minutes on 425 degrees prior to dressing it up (it creates some structure to the crust).

Drizzle the crust with some olive oil and spread the pesto on the bottom.  Then spread the broccoli and spinach next.  Then sprinkle the ‘ricotta’ and sun-dried tomatoes.  Top it with some fresh, chopped basil.

Drizzle again with olive oil and hot pepper flakes if desired and place in oven for about 15-20 minutes (just until the bottom is lightly brown).

and voila!

…and to precede the pizza pie, a nice, healthy bowl of soup.

Easy Breezy Broccoli Soup

Serves about 4

Ingredients

• 2 heads of broccoli, chopped and steamed
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp veggie base or cube
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic salt to taste

Instructions

Boil water and add veggie broth base until blended.  Meanwhile, in a separate sauce pan, steam broccoli and strain. Then, puree in food processor and slowly add veggie broth.

Put pureed broccoli + broth back into sauce pan and simmer on low heat.  Add lemon juice, nutritional yeast and spices to taste.  Serve warm with rustic bread.

mangia!

Real Peanut Butter Cups

I think we can all agree that peanut butter + chocolate = heaven.  Even Matt, who used to spit at the thought of peanut butter, has evolved into a peanut-butter loving being.   I personally have a deep love for peanut butter, so much that I will not-so-proudly admit, that you may find me eating peanut butter for dinner when there is no dinner.  We served these at our Real Food Party and they were a hit, so I thought it would be wise to share the love.

makes 4 PB cups

Ingredients

• 1 cup chocolate, bar or chips
• soy milk, to taste and consistency
• 4 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1 tsp nutritional yeast (aka noosh)
• dash of salt, agave or vanilla if desired (optional)

Instructions

First, melt the chocolate in a small sauce pan over low heat.  Add just a little milk until chocolate is smooth and creamy.  Scoop a tbsp of the melted chocolate (enough to cover the bottom) into cupcake liners and place in fridge just for 5 minutes or so to semi-harden.  Meanwhile, blend peanut butter and noosh until a gritty texture forms.  Press a small dent into the somewhat hardened bottom chocolate layer to create a shallow bowl for the peanut butter.  Scoop about a 1/2 tsp of peanut butter mixture onto the chocolate layer, and cover with remaining melted chocolate. Place cups in fridge to harden for about 15 minutes or until ready to serve.

mangia!

A Rustic Loaf

My dad started the bread-baking trend many years back, wowing our family with his picture-perfect loaves to compliment the antipasto at holiday meals.  And so, all of a sudden (sometime within the recent year) the daughters + mother have started attempting to perfect our own loaves of bread.  I think its been a quest mainly out of curiosity and also a desire to be able to nourish ourselves with fresh, homemade loaves of bread when not in the presence of our father.  For me,  I started my bread-baking expedition a couple years ago by purchasing a bread-maker (ie throw in the yeast, water, flour and extras and let the machine do its thing).  And dont get me wrong, it was a great purchase for a quick loaf and a good first step.  However, in recent months, I thought it was time to try out the real thing for myself.  A real, homemade loaf of bread.  This recipe was found and first made by Niki and so Im taking no credit.  However, in the 4 times I have made this bread, it has exceeded my expectations. Its flavorful, crusty on the outside, yet doughy on the inside. Despite the pre-planning (it needs 18 hours to rise), this loaf recipe is one of the best Ive had.  And now Matt claims, ‘we never have to buy bread again!’

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, extra for dusting
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 5/8 cup water

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast and salt.  Add the water and stir until blended.  Dough will be shaggy and sticky.  Cover with plastic wrap and let dough sit for at least 12-18 hours, at room temperature.  When dough is ready, its surface will be dotted with bubbles.

Next, lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it.  Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.  Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball (you do not want to handle the dough too much).  Generously coat a cotton towel with flour, put dough ball seam side down and cover with towel.  Let the dough rise for about 2 hours.  When it is ready, it will be more than double in size.

At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is ok. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

mangia!

For the Love of Real Food

Inspired by a desire to celebrate good food with our favorite people, my friends and I decided to host a small dinner gathering.  And now after the planning, shopping, cooking and baking are done, all the hard work has proved its worth.  The food was as delicious as we’d hoped and everything was enjoyed by all. As a fun favor (and way to share our recipes), we printed recipe cards for each dish so that our guests could take home recipes of their favorite dishes.

Some of the night’s highlights follow…

A Made-From-Scratch Veggie Burger

Despite the veggie in me, I still have a deep love for burgers.  And for things ‘mini’.  Thus, the creation of this veggie burger (in its ‘mini form’) makes me very happy.  And its even more satisfying to have come up with the right combination of ingredients because its been a long-time coming.  This has not been a small task.  Many of my veggie burger attempts over the last year have gone from veggie paste to veggie mush to veggie scrapple.  Its been a process to say the least.  So after many experiments with different ingredients and variations, this one worked itself out! Wohoo!  I think the secret ingredient is using the instant oats as the binder.  Because they are instant, they quickly absorb the liquid and bind the burger together nicely.  Oh, and they were a hit at our Real Food Party.

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, chopped
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 can of balck beans or 1 cup brown lentils, cooked (either are great, but I like 1/2 and 1/2)
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 1-2 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1/2 tsp veggie bouillon broth base, 1 bouillon cube, crushed or 1/2 tsp miso paste
• 1 cup instant rolled oats
• salt, pepper and cayenne to taste

Instructions
In a small saute pan, saute the onions until soft.  Put aside in a large bowl.  Then, saute mushrooms with balsamic vinegar until soft.  Add to onions.

In a food processor, puree the beans/lentils and tomatoes with a few pulses until it becomes a saucy chunky mixture.  Put aside in a small bowl.

Next, in the food processor, puree the onions, mushrooms, carrot and garlic until finely blended. Add this mixture to the bean mixture.

Season the mixture with spices and sauces to taste.  Next, add the oats and mix well until a loose paste is formed.  Let the mixture sit for about 5-10 minutes and form into small disks and places in a cupcake tin to bake.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Serve on mini buns with BBQ sauce and pickles.

mangia!