whole wheat pastry flour

Fluffiest Maple Buttermilk Pancakes

Fluffy Maple Butter PancakesFluffiest Maple Buttermilk Pancakes

For some reason, pancakes were one of the harder recipes for me to properly veganize. I ate a lot of (tasty) dense pancakes in the beginning. It’s easy enough to replace eggs with a flax egg, but the pancakes weren’t fluffy and didn’t have enough rise that real eggs give. The solution? More baking powder. Don’t worry, I promise it’s not overpowering in the recipe. It just gives you the fluffiest, dreamiest pancakes… ever!

Top View

Fluffiest Maple Buttermilk Pancakes

  • 1 1/2 C. organic unbleached all purpose flour (for gluten free pancakes, subsitute all the flour in this recipe (2 1/4 C. total) with Cara’s all purpose GF mix + 1/2 t. xanthan gum)
  • 3/4 C. whole wheat pastry flour
  • 2 T. aluminum free baking powder
  • 1/4 C. pure maple syrup
  • 2 T. vegan butter, melted
  • 1/2 t. sea salt
  • 2 1/4 C. unsweetened soy milk
  • 1 T. apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 T. ground golden flax seed
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla

Method: In a small bowl, combine soy milk, apple cider vinegar and vanilla (vegan buttermilk), let sit and curdle while you put the other ingredients together. Melt the vegan butter and combine it with the pure maple syrup, set aside (mmm, maple butter). In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, sea salt and ground golden flax seed. Now add all the liquid ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon til just combined. This batter needs to rest for about 10 minutes so that it will begin to rise for fluffiness, so while you’re waiting, start preheating your pancake skillet, I use a large griddle so I can cook more pancakes at once. Lightly oil the skillet/griddle and measure out pancake batter with a 1/3 cup measure. Cook pancakes for about 4 minutes on each side. Serve with vegan butter and pure maple syrup if desired.

Pour syrup

Oh and today is the last day to enter the Virtual Vegan Potluck, if you haven’t entered all ready, get in there!

vvp

Side Viewmaybe next year we should do a breakfast potluck?

Advertisement

Vegan Aebleskivers

When I was a teenager, I visited Solvang California while on vacation with my family. We ate Aebleskivers at a restaurant there and we haven’t been able to stop eating them since. They have become a Holiday or special occasion breakfast tradition. They take a little practice to learn to make properly and in my previous omnivore life, I was quite the little aebleskiver maker.

Sadly, when I went plant-based, I thought that I would never eat another aebleskiver again. They rely on white flour, egg whites beaten stiff, melted butter and buttermilk for their fluffy tenderness. I thought they couldn’t be veganized. Thankfully, I thought wrong.

That darling restaurant in Solvang gave my mom their aebleskiver recipe. I’m terribly sorry that I  don’t know how to give them proper credit, It’s been too many years and a Google search reveals there are many little such restaurants in Solvang. I have a copy of it in my heavily abused used family cookbook, it just needed a little big modification ;) Note to self: these are a special treat, and because they use oil and earth balance, remember not to make them every day or Dr. Esselstyn won’t be your friend anymore.

Vegan Aebleskivers

  • 2 C. plain soymilk + 4 T. lemon juice, mixed and set aside (vegan buttermilk)
  • 2 C. whole wheat pastry flour OR 2 C. gluten free flour + 1/2 t. xanthan gum
  • 1  T. Ener-G egg replacer
  • 2 t. baking powder
  • 1/2 t. baking soda
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 2 T. pure maple syrup
  • 4 T. Earth Balance natural buttery spread, melted
  • 1 T. vanilla
  • neutral vegetable oil of your choice for aebleskiver pan (I used safflower)

Method: preheat aebleskiver pan over medium heat before mixing all ingredients, if it’s not hot, your aebleskivers will be  a disaster. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients with a wire whisk (including the egg replacer, you do not need to mix it with water first). Add the wet ingredients and stir just until combined.  Put 1/2 t. vegetable oil in the bottom of each aebleskiver pan cup. Pour 2 T. (I use an 1/8 cup measuring cup) of batter into each cup.

After about 30-60 seconds, Turn the aebleskiver halfway out of the cup using a knitting needle, crochet hook or chopstick. The batter will pour out of the cooked portion and start to form a ball.

Cook 30-60 more seconds and turn another quarter turn. Cook 30-60 more seconds.

The final turn should have the cooked side facing entirely out and the batter forming the last bit of the ball in the bottom of the cup.

Place cooked aebleskivers in a warm oven to keep them crisp while cooking the next batch, you will need to add more oil to each cup in between batches to keep the batter from sticking. Split open and serve hot with a dab of earth balance (if you must) strawberry freezer jam and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

Laugh at guests who ask for maple syrup.

Layered Plum Tart with Apricot Crumble

Would you be compelled to make this if I told you that it’s healthy enough to eat for breakfast?

Layered Plum Tart with Apricot Crumble

Inspiration comes from this other fabulous dessert of mine

Ingredients: 1 C. Whole wheat pastry flour OR for gluten free option 1 C. certified gluten free oat flour, 1/3 C. Cashews, 10 pitted dates, 10 dried apricots, 1 t. vanilla, 2 T. raw sugar, 2 T. coconut oil, 1/2 t. sea salt, 1 t. cinnamon, 4-6 large plums, pitted and thinly sliced (with skins on)

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cashews, dates, apricots, vanilla, raw sugar, coconut oil, salt and cinnamon in a food processor or high powered blender. Process until fine and crumbly. Press 1/2 of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch spring-form pan, mixture will be a bit dry, but the juices from the fruit will moisten it while baking.

Top with sliced a layer of sliced plums

follow the pattern shown in above photos. Sprinkle with only 1/2 of the remaining crumble 

Place another layer of plums over the crumble.

Add 1 T. water to last bit of crumble and put the moistened remaining crumble over the plums.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until fragrant and crumble is golden. Remove from springform pan and let cool slightly before serving. If you’re feeling naughty (I was), you can drizzle yours with a vegan powdered sugar and water glaze.

This tart would also be good made with peaches, apples, pears, etc. Use your imagination!

WOOHOO MOFO! Plus- Extra Snappy and Soft Ginger Cookies

Not sure if I’m going to be kicking myself, BUT I’VE SIGNED UP FOR VEGAN MOFO!!! “What is MOFO”, you ask? Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it’s not an acronym for any foul swear words (you dirty birds). It’s an October-blog-fest where vegan bloggers bore you to death blog your socks off all month long. Are you ready?!?

So while you are all waiting to be blown away by a month of vegan radness, I have this tasty little tidbit for you.

Extra Snappy and Soft Ginger Cookies

Adapted from this recipe here at Thom’s vegan blog Don’t Switch off the Light

Ingredients: 2 C. whole wheat pastry flour, 1/3 C. unsulphered molasses, 1/3 C. raw sugar, 1 t. baking soda, 4 t. dried ginger, 1 t. grated fresh ginger, 3/4 t. ground cloves, 1 t. ground cinnamon, a smidgen of cayenne pepper, few grinds of black pepper, 1/2 t. sea salt, 1/4 C. coconut oil, 1/2 C. soy milk, 1 T. vanilla, small bowl of vegan powdered sugar for rolling the dough in.

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl

combine wet ingredients in a small bowl (or measuring cup).

Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mix until combined.

Measure out cookie dough by rounded tablespoons and roll into balls. Roll each ball in the powdered sugar until completely coated. Place cookies onto a baking sheet and flatten each cookie with the bottom of a measuring cup.

Does anyone’s baking sheet look as gnarly as mine does?

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Once cooled store in an airtight container so that the cookies will remain soft.

Prepare yourselves for Monday!

Insane Chocolate Layer Cake

What would you do if you had cause to celebrate but you couldn’t just go out and buy any old cake? I mean I could have picked up a specialty vegan cake at City Cakes or Cake Walk, but I’ve tried their not-so-amazing cupcakes, so a 45 minute drive didn’t seem worthwhile for something I wouldn’t LOVE.

So instead, you make the awesomest plant-based cake. Ever.

Okay, well maybe it wasn’t really the best one ever, and this other cake probably wins the healthiest cake contest, but mine was pretty dang tasty.

Insane Chocolate Layer Cake:

This cake features a simple chocolate cake base, layered with chocolate cheezcake ganache, topped with coconut whipped creme and adorned with figs.

For the cakes: 3 C. whole wheat pastry flour (blend it again through your power blender to get it extra fine, I used extra finely ground kamut berries instead of wheat), 2 C. water, 1 C. unsweetened applesauce, 1 C. raw agave, 2/3 C. cocoa powder (I used raw cacao), 1 t. baking soda, 1 t. salt, 2 T. vanilla, 4 T. apple cider vinegar.

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil two 9 inch cake rounds, dust with cocoa powder. Set aside. Combine flour, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt in a large bowl. Then combine water, vanilla and agave in another bowl. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and stir til just combined. Add the 4 T. apple cider vinegar and stir until swirls start to form in the batter. Immediately pour batter into the cake pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cakes rest for 10 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack. Let cakes cool completely. This cake IS NOT made with buckets of white flour, white sugar and loads of fat, so it’s not very sweet or rich, so the batter may not taste like you think it ought too, but the finished product is delicious.

For the Chocolate Cheezcake Ganache: 1 1/4 C. raw cashews, 1/3 C. agave 1/4 t. salt, 1/2  C. dairy free dark chocolate chips, 1 T. lemon juice, 2 T. Cocoa Powder (I used raw cacao), 1 box lite silken firm tofu, 2 T. dry pectin (the kind you use for jam making), 1 C. boiling water.

Method: Place cashews in power blender, grind to a fine powder (if you don’t have a powder blender, soak the cashews for a few hours and skip this step), add agave, cocoa powder, lemon juice, chocolate chips, pectin and salt. Pour the boiling water over the other ingredients and blend until fully combined. Add the box of tofu and blend again. This mixture will be hot and will need to cool in the fridge for a few hours before using.

For the Coconut Whipped Creme: 1 can full fat coconut milk, refrigerated for at least 3 hours.

Method: Open the can, pour off the liquid and save for use in a smoothie, scoop solidified coconut creme into a chilled bowl and whip with beaters or whisk until light and fluffy. See the Veggie Witch method here, I only used one can of coconut as opposed to her 2 cans and didn’t sweeten the creme.

Fresh Figs for decorating

Assembly: Slice the two cakes in half width-wise into layers using a long serrated knife. You will have 4 layers now. Put First layer on a plate or cake platter, spread 1/3 of the cheezcake ganache over the top of the cake. Carefully place the next cake layer on top of the ganache. Repeat until you reach the top cake layer, for the top of the cake, frost with the coconut whipped creme and adorn with sliced figs. This cake MUST be kept covered and refrigerated or the ganache will melt and start to slide everywhere (as it clearly did in my photo shoot).