German Apple Strudel

Although I am normally more of a chocolate lover than a fruity lover, there is something so magical about the German apple strudel. I am half German myself and enjoy celebrating my heritage any way I can. Since German food is all about butter and butter and more butter it doesn't necessarily fair well with veganism, but here earth balance saves the day! Perfectly buttery flaky crust stuffed with spiced apples ... how can you go wrong! I have made this recipe for Christmas day the past 3 years now and enjoyed it as brunch with a good cup of black coffee as well as dessert with a big scoop of coconut milk vanilla ice cream (and black coffee)!! Tradition is something magical as well after all. Cheers!

Ingredients

• 7-10 sheets of phyllo dough (i like filo factory)
• 4 granny smith apples
• 7 tbs margarine (earth balance is good)
• 1 dash of salt
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 3 tbs rum or brandy (spiced rum, calvados, etc.)
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• 1 pinch of all spice
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• Cinnamon Sugar:
• 3 tbs sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbs raw/turbinado sugar (or regular/granulated is fine)
• parchment paper

Directions

Check defrost time on phyllo dough and defrost accordingly (some take 20 min. and others up to 2 hrs. - make sure to defrost accurately). Preheat oven to 400 F.

Peel, core and slice apples. Melt 2 tbs butter/margarine in a pan on medium. Add apples and dash of salt. Saute until soft. Transfer to a large bowl and set  aside.

Place raisins and liquor (rum/brandy) in a small bowl, cover, and microwave on high for 1 min. Add to apples (no need to mix yet).

Melt 1 tbs margarine in a pan on medium-low heat. Add bread crumbs and stirr frequently for 1-2 min. Add to apples (no need to mix yet).

Mix together the apples, raisins, bread crumbs, sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, and lemon juice.

Combine cinnamon sugar in a small bowl, set aside. Melt remaining 4 tbs butter/margarine and set aside. Using parchment paper, begin layering phyllo dough. Place one sheet of pyhllo dough onto parchment. Brush with melted butter/margarine. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat until satisfied with amount of phyllo dough (i suggested 7-10 sheets).

Add the filling lengthwise to the center of the phyllo - leave 2 inches on short ends and 3 inches or so on the long ends. You are going to want to roll it up like a burrito - fold in the short sides, roll one long side over the filling and roll shut, seam side down. Brush the pastry with the remaining butter and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar. Cut vents/slits into the top of the pastry for ventilation and bake until golden brown 23-28 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pecan (&/or) Chocolate Loaf with Coconut

This is the best pumpkin bread ever, even compared to non-vegan versions. Well, I think so at least, and so I am confident in sharing the recipe with you. The coconut flavor is more prominent in the chocolate chip version, but it is still subtle. The coconut milk is primarily for moisture and the flakes or some texture. NOTE: this recipe makes 2 loaves (8x4 or whatever) - I made one with pecans and one with chocolate chips. This would also make lovely cupcakes with buttercream frosting!

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups wheat pastry flour (or all purpose is fine too)
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sucanat or granulated sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1 can pumpkin - 15 oz (or 2 cups pureed pumpkin)
1 cup canola oil
2/3 cup coconut milk
2/3 cup flakes coconut
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp vanilla
optional: 1 cup chocolate chips OR 1 cup pecan pieces OR half and half

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, sift (or stir) together the flours, sugars, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In a separate bowl whisk together the pumpkin, oil, coconut milk, molasses and vanilla.

Combine the wet ingredients with he dry ingredients just until batter forms. Fold it the coconut and optional pecans or chocolate (or separate the batter in half and then add 1/2 cup chocolate chips to one and 1/2 cup pecans to the other).

Bake for 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cover tightly with foil or approx. 10 minutes to steam the loaves. Then, let cool, eat and enjoy (or if you are like me, try them after steaming and accidentally burn your tongue - it is worth it).

Apple Spice Muffins with Spiced Crumble Topping

I always forget how much I love apples until Autumn rolls around and all of these gorgeous, flavorful apples start popping up all over grocery stores. Apple spice muffins are among my favorite muffin treats AND they are pretty darn healthy (comparatively). These muffins in particular are delightful! They have perfect density - not too light and not too dense. The spice is present, but not overwhelming, and the crumble topping adds a nice texture. This recipe works best with crisp apples like granny smith, fuji, ambrosia or even braeburn. Go wild! These are great year round!

Muffin Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 cup vanilla soymilk (or any non-dairy milk)
• 4 tbsp margarine, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups diced apples (granny smith work great)
• 1/2 cup walnuts

Crumble Topping Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup oatmeal
• 1 tbsp margarine, melted

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease a muffin tin (my baking time calls for a regular sized, 12 muffin tin, but adjust the time for larger or smaller muffins as you see fit)

Combine the vanilla, margarine, applesauce and soymilk in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine (and sift, which I never really do) the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Be sure not to overmix, just until everything is combined.

Stir in the diced apples and the walnuts.Distrubute batter between greased muffin cups.

For the crumble topping, combine the sugar, cinnamon and oatmeal in a bowl. Add the melted margarine and mix with a fork to get a crumble texture. Top the muffins with the crumble topping and gently press down on the topping so it sticks the the gooey batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!

Stuffed STONE Smoked Porter Bell Peppers

Maybe it is just me, but I never feel like bell pepper stuffing stands up the the bell pepper exterior. My challenge to myself was to create a stuffing worthy of the bell pepper - bold in flavor, but also complementary to the pepper. Beer was my answer. Although I used the Stone Smoked Porter, any smoked porter or dark, malty beer would taste delish. Any stuffed pepper skeptic must try these before making any final decisions on the dish because they are that good. So let the stuffing begin!

Ingredients:

• 7 bell peppers (6 for stuffing, 1 chopped)
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 poblano pepper, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• one package of soyrizo, or 12 oz.
• 2/3 cup wild rice (any rice will do, really)
• 1 bottle Stone Smoked Porter (or 1 pint 6 fl oz of another delicious beer)
• 12 oz tomato puree (two 6 oz cans)
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• salt - to taste
• pepper - to taste
• cilantro (optional - garnish)
• UPDATE: garnish with vegan cheese, preferably cheddar or pepperjack dayia 

Note: the image shown here has real cheese because I first made these when I was still a vegetarian. I have since made them as a vegan with cheddar dayia and they are SSSOOOOO goooooood.

Directions:

Add rice and bottle of beer to a medium sized pot and cook according to rice directions. (note: not all of the beer is going to cook out or absorb, but that is ok because you will need the extra liquid to add to the thick stuffing later).

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Chop up the veggies. In a large skillet heat the oil. Add the garlic. Saute for a few minutes. Then add the onion, bell pepper, poblano pepper, and jalapeno pepper and saute for another few minutes. Add the soyrizo and heat it up. Turn off the heat and add the tomato puree, chili powder, salt, pepper and rice (with excess beer).

Slice the tops off of the peppers and gut them. If they do not stand up on their own, gently cut the bottoms without making a hole for the stuffing to fall through. Stuff the peppers over the rim and replace pepper tops. Stand them up in a baking dish (greased or ungreased, it doesn't really matter) and bake for 45 minutes. For those adding cheese, take the peppers out after 35 minutes and add the cheese, then bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pie Brownies

Pumpkin, being one of my favorite foods, needed a new twist in my kitchen this Fall. I always make your standard pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin bread and pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin pie.. frankly, I was bored with my options. What better way to spruce up my favorite food with ooey gooey chocolatey goodness?! This dessert is a layer of pumpkin chocolate brownie (which is quite good on its own) and a thin layer of pumpkin pie on top. Have fun with this one! (it's impressive and super easy to make).

Brownie Layer

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 1/2 of a 15 oz. can of pumpkin, or 7.5 oz pureed pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

Pumpkin Pie Layer

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of a 15 oz can of pumpkin or 7.5 oz pureed pumpkin
•  2 tbsp cornstrach
• 1/2 cup vanilla or plain almond milk (or soy)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• pinch of allspice (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 inch springform pan (or a 8 or 9 inch square pan, or even a pie tin will work too, but be sure to line with parchement paper for easy removal later)

For the brownie layer:

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. I use a medium sized pot filled about half way with water and a large metal bowl for my "double boiler." You want to make sure the water does not come in contact with the bowl, only the steam. Heat the water on med-high - do not boil. Place the chocolate chips in the metal bowl and place the bowl over the hot water. Watch carefully and be sure not to burn the chocolate. It will be done when there are no chunks of chocolate left.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar, oil and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Pour in the melted chocolate and stir until just incorporated. Do not overmix!

For the pumpkin pie layer:

Place all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.

For the assembly:

Pour the brownie batter into the pan. Use a spatula to evenly spread out the brownie layer. Gently pour the pumpkin pie layer over the top of the brownie batter (note: the pumpkin layer will be quite liquidy). Bake for approx. 40 minutes or until the pumpkin layer looks relatively set (jiggly is ok, runny is not). Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes. Transfer to the fridge and let chill for 1 1/2 hours. Enjoy!!

Double Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins OR Double Chocozinni Muffins

With two zucchinis as big as the one in my kitchen, already having made 4 loafs of zucchini bread, Ian and I were getting burnt out on zucchini. So, what better way to spruce up a vegetable than with chocolate, right?! And so the Double Chocozinni Muffin was birthed!

Double Chocozinni Muffins

Ingredients:

• egg replacer - enough for 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup sunflower oil (canola oil, vegetable oil, or even olive oil would be fine)
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder (i used dark cocoa)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together the egg replacement, sugar, oil, cocoa, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in the zuchinni.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir together just until batter is formed. Do not over mix. Then, gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Grease a 12 muffin tin (or two muffin tins if you have them) and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean (with the exception of the melted chocolate chips). Makes approx. 24 regular sized muffins. Enjoy!

Moist Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling and Chocolate Almond Frosting

This cake was born right out of my crappy little apartment oven July 22nd 2010 for Ian's birthday. Ian, my boyfriend, and I had only been together for 5 months or so, so this was my first time celebrating with him and I knew I wanted to make a lasting impression. I decided to keep my impressiveness to cake because I knew I would want to outdo myself within a year's time if we are still together. Basically, I thought I left myself some wiggle room to WOW him even more next time, but did I?! This cake is one of the best things you will ever try in your lifetime, guaranteed. If not, we will give you your money back. Now, on with the cake.. (P.S. sorry the measurements are so wonky)

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/8 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or any non-dairy milk - soy, hemp, etc.)
• 1 1/8 cups unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup canola oil (or vegetable oil or even sunflower oil should work)
• 1 3/4 cup pure maple syrup (i used grade B, but grade A is fine)
• 1/2 cup agave nectar (or pure maple syrup)
• 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 9 x 9 inch pans with wax paper (this helps the cake to come out easily after baking) OR spray pans with cooking spray.

Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a saucepan, heat the almond milk on low-med heat. When it is slightly bubbling, add the cocoa powder and whisk until dissolved. Then, remove from heat.

Combine the oil, maple syrup, agave, vinegar, and vanilla in a seperate bowl and whisk well. Add the cocoa mixture and combine. Then, stir in the dry ingredients just until it looks like batter. Do not over mix.

Divide the batter between two separate pans and bake foe 25 minutes or until a toothpick inderted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Almond Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (one stick) vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract (optional - regular chocolate frosting w/o)

Directions:

Melt the shortening in a saucepan on low heat. Remove from the heat. Add cocoa and stir. Add powdered sugar and almond milk and stir/beat until smooth. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts.


Raspberry Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 cup raspberries - frozen or fresh 
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

Simply heat the raspberries and sugar together in a small pot on medium heat until thick.