Citrus Zucchini Bread

I know I start almost every post saying the same thing, but I really need to dedicate more time to blogging my recipes. A big reason this blog exists is to have something to look back on. Food plays a big part in almost all social gatherings, and it certainly is a factor of daily life. This blog, while mainly about food, will also serve as a reminder of all the fun, joyful things happening in my life, and will even be an indicator of my daily life. So I really need to keep up on writing, not only for the readers sake, but for my memories as well.

That said, I've been so busy lately that I haven't had much time to create new recipes. Working full time and spending as much time as I can with Logan doesn't allow me much kitchen time. I'm ok with that though, every day with him is something new. He learned to "swim" yesterday. Equipped with water wings, he headed right into the Long Island Sound until his feet no longer touched the bottom. He kicked his legs around and looked adorable while trying to keep his mouth out of the water. A couple times he became completely submerged, and came back to the surface laughing. I'm so lucky to have a baby that absolutely loves the water! He must get that from me.

I'm straying way too far from food here. Back to the recipe. My garden has been extremely productive, especially the squash bed. I ended up with a large harvest of zucchini last week, and my first thought was zucchini bread. I waited longer than I would have liked to pick a couple of the zucchinis, so some of them grew into monsters. One of them shredded into 8 cups, so I doubled this recipe to use 4 cups and froze the rest of the shreds. These are so delicious, I can't wait to make more!

Citrus Zucchini Bread

Makes two 9 x 5 loaves, or about 72 mini muffins

• 1 lemon
• 1 cup coconut milk (or other non dairy milk)
• 4 cups flour
• 1 1/3 cups of organic sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup apple purée or applesauce
• 1 cup safflower oil
• 2 cups shredded zucchini

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.
2. Juice and zest the lemon. Keep in mind that it's easier to zest a lemon before it has been juiced.
3. Put one tablespoon of the lemon juice in a measuring cup. Fill the measuring cup to the one cup line with the non dairy milk. You've just made vegan "buttermilk"! Reserve the rest of the lemon juice.
4. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and salt together.
5. Add the apple purée, oil, reserved lemon juice and "buttermilk", and stir until combined.
6. Fold in the lemon zest and zucchini.
7. Bake mini muffins for about 15 minutes, and bread loaves for about 45.





I covered the mini muffins with an orange glaze,
made by mixing confectioners sugar and fresh squeezed orange juice.

The Quest to Find the Perfect Vegan Brownie- Part 3

Ok I've almost got this down. I've been searching for the perfect vegan brownie recipe. I've had a couple near successes so far, with one recipe producing cake like brownies, and another one that was more moist, but not as fudgy as I'm looking for. After a failed attempt or two, I finally came up with these. They're moist, fudgy and rich. A little too rich though, since they're incredibly sweet. It's not too often that I say something is too sweet, but I could only have a few small bites of these before my sweet tooth objected. They really hit the spot when you have a craving for sweets, that's for sure. I have a couple ideas on how to perfect this one, so stay tuned for part 4!

Example of a failed attempt. Not sure what happened here..

Logan is having a great time on this "quest",
especially since he's my official taste tester. The
Christmas decorations in the background are an
indicator of how long I've been at this.

Sweet Brownies!

• 1/2 cup apple purée or applesauce
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, combine the banana with the apple purée.
3. Stir in the coconut oil.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until combined.
5. Pour the batter in a greased 8 x 8 pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Waffles

Waffles make me happy. They remind me of chilly fall weekend mornings growing up, before hitting the tennis court or going to watch my brother's soccer games. My parents could whip up a pretty good breakfast starring waffles made with my mom's ancient waffle maker. Seriously, it's been around probably as long as I have. It's still kicking! Waffles also make me think of sleepovers with friends, when we would quote Donkey from the Shrek series.. "and in the morning, I'm making waffles"! I know you know what I'm talking about.

Anyways, it's a tradition I hope to carry on with Logan. I've been using this recipe that I wrote down from somewhere for awhile now, and it's never failed me. I substitute almond milk in place of traditional milk, and it's still just as good. Last time I made it I even squeezed fresh orange juice to go with it. I must have had energy that morning, not to mention an abundance of oranges!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Waffles

Makes about 5 large waffles

• 1 cup of unbleached flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup of almond milk
• 1/2 cup of apple purée (that's 4 cubes if you use the ice cube tray method) apple sauce would work here, too.
• Vegan chocolate chips, or a chopped up chocolate bar

Do I need to write instructions on how to make waffles on a waffle maker? Didn't think so. Enjoy your breakfast!

Waffles make him happy, too!

Lilac Muffins

Spring has never been more delicious!

Lilacs are my absolute, hands down favorite flower. The smell, the delicate purple color, the tiny blossoms, I love it all. My favorite time of year is when the lilacs bloom in May (or April as it was this year). Andrew knows how much I love them, so he bought me a bush on my first birthday that I celebrated with him, and planted it in my parents yard. I told him I would love him as long as lilacs bloom in spring. I know, I'm so romantic. Well the bush hasn't bloomed since that first year, but I still love him! (Does anyone have any idea why a lilac bush wouldn't bloom btw? It's growing fine, it just doesn't flower). We have a small bush outside of our bedroom window now, and even though I avoid opening that window because of my allergies, I make an exception when the bush is in bloom. I hate how short the blooming season is though. The blooms are on their way out, so get on this recipe right away! I never thought to bake with lilacs. It didn't ever cross my mind that they could be edible until I came across the recipe that I adapted this from. I switched out eggs, milk and butter for healthier, vegan ingredients, and topped the muffins with a thinned out version of my vegan buttercream icing and candied lilac blossoms. If you're looking for something unique, pretty and delicious to make for Mother's Day, look no further. This recipe is perfect.

The lilac blossoms on their own are pretty bitter. I thought the muffins would take on that taste, so I iced them to add some sweetness. It turns out they're not so bitter once they're baked, so the muffins tasted fine on their own. Feel free to skip the icing and candied lilacs, but they do make for a nice presentation. And candying the lilacs makes them "taste exactly like they smell", according to my brother Jesse.

Lilac Muffins

Makes 6 muffins

• 1/4 cup of coconut oil, melted
• 1/8 cup of apple puree or sauce (or 1 cube if you freeze the puree in ice cube trays)
• 1/4 cup of Turbinado sugar
• 1/2 cup of almond milk
• 1 cup of unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. of baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup of lilac blossoms, stems removed

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.
2. Hand mix all the ingredients besides the blossoms in a mixing bowl until well blended.
3. Fold in the lilacs.
4. Spoon the mixture into 6 greased muffin tins.
5. Bake for 20 minutes.
6. When cooled, top with icing and candied blossoms (recipe below).

Vegan "Buttercream" Icing

Ices 6 muffins

• 1/4 cup of vegetable shortening
• 1 cup of powdered sugar, divided
• 1 tsp. of vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. water (this is the thinned out version, to make the original, use only 1 tsp. of water)

1. Cream the shortening and 1/2 of the sugar with an electric mixer.
2. Add the rest of the sugar, vanilla and water and cream until smooth.

Candied Lilac Blossoms

Makes about 1/2 cup of simple syrup.. which will candy a lot of blossoms

• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, plus extra for dusting (I tried to use organic for dusting, but the blossoms came out kind of brown and rotten looking, so this might be the only time I say this, but skip the organic version. This also makes it non-vegan, since it's bone char that whitens the sugar). 
• Lilac blossoms, stems removed

1. Heat the water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved to create the simple syrup.
2. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. Once cool, dip blossoms in the simple syrup using (clean!) tweezers.
4. Blot off the excess syrup on the handle of the wooden spoon, and dip in sugar.
5. Place on a sheet of wax paper to harden.

The Quest to Find the Perfect Vegan Brownie- Part 2

Continuing my quest, I found a recipe on allrecipes.com that used, of all things, zucchini. I was skeptical about it, but at this point I'll try anything to find fudgy, rich vegan brownies. Besides, I had some shredded zucchini in the freezer left over from zucchini bread. After mixing all the other ingredients, I realized I only had about half the zucchini that I needed. So I divided the batter in half, added zucchini to half the mix, and apple purée to the other, ending up with two types of brownies.

While they're not exactly what I'm looking for, they're pretty darn close. They were moist and chocolatey, but not as fudgy as I would have liked. Still, they're the closest I've come to an ultimate vegan brownie so far. Both the apple and the zucchini batches were good, but I preferred the zucchini a tiny bit more.

Vegan Zucchini Brownies

• 1/4 cup oil
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup shredded zucchini

The batter will look pretty dry before you
add the zucchini, as you can see in the
bowl on the left.

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.
2. Mix the oil, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt, and mix until combined.
4. Fold in the zucchini
5. Pour batter into a greased pan. Since this recipe only makes a small amount of batter, I used a glass 8 x 6 Pyrex dish.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

Vegan Irish Soda Bread

St. Patrick's Day isn't complete without Irish soda bread. Growing up, it was a staple in our house every year when March rolled around. My mom uses a recipe that I think she received from her Irish grandmother. The "holiday season" started on Sunday for us when we went to the first parade of the year. Parades are all over Long Island in March, but the Rocky Point one is my favorite. My parents have been taking me since I was a baby. I've kept the tradition alive with Logan, bringing him for the second time this year. He's really into fire trucks, tractors, and anything else that makes noise, so he loved every second of it. The bagpipers and drummers, even the zombies (yes, there were zombies!) had his full attention. Taking the tradition even further, Logan wore a sweater that I wore to the same parade when I was his age. My grandmother bought it in Ireland, and my mom has kept it all these years.

All the festivities put me in the mood for Irish soda bread. I wanted Logan to be able to have some too, so I made some changes to my Grandma Bull's original recipe. Two eggs were substituted with apple purée, since that works in every recipe I've done. Part of what makes Irish soda bread so great is the buttery taste and texture. A typical oil substitution wasn't going to cut it this time, so I bought a "buttery spread" made with oils. I'm usually wary of vegan substitute products, but this stuff is amazing! It tastes even better than butter, and the 400 lb. fat kid that lives inside me LOVES butter. It took all my willpower not to stick my finger in the tub and eat it in fistfuls. Gross, I know. (Unfortunately, Bestlife may not be 100% vegan. The source of the vitamin D-3 varies and can come from animal product, so it's not deserving of the vegan seal. Bummer.) Anyways, the buttermilk was more challenging to substitute. I thought I would have to scrap this recipe, then I remembered how my mom makes buttermilk. She mixes one tablespoon of lemon juice with a cup of milk, and let's it sit for a few minutes before adding it to the recipe. I decided to give it a try with soy milk. It worked, but it gave the bread a sweet taste, even though the soy milk was unsweetened. Next time I'll try it with homemade almond milk, since I prefer Irish soda bread with a more rustic taste. *Check out the update at the end of the page.*

Add 1 1/2 Tbsp. of lemon juice to a measuring cup.

Pour soy milk on top of the lemon juice until the 1 1/2 cup mark.
Instant "buttermilk".

This recipe is almost as good as my moms, and it's not bad at all for a vegan bread. My mom makes it in a cast iron pan. I don't have any of those (but I have a birthday coming up, hint hint!), so I made it in an 8 x 8 pan. Now that I think about it I could have made it in a casserole or pie dish to give it a circular shape. I'm sure I'll be making this bread again before the month is up, so when I make it again with the almond milk and in a pie dish I'll post an update. I also usually add raisins, but since I'm the only one who likes them I left them out this time.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish Soda Bread

Makes 1 loaf

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• < 1 1/2 cups of almond/soy milk 
• 4 cups of flour 
• 1 tsp. baking soda 
• 2 tsp. baking powder 
• 1 tsp. salt 
• 4 Tbsp. butter substitute (I used Bestlife buttery spread), softened 
• 1 cup of sugar 
• 1/2 cup apple purée (store bought applesauce would work, too) 
•  1 cup of raisins (optional) 

Ready for the oven.

1.  Preheat oven to 350. 
2.  Put the lemon juice in a 2 cup measuring cup, and add the milk until you reach the 1 1/2 up mark. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes before adding it to the rest of the recipe. 
3.  Mix the flour, soda, powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. 
4.  Stir in the apple, buttermilk, and butter substitute. Mix until combined. The butter substitute may not blend perfectly, but that's ok. 
5.  Fold in the raisins if using. 
6.  Place the mixture in a greased 10" cast iron skillet (or a pie pan or casserole dish). Make an "X" across the top of the bread (you can make a shamrock shape to be festive). 
7.  Bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Keep an eye on the bread, as cooking times may vary with the type of pan used. 

 "May the road rise up to meet you. 

 May the wind be always at your back. 

 May the sun shine warm upon your face; 

the rains fall soft upon your fields. 

 And until we meet again, 

may God hold you in the palm of His hand." 

Irish Blessing

Done!

Update 3/15/12:

*I made the Irish soda bread again tonight using almond milk and regular, unbleached flour (in the previous recipe I used whole wheat flour).  I also baked it in a glass casserole dish for 70 minutes. This was much more authentic and similar to the original recipe!

The Quest to Find the Perfect Vegan Brownie

Since I began vegan baking, I've been searching for the perfect brownie. I want a recipe that turns out moist, chewy, fudgey, chocolatey brownies. I didn't think it would be this difficult! I've tried a few recipes so far, and none have hit the mark. So far all I've turned out are dry, cake like confections.

When I tried the latest recipe, I was less discouraged. The recipe, from allrecipes.com promised delicious vegan brownies. I made some changes to the original recipe, which may have been for better or worse. Two-thirds of a cup of oil seemed like a lot, so I added half the oil and 1/3 cup of apple purée. I left out the stevia. I've never tried it, but something about it just seems off putting. Plus, people who reviewed the recipe said it was an unnecessary addition. I also used almond milk instead of soy.

Well, it wasn't as cakey as my other attempts. It tasted more like a cake that was supposed to be fudgey. Better, but still not what I'm looking for. Since it was my best attempt so far, I've decided it deserves a spot in Resolution Kitchen. This won't be my last try, so stay tuned for brownie updates!

Vegan Brownies

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup apple purée
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cups almond milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder

My Uncle Mark added the Peeps!
They're not vegan, but I loved every bite anyways.

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, mix cocoa, oil, apple, and water.
3. Add the sugar and stir until combined.
4. Stir in the milk and vanilla.
5. Add the flower and baking powder and mix until smooth.
6. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 9 pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

Ginger Snaps

I made these a few weeks ago. It's been in my archive of vegan recipes to blog about, and today is the perfect time to write about them. I bought fresh ginger specifically for this. I had a small piece lying around from making real home made ginger ale, but stocked up on more roots in anticipation for this recipe. I'm so glad I did, since it helped me combat the stomach virus that attacked Logan last night. It was the first time he ever got really sick, so it was scary and stressful for both of us. After his first bout of nausea (at 1 in the morning- of course) I crushed up some of the root and added it to water in his sippy cup. I put a little extra ginger juice on his pacifier and he was over the sickness by 3 am. I'm convinced it would have gone on longer if I didn't have the ginger in my arsenal. 

Anyways, back to the real reason I bought the ginger. My friend Nikki gave me a recipe for ginger cookies. I really wanted to try it, but I didn't have molasses in the cabinet (nor will I ever again, since I found a great substitute- more on that in a minute). Turning to the internet, I tried to google a recipe for ginger cookies without molasses. I couldn't find one that didn't have it, so I got creative. At this point I forgot all about Nikki's recipe, and used one that I found somewhere on the internet. This recipe called for molasses, but I took a chance and made my own. I started by putting 3 Tbsp. of brown rice syrup (I use the organic Sweet Dreams brand, I hope that's not one of the brands containing alarming levels of arsenic. I haven't been following that story too well) in a measuring cup and adding brown sugar until I had 1/4 cup of the mixture. It wasn't exactly molasses, but it worked. 

With a few changes to the original recipe to make it vegan, the addition of fresh ginger, and a substitute for molasses, I ended up with ginger snaps. Not the intended result. At first I thought the recipe was a bust. The cookies ended up spreading really thin on the baking sheet, so they came out flat and crisp. They weren't the chewy, soft cookies I was expecting. I kept them anyways, since Logan seemed to like them. A couple days went by with me just staring at them on the counter, occasionally passing one to Logan. I don't know what made me try one, but they were delicious! They definitely had a bite to them, the ginger being the prominent taste, but it was balanced nicely by the rest of the ingredients. It took me a couple days to realize that just because they didn't come out how I expected, it didn't mean that they weren't good. I'm glad this recipe made so many, because I couldn't get enough of them.

Ginger Snaps

Makes 6 dozen

• 2/3 cup safflower oil (vegetable oil works too)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup apple puree
• 3 Tbsp brown rice syrup
• < 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. Mix oil and sugar in a large bowl.
3. Add apple puree and mix well.
4. Put brown rice syrup in a 1 cup measuring cup, and add brown sugar up to the 1/4 cup mark. Add this to the bowl and mix well.
5. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. 
6. Pour a small amount of granulated sugar in a bowl. Form a tsp of dough into a ball and coat with the sugar. 
7. Place dough on a greased cookie sheet, and bake for about 7 minutes. 

Keep your eye on these while they're baking. I burnt the first couple batches since the original recipe had them in for 15 minutes. Also, don't make the dough balls too big, or you'll end up with a full sheet of flat cookies, like this one.

Gone Bananas

The first place I go when I walk into Stop and Shop is the cart of produce "seconds". It's a cart they put out full of produce that needs to be sold and consumed ASAP. I often find large bunches of organic bananas for 50 cents on there, and go, well.. bananas. I buy just about every single package on there. Bananas are easy to mash and freeze, I have plenty of recipes for them, and Logan eats at least 2 or 3 a day. They're by far his favorite food.

I've been meaning to make a vegan banana bread for awhile now. I have a recipe from my mom that was passed down from her grandma. It's an instant favorite and is always requested at family gatherings. Making it vegan was very simple. I substituted oil for butter and apple puree for eggs. Mom usually adds chocolate chips, which is the icing on the cake. Everything tastes better with chocolate! I used half of an Endangered Species Chocolate bar, to keep it animal product free. The bread came out amazing. It tastes just like the original. The only difference is the color, which is a few shades paler than the non vegan version. I only made one loaf, but I wished I made more. Logan keeps going up to the counter and saying "cake". I'm glad to have his approval!

Banana Bread

Makes one loaf

• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup safflower oil (you could use vegetable oil too)
• 1/2 cup apple puree
• 1 cup of mashed banana (about 2 1/2 small bananas)
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1.5 oz of vegan chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.
2. Mix the sugar, oil, apple and banana in a large bowl.
3. Add the flour, powder, salt and soda. Mix well.
4. Fold in the chocolate.
5. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan, and fill with the batter.
6. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.

I still had a lot of bananas leftover, so I pulled out the dehydrator and made banana chips. I sliced 5 bananas very thin (about 1/8 of an inch), dipped them on a plate sprinkled with cinnamon, and placed them on the dehydrator trays. They took forever to dry, about 10 hours.

I put some of the dried bananas in a jar to have on hand for a snack. The rest I crushed up and added to some organic green tea. I buy loose tea from a cute little tea shop called You, Me and Tea in Port Jeff. It gave the tea a very subtle banana flavor, but it was hardly noticeable. I can't wait to try the same thing with strawberries this spring!

Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Muffins

You know what the best part about vegan baking is? You can eat as much of the batter as you want. So I do. I probably end up with one less muffin or so because of it, but I can't help myself!

This was the first baked goods recipe I altered to make it vegan. It was the first time I used apples as an egg substitute, and oil instead of butter. It came out perfect the first time, and it's a recipe I make again and again. Unsurprisingly Logan goes nuts for them, and so does Andrew. I've made it with any combination of unbleached flour, whole wheat flour, plain white sugar and turbinado sugar. It all works so use whatever you have on hand.

Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

• 1/2 cup apple purée
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin purée (about 1/2 of a 15 oz. can)
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• Vegan chocolate bar or chocolate chips (about 3 oz.)

1. Preheat the oven to 400º.
2. Mix the apple, sugar, pumpkin and oil in a large bowl.
3. Add the flour, soda, powder, and pumpkin pie spice and mix thoroughly.
4. Stir in the chocolate.
5. Pour into a greased muffin tin and bake for 17 minutes.

Supermarket Showdown

Skimming through the circulars in the Sunday paper, I came across a coupon for organic gala apples for $0.99. Ninety nine cents! We go through a lot of apples in this house. Logan and I have oatmeal with apple puree in it almost every morning, I substitute eggs with apple puree while baking, and Andrew eats them constantly. I ripped out the coupon and headed to Shop Rite the next morning. The section containing the organic apples was pretty small, but I was determined to get them all. I started filling up my basket when a woman approached, who evidently had the same idea. I planned on sharing, until she subliminally bumped me with her cart to nudge me out of the way. Bring it on lady. I scooped up the rest as fast as I could as she did the same. I didn't even bother to put them in one of the plastic bags I brought from home. (Yes, I'm one of those nuts who reuses the produce bag). After giving her my most apathetic expression, I checked out with over 10 lbs. of delicious organic galas, and she walked away with maybe 2 lbs.

I'm getting way off the topic of Resolution Kitchen. Anyways, the point of talking about this shopping excursion is to show how convenient apples are in vegan baking. It's easiest to have pureed apples on hand before you start baking to save yourself some time. I pureed nearly every one of these apples and froze them for long term storage.

To start, wash and core the apples. Steam them in a large pot equipped with a steamer. If you don't have a steamer you can boil them, but produce loses more nutrients that way. Once they're soft and easily pierced with a fork, puree them in a blender, adding a little bit of water to thin them slightly. Freeze in BPA free ice cube trays. Each ice cube section holds about 1/8 cup of puree, which is equal to half an egg when they're used in baking. For each egg called for in a recipe, just pop two cubes into a dish and let defrost before adding to your recipe. And don't throw that cooking water out! After steaming or boiling the water is left with a subtle apple flavor. Once it cools down I pour it in a sippy cup for Logan, or a "big kid cup" for myself.