Vegan Fudge Pops

In this recipe, the Catherine of Food Snob make a vegan chocolate pudding and froze it into pops. Since she says they are the "best fudge pops ever" I knew I had to try them. They are amazing, rich, creamy, smooth and chocolaty....try these!

Chocolate Pudding

1 (12.3 ounce) package silken tofu, drained
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla
1/2 cup maple syrup

Blend tofu until very smooth, blend in remaining ingredients. Pour into Bathroom Cups and place Popsicle
Sticks into each one. Freeze for at least 6 hours.

My silken tofu package......don't you think it is pretty? You won't use the whole package of this type, the measurement is for the Mori-Nu "Juice Box" aseptic package. However, it was cheaper to get this bigger package and I can save the leftover tofu for smoothies.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies (Vegan)

Decided to make up a batch of cookies, just because. I was craving some chocolate chip cookies but decided to make some chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, it called for less fat (the chocolate chip recipe that I use calls for 1 cup butter/margarine and this recipe uses 1/2 cup) and somehow eating an oatmeal cookie seems healthier LOL ;) I made my cookies with this recipe, however I used vegetable shortening instead of the margarine/butter and in place of the egg 1 tbsp. ground flax seed mixed with 3 tbsp. water. These are so delicious, soft, cinnamon-y and chocolate-y. I love making cookies because they are so easy to make and were perfect on a wintry night. Chris and I loved these and it made about 18 cookies total, it says it makes 2 dozen but I tend to make larger cookies. The website has a lot of the "in a jar" recipes that would be perfect for gift giving and they are easily veganized. I used walnuts, what I happened to have on hand. I love pecans but I just used the last of them up in the whole wheat pancakes Chris and I had for breakfast. Feel free to use your favorite nuts in this recipe if you make it, and I always use vegetable shortening in cookies because it tends to have the best baked result, again use butter or margarine if that is what you prefer.

Olivia's "To Die For" Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Olivia's "To Die For" Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup Smart Balance Light (or regular Earth Balance will work fine too)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 heaping Tbsp. flax meal
1 heaping Tbsp. Ener-G egg replacer powder
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups vegan chocolate chips (Guittard is my favorite)

1.) Preheat oven to 375 F.

2.) In a small bowl, mix soy milk VERY WELL (until creamy) with Ener-G egg replacer and flax meal using an electric mixer or hand (immersion) blender. Set aside.

3.) In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Set Aside.

4.) In a large bowl, cream together coconut oil, Smart Balance and sugars. Add soy/flax mixture and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer until smooth.

5.) Gradually add flour mixture to liquids. Stir in chocolate chips.

6.) Drop by well rounded teaspoonfulls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 - 10 min. until lightly golden. (Can also be made into bar cookies in 9 X 12 pan)

I found this from an old post on www.veggieboards.com from Tofu and Sprouts, her daughter made these up for her with ingredients they had on hand! They are some of the best vegan cookies I have ever tasted, not oily at all and soft, they don't stick to the pan and the dough is the right consistency, they are perfect and I am thinking about trying these made into PB cookies also. I made mine with 1/2 tbsp. milled flax seed, I made mine with 1 cup chocolate chips and baked at 350 degrees F but those are the only things I did different. Olivia, you rock! The family all loved these, BTW.

Tofu Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan)

I used this recipe to make these wonderful cookies...chewy and soft, just like bakery cookies and vegan also :)I was trying to find a recipe that was like a local bakery's recipe (Ellwood Thompson's) and this comes very close. Now I will give the rest of the cookies a good home with my neighbors. It calls for silken tofu, or you could also use soft tofu.

Also I wanted to share with you my recipe for calzones, while not vegan, tastes just as good without the added feta or can of course be made with vegan mozzarella.

Dough

1 cup warm water
1 pkg instant yeast
1 tsp. sugar or 1 tbsp corn syrup, molasses, king syrup or honey
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour or AP flour

Place water, yeast and sweetener of choice in large mixing bowl, let sit for 5 minutes for yeast to bloom. Add 1 cup wheat flour, stir. Stir in one cup AP or bread flour, stir to combine, mixing with hands if necessary. Turn out onto floured board, kneading in additional flour as needed, until elastic about 5 minutes. Set aside and cover with bowl until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes-1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Filling

1 pkg. (14 oz.) soft tofu or 12 ounces silken tofu, mashed
12 ounces thawed and drained frozen chopped spinach
garlic and onion powder to taste
Italian Seasonings to taste
1/2 diced onion, cooked in a little olive oil until tender
4 ounces crumbled feta cheese or shredded mozzarella
Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl.


Divide dough into 4 equal portions, roll out into 1/4" thickness, divide filling into 4 equal portions, seal each calzone and bake 25-30 minutes, until browned.

sauce
1 8 ounce can Hunt's Basil and Garlic sauce, warmed
1-2 tsp. sugar to cut acidity


One final recipe to share to today is a Chai Latte Recipe from Chef Deborah Wolfe of Vegsource. Delicious!

Chai Latte
3-4 chai tea bags cooked over very low heat in 1 cup soy milk (or other "milk" of choice)for about 5 minutes
1/4 cup powdered soy milk beverage
1-3 ice cubes
1-3 tbsp. sugar or other sweetener

Top off milk to come back up to one cup. Cool in fridge overnight. Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. ENJOY!!!!

Vegan Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these cookies today, and if you haven't tried them yet you need to !!!! So rich and chocolately, and almost brownie like, I will make these cookies again and again! They are so easy to make too, so decadent. I halfed the recipe and it made 11 cookies for me and I used regular cocoa as I didn't have dutched cocoa on hand. Rock on Isa!!!

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies


Ingredients:
3/4 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole flax seeds
1/2 cup soymilk

2 cups all purp flour
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grind the flax seeds on high in a blender until they become a powder. Add soymilk and blend for another 30 seconds or so. Set aside.

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a seperate large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Add the flax seed/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Variations:
For chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with almond extract, and replace 1/2 the chocolate chips with dried cherries.

For chocolate nut cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with a nut extract (almond, walnut, what have you) and replace the chocolate chips with 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts all are good).