Booze It Up Cookies

Is there anything booze can’t do, in baked goods? I didn’t think so.
These are wonderful made with tahini, too, but be sure not to add oil if your paste is rather thin, the way tahini is known to be, otherwise it would make for a greasy mess.

Please note that the recipe comes with a typo in the book: it’s missing cornstarch!

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons (105 ml) canola oil
3/4 cup (144 g) raw sugar
1 1/2 cups (384 g) creamy nut butter of choice (peanut, almond, cashew…)
1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (180 ml) coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua
1 1/2 tablespoons (12 g) cornstarch
3/4 cup (120 g) brown rice flour
3/4 cup (90 g) light spelt flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Handful nondairy semisweet chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, such as Silpat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, peanut butter, vanilla, and coffee liqueur until emulsified.
Add cornstarch, flours, baking powder, and salt. Stir until well combined.
Divide dough into 20 equal portions, using about 2 tablespoons (50 g) worth of dough.
Flatten on prepared cookie sheets: the cookies don’t spread much while baking. Decorate with a crosshatch pattern if desired, using a fork. Press a few optional chocolate chips on top.
Bake for 14 minutes or until nicely colored around the edges. Wait 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 20 cookies

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TB & J Shortbread

As always, if you’re no tahini fan, go for whatever nut/seed butter you like best.

Note that you might have to use more or less milk for the dough, depending on the consistency of the nut/seed butter you use. You want to be able to pinch the dough and have it stick together, without being overly moist (ew) either.

Non-stick cooking spray
1/3 cup (85 g) tahini
3 tablespoons (42 g) nondairy butter
1/2 cup (96 g) raw sugar
1/2 cup (80 g) brown rice flour
1 cup (120 g) light spelt flour
1 teaspoon pure lemon extract or other extract, optional
2 1/2 tablespoons (38 ml) soy or other nondairy milk
1/2 cup (160 g) super thick jam of choice (fig jam is what I used)

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4). Coat an 8-inch (20-cm) square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
With an electric mixer, cream together tahini, butter, and sugar.
Stir in flours and extract. Combine until a crumbly meal is obtained.
Set aside 1/2 cup (about 75 g) of the resulting crumbs.
Stir in milk until combined: you want the dough to stick together well when pinched. It will still look crumbly, but not dry like it did before the addition of milk.
Sprinkle dough evenly in the prepared pan; press it down firmly all over the bottom of the pan.
Cover with jam, laying it all over with a spatula. Sprinkle reserved crumbs on top, pressing them slightly on top of the jam.
Bake for 40 minutes, until the edges are golden brown, and the crumbs are starting to brown up too.
Let cool on a wire rack, still in the pan, before slicing and serving.

Yield: 12 servings or less, if you’re an ogre like me

Spicy Chick-Wheat Savory Muffins

High time for another recipe from the book, isn’t it? We’ll have more coming soon, and a few that weren’t posted on our respective blogs either, promise.

You can also bake these crazy fluffy and tender muffins in an 8 x 4-inch (20 x 10-cm) loaf pan for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

1/2 cup (60 g) chickpea flour
1 1/2 cups (180 g) white whole-wheat or whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon dried crushed chili peppers
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup (64 g) tahini (mine is rather liquid, so you might have to add 1-2 tablespoons (15-30 ml) more milk if the batter is too thick)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) peanut or toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons agave nectar
1 1/4 cups (295 ml) unsweetened almond milk or other nondairy milk

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).
Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together tahini, oil, agave, and milk.
Fold wet ingredients into dry, being careful not to over mix.
Divide batter equally into muffin cups.
Bake for 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Please note that if you see them getting too “tanned”, you can cover them with a piece of foil until they’re done baking.
Remove from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 10 muffins

Tempeh Spinach Rustic Pie

You won’t believe how easy it is to make the crust: it can be rolled out directly onto a (clean, of course) kitchen counter without extra flour or parchment paper action, be picked up, pulled a little to reshape without batting an eyelash.

Note that it can be made with pretty much any liquid you want: orange juice can be replaced by nondairy milks, and of course, water.
Don’t think its uses are limited to savory items, either: it’s multifaceted, and works as well with sweets as any other crust would. Consider adding a couple tablespoons of agave nectar (or any other sweetener) for sweet recipes, but that’s not entirely necessary.

Oh and if you’d rather make this recipe in an 8-inch (20-cm) greased pie plate, then by all means…

For the filling:
2 teaspoons orange zest, about 2 oranges
1/2 cup (120 ml) fresh orange juice, about 2 oranges
2 tablespoons (40 g) all-fruit orange marmalade
1 tablespoon (15 ml) toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons (30 ml) soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, grated
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional, to taste
2 teaspoons ground ginger
8 ounces (227 g) tempeh, crumbled
1 tablespoon (15 ml) peanut oil
2 cups (380 g) frozen chopped spinach

For the crust:
3 tablespoons (48 g) tahini
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups (150 g) light spelt flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (75 ml) fresh orange juice

To make the filling:
In a medium bowl, whisk zest, juice, marmalade, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic, optional red pepper flakes, and ginger.
Stir in tempeh. Marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
Heat oil in a large saucepan. Cook marinated tempeh, along with marinade, on medium heat until it browns up, for about 8 minutes. Add spinach and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C, or gas mark 5). Line a rimless baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat, such as Silpat.

To make the crust:
In your stand mixer or food processor, combine tahini, salt, and flour. Add orange juice, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) at a time, until dough forms.
Shape into a disk. Roll out dough to approximately 11 x 10 inches (28 x 25 cm), a little over 1/8-inch (3-mm) thick.
Transfer onto prepared baking sheet.
Place filling on top of the prepared crust, leaving about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the edges: the filling will pile up high. Level it, fold the edges of the pie crust up and over so that the filling is visible: it’ll look rustic, and that’s the point.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top of the crust is golden brown.
Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Yield: 4 servings

Seitan Chorizo Crumbles

After having a fling with Trader Joe’s soyrizo, it was time to replicate it at home, seitan-style.

These were moderately spicy, so adjust the amount of cayenne pepper to your liking if you’re into super-hot heat.

Notes:
1. we didn’t fry them in extra oil, but if you want to, feel free to use 1/2 tablespoon of oil to brown them up in.
2. if you are super sensitive to vinegar, you could replace 1 tablespoon worth of the stuff with water instead.
3. use them up anywhere you’d use soyrizo. Or eat them as is.

1/2 cup (72 g) vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons (16 g) nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion (or 1/4 teaspoon onion powder)
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water
2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons (35 g) ketchup
1 tablespoon (15 ml) canola oil

In a medium bowl, stir together with a fork: gluten, yeast, salt, cumin, cayenne, paprika, chili, and onion.
Pour water, vinegar, ketchup, and oil on top, stir with a fork and start using your fingertips to turn into small crumbles.
Start frying the chorizo in a large saucepan on medium-high heat, stirring constantly for 8 minutes, or until browned up.

Yield: 1 1/4 cups, 5.5 ounces, 156 g

Almond Spelt Sweet Rolls

How about a recipe for crispy, crunchy, buttery, scone-like rolls?

For the rolls:

Non-stick cooking spray
2/3 cups (160 ml) soy or other nondairy milk
3 tablespoons (63 g) agave nectar
2 tablespoons (28 g) nondairy butter
1/3 cup (32 g) ground toasted almonds
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
2 1/2 cups (300 g) light spelt flour
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
1/3 cup (60 g) raisins, chopped
1/2 teaspoon canola oil, to coat rising bowl

For the dipping mixture:

3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra virgin olive or canola oil
3 tablespoons (36 g) raw sugar
2 teaspoons orange zest

To make the rolls: Place milk, nectar, butter, almonds, and salt in a medium, microwave-safe bowl and microwave until lukewarm, for about 30-60 seconds.
Add extract, whisk well.
In a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, combine flour and yeast.
Pour wet into dry ingredients and combine, adding more flour if needed.
Sprinkle a little flour on a clean surface, and knead for 2 minutes, then add raisins.
Knead for another 5 minutes, until the dough becomes smooth and pliable.
Shape into a ball.
Lightly coat a bowl with oil, turn dough around to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm area* for 60 to 90 minutes.

To make the dipping mixture: Stir all the ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4). Lightly coat a 9 × 13-inch (23 x 33-cm) pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Punch down the dough, divide into 8 equal portions. Shape into balls, dip into orange mixture, covering the dough entirely.
Place the rolls in the prepared pan.
Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.
Remove plastic and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Yield: 8 rolls

*for ideal results, if your apartment is on the cold side, preheat your oven to the lowest temperature for 1 minute, turn it off, and place the dough in there to rise.

Peanut Butter and Chips Granola

Peanut butter. And any nondairy chips* you prefer. How could it be wrong?
*(We’re talking, candy chips. Not savory chips-chips. But then again, this is actually giving us ideas. Uh-oh…)

1 cup (80 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup (40 g) brown rice flour
1/4 cup (28 g) flax meal
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons (32 g) natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon (15 ml) canola oil
2 tablespoons (42 g) agave nectar or (30 ml) pure maple syrup
1/3 cup (58 g) nondairy semisweet or (66 g) white chocolate or (40 g) carob chips

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4). Have a large rimmed baking sheet handy.
In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, flax meal, and salt.
In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, oil, and nectar or syrup, until emulsified.
Fold wet ingredients into dry, until well coated. Spread mixture evenly on the baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes. Stir well.
Bake for another 8 minutes, or until golden brown.
Stir chocolate chips into the granola until they melt and coat the cereal.
Let cool on baking sheet before transferring into a tightly closed container. Store in fridge, once completely cooled.

Yield: about 3 cups

Peanut Brittle Cookies

There are buttery and rich and addictive! Beware.

1 cup (112 g) dry roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons (28 g) nondairy butter
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water
2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup (176 g) Sucanat, divided
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup (128 g) creamy or crunchy natural peanut butter
1/4 cup (60 ml) whiskey
2 tablespoons (30 ml) plain soy or other nondairy milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup (120 g) light spelt flour
1/2 cup (39 g) quick-cooking oats, finely ground
1 teaspoon baking powder

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, such as Silpat.
Place peanuts, butter, water, and 1/4 cup (48 g) Sucanat in a small saucepan.
Heat on medium-high, bring to a low boil and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, lowering the heat to medium, until the peanuts get some color to them, and that the liquid is mostly gone. Remove from heat. Let cool a few minutes.
Transfer the preparation to a large bowl. If it has hardened, break it apart a little bit. Combine with 2/3 cup (128 g) Sucanat, salt, peanut butter, whiskey, milk, and vanilla.
Stir in flour, ground oats, and baking powder.
Divide dough into 16 equal portions (about 2 tablespoons, 42 g per cookie). Place on prepared cookie sheets.
Flatten the cookies as much as you want them to be, as they don’t spread while baking.
Store in fridge for one hour.
Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4).
Bake cookies for 15 minutes; or until the edges are golden brown. Wait a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 16 cookies