Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made these last night after dinner. They're rich and moist and really easy to make: sososo good. I was hoping to have some left over for this morning but my family ate them all:[

Serves: 12
Muffins:
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup light vanilla soy milk
1 tablespoon ground flax meal + 3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and oil muffin tins.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flax meal and water for about 2-3 minutes and set aside.
In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugar, margarine, soymilk, and flax mixture. Add the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill each cup about three-quarters full. Bake on the center rack for 25 minutes. Let cool in tins for about 15 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
Enjoy[:

*Don't use ground espresso; they aren't the same! Instant espresso is available in most grocery stores and will work much better.*

**There isn't a strong coffee flavor to these muffins, so if you want more just add more powder to taste.**

"Butterbeer" Cupcake

If there is anything that you should know about me, it's that I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. Like. Borderline obsessed if not there already. And so, in light of all of the Harry potter events [Harry Potter being constantly played the movie channels, The Wizarding World in Florida, HP7 commercial which I will share with you, and HP7 part 1 coming out in November] I decided to create a Harry Potter inspired "Butterbeer" cupcake:D
I looked up a bunch of butterbeer recipes and it's basically a butterscotch drink. So I made a butterscotch cupcake. And the best part? It's totally vegan. :D

serves: 12
Cupcakes:
1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch whisked in 2 tablespoons water
2/3 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup vegan margarine, melted
2 tablespoon corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Icing:
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon whiskey
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease muffin tins.
Whisk together the cornstarch/water mixture, sugar, coconut milk, melted margarine, corn syrup, and vanilla until well combined. Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix. Pour batter into tins and bake on the center rack for about 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely.

In a saucepan, melt the vegan margarine. Stir in the sugar and mix until well incorporated, then add the vanilla, soy milk, and whiskey. Stir until mixture comes to a boil, and then take off heat. Let the mixture cool until lukewarm, then add the confectioners sugar.

*If you don't have dark brown sugar, use light brown and add two tablespoons fancy molasses to the cupcake batter.*

Moroccan Lentils

We had way too many lentils just sitting around at my house and it was driving me crazy. I found this recipe in Vegan With a Vengeance [<3] and I absolutely love it. It originally had raisins in it, though, so I took them out. Because that seemed a little sketchy. I have a foolproof couscous recipe that's good with it, too[: I'll post it after.

Serves: 6-8
Lentils:
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 medium onions, quartered and sliced thin
1 cup carrots, cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced, to taste
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 cups vegetable stock
3 cups water
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
several dashes of black pepper
1 cup dried lentils, washed
1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cup green beans cut into 1 inch pieces [I cheated and just drained a can of less salt cut green beans]
2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
1 teaspoon salt
about 4 cups spinach torn into pieces
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 cup chopped mint
lemon wedges to serve

In a stockpot, saute the onions in the oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the carrots and chile and saute 3 minutes more. Add the garlic and ginger; saute for 2 minutes. Add the cumin, tumeric, and coriander, and mix. Add the stock, water, tomato paste, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, black pepper, and lentils. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Add the veggies [except the spinach] and salt, simmer for 15 more minutes. Add the spinach, cilantro, and mint; stir well. When the spinach has wilted, about 1 minute, turn the heat off. Let the stew sit for 10 minutes. Remove bay leaves and cinnamon sticks. Serve over couscous with plenty of lemon wedges to squeeze in. :D

Couscous:
3 cups couscous
4 1/2 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil (optional)

Add the salt and oil to boiling water. Spread couscous evenly in the bottom of a large casserole so that it is in as thin a layer as possible. Add the water and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Wait until all the water is absorbed (about 15 minutes), then fluff with a fork. Enjoy!

caramel macchiato cupcake

I've been on a sort of coffee-kick this week, so of course it's only natural that I add coffee to my baking. I had some trouble with these, though. They were reallly good when I first made them, but then I made the mistake of sitting them in the fridge without any cover-whatsoever. Poor things. DON'T EVER DO THAT. After that they ended up being really dry and crumbly. It was so sad. If you don't do what I did, they'll be moist and wonderful. [:

serves: 24
cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons instant espresso
1 cup coconut oil (or any other oil you have)
1 1/3 cups agave nectar
3/4 cup applesauce
3 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup hot coffee

Isa Chandra's "Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting" - Vegan cupcakes Take Over the World. It's the best ever. Really.
1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup vegan margarine
3 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup plain soy milk

"Caramel":
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons vegan margarine
1/4 cup soy creamer (Silk makes one)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cupcakes-
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line cupcake tins with liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, baking powder baking soda, salt, and instant espresso. Add the oil agave nectar, applesauce, vanilla, hot water, and coffee to the dry ingredients and stir until the batter is smooth.
Pour 1/3 cup batter into the prepared cups, almost filling them. Bake the cupcakes on the center rack for 22 minutes, rotating the tins 180 degrees after 15 minutes.
Let the cupcakes stand in tins for 15 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Frosting-
Beat together the shortening and margarine until well combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and soy milk, beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy. See? That wasn't so hard. [:

Caramel Topping-
In a saucepan over medium heat bring the brown sugar, margarine, and creamer to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

ASSEMBLE![:

*Once again, don't just place these in the fridge all willy-nilly. Put them in an airtight container to store them.*

Pan Bagna

Yes, a Pan Bagna is a sandwich. And it's sososo good. You don't know this yet, but you looked at this blog for this recipe. In fact, your parents had you so you could one day try this sandwich. The good news is: It's incredibly easy to make.

You can use any kind of spread on this and it would probably be good. I made some sandwiches with Olive Tapenade, and some with Sun-dried Tomato and White Bean spread.
Yum.

Olive Tapenade:
15 pitted calamata olives (or any nice black olive)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic

Sun-dried Tomato and White Bean spread:
1 1/2 tablespoons crushed garlic
10 sun dried tomatoes in oil
1 can (15-16 ounces) white beans
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt to taste

Sandwich:
1 long, narrow, crispy loaf of bread (like cibatta bread:D )
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
3 vine-ripe or plum tomatoes
1 roasted red/yellow pepper (you can get these jarred or canned at any grocery store)
1 small bunch of arugula (well washed)
1 bunch fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Olive Tapenade- Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until somewhat smooth (it shouldn't look like paste) and you're done. Easy. [:

Tomato spread- Separate the sun-dried tomatoes from their oil. Put them into a food processor with the garlic and blend. Add the white beans and lemon juice and blend. Add salt to taste. It should look sort of like hummus.

Sandwich- Slice the bread the long way, and spread [whatever you made] on the bottom slice. Layer the following, in this order: red onion, tomatoes, salt and pepper, red/yellow pepper, arugula, and basil. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar on top of the vegetables and then the oil on the underside of the other slice of bread. Put the sandwich together. Eat. [:

*You can also wrap the sandwich up tightly with cling-wrap after you've made it, set it in the fridge, and let the flavors marinate. If you do this, though, you might want to toast your bread so it wont be soggy.*

**Pesto would be good on this, too.**

When you're finished- If you made the Sun-dried Tomato and White Bean Spread you can save it and use it as a dip[:

Crepes Suzette

I was feeling adventurous today, so I decided to make Crepes Suzette. You may be thinking, "Come on, that's not very adventurous at all." I know this. But for me, someone who has never ever made a crepe before (I mean, I can barely get pancakes right), they're slightly intimidating. Even the name sounds fancy. It took a while to get the plain crepes right; I tried using my hands (though I don’t have hot hands, so that didn’t last long), but then settled on the hold-your-breath-and-hope-you-don’t-break-it spatula method. Surprisingly it worked, and overall I only ruined two crepes[:
After that everything went smoothly. The sauce was really easy to make. I didn't add the alcohol like a traditional Crepe Suzette 1.) because I don't have any Grand Marnier and 2.) because I was a little scared to flambe. Maybe I'll try it some other time. When other people are around, so that I don't end up killing myself.

OH also, a little fun fact: Like most good things, this dish was actually a huge accident. In 1895, fourteen year-old assistant waiter Henri Charpentier was preparing a dessert for the Prince of Wales -the future King Edward VII of England- and his "girlfriend", and mistakenly caught the liquor on fire. Panicked, he tasted it and to his surprise it was really good. So he served it to the prince and called it "Crepes Princesse". The Prince loved it, but made the waiter change the name to Crepes Suzette, after his girlfriend.
[:

Anyway, on with the recipe.

Serves: 6-8
Crepes:
3 tablespoons Ener-G Egg Replacer
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup soymilk
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt
Vegan margarine for the pan (I used Smart Balance Light, like always)

Sauce:
1/4 cup vegan margarine
3 tablespoons sugar
juice and zest from 1 orange
orange slices for garnish
powdered sugar for dusting

In a food processor, whip the egg replacer and water together until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the soymilk, oil, and vanilla and blend until thoroughly combined. Add the flour, sugar, nutmeg, and salt and mix for about 1 minute. Pour the batter into a medium-sized bowl.
Melt a small amount(enough to coat the bottom but not so much that it pools) of margarine in a nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the pan. As you pour the batter, lift the pan from the heat and twirl it around so that the batter spreads evenly and coats the entire bottom of the pan (If you have too little batter, just pour in some extra to fill the gaps). Return the pan to the heat and let it cook. Once the edges start to look crispy, loosen them with a spatula and turn it over. Cook the other side until golden, and slide it onto a plate. Fold it over and cover with wax paper, then continue the above steps until you run out of batter.
FOR THE SAUCE:
Melt the margarine in a large saute pan. When it starts to foam, add the sugar and stir until it's dissolved. Add the orange juice and zest, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Turn the heat to low.
Add 1 crepe to the pan, making sure to coat it completely with the yummy, syrupy sauce. Carefully fold it in half, then in half again. Repeat this with your remaining crepes all around the pan, working quickly enough so that the first crepe doesn't absorb all of the sauce.
Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar and orange slices. [:

*Wait to dust with powdered sugar until ready to be eaten, or else it will dissolve and you'll have to keep adding it. And that could be gross.*

**Don't stress if your first crepes don't turn out. Just sprinkle with powdered sugar, eat them, and carry on.**

Carrot Cupcakes[:

I absolutely love carrot cake. 'Nough said.

Serves: 24
Carrot Cupcakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup coconut oil
1 cup agave nectar
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup hot water
3 cups shredded carrots
1 1/2 shredded sweetened coconut
1 1/2 raisins
1 tub Pillsbury Cream Cheese frosting (which is conveniently vegan)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 12-cup cupcake tins with liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the oil, agave nectar, soy milk, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir until a thick batter is formed. Add the water and continue mixing the batter is smooth. Gently fold in the carrots, coconut, and raisins until evenly distributed.
Pour 1/3 cup batter into each prepared cup, almost filling it. Bake the cupcakes on the center rack for 25 minutes, rotating the tins 180 degrees after 14 minutes. The finished cupcakes will bounce back slightly when pressed, and your tester should come out clean.
Let the cupcakes stand in the tins for 20 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and let them cool completely. Spread about 1 tablespoon frosting over each cupcake.

Diablo Cake (not vegan)

This was the first layered cake I've ever made. And the first decorated. <3 I made it for Easter and took it over to my aunt's Easter-party thing. They all said it was good, so I'm counting on their feedback:D It took foreverrrrr, so I'm just going to post the standard 8-inch round layered cake.

Serves: I'm not sure. However many people it takes to eat a whole cake.
Diablo Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot brewed coffee
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and dust them with cocoa powder.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the hot coffee and cocoa powder together. set aside.
Using a standing mixer, cream the butter on low speed for about one minute. Add the sugars and beat on low speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. With the mixewr running, add the eggs one at a time. Then add the buttermilk and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the chocolate-coffee mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. When the mixture is almost combined, turn off the mi9xture and finish mixing by hand (to avoid overbeating). Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until your tester comes out clean. Cool the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack.

Vanilla Whipped Buttercream:
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Cream the butter on medium speed, 3 to 5 minutes, in a standing mixer until soft. Add the sugar and beat on high until light and fluffy, 5 to 7 minutes.
In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup of the milk, the flour, and the vanilla and whisk until there are no lumps. Over medium heat, slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup milk, whisking constantly, and cook until the mixture comes to a low boil. Then, reduce heat to low and keep whisking for a few minutes until the mixture starts to thicken.
Immediately remove the saucepan from the heat, but keep stirring. If necessary, place the pan over a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and allow the mixture to cool.
Once the mixture has thickened, stick it in the freezer to cool (take it out when it is room temperature. Make sure it isn't warm otherwise it won't set.)
With the mixture on low speed, slowly pour the milk mixture into the butter-sugar mixture. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add whatever food coloring you want.
Frost your cake. [:

*For an amazing filling, dissolve 1 heaping teaspoon of instant espresso in 1 tablespoon boiling water and combine with the butter-sugar mixture. It works beautifully with this cake.*

**Make sure to really cream the butter and sugar together, don't hold back.**

Mamaw's Birthday

I made German Chocolate cake. It wasn't vegan, and I don't have the recipe anymore.. But I wanted to post this anyway haha. The picture isn't very good because it was dark and my dad took it on his phone.. but..yeah.
[:


Mamaw's on the right.
I look overly excited.

Blondies

Now that I've made these, I am never going to eat another chocolate chip cookie again. It just wouldn't be the same. They're really hard to explain, which is good. They sort of remind me of these mini-muffins my old baby-sitter, Mimi (my pseudo-grandma), used to give us. I would have sat and ate the whole box of those babies if I was able to, they were so good. But these? 10 x better. And just so you know I'm not just bragging, when I made these I had to follow up with three extra batches to satisfy the demand of my family. Haha. They're these charming, fluffy, mini love cakes that you could make for any occasion. Love them.

Serves: 36
Blondies:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup arrowroot
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup applesauce (Granny Smith works best)
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup vegan chocolate chips (I swear by Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, and lightly grease three 12-cup mini-muffin tins with oil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, arrowroot, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the 1/2 cup oil and the applesauce, vanilla, and hot water and stir until the batter is smooth. Gently fold in the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.
Using a melon baller, scoop the batter into each prepared mini-muffin cup. Bake the blondies on the center rack for 9 minutes, rotating the tins 180 degrees after 5 minutes. They should turn out a golden-brown.
Let blondies stand in the tins for 10 minutes, and keep there until ready to serve to maintain freshness. Otherwise cover with plastic wrap and store for up to three days.

*If you don't have any arrowroot, you can substitute if with cornstarch.*

**Best served warm[: **

From St. Patrick's Day

Irish Soda Bread. I'd never had it before and was in the holiday spirit so I made this, haha. It sort of tasted like Raisin Bran. Actually, alot like Raisin Bran. I don't know if that's what it's supposed to taste like.. but I liked it. [:
I'll add the recipe below.


Leprechaun Cupcakes. Because the soda bread just wasn't festive enough. Haha. These are actually just my Crimson Cupcakes with green food coloring rather than red. And a little bit of green food coloring in the frosting. I know I know, so original. [:

Serves: 12
Irish Soda Bread:
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup seedless raisins
1 3/4 cups plain, non-sweetened soy milk plus 1 3/4 tablespoon white vinegar (mix to make soy buttermilk)
1/2 cup soft silken tofu, beaten up with a fork until it's smooth
2 tablespoons any neutral oil (I used vegetable)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt into large bowl, then stir in the raisins. Combine soy buttermilk, tofu, and oil in a smaller bowl. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until flour is moistened. Turn into a oiled 2-quart round casserole dish or 5 1/4 x 9 1/2-inch loaf pan. Bake for about 1 hour.
Let cool in pan for about 15 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack.

*You can also put the batter into muffin cups and bake for 50 minutes.*

**When eating, warm it up and spread margarine over it. Trust me, it's good. [: **

Mac & "Cheese"

I found this recipe in my Vegan Yum Yum book and all I can say is.. Oh my god. I've tried so many vegan mac&cheese recipes and they were all well.. pretty disgusting. I'd even given up trying. But then I was flipping through this book and found yet another macaroni recipe so I decided..Hey, why not. Thank God I tried it because now my search is over. Another new wonderful discovery that came with this recipe: nutritional yeast, my new best friend. So good.



Serves: 4
What you need:
3 cups elbow macaroni
1 recipe "cheesy sauce"
1 cup toasted bread crumbs
4 oven safe bowls or one casserole dish

Cheesy Sauce:
1/3 cup Smart Balance Light (or any other vegan margarine)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon miso (I like red)
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/4 cups soy milk (I used Silk Original, light)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
2 pinches salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cook the noodles. Once they are finished boiling, drain and set aside while you start to prepare the sauce:
Melt the margarine in a saucepan over medium-heat (be careful it isn't too hot so that the margarine doesn't burn!). Once it's melted, add the flour and whisk until the flour is dissolved. Add the miso, tahini, tomato paste, soy sauce, and lemon juice and whisk all of the ingredients together until they are fully incorporated (the mixture should be sort of thick by now). Slowly stir in the soy milk scraping the sides to prevent pasty-buildup. Turn the heat up a bit. Add the yeast, salt, and pepper and whisk until it thickens (Once it starts to boil it should be pretty thick). Take the sauce off of the heat, and toss with the macaroni. Distribute into individual bowls/ casserole dish.
Top the mac & "cheese" with the toasted bread crumbs and place into the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until nice and bubbly.

*If using the individual bowls, place them on a cookie sheet in the oven for better handling.*

**If needed, place under the broiler for one minute or more to brown on top.**

***Squirt lemon juice over top for taste**

Finally back!

As I was watching Julie and Julia today, it hit me that I hadn't posted on here since February. February! I can't believe it. And it's not like I just haven't been cooking because I have (alot), I've just been too lazy to post anything. So I am sorry, whoever you are. And now that it's summer and I have absolutely nothing to do, I promise I will post. :]

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Since I was left alone on Valentine's Day (AKA: Single Awareness Day), I buried myself in the kitchen baking up all sorts of concoctions at the expense of my parents. Thankfully this one turned out! haha. I was sort of shocked actually because these were extremely easy to make. It's the same vanilla recipe I posted earlier with a few add-ons[: AAAND.. I know I know, it's been forever since I last updated. I'm sorry. But to make up for it I just recently went grocery shopping so be prepared for a lot more posting[: Hoorayyyyy.
Anyway, on with the recipe.

Serves: 12
Ingredients:
Pillsbury Cream Cheese frosting (it's vegan!)
Vanilla cupcakes
1/3 cup strong coffee
1/3 cup Kahlua
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
12 chocolate covered coffee beans, chocolate chips, or regular coffee beans

Mix together the coffee and Kahlua. Using a spoon or a knife, carve out a small cone in the middle of the cupcake ( about 1 inch from the center, 1 inch deep). Scoop the cone out carefully trying your best to keep it as intact as possible. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the Kahlua mixture in the hole you made, making sure all of the sides are soaked. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of the frosting into the cavity and smooth it over with the back of your spoon. Dollop a few tablespoons on top of the cupcake. Dip the bottom or the cut-out chunk into the Kahlua mix keeping the top part dry, and pat gently into place on top of the frosting [continue with the remaining cupcakes]. Dust the chocolate and cinnamon over the tops of the cupcakes. dollop a small amount of frosting on top and add the chocolate chip or espresso bean.

**Make some coffee to go with these[: **


My dad ended up being my date, he's just the cutest thing. [:
And he loved the cupcake

Superbowl Cupcakes[:

I wanted to make these as simple as I could, because I'm terribly lazy and didn't have that much time to work with haha. So, I just ended up making basic chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. The chocolate cupcake recipe is actually one passed down from my grandma, so you have my dad to blame because he wouldn't let me post it. I have to tell you though, it's my favorite. Sooooo good. The vanilla recipe, however, isn't a huge secret so here it is[:

Basic vanilla cupcakes:
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 + 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 + 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Whisk the soy milk and vinegar together and let the mixture set until it curdles. Beat the mixture together with the oil, sugar, vanilla, and vanilla extract. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until well combined. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way and bake for about 21 minutes until done. Let cool completely before frosting!

**I didn't make any frosting for these; Pillsbury sells alot of vegan frosting, so I used Original Vanilla for the vanilla cupcakes and I think Chocolate Fudge for the other? haha I know it was chocolate, had the word "fudge" in it, and it was vegan. I know right, I'm so much help. [:
Also, did you know their Cream Cheese frosting is also accidentally vegan? I didn't. I <3 Pillsbury.**

**Duncan Hines also has vegan frosting, but I don't like it as much.**

** I used a Wilton 1m swirl tip to frost these.**

Coconut-Banana Bread

This changed my whole view on bananas. Haha seriously, I used to hate them, but after this it's like there's this whole new thing I've been missing out on. I've never made banana bread either, so on top of this being ridiculously amazing I was super excited because I'd never made anything like it before. [:

Banana Bread:
1 + 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 mashed bananas
Equivalent of 2 eggs ( I use Ener-G Egg Replacer)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
A large handful of shredded, sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a loaf pan.
Mix together whatever egg replacer you are using, bananas, sugar and oil in a bowl and beat until well combined (this is easiest with an electric mixer but you can do it by hand if necessary). Sift together flour and baking soda and stir into wet mixture until blended. Fold in the shredded coconut.
Bake for 45 minutes.

**If you want to make just regular banana bread you don't have to add the coconut, it bakes the same without it[:**
**You could add walnuts or blueberries in place of the coconut, alot of things would be good with this[: just experiment**

Lemon Poppyseed Teacake

This was really good! I was a little hesitant to try this recipe again since the first time it ended up a big mess (I used different ingredients), but I'm glad I did. It was already gone about two hours after coming out of the oven[: I didn't have as many poppy seeds as the recipe calls for so I halved the whole thing.

Serves: 10
Teacake:
2/3 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1 + 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 + 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup applesauce ( I use unsweetened Granny Smith[: )
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons pure lemon extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a 7 x 4 x 3-inch loaf pan.
In a small bowl, combine the soy milk, vinegar, and poppy seeds; set aside. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Add the oil, agave nectar, applesauce, vanilla and lemon extracts, and lemon zest to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Incorporate the soy milk-poppy seed and mix just until all of the ingredients are blended.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake on the center rack for 35 minutes, turning the pan 180 degrees after 18 minutes.
Let the teacake cool in the pan for about 20 minutes before cutting.

**Don't open the oven door except at the 18 min. mark and when it's finished!**
**If you don't have lemon extract, don't substitute for actual lemon juice! The acidity will ruin everything haha trust me.**

Crimson Cupcakes

I just realized that every one of the recipes is lemony (the muffins have lemons in the background), so I figured I needed to post something lemon free. Well, Nobody had a chance to go to the store before hand so the pantry was still pretty much empty, making it extremely hard to do anything. I decided I reallly wanted to try a red velvet recipe so I started getting everything together, but it turns out I only had about a half cup of flour and a tablespoon of cocoa, didn't have any chocolate extract, and I barely had any soy milk left. I still really wanted to make them though. I freaking broke down the whole recipe haha. I ended up using all-purpose AND self-rising flour, omitted the salt, baking powder, and soda, upped the vanilla and added some almond extract instead of cocoa, and halved the whole recipe so everything would work. Then, when I totally finished baking them and thought everything was going great, I realized I'd totally forgotten about the frosting. God really did not want me to make these cupcakes. It all worked out though, because my mom was on her way home and was able to stop by the store to get the stuff I needed. They turned out reallly well, I actually liked them better than my regular recipe:]. I even found a good cream "cheese"! :D It only made six, but hey, I'm not complaining. I'm lucky I even came up with one. Hopefully you have better luck than me:]

Serves: 6
Cupcakes:
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
1/6 cup oil
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 + 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Cream "Cheese" Frosting:
1/4 cup softened margarine (smart balance light or earthbalance work well)
1/4 cup vegan cream cheese (I used Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese, it was amazing[:)
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle. Sift the flours, sugar, and cocoa into a medium-sized boal and mix. Add the oil, food coloring, vanilla and almond extracts to the curdled soy milk and whisk until well combined. Fold wet ingredients into dry, and mix until large lumps disappear.
Fill cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way and bake for 18-20 minutes (be sure not to over-bake!). After a few minutes transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Cream together margarine and cream "cheese" until well combined. Using a handheld mixer (or standard is fine), whip the mixture while adding the confectioner's sugar in 1/2 cup batches. whip until smooth and creamy, then mix in the vanilla.

**Refrigerate or chill frosting in the freezer for a few minutes to firm it up before you frost your cupcakes.**

**It would probably be a whole lot more convenient (not to mention the measurements would be prettier) if you doubled the recipe**

**Red sugar sprinkles look really good on top[: **

"Simply Blueberry" Muffins

Our pantry pretty much has nothing in it but flour, sugar, and canned vegetables right now, so of course this would be the time that I'm craving sweets like crazy. Luckily you don't need much to make muffins. Haha. I love how simple these are! They're tasty, too, so win win[: I think next time I'll try 'em with cherries.

Serves: 10
Muffins:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup soy milk ( I use Silk Plain light)
1/4 cup oil
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 400F.
Place baking cups in a muffin pan. Sift the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Stir in the soy milk and oil and mix until well combined.
Fold in the blueberries. Pour the batter into baking cups (3/4 of the way) and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Pure and simple. [:

**These would be good with really any kind of berry. Be creative, try all kinds of different fruits. [:**

Tofu Scramble

I made this a couple of days ago and just now got the picture uploaded:]. It's a simple, modified version of the scrambled tofu recipe in Vegan With A Vengeance<3 (in my opinion, all of you should own a copy of this book). I never ever eat breakfast -it usually makes me sick- but I'd never had scrambled tofu before so I decided to try it. It was really good! My whole family ate it, even my sister and her vegiphobe fiance (although, I'm not sure he knew that he wasn't actually eating eggs, haha). So I was so excited about it that I felt like I needed to share this recipe with all of you, whoever you are [:

Serves: 5-6
Scramble:
1 tablespoon canola oil (it calls for olive oil, but I'm allergic:[ )
1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped into 1/2 inch chunks
2 cups thinly sliced baby bella mushrooms
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained
juice of 1/2 lemon
chives(optional)

Spice blend:
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed with fingers (I didn't have any so I used marjoram)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 + 1/2 teaspoons salt

Salsa

Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat. saute the onions until softened and golden (about 3 minutes); add the mushrooms and saute them for about 5 minutes; add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Mix in the spice blend for about 15 seconds, or until well combined.
Crumble in the tofu with your fingers (make sure not to crush it! you want it chunky). Cook for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally, scraping the bottom of the skillet to prevent sticking (if it does start to stick, you can add splashes of water or lower the heat a little). Mix in the lemon juice and chives. Take off of the heat.
Serve with salsa.

**This would also taste good served with guacamole**
**If you like the salsa with it, you could add one cup of salsa at the end and cook for a minute extra**

Lemon Cheescake

This isn't vegan!!The recipe originally was, actually, but I really didn't like the taste of the veg cream "cheese" that I had. Sooo, I just substituted everything and gave it to my family:]. It's really easy to convert back to the original though; I used the same measurements and everything just switched out veg "cheese" for the real thing, egg-replacer for eggs.. you catch my drift. Anyway, I'm guessing it was pretty good because the whole thing was gone in just a few hours haha.

Serves: 10-12
Crust:
(you can use a store bought crust for this to save time, I made one)
1 + 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons of melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Filling:
3 eggs
6 tablespoons of water
24 ounces cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest (remember, only the yellow part!)

Topping:
fresh, sliced strawberries (long-ways)
sliced lemon

Lightly oil a 9 in. springform pan.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon (if using) until moist. Firmly press the mixture evenly throughout the bottom of the pan. Bake until it is lightly browned and firm (about 10-15 min.).
Keep your oven on 350 degrees[:
Using a hand mixer (or if you don't have one you can use a standard mixer), beat the cream cheese and the eggs together for about 30 seconds until creamy. Mix in the sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
Scrape the batter onto the crust, making sure the top is smooth. Bake for about 50 - 55 minutes, just until the center barely jiggles when you tap it (It's okay if it puffs up or turns a golden brown). Let it cool in the pan for at least an hour so that it stays intact when you unmold it(you could even refrigerate it to make sure it's completely cooled).
Line the edges with the strawberries and garnish with a couple of lemon slices, then cover and refrigerate it for at least two hours before serving.

**tip: Try not to over-beat the batter or else the cheescake will crack.**

This was my first time EVER using a spring form pan. I love them now[:
Also, my dad just recently got a hand mixer! I don't know how I ever got by without one<3 I think one of these days I'm going to get myself a light green one, they're just too cute. Besides, I'm not sure my parents would appreciate me stealing theirs when I move out..

Time-Warp Lemon Squares

I have tried sooo many recipes for these (really, it's ridiculous), but thankfully I've finally found one:]. I was so worried after the first couple of tries with different recipes that it was going to be impossible to veganize these, but they're amazing. Like baked lemonade on a yummy crust. :o Seriously, I would sit and eat a whole batch of them if I could. And, to top everything off, they're pretty easy to make! Here's the recipe:

Serves: 16
Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons margarine (I use Smart Balance light, but Earthbalance works just fine)
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Filling:
2 + 1/4 cups granulated sugar
9 tablespoons all purpose flour ( or 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon)
3 teaspoon vanilla
1 + 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/8 teaspoon salt
zest and juice of six fresh lemons (you can use the pre-bottled juice if necessary)
Yellow food coloring (optional)

Topping:
powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Blend the margarine and sugar together until creamy. Add the flour and mix until you get a slightly crumbly consistency. Firmly press into an 8 x 8 inch pan. Bake for 15 min.
While the crust is baking, sift together the sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest (make sure to only zest the yellow of the lemon, don't get too much of the white or they will have a slightly bitter taste). Add the vanilla and lemon juice and incorporate well. Stir in a few drops of food coloring if using. Pour mixture over the crust, and bake 20 minutes more, or until set.
After you take them out, let them cool completely before cutting them (you can even chill them in the fridge).
Sprinkle powdered sugar on top just before serving[:

**Tip: These taste even better after letting them sit overnight!**