A is for Apple Pie Cookies [vegan]

I have this idea in my head, an idea which I’ve been considering for the past few weeks.  Since one of my New Year resolutions was to, I quote: “Bake different styles of food!,” I’ve obviously got to follow through on that!

To accomplish this resolution, my idea is: Desserts Around the World-alphabet style

Basically, every two weeks I will post a new recipe that originates from a foreign country.  Simple enough right?  The only other criteria is that there are going to be a total of 26 recipes, and each recipe name will begin with a letter in the alphabet.

To start myself off, here’s a recipe for Apple Pie Cookies, with the country being AMURICAAA.

These are essentially cinnamon oatmeal cookies, with an apple pie filling and a simple icing on top.  The cookies have almost a biscuity texture, which really enhances the idea of an apple pie.  These cookies are made for eating with a glass of milk (I’d even go as far as to say glasses of milk are made for drinking with these cookies), and if you’re aiming for a totally vegan dessert, a glass of soymilk is perfect too.  Eat these cookies to celebrate the United States- a mess of a country, but one built on honest ideals.

Apple Pie Cookies

For the cookies:

• ½ cup butter (I used vegan butter)
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1 cup flour (reduce to ¾ cup for a less biscuity cookie)
• 1 tbs corn starch
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt

1. Cream together the butter and brown sugar.  Whisk in the vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the oatmeal, flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, and stir until a dough forms.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
4. Take ¼ cup size balls of dough, and form into round disks on a baking sheet. Make an indent in the middle of each disk as a bowl for the apple filling.

For the apple filling:

• 1 apple, peeled and diced
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbs butter

1. Melt the butter in the pan, and add the brown sugar.  Heat until bubbling.
2. Add the apples, and cook until they begin to soften. Reduce the heat and keep cooking until the apples caramelize and the filling is deep golden brown. Cook less for a more gooey filling (in my cookies, I cooked the filling until very golden brown, and it was almost like a chewy apple caramel in the final product).  Divide the filling among the cookies.
3. Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees, or until they are a light golden color.  Cool completely before adding the glaze.

For the icing:

• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tiny splash vanilla
• milk (or soy milk)

1. In a plastic bag combine the powder sugar and vanilla.
2. Add a tiny splash of milk, and squish the bag until a homogenous icing forms.  If needed, add another tiny splash of milk.
3. Cut a corner off of the bag and pipe the icing onto the cookies.
4. Allow the icing to harden, then enjoy the cookies with a glass of milk.

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Healthy Chocolate Pudding Pie [vegan]

(Healthy) Chocolate Pudding Pie-Vegan 

A few years ago I made a batch of tofu chocolate pudding and was absolutely enamored with it.  It was SO simple to make and I ended up eating a whole batch, thinking tofu automatically made it a health food (not that you can taste more than a hint of soy).  Flash forward to a couple months ago, when I saw a recipe for a Chocolate Bar Pie on a wonderful (healthy) dessert blog called Chocolate Covered Katie (she has recipes which make even me LOVE garbanzo beans). Yum yum yum!

I realized, looking at her gorgeous pictures, that my life called for some serious tofu chocolate pie.  Not one to follow recipes, I kinda took a glance at the recipe on CCK, and ended up guessing ingredients and their amounts.  To my surprise, it was a experimental success (trust me, my experiments aren’t usually so pretty, haha).  I made a chocolate shortbread crust for the pie, and it complemented the silkiness of the filling really nicely.  I would continue rambling about the pie (and I could, believe me!), but it’s five in the morning (hello jetlag, you have too much power over me), and I think I should go back to sleep.  G’night or good morning, and until next time!

Chocolate Tofu Pie

Inspiration from Chocolate Covered Katie’s Chocolate Bar Pie

Crust:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter [vegan butter, if desired]

1. Add the flour, cocoa, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
2. Cut the stick of butter into thin slices, and add to the bowl.
3. With your finger, work the butter into the dry ingredients until a crumbly dough forms.
4. Press the dough into a greased pie pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
5. Allow to cool completely.

Filling:

• 1 container of silken tofu, 16 ounces, drained
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (half a 12 ounce bag)
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 pinch salt

1. Melt the chocolate chips, and stir until smooth.
2. Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.  Easy peasy!
3. Pour into the cooled pie shell and refrigerate until the filling holds its shape.
4. Garnish with chocolate shavings and fresh berries. 🙂

EDIT: Gave a slice to my friend who’s really finicky about Tofu and she liked it.  Success!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

I’m a bad blog owner.

I use to post a recipe nearly everyday-now I barely post a recipe every week.

I use to carefully position my food for pictures, cutting the perfect piece and smoothing out every imperfection-now I slap a piece of whateverImake on a plate and call it “unique looking”.

Clearly, something has gone sour-and I nearly certain it’s TIME.  There are not enough hours in a day and I find myself scrambling to squeeze baking and blogging into my already hectic schedule.

I’m going to try to devote more time to Chomps of Life, really I will, but until then, I’ll just have to humor you with a sorry looking pumpkin pie.

It’s a little different than a traditional pumpkin pie-it is more smooth and custardy, perhaps reminiscent of this pumpkin pudding pie.  In addition this recipe is more high maintenance than canned pie filling: it relies on cooking the pumpkin puree to accentuate the flavor of the pumpkin. That said, if you’re willing to put in the effort, you’ll be rewarded with a delightful treat.  This Thanksgiving I tripled the recipe and ended up with six pies! I know what I’ll be eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,tomorrow for the next week.  😉

Pumpkin Pie

Recipe from Flour by Joanne Chang

• 1 unbaked pie crust (I used store bought, shhh!)*
• 1 16 ounce can pumpkin puree
• 2/3 light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp fresh nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ cup + 2tbs sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• ¾ cup heavy whipping cream

1. In a saucepan, combine the pumpkin puree and brown sugar.
2. Cook at medium heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Take the mixture off the stove and add the spices, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the heavy whipping cream, eggs, and egg yolk.
5. Add the pumpkin mixture to the egg mixture, and whisk until smooth.
6. Pour the filling into the pie crust, and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.  The pie is done when the center of the pie still jiggles slightly.  Insert a knife halfway between the center of the pie and the edge, and if it come out clean, the pie is finished.  Be careful because pumpkin pies become spongy if overcooked, so it’s better to err on the side of a little too puddingy.
7. Chill the pie until completely cold, and then serve with whipped cream.  ENJOY!

P.S. My brother Phil got me a macro filter set for my birthday (which was about a week ago!) which enables me to take super close up photos (like the one above).  Definitely some more of those in the future  😀

P.P.S. My brother Jon got me an eco light for my birthday, which will allow me to take photos at night! The pumpkin pie is an example of me using my new light, and I think the lighting almost looks natural.  Pretty cool amirite?

Pumpkin Pudding (Pie)

I think I should change my name to Miss. Indecisive.  -really!

I’m the one who spends hours at restaurants going “ummmm ummmmm can I have the grilled chee…wait no….ummm can I have the vegetable pasta…actually I think I want grilled…”

Then there are multiple choice tests where I go back and forth between two answers until my brain is mush.

And then there was that time where I went and bought a really nice dress-and then I decided it was too expensive and returned it…without even leaving the store!

Oh yeah, and then there was the time when I tried to write a blog post about Pumpkin Custard, and I didn’t know what picture to choose. Since I’m still deciding on that one, in honor of the Taco Shell Girl:

So there you have it-both pictures of the pumpkin custard (and a third bonus picture below!).  Make this recipe as soon as humanly possible.  It can’t replace the joy of a traditional pumpkin pie-nothing can- but it certainly couldn’t hurt to have one more pie at thanksgiving.  Plus, you can make it crustless and call it healthy-I mean, pumpkins are vegetables, aren’t they 😉

Pumpkin Pudding (Pie)

Crust:

• 6 ounces cookie crumbs (I used spiced ginger cookies, yum!)
• 6 tbs butter

1. Melt the butter and stir together with the cookie crumbs.
2. Press on the bottom of a spring-form cheesecake pan, and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.  Allow to cool before adding pumpkin filling.

Pumpkin Pudding:

• ½ cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbs pumpkin pie spice
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tbs butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Add the sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, milk, and pumpkin puree into a large pot.  Heat until just about boiling.
2. In a regular sized bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and corn starch.
3. Add about ½ cup of the hot milk mixture to the egg yolks, a little at a time, whisking constantly.
4. Pour the egg yolks into the pot, and cook together for about 3-5 minutes, or until thick.  Whisk the mixture as it cooks (or it will burn, eek!)
5. Pour the hot filling onto the pie crust, allow to cool at room temperature, and then refrigerate until chilled.  Cover the top of the pie with plastic wrap to stop the custard from forming a skin.  Alternatively, pour the custard into small bowls or ramekins and serve pudding style.  Enjoy!

P.S. I made some custom “Chompsoflife” cups in my ceramics class.  A giveaway in the future perhaps?!