The Summer Peach

There is no better fruit, to me at least, than a fresh summer peach.  Juicy and packed full of that peachy goodness I know and love.  I bought a box of fresh peaches on my trip to Trader Joe's this week, and let me tell you, they are so juicy that you need a handful of napkins when you eat them, or the juice will run down your arm and all over your clothes!

I have a lot of recipes using peaches, pies, jams, etc., but again it's just the two of us, so I made a small fresh peach and fresh blueberry crisp with some of my peaches.  It smelled so amazing baking, I couldn't wait to eat it!  It was not too sweet for those minding their sugar intake.  Topping it with a small scoop of vegan ice cream, makes this dessert totally vegan, or top it with a scoop of regular vanilla bean ice cream.

Recipe below.

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  This peach and blueberry crisp was served after a vegan meal I made for dinner,
 Vegan Bolognese Sauce with Pasta (recipe on this blog 1/6/16), check it out.

I used 3 fresh peaches and 1 cup of fresh blueberries and started layering them in a small casserole dish.  

I made two layers with the fruit.

Now the crunchy part - Oatmeal, brown sugar, a pinch of salt and vegan butter.

Spread the topping over the fruit, cover to the edges and bake.  Easy and simple, that's how I like it!

    

In 40 minutes, this fabulous dessert! Sweet peaches and puffed up blueberries that burst in your mouth!

Peach and Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients

3 fresh peaches

1 cup fresh blueberries

3/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal, uncooked

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons Earth Balance Vegan Butter, cut into cubes

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a small casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Cut peaches in half and remove the stone.  Leave the skin on if you like or peel them.  Slice each half into 5-6 slices. Layer the slices on the bottom of the casserole dish, and sprinkle on 1/2 of the blueberries.  Make another layer of peaches and the other half of the blueberries.

In a medium bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, salt and vegan butter.  Break up the butter with a fork mixing it into the oatmeal and brown sugar until its crumbly.  Spread the top of the fruit with mixture and cover to the edges of the dish.  Bake for 35 - 40 minutes (remember all oven temps are different).  Makes 4 servings.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wow, I was busy in the kitchen all day yesterday, working this recipe for Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.  It took awhile, but I think I finally got it right.  The vegan in the house will have to taste test them and let me know how I did, AND believe me, HE WILL LET ME KNOW, hahaha!  There are so many ways to make vegan chocolate chip cookies when you look up recipes online, but I chose to work it myself, with some new ingredients I found, while perusing the organic/vegan aisles at the grocery store.  You never know what you will find when taking time to look around, especially in a big grocery store.

I pulled out my ingredients, lined them all up and got busy.

Well, well, well, would you look at this new product I found, The Neat Egg.  You can use this to replace eggs in baking, but you can't cook it for breakfast, sorry.

I combined the almond meal, flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Creamed the butter, added the sugars, egg replacement, vanilla and meal/flour mix.

These are vegan chocolate chips, a little pricey but worth it if you're a vegan!

Mix them all in and drop your dough by teaspoon on a baking sheet.

Pop them in the oven and when they come out they look just like your old fashioned favorite cookie.

See!

I cool mine on a paper towel covered cooling rack, it helps absorb any extra oils.  I do this when I make regular chocolate chip cookies too.

Looking good!  I am sure he'll have a tall glass of almond milk with these for dunking.

And, they passed his inspection, half of them are gone already!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups Almond Meal, I used Trader Joe's

1 cup unbleached white flour (see note 1)

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Vegan Egg Replacement to equal 2 eggs, I used The Neat Egg (see note 2)

1 cup vegan butter, I use Earth's Balance

3/4 cup pure granulated cane sugar

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups vegan chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, whisk together the almond meal, unbleached flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.  In a smaller bowl, follow directions on the back of The Neat Egg bag for mixing 2 "eggs", or see note at the bottom of this recipe. To make it from ground flax meal and water see note at bottom of this page. In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter.  Add both sugars and continue to cream. Add the "egg" mixture, and blend it in. Add vanilla.  Add the flour mixture slowly until all is combined, scraping bowl as you are mixing. Turn off mixer, mix the chips in with a wooden spoon or spatula, until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Drop by teaspoonful onto baking sheets 2-3 inches apart.  Bake, turning sheets once during baking, until the edges are lightly browned and cookies are firmed up in the center.  Remove from oven, cool on sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks covered with paper towels.  The paper towels help to absorb any excess oils from the cookies.  Cool completely before storing in airtight container. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

NOTE 1: Depending on the type of almond meal/flour you are using, your cookie dough may be a little too wet.   I used a different brand of almond meal/flour (Bob's Red Mill) and discovered they do not bake the same, hence the adjustment of the amount of flour to be used.

NOTE 2:  The Neat Egg is a new product I found in Wegman's while browsing around the organic/vegan aisles. It's an all natural vegan egg substitute, but can not be used as a stand alone egg, so you can't scrambled them up.  It is a combination of ground/powdered chia seeds and garbanzo beans (chick peas).  So here is the mix for Neat Egg replacement:

2 tablespoons water + 1 tablespoon Neat Egg mix + Mix well with a spoon = 1 egg

If you are using Flax Meal, here is the mix for that:

6 tablespoons of water + 2 tablespoons ground flax meal + Mix well with a spoon = 2 eggs


NOTE 3:  Test bake one cookie on a baking sheet to be sure the almond meal/flour and unbleached flour mix is right.  The cookie should not spread too much.  If the cookie comes out too flat add more unbleached flour.

Vegan Coffee Buns

You know when I eat "the sweets", "the sweets" do bad things to me.  I like "the sweets", so I have to come up with better ideas of how to make them homemade, without giving up texture and taste.  One of my favorite breakfast sweets is sticky buns, love them!  I WILL eat the whole pan when presented right out of the oven.  Hot, warm, gooey sticky buns, mmmmmm, are so good!  I have no control, seriously, I need to just stop eating altogether.

So to "replace" my favorite sticky bun recipe, I came across an old recipe that I used to make a long, long time ago and turned it vegan, yes that's right, VEGAN.  AND they are fabulous, AND no taste or texture is compromised.  I'm calling them Vegan Coffee Buns, but you can eat them any time you like. Check them out!

Recipe below.

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Who knew Bisquick was vegan, not me! A few of my ingredients to start my buns.

 All you need is the baking mix and the banana for the dough.

 Mix it up....

 Form into a ball and turn out on a dusted surface.....

 Roll it out....

 Brush on melted vegan butter........

 Brown sugar and cinnamon....

 Roll it up and slice it down....

 Melted vegan butter and pecans or any kind of nut you like....

 Pop those sliced rolls on top.....

 And bake!

 Flip them out of the pan and onto a baking sheet, don't want to loose any of the gooey stuff.

 Ahhhhh, look at these delightful, tasty, sweet little treats, and no guilt.

 Vegan Coffee Buns

Ingredients

For the topping

1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan butter, room temp

1/4 cup light brown sugar

36 pecan halves (see note)

For the dough

2 cups Bisquick baking mix

3/4 cup mashed ripe banana

For the filling

3 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan butter, melted

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the 1/2 cup butter into 24 pieces. Place two pieces in each cup of a 12 cup muffin pan.  Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of brown sugar in each cup, and top with 3 pecan halves. Place in the oven to melt the butter, watch it carefully it will not take long. Remove from oven when butter is melted and set aside.

With a spatula blend together the baking mix and the banana.  When all is combined form into a ball, and turn out onto a flat surface dusted with baking mix.  Knead the dough a few times.  Dust the surface again so dough does not stick, shape the dough into a rectangle.  Dust the top with a little more baking mix and roll with a rolling pin into a larger, flatter, even rectangle.

Melt the 3 tablespoons of vegan butter in the microwave for a few seconds. Spread the butter with a brush onto the rectangle, sprinkle with the 1/4 cup brown sugar and cinnamon.  Roll up from the long end of the dough.  Seal the edge tightly by pinching it a little.

Cut the roll in half, then in 12 even pieces.  Place 1 piece of dough in each cup of the muffin pan.  Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, depending on your oven, or until golden brown and bubbly.  Remove from oven, invert onto a baking sheet, leave the muffin pan over the rolls and let cool for 1 minute.  Serve warm. Makes 12 servings.

NOTE:  You can use any kind of nuts you like.  You can also add raisins or cranberries inside the dough before you roll it up.