The Great Pumpkin Attacked My Chocolate Chip Cookies...Oh, My!

I have been doing a lot of baking lately and it's mostly been focused around cupcakes. The other day I decided to shake it up a bit and bust out some cookies. But, not just any cookies, my pretties, but the most kickass pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I have ever had! Ok, ok...they are the only pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I have ever had, but I can assure you I WILL be having them again! (And soon!)

These soft little pillows of pumpkin goodness had just the right amount of sweet and savory. Never did I imagine I would like pumpkin in my chocolate chip cookies, as I am pretty much a CCC purist, but the balance was perfect. No, I did not come up with the magic formula myself, but my new hero, Kris Holechek, author of The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes: Amazing Cookies, Cakes, Muffins, Pies, Brownies and Breads , did. And boy, did she ever!

If you have not checked out this particular cookbook, I highly recommend it. Her recipes are not extremely complicated nor do they call for eccentric vegan ingredients, but they combine things you already have in your cupboard to create what appear to be some tasty morsels that I cannot wait to get my baking mitts on. Tomorrow may have to be a day to test out another one of her recipes...I have some left-over pumpkin that needs to be used sitting in my fridge and that is just not good...

Happy MoFo, all!

Cupcakes Have Taken Over...Again!!!

Yes, Tuesday was not only Election Day, but more importantly it was my husband's birthday. The big 42...woo hoo!!! Surprisingly, his dinner requests were modest as he wanted Tofurky Kielbasa and Sauerkraut. We also had a side salad with Cashew Tamari dressing that was quite yummy...

For desert Tom requested cupcakes. Actually, his cupcake request began several days ago and as the days passed, the type of cupcake changed from one to another. Yesterday's request was for a lemon cupcake and that request held through to today...and fortunately, Ms. Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Ms. Terry Hope Romero had the solution to my problem-how do I make lemon cupcakes???

If you have not already done so, I urge you to pick up your copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule. This book truly rules. I have tried several recipes from it and none have disappointed, especially the Lemon Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Buttercream Icing (I hope I got the names right...I'm kinda in a sugar coma at the moment.) I was worried that Tom might not like them but he had already eaten a cupcake even before I had gotten the icing on them. It's been about 3 hours since I made them and he's had several...but to be nice I won't give a specific number. (If I listed his number eaten I would only have to list the number I've eaten to be fair and well...I just don't want to go there :-)

So, I am going to go drink a ton of water then go to bed, 'cause that's how I roll. Like I said, if you haven't gotten this book for your cookbook selection yet, click on the pic and ORDER IT NOW!!! You won't be disappointed. Oh, by the way, in case I haven't mentioned it, today is also my 15 month veganniversary. Yay!!!

Happy baking!
Danielle

Cupcakes Take Over My Kitchen...

I have a sweet tooth. If you know me you know how much of an understatement that is...throughout my years I have always been on a quest for that satisfying bite, that one that beat out all others in the perfect combination of yum and satisfaction. Once I became vegan; however, it became much more difficult to just go out and buy something that would satisfy that craving once it hit. So what's a girl to do???

Start baking, that's what! I have become a label reader, as anyone who has made a major transition in their diet knows exactly what I'm talking about. I have tried to eliminate processed foods from my diet. I no longer buy snack cakes or cookies in a package. (Sometimes I will buy a bakery treat as long as I am able to assure that it is vegan.) This does NOT mean that I have given up yummy treats...I have them. I just make them myself. Amazing how much different something fresh baked tastes, without the preservatives and other crap that is added. I control the ingredients...I like that.

Yesterday I was craving strawberry cake in a bad way. So after looking through many many cookbooks and at many recipes online, I decided to make Strawberry Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing...all VEGAN of course! I did a little combining of recipes and came up with a great end product. My husband's response, after his first bite, was, "These are good!" If you knew my husband you would know that these words are not delivered easily...especially as he is an omnivore! Oh, to win the respect of an omnivore...that's what I live for in the kitchen! (Not to mention the fact he has always been the chef in this family and has that annoying ability to throw stuff together in a pan and have it taste great...) But I digress...

I settled on the Golden Vanilla Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The only change I made was adding fresh cut strawberries to the batter prior to baking. I wondered as to whether or not it altered the consistency of the batter too much but end result: I like them. For the icing, I used this recipe. As I said earlier...they were GREAT!

Here is a pic of the finished product. I'm not very good with the icing application...as you can see...but fortunately that doesn't alter the taste! Now, if you'll pardon me, I need to go eat a cupcake. Nom nom nom!