Quick and Tasty Chocolate Chip Bars

The main reason why I love baking is not necessarily because of the end result. It is the process that I revel in. There are so many aspects in life that can be unpredictable and stressful. Lately I have found that the task of following steps is calming. Baking provides a departure from making decisions, an often difficult feat that all humans must make, and simply tells us what to do. When a recipe says "1 cup flour sifted with 1 teaspoon baking soda", it means just that.

While I love being creative with desserts, sometimes you just want to make something straightforward and fast, with no added tricks or potentially stress-inducing fancy techniques.

These Chocolate Chip Bars from the cookbook How It All Vegan, are simple as can be. They are easy to make and quite speedy as well. But in a crazy way, they are extremely delicious and worthy of satisfying any baking urge.

Life can wait. There are Chocolate Chip Bars to be made.

Chocolate Chip Bars
From How It All Vegan

3 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup soy milk or water

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, including the sugar. Add oil, vanilla, milk and chocolate chips. Stir until just mixed. Pour batter into a 9X13 pan. Sprinkle with sanding sugar if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Let cool 10 minutes until you cut them into bars.

Home In Cookie Form

All cookies are great. Snickerdoodles, oatmeal raisin, maple walnut: who doesn't love a sugary, chunky blast of dessert? That said, the smell of the cookie that reminds me most of home is without a doubt, the coveted chocolate chip cookie. Classic and simple in the best sense, the cookie smell that emits from the oven brings me right back to my customary after-school snack. Even when I was in high school, coming back after field hockey or lacrosse practice to a nice, big chewy chocolate chip cookie will forever create a cozy feeling.

While I used to eat cookies with milk, these vegan chocolate chip ones taste the best with soymilk.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
From How It All Vegan

3/4 cups dry sweetener

1/2 cup margarine (I used Earth Balance)

1/2 cup oil

3 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/4 flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stir the sweetener with the wet ingredients together. In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix in chocolate chips. Drop dough in spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are brown.
Eat and return home for a few minutes.

Chocolate Almond Cookies

Tucked deep within the East Village in New York City, there lies a fantastic little vegan restaurant called The Candle Cafe. Coveted by carnivores and plant-lovers alike, the menu specializes in creative and high caliber cuisine that is rarely found in vegan dining. So imagine my excitement when, browsing through my local bookstore, I found The Candle Cafe Cookbook, on sale for 25% no less!

The book's recipe for Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies seemed intriguing to me because of its simplicity and decidedly rich ingredients. I thought they would be perfect with a glass of vanilla soymilk for a little midnight snack!

The recipe calls for egg replacer, so I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to attempt to create my own "egg" with ground flaxseeds and water. I had read that when whisked vigorously, the flaxseeds adopt a gelatinous texture that mimics egg properties. In addition, though the recipe contains macadamia nuts, I decided to use chopped almonds instead- any Almond Joy fanatic will tell you that nothing can beat the chocolate-almond combination! So although the recipe is slightly altered from what you would find in the Candle Cafe, the cookies are pretty darn delicious!

Chocolate Almond Cookies
makes around 18 cookies

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup chopped raw almonds

1/2 cup soy margarine

1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds

1/2 teaspoon water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons soy milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the ground flaxseeds and water in a cup, whisk furiously for 5 minutes, until slightly syrupy and thick. Whisk together the margarine, soymilk and vanilla extract to the seeds. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine the salt, flour, sugar, nuts, chocolate chips, baking soda and cocoa powder. Mix well. Add the wet ingredients to this mixture.
Using a small ice cream soup or tablespoons, drop mounds onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake 15-18 minutes.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

It is a shame that pumpkin is used only in the fall. With such availability it has in grocery stores in canned form, the sweet, spicy fruit can, and should be enjoyed all year round. Not to mention fruit purees have the added benefit of upping the vitamin and mineral content of any baked good.

While the pumpkin-chocolate combination is usually found in muffins, (and I won't deny it, this recipe produces one of the more dense cupcakes in "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World"), with a bit of Cinnamon Icing this makes the perfect dessert on any night. Of course it isn't too bad for breakfast either.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
makes a dozen

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/3 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup soy milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir pumpkin, oil, sugar, soy milk and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir with a fork until just combined. (Don't overstir!). Fold in chocolate chips. Fill liners 2/3 of the way full. Bake 22-24 minutes.


Cinnamon Icing

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine, melted

1 tablespoon soy milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together all ingredients until the mixture is opaque and dark brown. Once the cupcakes are cooled, squiggle the icing across the top in decorative patterns.

Mocha Cupcakes!

More often than not, it can be a daunting challenge to find a vegan cookbook with solid recipes that do not call for obscure, expensive ingredients. Though I love agave nectar and brown rice syrup as much as the next vegetarian, they are extremely pricey and often times, hard to find. (Although many supermarkets are now noticing the trend in wholesome eating and including a natural foods section).

However, after recently coming across vegan culinary genius Isa Chandra Moskowitz's cookbook, "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World", I was astounded with the goldmine of relatively easy, creative recipes that use ingredients found in any home, vegan or not. From your basic Chocolate Cupcake to a very promising Mucho Margarita Cupcake, there is literally a tasty little treat for everyone.

The recipe below is for the Mocha Cupcake, which appealled to me due to my love of mocha lattes and chocolate covered espresso beans. These are topped with a decadent chocolate ganache, which reminds me of the chocolate drizzle my favorite barista pours over my latte!


Mocha Cupcakes
makes around 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup soymilk

1/2 cup cold coffee

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with foil or paper cups.
Whisk soymilk, coffee, and vinegar in a large bowl. Let curdle. Add sugar, oil and extracts. Whisk until frothy.
In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and espres powders together. Add to wet ingredients.
Beat until there are no large lumps.
Fill liners 3/4 of the way full. Bake 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.


Chocolate Ganache

3 tablespoons soymilk

2 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar

3 chunks of unsweetened chocolate

Heat soymilk in the microwave about 20 seconds. Whisk in powdered sugar. Drop in chocolate. In 20 second intervals, heat and stir mixture until all the chocolate has melted and the consistency is smooth. It should be thick and very chocolatey, adjust ratios of ganache accordingly. Spread or drizzle on cooled cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

Peanut Butter Cups are by far the very best candy around. There is nothing that can top the smooth, melt-in-your mouth interior of the peanut butter when combined with the first solid, and then gooey ridges of the chocolate. In an effort to recreate the iconic candy in cake form, I experimented with making a peanut butter frosting. 

About 98% of the recipes I encounter for vegan frosting include ingredients such as non-hydrogenated vegan margarine, such as Earth Balance. While this may have the same consistency of butter, I think using butter-substitutes is cheating. My theory about vegan eating is eliminating the unnecessary chemicals and animal products from a diet. Who wants to eat something that is processed and definitely not found in nature? 

The cake itself is very vegan, very chocolate, and very tasty. I apologize for the lack of picture, but I smoothed the frosting on only the top of the cake when it was completely cooled, and sprinkled it with slivered almonds. It looked gorgeous if I don't say so myself!

Peanut Butter Cup Cake

Cake:

1 cup cold water

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the dry ingredients except sugar together. Combine the wet ingredients including sugar in another bowl. Add both mixtures together and stir. 

Bake for around 30 minutes in a round cake pan. This time will be 15 minutes if you are making cupcakes. 

Frosting:

1 cup of smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

equal parts oil and water

Combine the peanut butter, sugar and vanilla extract together. Add equal parts oil and water in small increments to the mixture until the consistency is smooth but will hold. 

When the cake is completely cooled, spread the peanut butter frosting on only the top of the cake, sprinkle with slivered almonds. Crushed peanut butter cups would be delicious also, but keep in mind that they are not vegan. 

Chocolate Orange Scone Cookies

In an effort to prepare for the upcoming Easter weekend, I wanted to get a head start on my sweet tooth mania. After acquiring a delicious bag of Dove dark chocolate nuggets and a big bag of quick cooking oats,  I decided to do a little improvisation on a recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance. 

The result was a hybrid between a cookie and a scone, hence, the creation of the scone-cookie. The baked good is not as dense as the traditional scone, but definitely as flat as a cookie. I do enjoy the hard, crunchy coating because it easily allows the eater to pull off the top, much like a muffin cap, (which everyone knows is the best part). 

Though these are peculiar goodies, I think they are an eclectic addition to any brunch get together, and will have guests pondering with amazement how such a texture could have been achieved. 

Chocolate Orange Scone Cookies

makes around 15 

 2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cups almond milk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/3 cup raw sugar

1/4 cup quick oats

1/4 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons grated orange

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 cup chopped dark chocolate

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet. 

Add the almond milk and the lemon juice together. Let sit for 5 minutes. 

In large mixing bowl sift flour, sugar, baking powder, oats and salt. Add the milk-lemon mixture to the dry ingredients. Add orange zest, vanilla extract, oil and applesauce. Stir in dark chocolate. 

Place tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle the tops with sugar. 

Bake around 20 minutes, until golden brown. Keep an eye on them so the bottoms do not burn!

Bake for around 20 minutes. 

New Baking Technique for Vegan Brownies!

I was extremely excited earlier this week when I discovered a new technique for baking vegan goodies on one of my favorite blogs, Cookie Madness. So intrigued was I with this new method that I immediately went down into my kitchen, took out my baking supplies, and tried it out, no matter that this was at 8 o'clock in the morning, and I was nearly late to my class.

While these bars are more cake-like than brownie-like, they come out rich in chocolate, and are relatively healthy due to the lack of eggs, milk or butter in them. In fact, baked in a round pan and slathered in frosting, the recipe could easily double as a birthday cake!

Without further ado...

Vegan Brownies (Adopted from Cookie Madness)

serves around 16

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup water

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable or olive oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a brownie pan very well. 

(The new technique part comes next)

Place 1/2 cup of flour and the 1 cup of water in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until the mixture becomes thick and gluey. 

Stir together the sugar, salt, cocoa powder and baking powder. Add oil and vanilla and stir until well mixed. Add the gluey flour mixture and stir. Add the rest of the flour and nuts and chocolate chips if desired.

Pour the mix into the pan and bake for around 25 minutes. 

Let cool and cut into bars!

Cowboy Cookies

There are some food pairings that just seem to go well together: peanut butter and jelly, garlic and onion, tomato and basil- you get the drift. Though these food couples are fantastic, there seems to be no two foods that compliment each other as well as coconut and chocolate. While fruit and chocolate are no strangers, there is something about the slight smokiness of coconut that coaxes out the deep richness of chocolate. 

The following recipe for Cowboy Cookies, adapted from Martha Stewart, was originally supposed to contain pecans and oats in addition to coconut and chocolate. However, in an effort to display the flavors  of the two feature ingredients, I added an extra handful each of coconut shavings and chocolate chips, omitting the pecans and oats all together. The result caused quite a stampede of roommates in the kitchen!

Cowboy Cookies

makes around 3 dozen

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 sticks butter

3/4 cups sugar

3/4 cups light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 oz of chocolate chips

3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. 

Cream the butter with the sugars until very pale. Add eggs on at a time. Add vanilla. 

Slowly add the flour mixture, chocolate and coconut. 

Drop rounded spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet spaced around 3 inches apart, (they spread!)

Serve warm around a fire. Eat and yee'haw!