Peanut Butter Cookies, vegan or not

Yes, I know, 'cookies'. Never liked the word, but I take it to mean chewy biscuits, whereas 'biscuits' are crunchy to some degree. These are definitely cookies. Vegan recipe, with dairy alternatives in brackets.

Preparation takes about 20 minutes, baking 12 minutes or so. Oven needs to be at 180C fan, 190C otherwise, and a large baking tray ready, lined with parchment. This recipe makes 16-20.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
170g plain flour
75g demerara sugar
100g granulated sugar
1 tsp fine salt
1 tsp baking powder
50 Flora spread (butter-based spread)
100g peanut butter
60ml plant-based milk (dairy milk)
10 soft ready-to-eat apricots (from a pouch), snipped fairly finely - optional
16-20 peanuts, whole or halved, roasted or not

Method
1  Place all the ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well to make a dough, using
       a mixer, a wooden spoon, or just hands. Make sure all the Flora and flour
       disappear into the dough. 

2  Put individual tablespoons of the dough on the baking tray, a little apart, and
       press lightly to flatten a little. Push a peanut into the middle of each one.

3  Bake for about 12 minutes until they are turning golden. If your oven, like mine,
       can bake unevenly, quickly turn the baking tray around halfway through.

4  They will seem a little soft, but leave to cool and they become nicely chewy.

Adapt
Chocolate chips could be added, or substitute finely chopped dates or snipped raisins for the apricots. If the cookies don't need to be vegan, buttery spread could be used instead of Flora, and dairy milk.

VEGAN TOFFEE SAUCE

Having already produced a successful vegan Eton mess for the family, I recently made a vegan roulade for them, using coconut cream, aquafaba and soya margarine. Tasted good, but the less said about my success in rolling up at the final stage, the better.

Still, the roulade's shape was to be cunningly disguised by my invention of vegan toffee sauce. The recipe here takes about fifteen minutes to make, and the quantity would be about right for two to pour over a messy roulade or perhaps some great vegan ice cream. It can be served warm or at room temperature; if served hot it could be a bit runny, as it thickens slowly with cooling. The recipe doesn't even require weighing scales.

Vegan Toffee Sauce

Ingredients
100ml soya 'single cream' (e.g. Alpro)
1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
half tsp vanilla paste (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 tbsp agave syrup (or golden syrup)
1 tbsp vegan margarine 

1  Put all the ingredients into a small pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
         Stir occasionally. 
2  Bring to a gentle simmer and continue to cook for around 10 minutes, stirring
         occasionally, until the mixture starts to darken. Remove from the heat and leave
         to cool.

Can be made a day or two in advance and kept in the fridge, then brought to room temperature to serve. I love it. 

SUPER GRANOLA

Called 'super' because there are no 'chemical' additives or health-guru bugbears. I've been making this for ages, but decided to blog it now because of the sudden urging to be wary of breakfast cereals as some are quite highly processed. Also, the recipe requires no special skills other than weighing, chopping and stirring, and it's vegetarian and vegan.

The quantity here makes around 1kg of granola. It's quite rich, so a portion might be around 80g, which would provide very roughly 400 calories and should be sustaining as it has plenty of porridge oats beloved of dietitians. Unusually for me, this recipe has fourteen ingredients - eat your heart out, Yotam - but there are a number of options for omission or changes, mentioned at the end.

As the cooking time is quite short, the whole process takes about an hour plus cooling time. The oven will need to be at 130C. I have suggested the point at which to switch it on - pointless to have it up to temperature before you need it!

Just add milk!

Super Granola
Ingredients
80g dried soft apricots (about 13), roughly chopped or snipped with scissors
70g dried cranberries, snipped if large
80g sultanas
30g desiccated coconut

80g walnut halves or pieces
50g brazil nuts
40g whole almonds

30g pumpkin seeds
30g sesame seeds
370g porridge oats

5tbsp good oil, e.g. olive
4 tbsp maple syrup
5 tbsp golden syrup

65g pitted dates (about 12)

Method
1  Soak the first four ingredients in a little water to soften, and set aside.
2  Get out a large baking tin (mine is 24x32cm), and cut baking parchment that will cover 
          the base and sides. Transfer the parchment to a chopping board.
3  Place the 3 kinds of nuts on the parchment and chop to pieces no larger than peas. 
          A mini-chopper is the best way unless you have a grinder that can pulse (to avoid 
          over-chopping). Lift the parchment and pour the nuts into a large mixing bowl.
          This is a good time to switch the oven on, set to130C.
4  Add the pumpkin and sesame seeds and the oats to the bowl. Mix and make a well
          in the centre.
5  Add the oil and both syrups and mix very thoroughly. Place the parchment in the
          baking tin and pile in the mixture, smoothing over. (No need to wash the bowl yet.)
6  Cook in the oven for 9 mins. Meanwhile, drain the dried fruits and coconut.
7  Remove the granola, stir to break up any lumps, and cook for a further 9 mins.
          Transfer it back into the large bowl and add the drained fruit.
8  Chop the dates coarsely and add, mixing everything thoroughly. Leave to cool, then
          store in an airtight container.

Adjustments
The coconut, pumpkin seeds or dates can be omitted. If you've no maple syrup, then the quantity can be made up with more golden syrup, although maple has a really nice flavour. Proportions of the nuts can be adjusted, but best to end up with the same overall weight of them. As a change from olive oil, any nut or truffle oil could be substituted, although they are more expensive. It's a recipe that can be played with acccording to taste. I love it!

 

Vegan Cranberry & Orange Chelsea Bun Christmas Tree

The idea for this festive bake came from BBC Good Food Magazine towards the end of last year. I made it according to the recipe, and took it to our family gathering to serve at Boxing Day breakfast. Omitted the icing drizzle as to add it just before serving the following day would maybe get in the way of other kitchen activity.

We agreed we could make this a tradition. However, recently two of the younger members of our vegetarian family have changed to a vegan diet, so there was only one way forward - the recipe would need to be adapted. First problem was to find (or make) suitable marzipan, as traditional recipes seem to require egg white. Luckily Dr Oetken's and Sainsbury's ready-made marzipan are both suitable for vegans. Milk and butter were less challenging to replace. I have made my adapted version twice now, and it seems to be about right. Alternative layouts are mentioned at the end, and can be used at Christmas or at other times.

This quantity makes 12 modest sized buns. Allow 5 hours or so from the start until they are to be served. This includes two sessions of proving (leaving to rise); I use our airing cupboard, but at room temperature it may need a little longer. A food mixer is very helpful to make the dough, but of course not essential.

The original recipe, complete with a great photograph, can be found on BBC Good Food Magazine's website. They agreed to my adapting and using it on this blog, and this is the link to their recipe:

http://tinyurl.com/ybjzcwcv

Vegan Cranberry & Orange Chelsea Bun Christmas Tree
(Oven will need to be at 160C fan, or 175C otherwise. 
A very large baking sheet is required, lined with baking parchment.)

 

Ingredients 
140ml soya milk (or almond)
20ml olive oil
225g strong white bread flour
4g dried yeast (about half a sachet)
25g caster sugar (+2tbsp for later)
level tsp ground cinnamon
half tsp fine sea salt
100g vegan marzipan, chilled and coarsely grated
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
50g fresh cranberries (* see below if not available)
50g dried cranberries
20g roughly chopped pistachios
2 tbsp marmalade or apricot jam

Method
1  Warm the soya milk gently in a small pan until steaming but not boiling. 
        Stir in the oil and set aside to cool a little.
2  Put the flour, yeast, 25g of caster sugar, cinnamon and salt in the mixer bowl
        (or any good-sized bowl). Add the milk and work into a smooth but stretchy
        dough. Takes about 5m in the mixer, a little longer if kneading by hand on a
        floured board. Be prepared to add, very carefully, a little more flour or water
        if necessary - depends on the flour used.
3  Lift the dough from the mixer bowl and oil the bowl lightly (I use One-Cal spray).
        Cover with clingfilm and leave to prove until doubled in size (about 2h).
4  Tip the dough onto a floured board and roll out to 36cm x 20cm, forming a
        neat rectangle. Sprinkle the marzipan evenly over it, together with the orange 
        zest and fresh cranberries.
5  Scatter over about two-thirds of the dried cranberries and same with pistachios,
        topping with the extra 2 tbsp of caster sugar. Starting with the long side of
        the dough, roll up fairly tightly. Neaten the ends of necessary. Using a sharp
        knife, cut the roll in half, then quarters, then cut each quarter into three.
6  Lift the buns very carefully onto the lined baking sheet, placing them flat and a 
       little apart, one for the top, then a row of two, then three, then four. Of the other
       two, place one under the four to make the trunk of the tree, and put the last on
       a corner (for the cook - not shown above as I ate it.)
7  Cover with the clingfilm and leave to prove for an hour or so until about doubled
       in size and just touching one another.
8  Bake in the centre of the oven for 16-18m until golden brown, then leave to cool 
       for 10m or so. If your oven, like mine, cooks a little unevenly, quickly turn the
       baking sheet around 180 degrees half-way through. (I forgot this with the above
       batch, hence the bark-coloured bark.)  
9  During the cooling time, put the marmalade or jam in a pot and stir in a teaspoon
       of warm water. When the buns are cool, brush the mix all over the buns to glaze 
       them. Scatter over the remaining pistachios and dried cranberries.

The icing, if you fancy adding it, is made with a mixture of sieved icing sugar and juice from the orange, drizzled artistically over the whole shebang.

*  If fresh cranberries aren't around, use another 40g of dried berries soaked in water
   for a while then drained well. I have made the recipe with half and half, also with
   all dried. The fresh cranberries make the buns a little more luscious, but using only
   dried works well too.

Alternative Forms
Fewer but larger buns can be arranged in a flower shape:

     
Or cut the rolled-up dough into eight and make them into a ring shape. When they're baked, cooled and dressed, a sprig of holly or twigs from a cupressus can be placed in the centre for a Christmas wreath, or even at Easter with a pile of tiny chocolate eggs in the centre. 

A rather longer recipe than my usual, but good fun to do, and the buns have had very appreciative audiences. For us it's a keeper. Happy baking. 
  

Vegetarian Moussaka (that could be vegan)

This recipe is adapted from one by Anna Jones, featured in the Vegetarian Society's recent magazine. Anna has made it vegan - more on this at the end of the recipe* - but this version remains vegetarian and has some short cuts including the all-important sauce. It should take perhaps 1h 20m from start to serving; some ingredients can be prepped while others pre-cook. 

Although this recipe looks quite long, there are no special skills involved - only peeling, slicing, turning and layering, and possibly boiling a kettle for the sauce. The quantities given serve 2 to 3.

A medium-sized griddle pan gives a nice effect for the aubergine and potatoes, but otherwise a frying pan is OK. Also needed is a large roasting tin and a fairly shallow, lightly-oiled oven-proof dish - a round one especially suits the finished moussaka. I used a cast-iron frying pan 4cm deep and diameter about 20cm. Some kitchen paper is useful to blot the tomato slices.

The oven is set at 180C and preps can begin as soon as it's switched on.

Vegetarian Moussaka
Ingredients
2 tbsp oil
250g large tomatoes (3-4)
2 medium red onions
1 small red chilli snipped finely or half tsp chilli flakes/powder
1 lemon, juice and grated zest
salt & pepper
300g small potatoes
1 large aubergine
500ml cheese sauce - ready-made or hot-water packet or granules
2 tbsp snipped fresh parsley

Method
1  Pour the oil into the roasting tin and place in the oven when you switch it on.
       While the oven heats up, slice the tomatoes to 1cm, blot with kitchen paper then 
       halve them. Peel the onions and slice slightly more finely; halve the larger rounds.

2  When the oven is up to temp, tip in the tomatoes and onions. Add the chilli and
       lemon zest, then season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat the ingredients
       well, then roast for 20 mins. Remove from the oven but maintain the temp.
       Meanwhile ...

3  Wash the potatoes and slice to about 1.5cm. Place in a pan with water, bring to the 
       boil and simmer 15 mins, then drain. Meanwhile ...

4  Heat the griddle pan (or frying pan) with a dash of oil. Trim the ends from the
       aubergine then slice to 1.5cm. Cook the slices in batches until browned both sides. 
       Set aside.

5  Griddle or fry the potato slices until browned each side, then arrange in the oven
       dish. 

6  Add the lemon juice to the tomato and onion and mix well, then pile on top of
       the potatoes, spreading evenly. Top with a nice arrangement of the aubergine.

7  Make up the sauce (if not ready-prepped) and pour it over the veg, covering
       all the aubergine. Bake for about 25 mins until bubbling and turning brown.
       Scatter the parsley over the dish just before serving. 

Alternative Ingredients
The main ingredients are basic and don't lend themselves to alternatives, but if the sauce isn't that strong, some crumbled blue cheese or Cheddar could be mixed in. Some thinly sliced mushrooms could be added as a layer between tomatoes and aubergine, and/or two pressed garlic cloves, but otherwise I would keep to the hymn sheet.  

Accompaniments
For wine I prefer red with this. A small side salad would go well, and perhaps some crusty bread if potatoes and bread are acceptable to your diners at the same meal. Or you could go mad and serve a couple of nice browned vegetarian sausages at the edge of the plate.

*Anna Jones's Vegan Version
The sauce is the issue. Anna recommends making a bechamel by melting 1.5 tbsp of coconut oil in a pan, adding same quantity of spelt flour, mixing to make a roux, then adding 150ml unsweetened almond milk gradually, whisking all the time to keep it smooth and continuing until it thickens.




 

What a Whopper! Courgette Longboats - Vegetarian or Vegan

Fritters, soup, stir-fried or baked, and still the courgettes come. When Mr P found one that had escaped his notice and grown to about 22cm, something had to be done with it. The result was a repeat of a recipe I devised for a competition a while ago; requirement was a cheap two-course meal and the prize was a set of kitchen white goods. Those were the days, when really good prizes were plentiful if you made the effort.

Courgettes stuffed with mainly inexpensive ingredients seemed worth a go, so I sliced them longways and scooped out the flesh to make a boat shape. Longboats seems a good title - really important in recipe competitions at that time. For info, the dessert recipe was for a butterscotch meringue mountain, which I still make quite often.

The recipe below serves two, or four for a starter as there are four pieces. It's vegetarian, but would be vegan if the bread is suitable (e.g. Everfresh Sprouted Rye Bread from Holland & Barrett; it's organic and free from dairy, wheat and yeast). Timing is under an hour from start to serving, and the dish is not diet-antagonistic! Quantities are approximate, depending on the size of the veg and how much you scoop out.

Courgette Longboats
Ingredients
1 very large courgette, or 2 medium, halved lengthways, & if large, across also
tsp of oil
1 medium onion, chopped fairly finely
1 large savoy cabbage leaf (or similar), spine removed, chopped
half slice of bread, preferably wholemeal, hand-crumbled or whizzed
juice (and optional grated zest) of half a lemon
3 tbsp cream cheese, pref lower fat
4 skinned, chopped tomatoes or 4 tbsp from a tin, drained of 'loose juice'
2 heaped tbsp walnut pieces
salt & pepper

Ready for the oven

Method
1  Using a teaspoon, hollow out most of the courgette flesh, leaving each piece in
          a boat shape and reserving the flesh.
2  Heat the oil and fry the onion gently 3-4 mins.
3  Add the cabbage (or whatever greens) and fry a further 3 mins.
4  In a small bowl place all the rest of the ingredients, add the onion mixture
          and about a quarter of the removed flesh, finely chopped. Stir well.
5  Judge whether the amount is enough to fill the boats; if not, add a little more 
          onion, cream cheese and/or chopped flesh.
5  Place the boats, hollowed side up, in a greased oven-proof dish and pile the 
          mixture into them, pressing down as you go.
6  Cover the dish with foil and bake in the centre of the oven for 30-35 mins
          until the shells are soft when pierced with a knife.

Served up with sauce

Adjustments
To the mixture could be added chopped mushrooms, grated nutmeg, or light herbs such as thyme, sage or parsley. Spinach could replace the cabbage, and other nuts used instead of walnuts. Whatever you fancy!

Accompaniments
Here it's served with cheese sauce - I like Asda's packet sauce which requires only boiling water to make up. It tastes great and isn't high in calories. I also have a drum of non-dairy 'cheese sauce powder' which would go well too. Baby potatoes would be good, or some French beans or sugar snap peas. To drink, maybe apple juice or vegetarian/vegan dry white wine. OK, no contest there.

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Lush Lemon Drizzle Traybake - Vegan Version

Some time ago I blogged my recipe for lemon drizzle squares, and it's still a favourite in our house. However, since I offered to bring cake to my book-signing at our independent October Books in Southampton, and some of the staff there are vegan, a suitable adaptation was needed. I've some experience of wheat-free baking, but less with vegan, so sleeves were rolled up, teddy bear apron tied round the waist, and off we went. This is adapted to be really easy - the ingredients are mixed with just a spoon.

Here's what the rough copy of the final recipe looked like:

Some tidying up needed here.

This makes 25+ squares, of course depending on how small you want them. The picture at the end has more, as the pieces were intended as nibbles rather than whole portions.

Preps take about 20 mins, baking 30 mins, then drizzling just a further minute or two, followed by cooling time. The result was, I have to say, one of my best ever cakes.

Lush Lemon Drizzle Traybake - Vegan Version
The baking tin should have an area of about 400sq cm - that's about 26x17, or 21cm square. The tin should be lined (bottom and sides) with baking parchment. A fine grater is needed and a means of juicing the lemons - here are my trusty tools:

The oven should be heated to 175C, middle shelf ready.

Ingredients

225ml soya milk

2 tsp white vinegar (wine, balsamic or cider)**

2 lemons

75ml oil, e.g. olive

200g + 65g gran sugar

250g plain flour

2 rounded tsp baking powder

(** I checked some websites and it seems Waitrose Essential White Wine Vinegar and Cider Vinegar are OK, and Tesco White Wine Vinegar. Couldn't find info on sites for Aldi, Lidl or Asda. The Vegan Society site suggests almost all vinegar is suitable.)

                                                

Method

1 Mix the soya milk and vinegar in a small bowl; it may curdle, which is good.

2 Grate the zest of both lemons and place in a large bowl with the juice of one of them,
         saving the juice of the other for the drizzle later.

3  Add the milk/vinegar mix, the oil and 200g of the sugar and mix well with a spoon.

4  Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix gently, trying to eliminate any lumps.

5  Pour the mixture into the tin - it will be quite runny. Bake for 27-30 mins until the

         cake is golden and a skewer poked right to the bottom comes out clean. Then
         remove from the oven but keep in the tin.

6  While it cools, make the drizzle by mixing the remaining 65g of sugar with the juice of

         the second lemon and warm through without boiling so as to keep the crunch (hob 

         or 20sec in the microwave).

7  Make plenty of holes around the surface of the cake with a skewer then spoon the 
         drizzle slowly all over it so that it spreads over the surface and drips into the holes.

8  Leave until nearly cold then use a very sharp knife to cut into squares.

Oops! One piece missing.

Next project might be a vegan orange drizzle traybake - although it's hard to veer away from lemon if you love it as I do. Other possibilities are coconut, cranberry, even choc chip. Or even chopped hazelnuts and a maple syrup drizzle. Lovely!

Onion, Sage and Garlicky Soup

A quick posting of the recipe for my latest soup - there were enquiries on twitter!

I made it up as I went along, and it disappeared in double-quick time at lunch, so no pictures available. The quantities are therefore approximate, and this recipe serves two. I use a stick blender for soup but it can be whizzed in a processor. This would be vegan if the milk were omitted and the stock increased a little, and of course leaving out the cream.

Should take 30-35 mins from start to serving.

Onion, Sage and Garlicky Soup

Ingredients
2 tbsp oil
5 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1 medium potato (washed but no need to peel), cut into 2cm dice
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped (or use a garlic press)
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 pint of hot vegetarian stock , e.g. using Marigold Bouillon powder
about 2 tbsp snipped fresh sage leaves (or 1 tbsp dried)
1 tbsp ground cumin
200ml any organic milk
optional: a little double cream and snipped coriander to serve

Method
1  Heat the oil in a large pan (a deep one if you'll be using a stick blender).
2  Add the onions, potato, garlic and sugar and cook gently for 10 mins, stirring
          occasionally.
3 Add the stock and simmer a further 5 mins.
4  Add the sage and cumin, and simmer again 5 mins, stirring occasionally.
5  Puree using a stick blender, or whizz in the processor.
6 When ready to serve the soup, stir in the milk and bring again to a simmer.
         Ladle into bowls, then swirl a little cream (if using) gently over the surface
         and sprinkle the coriander over.

Without the cream, this is a relatively low-fat soup and it's very warming. More liquid can be added if the result is a little thick for the cook's liking, and thyme would serve instead of sage. I hope you like it!