Cranberry Hazelnut Quick Bread - vegan

Mom, this bread is for you.

As I mentioned on Sunday, this week I'm on vacation from work, but entertaining full time at home. We had a great dinner last night with our friend (pumpkin chili recipe coming soon to a Short & Sweets near you), followed by a slice of this bread (it was fresh! we had to try!) and maybe a brownie or two. oh, and some raspberries. It was a feast.

Now that I've recovered from our group gluttony dinner party, I can fully appreciate this easy bread. I pinned the inspiration for this quick bread recipe, oh, a year ago. And I'm just now getting to it. What was I thinking? It's easy, comes together in a snap, and I bet you have all the ingredients on hand. If you're like me and have a seasonal food hoarding problem, you might even have a bag of cranberries from last fall stashed in your freezer that you should really finish off before you buy this year's cranberries to stash in your freezer. ahem.

Medium-Big Cluster Maple Granola - gluten free & dairy free

I've never been what anyone would call a "trend-setter." I couldn't tell you what this year's New Black is, though I do happen to know the Pantone color of the year. I wear heels as few times per year as possible, and I blow dry my hair even less often. I don't own anything ombre. I refuse to make Instagram videos, and the rugs at Chez Sweets tend to fall into the washable-because-we-have-dogs-who-vomit category rather than the chic-and-trendy one.

Cranberry Almond Muffins - vegan

My husband tells me I am a food werewolf, and, while I agree (I'm convinced it's an inherited trait, like brown eyes and freckles), it doesn't paint the most flattering picture of myself. I'd like to somehow convince him that I'm more of a squirrel-like hoarder. Wait, that's not better. sigh

Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chunks & Dried Cranberries - vegan

Things are definitely improving here at Chez Sweets. I am feeling much better, and Mr Official Taster is not working 80 hours this week. We're even heading to the ballpark this evening. Go Phillies!

In celebration, I give you cookies. This is a good recipe that you can almost endlessly tweak. Dried cherries, apples, or raisins would all work, as would any kind of chocolate or nuts, if you're into those. If you're feeling sassy (and I hope you are), try changing up the spices a bit; add some cloves, more nutmeg, even pumpkin pie spice sounds good. Please share your experiments!

Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chunks & Dried Cranberries - vegan


1/2 C neutral oil*
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C applesauce
1 1/2 C flour
2 C rolled oats
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 C nondairy milk
1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
1 1/2 C chocolate chips/chunks, dried cranberries, or a combination**

Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, blend together oil and sugars. Beat in applesauce.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, oats, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Alternating with the milk, add the dry ingredients to the dough a little at a time, mixing on low. Add in any chocolate chips/dried fruits/etc. Stir in extract.

Drop tablespoon-side mounds of dough 2-3 inches apart on your prepared baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, 10-15 minutes (obviously, for soft cookies go for 10 minutes, and for crunchier cookies aim for 15). Cool cookies for a few minutes on the sheet before transferring to a rack to finish cooling. Store in a tightly covered container for no more than a day or two.

*lots of smart people suggest grapeseed oil as a good neutral oil. Corn or vegetable will also work. I used olive oil, mostly because I always do.
**I used about half and half, and my chocolate this time was some broken up dark chocolate. You could also use nuts, other dried fruit, coconut, different kinds of chocolate, etc.

Sugared Cranberries - vegan & gluten free

Happy Friday! I hope you are surviving the week in relative good cheer. My parents arrive for a week-long visit tonight, and Mr Official Taster's side arrives tomorrow. We'll be feeding eight people for the Christmas holiday (we're having these for breakfast). I think it'll be fun!

If you are one of the people still scrounging around for gift ideas, here are a few gift worthy sweets and welcome additions to any party:

Coconut Butter

Pumpkin Pie

Peanut Butter Dog Treats (for your furry friend)

Freezer Burritos (especially for new parents or any other caretaker)

Apple Cranberry Pie

Ginger Chocolate Chip Bars

Rosemary Olive Oil Bread

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

You could also take a look over at Smitten Kitchen's mouthwatering collection.

These cranberries are perfect for holiday gatherings. Not only are they vegan and gluten free, but they are free of just about everything, including fat. They also have a nice, refreshing "pop"when you bite into them, and aren't as sweet as almost everything else this time of year. The other handy thing about them is how little attention you can pay to them (mine actually soaked almost two days) and they stay good for a bit.

I think this will be my last post for several days (or a week). Best wishes to you and yours!

Sugared Cranberries

adapted from MyRecipes

2 C granulated sugar *
2 C water
2 C fresh cranberries**
3/4 C superfine sugar***

Combine granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over low or medium heat. Stir mixture until sugar dissolves and water is steaming. Remove from heat. (Do not boil or the cranberries may pop when added.) Add in cranberries. Here you can either pour mixture into a bowl or simply leave it in the pot. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Drain cranberries in a colander over a bowl (don't shake off excess liquid, as it helps the sugar adhere), reserving sugar water, if desired (I didn't know what to do with mine, so if you have ideas, please share!). Place some superfine sugar in a small zip top plastic bag. Add the cranberries, maybe 10 at a time, and shake them to coat with sugar. Spread sugared cranberries in a single layer on a baking sheet (no need to grease or line sheet). Let stand at room temperature 1 hour or until dry.

Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week.

*I used superfine sugar here because, well, I had it,

**I used the what I had leftover from making these cookies, which was about 1/2 a bag. If you froze them, like I did, allow them to defrost before using them in this recipe.

***My there are a lot of stars for so short an ingredient list. Superfine sugar is available in the grocery store, and it usually hiding among the other sugars in what looks like a milk carton. I don't honestly know exactly how much I used, since I just dumped some in my plastic bag and added a little more when I was running out. But it wasn't very much

Cranberry Kitchen Cookies - vegan

As I mentioned, Mr Official Taster and I moved into some new digs a couple weeks ago. Once enough boxes were unpacked and homes found for cutting boards and cake pans, I was able to start cooking dinners. That was a good first step to making this little house feel like a home, but it really took baking to make the kitchen feel like mine. I'm not sure if it's the routine of measuring and creaming, or the dance of finding bowls and spoons and dropping dough onto sheets, or the warmth of the oven, or the smell of delicious, or even the practical side of figuring out my cabinets need to be reorganized, but, somehow, baking changes a kitchen from one that I'm borrowing to one that is my domain.

Honestly, I liked these cookies a whole lot more than I expected to. I was wary of adding fresh cranberries, but there's enough sugar to counteract the tart, and the orange juice adds some nice dimension. They could certainly handle some orange or lemon zest, too. I think these may go into the regular cookie rotation, and maybe even into the Christmas repertoire. 

Cranberry Kitchen Cookies - Vegan
adapted from All Recipes


1/2 C vegan butter*
1 C sugar
3/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C + 2 Tbsp orange juice
1 1/5 tsp Ener-G egg replacer (equivalent to 1 egg)
2 Tbsp water
3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 C fresh cranberries, roughly chopped**

Preheat your oven to 375F. Grease or line cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Mix in the orange juice, egg replacer, and water. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Using a spoon and your fingers, form rough balls of dough and place them on your prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes (14 minutes was my sweet spot), or a little longer for crispier cookies. Let cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes approximately 3 dozen. maybe 4? we were eating them before I counted them.

*if you use regular butter, add 1/4 tsp salt at the same time you mix in the baking powder and baking soda

**I measured about 2 C of whole cranberries and then chopped them. If you want to mix it up and add nuts (I think hazelnuts sound good) or chocolate chips or something else yummy, I would use less cranberries.

Rainbow Salad - vegan & gluten free

Once in a (very great) while, it truly feels like summer here in the Pacific Northwest. On those days, I move away from pastas and risottos and towards light, fresh, and cool summer suppers. A big salad fits that description perfectly, but to elevate plain old salad, I decided to go for a rainbow (sensing a theme?). Plus, it's said that eating by color is a healthy way to go.

That, and rainbows make everything more fun.

Rainbow Salad
spinach, or other salad greens
pomegranate seeds
dried cranberries
tomatoes, chopped
carrots, chopped
orange or yellow pepper, chopped
cored avocado, chopped
extra firm tofu, drained and fried

Start with a bed of spinach and then simply arrange your fruits and veggies in rainbow order and top with your favorite dressing.

There's lots and lots of possible variations here...beans come in lots of colors, as do peppers and tomatoes. If you like blueberries (I don't) then you can work in blue, and beets, eggplant, cabbage, or onions can be your purple. Hard boiled eggs can also fill the yellow slot, and nuts would be a nice addition as well.

Vegan Applesauce Cookies

These cookies are comfort food. They're not fancy, they're not strongly flavored, and they are super easy to put together. They also happen to smell delicious while baking. So far, I don't really like March 2011, so comfort food cookies are my perfect antidote. I can also practically count them as a fruit (I totally could if I also made my own applesauce).

I'm not going to lie, I like the ones with chocolate chips the best (I made 3 kinds: plain, chocolate chip, dried cranberries. I don't do nuts). It's not really a fair fight, since chocolate is pretty much a rockstar. They are the most cookie-like. The plain and dried cranberry versions are kind of like mini muffins. So, not bad at all, and definitely breakfast-qualifying.

Vegan Applesauce Cookies
1/2 C vegan butter
1/2 C brown sugar (packed)
3/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
chocolate chips/chopped walnuts/dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream the butter and sugar. Mix in the applesauce. Add the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and spices to your bowl and blend thoroughly. Stir in any add-ins.

Drop generous teaspoonfuls of the dough onto your parchment covered baking sheet 1-2" apart. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Let them cool somewhat on the cookie sheet, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes:
If you use regular butter, add a pinch of salt.

Feel free to use some other ratio of the flours, all whole wheat, or 100% all purpose. I just like sneaking in the whole wheat.

If you're not going to eat all of these within a day or two, they can be frozen for later.

Vegan & Gluten Free Apple Cranberry Pie

This week turned really cold really fast. Fast enough for there to be thunderstorms the other night that were windy enough to knock down formerly happy trees. So I wanted something warm and comforting that was delicious, not overly complicated, and easily made without braving the grocery store. (Have you noticed that grocery stores get crazier and crazier the closer we get to Christmas? It makes me not want to go, and grocery shopping is my favorite chore. It's a bummer, but maybe I'll vacuum instead?)

Oh yeah, and sweet. I wanted sweet.

Official Taster is big into pies, and apple is his favorite. Apple is not my favorite, and I don't like crust that much, so the standard double-crust apple pie is relatively low on the dessert list. But, since I'm awesome, and since OT has been feeling a bit under the weather, I decided I could get on board with a baked apple pie-like thing.

I've mentioned before that fruit crisps are one of my favorite things, so I chose to use my favorite topping on the apples and dress them up with some dried cranberries. One of these days I'll make a homemade pie crust, but, in the meantime, store bought does just fine.

Vegan Apple Cranberry Pie

1 premade pie crust (both vegan and gluten free are available)
6 Cups-ish apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin (5-6 medium apples)
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C cornstarch
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C dried cranberries
lemon juice

For the topping:
1/2 C flour
3/4 C brown sugar
6 tbsp chilled vegan butter, cut into half inch pieces
1 C quick oats
gluten free: see the notes below


Prepare the pie crust according to directions on the package. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the apples and cranberries. Drizzle a little bit of lemon juice over the bowl and mix again. Transfer the fruit to the pie crust.


In a food processor, blend the flour, sugar, salt and butter with several on-off pulses or only until the mixture looks like a coarse meal. Add the oats and pulse a few more times to break them up.


Spread the topping over the fruit and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the top is a nice golden brown. 


Notes:
I used the juice of about half a lemon since I had a fresh one left over. It's probably totally optional, and you could also use juice from a bottle. 


I didn't use enough apples because I was lazy. I only used four. As you can tell from the pictures, it's a pretty small layer, so you should use more. 


Want to make this gluten free? Click here for the post with the wheat free topping recipe.