Peanut Butter Frosted Chocolate Cake

Kind of a spur of the moment cake situation. I was in the middle of doing some paper work and remembered that I had made plans with the littles to go bike shopping and do dinner. Usually when they come over for dinner I don’t make a point to have a dessert (they are happy with a handful of chocolate chips if I have nothing) but I felt the need to have something special. I mean, bike shopping, that’s a big deal and they were so excited so I wanted to have a little celebration cake thing. A, YIPPIE YOU GOT BIKES! cake. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

So I made cake. I running a little short on time (yet I still had time to take pictures….) so I went with my trusty one bowl, super easy chocolate cake. (This is everyone in my families favorite cake). Peanut butter frosting because it was right in from of me and really, it was for Coco the fat baby. He basically eats nothing but peanut butter these days. And of course because peanut butter and chocolate together are never going out of style. I cooked the cake in a loaf pan because I was just feeling loafy I guess. But This cake could totally be cooked into a cake round or square if you wanted to.

And that was that. I made that cake, they got the bikes (YEA!!!!, although I told them both that they sucked because they walked into a store and picked out bikes in less then an hour. I on the other hand have been bike shopping for more then a month and still haven’t made a decision.) We then came back here to my house, biked around for a while, then ate cake (after dinner of course.)

Anyways. This cake. Rich, dense, chocolatey peanut butter goodness. Has been described as the best cake ever and like a Reese peanut butter cup. If you are into any of that, well this is the cake for you.

To the cake.

The stuff for the cake.. Flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, oil, coffee, vanilla. brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar. And the stuff for the frosting. Peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar, and almond milk.

In a big bowl, whisk together the dry stuff, pinching and breaking apart any big clumps of cocoa or sugar. Then just dump in the wet.

Whisked until glossy and smooth. A perfectly perfect chocolate cake batter.

Pour batter into a greased and lined loaf pan and into the oven it goes. 50-60 minutes or so or until a tester poked in the middle comes out clean. Then pop the cake right on out. Remove cake from tin and let cool on a wire rack.

While cake is cooling, make frosting. Beat together powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, and milk.

Fully beaten. Ready to frost a cake.

Once cake is cooled, cut in half down the middle, length wise. Then frosting the middle. (Make sure it is cooled in the middle before frosting. If it is still warm, let it cool)

Pop the top back on and frost the rest.

And don’t forget the sprinkles. Went with chocolate and gold because. But you do you and use whatever sprinkles you want.

And then you eat the cake.

I ended up stick it in the freezer to hide for a while… I guess this cake cold or slightly frozen is just about the best thing ever. The littles damn near ripped my arm off trying to get seconds.

-C

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Peanut Butter Frosted Chocolate Cake

makes 1 loaf cake

• For the Cake

• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup neutral oil

• 1 1/2 cups warm coffee

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• For frosting

• 3/4 cup minus 2 tablespoons peanut butter

• 2 tablespoons vegan butter

• 1/4 cup plant based milk

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 and grease and line a loaf pan.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and brown sugar. Break apart any big clumps of sugar or cocoa with your fingers. When that’s mixed, dump in the wet and whisk together until just fully incorporated. Pour batter into the greased pan and stick into oven.

Bake for 55- 60 minutes or until a tester poked into the middle comes out clean.

Once cooked, remove from oven and carefully remove from pan. Place on a wire rack to cool.

While cake is cooling, make the frosting. Just beat together the butter, peanut butter, and milk until nice and creamy. If you find your frosting be too thin, add in more powdered sugar, too thick, a splash more milk.

When it is cooled, cut the loaf in half length wise. Make sure the inside is complete cooled as well. I totally stuck my cake in the freezer for little bit to speed up the cooling process…..

When the cake is cut and completely cooled, frost it. Spread a little less then half the frosting on the bottom layer, stick top back on, and finish the frosting. Cover with sprinkles (if you want) and then that is it.

Serve room temperature or what my people really like is served slightly frozen, which is great because I just cut the cake up and froze individual pieces making for a perfect quick dessert.

Carrot Sugar Cookies with Orange glaze

These are definitely my favorite shaped cutout cookies I have ever made. I mean seriously, carrot shaped carrot cookies, what could possibly ever be better? Nothing, and that’s truth for you.

Not only are they carrot shaped, they are also carrot flavored. Yup, Carrot shaped, carrot flavored, awesomeness. A little cinnamon added to the cookie for little extra boost of flavor and an orange glaze because it works and orange is good and fresh and springing. All good stuff.

You might be thinking, huh, carrot puree in a cookie, well that doesn’t sound right. But it is, it is right. And you know how I know that these cookies are awesome? Well I packed them up, (2 dozen of them) and took them over to the littles house for an after school treat. When I got there, the two older ones had friends over. I asked them if they wanted a carrot which earned me that look that said “are you serious” but them showed them the cookies. Of course the wanted a carrot so I gave them each one. They ate their cookies then proceeded to beat the shit out of the mr. Then they asked for another cookies and beat the shit out of the mr some more. This when on and on for about a 1/2 hour until all the cookies were gone and the mr was crouched in the corner with a broom trying to defend himself against 4 rulely kids who where slashing at him with light sabers and spraying him in he face with kitchen cleaner. It’s because they wanted more cookies. (and yes, the littles are getting crazy). So yeah, the cookies are good. Ass kicking good.

Anyway, a cookie with some goodness mix into it, shaped into a great shape, that will make everyone smile and happy. You could make them by yourself, make them with your friends, make them with some kids, with some old people. They are the perfect cookie to leave out for the easter bunny(do you leave carrots out for the easter bunny?) or to serve up at any easter party, spring party, or any garden party you might be attending. This cookie is pretty much perfect for any and every occasion that required a cookie. Or a carrot because carrots are always welcome.

To the carrots! I mean, the cookies!

The stuff. Flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, vegan butter, carrot puree, cinnamon, an orange, some powdered sugar, and food coloring.

Into a big bowl the sugar, vegan butter, and carrot puree go.

Beat for a minute or two until completely incorporated.

Add in all the rest of the dry stuff and mix by hand until it turns to dough.

This is the dough it turned into.

Gather the dough and wrap it or place in a plastic bag and stick it Into the fridge for a few hours or overnight. The dough NEEDS to chill.

After you let the dough be, remove from fridge, liberally dust counter, and roll out dough about 1/4 inch thick.

And then it’s time to cut the cookies out. I unfortunately do not have a cookie cutter so I improvised and make 2 carrot cutouts from paper and hand cut each cookie. That worked but took forever so I got crafty and used a fat Christmas tree cookie cutter then just did a little trim and pinch to make it into a cookie. (I am a genius for that). Any way works, and you can also do other shapes too, the cookies don’t change taste in different shapes. (but that would be so cool if they did)

Carefully place cut out cookies onto a baking sheet, giving them a little space because they do spread a tiny bit.

And into the oven to bake they go.

Out in 10 minutes looking all carrot like.

Carrots waiting to cool so they can be glazed.

The glaze. Pretty straight forward. Just zest orange into powdered sugar and juice the orange into the sugar and mix.

Divide glaze and dye one orange and one green

And glaze away. I recommend doing it over a rack and baking sheet to minimize mess because they do drip a bit.

Now just you look at that, carrot shaped carrot sugar cookies .What a sight!

And of course, carrots come in bunches. HA

Enjoy some carrots!

-C

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Carrot Sugar Cookies with Orange glaze

makes about 2 and a half dozen (depending on size)

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour plus more for dusting

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 cup vegan butter

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup carrot puree ( see note about how to make puree)

  For the glaze

• 2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

• on orange

• orange and green food coloring

Note. To make carrot puree, steam a couple carrots until completely soft them blend until smooth.

Place sugar, vegan butter, and carrot puree into a big bowl. Beat with a beater until light and fluffy. Add in the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix by hand until completely incorporated and mixture tunes into dough. Gather dough into a disk and wrap in plastic or place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Once dough has chilled enough and you are ready to go, preheat the oven to 350.

Place dough on a flour dusted counter and roll out about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out the cookies with a cutter or by hand and place on a baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes or until just starting to turn slightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Once cookies are all baked and cooling, make the glaze. Place powered sugar into a big bowl, zest in the orange then add in the juice od half the orange. Mix completely and check consistency. You want it to be slightly running but not liquid, but also not to stiff. Add more juice or more sugar to get it right. Once it is the right consistency, separate into 2 bowls. Dye one green and one orange. Now glaze you cookies. A knife or small spatula works best and yes, the glaze drips a little so do it over a baking sheet, but after about 10 minutes the glaze hardens.

And then you have carrot cookies and all is good. Now go eat a carrot cookie!

Store uneaten cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They can be frozen too.

Coconut Lime Snack Cake

I have a bag of coconut flour that I need to use up so I have made coconut snack cake a few times the past couple weeks. Once with orange instead of lime. Once I added chocolate chips. This time I stepped it up made a little glaze action, toasted a little coconut for some extra coconutiness and took these here pictures and wrote down the recipe. Just. For. You.

Not that I don’t know already that my snack cake creation is good, but I guess it was just super A+++. I threw this one together right before the mr and I headed down to PA to hang with my dad. As soon as he (and sister and nephews) started in on it, well the responses were more then average. My dad even snuck a piece off and hid it for later. They really, really, really were into it. Wanted me to make another right then and there. Normally I would but my dad doesn’t keep coconut flour on hand and I don’t make it a habit to travel with any myself. (I might have to change that.) Next time he will know to stock the coconut flour.

I didn’t realize my people were such coconut people. Good thing for them that I like coconut people. As a matter of fact, I consider myself a coconut person. And coconut is not code for awesome, but I am that too. HA

Anyway enough about me. Coconut snack cake is what you want to know about. It is soft and dense. Moist, not overly sweet. Lots of lime and coconut flavor and is just perfect for snack time. Eat it with a fork on a plate with coffee or tea or grab an piece and eat it walking down the street while thinking about green leaves and warmer weather. Or wherever and whenever. If you make it then it’s up to you when and where you eat it. That only seems fair.

Now to the snack cake of your coconut lime dreams.

The stuff. Gonna need all purpose flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, a couple flax eggs, some warmed coconut oil, plant milk, brown sugar, vanilla extra, apple sider vinegar, a couple lime, some powdered sugar, and some lightly toasted shredded coconut.

Grab a big bowl. Add in the brown sugar, flax eggs, warmed coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla. Mix it all up until evenly incorporated.

Dump in the flours, baking soda and powder, and salt. Zest in lime, squeeze in lime juice and start to mix. Add in the milk as you are mixing.

Cake batter mixed and done. Now to bake it.

Dump the cake batter into a well greased baking pan and level it off with a spoon or spatula.

Now it’s oven time to bake into a great and well cake.

A cake out of the oven, great and well. Golden brown and smells of all the goodness that a coconut cake could possible smell.

While cake is cooling, which it should be now, make the glaze. Powdered sugar, lime zest, and lime juice. Mix until it’s glazy.

Pour the glaze all over cooled cake.

Don’t forget the shredded coconut. Get it on before the glaze starts to set.

And then it’s just the matter of cutting cake…….

You know once you cut it, that means snack time right? Coconut lime snack cake for all of your coconut time, lime time, hungry snack time needs.

Keep it good.

-C

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Coconut Lime Snack Cake

Makes a 9x9 cake

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup coconut flour

• 3/4 packed cup brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 cup coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

• 1 1/4 cup plant milk (I used almond)

• 2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax seeds with 1/2 cup warm water)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• A lime

• For the glaze

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

• a lime

• 1/4 cup or so toasted shredded coconut to sprinkle on top (optional)

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl, mix together the bbrown sugar, flax eggs, warmed coconut oil, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar until completely incorporated. Next dump in the flour, coconut flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Zest the lime into bowl. Start mixing, adding in the juice of the lime and the plant milk. Mix it all together until completely incorporated.

Dump mixture into a well greases 9x9 baking pan and level off with a spoon or spatula. Place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and a tester stuck into the middle of cake comes out clean.

Once baked, remove from oven, let cool in pan for a few minutes then carefully remove cake from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

While cake is cooling, make the glaze. Just zest other lime into powered sugar then add the juice (or as much juice as you needed) of the lime until a pourable glaze forms. If your lime is not particularly juicy enough and the glaze is still really thin, just add a splash of water to thin out as needed.

And when cake is completely cooled, pour glaze all over cake and cover with toasted coconut flakes.

Now cut. And eat.

Store left over cake in a air tight container for 3-4 days. Individual pieces freeze well for all your future snacking needs.

Chocolate Cutout Cookies With Orange Glaze

Currently it is like 50 degrees outside and raining buckets of cats and frogs and what not. I live in Vt for a few reasons, and one of them is winter, so the warm rain is just not nice. Apparently these cookies are the closest thing to snowflakes I will be seeing for a little while…(sad face inserted here) But I am hoping that juuuust maybe it will turn, and all of a sudden it will be snow coming down and not rain. And that it snows and snows and snows, like a foot or 2 of it. I want so much snow that I am stuck in my house for a least a solid 24 hours (of course with the power still on and all the necessities I would need) and the only way out being by foot or sled. And you know what I would do if I was snowed in? Lounge around in my pj’s all day (or at least until like 10 am), have a never emptying cup of hot coffee in hand, play around outside and make a snow fort, and definitely make cookies. Doesn't that just sound so nice?

But I am not snowed in, and wasn’t snowed in and probably will not be snowed in for the foreseeable future. But I can still, and did make cookies so there is that. Chocolate cut out snowflakes with orange glaze to be exact. A good all around chocolate cookie jazzed up with a citrus kick. Simple, elegant and perfect for all of your holiday cookie needs. Plus it is just a really pretty cookie. I just might make a few more batches and liter the front yard with them. I’ll make my own freaking snow, even if it is out of cookies. Then I really wouldn’t be able to leave my house due to the crazy fat squirrels attacking the lawn. That would be something. HA.

To the snowflake cookies! (They can be any shape really, but snowflakes are so nice)

The stuff. Sugar, vegan butter, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, canola oil, brewed coffee, grind chia seeds, vanilla extract, an orange, and some powdered sugar.

First, mix the ground chia seeds with the coffee for caffeinated chia eggs.

Beat the butter with the sugar to give it a good fluff, then add in the oil, vanilla, and chia eggs to the mix.

Beat until combined.

Place all the dry into a bowl and whisk together until fully incorporated.

Dump the mixed dry into the were and grab a wooden spoon. Start mixing.

Cookie dough is a-formin.

Collect the dough in some plastic and smash into a disk. Place in fridge to rest for at least a few hours, but a day is good too.

Chilled dough, flour, a cookie cutter, and a rolling pin. I think you know what to do. Just really make sure to keep the counter and rolling pin floured or else the dough will stick and that is just so annoying.

Yes this dough is a little delicate, but not in a bad way. It might tear or slightly crumble but you just smoosh it back in there and you are all set. Anyway, after rolling dough out to about 1/2 inch thick, cut cookies out with a well floured cutter.

Cookies on the baking sheet ready for the oven.

Cookies on a baking sheet right out of the oven.

Now those cookies got to cool so get them on a rack.

While cookies are cooling, fix yourself some glaze. The powdered sugar, zest of orange and juice of orange will do the trick.

A good looking glaze. Thick put drizzable consistency.

And to finish. Drizzle the cookies with glaze, dunk the tops in the glaze, or do a little of both (I say both). The glaze does harden after a few minutes so these are very much stackable cookies.

And then what you do with the finished cookies is up to you. I let the mr eat a good few, saved a few for Christmas and dropped some off to some peps. They were well received for sure.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and are able to get in on some cookie making.

-C

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Chocolate Cutout Cookies With Orange Glaze

makes about 3 dozen cookies

• 2 1/2 cups flour

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/3 cup vegan butter

• 1/2 cup oil

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 2 tablespoons ground chia seeds

• 6 tablespoon coffee or water (coffee brings out the chocolate flavor more)

• 1 orange

• 1 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, cream together the white sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in the oil, vanilla, and coffee chia eggs. Mix until incorporated. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, cocoa. salt. and baking powder. Dump dry into wet and mix until a dough forms. Gather dough into a ball and place in plastic and flatten into a disk. Place in fridge for at least an hour or overnight.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 350

Take dough from fridge and unwrap. Place on a well floured surface and roll until it is about 1/4 inch thick. The dough is delicate and a little crumbly, but don’t worry to much, just squish it back together and keep rolling it out. With a floured cookie cutter, cut your shapes and gently place them on a cookie sheet. Gather remnants of dough back into a ball and re-roll out and cut more cookies until you have used up all the dough. Place cookies into oven and bake for 11-12 minutes or until the cookies have puffed up a bit and the bottoms are slightly browned. Once cookies are cooked, let cool on a wire rack.

While cookies are cooling make the glaze. Mix about a tablespoon of the zest of the orange with the powdered sugar and add in a few tablespoons of the juice of the orange until the glaze is slightly runny. Once cookies are cooled either dip the tops in the glaze or drizzle the glaze on top of cookies (or do some of both). Then eat. If you wait a little while, the glaze will harden and then you can stack them and then if you want, maybe wrap on a few in little packages to give to someone you like. Either way, place uneaten cookies in a airtight container. Should last about a week, but can you not eat them for that long?

Acorn Squash Spice Cake With Maple Frosting and Walnuts

I have been making at least one cake, if not 3, a week for the past month. Last week I did not have a cake that I needed.to make, so what did I do? I made a cake.

I might have an alternative motive here, I have started my winter squash stash, and already it is looking pretty impressive. I have delicata, acorn, kombucha, and sugar pumpkins littered all over the house. As of now I think I have a count of about 27. Some came fro the garden, some from (and still coming, all winter long) from farm share, and some came from when they went on sale at the grocery store and I filled the shopping cart up. The cashier checking me out thought I was crazy, but I get that a lot. (Like when I buy 20 heard os cabbage.. it’s like I scare them) The alternative motive is that some of the squashes don’t have the shelf life of some of the others so I need to get on to eating the ones that don’t last as long, like the delicata and pumpkins, which I am doing, gladly might I add. So while I am eating those, I figured I would use up an acorn squash for cake because well, I don’t want to have a million acorn squash laying around and I am just too busy eating the pumpkins to get the acorn. And this is why I made an acorn squash cake.

What does acorn squash cake tase like? Basically like pumpkin cake. Every time I make any sweet thing with any squash other then pumpkin, no one really seems to notice the difference, but that is not to say there isn't one. I would say that acorn has a slightly sweeter and nutter flavor then pumpkin so you might get a more flavorful flavor out of an acorn squash. And really, if you like pumpkin, your gonna like the acorn. And people love them some maple frosting so smothering that along with walnuts on this cake, well I know made some people really really happy.

That’s the real reason why I made this cake. To make some people happy. Jeeze, I am just so nice. Ha HA!

The stuff. A roasted acorn squash. flour, baking soda and baking powder, spices of cinnamon, ginger and a pinch of nutmeg, salt, oil, soy milk, brown sugar, white sugar, and a little apple cider vinegar.

Start by pureeing your squash If you haven’t already which basically involved removing seeds and skin (save seeds to rest, eat skin, it delicious) and blending the squash until smooth.

You are now ready to cake. Add squash puree and oil into bowl with the sugars and mix until completely combined. Whisk together all the dry ingredients then add in the sugar, squash, oil mixture to the wet along with the milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix until just combined then stop mixing so you don’t over mix.

Batter then gets poured evenly into two greased and lined cake pans.

And into the oven they go.

Golden brown and smelling all nice and cozy. A tester in the middle making sure that they are cooked completely.

Cakes get popped out of pans and and placed on a rack to cool completely. In the mean time, make the frosting. Powdered sugar, salt, vegan butter, maple syrup, and maybe a splash of soy milk (you might or might not need it). And don’t forget the walnuts.

Sugar, salt, butter, and maple get beaten together until creamy and smooth.

Toasted walnuts get chopped into bits.

And now it’s cake assembly time. Place one completely cooled layer on a cake plate and spread half the frosting on top. Sprinkle with half the chopped nuts. Place second layer on, spread rest of frosting on top, and sprinkle with the rest of the nut.

And done.

Now eat.

Enjoy the fall weekend and all the squash.

-C

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Acorn Squash Spice Cake With Maple Frosting and Walnuts

makes and 8 inch 2 layer cake

For the Cake

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/3 cup neutral oil

• 2 cups acorn squash puree*

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon ginger

• pinch of nutmeg

• 1 1/2 cups plant milk (I used soy)

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

  For the frosting

• 3 cups powdered sugar

• 1/2 cup earth balance or any vegan butter

• 1/2 cup real maple syrup

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1-2 teaspoons plant milk (if needed)

• 1 cup toasted walnuts

Note. For acorn squash puree. roast an acorn squash by place entire squash into oven at 425 degree for about 1/2 hour or until fork tender. Once cooked, cut in half, let cool a few minutes, then scoop out all the seeds. Remove skin and blend the squash until smooth.

Preheat oven to 350

Place brown and white sugar into bowl along with the oil and squash puree. Mix until completely incorporated. In a larger bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and spices. Pour wet mixture into dry almond with the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix until just completely incorporated then stop to prevent over mixing.

Grease and parchment line two 8 inch cake pans. Pour batter evenly between pans then place into oven for 30-35 minutes or until Depp golden brown and a tester stuck into middle of cakes comes out clean. When it’s done, remove from oven, let cook a few minutes, then remove from cake pans. Place on a wire rack o cool completely.

While cake is cooling, make the frosting. Beat together the powdered sugar, salt, maple, and earth balance until nice and creamy. If the frosting seems to thick, add a splash of milk, to thin, add a 1/4 cup more of powdered sugar.

Chop walnuts into small bits if they are not already.

Once cakes are completely cooled, assemble. Place first layer on cake plate and spread 1/2 the frosting onto first layer and sprinkle on half of the chopped walnuts. Place on second layer, spread the rest of the frosting on top, and sprinkle on the rest of the nut. And that is it. Now you just need to eat it.

Store any left overs in for a day on the counter, but any longer place in an airtight container in the fridge. I even froze a few pieces and the mr loved them frozen to if you like frozen cake…..

Peachy Sweet Buns

Who doesn't like a good bun, right?  And just because this is where my mind wonders, peachy sweet buns. Doesn't that sound like a pick up line or something you say to your significant other. Like, "Oh hey peachy sweet buns, you are looking good. Woo hoo"........ Anyway, this is not about anyones peachy sweet buns, it it about actually sweet buns so u-hum, yeah. 

I am not trying to float my own boat here, but I am really really good at making buns, and you know what, I bet that you are too. They may seem a little intimidating, but really, it's quite easy. I think what throws some people off is the yeasted dough and having to knead and waiting for the dough to rise, but don't let that stop you from sweet sweet buns. They are no harder to make then a boxed cake (maybe a little harder) and the results are by far more amazing and delightful (we don't use the word delightful enough around here) then any old box or pre-made thing will ever be. Ever. Freshly made buns are what is right in this world.

If you are awesome and decide to make buns like any good person with a baking itch or a need for some sweet bun goodness does, make them peachy because its peach season and how can a peach bun not be that much more amazing?  Just think. Soft sweet dough, jammy cinnamon peaches, covered in a sweet lemony glaze......

Go on now, go and get yourself some peachy sweet buns.

The stuff. Flour and salt in the bowl, melted earth balance, brown sugar, yeast, warm soy milk, cane sugar, cinnamon, powdered sugar, a couple of lemons, and af course, peaches.

Warm (not hot) soy milk, yeast, cane sugar, an melted (but again, not hot) earth balance go into a big bowl and get whisked around. Then add in the flour and salt ans mix around until you just can't.

Time to knead. Dump the dough ad all the little bits onto a flour surface. Gather it all together and knead away, for about 5-8 minutes, or until the dough looks like....

This. Nice and soft and glossy.  Lightly grease the bowl ans stick the dough back into it, covered with a towel, and set for about 1 hour to rise and double in size. 

As soon as the dough is set ti rise, start on your peach filling. Chop up enough peaches that you have about 2 1/2 cups of chunks.

Brown sugar and peach chunks go into a pot and stuck on a medium heat until they start to bubble then set to a low simmer for about 20 minutes or until the peaches all break apart and reduce by half.

Add in the cinnamon and stir.. Peachy goodness. Now quick and stick that shit in the fridge or freezer to cool down.

BOOM. Dough did what it's job and doubled. Time o make the buns. 

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll our into a rectangle of sorts that is about 1/2 an inch thick 

Cover the surface with all the peachy jammy goodness, and sprinkle on the remaining finely chopped peaches.

And roll, as tightly as you can, without squeezing all the filling out. I roll towards me, but roll away from you if it is easier.  It might get a little sloppy... it's ok, just lick your fingers and keep going. 

Rolled and cut into 12 pieces.

Place the rolls carefully onto a grease and parchment lined baking 9x13 baking dish. In my picture I used a baking pan, which was not what I wanted to do, but I wasn't thinking properly and so that's what I did. Something with sides is preferable, but the baking pan did the job so really, your call. 

When you place the buns in the dish, place them toughen a bit, it helps then bake up high instead of out.  And any remaining go on jam that spilled out can get scraped right on top of the buns, if you didn't already eat it.

Now into the preheated oven these  babies go.

Look at those beauts. And they smell. A-MAZ-ING!! 

Right away get that glaze made. Powdered sugar, lemon zest, ans lemon juice. Super easy, just add the zest and juice to sugar and mix until smooth and glaze. 

Pour glaze over warm buns. Make sure to hit them all or someone is going to be pissed they didn't get enough glaze..... 

Then it's really just up to you whether you wait for coffee or tea or not, but really, just eat right away. There should be very little time between newly glazed buns and a bun in your face.

Enjoy the peaches!

-C

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Peachy Sweet Buns

Makes 12 Buns

• For the Dough 
  • 3 1/2 cups all purposes flour
  • 1/4  cup cane sugar
  • 1 cup warm soy milk
  • 2 teaspoon or 1 packet yeast
  • 4 tablespoons melted vegan butter 
  • 1 teaspoon salt
• For the Filling 
  • 3-4 good sized ripe peaches (about 3 cups chopped peaches)
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • Juice of half a lemon
• For the Glaze
  • 1 lemons
  • 1 1/2 cup powered sugar

In a large bowl mix together the yeast, warm (not hot) soy milk, sugar, and melted but cooled butter. Now add in  the salt and the flour. Mix until it's too hard to mix then dump it all onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 7-10 minutes until the dough is  soft, elastic-y, and smooth. Place dough back into a clean lightly greased bowl and drape with a damp towel. Let dough rise for about 1 to 1.5 hours or until it has doubled in size.

While the dough is rising, chop the peaches up until you have about 3 cups. Place 2 1/2 cups of the  peaches into a medium sized pot with the brown sugar and lemon juice and stick on medium heat. Set the rest aside. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring and mashing with a wooden spoon every few minutes, until mixture has become thick and reduced by about 1/2. Remove from heat, stir in cinnamon,  and place in fridge to cool. 

Once thee dough has doubled, dump onto a flour surface and roll our into a retacnge that is about 1/2 inch thick  Grab your peach mixture and spread the mixture evenly over the dough. Evenly distribute  the remaining chopped peaches over jam.  And then it's the to roll.

Start from the long side and start to roll toward the other end, keeping it as tight as possible without squeezing out all the filling.  Once rolled, slice into 12 even sized buns.

Place on a lightly greased and parchment lined 9x13 inch baking sheet or pan and let rest and rest for another20 minutes or so. OR if you want to wait to bake them off, cover them with plastic and set into the fridge for up to 24 hours. When you are ready to bake, remove from fridge and let the buns set on counter to come to room temperature before baking. 

Preheat oven to 350.

Place rolls into oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until all the buns have gotten a nice golden brown on top, and if you want to take the internal temp, that the temp has reached 190. 

Once the buns are done  baking, mix together the zest and juice of the lemon and powdered sugar. If the glaze seems to thick, add more juice or water, to think, add more sugar. Pour glaze all over warm (but not hot) buns.

And now all you need to do is serve up those buns right away, nice and warned.

Any left overs should be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days but should definitely be warmed up in the microwave for a minute or two before serving. They also freeze well too. 

Almond Oat Rhubarb Cookies

The rhubarb is ready and I am ready. There will be rhubarb in everything for weeks. But what to start with? I was debating if I should go classic and make a pie, or maybe savory and make a rhubarb tomato soup (going to make that soup later), or maybe just a big batch of jam to stick on and in everything.. Then I remembered  that I had a cookie dream last fall, a dream that I had made almond rhubarb cookie. (that is the extent of my dream memory)  And who am I to ignore a cookie dream? So I starting off rhubarb season with cookies. 

These cookies are all sorts of good. They have oats, almonds, flax, and a vegetable (because we all know that rhubarb is technically a veggies right?) so right there is a good enough excuse to make them. And to eat whenever, including breakfast, because remember, all the good stuff. But don't let that good stuff fool you. These cookies are just as good, if not better then any other cookie. Soft and chewy. So nutty, sweet but not too, and rhubarb all tart and fantastic cutting in to say hey hey hey. These are springtime, any time, cookie time cookies. Dream cookies that are now reality cookies.

Let the rhubarb begin!

The stuff. Almonds, oats and rhubarb. Brown sugar, vegan butter, a flax egg, cinnamon, baking soda, vanilla and salt.

First we need to turn the oats into flour so blend them in a food processor until that happens 

Next up are the almonds. These you want to pulse for about 2-3 minutes they become  more of an almond meal the flour. Don't over blend or else you might end up with almond butter. 

Next up. Sugar, vegan butter, cinnamon, vanilla, ans flax egg all go into a big bowl.

Mix well until all combined and incorporated. 

Now add in the oat flour, almond meal, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.

Stir it up and there you go.. but the rhubarb!

Remove the leave from rhubarb if you haven't already. They will kill you!(or make you violently ill). Chop the rhubarb stalks into small pieces that are roughly the same size as chocolate chip. Some chunks can be a little bit bigger, but you don't want the piece too big or else you will end up with soggy cookies.

Rhubarb goes into cookie batter Mix it all in. 

Scoop out dough onto baking sheet and give them all a good pat to flatten them down a good bit. Place them into the oven for  17-22 minutes to bake. until nice deep golden brown.

Golden brown and baked all nice. Look at those rhubarb chunks. So pretty.

Cookies out on a wire rack to cool and firm up a bit.

So now you eat yourself a cookie. Or two.

-C

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Almond Oat Rhubarb Cookies

makes 18-22 cookies depending on size

• 1 1/2 cups raw almonds

• 1 1/2 cups old fashion oats (gluten free if needed)

• 1/3 cup vegan butter room temperature

• 1 flax or chia egg (1 tablespoon ground seed and 3 tablespoon water)

• 1 cup packed brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• 2-3 stalks rhubarb (about 1 1/2 cups chopped)

Preheat oven to 350

Add oats to a food processor and blend until the oats turn into flour, which will take about 2 minutes. Dump the now flour into a bowl. Add almonds to the food processor and pulse for 2-3 minutes until the almonds turn into fine meal. Dump into the bowl with oats.

In a large bowl mix together the vegan butter, brown sugar, flax egg, and vanilla until fully incorporated. Add in the oat and almond flours, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and mix until la dough forms. 

Grab rhubarb and chop into little pieces that are roughly the size of a chocolate chip. Measure out 1 1/2 cups and dump into batter. Mix until incorporated. 

Scoop out cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet and flatten each cookie to aboutt 1/2 inch thick. Place into  preheated oven. and bake for 17-22 minutes (rotate after 12)  or until a nice golden brown on top and bottom. (Depending on your baking sheet and stove, it could take a few minutes longer, just keep your eyes on the cookies!)  Once bakes, place on a wire rack to cool. These cookies are very fragile until they cool off so be careful handling them. 

Let cool and eat. And yes, these are 100% exceptable to eat as a breakfast cookie. 

Left over cookies should be stored in an airtight container at room tempature for 2-3 day, longer in the fridge, and can be frozen .

And eat yourself a cookie. Or two.

Cookie anecdote.  I placed a cookie sheet full of cookies back into a cold oven to store while I was cleaning up the kitchen. And left them there and kind of forgot about they, And then I cranked the oven on to make dinner and a few minutes later smelled something burning. OH fuck... the cookies! I pulled them out just in time to see that I had completely burnt the bottoms. SO PISSED ( I might have raged cried a little). But you know what I did? I cut all the bunt bottoms off and placed the crumbles up un-burnt bits onto a bowl. The mr came home and ate the bowl of crumble and was happy as a clam. And lucky had left out half of the cookies l on the counter so not all were lost. But lessons learned. Cookies crumbles are just as good as whole cookies and always check the oven before turning it on. There might be cookies in there!!! 

Graham Crackers

I have fond memories of young me skipping school and sitting in front of the tv with peanut butter, a package of graham crackers, and a glass of milk to dunk the peanut butter cover crackers in, watching myself some Martha Stewart. I also have some fond memories of the days in college I would skip class (obviously to finish a paper or something), and sit around eating graham crackers covered in peanut butter and nutella, dipped in beer? Wait no, it was coffee. (although....beer? Could be something there.)  Apparently I liked to skip class and eat peanut butter graham crackers. But don't blame the cracker for the bad behavior, blame the eater. And I didn't do it all the time, only once in a while. (A girl needed to watch her some Martha or write a 20 page paper.) 

We had a BBQ this week and for some reason I though people want to eat s'mores at a BBQ. (I guess I got that confused with camping.)  I figured even though the days of skipping life and eating graham crackers has passed me by, that I needed to make the graham crackers for others to enjoy. And then I wondered why the heck no one ever makes graham crackers. They are by far the underrated crispy cookie (lets just call it what it is ) of the snack world.  I think I might make it my new thing. I'll make graham crackers for ever cookie swap situation, every event that requires a dessert, every time a snack is need, until people realize what they are missing. I'll bring the graham cracker into all it's glory. 

These graham crackers were raved over by people who like graham crackers and were absolutely perfect for s'mores.  A few of the littles that don't like graham crackers did not care for them, but I guess you can't make everyone happy. Tthey just wanted to eat the marshmallows.) They are crispy and crackery, tiny bit smokey and sweet but not to sweet, and perfect for all your graham cracker needs.

The stuff. In one bowl there is graham flour, all purpose flour, baking soda and salt. The other bowl has brown sugar, honey and molasses. Also going to need vegan butter, vanilla, and a little bit of plant milk. 

The big bowl of sweet stuff get beaten together with the butter and vanilla until smooth, then the dry mixture and milk go in an beaten until just combined. 

. This is what graham cracker dough looks like. Course  and chunky, but done. Don't beat it anymore, just use your hands to gather it tighter. 

Gather the dough into a ball then wrap  in plastic (or stick in a plastic bag)and smoosh flat and rectangular. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, if not overnight. IT needs the time firm up. 

After the dough has firmed up, its time to roll it out. Cut the dough in half (place the other half back in fridge until you are ready for it) and roll out on a very floured surface. The dough is sticky and  not super strong so go slow and make sure to keep the surface and the rolling pin floured so it doesn't stick .

When it's all rolled out, trim the sides even the cut  into into squares or rectangular (or any shape you want). I was going to measure and make them all the same size and then I was like, yeah, no. I just eyed it and made them kind of the same size. I don't live in a world where I need perfect graham crackers. 

Gently transfer the crackers ( I used the bench scrapper to list them, but a spatula would be good too) on a parchment lined baking sheet. Run a  line the doesn't cut all the way through in the middle of each cracker and then poke 6 (or how many you want) hole on each side. You can use a toothpick or a wooden skewer. I used a size 8 kitting needle.

Get all your crackers made and sprinkle the tops with a little graduated sugar. Pop into the preheated oven to bake for 15-20 minutes, rotated around 10 to keep an even bake. 

Done. Golden brown graham cracker success. 

Cool the crackers on a wire rack.

And now you have yourself graham crackers for all your graham cracker needs. 

May I suggest a smear of peanut butter, maybe a glass of milk or coffee and some Martha Stewart on the tv? 

-C

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Graham Crackers 

Makes between 20-30 crackers depending on size

• 1 1/2 cups graham flour (unbolted whole wheat flour with the germ and bran)
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey (can sub  in golden syrup or brown rice syrup)
• 2 tablespoons molasses (not black strap)
• 1/2 cup vegan butter 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1 tablespoon plant milk 
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Stick the butter, brown sugar, honey, molasses , and vanilla  into a large bowl and beat with an electric beater until smooth, In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, and baking soda. Dump the dry into the wet, add in the milk and beat on low until mixture just starts to come together,then use your hand and smoosh and knead the dough into a ball. Either wrap or place dough ball  in a plastic airtight bag, smoosh into a flat rectangular shape, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, if not over night.

When you are ready to bake the crackers, preheat oven to 325 and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Cut dough in half and place one half back in fridge while working with the other half. Flour a surface and the rolling pin and roll dough our into a retangle about 1/8 inch thick. Trim sides ( a pizza cutter or dough scraper works really well here) to make a sides straight (straight enough) and then cut into equal sizes pieces that are the size of your liking. (What it did was cut in half, then each half into thirds  vertically  then the whole thing in thirds hortiztally. I ended up with 18 pieces)  

Place the crackers on prepared baking sheet and take you cutting instruments and run a line along the middle of each cracker without cutting all the way through (if you cut all the way through, it should fuse back together in baking) Take a wooden skewer  and poke 6 holes into each side. Sprinkle with white sugar. Now grab the second half of the dough and do the same thing. And don't forget to gather all the trimming and either roll into more crackers or just make one weird shaped blob cracker for taste testing.

Once all the crackers are prepared, stick into the oven to bake for 15- 20 minutes (15 for a softer cracker, 20 for a more crispy cracker) , rotating after 10 minutes to insure even baking. Once the crackers are a nice  golden brown, remove and place on a wire rack to cool.

Eat the way you do. 

Store uneaten crackers in a airtight container for a up to a week. Crackers can be frozen for later use.