Vegan version of Linda's Egg/Spring rolls

I made a vegan version of Linda's egg/spring rolls with slight adjustments. I added some ginger and sesame to make up for the punch of the fish sauce.

I mixed together:
1 lb of firm tofu, smashed up with your hands
1 cup of finely shredded cabbage
1/2 cup finely grated carrots
cooked rice vermicelli noodles, about a cup (roughly chopped so they aren't long)
1 egg
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBSP of minced ginger
2 TBSP of sesame oil
1 TBSP roasted sesame seeds
generous sprinkle of pepper
scant TBSP of soy sauce

The filling can be made gluten-free if using tamari instead of soy sauce, so I tried to see if I could fry up some of the rice paper that I used for salad rolls to see if I could make gluten-free spring rolls:

I stuck it in the pan with the regular (vegan) spring roll wrappers:

They browned nicely, but the rice wrappers became very al dente and a bit chewy to eat.

So I'm still working on a gluten-free version of these rolls, but in the meantime, these vegan spring rolls are pretty dynamite!

Linda's Egg/Spring rolls

My friend Linda texted me a recipe for egg rolls that she made for her vegetarian/pescetarian son that looked so easy, I thought I'd give it a go. And what better day than the first day of the lunar new year--Happy Year of the Snake everyone!

Mix together:
1 container of firm tofu (I used a 16 oz block), smashed up with your hands
1 cup of finely shredded cabbage
1/2 cup finely grated carrots
cooked rice vermicelli noodles (roughly chopped so they aren't long)
1 egg
minced garlic (I used 2 cloves worth)
pepper (I used a generous sprinkle)
scant TBSP of fish sauce

Beat an egg in a bowl--this will be the sealant.

I used spring roll wrappers because I like the thinner wrappers and I'm able to find them made without egg (i.e., vegan for me).

Put the wrapper on the diagonal. I was able to put about 1/4 cup of filling on the lower third: 

Roll up from the bottom (south) point until even with the west and east points:

Then fold the side points in and continue to roll towards to the top:

Brush some egg on the last little triangle and then finish rolling up to seal up the wrapper:

These are usually deep-fried, but Linda said it's a waste of oil. She said just heat up about 1/8" of oil in a pan, but you'll have to rotate and cook all four sides.

Her suggestions of dipping sauce were either the typical fish sauce mix that is eaten with spring rolls or a Thai-ish sauce of hoisin sauce and peanut butter (about 3 parts hoison to 1 part peanut butter).

I made a fish sauce dipping sauce by mixing up:
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbs of fish sauce
1 tbsp of vinegar
juice from a lime wedge or two
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp of chili-garlic sauce

I also made the old standby dipping sauce my mom would make which is just equal parts soy sauce to vinegar (she used white, I use rice).

Tasty way to start the Year of the Snake!

Vegan Coffee Cake

Post-Thanksgiving on a chilly morning, I was still in comfort food mode and was craving coffee cake and hot coffee.  When I was a kid, my favorite coffee cake memory was making it using the Aunt Jemima Coffee Cake mix.  I remember adding an egg and milk to the mix in the bag and you mashed it together in the bag and then poured it in the included aluminum tray.  It came with a waxed paper envelope of crumb topping that you topped the mix with and it baked perfect.  I loved it--there were never leftovers.  I found an enticing recipe for vegan coffee cake on Poppytalk blog and gave it a go:

I decided to make it without the optional berries, and it was just what I wanted.  It reminded me of the classic Aunt Jemima coffee cake and was perfect on a chilly morning with hot coffee.  I'm definitely making this again!

Gluten-free Vegan Pumpkin Pie

For Thanksgiving this year, I decided to make a vegan pumpkin pie and found this great and fairly easy recipe:  Pumpkin Pie with Gluten-free Pecan Crust.  One note:  though this recipe is gluten-free, it isn't nut-free so it's not acceptable for those with nut allergies, unless you switch out the crust with a gluten-free, nut-free one.

I loved the crust while I was making it.  You know how cookie dough is great in it's dough form, sometimes better than it's finished cookie form?  The crust was like this--I could have eaten the crust dough straight.  It was a great mix of nutty, sweet, and salty.  These elements became much more subtle after baking it with the pumpkin filling.  Overall the consensus was that regardless that this pie was vegan and gluten-free, this pie was a delicious.  I recommend it as a great change-up at your next Thanksgiving buffet!

Maple "Butter" Bars

I've been testing out recipes that me and my nephew (with specific allergies) can enjoy together and this one from Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book caught my eye. It's supposed to be like shortbread which I love. I really wish this book had more pictures of their recipes, so I knew if these look right.  Since I don't have a mixer, I mixed it by hand with a strong fork and I'm wondering if that changes the composition a lot.  I also used a 9x13 pan instead of the 9x12 pan, so I think they're thinner than they're supposed to be:

They are tasty and not overwhelmingly sweet and I certainly enjoy them, but they seem very dense and chewy, rather than crisp which I associate shortbread with.  Also, when I pulled the pan out of the oven, the coconut oil had bloomed to the top and was just sizzling/boiling when I pulled the pan out of the oven, though it eventually settled back down into the cookies as it cooled. Also, the recipe advised to score the cookies while they're hot, but I found this unnecessary and was able to cut them into bars pretty easily.  Hmm, maybe I need to try this out with a mixer sometime and see if it changes things.  Anyone familiar with this recipe and can tell me if I made these right? 

Anyhoo, if you'd like to try making these (it's pretty easy with 5 ingredients)--please let me know how they turned out (especially if you've got a stand-up mixer)!

Maple "Butter" Bars

- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Combine 2 3/4 c of brown rice flour and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl.
- In the bowl of a stand-up mixer fixed with paddle attachment, combine 1 c coconut oil (or palm oil), 1 c maple syrup, and 1 tsp vanilla until well mixed. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture a little at a time until well mixed, about 3 minutes.
- Spread batter evenly into a parchment-lined 9x12 pan. Bake until edges harden slightly, about 15 minutes. While dough is hot, score it into 12 pieces with a knife. After it has cooled, slice it the rest of the way through and remove bars from pan.

Vegan Gluten-free Doughnuts

After tasting the goodies at BabyCakes last spring, I picked up Babycakes Covers the Classics and tried my hand at making their vegan, gluten-free donuts at home after the girl had some friends sleepover:

Holy cow, they rocked! The girls loved them. Just as good as the doughnuts I made last spring--couldn't even tell they were vegan and gluten-free.  I can't wait to make these for my wheat-allergic nephew!

Coconut doughnuts

Thanks to my mother-in-law, I used a gift certificate for the Baker's catalog from the King Arthur Flour company a couple of years back, and got myself a doughnut baking pan. I was excited to make healthier versions of doughnuts at home but their standard recipe for baked doughnuts was a bit meh.  Into the cabinet the doughnut baking pan went until I decided to give it another go and perused other recipes on the King Arthur site.

I discovered a winner--Baked Coconut Doughnuts:

It calls for a few atypical ingredients (coconut milk powder, potato flour) that I had to order from King Arthur, but they seemed worth it because these doughnuts were delish. Half I tossed in a paper bag with equal parts confectioner's sugar and coconut milk powder. The other half I drizzled with a glaze made with confectioner's sugar, a trickle of milk, and some heavy drops of coconut extract.  I think I gave the slight edge to the powdered version.  But both are so good.

Though they're baked, they're still a treat, calorie-wise, and unfortunately, with the few unique ingredients, it's not exactly a cheap treat, either.  But, I enjoyed them so much, they're worth the luxury every once in a while.

I've seen the doughnut baking pans in stores like Target now, so if you're interested in an indulgent change up from pancakes or waffles, you could give these baked Coconut Doughnuts a try!

Baked Coconut Doughnuts

* 3/4 cup King Arthur Flour Mellow Pastry Blend
* 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 cup coconut milk powder
* 2 tablespoons potato flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 large egg
* 6 tablespoons water
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/8 teaspoon coconut flavor

1) Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter or grease your standard doughnut pan.

2) To make the doughnuts: Whisk together the dry ingredients.

3) In a separate bowl, beat the egg, water, oil, and flavor until frothy.

4) Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir until well combined.

5) Fill each doughnut form about half full, using ¼ cup batter.

6) Bake the doughnuts for 12 to 14 minutes, until they spring back when touched lightly and are very light brown on top.

7) Cool for a few minutes, then spread with glaze, or dust with powdered sugar.