The Fresh Loaf

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looking for reliable vegan recipes for cookies, brownies, etc.

Kroha's picture
Kroha

looking for reliable vegan recipes for cookies, brownies, etc.

I will be doing a bit of baking for a vegan family with children.  If someone has good recipes to share, or good websites to refer me to, I would appreciate it.  There is a lot of stuff on-line, and am trying to find recipes that are sure to work.  I am thinking about baking some muffins, cookies, maybe some quick breads, brownies, etc.

Thank you!

Kroha

arlo's picture
arlo

The Veganonicon is wonderful, it's written by Terry Hope Romero and consists of lots of great recipes. Um, Veganyumyum.com is another great site as well, the book is fantastic too! madcapcupcake.wordpress.com is a wonderful baking site filled with recipes and useful information too.

JIP's picture
JIP

Actually the main author of Veganomicon is Isa Chandra and she has a lot of other great books.  She also has a small (cheap) vegan cookie book and another small book dedicated to just cupcakes.  If you don't want to have to wait for Amazon to send you a book or just don't want to buy it in general there is a forum that is moderated by Isa (and others of course) it is called Post Punk Kitchen

http://www.theppk.com/

and a lot of her recipes are there as well as of course others so you might find what you want there.

freefromjane's picture
freefromjane

I made a quick bread this morning with spelt and corn and it was quite tasty, especially with my mum strawberry jam. I used

125 gr white spelt flour

125 gr fine maize meal (corn)

1 heaped tsp of baking pwr

1 tblsp of agave syrup

some rice milk

I combined flours, baking pwr and agave syrup, I added the rice milk bit by bit until I had a nice creamy mixture not too runny, in the oven at 180 degrees for about 45 min. 

Hope this is of some help, I'll try and upload a photo later.

Good luck, Janice.

kolobezka's picture
kolobezka

This is a universal cake dough that can be used as quick bread, Bundt cake, one-layer cake with fruit topping, you can add chopped nuts, raisins or colour half of the dough with cocoa powder... There are many variations.

1 1/2 Cup milk (soy, almond, rice...) or water

1 Cup barley or rice syrup

1/2 Cup oil

- mix together in a blender

3 Cups flour (I mix 50% white, 50% ww)

1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder

- mix

Then add the liquide mixture into the dry mixture and stir well. Bake 30-50min (depending on the thickness) in a pre-heated oven 380°F

 

For cookies, this okara/tofu recipe from FatFree Vegan Kitchen is very, very edible!

zdenka

 

 

Yerffej's picture
Yerffej

I have had great success using organic whole wheat pastry flour and Rapunzel - Organic Whole Cane Sugar in recipes like brownies, chocolate chip cookies, banana bread and anything else that does not rely on that refined white sugar texture and flavor.

Jeff

Kroha's picture
Kroha

I am curious to taste the concoctions I will be coming up with.   Perhaps some of them will become favorites. 

Kroha

celestica's picture
celestica

 

Double Chocolate Brownies - from the Radical Roots Cafe at the University of Toronto Vegetarian/Vegan.  These are absolutely amazing! 

Makes 2 large decadent pans

 3 cups cocoa powder

5 cups sugar

5 1/3 cups flour (whole wheat, spelt, all-purpose...)

1 tsp salt

3 cups applesauce

2 cups oil

1 1/2 cups soy milk

4 ripe bananas, mashed

2 tbsp vanilla

3-4 cups chocolate chips (2 1/2 if they are mini-chips)

2 cups chopped nuts (optional)

 

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  3. Mix together wet ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
  4. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients then pour in the wet ingredients. Stir to combine.
  5. Add chocolate chips and nuts, if desired.
  6. Pour into 2 greased baking pans and set on a baking sheet.
  7. Bake 45-60 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is, until the centre is cooked through. Check after 35 minutes if your oven runs hot.
  8. Cool and cut into squares.
Marni's picture
Marni

This is not healthier for being vegan, but it is animal free:

This makes a pretty dense, moist bread- not cake.

 

* 1/2 cup shortening or canola oil,  etc. (I sometimes leave most of it out and use 1/3c applesauce)
* 1 cup white sugar (you can cut this back too- I often use a scant 3/4 cup, ot brown or maple syrup)
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour ( have mixed this with WW, white WW and spelt with good results)
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3 very ripe mashed bananas (I use all different sizes and amounts- about 1 1/2c)
* 1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla
* chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan. (This can be made in any size pan or muffin tins just adjust the baking time)
2. In a large bowl, cream the shortening and sugar and add vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking soda and salt. Blend in the mashed bananas. Stir in the chocplate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until it tests done with a toothpick.

When I make this in the KitchenAid, I just spin the bananas in the bowl with the paddle to mash them, then continue with the recipe. Only one bowl to wash!

 

 

Kroha's picture
Kroha

Can't wait to try these recipes, especially the brownies! 

@Falsehat -- thank you for your help.  However, I am looking for vegan recipes specifically, so I could not use butter. 

Best wishes,

Kroha

celestica's picture
celestica

Post the results please!  I've had success with this brownie recipe.

 

Celeste

Kroha's picture
Kroha

Just wanted to let you know that the brownies came out great.  My husband, who is a chocolate lover (and not vegan), raved about them.  To be 100% honest, being busy with the kids and baking at the same time, I completely forgot to add sugar.  Once the brownies where in the oven I looked at the sealed bag of vegan sugar purchased for the occasion, and thought, "Wow, vegan recipes must not rely on refined sugar.  How interesting..."  Well, fortunately, bananas and applesauce provided enough sweetness.  The family I baked for loved them.  I will be baking banana bread for them next week.

Thanks again!

Yulika 

celestica's picture
celestica

I'm glad you liked them!  The first time I tried these brownies I pleaded for them to share the recipe and I'm so happy they obliged. 

manicbovine's picture
manicbovine

 

  • Ground flaxseed is an excellent  egg-replacer in dense cakes, quick breads, and brownies. It also works in cookies, but not as well as other options.
  • Ener-G egg replacer is a reliable egg substitute in cookies and lighter cakes, but some people complain about it's flavor. Don't expect to make macaroons here... but cookies are just fine. My wife made a great boston "cream" pie with it.
  • Earth Balance margarine (stick-form) is the very best vegan butter.
  • Soy milk is a fine milk substitute, so long as the milk's purpose is not to add both sugar AND fat (such as in a good white bread).
  • Many vegan recipes use agave nectar for white sugar (which is not vegan). It's a terrible substitute -- raw sugar works much better.

 

I use these substitutions in ordinary recipes for cookies, cakes, et cetera. It's easier than hunting for vegan recipes.

intheend's picture
intheend

Check out the Bittersweet blog: http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/

I also recommend 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes: http://www.amazon.com/100-Best-Vegan-Baking-Recipes/dp/1569757143

hanseata's picture
hanseata

in the praise for Isa Chandra Moskowitz/Terry Romero's "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World"! I am no vegan, not even a vegetarian, but after I tried the wonderful food at Cafe Eden in Bar Harbor (vegan fine dining), I had a new appreciation for good vegan cuisine.

I baked nearly every one of those cupcakes, selling them also to my customers, and they are really wonderful, moister than regular ones - and have, of course, a much longer shelf life.

The only thing I don't care too much for is the taste of margarine in some vegan buttercream recipes. It's fine when the buttercream is strongly flavored (peanut butter, chocolate etc.) but the margarine taste is too assertive in vanilla butter cream.

Other than that - I love this little book, it's one of my most used cook books!

Karin