Christmas Baking

Every year, I feel as if the last parts of December hurtle by at the speed of light. Each month brings it's own enjoyments, but December is a tricky one. He enters quietly, on the heels of the Thanksgiving feast, and the days quietly tick by until Christmas Eve.

Benevolent Christmas Day enters, that singular day when it seems the whole of the world is silent and reverent. Stores are closed, streets are empty. Families gather and some lonely souls feel lonelier than any other day of the year. Then, all too soon, collective breaths are released as the 26th dawns and the same harried consumers who wait all year for Black Friday are at it again: on line at countless stores stocking up on merchandise hideously discounted. The world returns to it's day-to-day life and I wish the time would slow down, that my Christmas present could somehow miraculously meet all of my Christmas pasts and that my memory was as clear as I will it to be.

The week between Christmas and New Years seems like a spare month, unrelated in all ways to December. In the past, when I held conventional jobs, I always took Christmas week off. The seven days separating holiest day of the year from the last day of the year hovers weightless and without expectation. There is not really much that needs to be done. The house is a mess, I enjoy the last week of my lighted Christmas tree, I inventory how many cookies are still left to be consumed.

Vowing a platform of homemade or consumable gifts for this year, I have 13 or 14 varieties of sweets as of the 22nd of December, 2010. With each batch that left the oven, I thought of the people that would most like each varietal. A single batch never seems like that much work, or that many cookies and then suddenly, I view the stores in the basement hiding spots and it's overwhelming how much sugar I have pack-ratted away.

mint chocolate crackles.

I never follow the good advice of making the same tried and true cookies that I've made for years. There are a few that are old friends of course, but my Christmas season of baking is generally made up of new recruits, cookies that have piqued my interest from other blogs, my kitchen library, or from rented cookbooks.

One such rented cookbook was Crazy About Cookies by Krystina Castella . I had actually bookmarked three varietals to try out this year, but only got to two of them. The first was a delicious cross between date bars and fig "newton" type bars. I have had these on the brain since Julia posted a picture of Linda Ziedrich's version! Krystina uses both dates and figs, reduced in pineapple juice. Being a proud VitaMix owner, I made fresh pineapple juice with ice and whole pineapple - core and all. I think it made the the filling pleasantly tropical. I have to make these again using some whole wheat flour.

Krystina's book also had a recipe for marzipan, which I have never made at home. I used almond meal that was not made from blanched almonds, so it was more "rustic" in appearance than I was prepared for. There is also a raw egg in the dough, so with these two "undesirables", I quickly searched for a way to make a baked marzipan cookie. Fortunately, I came upon this recipe from Chef Jeena. I was excited to try these little cloaked cookies, and I was not disappointed. They were surprisingly light, perfect with coffee or tea, and intriguing due to their shape. They will go on the save list.

Because I used two sources, you may have a little more marzipan than cookie batter. Marzipan freezes well, and can be added to all kinds of baked goods. I want to try dropping some in to the center of a muffin...

Marzipan Cookies (adapted from Krystina Castella and Chef Jeena)

For the marzipan:

• 2 1/4 c. almond meal (finely ground almonds) - use blanched almonds for the whitest result
• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1 c. superfine sugar
• 1 t. lemon juice (pretty sure I used a tablespoon by accident...)
• 1/2 t. or more almond extract (I can never have too much almond extract)
• 1 egg, beaten
  

Combine almond meal and powdered and superfine sugars together in a bowl and mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients, and mix until a dough forms. Taste to see if you added enough almond extract. Using about a tablespoon of dough, roll dough into balls.

For the Cookie Batter Topping:

• 1/2 c. butter, room temperature
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 2 T. milk
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 c. ap flour
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 t. "mixed sweet spice", I used combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add milk, vanilla, and whole egg and blend until well combined.

Sift flour together with baking soda, baking powder, salt and sweet spice. Add to butter mixture and mix briefly to combine.

Beat egg whites until frothy, but not forming peaks. Add into batter, mixing until well combined. (Try and be gentle, and not over beat.) Add a little additional milk if batter seems too dry. It will be sticky and rather thick.

To make the cookies, top a marzipan ball with a little "hat" of batter. It may take a few tries to get your method down, but I smashed the balls down slightly so there was a flat base that wouldn't topple over the weight of the "hats" (see photos). Leave plenty of space for expansion between cookies. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the tops are lightly browned.

Chef Jeena recommended topping with powdered sugar or a drizzle of icing, but I liked them as is.

I also finally made some peanut butter cups. I have wanted to make these forever and never have. When I saw the pictures from Chicho's Kitchen this fall, I made it a point to bring an end to the procrastination. I didn't officially temper the chocolate, which may have been a mistake, but they are still tasty. I did temper the chocolate to dip some candied orange peel (leftover from my secret Daring Baker's Challenge, but more on that after Christmas...), and what a difference it made. I followed the instructions from the King Arthur's catalog that just happened to print it in their latest issue.

Glossy, gorgeous, tempered chocolate!

I now have one last batch of cookies to bake, the Kringle Cookies that won the Journal Sentinel's cookie contest. The sour cream and butter dough is resting now in the refrigerator, and later, I'll cut them and fill them with jam prior to baking. I'm thinking to use some of the last of my tart cherry jam and maybe some strawberry that is ample on the basement shelves.

As I approach the end of my baking, I realize that Christmas still holds every fascination for me that it did growing up. Every year, making cookies, I think of my Mom making hundreds of sugar cookies to give away. After they were baked and cooled, the whole family would stand around in the kitchen decorating them. Mom would spread the icing, and the rest of us would decorate with sanding sugars and red hots, silver dragees that would nearly break your teeth (you aren't actually supposed to eat them!). My brother's favorite cookies were church windows, made with colorful mini-marshmallows and coated in chocolate and coconut. Though none of us have made them in years, I can still taste them when I think about it - and that is all part of the magic of Christmas. The good and the not so good of all the years past come flooding in at Christmastime, and remind me in particular of the most important things given to me in life.

Giving cookies seems appropriate to me because of that. Something sweet and given with no strings attached: I hope my recipients gain just a touch of the joy that I've had making, baking and giving. It seems such a small gesture compared to what I've been given.

Merry Christmas!!!

Cookies.

I have not been so prolific lately. Eating less, but more of my leftovers, this new nod to frugality leaves me a bit lackluster for postings. I am not, however, lackluster for December and all of it's joys.

My favorite of yearly traditions happens in December: cookie baking. In the spirit of giving, I suppose, the long-standing tradition of Christmas cookies does not fall dormant with me. I not only celebrate Christmas, I am excited about it and of the prospects of giving sweet things to people I know and love, and perhaps even to some of those that I may not know so well. When my freezer hasn't been so blessedly stocked in years passed, I start cookies the week after Thanksgiving, letting them linger in the frozen depths for a few weeks. Batch a day baking in the past has garnered me 12-15 varietals of treats to pack into tins, and by the time I'm finished I hardly notice the work. I start with long-curing things like rum balls and fruitcake (I opted out of that this year), and end the week before Christmas with last minute candies like fudge.

But this year, my freezers are full to their brims, and I am starting later than usual to be ensure proper freshness in my finished labors. This afternoon I made chai snickerdoodles, playing around with the spice mixture to include the chai blend I have from the Spice House. Snickerdoodles are something I don't often make. Maybe it's their ridiculous name, but they often seem bland or unsatisfying to me. They're not. I think what I missed all this time was proper seasonings, something more sophisticated to satisfy my snobbish palate. But no matter their exquisite taste, they really remind me of how much I enjoy baking cookies.

Baking cookies is really unlike any other type of baking. They change each moment; a minute or two of baking time makes worlds of difference, and so does the temperature of the cooling sweet. The flavor of a hot or warm cookie is often vastly different than a cooled one. Because of how delicious they were, and because it was a frigid, blustery Sunday afternoon, I took the time to fully appreciate all the changes they went through - even listening to the sounds they made as they cooled on the pans.

Just out of the oven.

Fat balls of butter-heavy dough melt just enough in 10 minutes of oven heat, but they don't have so much butter that they spread into crisp and not chewy cookies. They come out of the oven puffed with hints of cracks, and then fall gently, deflated, remaining chewy in their middles. I ate one hot, one warm, and one at room temperature, and loved them all ways. Both my boys loved them, too. I found enough space to hide the remainders in the freezer, where they will remain fresh until giving time... away from all of our leering hands.

This particular variety has chai spices in both the dough and in the granulated sugar coating. The chai spice from the Spice House doesn't have any nutmeg in it, so I added a little. It does, however, have quite a lot of cardamom which lends a slight bitter note to these new favorites.

Chai Snickerdoodles (slightly adapted from Amrita at The Sweet Art)

makes 3 dozen depending on the size you make them

• 1 1/2 c. raw sugar (I pulse it up briefly so it resembles granulated a bit more)
• 1/2 c. of butter
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 eggs (room temperature - you can soak them in hot water for 15 minutes or so if you forget to take them out)
• 2 3/4 c. AP flour
• 2 t. cream of tartar
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1 t. Cassia cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/2 t. chai spice from the Spice House (or use spice mix proportions from The Sweet Art)
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  

For rolling, mix together in a small bowl:

• 1 t. Cassia cinnamon
• 1/4 t. ginger
• 1/8 t. nutmeg
• 1/2 t. chai spice mix
• 1/4 c. white granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream sugar and butter together until fluffy. Add oil, and then eggs, beating a full minute after each addition.

Mix all remaining dry ingredients together in a small bowl, then add them to the butter, oil and eggs. Mix briefly until a soft dough forms.

Form balls of dough, and roll in the sugar/spice mix. Bake at least 2 inches apart for 8-10 minutes until done, and let cool for several minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cooled 5 minutes on the pan.

I'm not sure that there is anything better than turning on the oven on a cold day, and then gobbling up warm cookies as they emerge. And while not particularly "Christmassy", I have a feeling that this varietal will go over well. I'm sure I'll have plenty of more traditional cookies rolling out of the oven during the next week or so that I won't need to worry. Meanwhile I'll go on enjoying my freezing December, the Christmas season, and eating more warm cookies. And I'll be more than thankful for all three.

Daring Baker Challenge September 2010: Sugar Cookies.

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

I guess to be honest, I wasn't overly excited about making sugar cookies for this month's challenge. And also, to be honest, I've never made properly thick and decorated ones. Never having made something is one of the best reasons to become a Daring Baker, but I still wasn't excited. For our challenge, we were to make cookies using Peggy Porschen's recipe and to decorate them with Royal Icing in the theme of "September".

September. I kind of consider the whole month my birthday, and my son started school, and the great Midwestern humidity usually subsides, breathing into us the idea of Fall. What theme could I choose? Pencils or apples for school? A birthday cake or candle? Pretty little Autumn leaves in shades of orange and yellow? Well, I guess it's time to confess I only truly completed half of my challenge this month.

Since my little Boy-O is completely fascinated by sea life right now, we went to the local restaurant supply last Thursday and looked hopefully for a whale cookie cutter. There were no whales, or sharks, or any other sea creature. There was a little train, so that is what he picked. I imagined that I could maybe eliminate use of food coloring by just piping white accents on them, because ever since I read this article, I can not bring myself to knowingly purchase or make anything with artificial color. It actually makes me mad that so many things have fake color, and also that I have a tiny little 4 color box in my pantry for emergency egg colorant needs.

I originally thought that if we found a whale, I could tint the icing the palest shade of blue imaginable, and use an inedible dried black bean for an eye... but since we got a train, I didn't know what I would end up with.

This sugar cookie dough recipe is the last one you will ever need. It is simple to work with because it is so soft. Instead of chilling the dough and then trying to roll, it is rolled out to almost a half inch (!) thickness and then chilled. No refrigerator hard butter to try and subdue into a workable sheet of dough. Since it was soft, I used the flat edge of my chef's knife to 'knock' in into a square and then eased it into the thickest sugar cookie I've ever made. My family traditionally has sugar cookies at Christmas and Valentine's Day, and my Mom always rolled them on the thin side. When I've made them myself, I've rolled them impossibly thin as well, so much so that they tend to brown unevenly, yet be delightfully crisp.

I rolled mine so thick that they bordered on shortbread. I was happy that we chose such a small cookie cutter, since they are so rich, but I'm happy I made them so formidable. I still had no idea, even as they baked, what I was going to do to decorate them. I was remembering the painstakingly painted sugar cookies I saw at Dean & Deluca the first time E and I went to New York. They were $10 a piece. I remember thinking as I stared at a mountain of cookies in every conceivable color that someone would likely come in and purchase a dozen. They were impressive, and obviously left an imprint on my mind - a vision that I still have no real desire to attack personally.

As I began pulling the cookies out of the oven, a strange thing happened. The trains turned into something else. For the life of me, I could only see Pachucos. My mind raced to see how in the world I could come up with natural black food colorant so I could ink in fedoras and faint mustaches, suit coats and white ties.

There he is: El Pachuco

Then I realized, that I do have a theme, and it is school related. In college, I was fortunate to have one really great drawing teacher. I'm not so into drawing really, but as it turns out, I have a gift for talking my way into being a good artist of sorts. I found that at our critique sessions that followed each assignment, I could wiggle my way into having a passable piece of art, and it's funny that I ended up liking whatever it was that I concocted a whole lot more after the fact. I had no idea what I was going to say going in to it, but I was able to defend myself and my work with tenacious, lawyer like prowess.

So, peering over my cooling cookies, my head filling up with drawings of zoot suits and baggy trousers, I figured that in my own way, I did accomplish my Daring Baker Challenge - even without putting icing on the cookie. These cookies last without frosting for a good 30 days, and I have a fridge with 3 kinds of leftover frostings and a good amount of Dorie Greenspan's chocolate pastry cream. Dorie's pastry cream on top of these cookies is probably the most decadent and butter/egg laden thing you could consume, but it would also be one of the most opulent cookies ever to make the journey down to your belly. Fully worthy in my book of $10 each, even if not beautiful drawn upon.

I realized this month that I wish I could have a bakeshop where I could draw pachucos on cookies for hours at a time if I felt like it. Maybe I wouldn't feel guilty about colarants and I could make them any color I wanted. I ask you, where have you ever seen a lucha libre pachuco cookie? And, one that tastes as good as this one did? I can promise you if CakeWalk ever opens it's doors, this cookie will be on the shelves:

This dough would be easily adaptable to many flavor variations. Since it was my first time with it, I stayed the normal, vanilla extract route. When I make them again I'm looking forward to playing around, lime zest comes immediately to mind. The baking time does vary depending on the thickness and shape of your cookie, and also the pan. I baked some on a perforated pizza pan, and they were done much quicker than the ones baked on a regular sheet pan. You can also decide to bake them soft or a little on the crispy side.

This recipe was also dead on in the weight measurements. I measured by standard means, and for fun checked the grams and ounces. It was on in every instance.

Basic Sugar Cookies: (The Daring Kitchen, via Mandy Mortimer and Peggy Porschen)
Makes Approximately 36x 10cm / 4" Cookies

• 200g / 7oz / ½ cup + 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
• 400g / 14oz / 3 cups + 3 Tbsp All Purpose / Plain Flour
• 200g / 7oz / 1 cup Caster Sugar / Superfine Sugar (I spun my regular sugar in a coffee grinder/spice mill)
• 1 Large Egg, lightly beaten
• 5ml / 1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Or seeds from 1 vanilla bean

Cream together the butter, sugar and any flavorings you’re using. Beat until just becoming creamy in texture. (Tip: Don’t over mix otherwise you’ll incorporate too much air and the cookies will spread during baking, losing their shape.) (I mixed it on the lowest setting of my stand mixer using the paddle attachment.)

Beat in the egg until well combined, make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the sifted flour and mix on low until a non sticky dough forms.

Knead into a ball and divide into 2 or 3 pieces.

Roll out each portion between parchment paper to a thickness of about 5mm/1/5 inch (0.2 inch)

Refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes. (I left mine at least an hour or more.) (Tip: Recipes commonly just wrap the whole ball of dough in cling wrap and then refrigerate it for an hour or overnight, but by rolling the dough between parchment, this shortens the chilling time and then it’s also been rolled out while still soft making it easier and quicker.)

Once chilled, peel off parchment and place dough on a lightly floured surface. (I just left in on the parchment that I rolled it out on and rolled it out between two sheets of parchment. Then, I recycled the parchment by using it on the baking sheets...)

Cut out shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.

Arrange shapes on parchment lined baking sheets and refrigerate for another 30mins to an hour. (Tip: It’s very important you chill them again otherwise they’ll spread while baking.)

Re-roll scraps and follow the above process until all scraps are used up.

Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan Assisted) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.

Bake until golden around the edges, about 8-15mins depending on the size of the cookies. (Tip: Bake same sized cookies together otherwise mixing smaller with larger cookies could result in
some cookies being baked before others are done.) (Tip: Rotate baking sheets half way through baking if your oven bakes unevenly.)

Leave to cool on cooling racks.

Once completely cooled, decorate as desired.

(Tip: If wrapped in tinfoil/cling wrap or kept in airtight containers in a cool place, un-decorated cookies can last up to a month.)

Since it is such a good combination, you must have the chocolate pastry cream recipe firmly at hand as well... It makes quite a lot, but you will eat it all, trust me.

Dorie's Chocolate Pastry Cream (Dorie Greenspan, Baking From My Home to Yours)

• 2 c. whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 T. sugar
• 3 T. cornstarch
• 1/4 t. salt
• 7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 2 1/2 T. unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces, at room temperature

Bring the milk to a boil.

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. (I used my 5 1/5 qt. dutch oven, and I wasn't sorry I did.) Whisking without stopping, drizzle in about 1/4 c. hot milk - this tempers the yolks so they don't curdle. Still whisking, add the remainder of the milk in a stady stream. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (make sure to get the edges of the pan), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Whisk in the melted chocolate, and let stand for 5 minutes. Then whisk in the pieces of butter, stirring until they are are fully incorporated and the cream is smooth and silky. Press a piece of chocolate wrap on the surface of the cream, and refrigerate until chilled. (I like to transfer it to a clean bowl after all that mixing, and before putting it in the fridge.)

Dorie says that it lasts 3 days, but I think you can let it go a little longer. She used this particular cream as a cake filling, and also recommends it as a dip for madeleines or sables...

And so I make my case for icing-less sugar cookies. Dip them in what you like: coffee, tea, chocolate, or dare I say melted cheese... leftover frostings cluttering up your fridge. And when you go through the process of rolling and chilling and baking, maybe your cookie cutters will morph on you and something you haven't thought about in a long time will emerge, ready for story telling time.

A very big thank you to Mandy at What the Fruitcake? - and you must go and check out her site. She is amazing!!! Also remember to check in at the Daring Kitchen website to find links to other Daring Bakers and their takes on the humble sugar cookie.

A Vegan Return: Chocolate Mint Cookies (and A Giveaway!)

So, I ran into Lindy yesterday at the library. Boy-O and I stopped there as we were walking back from school. It's funny, how a 2 1/2 hour difference in my day's "schedule" (or really, lack thereof) has really thrown us all for a spin. Suddenly, I'm only able to sleep for about 6 hours a day, since my body can't go to bed early, yet insists on waking up at exactly 6:15 a.m - a good hour before it actually is now "required" to be awake.

I haven't seen Lindy since January - an amount of time that seems impossibly passed but was thoroughly confirmed by the growth of her baby, who was born on Christmas Eve last year. I actually first met her at the Library playground about 2 years ago, where she asked me if I ever went to the story time for the kids. It so happened, that I started going regularly - and I used to see her fairly regularly as well. We liked to chat about foodstuffs and I eventually told her about my blog... and then soon after, I had my first reader giveaway.

Ever since, I've been a little leary of having another giveaway. My online popularity may have grown a tiny little bit since those earlier days, but my first giveaway was truly kind of funny. I had made a jelly out of POM pomegranate juice that I received to experiment with, and I was certain that commenters would come out of the woodwork to be gifted a jar. My ego was knocked right into place when my ever-popular self witnessed exactly 2 people threw their hats into the ring... and one was my best friend, Sasa. But, Lindy won, and I was happy that she did, and that she liked my POM Jelly, and that we have continued to chat about foodstuffs when I run into her at random.

Yesterday, she asked if I was still going to do my Vegan Monday postings. While I do like to have purpose and focus to my kitchen experimenting, I've just felt so busy lately that I hate committing to anything! Most of it is self-created work, but I think that with the newness of school, the coolness of early Autumn, and that year older I suddenly got, time is making me feel exceptionally harried. That said, her little comment yesterday made me pause to think when I turned on the oven in the afternoon to make some cookies... while I was at it, I figured I may as well make them vegan.

Vegan baking in particular always brings a smile to my face. I somehow feel positively guiltless, which is a perfectly wonderful thing to be when dealing in dessert.

I'm newly experimenting with both coconut oil and raw sugar, so I figured both would be happy partners in some chocolate mint cookies. I was right, since the raw sugar leaves addicting crunch in those deeply chocolate bites. If you are looking for a baked good that you could mail across country, these are not your variety. They are fragile and a bit crumbly, and they also cause a fair amount of paranoia, since you will find yourself glancing over your shoulder to see if anyone could be offended that you are literally shoveling bite sized chocolate cookies into your mouth.

I'm fairly sure the leftover half-bag of mint chocolate chips I had were vegan (I couldn't quite see all of the ingredient list since I had cut the bag open), but you could easily substitute any other vegan chips you like. I also technically made half a batch, since I only had about 5 oz. of chips left. My yield was 22 cookies, but you could easily double this recipe.

Vegan Chocolate Mint Cookies (adapted from the back of the Hershey's Mint Chocolate Chip package)

• 1/3 c. coconut oil (not melted, but room temperature)
• scant 1/2 c. raw sugar
• 1 flax egg (1 T. flax meal mixed with 3 T. water)
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/4 c. cocoa powder
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 5 oz. mint chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat the coconut oil with sugar until well blended, then blend in flax egg until well combined.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and mix into wet ingredients. If the mixture is too dry, add a tablespoon or so of water to help it hold together. Stir in mint chips.

Form into disc shaped cookies, (about 1 1/2 T. per cookie), and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cookies cool completely on sheet before removing them for storage. Or better yet, eat them whilst they are still hot, perhaps with a scoop of rice dream ice cream...

Seeing Lindy yesterday also reminded me that in the spirit of sharing, of Autumn and extremely hot jalapeno peppers, I did want to try my hand at another CakeWalk giveaway. This time, I will not be disappointed if I don't get many commenters, since if you comment to win this pint jar of Candied Jalapeno Peppers, you had better absolutely *LOVE* hot foods. When I was visiting my Parents last weekend, my Mom and I talked briefly with an Amish woman who mentioned that the more overgrown the peppers are, the hotter they are. "Oh, really?", I said. That would explain why I have the hottest candied jalapeno peppers on earth! It's not going to stop me from eating them, however, even if it means that I have to use up most of them in cooking. (Like my Mom said, most Mexican food can stand up to a little sweetness.)

Since technically this is a vegan post, I should also mention that it seems the jury is out on whether or not sugar is vegan. The brand of raw sugar I use is Golden Barrel, and I did not see it listed in the products on their website. I bought it at the Amish Bulk Store, in the middle of the country, Southwestern Wisconsin. So, if you are vegan, but not too picky, I encourage you to try and win these hot babies! They will no doubt put an extra kick in whatever you are up to, vegan or not.

I will choose a winner using the Random Number Generator on September 18th, so please leave a comment before midnight on Friday, September 17th 2010 to win your very own jar of supremely hot Candied Jalapenos! You can check back at my recent jalapeno post to see just how they were made, and also find the recipe should you want to make some yourself. I'd like to also include a batch of Vegan Chocolate Mint Cookies, but I know they'd never make it to you. Besides, I'd probably eat them all before I had time to box them up...

Good Luck!

Vegan Monday: (Vegan) Graham Crackers

I have to admit that I really don't enjoy making cookies that require me to roll them out. Frosted sugar cookies are some of my favorites, but even during my Christmas baking, I seldom make them just due to this small detail. For someone a bit lacking in counter space, roll-out cookies are kind of tedious. They require me to clear a space and devote my full attention to them, and then there is also the "mess factor" for the type of baker like myself that has a hard time keeping the flour from flying.

Graham crackers are my exception. They really don't make much of a mess since the dough is rather sticky, and they include the added guise of being somewhat healthful. I have a couple of favorite recipes, one from Nancy Silverton, that includes a high percentage of butter (I altered it to include wheat flour) and a new favorite from Kim Boyce which is slightly more virtuous in the fats and flours departments. My favorites so far are utterly dependent on butter and honey, two things that I just assumed were what endeared a homemade graham to me - even enough so that I vowed never to buy them again.

While I stick to my vow, I happily add this vegan version to my glass gasket jar: a winning recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's book Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. They stand with the incomperable butter laden versions as proud substitutes, substitutes that are worthy in every way should you be vegan or not.

Not only is this vegan version butter free, but it includes only whole wheat flour, a staple in my kitchen. I love the slight bitterness of whole wheat, and prefer it most of the time to almost any other flour, save perhaps oat flour. The plain sugar adds to the crispness, as does the oil. I actually was nearly out of canola, so I used about half the amount of olive oil, a savory note that I found extra addicting! Not to mention that the dough can be rolled out right away instead of resting since it is soft and pliable.

Homemade graham crackers last a freakishly long time. I make sure I bake them until they are very crisp - sometimes I even throw them back in the oven again after they have started to cool and don't appear that they are going to crisp up. The girls do mention that you can leave them a bit on the softer side, if you want to make them into "ice cream" sandwiches. Or, simply spread them with this Chocolate Vegan Frosting... seriously, one of the tastiest frostings I've made, vegan or not (I used Spectrum Organic Shortning in place of Earth Balance).

Vegan Graham Crackers (Isa Chandra Moskowiz & Terry Hope Romero)

• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• scant 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 c. oil (I used 2 T. canola and 2 T. olive oil)
• 2 T. molasses
• 1 t. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 c. non-dairy milk (I used soy milk)

Preheat oven to 350, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, soda, cinnamon and salt. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk the oil, molasses and vanilla. Pour the oil mixture over the flour mixture and mix with a fork until everything is combined well and it appears crumbly.

Drizzle in the non-dairy milk, and mix together gently with your hands until dough sticks together, and it forms a pliable ball of dough.

Line a work surface with parchment paper, and roll out the dough between two sheets of paper. You can leave them a little thicker, or go for the recommended 1/8 inch thickness. Cut off the edges (I used a fluted pastry roller), and cut into squares or rectangles. Save the scraps and re-roll them. Transfer completed shapes to sheet pan.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, longer if they don't seem up to your crispness desires. I baked some of mine for almost 20 minutes! The more crisp they are, the better they store long term - if you think that you wouldn't be eating them all straight away, that is. Cool completely, and store in a lidded glass jar.

I also really like that I have zero waste when making graham crackers. The texture seems to change a little (I think, for the better!), but you can re-roll your "scraps". I usually use tiny cutters on the last little bits of rolled dough. It's almost a challenge to myself to fit the stars with nearly no space in between. Their diminutive shape also ensures supreme crispness, so addicting that they are usually eaten first.

There are many, many recipes in this book that I have to try. Even more in their sister book, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. If they continue to prove their tastiness, I'll have to pick up copies of both books for myself, since these were lent to me by Ginny. The Post Punk Kitchen website also has many great recipes. I actually found the best frosting ever recipe here before I read their books.

This Vegan Monday installment marks the 12 consecutive Monday of posting. Three months of more mindful eating have seriously flown by! I didn't realize at the time, what a great side challenge this was to myself for the summer months. I've found myself consciously making more vegetarian and vegan foods, and since I am obviously more excited than the rest of my family about it, it is a perfect fit due to it's ease of preparation. I've never been an overly meat-dependent eater, but this summer of vastly meat-free lunches and dinners has really reminded me about the ways I actually prefer to eat. With all the food politic storms around us, completely affordable, balanced and delicious meals can be a mainstay, and not one worry of "where that came from" needs to cross my mind.

I've talked with Sasa before about becoming a "restaurant vegetarian", which I am most of the time. We are fortunate to live in the Milwaukee area, where more and more restaurants are sourcing locally, and cooking with the mindset of sustainability. Many area establishments actually know the farms their meats come from, and the animal is not reduced to a mindless rite of the progressive, affluent world. This is good news - and news I should remember when I actually do eat out. I tend to squirrel my resources into eating at home - completely enjoyable, but I forget the pleasures of dining out. I'll have to remedy that a little bit!

Meanwhile, I think Vegan Mondays will stick around for awhile longer. Next week, I will be away from a computer on Monday, so if you check back in a week and notice nothing, don't despair! (Not that I actually think that you would...) This is one obsession that is going to continue for a long while.