Welcome back to a normal week. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving/few days off. Did anyone have any yummy vegan options on Thanksgiving? I’d love to hear about them! I ended up having Cranberry Pear Salsa for an appetizer with some organic blue tortilla chips. For dinner I had tofurkey (yum) with the gravy that came with it (too salty), my mom’s vegan sausage and mushroom cornbread stuffing (best. stuffing. ever), roasted asparagus with a little olive oil and garlic powder and this sweet potato casserole (to die for!). For dessert, I had these snickerdoodles. I don’t mean to brag but my first vegan thanksgiving went pretty smoothly! It helps that I have an awesome mom who was willing to a.) make separate things for me (like the stuffing) and b.) try new recipes (like the sweet potato casserole and salsa). My family kind of rocks.
Now, on to your Monday Dessert! Last week, the premium billing department stepped up and presented me with a challenge: to make a dark chocolate craisin dessert. The result was pretty good. I extended this challenge to the enrollment department but alas, I didn’t hear anything from them! I’m assuming its due to the shortened week but either way, Saturday came around and I had no idea what to make. So my co-worker Sean stepped up after a bit of prodding and proposed Strawberries as the mystery ingredient this week. I feel like I’m on Iron Chef. If you are anything like me, your first reaction to this weeks mystery ingredient was, “Strawberries?! Those are not even in season. That’s going to cost me a fortune!”, especially when I often have to double or triple the recipe I make to accommodate everyone. Yeah…fresh strawberries were clearly not happening. So I went with strawberry preserves. I’m pretty sure that would fly on Iron Chef!
Strawberry Shortbread Bars
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
makes about 28 (the original recipe says it makes 48 but there’s no way that’s possible)
ingredients
- 2 cups vegan butter, such as Earth Balance, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 Ener-G “eggs”
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped, or 1/3 cup of dark chocolate *
- 2 10 ounce jar (2 cups) strawberry preserves or seedless red raspberry preserves
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl beat butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs. Beat in flour.
If you are using Pecans:
After you beat in the flour, stir in the 1 1/2 cups of pecans. Original recipe said that the dough may be crumbly. Mine was not. Put aside 2 cups of the dough.
Press the remaining pecan mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 12×9-inch baking pan. Spread preserves to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Takes the remaining pecan mixtures and “sprinkle” onto preserves. As mine was not crumbly, I broke it into small pieces and dropped them on the preserves (see above picture).
Bake in 350 degree F oven for about 45 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
If you are using Chocolate Chips:
After you have beat in flour, set aside two cups of the dough. Press the remaining dough into the bottom of an ungreased 12×9- inch baking pan. Spread preserves to within 1/2 inch of edge. Take the remaining dough mixture and stir in 1/3-1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips. Break into small pieces and drop them on the preserves.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
So, I did this recipe two ways because I know a lot of people are allergic to or don’t like nuts in their baked goods. For the chocolate version, I opted not to go with chocolate in the bottom crust because I didn’t want it to be a chocolate dessert. I didn’t want the dark chocolate to over power or take the focus away from the strawberry. After all, Strawberries were the mystery ingredient this week, not chocolate! If you are PMSing or IMSing (irritable male syndrome. oh yes it does exist! And I can think of a few guys who are poster children for it (nonameswillbementioned!)) and are craving chocolate, feel free to add more. That’s just what I was feeling at 9:00 last night.
I don’t think I’m feeling this 5 day work week ahead of me. Can we do 2 and a half days again??
[…] week, my co-worker Sean, reppin’ the enrollment department, picked strawberries. So I made these bars. This week, the secret ingredient was chosen by my friends, Shea and Cashel, who work in […]