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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Shipyard v. Veganism and some pretzels

Posted in Recipes on October 6, 2011| 6 Comments »

So, I’m not a big beer drinker. In fact, I’m not a big alcohol drinker. Mostly because I would rather be spending alcohol money on other things. Like Boots. Or Books. Or Coffee. Or Concerts.

But, a few weeks ago, the Dolphins played the Patriots and my stance on beer changed. I was pumped for fall and football and decided to order a pumpkin beer. All they had on tap was Shipyard so I took it. It. was. delicious! I was hooked. My love for it grew exponentially when in the 4th quarter, after Welker ran 99 frickin’ yards, Shipyard helped numb the pain of another dolphins loss (yes…I’m a dolphins fan. I love the patriots but the dolphins are my team). I felt like that beer and I bonded.

So when I found this recipe for Pumpkin Beer pretzels, I knew I had to make it. After all, if I’m buying beer for a recipe, it’s not technically as much of a waste of money. It is an ingredient in a recipe, not just money I’m pissing away! I was so excited.

Only after I bought my 6 pack (ok, I only needed one for my recipe but I’m sure its more cost efficient to buy 6…) and drank two bottles (I was taste testing to make sure it was ok for the pretzels!) did I stop and think…Beer is vegan right? Shipyard Pumpkinhead is vegan, right?? Right?!

Nope. It is not. Little known fact- some beers are made with a process known as Isinglass. Basically, its rehydrated fish bladder used in some beers to help clarify the beer. And Shipyard uses it. Does Budweiser? nope. Sam Adams? no way. ‘Gansette? safe. But my precious Shipyard? Not Vegan.

So, you go ahead and make these with your favorite pumpkin beer (and trust me… you are going to want to have these handy for Friday). I’m going to be in a corner somewhere crying because the only beer I like has animal products in it and I can’t in good conscience keep drinking it.

Pumpkin Beer Pretzels

via We Are Not Martha

  • 1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/2 t)
  • 1/2 cup of warm water, plus 2 cups warm water
  • 1/2 T sugar
  • 1/2 t fine sea salt
  • 1 t olive oil
  • 1 cup pumpkin beer of your choice
  • 3-4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 2-3 T coarse salt
  • 1 T butter substitute ( I used earth balance)
1) In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over your 1/2 cup warm water. Let rest for about 5 minutes.
2) Stir in sugar, salt, and olive oil. Pour in the beer. It will get all kinds of frothy as it reacts with the yeast already in the bowl.
3) With a wooden spoon, stir the flour in one cup at a time. You don’t want your dough to be too sticky, but you don’t want it to be too dry either. I started by adding 3 cups of flour (you can always add more in as you knead it).
4) Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 8 minutes. Or you can throw it in your mixer with the dough hook for about 3 minutes. If it starts getting too sticky, add more flour. Once you’re done kneading, place your dough into a lightly oiled bowl. Place bowl in a warm spot, cover with a kitchen towel, and let sit for about an hour to rise.
5) Punch the dough down and you’re ready to form the pretzels! Start by dividing the dough into 12 balls, so you can make sure your pretzels will all be relatively the same size.
6) Take one dough ball and roll it into a rope. Shape the rope into a pretzel by forming into a “u” and crossing one end down, followed by the other end.
7) Mix your remaining 2 C warm water with 1 t baking soda in a baking pan or other shallow dish. Dip the formed pretzels in. And then place on a greased baking sheet. Continue with remaining dough balls. Cover with a kitchen towel again and let rise for another 20 minutes.
8 ) Brush each pretzel lightly with warm water (this was originally egg wash but water works just fine). Sprinkle with kosher salt. And bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.
9) Right when they come out of the oven, brush them with a little melted earth balance.
So, these pretzels were hands down the best pretzels I’ve had. They are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside and a little sweet from the beer, which is not very strong, if you don’t like beer. Also, they reheat well in the oven or the toaster if you need a quick warm-up.

Also, I know you are thinking “another carb? does this vegan diet she’s on have vegetables”?? Of course it does! But I’m just roping you in with pretty carbs before I start jamming brussel sprouts down your throat (you’ll love them! trust me!)

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Twofer Monday

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on October 3, 2011| 8 Comments »

So you should probably know something about me before I launch into this first post and that is

I Love Fall!

It’s hands down my favorite season. I love apple picking, pumpkin carving, boots, my birthday * cought Oct 8 cough*, hoodies, halloween, colorful leaves, etc etc. I love it all!

Especially being able to bake again! My lovely apartment in  Boston lacks some of the more cushy things in life, an AC being one of them. So in the summer baking is 100% off limits. Actually, short of lying in front of a fan and breathing, pretty much everything is off limits.

So last year, I was so excited when the weather cooled and I was allowed to bake again that I went a little overboard. Cue the weekly baked goods for my work. I get to over due it with the baking AND not have to eat it. I was pretty excited. I’m doing that again this year so expect Monday blogs to be chuck full of delicious baked goods.

This week is donuts! And not just one kind. Oh no, we have two- pumpkin spice and apple cider. Why you ask? Well, I was going to do just pumpkin spice, which I had tried once already and loved, but when I shared the super exciting news that this is what I decided on for my first blog post and fall baked good, one of my friends I work with immediately replied, “oh… I don’t like pumpkin”.

whomp, whomp.

So, at the last minute, feeling really bad that he wouldn’t be able to try the first weekly bake good, I also decided to make apple cider donuts as well. Because I’m just awesome like that!

Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Spiced Doughnuts

from Oh She Glows

Pumpkin Doughnuts:

  • 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 6 Tbsp non-dairy milk ( I used unsweetened)
  • 1/2 cup canned pureed pumpkin
  • 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
  • 3 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
  • 2 Tbsp lightly packed brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp Earth Balance (or other non-dairy butter substitute), melted
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp of baking soda
    1 tsp cinnamon+ 1/2 tsp ginger + 1/4 tsp nutmeg (or 1.75 tsp pumpkin pie spice)
    1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup of whole wheat pasty flour
Cinnamon sugar:
  • 1/4 cup Earth balance (or other non-dairy butter substitute), melted
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp  cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two mini doughnut pans or two regular sized doughnut pans with Earth Balance (or other butter substitute).

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, milk, pumpkin, sugar, applesauce, brown sugar (sift if clumpy), and melted Earth Balance (or other butter sub).

3. Add in the dry ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, spices, salt, and flours). Mix until just combined.

4. Using a ‘zip-lock’ baggie or pastry bag, spoon the batter into the bag and then secure it with the zip lock or rubber band. Twist the bag slightly and then cut off a hole at the corner to ‘pipe’ out the batter. Pipe the dough around the circle and gently flatten down with slightly wet fingers to smooth. Repeat.

5. Bake  for 10-12 minutes at 350F or until they gently spring back when touched. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully using a butter knife to remove. Place on cooling rack for another 10-15 minutes.

6. Cinnamon Sugar: Melt Earth Balance in a small bowl and dip the cooled doughnuts into butter one at a time. Transfer the dipped doughnut into a bag with the cinnamon sugar and shake until coated thoroughly. Doughnuts keep for 2-3 days. (I used both a plastic bag and a brown paper and I found the brown paper helped absorb some of that extra butter…or it could just be wishful thinking)

I absolutely LOVED this recipe and there wouldn’t be anything that I would tweak about it. I made the first batch without pastry flour and it came out great. The second patch was with pastry flour and it was much more fluffly. Both were delicious so don’t worry if you don’t have pastry flour.

Mini Apple Cider Doughnuts

from Peas and Thank you

  • 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup apple cider
  • 1/4 cup organic sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp molasses
  • 2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
  • 2Tbsp vegan margarine (ie Earth Balance)
  • 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
  • cinnamon and sugar for dusting (I used the exact same method as I used for the pumpkin doughnuts)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.
  3. In a measuring cup or smaller bowl, mix together apple cider, sugars, molasses, applesauce, melted margarine or coconut oil and vanilla extract.
  4. Add cider mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.
  5. Spoon batter into a greased donut pan (or muffin tin).
  6. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until donuts are slightly browned and firm. (the mini doughnuts, like the pumpkin doughnuts, only took 10 minutes because they were mini)
  7. Dust with cinnamon and sugar while still warm, if desired (who doesn’t desire more cinnamon and sugar! I definitely shook these babies in cinnamon and sugar, just like above)
This recipe isn’t too bad. I like it but I don’t love it. The molasses is very strong and I think I would have omitted a TBSP. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, this was a last minuted addition so I didn’t have time for a trial run. My roommates swear that these are great so it is possible I’m suffering from doughnut overload!

Happy fall everyone and enjoy your doughnuts!!

PS. Clearly, with all the doughnuts being dunked in butter around here this isn’t a ‘health’ blog. I will hopefully have a good balance of healthy and comfort food. So don’t be scared of all the cinnamon and butter!! (As for the picture- though I love them, this isn’t a product placement for Flour bakery. I mooched extra brown bags off them for this recipe. This is just to show you the nice butter absorption. yum!)

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