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Posts Tagged ‘pudding’

Day 3 of Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies: Chocolate Peppermint Pudding Cookies

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , on December 17, 2015| 1 Comment »

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Today I learned a very important lesson about veganism that I should have learned long ago- Read food labels closely. In an attempt to make this cookie challenge fun, I wanted to try lots of new recipes with new ingredients. I had had my mind set on using these mini peanut butter cups that Justin’s recently released. I had tried them as a free sample at Whole Foods one day (after I checked with those handing them out that they were vegan).  So, when I made my list of cookies I wanted to make, peanut butter cookies stuffed with peanut butter cups were high on my list.

I decided to give a peanut butter cookies recipe a whirl this afternoon. As the dough was chilling and I was unwrapping a million Justin’s mini peanut butter cups, I happened to glance at the ingredients list and smiled. No dairy listed. Oh wait, what is that note at the bottom? “Contains: peanuts, soy and milk”? Well, crap.

And that wasn’t even the first time I did that during this challenge. I had found a recipe for chocolate peppermint cookies that sounded delicious but it had chocolate pudding in it. I had my heart set on a chocolate peppermint recipe so I started poking around to find a dry vegan chocolate pudding mix. Come to find out, Jello Chocolate pudding is in fact vegan, if I just took the time to read the ingredients. I know right?! No dairy or gelatin! Much like Oreos, which are always accidentally vegan, it’s mostly just chemicals and sugar. Not exactly something you want to eat on the regular but makes for a great once-a-year holiday cookie.

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Chocolate Peppermint Pudding Cookies
veganized from Chef-in-Training

  • ¾ cup vegan butter such as Earth Balance, softened
  • ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 small package (3.9 oz) Jello Chocolate instant pudding mix, dry (or any other dry pudding, such as European Gourmet Bakery Pudding which is a bit more natural then Jello and also vegan)
  • 2 Ener-G eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2¼ cups flour
  • 1 cup Wilton Sprinkles Peppermint Crunch . I found mine at Target.(of if you aren’t a vegan, you can use Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips, which can also be found at Target)
  • 1 cup Vegan Chocolate chips (I like Enjoy Life)

*For those of you new to vegan baking, you can find Ener-G egg here or I have found it at Whole Foods and Stop and Shop. It’s becoming pretty common. Don’t be put off by the price. It will last you forever! I bake a lot and have had mine for over a year. Earth Balance butter can also be found at most grocery store chains now.

** For non-vegans, you can substitute real milk, butter, eggs and chocolate chips in place  vegan version at a 1:1 ratio across the board. As mentioned above, the Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips can be used in place of the Peppermint Sprinkles)

INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Cream together butter and sugars.
  2. Beat in dry instant pudding mix.
  3. Add Ener-G eggs and vanilla and beat until well incorporated.
  4. Add baking soda and flour and beat until well incorporated.
  5. Stir in Peppermint Crunch and semi-sweet chocolate chunks.
  6. Roll into 1″ balls and place on a greased baking sheet.
  7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will firm up when they cool so don’t over cook them. Cook until the centers are set.

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Chocolate and peppermint aren’t my normal go-to but it’s just so perfect during the holidays. These cookies are  fudgy  with just the right amount of peppermint. They would be perfect with hot chocolate, coffee or for Santa on Christmas morning!

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Fruit and Chocolate Dessert Pizza

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , on April 10, 2012| 6 Comments »

This is my answer to the chocolate overdose I was suffering from last week. After making those cookie dough peanut butter cups (which I’m dying to make again with different flavors!) AND a vegan version of Reeses Peanut Butter eggs (which were ok,  but not great, which is why I didn’t post them here), I was so over chocolate. That’s apparently what happens when you make excuses to have peanut butter eggs for breakfast (I’ll just have a peanut butter egg instead of peanut butter on my toast. Same thing!). Infact, the thought of making something heavy for Easter dessert made me want to cry. But backing out of making a dessert wasn’t optional. If I didn’t bring anything then I wouldn’t have a vegan dessert and a holiday isn’t a holiday without a dessert…or five!

So I decided a light, fruity dessert would be perfect. It would be a nice change from heavy cakes, cheesecakes and chocolate that usually show up for our holiday parties. The one I made had a thin, chewy snickerdoodle cookie crust, a layer of creamy chocolate pudding (pudding technically isn’t a chocolate. It’s way too light for that!), and a layer of fresh fruit. Yes, please!

 

Snickerdoodle Cookie Crust
from Wicked Vegan

  • 1/2 cup vegan butter, at room temperature ( used Earth Balance)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 Ener-G “egg”
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons milk replacer (I used unsweetened soy milk)

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream vegan butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add “egg” and vanilla, mixing well until combine, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix until dough comes together. Dough will most likely be crumbly at this point. Add in milk 1 TBS at a time until the dough comes together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, spread dough onto a round pizza pan. The dough will be thin. Cook between 10-15 minutes. Mine took about 12 1/2 minutes.

Let cookie cool 100%. Melt about 2 TBSP of vegan chocolate with  1/2 tsp of vegan shortening in the microwave. Spread a very thin layer of the chocolate onto the cooled cookie and let dry. This will prevent the pudding from making the cookie soggy.

Vegan Chocolate Pudding
 from epicdialogue.com

  • 1box (1.4oz) jell-o instant chocolate pudding mix*
  • 1 package (12.3oz) silken tofu, chilled
  • 1/2-3/4cup almond milk (I used 3/4 cup)

In a food processor, puree the tofu with the almond milk until smooth. Add the pudding mix and blend to a creamy texture. Put in fridge to set for about an hour. Spread on the cookie. I had about half the mixture left over.

*jell-o instant pudding is dairy-free but it has a few chemicals and weird ingredients that I wasn’t thrilled with but I couldn’t find an organic, more healthful instant pudding. I found the cook and serve kind but not instant. I wasn’t sure how the cook and serve would work so I opted for jell-o. If anyone finds a better instant pudding product or tries the cook and serve in this recipe, let me know how it turns out!

Toppings

  • strawberries
  • kiwi
  • banana
  • blueberries
  • raspberries

Slice up your fruit and layer as desired. Really, you could use any fruit you wanted, including mandarin oranges, apples or pineapple. Or you could use shredded coconut, slivered or sliced almonds or other nuts. I haven’t tried those but I bet they’d be great!

mmm…I want some of this right now. After all, if I can justify a knock-off Reeses egg for breakfast,  I should have no problem doing that with a fruit covered cookie!

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