(You'll Never Know They're Dairy Free) Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have much of a sweet tooth but when I do get a craving for sweets my one weakness is definitely Chocolate Chip Cookies. I LOVE fresh home baked chocolate chip cookies- chewy, not crunchy. I have found lots of recipes for healthy vegan chocolate chip cookies, but that just doesn't seem right to me. I mean, a cookie isn't supposed to be healthy, it's supposed to be a treat. It's a COOKIE after all! And unless you have serious allergies to eggs or are a vegan, I don't see the point to making them vegan.

As most of you know I am a huge fan of Trader Joes, and have started doing about 80% of my grocery shopping there. On my last trip I picked up some chocolate chips (Not reading the back, because I knew no matter what my kids and husband would want cookies at some point). I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the Trader Joes Semisweet Chocolate Chips are DAIRY FREE!!


I had been a little hesitant to try making chocolate chip cookies using dairy free margarine instead of butter. But since it was a yucky rainy weekend and I had time on my hands (well, as much as I could have with 3 little ones running around!) I decided to give it a try. And to my surprise they turned out PERFECT! I could not wait to share the recipe with all of you!

I got this directly from the back of the chocolate chip bag. I am sharing it especially for my friends who do not have a Trader Joes near them. ;-)

Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I use turbinado)
1 cup softened dairy free margarine (I use Earth Balance)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 package Trader Joes Chocolate Chips (Or other Dairy Free ones)



Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.


2. Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, softened margarine, and vanilla in a a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer (or use your Kitchen Aid if you have one) until creamy. Add in the eggs and beat.


3. Add in your dry ingredients and beat until combined.


4. Stir in the chocolate chips.


5. Drop mixture by rounded tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.(It says teaspoons, but I like bigger cookies so I always use a tablespoon.


6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Although I found that they needed a little longer than 10 minutes because I made them tablespoon size instead of teaspoon size. I recommend setting the time for 9 minutes and watching them closely.






These are sooooo good! To me I can't tell they are completely dairy free and neither could my husband. They taste just like Nestle Tollhouse cookies. I made them for a girls' movie night this weekend and shared them with friends- who also loved them! I have found that storing them in a Ziploc bag is keeping them very fresh. If you don't make anything else from this blog, I do hope you try these. They are just that good!
Happy Baking!

A Taste of the South~Peach Cobbler

We got some gorgeous peaches with our CSA delivery yesterday, but unfortunately some of them got bruised in the bag. I think the squash landed on them. So rather than waste perfectly good, but bruised, peaches I decided to try my hand at peach cobbler.


Now, I may have primarily grown up in the South, but I was raised by Yankee parents- both are from Massachusetts and therefore my Mom cooks like a good Yankee should. It helps that her mother was also a professional cook and passed along her talent to my mom- so I had an AWESOME teacher! I didn't grow up on peach cobbler, but instead we had apple crisp. I have always loved peach cobbler, though, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to make some.
I started looking through recipes to see what I could throw together out of ingredients I had on hand. I happened across a Paula Deen recipe. Now anyone who has ever watched Paula Deen knows that she uses huge amounts of butter, cream, milk, and or cheese in just about everything! This recipe was really no different, but I saw it as a challenge. And I was in the mood to experiment. Her recipe called for 8 tablespoons of butter, I turned that into 3 tablespoons of dairy free margarine. It also called for milk, I used soy milk (of course.) I also used a total of one cup of sugar instead of the 2 called for, and added cinnamon to both the peaches and the batter. So I essentially adapted this recipe to make it dairy free (and cut out some of the calories and sugar).

Ingredients:
4 cups peaches, peeled and sliced
1 cup sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons dairy free margarine
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
Ground cinnamon


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1.Combine the peaches, 1/2 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan. I also added about a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the peaches. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir often to prevent sticking. Remove from the heat.





2.Put the 3 tablespoons of margarine on a baking dish. Place in oven to let margarine melt.


3.Make your batter by combining the flour, sugar, milk, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl. Combine well and make sure there are as few lumps as possible.

4. Pour into the heated baking pan, over the melted margarine. Do not stir.




5. Spoon the peach mixture on top of the batter, making sure it evenly covers the top. Pour the remaining syrup from the peaches in as well. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon. (if desired)




6. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the batter looks done.




Oh and here's what we got in our CSA bag this week:

Fresh peas, zucchini, yellow summer squash, eight ball squash, one ball squash, peaches, green peppers. You'll see a few more recipes this week using these veggies.
It's not too late to sign up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). If you live in the Tidewater, Virginia area, Clayhill Farms has an open registration. Visit Clayhill Farms for more information.

*Recipe Adapted From Paula Deen: found Here

Taste of Summer- Fresh Strawberry Pie

When I was a kid my family used to go to Shoney's to eat on occasion (back when Shoney's was actually good- either that or my expectations of food were much lower). I have fond memories of their all-you-can-eat salad bar, the Sunday breakfast bar, and their strawberry pie. My Mom loved their strawberry pie! Sometimes after a day out and about we would stop by Shoney's for a slice of pie as a treat.
I have always wanted to re-create that pie for myself, so since I had 2 gallons (now down to 1) of fresh picked strawberries in my fridge, this was a great time to do that!

The recipe is pretty simple, but does take a little time to make. But it's totally worth it! The crust is a graham cracker crust, and instead of using strawberry gelatin, you make your own sauce from a puree of the strawberries.

Graham Cracker Crust:

8-10 Graham crackers
1/4 cup sugar white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup dairy free margarine



Directions:
Melt the margarine slowly over low heat on the stove.


Meanwhile, put the crackers in your food processor and pulse until they are reduced to crumbs.




Pulse in the 1/4 cup of sugar until well blended.
Add the melted margarine and vanilla extract and pulse until the crumbs are moist.


Press the mixture into a 9inch pie plate- make sure it is even all the way around.


Bake in a 350F oven for 8-10 minutes until the edges are browned.



Remove and let cool before adding the strawberry filling. I put mine in the fridge to make it cool faster.

Strawberry Filling:
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups strawberries, washed, hulled, and pureed. (Will equal 1 cup liquid)
roughly 2-3 cups whole strawberries, washed, hulled, and sliced in half
3/4 cup sugar ( white granulated works best)
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract


Directions:
Puree 1 and 1/2 cup whole strawberries until they turn into liquid.


Combine the puree in a sauce pan with the sugar, water, and cornstarch. Using a whisk to combine, heat on medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil.


Let boil for about a minute or so, then remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Whisk slowly for about 5 minutes, as the mixture cools. It should thicken up nicely.


Arrange the sliced berries in the cooled pie shell.


Pour the puree mixture over the berries, making sure to cover them all evenly.


Cool in the refrigerator for about 2-3 hours, or until it sets.


Enjoy!

Adventures in Cake Decorating

I've always wanted to be able to decorate my own cakes, especially since I can't eat bakery cakes anymore. I have a friend that makes and decorates cakes for special occasions, and she has taught me a few of her tricks. I have also taken 1 Wilton class to learn how to make flowers out of icing. I need A LOT more practice with those!:-)
So far I can make my own fondant, dye it, and make it into simple shapes, and I know how to use it to completely cover a cake. It's a long learning process, but it's a fun hobby.
Recently my best friend's daughter turned 13 and she asked me to make the cake for her Surprise Party. Here's how it turned out:













(I apologize for the fuzzy pictures, my camera battery was very low)

Now that I've made this cake, I have a list of more decorating items that I need/want. I am most definitely a novice at this whole cake decorating thing, but it is a lot of fun, and my girls love watching the process and then eating the end result. I am mostly doing this so I can make cute cakes for them for their birthdays or school functions.
The best part- I can eat the cakes too! These are 100% dairy free- even the decorations!

Let Them Eat Cake...

I have always wanted to bake my cakes from scratch and get completely away from box mixes. I already have to make my breads, muffins, cookies, pies, and granola bars from scratch since most store bought contain dairy, so a cake was the last big baking goal I had. Recently I have been asked to bake the cakes for a couple different special occasions so I figured now is a good time to practice. I made both the cake and the icing completely from scratch, and neither contain any dairy! The girls told me it was "the best cake ever" :-) Of course, they are kids, and it was chocolate cake made for no reason, so of course to them it was the best ever.

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 and 3/4 cup
3/4 cup Cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water



Method:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 in. baking pans.
2.Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.



3.Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (The batter will be thin).



4.Pour the batter into baking pans.


5.Bake for 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.


6.Cool for 10 minutes in pans and then move to wire cooling racks. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup non dairy margarine
2/3 cup Cocoa powder
3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract.



Method:
Melt margarine in sauce pan over low heat.
Put into mixing bowl and stir in cocoa.
Alternate between adding milk and powdered sugar, beating it on medium speed. I added more than the 3 cups of powdered sugar in order to get the right consistency of the frosting. Stir in the vanilla.
Makes about 2 cups of frosting- enough for a layer cake or cupcakes.


I didn't spend any time decorating it, or really frosting it well since it was just a practice cake.


YUM!

Oops I made too much rice... so make Rice Pudding!

Have you ever over estimated how much rice you'll need for a meal and ended up with leftovers? I did this last night and rather than waste 2 cups of cooked rice, I decided to try making my own dairy free rice pudding. My kids love rice, and they love pudding, so I thought "why not?" Plus my in-laws had unexpectedly stayed for lunch since their car died in our driveway so I decided to make it for them too.
I searched online through several sites for a good recipe, but I didn't find what I was looking for. So I decided I would just combine 2 methods and see what happened. The results were actually quite good!

It was super simple and didn't take very long at all.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice
2 cups vanilla soy milk
pinch of salt
1/3 cup demerara sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
handful raisins

My Method: I combine the stove top method with the oven method.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Add 2 cups cooked, leftover rice to a pan.
Add 2 cups Vanilla Soy Milk.
Add 1/3 cup demerara sugar
Add pinch of salt
Cook on medium low heat until the rice softens, stirring often.
Spray casserole dish with olive oil cooking spray
Once rice is softened and sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and pour into casserole dish.
Add beaten eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and raisins. Stir well so all ingredients mix in completely.
Put in oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, stir.
Cook for 10 minutes more, or less. Do not let it get too dry. If all the liquid dries up, add a splash of soy milk when you remove it from the oven.


I've never thought rice pudding was an attractive dish, but it sure is tasty on a cold day!

When asked if I should make it again, I got a unanimous "Yes" from my family.

Just in Time for Thanksgiving- Sweet Potato Pie

This year our Fall CSA gave us fresh sweet potatoes. My family doesn't eat a lot of sweet potatoes- in fact my husband is not a fan of them at all. He does, however, love a good, homemade sweet potato pie. I decided to try my hand at it, especially since Thanksgiving is coming up. It was so easy and delicious! My 4year old loved it, and I actually had to make another one to send in to her preschool for their Thanksgiving Feast.

Ingredients:
1 lb of sweet potatoes
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup soy milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pie crust




Directions:
1. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for about 50 minutes, or until fork tender. Cool sweet potato by running cold water over them. Peel skin off.
2. While sweet potatoes are cooking, place pie crust in 9 inch pie plate. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3.Cut sweet potato into chunks and put in bowl. I used my Kitchen Aid mixer, but you can use a hand held also. Add softened butter and mix until smooth. One at a time add in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth and lumps are gone. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
4.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Don't worry if the pie puffs up, it will sink back down as it cools.

Fresh out of the oven:



Time for dessert!



Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll!

Ginger Carrot Slices

I have a friend who has recently moved here from South Africa and she has been teaching me new South African recipes,and also sharing her cookbooks with me. While we were at her house a few nights ago, I mentioned that I was trying to decide what to make for guests we were having over for coffee on Friday evening. Our guests were my husband's parents and friends of theirs visiting from France. The couple owns a winery in the Burgundy region of France, so we were having a special tasting at the Williamsburg Winery with them and had invited them to our home for coffee and tea after the tasting and dinner. I wanted to make a dessert, nothing heavy or too sweet, but also nothing ordinary or out of a box. (I am no longer making things from box mixes if I can help it). I had toyed with the idea of making my biscotti, but then Rochelle showed me a fabulous dessert cookbook of hers from home. It's called "Superb Slices". I have found several that I plan on trying, and the one I chose for our guests was the Ginger Carrot Slices. It was actually quite simple to make, and everyone liked it. This was light enough to serve after a full meal, but didn't leave you wondering where dessert was.

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/3 cup refined white sugar (you cannot substitute other sugars)
2 cups grated carrot
2 oz melted *butter ( half a stick)
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten




Method:
1.Preheat oven to 350. Line bottom of greased 7x11 inch shallow cake pan with wax paper.
2.Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and ginger into a large mixing bowl.




Add the sugar and carrots, mixing well. Make a well in the center and add the melted butter, honey, oil, and eggs. Mix together.




3.Pour into cake pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until top is golden brown. Cool before lifting out of the pan.




*I am able to have small amounts of real butter. 1 tsp of Butter only has .06g of lactose. However, I do have to be careful of how much butter a recipe contains and I will make adjustments if needed.

source: "Superb Slices" Published by Wild Dog Press, Johannesburg, South Africa 1998