Vegan Baking
Vegan baking, is it possible? Of course! I know a lot of people who wonder how it’s even possible to attempt to replicate the same rise, texture and tastes that come from traditional baking methods… but I’m here to tell you that it’s time to bring down those eyebrows of skepticism.
The trick is knowing your substitutions
I wish I could say “all you need is a flax egg” but… it’s not that simple. Some bakes just need a flax egg in place of a chicken egg… some need something different. Or a combination of substitutions. Some vegan baking recipes will do fine with just some mashed bananas or apple sauce, soy yogurt or blended silken tofu, flax or chia egg to bind them, instead of a chicken egg. The trick is knowing the texture you want to replicate.
Chia/flax eggs lean towards a chewy textures (muffins, cupcakes etc)
Soy yogurt/blended silken tofu fair best with denser bakers (like cheesecake)
Mashed bananas and applesauce work for moist or fruity bakes (pancakes, banana bread etc)
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Leftover Chocolate Cake Cookies
Don’t bake whilst under the influence of alcohol. I learned this the hard way: when I had to start baking a second birthday cake (for my mum), starting at 10 pm at night, after the first turned out too dry. Still, I found the silver lining to my baking debacle. Leftover chocolate cake cookies!
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Vegan Oreo Brownies
Nothing seems to prompt cries of “Oh, I really shouldn’t…” like the offer of a brownie. The thing is, that phrase is nearly always followed (like, 75% of the time?) by a self-deprecating smile, and a hand reaching for the brownie. The chances seem in to increase to a near certainty when homemade chocolate Oreo brownies are the offer.
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Sinful Chocolate Fudge Muffins (vegan)
Chocolate,let me count the ways I love thee. In cupcakes, in brownies, in pancakes, in porridge, in muffins, on its own… are there any other ways? Oh! In ice-cream, and in milkshakes. And hot. I can’t think of any more? That was basically the primary reason behind making chocolate fudge muffins. The second was that I had a bag of dairy free fudge that was just crying out to be used.
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The Best Jam & Peanut Butter Cupcakes
PBJ cupcakes have arrived! I’ve been making these for nearly a year and they never fail to impress my colleagues. For some reason, I’ve not shared them with you… perhaps because chocolate seems to be so much more loved, I didn’t want to upset any one! But.. the time has come for my jam and peanut butter cupcakes to shine!
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Chocolate Lava Cakes
Hands up who likes chocolate? Come on, just a little bit! I’m always a bit of a flip-flopper on whether I love chocolate or I just like it. I sort of trained myself out of being unable to resist it a few years ago but I’m pretty glad about that. Nobody should be able to eat an entire Terry’s Chocolate Orange in one go and still be up for more. That said… I do love these chocolate lava cakes – I’ve made them a few times and they’re my ultimate quick, indulgent dessert – especially when drizzled with vegan cream!
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Mini Peanut Butter Shortbread Cookies (gluten free , vegan)
Last week, I really wanted some cookies. I know what started it – it wasn’t a random craving. At work there is a tin full of biscuits (similar to cookies, for the Americans among you but smaller, and usually with more of a crisp bite). The problem, as I’m sure you can imagine, was that I couldn’t have any! So there I was, 3pm, hankering for a biscuit with my decaf coffee and denied. Utter dismay! That evening I set about making my first batch of mini delights: these mini peanut butter shortbread cookies!
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Homemade Vegan Scones
The scone: something I always think of as quintessentially British. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like a scone and jam – but I know several (myself included) who don’t like tea. However, so far all of the supermarket scones I check the ingredients of aren’t suitable for vegans. Gah! It mean that in the last couple of years, I’ve had scones about… twice. Enter: making my own vegan scones!
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Simple Vegan Shortbread
Over the Christmas period, I noticed countless tins of shortbread around me: at work, at the shops, at my families houses… but none in mine! It was sad. We were a biscuit-less household. Every ingredients list I checked contained butter! Well, I wasn’t going to stand for that! So here’s my simple vegan shortbread recipe: butter free but awesome.
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Sweet Coconut & Strawberry Cupcakes
Sometimes, a chocolate cupcake is just… too much. I want sweetness, but not chocolate, sometimes. These Coconut and Strawberry Cupcakes were borne of just such an occasion. Deliciously sweet and fresh, the combination of strawberry and coconut is irresistible. It’s awful, really. You’ll end up eating half the batch (or maybe that was just me… “testing” of course!)
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