Cranberry Orange Pancakes

Pancakes are one of my go to breakfast foods for a special breakfast. They’re fairly easy to make and taste good. They’re also a great excuse to eat maple syrup.

I love cranberries. They’re one of my favorite holiday flavors. I had a bag of cranberries and a couple of oranges and decided to make Cranberry Orange Pancakes. The recipe is adapted from the pancakes for dinner recipe in Chloe’s Kitchen.

Cranberry Orange Pancakes

• 1 Cup Flour
• 1 TBS Baking Powder
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
• 1/4 Cup Orange Juice
• 1/2 Cup Almond Milk
• 3 TBS Maple Syrup, and More for Serving
• Zest of One Orange
• 1 Cup Chopped Cranberries (I pulsed them in the food processor a few times)
• Cooking Spray for Greasing Pan

In a large mixing bowl combine wet ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg). Whisk together.

In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (orange juice, almond milk, maple syrup, and orange zest) until combined.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, being careful not to over mix. Some lumps are totally fine. Fold in the cranberries.

Lightly grease a non-stick skillet and heat on low (or maybe low/medium) heat. Once warmed up, ladle batter into pan to form pancakes. Once the edges have firmed up flip the pancakes (a thin and flexible spatula works best). Cook for 30 seconds-1 minute more until lightly browned.

You might have to add a little extra cooking spray to the pan between batches to prevent pancakes from sticking.

French Toast

This blog is about documenting my adventures with vegan food. As a kid, I used to love French Toast. My dad would make it on holidays and the occasional Saturday morning. I haven’t had much of it since going vegan.

I had some Just Egg in the fridge and some fancy bread, so I decided to try making French Toast. It wasn’t perfect. The bread was yummy, but not the best texture for French Toast. The “egg” mixture could have been better, but I was winging it and things turned out pretty alright. Making French toast is kind of a pain in the butt with soaking it flipping it. I actually found flipping French toast to be a bigger challenge than flipping pancakes.

Zucchini Overload

My partner was given several large zucchini. I couldn’t let it go to waste and I got to try some fun ways to cook it. As always, I seemed to gravitate to baking (I have a sweet tooth and stress baking is something I often do).

I made some of my old standards (including tacos), but these were the new things I tried and that’s what this post is going to focus on.

Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake

I used the recipe from Isa Does It.  I borrowed the heart shaped bundt cake pan from my mom. It came out tasty and pretty.

 

Zucchini Bread

I used this recipe. I added some extra spices. The bread was a nice mix of summer flavor and comforting spice.

 

Zucchini Boats 

I’ve seen a bunch of recipes for zucchini boats. This was my first attempt and it came out pretty good. I spooned out the zucchini guts and diced the bits up. I mixed those with some chickpeas, garlic (3 cloves), some halved grape tomatoes, a couple shakes of Italian seasoning, olive oil, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. I should have added red pepper flakes. I cooked it in the oven for a about 30 minutes at 400.

 

Berry Lavender Scones with Lemon Glaze

Time for another stress baking creation. I wanted to use up some things that have been taking up space in my kitchen and this seemed like a good option. I made the scones from Vegan Brunch and used the berry lavender variation. I also added the zest of a lemon with the wet ingredients.

The glaze is from the lemon blueberry scones from Super Fun Times!, only I used normal lemons instead of Meyer lemons (I had to use that I have on hand.

I think they came out okay and they make a nice tea time snack.

 

 

Maple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

I’m afraid of baking bread and yeast in general. About the only thing I’ve made successfully is cinnamon rolls. Since I had time on my hands I made cinnamon rolls this morning. This is my 2nd time making cinnamon rolls for scratch. Each time, I’ve wondered if it was worth the time and effort. Each time, while eating a warm cinnamon roll, the answer was YES!

The dough is from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I made up the filling and icing on my own this morning. Though, I did use the margarine technique from Vegan Brunch too.

Maple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

Dough

• 1 packet dry active yeast (that’s about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon
• 1/2 cup lukewarm/warm water
• 3/4 cup non-dairy milk, room temp.
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 1/2-4 cups flour

Filling

• 1/2 cup maple sugar
• 1 cup pecans, chopped small
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons flour

Before Rolling

• 1/4 cup margarine, small pieces/lumps

Icing

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1/8-1/4 cup maple syrup
• splash of non-dairy milk

 

Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar and yeast in water (can be done in measuring cup or in mixing bowl you plan on using). Let it sit for about 10 minutes so the yeast can do its thing. You’ll want it to be foamy and bubbly. Stir the yeast mixture, rest of sugar, milk, oil, salt, and cinnamon.

Add flour 1/2 cup at a time until you get about 3 1/2 cups, mix to incorporate flour after each addition. If the dough is sticky add more flour, until dough is not sticky.

Lightly flour a clean spot on your counter (or use parchment paper). Knead the dough until it’s smooth, probably about 5 minutes. Place into an oiled bowl or food storage container. Cover with plastic wrap, towel, or storage container lid. Leave it to rise for about an hour, or until it’s doubled in size.

Now is a good time to prepare your filing. Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, pretty easy.

Once dough is risen, punch it down and let it rest again for about 10 minutes.

While resting prep your counter again. You can lightly flour it or, if you’re smart cut some parchment paper to just a little more than the size you need. Once the dough has rested roll it out into a rectangle that’s about 12in x 18in.

Once rolled, evenly spread filling over dough. Dot the filling with the bits of margarine.

Firmly roll the dough from the long side. You want to roll as tight as possible.

Lightly grease an 11×13 rimmed baking sheet. Slice the dough into 12 even pieces and place into prepared baking sheet. Cover with towel and let rise for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375F. Bake for 18-22 minutes. The rolls are done when they’re a bit puffy and lightly browned.

While the rolls are baking, make your icing. To do that, mix all the ingredients together in a small mixing bowl with a fork.

When the cinnamon rolls are done, immediately cover them in icing. You can use a pastry brush if you want, or drizzle the icing over the cinnamon rolls and use the back of a spoon to spread it.

Eat as soon as possible. If you don’t want to eat a whole try recipe at once, these are really good warmed up in the microwave for a few seconds.

 

 

Cinnamon Rolls

I decided to face my fear of yeast and make cinnamon rolls. I assumed cinnamon rolls would be easier than bread because there is less to go wrong. I used the recipe from Vegan Brunch.

The recipe took a lot of time, but it worked out really well and was fairly simple. They tasted wonderful and I have some great ideas to make my own cinnamon roll recipes in the future.

 

Another Breakfast

I know today’s prompt was supposed to be inspired by a city, but it’s been a busy week here in NC and since it’s a Holiday weekend work is crazy for me today. I didn’t have time to make any food inspired by a city for today, but here’s another breakfast idea for a busy day.

Soy yogurt, granola, and strawberries. Simple for a busy morning and not terribly unhealthy.

Bagels

On my most recent vacation, I had vegan cake for breakfast one morning. Not the best breakfast for a day of walking and visiting museums. A lot of hotels that offer free breakfast often don’t have a lot of vegan options. For today’s prompt I wanted to make something that could be easily prepared at a hotel and would be enough to get you through the day.

I toasted a bagel (if the hotel doesn’t offer vegan bagel options you can try toast or you can bring your own) and topped it with peanut butter (this is cheap to buy and easy to store if the hotel doesn’t have any) and sliced fresh fruit. I had strawberries at home that I needed to use. However, every hotel I’ve been to has bananas and apples, which would also make good options.

Fall Colours: Pumpkin Muffins

I love fall, it’s hands down my favorite season. I went to university in the Blue Ridge mountains of NC it was amazing. The bright oranges, golds, and reds lighting up all the hillsides was beautiful. The weather was also much cooler than where I normally live. I could wear hoodies in October instead of waiting until December.

Pumpkin is a beautiful orange colour and a flavor often associated with fall. I made the pumpkin muffin recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance for today’s prompt. In the past I’ve made them with some chopped cranberries for a nice tart taste and an extra colour bump, but it’s currently the middle of summer and I couldn’t find fresh cranberries at the store. I did add some chopped pecans for a bit of texture.

Peach Pecan Pancakes

Today’s theme is to make food to bring a villain back to the dark side. I don’t know if I would actually want to bring a villain back from the dark side. I don’t think in terms of good and evil, dark and light that way most media lets us see.

Anyways, to get people on my side I figure breakfast food is the best option. Is there anyone that doesn’t like breakfast food? I was talking to my partner about this and he showed me a Hell Boy comic where Hell Boy eats a pancake and that means he’ll be on Earth forever, and not return to hell. So, pancakes are clearly the best option.

This recipe is a basic recipe I’ve used for years; I think it’s pretty close to the one found in Vegan With a Vengeance.

Peach Pecan Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Pecans, Chopped
• 2 Peaches, Peeled, Pitted, and Chopped
• 1 1/4 Cups Flour (Maybe a Couple Tablespoons More)
• 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 2 TBS Vegetable Oil (or Canola)
• 1 1/4 Cup Almond Milk
• 1/3 Cup Water
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 TBS Maple Syrup
• Oil for cooking
• More Maple Syrup for serving

Directions

1. Sift the dry ingredients together
2. Whisk the wet ingredients together
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix. If the batter is too thin add some more flour a teaspoon at a time.
4. Fold in peaches and pecans
5. Lightly grease the pan you use for pancakes and heat over low or medium (the setting will depend on your stove/burner).
6. Ladle batter into prepared pan. Cook until the edges are cooked and bubbles appear  in the pancakes.
7. Carefully flip the pancake. It’s okay if you make mistakes. Ugly pancakes still taste  good! Cook about 30 seconds-1 minute until browned and cooked through.
8. Remove pancakes from heat and repeat until pancake batter is all gone.
9. Enjoy!