Bread and Chocolate

I’m trying to challenge myself, since I have been feeling a little boring lately. So, I took on two baking challenges this weekend—1) I “veganized” a recipe on my own and 2) I baked bread for the first time.

I started with a foray into “veganizing” recipes.  I saw this post on banana-chocolate-peanut butter cookies and was instantly in need of fifty of them.  This is fast becoming one of my favorite flavor combinations (I know I’m a little late to the party, but for years I hated bananas).  I decided this recipe would be a good start to experimenting with veganization (also a challenge, coming up with as many derivatives of veganize as possible) because it only required a few replacements. 

The first replacement was easy; I substituted earth balance for the butter.  Replacing the egg was a little more complicated.  I decided to try using silken tofu for one reason—I had some left over from the brownies I made last weekend.  I used the Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar replacement guide and blended the tofu with a tablespoon of cornstarch and the melted butter.  I was concerned the cookies would be hard and hockey puck-esque, but luckily the substitution worked! These cookies are gooey and light (is it possible to be both at the same time?? Yes, yes it is) and they taste like banana bread with a hint of peanut butter and yummy chocolate.

My second challenge was making bread.  I’ve never made bread before, but as I mentioned in my previous post, my Aunt gave me part of her sourdough starter last week.  I fed the starter (who I named Edgar in case you’re curious…I prefer all inanimate objects have old man names) five days after she gave it to me and all seemed to be going according to plan.  I decided to make whole wheat sourdough bread and followed a recipe I found online.  The process was long because you still have to wait for the bread to rise (twice).  I think I needed more liquid with this bread, because I used whole-wheat flour and it seems a little flaky to me.  Honestly, I think the whole-wheat flour taste overpowers the sourdough taste, which I find a little disappointing.  Next time I will probably try making regular sourdough bread and skip the healthy whole-wheat substitution.  

Overall it was a good baking weekend.  I feel like I accomplished something and I will certainly have plenty to eat for the rest of the week (well maybe not in terms of cookies since there are only three left)!

Halfmoon Handiwork

I’m back! Although I’ve been baking I haven’t been blogging lately.  Well I cannot NOT share the cookies I made this weekend (how’s that for grammar???). When I was little my family and I would go back to Utica and Rome, New York where my Grandma Min and Pa (my mom’s parents) are from.  Every time we went we were guaranteed three things—1) to see a lot of family, 2) to gain at least five pounds from eating spinach and cheese fatayers (Lebanese spinach and cheese pies), and 3) to eat delicious halfmoon cookies.  Halfmoon cookies are black and white cookies for those of you who are unfamiliar with the upstate NY vernacular! These are some of my favorite cookies in the world (and that’s saying something). 

I saw the recipe in Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and instantly knew I had to make them.  My friend Karla is moving to Madison, Wisconsin and she is a fellow baker so I figured I would dazzle her with homemade goodbye halfmoon cookies!

These cookies are extremely easy to make, which was the opposite of what I thought since I have this thing where I think everything that looks pretty must be complicated to make! The cookie part was quick—it was the waiting that was killer! Waiting for the cookies to cool, waiting for the white icing to dry, and then waiting for the chocolate icing to set.  I am not a patient person. 

Overall these cookies turned out beautifully! The only criticism on taste I have is the white icing—it was way too sweet for me.  I always have a problem when making royal icing, because the confectioners’ sugar/water balance is difficult to strike and you can end up with cloyingly sweet icing.  Although I tried to make it balanced, to get it thick enough to spread required more confectioners’ sugar than I prefer.  Next time I would definitely add in more vanilla extract to cut the sweetness. 

I know I enjoyed them and these cookies were a good reminder that food can really bring you back to certain moments in time.  Not to get too sappy, but I have really been missing my Pa lately, and these cookies brought me back to the comfort, excitement, and feeling of satisfaction I always felt on those trips to upstate NY!

On a more upbeat note, my Aunt gave me a sourdough bread starter today, looking forward to experimenting with sourdough bread next (I’ve never even made real bread before, so this should be interesting)!