Baked Butternut Squash Oatmeal with Quinoa

My friend Rachael recently came to visit and we spent lovely days baking, cooking, hiking, and talking. One morning, we went out to breakfast. One morning we cooked together. One morning, I made this dish, based on a baked oatmeal recipe from a cookbook Rachael brought with her called Simply in Season. It seemed like a delightful base recipe to prep us for a long hike and it's nice to eat seasonal foods, even when some of my ingredients come from a can (more on this later).

Why this dish? When we were planning our day, the evening before Rachael said she'd never had baked oatmeal--not true, I reminded her. When we both still lived in the Midwest and ate breakfast together on Friday mornings with two other friends, I'd made a baked oatmeal recipe a handful of times. Baked oatmeal was something introduced to me a year ago this past summer, at a retreat center I stayed at while on a field trip focused on sustainable agriculture.

One of the lovely things about baked oatmeal is that it's warm, hearty, and can be prepped the night before. The recipe from Simply in Season did not recommend mixing everything the night before and then just sticking it in the oven. But, you could do this, I think, based on my previous baked oatmeal experiences. This is especially good if you're rushed in the morning. And, you could make this vegan by substituting the egg for either a commercial egg replacer, or a flax seed egg. You don't have to use the quinoa, if you don't have any on hand, but I wanted to include it to up the protein a little. If you decide to leave it out, you should increase the oatmeal to 2 cups.

We used butternut squash, because that's the puree I had on hand. At times, I might make my own rather than buying processed, but honestly I could pick up these cans of organic butternut puree for ridiculously cheap and it wasn't nearly as labor-intensive, and when I have butternut squash I've baked, I really just want to eat it. Immediately. You could also use pumpkin for this, or applesauce (as the original recipe suggests).

You could use pumpkin pie spice for this, if you didn't have these spices on hand, or leave the spices out entirely--the original recipe didn't use spices. I might have also added cardamom, if I'd thought about it early enough, but this combination of spices created a lovely taste reminiscent of autumn.

Note: although I've labeled this gluten-free, some people with Celiacs and gluten-sensitivity also do badly with oats, including gluten-free oats. If you are one of these people, or preparing this for someone who is gluten-sensitive or gluten-intolerant, please check to make sure GF oats are okay.

Baked Butternut Squash Oatmeal with Quinoa
Dry Ingredients
1 3/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats (GF)
1/4 cup quinoa
1/4 cup demerara sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup raisins (or other chopped, dried fruit, optional)
3 tablespoons chopped almonds (optional)*

Spices
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves

Wet Ingredients
1 cup milk (I used coconut)
1/2 cup butternut squash puree
1 tablespoon oil
1 egg

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix in the spices.

Add the wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated.

Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees, in a greased 8 x 8 pan (or equivalent) 25-30 minutes, until a knife stuck in the center comes out moist, but clean. Serve warm with milk.

*I didn't incorporate the almonds, but left them chopped, on the side to be added later. You could also use walnuts or pecans, if you prefer.

Vegan Chocolate Pie with Coconut Crust

Lately, I haven't really wanted sweets. Probably that's a good thing. But I have wanted chocolate. Not just any chocolate, but really dark chocolate. If it's not dark chocolate, I'm not interested. I could keep this trend, except I'm kinda also getting sick of chocolate--even while I still want it. I might resort to buying either the ridiculously dark chocolate or cocoa nibs, except those are outside my budget.

I'm hoping this pie will cure me of wanting chocolate. I've been wanting to make this pie for a while, but actually got around to making it because I had a friend coming to town. A friend who appreciates dessert. A friend who's open to trying the oddball things I make. Willing guinea pigs are always nice to have around. And I'm also hoping E will help me eat some of it. There are plenty of variations of vegan chocolate pie around. The type I like, I originally got from Alton Brown's "moo-less" chocolate pie and have since modified somewhat. But I wasn't sure what the point of this pie was--true, Oreos are vegan*, but if you're aiming for something that's a little healthier--this isn't necessarily the pie for you. On the other hand, maybe you're just lactose-intolerant and this works fine for you.

This is, however, a pie I like. It's smooth and silky. This variation is pretty light and fluffy (there are versions that are slightly heavier). It's got a fair amount of protein. It's quick to put together. It usually makes a pretty presentation. Since going gluten-free, I've made up the filling and eaten it like pudding, once. But it's so much more fun (and impressive) as a pie.

A friend of mine makes a really fantastic gluten-free pie crust for coconut cream pies and pear tarts, with coconut flour and/or Bob's Red Mill GF All-Purpose, coconut flakes, and sometimes even coconut sugar. My goal wasn't to replicate this crust (though I might need to ask how she does this), but just to use it as a jumping off place for a slightly less sweet crust. I think the pie is plenty sweet without a sweet crust, and I think it's fun to have the contrast between the crust and the pie filling. I used agave sugar, rather than sugar, in the crust and flax to replace the egg binder most pie crusts use. To replace the butter, I used a vegan substitute.

Edible Flowers

This pie is pretty forgiving flavor-wise. I've offered a few alternatives I've tried in the past with the filling, but I imagine lavender essence could be used to replace the vanilla, or that, if you were so inclined, you could even incorporate lavender blossoms (dried) into the pie. Or, you could top slices of the pie with individual edible flowers, like poppies or pansies. As you consider serving the pie, think about how you might plate it, based on the flavor profiles available in the pie -- chocolate-covered coffee beans, peppermints or mint leaves, candied orange peel, or raspberry sauce squiggled over the plate before you slip the slice from the pie dish. Presentation, I'm told, can make a huge difference in how people perceive your food--and if you're using a high quality chocolate, you can play up flavors already present in the chocolate as you plate it.

Vegan Chocolate Pie with Coconut Crust
For the crust:
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup quinoa flour
2 tablespoons vegan margarine
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tablespoon flax mixed with 1/3 cup cool water
2 tablespoons agave nectar
Olive oil

For the pie:
12 ounces Mori-Nu soft silken tofu
1/4 cup almond milk (or other dairy free milk, or coffee, peppermint orange or chocolate liquor**)
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
8-9 ounces vegan semi-sweet chocolate

Crust:
Cut the butter into the flours until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the coconut flakes. Add the flax-water and agave nectar and stir until it forms a very loose dough (it should not form a ball, but should hold together when pressed). Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary. Press the dough into a 9" pie pan lightly greased with olive oil. Prick bottom of crust lightly with fork. Cover and refrigerate at least 1/2 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake the pie crust 15-18 minutes, until it turns a light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Coconut Crust

Pie:
After the pie crust has cooled, blend the tofu, almond milk, agave nectar, and vanilla in a blender until smooth. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a double-boiler (or very heavy bottomed sauce pan) over low heat, stirring often to avoid scorching. Once the chocolate has fully melted, scrape it into the blender and process until well mixed, scraping down the sides, as necessary.

Pour the filling into the crust, cover, and refrigerate at least 2.5 hours, or until the pie filling has set. Serve cold.

*Though not necessarily made with vegan sugar. And this depends on where you live in the world. In some places, apparently Oreos contain whey powder, which makes them non-vegan.

**I've also made this with peanut butter and sunflower seed butter, both of which work well--but didn't seem like they would be the best compliments to a coconut-based crust. If you're looking for something like a healthier chocolate peanut butter pie, you could certainly incorporate peanut butter or another nut butter into this, or layer peanut butter on the bottom and pour the chocolate-tofu filling on top. One day, I might post one of these recipes.

Cappuccino Cookies - Vegan & Gluten-Free



Cappuccino Cookies (they're vegan and gluten-free!)

As regular readers know, a friend of mine requires a gluten-free diet and her boyfriend is vegan. Cooking and baking for them isn't a challenge, exactly, but it is always an adventure, especially when I've been eager to try a new (non-vegan and/or GF) recipe. Luckily, the vegan is happy whenever someone bakes him something (the best type of customer!) and my GF friend is more than willing to provide me with xantham gum when I'm trying to convert a recipe to GF -- which is good because xantham gum is expensive, especially if you're not planning to use it on a regular (to me this means weekly or more often) basis! As I've mentioned in previous posts, xantham gum is binding agent and is necessary in most gluten-free recipes since you've lost the binding ability gluten provides.



Dough balls



I noticed this recipe on Joy the Baker's blog back in February and knew I had to try it (well, minus the white chocolate, not a favorite of mine). But, I didn't have an occasion (or the time) to make the 2 dozen cookies the recipe yields (note: I actually got a little over 3 dozen, I must have made mine smaller though they're plenty big in my opinion).

Fortunately, there was a potluck on Friday evening and I needed to bring a side or a dessert. Excellent excuse, right? Especially excellent since the crowd I'd be with drinks a lot of coffee. It's a group of writers, what can I say? We definitely live up to the stereotype in that department. But, I wanted to make sure my vegan friend and my GF friend could eat whatever I brought also. I decided it was worth at least trying to convert this recipe -- if it didn't work, I could always bring a side dish.

The original recipe calls for 1 egg and 1 egg yolk. Egg replacer works great for the egg, because it binds and helps create a fluffy product. Ground flax seed works well for the egg yolk because of the higher fat content and the ability to easily adjust liquid (usually you should mix 1 tablespoon of flax seed to 3 tablespoons of water to create a "flax" egg--in this recipe, I mixed 4 teaspoons of flax with 3 tablespoons of warm water). This was the first time I'd tried this replacement combination and was glad it worked!

These cookies taste like coffee and chocolate, which I think is pretty lovely, and get thin (usually I prefer thicker, chewier cookies). Like other gluten-free products they don't brown as well, so it can be hard to tell if they're "brown around the edges," but if you look closely, you'll see they do. They were a hit at the potluck!

I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose flour (although this seems to taste particularly "gluten-free" compared to some other brands I've tried), because that's what's on hand at my closest grocery store, vegan margarine, and vegan chocolate chips. As I've warned before, some vegans will not eat refined sugars -- the vegan who will eat these cookies doesn't care. Be sure to ask your vegan if you have doubts!

Cappuccino Cookies - Vegan & Gluten-Free

Makes: about 3 dozen cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) vegan butter (i.e. – Earth Balance), softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 ½  Ener-G egg replacer, mixed with 2 tablespoons water until thick

4 teaspoons ground flax seed, mixed with 3 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon, rounded, xantham gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 cup vegan chocolate chips, coarsely chopped.

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside and we'll preheat the oven after we chill the dough.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, xantham gum, baking soda, salt and instant espresso powder.

Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes, by hand or 3-5 in a stand mixer). Scrape down the sides of the butter-sugar mixture with a spatula and add the egg replacer, flax seed egg, and vanilla. Beat until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.

Add the dry ingredients, all at once. Mix until just combined and then fold in the chocolate chips until well combined. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour (an hour and a half seemed to work better for me).

Just before you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Scoop cookie dough by the heaping tablespoonful onto the prepared baking pans. Bake for about 12-13 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven, allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container.

**Hint: These cookies spread a fair amount, so give them space on the pan. Dropping them about 2” apart seemed to work pretty well, though some of the edges touched.

Simple Donut Bread Pudding

At some point, I was watching Food Network as it played in the locker room of a gym I belonged to and Paula Deen was making Krispy Kreme bread pudding. My immediate reaction: eww. It didn't help when I saw how many donuts and how much cream went into the mix. I told myself I would never make a donut bread pudding.

But then, I saw a recipe in Women's Day for a Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding. "Oh," I thought to myself. "So much easier. 3 ingredients. That's right 3." Paula Dean's recipe came to mind, perhaps because my local grocer puts out day (or two) old donuts for $0.99, ($0.50 for the 2-day old donuts). I just needed an occasion to present itself.

And then, two days later, one of my professors sent out an email about a party at his house, in honor of a visiting writer. Attendees were asked to bring a side dish, which I decided must mean dessert. It was the perfect opportunity to try making a bread pudding. When I went to the grocery store, they had the 2-day old donuts in a grab bag, so I wasn't even sure what I was getting. I also bought some instant French vanilla pudding.

When I got home, I found out I had: 1 glazed cinnamon roll, one maple covered long john style donut without filling, one vanilla covered vanilla icing filled long john, and one plain raised glazed donut. I thought to myself: "Sure, why not?" and went to work. The end result turned out well, if I do say so myself, and one of my professors even sought me out to ask me to send him the recipe--he was especially happy to learn how few ingredients it had (more than 3, less than any other donut bread pudding recipe I could find).

This recipe is also lower fat than the other donut bread pudding recipes. This is not actually a tested fact, just something I'm assuming since it doesn't use whole milk or cream, nor does it use additional eggs.

Simple Donut Bread Pudding

4 stale donuts (app. 3 ounces each)
1 3-ounce box instant vanilla pudding
1 ¾ cup 1% milk
¼ cup cold (or room temperature) coffee
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup chocolate chips, optional
Powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350º F. Slice the donuts into thin slices and layer into an 8” square baking pan. Mix together the pudding, milk, coffee, and cinnamon and pour over the donuts. Press the donuts into the mixture. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top, if using. Bake for 50 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Allow to cool 15 minutes before serving, or store in refrigerator and serve cold. Dust with powdered sugar, before serving, if desired.