Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I love it when a good cookie plan comes together!!! My mom used to make these cookies around Christmas time when I was a kid, and I have been dreaming of having one again ever since. My mom and I were inspired to try to veganize them them for Christmas Eve dinner, and dove into the process last night. I was pretty nervous about how they would turn out, as the original recipe calls for 4 eggs, but fortunately the results were chocolaty, chewy and tasted just as I remembered them.

Although I associate these cookies with Christmas/Hanukkah time, they would be delicious warm out of the oven on any cold winter night.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 Egg replacer eggs, preferably Ener-G brand
• 4-6 tbs. soy milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2-2/3 cup powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. In a large mixing bowl, combine canola oil, melted chocolate, vanilla and "eggs." Slowly add wet ingredients to dry using a hand held or stand mixer. Add soy milk one tablespoon at a time until the dough is nicely combined and pulls together (it should look slightly sticky). Cover the bowl containing the dough and chill in the fridge for 30 mins. to an hour.

Once dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease a cookie sheet, and take dough out of fridge. Put powdered sugar in a shallow bowl, and begin to roll dough into 1 to 1.5 inch balls. Once balls are formed, roll them in powdered sugar to coat completely, then place on the cookie sheet. Bake cookies for 10-12 mins, until they are cracked at the top. Allow to cool for 5 mins. before transfering to a cooling rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Many thanks to Dave of www.EatingInTranslation.com for this beautiful picture of my cookies at The Greenpoint Food Market... I think this picture does them much more justice than mine did!

Greenpoint Food Market- A Success!

In case you've been sleeping off a mulled wine hangover (not that I have!) or have been in an oblivious haze the past two days, let me catch you up. It snowed on the East Coast. A lot. Or at least most people think it's a lot- being from Colorado I would only call it a medium/small-ish storm. Anyways, this ridiculous storm caused my flight home, which would have been this morning, to be canceled.

Needless to say I am pretty bummed, I want to get home and do Christmas stuff, like a gingerbread house throwdown, asap! But, the hard blow of the reality that I won't be home until Monday night was softened yesterday by the fact I sold out of everything but 7 chocolate rugelach cookies yesterday at the Greenpoint Food Market!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a lot of fun, partly because everyone was in a Christmasy cookie mood, and partly because I once again shared a table with my buddy Aja, aka Sandwich Friend, who is awesome and makes seriously yummy sandwiches.

The set up- not the greatest picture, but you get the idea.


Chocolate chocolate-chip gingerbread cookies- these were a last minute addition but were the most popular- inspired by Martha Stewart, but veganized and spiced up with crystallized ginger on top. These sold out, and I have to admit I was kind of disappointed, I had hoped to at least save one to eat later! The lighting is crappy- you can't see how chocolaty these really are....
The chocolate and raspberry rugelach!!! It sparked many conversations- people told me how their grandmothers used to make it, or how they became addicted to it living in South Williamsburg. The raspberry was the first thing to sell out- much to Phil's disappointment.


Aja's sandwiches- she always has a vegan option that is off the hook. Yesterday it was a "Saucy Tempehtress," tempeh baked in bbq sauce with pickles, pickled red onions, swiss chard and some Vegenasie... I think the quality of my life would drastically improve if she could pack my lunch every day....

So yeah! It was a lot of work, but a lot of of fun, and satisfying to see people eat my cookies, and sometimes even come back for seconds, or a whole bag. This was The Lindzertort Bakery's second official time out, and I am learning so much... Even though I made a ton of cookies to sell, I think this is only the beginning of my holiday baking- stay tuned!

A Vegan Hanukkah Feast- Serious Latke Overdose

I don't think there has ever been a year I have not been home for at least part of Hanukkah, but this year it falls early and I am still in NYC until next week, when Hanukkah ends. Luckily there will still be Christmas at home (yes, I am one of those lucky people who celebrated both growing up! twice the presents!), but I still wanted to light the menorah and eat some fried potatoes.

My brother had the same dilemma of not being home for Hanukkah, so he came over and we ate. Too much. But it was delicious!

Vegan latkes- with toffuti sour cream and applesauce...



Broccoli and chickpea casserole from Vegan With a Vengeance- just to throw some protein and real veggies into the mix...


And chocolate rugelah- because there can never be enough rugelach- even when I make nearly 100 next weekend...

Extreme Vegan Rugelah Closeup!

Today I spent some time making rugelach dough. If all goes as planned, I will be selling this yummy cookie at the next Greenpoint Food Market in a couple of weeks.

While I was making enough dough for 80 cookies to freeze until I bake them the night before the market, I figured a couple of test batches of new flavors couldn't hurt...


The chocolate rugelah surprisingly reminded me of pain au chocolate- flaky and buttery with thick and gooey chocolate!


Phil's vote goes to the raspberry/pecan/raisin rugelah, tart, sweet, buttery, and "too rich to be vegan!"


There may be a second cookie in the works to sell, but it's not final yet... In the mean time, spread the word!

Leftover Sandwich

Who knew Tofurky tastes even better the second day on some toasted pumpernickel bread with some stuffing and cranberry sauce? Being a vegan doesn't mean you have to be excluded from delicious Thanksgiving leftovers!



This sandwich was created and assembled by Phil, a caring boyfriend who wanted to make sure his vegan girlfriend would have something to eat. It was the perfect dinner to eat at a very entertaining hockey game!

Peanut Butter Brownie Ice Cream

This is a horrible picture, and in no way, shape or form does justice to the amazing ice cream we made on Saturday night. In my opinion, the most heavenly flavor pairing possible is chocolate and peanut butter. This combination of cold creamy peanut butter and chewy chocolaty brownies was straight up ridiculous.

The recipes for the ice cream and the brownies were from my new vegan ice cream cook book, The Vegan Scoop. The ice cream was super simple, and I am happy to report I have finally found a vegan brownie recipe that reminds me of the chewy and fudgey brownies of my pre-vegan days. Although the new ice cream maker is dangerous to have around (we devoured this stuff in about thirty seconds flat) I am looking forward to more Vegan Scoop adventures! Next up: pumpkin ice cream, perhaps? :-)


p.s. Mom, I have no decent pics of the picatta- sorry!

My Big Debut- Next Saturday!

Introducing... The Lindzertort Bakery!!!!

Making its debut next weekend at...

Selling...

Most of you are nowhere near by, but come say hi if you are!!!

My Dinner- Quick Chard Stew with Garlic Bread

Will be making this again- quick and easy and perfect for a chilly fall evening. Highly Delicious!

My Lunch

It figures the day after Vegan MoFo is over, I get it together to start posting again. Oh well. Sigh.

I have been trying to be better about using the contents of my fridge and pantry when I am hungry. I'm not so great at it- I usually get inspired to make something I don't have ingredients for, and run out and get them. Not super cost effective, and as the weather gets colder I'm not as motivated to bundle up and walk to the store. Anyhoo, today I threw together a nice sandwich for lunch, if I do say so myself. It consisted of:

• Toasted whole wheat sprouted bread
• Fresh baby spinach
• Thin slices of pressed tofu sauteed in olive oil and drizzled with vegan Worcestershire sauce
• 4 sliced kalamata olives
• Vegan aioli (a tablespoon of vegan mayonnaise mixed with half a clove of pressed garlic)

I'm not sure what I would call this sandwich, other than Yummers. The olives are a must, they give it just enough of a kick to make all of the flavors come together. With some red grapes, it was the perfect lazy Sunday lunch.

Vegan MoFo: Pasta with Chickpeas and Roasted Broccoli

As per my mother's request, here is a peek at what I had for dinner tonight. I was really not in the mood to cook, and this was pretty easy to throw together.

I sauteed an onion, garlic and basil in some olive oil, the added a can of chickpeas. I boiled some pasta, roasted some broccoli in the oven, and threw the whole thing together and topped it with some fresh lemon juice. The only thing that would have made it better is whole wheat pasta, but this was a pretty easy meal with some quick protein I plan on making again.

Vegan MoFo: Perfect Pancakes

Cookbook: Vegan Brunch

Author: Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Result: I messed with this recipe quite a bit, and by the time I was done I realized I had essentially made the pancake recipe from Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. Ah well.

I replaced the all purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour, replaced the maple syrup with agave nectar, and threw in some frozen blueberries and ground flax seeds for good measure. Why not.

They turned out pretty well, which is a small victory, considering I actually suck at making pancakes. For some reason they usually turn out gummy when I make them, and fall apart. Only the first two pancakes disintegrated today, and the texture was fine, so I will be using this recipe again for sure.

Vegan Mofo: Candle Cafe Pumpkin Pudding

Cookbook: The Candle Cafe Cookbook: More Than 150 Enlightened Recipes from New York's Renowned Vegan Restaurant
Author(s): Bart Potenza & Barbara Scott-Goodman

Result: I got this book for my birthday from my buddies at work, and there are so many fantastic recipes I had no idea where to start. The last night my Mom was here and we were cooking dinner, I decided to throw this together because I had most of the ingredients on hand, and if you have been reading this blog you know I can't resist anything involving pumpkins.


I replaced cornstarch for the arrowroot or powder or kuzu powder the recipe called for, so I am not sure if the taste was affected or not. All in all it was a fine desert, especially when topped with a little vanilla-coconut ice cream. It could have been a tad sweeter, so with a little more maple syrup added and maybe some straight up vanilla soy ice cream (minus the coconut which didn't pair so well) dusted with cinnamon I could see this being a lovely vegan holiday desert.

Vegan Mofo Day ?: Two Soups

I am done with saying which MoFo day it is, I have clearly not been true to the whole MoFo project.

We are still enjoying the benefits of having my Mom here this past week- especially the two soups that she left in the freezer! The first was The Barefoot Contessa's recipe for Lentil Vegetable Soup, and the second was Robin's famous Yukon Gold Potato Soup.

Both are naturally vegan, although we added fake-chicken bullion cubes to both to try them out. I'm so glad soup season is officially here!

Vegan MoFo Day 12: Breakfast for Ma- Banana French Toast

I know, I am cheating with the days... Whooops.

This is not a cookbook entry, but it is a recipe I have made before and posted on the blog. Here. Today I caramelized some bananas to top this French toast, which I made with a vegan "water" challah I smuggled from work... It was a great way to start a busy day.

(Robin's verdict: The breakfast was awesome!)

Vegan MoFo Day 11: Citrus Collards with Raisins Redux

I am waaaaaay behind on the MoFo-ing, so I am posting a bunch of stuff in one day- hopefully it will make up for my absence. I have a good excuse, though, my Mom is in town!!!!

Cookbook: Vegan Soul Kitchen
Author: Bryant Terry

Result: I have made this recipe before and talked about it here. It's a lovely and tasty way to prepare oh-so-good for you collard greens quickly but with a lot of flavor. Tofu cubes tossed in vegan Worcestershire sauce and sweet potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, and onions were put in the oven to roast to complete this yummy fall meal.

Mate Tea

It's full-blown fall here in New England, but a hectic pace and huge transition has left me with too little time to make anything worth blogging about despite the abundance of farmers markets and local harvest produce. However, I did recently take a time out to at least see what fall looks like, and during my break I got myself this mate tea. For those who may not know, mate is the national drink of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay and it has more antioxidants than green tea (196 active chemical compounds vs. 144). While it does have caffeine, it also has plenty of B5 vitamins, making it a good pick me up. The combination of mate and leave-color appreciation made me, well, pause to think about the changing of season and the abundance that is so obviously in the air...

Vegan MoFo Day 10: Lower Fat Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Crystallized Ginger

Cookbook: Veganomicon
Author(s): Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

Result: I have been reading this book, and have really been enjoying it. It's a charming book of recipes and the stories of how they came about, written by the Molly Wizenberg, the person behind this lovely blog. Anyways, in the book, she describes in vivid and delicious detail a recipe for crystallized ginger and chocolate chip banana bread. I read this chapter on Monday, and have been obsessing about making this bread ever since. I had bananas, I had chocolate chips, I had crystallized ginger, it was only a matter of time.

So, tonight was the night. I couldn't really justify coming home and baking a loaf of old school banana bread loaded with sugar and fat, so I decided to give this recipe from Veganomicon a try. The resulting bread was not as moist as I had hoped for, but it did reveal that chocolate, banana and crystallized ginger are a surprisingly fabulous combination. I will be trying them together again, but probably in a different banana cake/bread recipe.

Vegan MoFo Day 9: Spanish Rice

Cookbook: Betty Crocker's Cookbook
Author: Um.... Betty Crocker?

Result: Yeah, um, this took a really long time. I guess because I thought my handy dandy way of cooking rice in the oven would work for this recipe- not so much. After 25 minutes in the oven, we still had crunchy rice and a lotta liquid. I was able to pull the whole mess which included the rice, tomato sauce, water, spices, a green pepper and an onion out of the oven and put it back on the stove where it should have been in the first place and salvage the recipe.

So, in conclusion, making your own Spanish rice (instead of using a box mix) is a good idea. Just use the stove. Yay Taco Tuesday!

Vegan MoFo Day 9: Blackberry Ice Cream with Cyrstallized Ginger

Cookbook: Veganomicon
Author(s): Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

Result: I think the relationship with my new ice cream maker could potentially be a dangerous one. To jump into the world of vegan ice cream making, I used the recipe for basic vanilla ice cream from Veganomicon, but used the option to add blackberries. This required letting the blackberries bubble away on the stove with a little water, cornstarch (it called for arrowroot powder but I didn't have any on hand), a pinch of ginger and agave (it called for sugar, I'm a rebel). The ice cream base was made of coconut milk, soy milk, silken tofu and vanilla extract.

The whole process was very messy but easier than I thought it would be. When the ice cream was done on the mixer, I put it in the freezer for a few hours.

After dinner, I scooped some out and topped it with some crystallized ginger to give it a little kick. I will be honest, it was a little on the too sweet side, and it wasn't quite as tart as I had hoped from the blackberries, but it was all in all FANTASTIC. I had feared it would taste tofu-ish, but it didn't, the result was some of the creamiest ice cream I have had since I went vegan four years ago. I will keep perfecting this and other recipes, but the ice cream making is off to a fabulous start, and a new obsession has begun.

Vegan MoFo Day 8: Birthday Goodness

I know, again, not a recipe. Ashley's gonna kill me. Ugh. I need to get it together- and I will, tomorrow, when I make blackberry ginger ice cream with my new ice cream maker!!!!!!!!!!!! But today, the vegan food marathon weekend continues, with delicious vegan french toast at brunch, and some serious vegetarian dim sum in a few hours.


Besides the ice cream maker, which is gift enough in itself, my wonderful bf also got me a new camera!!! The blog is saved from horrible, orange tinted blurry pictures! Phil saves the day! I tested it out on some of the goodness we got at the farmer's market this morning. Mom, you will notice one of my new bowls is featured.


Yes, I bought myself a pumpkin. I probably won't even cook with it, it's so cute and perfect...

Vegan MoFo Day 7: What I am Having for Dinner- Candle 79 Seitan Piccata- Mofos!!!

A mix of sheer exhaustion combined with the fact I know I am about to go out for lots of yummy vegan food this weekend for my birthday has made me a negligent Vegan MoFo-er. Anyways, technically I don't even own this cookbook, nor have I ever cooked this particular dish myself, but I have had it twice in my life at the restaurant, so I feel that I am an authority.

Cookbook: The Candle Cafe Cookbook: More Than 150 Enlightened Recipes from New York's Renowned Vegan Restaurant
Author(s): Bart Potenza & Barbara Scott-Goodman

Result: Last time I was home my family and I went out to dinner at a fancy French restaurant. The question arose of what everyone would like to have for their last meal if they were about to be executed, and this was my choice. I have made other seitan piccatas for myself (the one from Veganomicon is pretty good), but this is honestly one of the best things I have ever eaten. I only get to go to Candle 79 a couple times a year, but I always order this because it is rich, crunchy, tangy, olive-y, potato-y goodness.

If you don't live in NYC or aren't visiting anytime soon, make this for yourself. I also found the recipe online here, so I you don't even need to buy the cookbook. But seriously, if you are a vegan, you should at least once in your life make the pilgrimage to Candle 79 and have the piccata- it's pretty much criminal not to.

This picture is clearly from the cookbook. I don't have the confidence yet to bring my camera places and take pictures of what I eat like a real food blogger... I know, I am a wuss.

Vegan MoFo Day 6: Swiss Chard Frittata (with Kale instead!)

Cookbook: Vegan Brunch
Author: Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Result: It's been a long day. I was fixin' to come home and just make a simple tofu scramble, but I came across this recipe in Vegan Brunch and had a thought- if I made this, it would mean less time spent standing over the stove! I had all of the ingredients on hand (except for the chard), so I decided to use the rest of the bunch of kale I got this past weekend from the farmer's market instead. The whole thing was indeed very easy to throw together, and all things considered it was a pretty healthy recipe with almost no fat (with the exception of the oil the garlic and kale were sauteed in).


The finished frittata crisped up nicely on the outside and had a pleasant and not too mushy texture on the inside- which is good because I loathe mushy tofu. The kale worked OK, especially on the top parts where it became reminiscent of kale chips. However, I would definitely be interested in trying chard next time, the kale did become a bit overly wilted and brown on the inside of the frittata. In the end the whole thing kind of fell apart when I took it out of the pan and resembled a tofu scramble anyways, which was just fine with me. I ate it with a toasted sprouted bagel topped with apple butter, and was a happy camper. I love breakfast food for dinner and am looking forward to trying more recipes from this book soon...

Vegan MoFo Day5: The Art of the Non-Soggy Sandwich

OK, I am veering from my cookbook plan today... I am super tired. But, I did throw together a mock tuna fish sandwich for lunch tomorrow, using my own recipe I made up in my head. Basically I used what I had on hand- I mashed up half a can of chickpeas, threw in a tablespoon-ish of Vegenaise, teaspoon-ish of dijon mustard, a small spoonful of relish, and a few dashes of kelp powder.


But the point is not how I make a mock tuna fish sandwich. The point is how I pack it. Nothing gets me through a crazy morning at work more than knowing I have a yummy filling lunch waiting in my bag. Nothing is more disappointing than opening up my lunch and discovering the sandwich I lovingly packed has become a soggy mess. Ick.

Time and experience has taught me the best way to pack a sandwich for lunch that includes a filling like mock tuna or egg salad is to pack each part individually. Wrap the bread in foil (you can pre-toast it, or toast it at work if that is an option), and put everything else in a Tupperware container. Assemble at work. It may seem like a lot of tedious effort, but it's worth it!