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I was late to get on the Pinterest train. I've only been pinning for two years, and only started because I was pregnant with Parker and needed somewhere to organize my Christmas baking and mobile making needs. I thought I'd share some of my favourite food-related pins (Pins?) with you and let you know how they turned out. My issue with Pinterest is that I never know if the BEST RECIPE EVER and TOTALLY FOOLPROOF thing are actually realistic claims. I find that, typically, nothing ever lives up to the hype.

(P.S. I hate link-heavy posts, but it's unavoidable here. Sorry.)

Really good rum balls: These are amazing. I made them last Christmas for the first time and they're not only super easy, but just looking at the ingredients (rum, icing sugar, chocolate, and almonds) you know they're going to taste good. I'm not a big rum drinker but I don't mind eating it one bit. The only downside to these little treasures is that they never look as pretty as the picture. They don't even really look that appetizing, actually, but that just means there's more for the adventurous and unsuperficial. I made some for Christmas this year but obviously didn't have any.

Starbucks pumpkin scones: I've talked about these here before but they're worth mentioning again.When I gave up dairy I had to give up Starbucks' pumpkin scones and that was really soul crushing so I found a recipe I could make myself and now they're a go-to. I just use coconut or almond milk in place of cream and Earth Balance instead of butter. I also roll my dough into a circle and cut it like a pizza because it looks less like chicken strips that way.

Banana bread cinnamon buns: Minimalist Baker is one of my favourites (I got the cookbook for Christmas!) and these cinnamon buns are one of the big reasons why. I've made other kinds from the website, but these are far superior. I like to make them when we have company over that I'm trying to impress. Then I impress our company with how cinnamon buns I can eat.

The chocolate cake to end all other chocolate cakes: It's actually a one bowl vegan chocolate cake also from Minimalist Baker, but I can safely safe that it's the only chocolate cake recipe you need. It's easy, delicious, and the cake itself isn't overly sweet. What the cake lacks in sugar content the icing more than makes up for. This cake is the reason I gained weight when Parker was two months old. It's also the cake I'll be making for myself as a reward for pushing a second human out of my body. This cake is my push present, and I plan on eating a piece of it as I get stitched up in the hospital. I have also used the icing for other recipes, and find it goes really on bean cake.

Bean cake: I like to make this when I want chocolate cake but feel guilty about eating chocolate cake. I always use coconut sugar in it and made it for Parker's first birthday. No one ever knows it's made from beans and I like that it's allergy friendly (unless the allergy is eggs because there's basically a whole chicken in there). The only thing I don't like about it is that it's hard to make cupcakes out of. Because there's no flour, it can tend to fall apart when coming out of the pan. In a regular cake pan this isn't too bad, but I've still yet to make a cupcake batch that hasn't had a 50% failure rate. And by "failure" I mean structurally. I end up having to eat a lot of cupcake bottoms out of the muffin tin. Someday I'll get it right.

Avocado frosting: In an effort to make better life choices I thought this would be a nice substitution for regular icing. It's not. If you put a bit of instant coffee granules in it you get some nice kick, but it reminds me more of pudding than frosting, and it does not keep well. This is for immediate consumption only, otherwise the next day you'll be wondering why on earth you decided to make chocolate guacamole.

Vegan hazelnut cheesecake: It looks like the link I have pinned doesn't actually work anymore, but this recipe looks the most similar (if not exactly the same). I made this for our anniversary this year because I'd been wanting to try a nut-based cheesecake for a while, but needed a special occasion to justify it. I've made a tofu cheesecake before and never again. All I could taste was the soy. This cheesecake was pretty good, but I may have over-roasted the hazelnuts or something or maybe shouldn't have soaked the cashews in the fridge instead of on the counter overnight. It just wasn't quite right. I put the leftovers in the freezer, but every time I had a piece my stomach would get a bit upset. It was mediocre. I'll try another vegan cheesecake again but will go a different route.

Chocolate chip cookie dough blizzard: Yes. The "ice cream" is just frozen bananas (i.e. healthy) and the cookie dough bites are super easy to make. You get a little messy rolling them, but it's totally worth it. I like to leave the extras in the freezer to eat later on.

Slow cooker broccoli, spinach, and potato soup: I want to love this soup, but I just find it so uninspiring. I've made it a couple times but just can't get excited about it. It also makes the house smell like farts when I get home from work.

Vegan cheese sauce: I like how easy this cheese sauce is, but I'm kind of over beans being in everything. Last time I made this I didn't do as good a job as I thought cleaning out my food processor so when made "frozen yogurt" in it everything tasted like beans. I was three months pregnant at the time and it's really stuck with me. Bean aversion.

Cashew Alfredo sauce: If beans are overdone in cheese sauces, nuts definitely are, too, but I can forgive them in this one. I like that this recipe is so easy, so fast, doesn't involve beans, and if you put it over spaghetti squash you feel like a vegan healthfood princess. Or something. I like to blend up steamed broccoli or peppers in it to thicken the sauce a bit and give it some more substance. It's been a while since I last made this and I think I need to make it again soon. This is another one of those things I like to feed people I'm trying to impress because it seems harder than it is.

I've also tried to learn proper furniture painting techniques, gotten many knitting patterns, and laughed about the "must-have" first time parent lists. I just can't stop clicking on them.

Have I just blown your mind with all my food-related insight? You're welcome.

Your new favourite muffin recipe.

There was a time a few years ago, right around when I started this blog, that I thought baking was an ordeal. It just seemed like a big time commitment that always ended in a lot of dishes and overeating. I started baking a little bit when I finished university and felt like I was conquering the world every time. Real women bake, you see. It’s a sign of how feminine you are. God put us on this planet to have children and bake. I’m sure someone famous said that once.

My attitude towards baking has really changed over the years. I love baking now. It makes me happy and I know it makes Karl happy when I make something he likes. With it just being the two of us I really need to watch how much I bake because baked goods are my kryptonite. Baked goods and hot drinks are a match made in heaven. Baked goods and hot drinks and good books are even better. Baked goods and hot drinks and good company are the same. Baked goods and cold drinks too, for that matter. I just think baked goods go with everything, okay?

Since I can’t have dairy it’s a lot harder for me to have a baked good when I go out for coffee. This is probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Not only am I a baked good fiend but I love the stuff that is just terrible for you. Doughnuts? A thousand times yes. Scones with icing? Yes please, especially the ones from Starbucks. Cookies? Anytime anywhere. Cinnamon buns? The gooier the better. I just adore baked goods. It’s a good thing that most places don’t have a lot of options for someone like me. It’s also why I bake. Why search the world looking for the dairy-free baked good that may not exist? I’m no pastry chef, but I do okay in my own kitchen.

One thing I find that I always make better than any commercial seller is muffins. You know how grocery store pies never even come close to the homemade kind? That’s how I feel about muffins. If a muffin is made anywhere other than someone’s personal kitchen it just isn’t up to snuff. I think the problem is that everyone focusses so much on oil in their muffin recipes. Oily muffins are always such a letdown. If I wanted something that oily I would have ordered a cheese croissant. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating for dry muffins, I just think there needs to be a happy balance. And that balance is always homemade.

So now that I’ve told you all how superior homemade muffins are I’m going to put my money where my mouth is and share with you my favourite muffin recipe. It’s not my own original recipe, but I’ve tweaked it a little. I got it from a couple friends of mine so I like think of it as the Robertson Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe. It’s everything I look for in a muffin. Not oily, not too sweet, and full of bananas and chocolate chips. I try to avoid muffin recipes that call for more than half a cup of sugar. I like to get my sweetness from chocolate chips, not the rest of the muffin. Plus, bananas are good for you. Didn’t you know that?

Ingredients:

3 large mashed bananas

½ cup coconut sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup applesauce

1 ½ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Chocolate chips to taste

Directions:

Mix wet ingredients together.

Add dry ingredients.

Add chocolate chips.

Spoon into greased muffin tins.

Bake at 375° for 16-20 minutes.

Makes 12 big muffins.

So easy. So good. I’m even eating one right now.

The original recipe calls for regular sugar and oil instead of applesauce. Coconut sugar doesn’t translate super well into everything, but I find it’s fine with muffins and loafs. And at this point I think you know how I feel about oil. The only time I don’t swap out oil for applesauce while baking is when I’m making cookies or something I’m not totally familiar with.

I forgot to do it this time, but one of the last times I made this recipe I used ½ whole wheat flour and 1 cup of white and you couldn’t even tell. I’ve also added chia seeds, cocoa powder, coconut, cranberries, and flax seed at various times over the years. If you’re feeling really daring, I think you could even add a little bit of dissolved instant coffee in there to give them a real kick. Or in my case, decaffeinated flutter.

The world is your muffin oyster.

Pumpkin scones just like Starbucks makes. Without the dairy.

So, true to my word, I made pumpkin scones this weekend. They tasted pretty much exactly like the Starbucks ones, minus the dairy. Mine were also minus the intense layer of icing on top, but let's not fault them for that. Their icing was both delicious and tasteful.

I didn't take any pictures, but with one or two exceptions my scones looked more like chicken strips than pumpkin scones. They were so good, though, that I don't think anyone minded. It's just that... they were so much stickier than cookies (as anticipated) and scone shapes are so much more demanding than cookies.

I have a pretty long history of making delicious treats that look like crap. It's what's on the inside of your tummy that really counts, not what you saw before hand.

These scones were so good that (no surprise) they were gone in 48 hours. I wish I'd saved some, though, and stuck them in the freezer. I think I'll make them again and do just that because dang, I love pumpkin scones and I need to eat them everyday. Just kidding. Saturday afternoon I actually had to unbutton my shorts after having one. I may have overindulged a little. Those things are heavy.

Anyway, here's my version of the recipe. I found it here although the exact same recipe is on at least two other pages that I looked at. I straight up copied and pasted it from that page, with a few additional comments and my dairy-free substitutions.

SCONES:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pure (unsweetened) pumpkin
3 tablespoons canned coconut milk
1 large egg
6 tablespoons Earth Balance, cut into cubes (I guess... I just tossed mine whole into the mix and used the pastry cutter)

PLAIN GLAZE:
1/2 cup powdered sugar (Sifted. I didn't, but probably should have.)
1 tablespoon almond milk

SPICED ICING:
3/4 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
1 to 2 tablespoons almond milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Give it a light dusting of flour on top of that.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, half and half and egg.

4. Use a pastry cutter or two knives (I used a pastry cutter because I'm not a ninja) to cut butter into the dry ingredients. Continue cutting until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. (You may also use a food processor for this step. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs... Mine never did, but just blended more than anything. That might have had to do with the Earth Balance).

5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, then form the dough into a ball. The dough will be wet, but if it seems super sticky just go ahead and sprinkle a little more flour into the dough until it's easier to handle. Remember, you want it to be somewhat sticky, and that's okay- but you also don't want it to stick to the baking sheet. Pat out dough onto the lightly floured baking sheet and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle that is about 9-inches long and 3-inches wide. Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal squares. Cut through the three squares diagonally so that you have 6 triangular slices of dough. Gently pull the triangles apart, leaving about 1/2-inch space between each one. (This was where I struggled the most.)

6. Bake 14 to 16 minutes on prepared baking sheet. Scones should begin to turn light brown.

7. While scones are cooling, prepare plain glaze by whisking ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix until smooth.

8. When scones are cool, use a knife to cut them apart and then pull them apart so that they are ready for glazing. Use a brush to paint a coating of the glaze over the top of each scone.

9. As the white glaze firms up, prepare spiced icing by whisking the ingredients in another medium bowl until smooth. Drizzle this thicker icing over each scone (or brush it on) and allow the icing to dry before serving.

Happy sconing!

The Best Cookies Ever.

I make good cookies. I also hate making cookies. You know that whenever I bake I call it self loathing. I don't mind the making of the cookies, but I hate the actually cookie placing on cookie sheet part of the process. It takes about a million years.

Well, I like giving things to people. I'm basically Santa Clause but don't wear much red. Since today's my last day at work I thought I would encourage everyone to remember me fondly with my parting gift of cookies. The new me may have been a hot dancer once, but now she's just going to be a hot new me that probably didn't have milk and cookies for breakfast. Wow, I really am Santa.

I'm pretty sure the last time I made these cookies was April 14th. The only reason I remember that date was because it was the day after my good friend Calvin popped out of his momma into the world. It was also the day this happened:

Gratuitous and totally relevant photo of me with a less than 24 hour old child.

Not to brag or anything but my cookies were probably one of the first things he ate. Via breast milk. The cookies weren't actually made as a celebration of life but I was going to a ballroom dancing night and had been coerced through extreme flattery to bring cookies. So a few cookies detoured to the hospital.

My friend Caity had told my that my cookies were the best and begged me to make some for the ballroom dancing event. I really can't say no to flattery like that. Just like the time were in grade 12 and I wanted to go home after my 10 pm shift at the grocery store but her and her eventual husband coerced me into watching The Wedding Singer with them. I guess I just can't say no to flattery or weddings singers.

Since my cookies are obviously the best cookies ever, I couldn't deny my coworkers one last chance to indulge. I'm blogging about it because I have failed fantastically at blogging about my baking eneavours lately.  That's because I haven't actually baked anything aside from muffins for a while. And the last muffins I made involved a box of devil's food cake mix, a can of pumpkin, and whatever else I thought would taste good. They were essentially breakfast cupcakes.

So I'm going to share with you my famous cookie recipe. Just so you know, these are some of the yummiest cookies ever. The only thing is that they're trying to kill you. There's a collective cup and a half of sugar, which is comparable to other recipes, but it's the two cups of chocolate chips/Reese's Pieces that get you sucked it. I've made these without Reese's, by the way, and they just aren't the same. When I first came across the recipe they just called for chocolate chips. By upping the ante I made something delicious and magical happen.

I got the recipe here off the internet when I was in high school. I tweaked it a tiny bit so I'm not going to take credit for it. Since I linked you to the original I'm not even going to feel bad.

That's what I call a well used recipe.

The Best Cookies Ever

1 cup of margarine
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup Reese's Pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 350°

2. Cream margarine together with white and brown sugar. Add the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, then fold in the chocolate chips and Reese's.

5. Drop by smallish spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet and then bake those bad boys for 8-10 minutes.

The recipe will yield approximately 4 dozen small cookies.

I grew up in a big cookie household. We liked our cookies big and we liked a lot of them. I think that's one of the reasons I love this recipe so much. It's the first recipe I really ever did all by myself and I broke the familial norm and made small cookies. Small cookies make my heart sing. You can eat so many more and not feel as pigtastic, and they're more fun to share in a social setting. 

This is an example of not small cookies. Trust me, smaller is way more fun.

The original recipe says that it makes two dozen cookies. That person was on cookie crack. Last night I was in a rush when I made these so I made them a bit bigger than usual. I could tell they were bigger because they took more like 10 or 11 minutes to cook than the usual 8 or 9. I still ended up with about 45 cookies. Yeah.

Cookies!

I love eating baked goods so there's a reason I don't make these very often. I do not need 4 dozen cookies sitting around my house taunting me. Especially ones with Reese's Pieces in them. 

If you don't make these, you're missing out. Also mad props to me for putting up my first (and possibly only) recipe on the blog. On the last day of watching Douglas street. Yeah, I just gave myself a shout out.