Vegan Lofthouse Cookies and Receipt of New Business Cards!

As those of you how read my blog know, I bake vegan goodies to bring in to the yoga studio where I work.  I have been making a lot of fall-inspired, complicated treats lately so I thought for my next drop-off I would keep things simple.  I settled on Lofthouse cookies, veganized, of course :)

 I gotta say, they look pretty enticing and typing this post is making me want one...

The secret to these cookies' moistness is the Tofutti sour cream and silken tofu.  The first gives the cookies incredible softness and takes an edge off the sweetness and the latter acts as a binder and gives the cookies a wonderful texture.  I will post a recipe in the next few days.

I also received my business cards today.  Yahoo!  I'm excited to start distributing them.  I'm thinking I will also go to Whole Foods and post some on the community board.  Hopefully I will start getting more orders.

That's all for now!

This Week in Instagram

I've been really busy baking these past few weeks, which is awesome, and I could not BE happier.  As a result, though, I have been neglecting my blog.  Rather than try and make promises of "I'm going to blog more regularly" or "I'm going to post one recipe a week.  Instead, I'll post when the mood hits and when time allows!

Well, tonight the mood is hitting and time is allowing!

Below are some of the treats I've whipped up lately (baking and otherwise).  All are made by MOI, unless otherwise noted:

Spinach salad, raw zucchini noodles in an avocado-nutritional yeast Alfredo sauce and apple slices:

Arugala salad with roasted beet and spicy maple-Dijon vinaigrette:

Sushi roll with avocado, julienned carrots, green beans, edamame, pickled ginger and wasabi:

Veggie grape leaves from La Saj in Sterling Heights (it was my first time at the restaurant and it was SO wonderful--just when I thought all Lebanese restaurants were the same...)"

Stuffed portobello "pizzas" with spaghetti squash cheeze, garlic-tomato sauce and oven roasted green beans in garlic and olive oil:

Roasted butternut squash and apple spinach salad:

Roasted squash, right out of the oven:

Early Thanksgiving-y dinner of green beans, roasted beet, mashed butternut squash and roasted Honeycrisp apple:

Stuffed poblanos with mushroom 'meat,' cherry tomatoes, chipotles, sweet corn and spices, with a side of pineapple:

Quinoa medley of toasted almonds, edamame, raisins and orange bell pepper, seasoned with salt, pepper, lime juice and red wine vinegar:

Untitled--avocado and roasted cherry tomatoes atop a bed of spaghetti squash:

Spooky pumpkin spice scones with pumpkin pie icing, just in time for Halloween:

The Halloween season continues with pumpkin-cinnamon chip scones:

Pumpkin brownies with chocolate ganache:

Simple avocado sandwich on a toasted sprouted grain Ezekial muffin with Dijon mustard, coconut oil and sea salt and a side of grapes and green beans:

Roasted beet and carrot arugala salad with toasted walnuts:

Baby kale-quinoa salad and a side of spaghetti squash with avocado and sea salt:

Lemon cake with lemon buttercream frosting:

Lemon cake with lemon buttercream frosting...about to be devoured:

Celebrating Fall!

This post is really just for the sake of showing pictures of some of the goodies I've made lately--no recipe or review.  I've been baking a lot of fall-inspired treats to bring in to work and I wanted to share them!  Some ingredients I've been using a lot of are apples, pears, pumpkin, cinnamon, et cetera.  Warm, comforting flavors :)

Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cinnamon-Sugar Toasted Walnut Streusel

 Ooey Gooey Pear-Cranberry Pie Bars

RECIPE: Vegan Pear-Apple-Cherry Mini Pies

It has been awhile since I've posted a recipe so now is the time!  The other day I made mini pies, featuring the flavors of the season, to bring into work.  The pies featured Honeycrisp apples from Royal Farms in Ellsworth, Michigan and Bartlett Pears from the Rochester Cider Mill!  The cherries, while appropriate for the season as well, were not local.  They were, however, organic!

In any event, feel free to make your pies using whatever apple, pear and cherry variety you so choose! I recommend using tart apples and pears that are ripe but feel free to get creative!  Try Cortland apples or Danjou pears and see how they work.  I'm providing just a rough template!

Vegan Pear-Apple-Cherry Mini Pies

Ingredients:

Crust
- 1.5 c. all-purpose flour
- 2 T. cane sugar
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 c. canola oil
- 2 T. orange juice (no pulp--I hope this goes without saying!)
*Note:  This is the BEST crust ever--so easy, incredibly delicious and virtually failproof!
Filling

Filling
- 3 small Bartlett pears (or 2 large), peeled and diced
- 1 large Honeycrisp apple (or 2 small), peeled and diced
- 1/2 c. dried cherries, heaping
- 2 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 3 T. flour
- 1 T. non-dairy milk, for brushing
- 1 T. coarse turbinado sugar, for topping


Ingredients:

1.  Preheat oven to 425' Fahrenheit.  Grease and flour a cupcake tray.  Set aside.

2.  Combine all filling ingredients and allow to sit while you prepare crust.  To make crust, first mix dry ingredients.  Add orange juice and oil and mix until dough forms and ingredients are incorporated.

3.  Divide dough into 12 golf ball-sized pieces and place in prepared cupcake molds (you will have some dough left over*).  Press dough into each mold to make a shell.  Bake for 8-10 minutes in preheated oven, or until slightly golden.  Remove tray from oven and allow shells to cool before adding filling.  Reduce oven temperature to 375' Fahrenheit.

4.  Roll out leftover dough* and cut desired shapes out (I chose hearts) to top pies with.  Fill pies to the brim and place cutouts on top.  Brush cutout shape with non-dairy milk and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.

5.  Bake pies for 22-27 minutes, covering them with foil towards the last 5-10 minutes so as not to let the crusts/cutout toppings burn.

6.  Allow pies to cool for five minutes before transferring to wire racks to finish cooling completely.