I made several dishes for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner I attended, including a pumpkin pie with assorted goodies. Having decided that coconut milk would be just right, I was going to improvise my own recipe when someone posted one from The Savvy Vegetarian that was just like what I had in mind, so I went ahead and used that one. Then I roasted the pumpkin seeds (sweetly this time) with the idea that they might make a good topping. The next day, having chilled the pie sufficiently, I considered how nice a whipped topping would be, so I used the leftover tofu and coconut milk to attempt one, but while it would have likely been perfect out of a whip-it (and was quite delicious), it was too thin on its own. I thickened it a bit with some tapioca before deciding to just call it a sauce. It worked wonderfully on the pie as well as on the apple crisp I’d also made.

Yay for experimentation! Click through for the many recipes.

Pumpkin Pie

• 1 3/4 cups fresh pumpkin puree (see below)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup silken tofu
• 2 Tblsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ginger
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 pie crust (see below)

1. Blend all ingredients except the flour (and the pie crust, duh) in a blender until smooth.
2. Lightly coat the pie crust with flour and pour in filling.
3. Bake in a preheated oven at 425° for 10 minutes, reduce to 350° and bake an additional 30 minutes.
4. Allow to cool completely (ideally, chill) before serving along with vanilla sauce and sweet pumpkin seeds (see below).

Pie Crust (for one two-crust or two one-crust pies)

I’ve been making this pie crust for years. It’s a pretty standard recipe and it just works, but I’m sure your favorite recipe will work just fine, too. I find it pretty straightforward, but I know a lot of people have trouble with pie crust, so let me know if you have specific questions, since I know I’m being brief here. I’ve taught a number of people, so if you’re local and need help, drop me a line.

• 2 2/3 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup shortening
• 7-8 Tbsp ice water

1. Using two knives or a pastry blender, cut the shortening into the flour and salt until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. Tossing gently with a fork, add the water one tablespoon at a time until the dough will hold together. If you want to be fancy, you can also use a water sprayer for this part.
3. Gather the dough into two equal balls and refrigerate while you’re not working with it.
4. Carefully roll one of the balls into a circle about 1″ large around than your pie plate. A flexible cutting board makes a great surface for this step, or use a piece of wax paper, parchment paper, or plastic wrap. Why? Because the easiest way to get it into the plate is to flip the plate onto the crust, flip the whole thing, and peel away the board/paper/plastic.
5. Carefully press the dough into the plate, taking care not to stretch it, and crimp or shape the edge as you desire. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Five-Minute Maple-Vanilla Sauce

• 12oz silken tofu, minus 1/2 cup
• 1 can coconut milk, minus 1/2 cup
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp tapioca (optional)

1. Blend everything except the tapioca, adjusting sweetener and vanilla to taste.
2. If you want to thicken the sauce a bit, pour off about 2/3 cup of the sauce, mix in the tapioca, and microwave to boiling, then mix back in with the sauce.

Mashed Pumpkin

Cut a pumpkin in half, remove the stem, scoop out the guts, and place cut side down in a baking dish with about 1/4″ water. Bake at 350° for 1 hour (until tender), allow to cool, and mash or mill the pumpkin (sans skin, of course). If the pumpkin is very moist, let it sit in a cheesecloth-lined strainer.

Maple Spiced Pumpkin Seeds

• pumpkin guts
• 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil (like canola or safflower)
• 1-2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (ie, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves)

1. Separate the pumpkin seeds from the guts&stuff as best you can (no need to rinse or get anal about it).
2. (Optional step, but I think the results are better this way.) Spread the seeds out on a cookie sheet and leave to dry for a few hours or overnight. (The oven (turned off) is a good place for this.)
3. In a bowl, mix the seeds with the oil, maple syrup, salt, and spices. Spread on a cookie sheet and put in a 300° oven for 45 minutes or until done. Use a spatula to toss the seeds every 10 minutes or so and keep tasting.
4. Cool on parchment or wax paper to prevent sticking.

The important points to keep in mind when making this bread are avoid adding extra flour to the dough and handle it with a very light touch after rising. Extra flour is very tempting because the dough is so hard to work with, but really, don’t do it except for when you need it to shape the loaves. After rising, do not punch down and be very gentle while shaping. Also, you really can’t use too much flour for the shaping process. If you have silicone baking mats (sadly, I do not), this would be a very good time to use them.

Ciabatta

for the starter

• 1/2 tsp dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm water
• 3 Tbsp soymilk (or the like)
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1 cup unbleached flour

for the dough

• 1/2 tsp dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

1. Make the Starter: Sprinkle the yeast into the water and milk in a large bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes, then add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Mix in the flour to form a loose batter. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let it rise for 12 hours or overnight. I like to do this in the oven.

2. Make the Dough: Sprinkle the yeast into the water in a small bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir to dissolve. Add along with olive oil to the start and mix well.

3. Mix in the flour and salt to form a wet, sticky dough. Beat steadily with a wooden spoon (be careful here if you live in Attleboro) for 5 minutes — the dough will become springy and start to pull away from the sides of the bowl, but will remain too soft to knead.

4. Cover the dough with a dish towel. Let rise until tripled in size and full of air bubbles, about 3 hours. DO NOT punch down the dough. Generously flour two baking sheets and have ready extra flour to dip yours hands in.

5. Use a dough scraper to divide the dough in half while in the bowl. Scoop half the dough out into one of the heavily floured baking sheets.

6. Use well-floured (do you detect a theme here?) hands to pull and stretch the dough to form a roughly rectangular loaf about 12″ long. Dust the loaf and yours hands again with flour. Neaten and plump up the load by running your fingers down each side and gently tucking under the edges of the dough. This an be challenging — just do your best and don’t overworry it.

7. Repeat the previous step with the other half of the dough. Leave the loaves uncovered to proof for about 20 minutes. The loaves will spreads out as well as rise. Remember, it’s supposed to look like a well-worn slipper.
8. Bake in a preheated oven at 425° for 30 minutes until risen, golden, and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack, then hide them if you don’t want them eaten immediately.

This was actually my first time baking bread in a loaf pan, and the lesson learned was to grease more thoroughly next time (or acquire a non-stick or silicone pan). I couldn’t find a recipe that sounded just right, so I mixed some up, based largely on the pain ordinaire (fancy-speak for basic bread) in Ultimate Bread. I think I slightly overbaked, but the long process of getting it out of the dang pan may have been a factor there, too. Although I called this whole wheat, like most whole wheat breads, there is still a fair bit of white flour. After a few days, I did what I always do with my sandwich bread and froze the remainder in slices. It toasts up beautifully from the freezer.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Ingredients

• 2 tsp dry yeast
• 1 1/3 cups warm water
• 2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

1. Sprinkle the yeast into 1/2 cup of the water in a small bowl and leave for 5 minutes, then stir to dissolve. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, make a well in the center, and pour in the dissolved yeast.

2. Use a wooden spoon to draw enough of the flour into the dissolved yeast to form a soft paste. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let the paste “sponge” for 20 minutes until frothy. (I like to sponge and rise in the oven with the light on, which maintains a sufficiently warm and draft-free environment.)

3. Pour about half the remaining water into the well and mix the flour in from the sides. Continue to mix, using as much of the water as needed to form a firm, moist dough.

4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface (my flexible cutting board works wonderfully) and knead until smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 10 minutes. Form into a round.

5. Put the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl and cover with a dish towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2-2 hours. Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes.

6. Shape the dough into a long loaf by flattening then folding in thirds, rolling to slightly longer than the pan, tuck the ends under and place into the pan. A well-oiled pan, let me add, not merely lightly oiled. Cover with a dish towel and proof until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

7. Optionally, dissolve a little cornstarch in water, heat for a few minutes, and when cool, brush the top of the loaf. If you want a split top, you can also make a slash lengthwise with a razor or sharp knife. Bake in a preheated oven at 400° for 45 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and loaf sounds hollow when thumped underneath.

I have no doubt one of the keys in these in particular being so yummy is the really good Dutch process cocoa that my roomie acquired at Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport during a layover. While I’m sure you could get yummy results with regular cocoa, it would throw off the acid balance and who knows what might happen.

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp flax seed meal (or 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp whole flax seeds)
• 1/2 cup soymilk
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup Dutch process cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2cups sugar (or less, even)
  
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips

In a small blender (I like to use the little container-chopper attachment on my hand blender for this), grind the flax into powder, then add soymilk and blend. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream the oil and sugar. Add the flax/soymilk mixture and mix well, then mix in the vanilla. (I usually use electric beaters for this part.)

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. Go ahead and use your hands when the dough gets too stiff for a spatula. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into ~1 1/2 discs an inch apart on an ungreased (optionally parchment-lined) baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350°. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

The final steps are more important than they look! First, the cookies will not seem done after 10 minutes, but trust me (and Isa), and take them out. Similarly, do not try to remove them from the baking sheet immediately. They are still quite soft at that point and will fall apart. While still yummy, they won’t be as pretty. (Ask me how I know this.)

Mini Corn Muffins (Sunny or Spicy)

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup sugar (if you like your muffins very sweet, use more)
• 1/2 cup safflower or canola oil
• 3/4 cup soymilk
• 2 Tbsp soy yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest (I’ve subbed ~1 tsp lemon juice in a pinch)
• (Optional) 1-2 chipotle chilis with 1-2 tsp adobo sauce
• (Optional) 1 cup frozen (or fresh) corn

Preheat oven to 400.

Sift all the dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and sugar) into a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients, except lemon. (If using chilis, first put them in a mini food processor or chopper with the soymilk or chop finely by hand and then mix in.)

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, add the lemon and distribute well. Gently fold in the corn.

Oil muffin pans (sprays work great for this) and fill each 2/3 full. If you like things pretty, top each muffin with a single kernel of corn or a light dusting of large-crystal sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes for min-muffins or 20-25 minute for regular-sized, until a toothpick comes out clean or the tops are beautifully golden, or you simply run out of patience.

These are great warm with a shmear of Earth Balance.

I’d made a delicious (backyard) blackberry cobbler a couple of weeks prior with a recipe I found online, so I modified it a bit for the peaches. It turned out delicious. I’ve made many many pies in my time, but I’ve also become quite a fan of cobblers (and crisps) for their fruity yumminess with much less effort. Watching the batter rise up through the fruit is a lot of fun, too. The result is a very light cake-like concoction spread through with peachy yumminess.

Peach Cobbler (based on Tamara’s Grammie’s berry cobbler)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup unrefined sugar
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp margarine (plus more for greasing)
• 3/4 cup soymilk
• 4-5 cups peeled, sliced fresh peaches*
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9″x13″ baking dish.
For the batter, mix together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the margarine until the mixture is course and fairly uniform, then mix in soymilk. Plop the batter into the greased pan in a relatively even manner. Neatness is not particularly important.

Mix the peaches with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and pinch of salt, then spread over the batter. You can do this very carefully and neatly, but I was feeling impatient at the time, so I just cobbled it together. (*giggle*)

Pour the cup of boiling water over the top and immediately place in the oven. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned.

* Peaches can be peeled using the same trick that works for tomatoes: score an X on the bottom, then dunk them in boiling water for 30-45 seconds. Cool in cold/ice water. The peel should come off easily.

Focaccia (multiple sources)

I can’t remember exactly how I made this, so some of these numbers may be off.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2.5 cups flour
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• caramelized onions

Combine the water, yeast, and sugar and let sit for a few minutes to foam, then mix with the flour, salt, and half the olive oil. Knead the dough until it is smooth and slightly sticky, then cover and allow to rise until doubled (about an hour).
When the dough has risen, punch it down and knead briefly, mixing in 2 tsp of the rosemary, then stretch or roll it on a parchment-line baking sheet. Cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Using your finger, poke holes all over the dough, then sprinkle with remaining olive oil and rosemary, some coarse salt, and as much of the caramelized onions as you can fit.

Bake in a 400° oven for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and as crispy as you like it.

Caramelized Onions (improvised)

Ingredients:

• onions (as many as you like)
• olive oil for the pan
• maple syrup to taste
• 2 splashes red wine, more or less
• pinch salt

Cut onions into thick slices and sauté in a little olive oil over medium heat with pinch of salt. When the onions have softened, add a drizzle of maple syrup and continue to cook. Once everything is nicely browned, use some red wine to deglaze and you’re done.

Even though I’d recently acquired Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I didn’t have it handy when I started baking so the body of these is standard “Wacky Cake”. By the time they were in the oven, I was able to ponder my frosting option and chose Peanut Buttercream, but I’d made a double batch of cupcakes and only a single of frosting so I didn’t have enough to pipe. I added the streaks of chocolate syrup and the peanuts for visual interest, since the frosting was a fairly bland color, and I also like when a garnish reflects what’s inside.

The cupcakes were delicious, and the peanut butter and chocolate definitely worked well together (to nobody’s surprise). Next time, I’ll do a lot more frosting and use it to fill the cakes.

Wacky Cake (traditional recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 1/3 cup cooking oil
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup cold water

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then together. Pour into lined muffin tins 2/3-3/4 full and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Peanut Buttercream (from VCTOTW)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c maragarine, softened
• 2 tbsp shortening (EB sticks are the best for this)
• 1/3 c creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 c confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• 1 to 2 tbsp rice milk, soy milk/creamer, or water

With electric handheld mixer, cream together margarine and shortening at medium speed til smooth. Add peanut butter and vanilla, and beat until very smooth, 2 to 3 minute. Beat in sugar; mixture will be very stiff. Dribble in liquid a little at a time, beating continuously til frosting is pale tan and very fluffy.

Adjust the thickness of the frosting by adding liquid or more confectioner’s sugar in small increments if necessary. –

I highly recommend Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Not only are the recipes great and the authors wonderful people, but it’s a beautiful book with fabulous pictures, so even those who don’t actually cook can enjoy it.