Making Up Cookies/You can't call fake eggs "Feggs"

Alright now, I've been cooking up a storm and need to get some of this out there.

My new favesies thing to do is making up cookies. I'm sure you've all read the staple blog-entry "Best Ever Cookies," and if not, I'd like to see you after class.

Already knee-deep in my vegan cooking adventures, I still hadn't really gotten around to making some vegan cookies that everyone can enjoy. And so I embarked upon an odyssey of trial and error, sampling a variety of lovely egg-substitutes in my perennial favorite cookie recipe, and trying to get the formula just right.

Obviously, one has quite a bit of leeway when it comes to flavoring your cookies from this super basic recipe....add cinnamon and clove instead of vanilla, perhaps, or substitute half the flour for some oats....

Unfortunately for everyone involved, I didn't bother to measure any of the ingredients in my recent experimentations, thusly all measurements are approximate, and if you don't know what texture/consistency cookie dough should be in when it's ready to be cooked, then maybe you should skip this post (it should be about the consistency of play-doh.)

ANYWAY, my fave thing about vegan egg-substitooties is that the are usually fruit, and this makes me feel like my cookie is more than just a cookie....if I add a few raisins or oats, it's totally breakfast-worthy, right? Right? Except let's put something less gross than raisins....how about dried cranberries and shredded coconut? That's some fiber and shit, so that's good.



Egg Substitutes are a tricky thing...generally eggs' purpose in baking is as a binder, (they provide moisture and viscosity so that your dry ingreeds can become a dough) and the fluff-factor is not effected by their presence. What is crucial is to achieve the perfect dough-texture, and to remember that the average egg is at best 1/2 cup of liquid, so don't go overboard with the substitutes! Anyway, I know you're freaked out by those processed egg-substitutes, so I have tested a variety of totally natural and non-mysterious replacements in my kitchen-lab, and will hereby provide for you my scientifical observations for your edification.

My choices of egg substitute were as follows;
-Apple Sauce (the obvious option, apple sauce has a nice, mild flavor that doesn't interfere. Unfortch it is pretty wet, so you have to be verrrry careful about controlling the amount of moisture in your dough)

-Pumpkin Puree! (Like the kind you use to make pumpkin pie....i think this has the best texture/wetness and I'm obsessed with pumpkin flavored baked goods, so I like this a lot...works best with holiday-type spices, whatever that means to you, and makes a super-swell breakfast cookie

-Smashed Banana! (Another typical option, since duh, you use it to make banana bread so it has to work, right? OK so it does work, but bananas are not only motherfucking sticky as hell, but they taste strongly of banana. They're a good option if you want to taste a lot of banana, though I would recommend a splash of soy milk, since the more nanner you add, the sticker this sombitch is going to get, and the harder time you'll have just scraping it out of the food processor. So, maybe 2 parts banana to 1 part milk if you go this option.)

-Coconut Butter! (Last but certainly not least is my favourite. Coconut butter is just pureed coconut meat - some varieties also add some coconut oil back to the mix, others not. Naturally, this one is also the most expensive, difficult to find, and fatty, but if you can find it, it's fantastic for cookies....very light, creamy taste that doesn't interfere except to enhance richness, and a little goes a long way. This stuff also needs a little help from the soy milk. Possibly a little drier than the banana, but again, one should be eyeballing for a particular texture...)

So, there you have my inconclusive results! I've had happy luck with all the egg substitutes listed, and hopefully you will too...

YUMmus

Yeah! Alright, I know you know already what this is about from my terrible titular pun. Hummus, dudes.

Did you know that hummus is not only delicious, but also protein-licious? That's right, a nice snack of hummus on veggies and crackers/toasts is well-balanced enough to be a meal! Can't get enough of that plant-based protein...

Hummus at the store is exorbitantly priced, especially when you consider that a can of garbanzo beans goes for about a dollar, and it is pretty much the only ingredient you will have to buy to make hummus. And another thing! Why do the 'flavored' varieties at my local supermarket only ever come in ONE flavor? What if I want garlic AND roasted red peppers, huh? WHAT THEN?

WELL I WILL TELL YOU WHAT THEN.

You make your own goddamn hummus. Because it's easy as hell, because it's super-cheap, because it's better this way. Trust me.

ALSO, I might add, that this recipe requires a FOOD PROCESSOR. Yes, dear friends,I have finally acquired that kitchen gadget that surpasses all others: The Food Processor. In fact, I wanted one SO BADLY that Santa brought me TWO this year! I know! Well, I'm only keeping one, of course, but still....clearly SOMEONE's been reading this blog.

Anyway, now that I have my beloved shiny new Food Processor, (he is a Cuisinart, he is beautiful), I can make all kinds of delightful things, like hummus!


AND SO CAN YOU!


It's easy! You don't even have to cook it.
Simply dump a can or two of garbanzo beans (drained) into the food processor (depends on how much you want), add a few squeezes of lemon juice, and a couple dashes of olive oil (like, maybe 1 tablespoon per can). Then just process the shit out of it until it acquires the creamy smoothness of hummus. And there you have it. It is now hummus. Right? So easy. I'd also suggest tossing in some salt - but only a little, you don't want to overpower it - and maybe some spices. I used red pepper flakes, basil, garlic, and salt & pepper in mine.

Hell yeah! Deliciousness, ho! Now go impress your dinner guests.



just look at how much they love it.