Santa’s Favorite Christmas Snowball Cookies (Vegan Style)

I have many fond memories making Christmas cookies with my family.  My mom would choose the standard ones we’d make every year and the kids got to choose a new recipe or two.  My mom actually was a good decision maker, since the ones she chose were our top-notch favorites.  

Meltaway Snowball Cookies for Santa

We’d make snowballs, sugar cookies, chocolate dipped peanut butter logs, almond crescents, kolachkies, etc.  They were so yummy, I couldn’t wait to eat them.  My mom would tell us we could eat the ones that didn’t look so nice.  The best looking ones were always saved and passed out to neighbors.  No broken or cracked ones for them. 

My very favorite of them all were the snowball cookies.  These are sometimes call Mexican Wedding cookies.  They are a delicate, lightly crisp, buttery-flavored cookie with chopped nuts and a dusting of powdered sugar that melt in your mouth.  They’re perfect for Christmas because they look so wintery. 

Of course, when we made our Christmas cookies, they weren’t vegan.  I didn’t grow up in a vegan household.  I made a small change to the recipe and ho-ho-ho they are now vegan.  So make a plate for family, friends, neighbors, and Santa. 

Meltaway Snowball Cookies

Makes 2 ½ dozen

Ingredients

1 c. Earth Balance or any vegan margarine

½ c. sifted powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 ¼ c. flour

¼ tsp. salt

¾ c. chopped pecans (walnuts can work too)

Directions

In a medium bowl, cream margarine, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until very soft & fluffy.  Set aside. 

In another bowl, sift flour and salt together.  Gradually stir flour mixture into the margarine mixture.  Next, stir in chopped pecans.  Use a tablespoon to scoop out mixture and form into balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 450 degrees for about 7 minutes or until the peaks are very lightly browned.  Watch so they don’t burn on the bottom.  Take them out of the oven and let them cool.

Set the cookies on wax or parchment paper & using a small sifter, lightly sprinkle powdered sugar on top to resemble a light dusting of snow.  

Another Serving of Those Thanksgiving Sides (Vegan)

What Thanksgiving celebration would be complete without mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberries… you know, all the good stuff.  Well, all these holiday favorites can easily be veganized with a few minor substitutions.  How?  Substitute the dairy milk with soy, almond, coconut milk, etc. (Just make sure it’s unsweetened for savory dishes.).  Non-dairy margarine for the butter (Earth Balance will do the trick).  Cornstarch, arrowroot powder, soy flour & water, or one of the many other substitutes for the eggs. (For egg substitutes see About Food for some ideas)  No Chicken Broth, Not Chick'n Bouillon Cubes, etc. in gravy.

Thanksgiving Feast  (vegan)  from top clockwise.
Tofurkey with Cranberry & Pecan Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes with Homestyle Gravy,
Sweet Corn,  Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Pineapple & Apple Cranberries,
Green Bean Casserole, Mac & Cheeze

You can use your favorite ole’ family recipes and give’ em the vegan ingredient upgrades.  Or if you want, try one of these recipes. 

Vegan Green Bean Casserole Recipe

* I sauted chopped mushrooms and cooked the in unsweetened soy milk instead of the vegetable broth. This gives it a creamy mushroom vibe. 

The Best Vegan Stuffing Recipe
* I cut the recipe in half and still made lots.  I added cranberries & pecans to the mix.

Cranberry Relish Recipe

* I omitted the lemon juice & brandy and added a small amount of sugar just to take away the tartness. Use unrefined sugar – refined white sugar is not vegan.

Homestyle Vegan Gravy Recipe

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potato Recipe

Mashed Sweet Potato Recipe

And for the sweet potatoes… I pressure cook them (but you can boil them).  Then drain and peel the sweet potatoes.  Place sweet potatoes in a bowl and mash with a fork.  Add Earth Balance (non-dairy margarine), brown sugar and / or maple syrup. Easy as pie. 

One more thing… it’s not Thanksgiving without one of my old time favorites, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving”.  Now, you can sit back and enjoy.  Happy Thanksgiving!  

Thanksgiving Vegan Style

Thanksgiving is almost here.  Time for mashed potatoes & gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, and pumpkin pie… or how about corn bread, succotash, butternut squash soup, pecan pie… the list just goes on and on.   So many choices and all can be vegan.  

Wait, what about the main dish?  You could try a mushroom wellington, “meatloaf” with gravy, veggie pot pie, or the standard Tofurkey.  To be honest with you, my favorites have always been the sides.

 

Over the years, I’ve collected some really great holiday recipes.  Check out my Pinterest board for some yummy ideas.  I made a few tweeks to some of the recipes, but overall I stay pretty true to them.  Why mess with a winner?

I'll also be shooting you a few of my own recipes within the next few days.  Stay tuned!

Decadent Pralines & Cream French Toast & Butterscotch Sauce (Vegan)

So, what can you make when you have leftover silken tofu?  Well, my go-to is French toast.  We can go extreme with this one and serve French toast with vanilla soy ice cream, topped with butterscotch sauce & pecans... make it pralines & cream French toast.  

Decadent Pralines & Cream French Toast

Usually French toast is made with eggs & milk.  Make it vegan… easy.  Substitute the eggs for tofu and milk for soy milk. 

Sheepherder's Bread, Silken Tofu, & Soy Milk

I used my leftover silken tofu and puree it in a food processor.  Then added non-dairy milk to the tofu puree and thinned it out a little.  Add a little salt to the mixture. 

Pureed Silken Tofu with Soy Milk

Slice bread, day old works best.  I used sheepherder’s bread and cut the thick.  

Dip Bread into Tofu Mixture

Dip the bread into tofu-mixture, flip the bread, and dip the other side.

Flip dipped bread over to coat opposite side

Place well-oiled skillet over medium heat.  I used extra-virgin coconut oil.  It’s super healthy and I’m okay with the flavor.  If you’re not into the flavor, stick with a more traditional oil (sunflower should work well). 

Place mixture soaked bread into heated skillet.  Turn over when browned.  Cook other side.  Remove from heat when finished. 

French Toast

I turned my French toast into a praline topped goodness with pecans and a butterscotch sauce I made the day before.   

Pralines topped French Toast

If you want to get really decadent, add a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream and the praline topping.  Completely epicurean pralines & cream French toast. 

Butterscotch Sauce for Pralines & Cream

I remember indulging in pralines and cream ice cream when I was a kid.  It was one of my favorites.  You can use this recipe and top some vanilla soy ice cream with it.  Don’t forget to top with chopped pecans.  Craig had his without the pecans and thought it reminded him of McDonald’s butterscotch sundae.

Butterscotch Sauce Recipe

2 Tbsp.  Earth Balance or any other non-dairy margarine

¼ c  non-dairy creamer (I used Silk vanilla)

¼ c  brown sugar

¼ tsp. salt

Place Earth Balance  in a small saucepan and heat on medium.  Add creamer, brown sugar, and salt to the melted Earth Balance.  Cook until mixture is thoroughly blended together.  It should thicken a little and should only take a few minutes to cook.

Pour over a scoop of soy ice cream and top with pecans for pralines & cream ice cream.  

Try using the leftover sauce for banana splits, flavored waffles, cake or cookie glaze, etc... whatever your heart desires.

Superfood Breakfast… Quinoa to the Rescue

My mom and her two sisters took a summer trip to Peru, home of the Incan superfood… quinoa.  I know.  I know.  Superfood?  Sounds healthy.  Where’s the junk food?  Well, I’m going to take a small break and give you a healthy breakfast, then back to the trash.  I promise.

Breakfast Quinoa with Sliced Strawberries & Soy Milk

So what is quinoa?  It’s a grain that is high in protein.  Actually, it’s a complete protein.  You may be asking, “What is a complete protein?”.  It’s a protein that has all nine of the essential amino acids in correct proportions.  Not bad for a little grain.  

Uncooked Quinoa

The United Nations General Assembly even declared 2013 the International Year of Quinoa.

You can find quinoa in the bulk food section in your favorite health food store or boxed in stores like Trader Joe’s. 

 To cook, put 1 cup of quinoa into a saucepan with 2 cups water.  This will make about 3 servings.  (If you want to make more or less, the ratio of quinoa to water is 1 part quinoa to 2 parts water.)

Cooked Quinoa

Cook on medium heat, until the water starts to boil.  Lower the heat and cover.  Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed.  Turn off heat and leave covered for 5 minutes.  Uncover and fluff with a fork.

Quinoa with Sliced Strawberries

Now, here’s the fun part.  You get to choose whatever ingredients your little heart desires to add to the quinoa.  I used fresh cut strawberries and a little chia seed (to make it even healthier).  I’ve tried cinnamon, cocoa powder and peanut butter, and sliced bananas. 

Quinoa with Sliced Strawberries & Topped with Chia Seeds

Top with a little non-dairy milk, almond milk or soy milk should do just fine.  I used the vanilla flavored soy milk from Trader Joe’s for this batch.  Try it.  See, that wasn’t so bad.  

Ener-G Egg Replacer - Product Review

Eggs.  Eggs. Eggs.  So, how do you replace those cholesterol laden, artery clogging nasties?  Ener-G Egg Replacer to the rescue.  It’s economical and works great for baking and as a binder.  You can get the equivalent of 113 eggs per package, with only 15 calories per serving and at 0 grams of cholesterol ...  How can you go wrong?  I get them from Vitacost at about $4.75 per box.

 

Ener-G Egg Replacer

I use Ener-G egg replacer mainly for baking.  I love using them in the pancake recipe from the Candle 79 cookbook.  The pancakes come out perfect with great taste and texture.  

When I substituted Ener-G in boxed cake mixes that require eggs, I found the only difference was that the cake comes out moister and lighter.  Not bad, but watch out if you're substituting for boxed brownies.  You should probably cut back on the oil, I find they come out with an oily film on top if you follow the directions on the box.

You can use them in place of a binder (non-vegan eggs are used that way).  Just substitute each egg with the equivalent of the Ener-G egg replacer.  I use them in my savory dishes, like for the coating on my Buffalo Chick’n Tenders.  As for dishes like scrambled eggs, stick with the good ole tofu based substitute.  You can try the tofu substitute in my Good Morning Vegan Eggster Pita.  

I keep a box on hand and the beauty is ... they don’t rot like eggs.  

Vegan Buffalo Chick’n Tenders

Fall weather and football season are here.  Whether you’re a Chargers, 49ers, or Raiders fan, you probably love Buffalo chicken wings or tenders.  Craig gave me a tailgater challenge to create some good ole Buffalo chicken tenders.  Well, of course I’d have to come up with a satisfying vegan version that would meet his approval. 

Vegan Buffalo Chick'n Tenders served with Ranch

To tell you the truth, unlike Craig, I’ve never had Buffalo chicken tenders, so I didn’t really know what they should taste like.  I knew they were supposed to be hot and served with ranch or bleu cheese dressing.  I did a little research and found some meat based recipes.  I asked Craig a few questions and decided to veganize one of the highly rated recipes I found. 

I served them up two ways... as an appetizer and as a sandwich.  Craig flipped for them both.  He was amazed at how close I got to the real deal (especially on a first try).  He loved them so much, he had them the next day too.  I have to admit, they're not the healthiest, but they do taste great.

 

So, here’s my version of Craig’s new favorite Buffalo Chick’n Tenders.

Vegan Buffalo Chick’n Tenders Recipe

1 c flour 2 tsps salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp cayenne powder 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp paprika

3/4 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer 1 Tbsp warm water 1/2 c unsweetened non-dairy milk 1 pkg vegan “chicken” 1/2 c Frank’s Red Hot sauce 2 Tbsps Earth Balance (margarine)

I used VeriSoy “chicken” strips to get the look and feel of the tenders.  Fortunately, I live close enough to Vege USA in Monrovia, California and can get the food service packages of VeriSoy “chicken” strips.  If you don’t live in the Los Angeles area, try Beyond Meat, Gardein, or any other vegan “chicken”.  .  In an oiled skillet, cook the “chicken” pieces until slightly golden. (I gave a splash of apple cider vinegar to make sure the soy taste was gone. )  Set aside. In a medium bowl, add flour, salt, pepper, cayenne powder, garlic powder, and paprika.  Stir together.  In small bowl, stir together Ener-G Egg Replacer and warm water.  Add in non-dairy milk and continue stirring.  Flour Mixture Coated "Chicken" Pieces Take “chicken” pieces and dip in Ener-G mixture.  Then, dip the pieces into the flour mixture.  Repeat until all pieces have double coating.  Place coated pieces in refrigerator for 20 minutes. Pan Frying "Chicken" Pieces Heat skillet with about 2” of oil.  You can tell if oil is ready when you place the end of a wooden spoon in the pan and it bubbles around the stick.  Coated & Pan Fried "Chicken" Pieces Place coated pieces of “chicken” in skillet.  Pan fry until the coating is slightly browned, then turn over and repeat.  Drain and set aside. In a small pan, add Red Hot sauce and Earth Balance.  Heat and stir until Earth Balance is melted.  Red Hot Sauce coated Fried "Chicken" Pieces Place fried “chicken” pieces on a cookie sheet.  Pour hot sauce mixture on top of each piece.  Place in oven (I used my toaster oven.) and broil for a few minutes until sauce cooks in.  Remove from oven and serve with side of vegan ranch or vegan “bleu cheese” dressing (I served with my Coyote Mountain Ranch.)  Craig wanted to have the Buffalo chick’n tenders on a sandwich.  I lightly toasted a hamburger bun and topped it with the Buffalo chick’n tenders, shredded cabbage, slivered onion, and sliced tomatoes.  Smother with vegan ranch or vegan “bleu cheese” dressing.  Touch down!

Buffalo Chick'n Tender Sandwich served with Ranch