Saturday, December 22, 2007

Holiday Baking

I've been baking family treats and gifts the last couple of days. First, Peppermint Oatmeal Chocolate Chip from ExtraVeganZa. I wish I would have added a touch more mint, but these are delicious, made with spelt flour and oatmeal.




Next, Maple Walnut Cookies from Vive. These are for when you don't want anything too sweet or spicy (like for breakfast this morning!). Their flavor comes from the toasted walnuts. I topped each cookie with a giant toasted walnut half. I love these!




Granola from Molly Katzen. I make this every year for my mom and brother. It's incredibly good, made with oat and barley flakes, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, almonds, and dried cherries, cranberries, and apricots.

Next, Dutch Coffee Cake from Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri. I actally wanted an apple cake, so I added lots of chopped apple to this. This recipe contains no butter or eggs, and I subbed almond milk for the milk. I haven't tasted it yet, but it sure smells wonderful.




Gingerbread Cupcakes from VCTOTW. I know they don't look like cupcakes. I didn't have the soygurt the recipe calls for, and even against my better judgment, instead of just leaving it out I added more milk. You wouldn't think 2 tablespoons more liquid would hurt, but the tops had sinkholes in them. This cake is so incredibly good it had to be saved. I don't like frosting and I had intended to top my cakes with a lemony glaze and some much needed color. So I turned them over and now they are Gingerbread Bundtlettes.



I didn't have Chase to help me decorate sugar cookies like we did last year, so my treats look awfully boring and brown. I guess the color will come from the packaging.


Time to get back to wrapping presents. I'll make the blog rounds later before I break for Christmas. I wish you all Happy Holidays!

16 comments:

Amy said...

I LOVE the idea of turning over flat cupcakes!! They look yummy (heh, I made the error one time to sub soygurt for dairy yoghurt and got mini Mount Everests, the tops on those babies were HUGE!).

Your cookies look yummy too. Sooo many Christmas cookies to drool over at the moment. I love it that your wheatless cookies always look so yummy! I really have to try some soon.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

The cookies all look great, but those cupcakes are especially gorgeous! I'm getting VCTOTW for Christmas :o)

Candi said...

Beautiful! Your gifts will be very much appreciated, I'm sure! I love the packaging. :)

The cookies look so good, as do the cupcakes and granola and coffee cake! I have a few more treats to make as gifts, so thank you for the ideas!

Happy Holidays!!

bazu said...

awesome- we both posted about baking today! your goodies look so awesome, and I'm sure your family, like mine, quickly got over the brown color issue... I love those mini-bundts! And that Dutch cake sounds divine...

Jillian of Bitchin' Vegan Kitchen said...

Aww, great save with the cupcakes! I'm kinda obsessed with those gingerbreads lately too-- *so* good!

Jillian of Bitchin' Vegan Kitchen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dori said...

The cookies, etc. are just the inspiration I need to start the holidays week with kids and DH home. The only thing I have made this year for neighbors, friends, and co-workers is the texas trash recipe that you shared last year. Everyone loves it.

Way to save the day with your upside down cupcakes.

Vegan_Noodle said...

I am just loving reading everyone's cookie/baking posts for the holidays. It's giving me so many ideas for next year!!
I think your little gingerbread accidental "bundts" are adorable. I have been wanting to make some (and am in fact making cupcakes today), but I"m gonna be lazy and just stick with chocolate.
Your packaging looks lovely! Hope you're getting lots of time to relax!

Judy said...

I have made those maple walnut cookies a few times now, and everyone seems to love them. I never tell people they are vegan, either, or made with spelt/kamut flour and fructose. In this case, what people don't know will HELP them!

Happy Holidays!

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

gingerbread bundtlettes! nice save, and really pretty too.

I'm also heartened to see a mint and oatmeal cookie variation - any new way to get mint into a cookie is great by me!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

oooh, the Peppermint Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies (I love using spelt flour for cookies and such), Maple Walnut cookies (I have those on my "must-try-recipes" list!), Granola, Dutch Coffee Cake (I had no idea that Nick Malgieri recipes could be vegan-friendly! nice!), and the Gingerbread Bundtlettes (pure genius!! Way to make a "mistake" look like it was on purpose!! so clever, love it) look phenomenal - the recipients of your treats are quite lucky!!

Merry Christmas, Diann!!

MeloMeals said...

Wow.. everything looks great! Chocolate Mint cookies.. I can't think of anything better.. and your "poundcake" looks so good.

Anonymous said...

happy holidays! wow, you've been busy! everything looks fabulous!

Ashasarala said...

Turning those cupcakes upside-down was a great idea! Before I read what you wrote, I thought that they were SUPPOSED to look like that. It's so awesome when one can get artsy-fartsy with mistakes. What's that quote? 'Creativity means making mistakes; art is knowing which ones to keep.'

Merry Christmas. :)

urban vegan said...

You were a baking maniac...and the end results are gorgeous--I love those gingerbread cuppers.

Happy New Year!

Ruby Red said...

"bundtlettes" - love it! (funny, i don't like frosting either!) your cookies are looking mightly appealing, and the coffee cake looks perfect! i've never seen coffee cake in a loaf shape before, but that makes it even more appealing!