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Natural Family Living
Vegan Cooking
by Tammie Ortlieb
A few months ago my oven finally gave under years of pressure of creating endless dinners for a family of six and laboriously enduring my nonstop attempts at stress relief through incessant baking. In my efforts to do right by the environment by avoiding sending this monstrous Maytag to the trash heap, I decided not to jump right out and head to the nearest Best Buy. And, hey, maybe I would be off the hook as far as all that cooking went. But, alas, I do love to bake. Baking for me is akin to yoga for some.
As a stress reduction technique, yoga slows the breathing, quiets the mind, and, through a series of poses, tones and strengthens the body. The same goes for baking, only with a little more flour and a lot less strengthening and toning. In fact, lowering stress levels increases the likelihood of living a longer, healthier life. During times of stress our bodies rise to confront our enemies, be they grizzly bears or sixty hour work weeks, by supercharging, gearing up for the fight. Unfortunately in today's world, with work overload, crazy kid schedules, out of control traffic and congestion, and twenty four seven shopping, our systems aren't given the chance to back down once in awhile, to relax, to shut off in a positive way. In essence, we operate on full speed a heck of a lot longer than we should.
As a result, this chronic stress compromises our immune systems. We may experience fairly mild symptoms such as increased headaches or a greater susceptibility to colds. Or we may find ourselves victims of hair loss, depression, heart disease, obesity even. To steer clear of the havoc that stress can wreak on the body, it is necessary occasionally to shut down. Stress management techniques involve slowing the body's systems, heartbeat and breathing, for example, in an effort to get back to normal. Hence, the counter full of recipe books.
It's simple, really. My mother's old apron. Hair piled up in a big fat clippy. My bowl. The glass one with the measurements down the side and the handle and spout for easy pouring. A little Jason Mratz playing softly through the computer. Window letting in both the sunshine and the fresh spring air. I'm chillin' already. I'll confess here while we're getting friendly. Baking is a lifelong love. I almost didn't go vegan because I thought I wouldn't be able to continue my affair with uncooked globs of sugary dough and dark rich hunks of creamy chocolate. I mean, what would be the point of living, really?
I am one for a challenge, though. And I rose quickly to this one. I soon discovered I could be both vegan and great with the baking sheet. I didn't, after all, win the Betty Crocker award in my sorority during college for nothing. But how to combine the two? How could I create the crumbles, bars, frostings, and sweets that I was used to without the aid of milk, eggs, butter, cream, or whipped topping of any kind? I ran first to Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer's great vegan recipe book The Garden of Vegan. Barnard and Kramer have a section on desserts that is fairly simple and straightforward. My very first attempt at vegan baking was their recipe for Maureen's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies. This, by the way, has become my new standby chocolate chip cookie recipe. Most helpful, though, was their information on egg substitutes (try 1/4 cup mashed silken tofu plus 1/2 teaspoon extra baking powder per egg).
If I were transitioning now I would dive into Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World or Hannah Kaminsky's My Sweet Vegan or The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Baking is, after all, an exact art and recipes are definitely a comfortable way to ease into egg and dairy free cookie and cupcake making. I am not much one, though, for following a recipe. I might start out with a formula for an apple crisp, but by the time I'm taking the pan out of the oven, I have so doctored the finished product that it resembles nothing of the photo on the page or the italicized description preceding the ingredients. I love experimenting. And egg replacers were definitely a place to test my skills. Some of my favorites? Number one on my list is 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon oil, and 2 teaspoons baking powder per egg. I have also used half a ripe banana with a little extra baking powder for each egg. This one is especially good for muffins. Confession time: I have never in the two years since I have gone vegan (or the three years prior in which I was ovo-lacto), I have never used powdered egg replacer. I have, however, used a tablespoon of flaxseeds blended with a couple tablespoons of water. I have even left out the egg altogether with decent results. But, no, not egg replacer.
Baking without milk turns out to be no big deal. I love rice milk for light spongy muffins and flaky biscuits. And soymilk is perfect for cookies. I suppose, if I got creative, that any of the other millions of milk substitutes would contribute their own unique texture and flavor to my dessert of choice. But I'm a pretty basic (read "lazy") kind of gal.
So, yeah. As it turns out, I can save the animals, rescue the planet, bolster my health and still manage to partake of my goodies. I can enjoy my afternoon of down time without a yoga mat or Downward Facing Dog. I can revel in my baking stones and sifters and sets of measuring spoons joined forever by those little ring things. I can zone out with a goofy smile plastered to my face and sing all crazy like with Mary Chapin Carpenter Down at the Twist and Shout. Best of all, I can return to my family after this stress reducing afternoon a little less frantic, frazzled, and fretful. Ahhh, vegan bliss.
A few of my favorites:
Plus a couple of my own:
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
makes 12 muffins
- 1 cup plain soymilk
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
- 1/2cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray or oil muffin tin, or line with paper liners.
Mix together soymilk, oil, and water in large bowl.
Sift separately flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add to milk and oil. Blend well.
Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts. Divide among muffin cups. Bake 18 to 20 minutes. Let sit in pan 1 to 3 minutes. Remove to cool.
Fudgy Banana Muffins
makes 12 muffins
- 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 cup plain soymilk
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 cup unbleached white flour
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cocoa
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray or oil muffin tin, or line with paper liners.
Stir together bananas, soymilk, oil, syrup, and vanilla in large bowl until well blended.
Sift together separately flours, baking powder, salt, and cocoa. Add to liquid ingredients.
Fold in chocolate chips. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until tops spring back to a light touch.
Tammie Ortlieb is a freelance writer and adjunct instructor with a Master's Degree in Developmental Psychology. She resides in southwest Michigan with her omnivorous husband, four veg kids, and small menagerie of pets. Tammie writes for various vegetarian sources, mostly on being okay with your vegetarian self. She's a book nerd, a research nerd, a health nerd, and a huge glass of soymilk half full kind of creature. Visit her blog at www.middle-agedveganchick.blogspot.com.
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by Dreena Burton
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