Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Almost every weekend I make pancakes. It’s the only time I get to sleep in, and actually have time to make breakfast! When I was younger I used to make green pancakes with sprinkles and chocolate chips. I’ve done without the food coloring and sprinkles, but one day I might bust them out again. But I definitely couldn’t do with the chocolate chips..

This recipe only makes 3 medium sized pancakes, but I’m sure it would do fine if it was doubled. I just cook for myself, so there’s no need for me to make a whole bunch. But one thing to be really careful about, don’t stir the mixture too much or else they will become tough and gross, and you won’t want to eat them. I made this mistake the first time I made this and was bummed.

1/2 cup flour
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 T canola oil
1/2 cup soymilk
Semi-sweet chocolate chips (or any vegan brand you like)

1. Heat your pan, and spray it down with some Pam or any non stick spray.
2. Mix dry ingredients and then incorporate wet until just combined.
3. Add as many chocolate chips as you would like.
4. Pour your batter! I usually use a spoon, just so I can make sure they’re even.

Yes, these pictures were taken on my bed. I’m not ashamed to admit I eat in bed…well maybe a little.

Challah Bread

I’m not Jewish, but my brother is. So he got quite mad when I pronounced this ‘Holla’ bread. My apologies. I was at Trader Joes, and saw a lovely braided Challah bread so I decided to give it a try. I’ve never braided a loaf of bread before, so I’m quite pleased with how this one turned out! I love watching the bread rise, that’s the best part.

Recipe
1/2 cup lukewarm water, 1 cup water (separated)
1 T yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg replacers
2 T canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 cup flour

1. Dissolve sugar and yeast into 1/2 cup of lukewarm water. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes while it activates. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the salt and flour. Pour in yeast mixture, remaining water, egg replacer, and oil. Mix until the dough is smooth and not sticky.
3. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, and then place in an oil coated bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit for about an hour in a warm place.
4. One dough has doubled in size, divide it into three equal pieces. Roll them out into three long ropes (about 12 in. in length) and braid them together. I like to tuck the ends in once I’m done braiding. Cover with a towel for half an hour.
5. Brush the top with some melted Earth Balance or oil. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

This was my first Challah Bread, but definitely not my last! The crust was hard with a nice squishy inside, that went perfect with a nice spread of butter on top. Enjoy!

Snickerdoodles

I made these cookies while testing out what I wanted to give for Christmas gifts. This year I baked all my friends and co-workers vegan food and presented it in take out boxes. Michaels had some lovely holiday ones, and also some leopard print ones, which I had to get. But anyway, my dad loved these cookies. He isn’t vegan, but he’s always up for trying the treats I make. I ended up not giving these away, not because they weren’t good, but there just wasn’t enough room in the boxes. My favorite combination of cinnamon and sugar has always been the snickerdoodle.

Recipe
1/2 cup Earth Balance
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 egg replacer
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

For rolling cookies in
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat the margarine in an electric mixer for about 30 seconds on high speed. Then add the flour slowly, the sugar, egg replacer, baking soda, vanilla and apple cider vinegar.
3. Beat until all is combined and then cover dough and place in the refrigerator for an hour.
4. Roll dough into 1″ balls and roll in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place a few inches apart on a cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges start to brown.
This recipe makes about 34 cookies.

These came out soft and chewy, but a few days later they started to get a bit crispier. My dad said he actually preferred then crispy, but I’m a chewy fan myself. Happy New Year everyone!

Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread

I’ve always loved shortbread. It’s like biting into a stick of butter, but way better. When I looked at the recipe I realized that I was basically biting into a stick of butter, but sometimes you just have to. I made these for my boss, and substituted the sugar with agave nectar for half the batch. She’s borderline diabetic, so agave nectar is perfect for someone in her condition. I had my mom test two and she preferred the one with sugar, so I’ll post that recipe. But feel free to use agave nectar if you are diabetic, or if you just like it better.

I never realized how simple the recipe was for shortbread until I found one to veganize. The only thing not vegan in the recipe was the butter, which I easily replaced with some Earth Balance. I decided to add the chocolate to spice things up a bit, but you can easily leave it out if you want.

Recipe
2 cups flour
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 crushed candy canes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the flour and salt together, set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together until it’s smooth.
4. Mix the flour and butter mixture together.
5. Roll out the dough and cut out shapes, or roll into balls and flatten for round cookies.
6. Place in the oven for 10 minutes.
7. While the cookies are baking, melt the 6 oz. of chips and crush your candy canes if you haven’t already.
8. When cookies have cooled, dip one end in melted chocolate and then roll in the crushed candy canes.

Hope everyone has a lovely holiday 🙂

Carrot Cake …Balls?

My first blog post! I chose the name Zombie Cook because I like zombies and I like to cook. If we were attacked by zombies, I would hope that I could win them over with my cooking. I know that it’s not in the Zombie Survival Book, and the chances of encountering a vegan zombie are slim… but I’d like to think it would work.

I stumbled across a recipe for little cupcake balls (this name has caused several giggle fests so I’m trying to think of another) and thought I would try a different combination. I decided to fill the insides with carrot cake, even though carrot cake and chocolate sounds like a bit of an odd mix, it was surprisingly yummy. My mom told me that it was even better with a glass of wine, so for the winos out there, take note! 

Recipe

1 9″ carrot cake (I found a vegan box mix, but a home baked cake works fine)

2 tubs Tofutti cream cheese

2 bags semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Bake cake according to recipe, take out of the oven

 and let it cool completely. 

2. When cake is cooled, crumbled it with your hands in a large bowl.

3. Mix in the cream cheese with a spoon, or your hands. If you use your hands, it will get a tad messy (but fun). 

4. Roll into small balls and place in a pan lined with wax paper. 

5. Set in freezer until they become hard. 

6. Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler and dip the cake balls, coating the entire surface, then place back on wax paper. 

7. Once you coat all the balls in chocolate, you can place them in the refrigerator. I placed mine in the freezer, but found I had to let them sit a while before eating if I didn’t want to break off my teeth.

This recipe yields around 50 cake balls.

I thought about giving these out as part of my Christmas baking gifts, but decided they weren’t ‘wintery’ enough. So I might try a minty version and see how that goes. But for carrot cake lovers, I would definitely recommend this recipe. It’s simple to make and people seem to assume they take a lot of hard work. But shh, keep the secret.