One of the hardest parts of being a new vegan (or even an old seasoned vegan) is trying to keep up with all the new products out there. I must have spent over $50 looking for the "right" vegan cheese my first year being a vegan and I have over 50 vegan/vegetarian cookbooks in my arsenal but not all the recipes are the greatest. I’m the first born so I’m used to being a Guinea Pig and now I’m your Vegan Guinea Pig. So here are my recommendations and critiques. Let me know what you think!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Vegan Mofo: Pumpkin Cakies



I can't believe I'm already 12 post into Vegan Mofo! When it started I thought I would barely be able to get in 5 by the end of the month. The pumpkin theme continues with the invention of my Pumpkin Cakies which are a hybrid of a cookie and a mini-cake. These scrumptious little treats are soft and moist and I even tried to make them semi-good for you by adding in some whole grains. Unfortunately the sugar and shortening pretty much blow all hopes of them actually being rated as healthy but healthy or not they are still delicious!


Pumpkin Cakies
Yields 24

2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup unbleached flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¾ cup pumpkin puree
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup vegetable shortening
1 cup chopped pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a small bowl combine whole wheat pasty flour, unbleached flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a separate medium bowl cream together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vegetable shortening and applesauce until combined (there might still be little specks of shortening but this will dissolve as you add flour).

½ cup at a time add flour mixture to pumpkin batter until all ingredients are incorporated.

Drop batter (about 2 tablespoons worth at a time) onto a prepared cookie sheet about 1 ½ inches apart and flatten slightly with the floured flat surface of a drinking glass – just enough to make an even surface on the top of the cakie. (This step will need to be completed 2 more times to bake entire batch)

Bake cakies for 12-14 minutes, remove from cookie sheet and allow to cool on wax or parchment paper.


5 comments:

  1. WOW! They look good!
    And they make sooooo many!
    Thanks for the recipe - these will be made.
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. MMMMM.... Pumpkin Cakes... (said in the voice of Homer Simpson). They do look quite tasty!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aww, I just found your blog and i have to say- Love the name! Cute:] Those cookies look amazzzziiing by the way!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Alicia,

    These look delicious. I am not a very good baker so I wanted to ask you- do you think it would work to leave out the shortening and add extra pumpkin or applesauce?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey Zoey,

    If you're trying to make the cookies fat-free you will definitely get a much different texture by taking out the shortening. You can substitute the shortening for other kinds of oils/fats: 2-3 tablespoons of canola oil or 1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, you can even bring the shortening down to 2 or 3 tablespoons. Unfortunately I really don't know how the cookies would turn out (as far as texture) without some sort of oil/fat.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...