Flour Mayhem

Vegan Meyer lemon Blueberry Bread

2012-01-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

Tis the season! I'm sure you've noticed little bags of these darlings in your produce section at your local grocery stores. If not, shame on your grocery stores. You should go to your produce department manager and demand Meyer lemons OR ELSE! Or else what? Well, that doesn't really mean anything you see, it's so hard to be mean and scary on the internet. What's the total opposite of mean and scary is this delicious bread. I found a yummy recipe via Urban Drivel. They have a recipe for lemon blueberry poppyseed bread. I had no poppyseed, on hand so I just left them out, and then ladies and gentlemen, the magic was made.

Vegan Meyer Lemon Blueberry Bread

2 C all purpose flour
2 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced
1 C fresh blueberries or frozen bluberries (if fresh,put in freezer for about 30 minutes before using)
1/2 C canola oil
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C soy milk
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs honee or agave (I bought my honee online, via Food Fight Grocery in Portland, Oregon)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a mini loaf tin with cooking spray and set aside, In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and Meyer lemon zest. Whisk to combine. In another bowl, combine soy milk, oil, sugar, honee/agave, and Meyer lemon juice, Whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries. Spoon into tin, and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Dark Chocolate PB Cup Banana Muffins

2012-01-22T10:36:00.001-08:00

Seriously, longest muffin name ever! These babies are super good, and I've made them TWICE in the past two months which doesn't seem like a whole lot, but it really is. And, I figured now was the time to post them up so you all could enjoy as well! They're super easy and you should make them RIGHT now. Go, go, GO!

The muffin recipe I used is HERE and it is my most favorite banana bread/muffin recipe EVER. It's Vegan, but everyone will love it, so don't you worry. By adding the brand of PB cups I used,(Reese's)they are NOT Vegan, but I couldn't find Justin's dark chocolate pb cups, which are usually at my local health food store, so I had to do what I had to do. Either way, they're delicious, and if you really wanted to make some for all your Vegan buds, you could always make some vegan homemade ones, but as I am lacking time these days. I opted for the ol' Reese's.

To make the muffins, just follow the directions listed in the recipe I linked above! But before putting in the muffin tin (you could use a mini loaf pan too!) just fold in 1 cup of chopped pb cups) and bake as directed. That's it! It's that easy, and really super duper good! Promise :)

Christmas & New Years

2012-01-08T15:41:00.000-08:00

Little peak into my Holidays :)

White chocolate peppermint fudge

Toy store window front in Montclair, NJ

Gingerbread cupcakes with Sweet cinnamon whipped cream cheese topping

New year's eve appetizer, cheddar ranch dip!

my new years cup, egg nog with nutmeg and vodka ;)

This past Christmas and New years was extremely busy for me. But, it being filled with family and friends whom I love dearly made all the hustle and bustle totally worth it. Can't wait until next year!

Birthday Festivities

2012-01-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

As you get older you're supposed to dislike birthdays, right? Well, not this girl! I love my birthday, and I don't care that I'm getting older.I welcome it with open arms. Some things you just can't change, and getting older is one. We all go through this cycle of life, and I am doing all that I can to enjoy it and have the best times I can. 27 isn't old anyway ;) I started my birthday the day before by baking some chocolate turron, and then making myself french toast for breakfast, the day of my birth we started at Starbucks, which if you haven't learned by now, is the way to my heart. After having an accident (hot tea down face) we headed to some Antique shops. The first place was really neat, and I've never been there before so it was exciting. I especially liked the giant tooth hanging, the Halloween spread, and the little Santa lights. I picked up a few things there, then we headed to another shop, which is one of my favorites. I hit the jackpot and added 7 more items to my Pyrex collection from that place alone! It was pretty amazing. After all was said and done, I was a pretty happy birthday girl.

Vegan Key Lime & White Chocolate Cookies

2012-01-08T09:41:00.001-08:00

As much as I love peppermint, pumpkin, and all that screams "Winter", it's nice to have something a little different during the winter months.

Key lime & White chocolate cookies

2 1/3 C flour
2 TS baking powder
1/2 TS salt
3/4 C vegan (or not) white chocolate chips
3/4 C sugar in the raw
1 TS pure vanilla extract
1/2 C canola oil
1/2 C key lime juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and white chocolate chips. In another bowl mix together sugar, vanilla, oil, and key lime juice. Using a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula fold the wet mixture into the dry.

Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Make sure not to over bake! Leave on cookie sheet 2 minutes, then move to wire rack to cool completely.

You can always replace the key lime juice with lemon juice, which I do often, or anything you want. This is one of my favorite recipes, because there are just so many things you can do with it. So, get in the kitchen and have some fun!

There's no time!!

2011-12-26T13:08:00.000-08:00

There's never any time! If you are imagining me wearing purple tights, a pink head band, and a grey sweater while sobbing and singing "I'm so excited" as I write this, Then you are so RIGHT! Things have been insanely busy for me the past month. It's the holidays, so it is expected. I feel awful I haven't updated as much, but it happens and I hope you all forgive me! I have lots of things to post about, my birthday, tattoos, tons of treats, and of course Christmas! Please check back soon for all of that.

Iz and Dee on Christmas, such cute little faces

Halloween in December! We went to a bunch of antique stores for my birthday, loved this display

Vegan key lime and white chocolate cookies for this guy

If I am not able to post before the new year , I hope you have a wonderful and safe New Year! I wish you all the best
xoxo Tasha

Vegan Banana Bread

2011-11-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

I guess you can say I've been on a breakfast baked good kick. Should I be ashamed? Heck no! Breakfast rules. I've also been on a Vegan baking kick. I actually prefer to bake that way, as I don't normally have eggs on hand, and I prefer almond milk to any other milk or milk alternative. Plus it's also heaps of fun experimenting. I suggest you all get your aprons on and start some Vegan baking, stat!

Just like the carrot cake muffins I previously posted, these loafs are DELICIOUS. I actually only had one. Woke up in the morning and a certain someone ate all but two. I can't say I blame him though, it really is the best banana bread/muffin that I've ever made and I'm sharing it with you. Lucky yous! This recipe makes one amazing loaf, or you can do what I do and make 8 mini loafs!

Vegan Banana Bread

2 C flour
Pinch o' salt
1/2 TS baking soda
1 1/2 TS ground cinnamon
3/4 C brown sugar, not packed
1/2 C canola oil
2 TS pure vanilla extract
1/4 C VANILLA almond milk (Unsweetened is what I used, but either would work)
1 TS apple cider vinegar
4 ripe bananas
1 TS lemon juice
1 TB maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a mini loaf pan, or regular pan if you're making one loaf, set aside. Mix together the almond milk and vinegar, set aside to curdle. Whisk together all of the dry ingredients except for the sugar. In a different bowl combine sugar, oil, vanilla. Mash the bananas in a medium bowl with the lemon juice and maple syrup. Add the banana mixture to the sugar mixture then whisk in the milk mixture until combined. Add the wet mixture to the dry and gently fold until the batter is moist, do not over mix.

Fill tins halfway full or pour into loaf pan, For mini loafs - Bake for 35 minutes and for one large loaf - Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Please TRY not to eat them all, But I don't blame you if you do!

Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins

2011-11-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

They say breakfast is the most important part of your day. Why not start your day with these tasty little guys? It's really hard to eat just one, so make sure to share! If you decide to not share, don't worry I won't tell ;) These in particular were actually made for friends, Hope they enjoyed them!

Vegan Carrot Cake Muffins

Vegan buttermilk

1 C plain almond milk
1 1/2 TS apple cider vinegar

Muffins

1 C flour
1 C whole wheat flour (Or you can use 2 C all purpose white flour, your choice)
1 TS baking soda
1 TS baking powder
4 large carrots, finely grated
1/2 C brown sugar, not packed
1/2 C coconut oil
2 TB pure maple syrup
2 TS pure vanilla extract
1/2 TS salt
2 TS ground cinnamon
1/2 TS ground ginger
You can also add raisins, nuts, etc. I don't like to, but again do what you like!

Topping

1 TB earth balance
1 TB brown sugar
1 TB flour
1 TB instant oats
1/2 TS ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners, or spray with nonstick cooking spray, set aside. To make the 'buttermilk' combine almond milk and vinegar in small bowl and set aside to curdle, about 5-10 minutes. In large bowl mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl whisk together sugar, oil, and maple syrup. Whisk the milk mixture into the sugar mixture. Pour that into the dry mixture and combine thoroughly. Gently fold in the carrots. To make the topping, toss all the ingredients into a small bowl, and using a fork mix to combined, put about a teaspoon amount on top of batter. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Pumpkin Bread

2011-11-20T11:39:00.000-08:00

It is really hard to believe that my last post was a month ago! I am really bad about updating this lately, I guess trying to get settled into the house and a ton of other things on top of that are the cause. I'm terribly sorry! To make it up to you, I am posting about some seriously tasty bread for you fine folks. Vegan cinnamon cream cheese bread. Oh, what a delicious mouthful! I doubled the recipe for the bread and made two loafs.

Pumpkin Bread (Makes 1 loaf)

1 3/4 C flour
1 TS baking soda
1/2 TS baking powder
1/2 TS salt
2 TS cinnamon
1 C pure pumpkin puree
1/2 C canola oil
3 TB dairy free milk or water (I used vanilla almond milk)
Mini chocolate chips for topping (optional)

Cinnamon Mixture

1 1/2 TS sugar
1 1/2 TS brown sugar
2 TB cinnamon

Cream Cheese Mixture

1 8oz container Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
2 TB Maple Syrup
1 TS pure vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a loaf pan. To make the cinnamon mixture, simply whisk together all the ingredients - 3 tb sugar and 2 tb cinnamon. To make the C.C mixture, beat all together until creamy. Set aside. For the bread - In a large bowl, mix together all the dry. In a small bowl, whisk together all the wet. Add wet mixture to dry; combine until just moistened. Pour half into prepared pan layer cinnamon mixture on top. Then the cream cheese mixture on top of the cinnamon mixture.

Finally top with remaining pumpkin batter and bake for 50-60 minutes or until top is browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool 10 minutes; Gently loosen bread from sides of pan using a butter knife, then invert onto a wire rack. Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

2011-10-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

You can't go wrong with chocolate chip cookies, can you? HECK NO! They're delicious, make the house smell awesome, and no matter what you were doing, what troubled you during the day, who you wanted to punch in the face, etc, etc - they always make you feel good. Even if you've had 5 in a row! That last one might just be me, don't judge.

Some of you (all 3 who read this, including my Mom (Hi MOM!) might remember the vegan dark chocolate coconut cookies that I made a bit ago. This cookie is using the same recipe, just adjusted to whatever I like OR have in my pantry at the moment. It's my go to recipe, so easy to twist into whatever you're craving at the moment. I've used it to make the two cookies mentioned here plus red velvet chocolate chip cookies, funfetti cookies, AND pumpkin cookies. See, this recipe is something you need to keep on hand and experiment with!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

2 1/3 C flour
2 TS baking powder
1/2 TS salt
1 C vegan chocolate chips
1/2 C finely chopped pecans (or nuts of choice OR don't add anything)
3/4 C organic sugar
1/2 C canola oil
1 TS pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (or whatever milk you want, even water. If not using vanilla flavored increase vanilla extract to 2 TS)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl whisk together flour, b.p, salt, chocolate chips, and pecans - set aside. In another bowl toss in the sugar. Pour the oil, milk, and extract on top of it and whisk until all smooth. Add the wet mixture to the dry, I would switch to a wooden spoon or rubber spatula as the dough gets thick and might f up your whisk. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet, no need to space them too far apart, they don't spread that much.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or if you're like me and made massive sized cookies, bake for 15-18 minutes OR until the cookies are nice and lightly golden brown. I had a warm one with a small glass of almond milk and my worries for the day were gone. Thank you cookies, you're the best ;)

All About Frosting

2011-10-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

You all know I am in love with peanut butter frosting. I don't know what it is about that stuff, but just like pumpkin it has a special place in my heart! I dolled it up with some vanilla bean. The little specks add a nice look and the flavor is amazing. I paired it with a chocolate cake, the go to combination aside from the beloved pb&j!

Peanut Butter Vanilla Bean Frosting

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 - 1 C natural creamy peanut butter (Add more or less depending on your taste preferences, I used a full cup)
2-3 C powdered sugar (Again, more or less to taste if you need more than 3 cups, by all means use more)
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1-2 TB almond milk (or milk of choice - soy, cow, etc) Optional, you may or may not need this depending on how much pb you use.

Cream together the first two ingredients. Add in the vanilla bean seeds. Slowly add in the powdered sugar by 1/2 cup, adding until desired sweetness/consistency. If needed add in more powdered sugar, and the milk. Beat on medium speed until light fluffy. Frost whatever you want or eat it by the spoonful. I won't tell.

These babies are banana cake with a chocolate marshmallow buttercream. They were made for the wonderful Amy who requested these for her birthday. I

Chocolate Marshmallow Buttercream

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 small jar marshmallow creme* (7 oz)
2 TS pure vanilla extract
1/2 C natural unsweetened cocoa powder
3 C sifted powdered sugar (more or less to taste)

Beat together butter, marshmallow creme, and vanilla. Beat on high speed until fully combined. Add the cocoa powder, mix well. Add in the powdered sugar slowly, scraping the sides as needed. Beat until light and fluffy. Spread that stuff on anything you want, if you're like Amy you'll frost some banana cupcakes with it. If you're like me you'll put it on pumpkin cupcakes. Just sayin

*For all my Vegan buddies out there, there is a wonderful product by Suzanne's Specialities called ricemellow creme. I have used it a few times when baking for a friend. Works well and taste great! So check it out

Catch Up

2011-10-20T10:24:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, things have continued to be crazy and I find myself even more busy than usual. It's really not a bad thing, but I hate not posting regularly. Here are some fun things I've made the last few weeks.Thanks to Erikka, Dan, and Justin for having me be a part of your events!

Candy Corn cupcakes and Cherry Pie cupcakes

The candy corn was a sweet vanilla cake that was colored to resemble candy corn (big shocker, right) and the cherry pie were vanilla bean cake with cherry pie filling on top and surrounded by a chocolate buttercream crust. Both were super simple to make, and a lot of fun too!

I did cupcakes based on the monster cereals - BooBerry, FrankenBerry, and Count Chocula. I made basic yellow cupackes then crushed up the cereals, mixed it into the batter, and topped with a vanilla buttercream and more of the cereal. My favorite was the BooBerry. I also heard the Count Chocula was on point ;)

A few other treats that I had - Vegan ginger lemon whoopie pies ( I will make these again and post the recipe), Chocolate lemon cupcakes, caramel apple cupcakes, and pumpkin oatmeal cookies. My favorite was the surprise pumpkin pie cupcakes. That's one that I will blog about separately and one that I will definitely be making again. Those things were delicious.

Where I'll be!

2011-09-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

October 7th I'll be at Incognito Tattoo for First Friday in Greencastle, PA!

On October 8th, I'll be at the Gtown BMX Jam.

If you're in the area, come on by. Hope to see you there!

What I've been up to!

2011-09-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been super busy for me which is awesome. Here's a quick recap!

Vegan pumpkin peanut butter blondies for Thomas

Got tattooed by the wonderful Thomas Kenney. I always like to bring him something sweet seeing how he's always been nothing but great to Jason and I. He also shares my love for pumpkin, so I was super excited to make these for him because I was able to taste test one, or two ;) I took this here recipe, and Veganized it. It turned out awesome!

Another friend requested some cupcakes, I'm always more than happy to oblige. After getting my back worked on yesterday, I came home and baked cupcakes for Tiffiny. I chose to make chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter vanilla buttercream, and vanilla bean cupcakes with vanilla bean buttercream. Ah, double the pleasure!

I have a lot of fun projects lined up in the upcoming weeks. A Spiderman cake and a Wolverine cake for a sweet little dudes first birthday bash. Can't wait for those!

Vegan No Bake Cookies

2011-09-17T12:04:00.001-07:00

Brace yourself folks, I haven't ever made no bake cookies. Weird right? I'm not too sure why I never did, and I am really mad at myself for not doing so. We had some friends over last night, after a long day of cleaning and running errands these were the perfect sweet treat to make. They were extremely easy and so dang tasty!

I was browsing the wonderful world wide web, and found myself on Laurens Latest. I saw her recipe for no bake cookies, and instantly wanted to make them. With what I had on hand, they were Veganized, but didn't matter. They still tasted amazing.

No Bake Cookies adapted from HERE!

1/2 C vegan butter (as picture above organic smart balance is Vegan!)
1/2 C non dairy milk (I used vanilla soy)
1 1/2 C raw sugar
3 1/2 C instant oats
1/2 C cocoa powder
1/2 C creamy peanut butter
1 TS pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl combine oats and cocoa powder. Plop the peanut butter on top, that's what I did! In a saucepan combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and milk. Whisk to combine. Stirring constantly until butter is melted and the first bubbles start to appear. Pour immediately into bowl and using a rubber spatula mix everything until combined.

Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil. Chill until set.

Sesame Street Cakes!

2011-09-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

Someone loves him some Sesame Street. Happy 1st birthday Jackson!!!!

C is for COOKIE!!!!!! Vanilla cupcakes filled with chocolate chip cookie dough cream and topped with vanilla buttercream.

The whole gang. Elmo, Grover smash cake, and Cookie Monster cupcakes.

Elmo in pieces!! His insides are made of tie dye vanilla bean cake!

Sweet Treats!

2011-09-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

I've been staying busy in the kitchen, here are a few goodies I've made in the last week :)

Gluten Free Pumpkin muffins for Matt's wife Vanessa.

Lemon ricotta cupcakes and red velvet cupcakes.

Lemon ricotta, how I love thee ;)

I have a lot of fun things planned for the next few months. I'll be posting about them as soon as I can!

Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Peanut Butter Icing

2011-09-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

I bought some zucchinis to make fries. Well, as you can see that never happened. I felt the zucchinis had a bigger purpose in life. The purpose was this amazing cake. Chocolate and peanut butter is probably my favorite combination so I figured why not add in the veggies, see what happens. I know that the addition of zucchini does sound a bit strange. But it adds a nice subtle flavor as well as making it very moist, even fudge like. My non veggie, super picky eater loved it.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1 C flour
1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C dark cocoa powder
1 TS baking soda
1 TS salt
1 C light brown sugar
1/2 C canola oil
2 small zucchinis, finely grated ( A little over 2 cups)

Peanut Butter Icing

1/2 stick earth balance, softened
1/2 TS pure vanilla extract
1 C creamy peanut butter
2-3 C organic powdered sugar
1-2 TB of unsweetened almond milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x12 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside. Whisk together flours, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and sugar, once combined add the oil and mix well with a rubber spatula. It will be very thick, maybe even still a bit dry. No worries, you're doing it right! Fold in the zucchini and stir everything together. The moisture from the zucchini will make the batter creamy, and smooth. Pour into prepared dish and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before icing. To make the icing, cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in vanilla and milk if needed. I wanted mine to be thin, so I added more milk and less powdered sugar. You can make it as thick/thin as you want just add/omit the milk and powdered sugar to your liking.

You can't even tell that there's zucchini in the cake, I would see the occasional green speck but other than that no one had a clue. I handed some out to Jason's friends and co workers, they couldn't tell either. Being sneaky is fun sometimes, haha!

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream

2011-08-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Not sure if you guys noticed, but I have this thing with pumpkin, I kinda love it. And by kinda I really mean that I love it a whole lot. I found one store that has tons of canned pumpkin and it's not even September yet. That's a good sign in my book. It's still a bit too early for sugar pumpkins to be out, but as soon as they are I will be making my own fresh pumpkin puree, but until then I will be the lady who buys 12 cans of pumpkin at a time. So what?

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
Pinch o' salt
2 TS ground cinnamon
1 150z can pure pumpkin
1 TS pure vanilla
1/4 C almond milk, or whatever you prefer
1/3 C canola oil
1 C light brown sugar

Maple Buttercream

1/4 C margarine ( I used earth balance vegan butter)
1/4 C shortening (I used earth balance natural)
2-3 C organic powdered sugar
2 TB pure maple syrup
1 TB almond milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan and set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, oil, soy milk, and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients to wet, mix until just combined. Fill muffin tins and bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting cream together the butter and shortening. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until desired consistency and sweetness. Beat in the vanilla and maple syrup. If still too stiff, then add the milk.

Mmmmm! Out of all the cupcakes I've ever made these have to be my favorite. I've made a lot of cupcakes too, so I kinda know what I'm talking about ;) With that being said, you need to make these right now!

Vegan Carrot Muffins with Cinnamon Maple Glaze

2011-08-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

Fall is on it's way! About time honestly, I'm ready for some cold weather. Apple cider, bundling up, the changing colors of leaves, and lots of orange things I can make tasty things with. Such as pumpkins, squash, sweet potatoes, AND carrots. I bake with these all year round, but during Fall I can go crazy with it, which is fine with me!

Carrot cake is one of my favorites, but I really wanted something not as sweet as the cake itself. I tried something new with these muffins, and I'm really happy with how they turned out. The carrot flavor is distinct and the sweetness of the glaze isn't overpowering. They are Vegan, but no one would ever know the difference, Jason and his friends ate some and had no complaints.

Vegan Carrot Muffins with Cinnamon Maple Glaze

1 C almond milk
1 1/2 TS apple cider vinegar
2 C flour
1 TS baking powder
1 TS baking soda
1 1/2 C finely grated carrots (I used 4 medium carrots)
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C canola oil
2 TB pure maple syrup
2 TS pure vanilla extract
1 TS ground cinnamon
1 TS salt

Cinnamon Maple Glaze

1/2 C organic powdered sugar
2 TB pure maple syrup
2 TB almond milk
Ground Cinnamon (As little or as much as you like deepening on flavor, I use a lot of cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with wrappers, or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk together almond milk and vinegar, set aside to curdle - about 10 minutes. In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. In another bowl whisk together brown sugar, oil, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.

Pour wet mixture into dry, gently whisk to combine, and fold in carrots. Fill tins and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

To make the glaze just whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl and using a pastry brush cover the tops of cooled muffins completely.

Makes 12-15 muffins, or you could easily do mini muffins also. They are great without the glaze, I had one last night. But I have to say I do prefer with the glaze.

Yum.

Vegan Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookies

2011-08-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

Oh what a mouth full! These cookies are super soft, very chocolatey , and the coconut and chocolate chips give them a very nice texture. A friend of ours just found out she was pregnant, CONGRATS AMY AND ALAN! So, I made her some cookies to celebrate. Yay for babies!

Why are they Vegan? Why not is a better question. The majority of the cookies that I make are Vegan, and they are still super tasty and no one ever notices that they aren't made with animal products. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.. Right?

Dark Chocolate Coconut Cookies

2 1/3 C flour
2 TS baking powder
1/2 TS salt
1/3 C dark cocoa powder, unsweetened
3/4 C carob chips or any chocolate chip as long as it's vegan OR if you don't give an f, then use whatever you want ;)
3/4 C raw sugar
1 TS pure vanilla extract
1/2 C canola oil
1/2 C vanilla almond milk OR soy milk will do.
1/2 C shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and carob chips. In another bowl mix together sugar, vanilla, oil, milk, and coconut. Using a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula fold the wet mixture into the dry. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, they will be soft, so do not over bake. They will turn out like hockey pucks, promise!

Dry mixture plus the wet

=

There's some heat involved, but you get the picture! Super easy, super good, and super tasty. Super is the word of the day.

Happy baking!

Spiced Banana Bread

2011-08-19T20:20:00.001-07:00

I wish you were at my house when this was in the oven. Everywhere I went smelled amazing. Walking upstairs to put the laundry away wasn't as bad and I didn't even mind doing the dishes. It was pretty fantastic!

Biting into it was even better than the smell. I did some different things with this loaf, good choices on my part because the bread was the best banana bread I've ever had. You won't ever want to use any other recipe either, I pinky swear.

Spiced Banana Bread

4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 C melted margarine
1/2 C sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 TB vanilla
2 TB pure maple syrup
1 TS baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 TS ground cinnamon
1 TS ground cloves
1 1/2 C flour
1/2 C walnuts, chocolate chips, whatever you want - Optional.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the bananas and butter together in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, maple syrup, and vanilla. Mix in all other dry ingredients, fold in nuts, chocolate chips, etc if wanted. It will be lumpy so don't over mix! Pour mixture into a loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 50-60 minutes, since oven temperatures do vary please check at the 45 minute mark. Mine baked for about 58 minutes, it came out perfect!

The Vintage Press Photos

2011-08-19T20:14:00.001-07:00

More lovely photos by the wonderful folks at The Vintage Press. Thanks guys!

More to come!

Treats and Tattoos

2011-08-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

When we lived in Portland I saw what I thought was the prettiest thing. I wasn't sure if it was a butterfly or a moth, but I literally walked back and forth until it stopped so I could snap a picture. When it landed on the bush, I was able to get super close to it and score this photo.

Lucky, right?

I looked it up online and found out that it was the Cinnabar moth. For the longest time I've wanted a moth tattoo, and after seeing this one I was pretty dead set on getting this one tattooed on me. Yesterday I was lucky enough to have the super talented Thomas Kenney tattoo me. Thomas's art is excellent, his tattoos are top notch, and he's an all around good guy. If you aren't familiar with his work, I suggest you click on his name and see what he's all about. I knew I was going to get a good tattoo, but what Thomas had for me was pretty amazing. I was really happy with what he had drawn for me, and after seeing the tattoo complete I was beyond thrilled. Every tattoo he's done on me is outstanding and they just keep getting better and better!

Soo pretty!

To thank him for tattooing me, I baked a bunch of Vegan goodies. Boston Cream Cupcakes, Peanut butter oatmeal cookies, and some chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars. The bars are my favorite! I knew I had to give him all of them or I honestly would have sat at home and ate them all! Lucky Thomas.

I won't be posting the recipe for these, because they are my favorite, and some things a girl just likes to keep private. Sorry folks! I will be posting some yummy stuff soon though, so check back for those!

So Yummy! So Yummy!

2011-08-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

My name is Tasha. I like to bake! Dancing is fun too, but I'm really no good at it ;)

A very special little boy just turned one, and I had the honor of making his birthday cake. This cake is three 9 inch cakes, layered with raspberry preserves and lemon curd, a dirty icing of lemon butter cream, and covered with lemon marshmallow fondant. The top part, is three 6 inch vanilla lemon cakes with the same fillings, and vanilla butter cream for the hair. His face is made out of raspberry marshmallow fondant and butter cream.

This cake was definitely a labor of love. I baked, made marshmallow fondant, and the lemon curd in one day. The next I covered the cake, made frosting, filled, and assembled. I did have a slight mishap when some of my fondant would not cooperate, but I ended up being okay! Honestly, I am very happy with how the cake turned out. I wasn't able to take much pictures because my little hands were full! So Erikka will take tons of pictures at his party today and I'll post about that with some recipes too!

Brobee before his make up!

I did a DJ Lance hat smash cake for the little dude, I totally messed up the star. But it's no biggie, it's gonna get all smashed to pieces anyways!

Quentin's uncle is Vegan, so I did a small batch of Vegan vanilla cupcakes so he could also get in on the sweet fest!

Another shot of Brobee in all his glory. Bad lighting this morning! Ah well. More pictures to come!

Many thanks to Dave and Erikka for having me be a part of their little one's big day! Happy birthday Quentin!!!