While 99% of the meals I eat are vegan, the sweets I bake are only about 50% vegan because I find that non-vegan baked goods don’t bother my stomach as much as regular food. After looking through my past couple of posts, I realized I hadn’t posted a vegan recipe in a loooooong time. These are one of my favorite vegan cookies and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t written about them yet!

This recipe comes from one of my favorite vegan blogs, Peas and Thank you. Sarah has some really great easy recipes that even my meat loving husband enjoys eating.

These peanut butter cookie dough balls are quick, easy, and taste delicious. Even though they are baked, they still retain a doughy texture which makes them highly addictive.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls

From Peas and Thank You
Makes 12-18 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup non-dairy margarine
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup non-dairy peanut butter chips
1/2 cup non-dairy chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat margarine, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla until well combined.

In a separate bowl, combine baking powder, baking soda, salt and flours.
Add the dry mixture to the peanut butter mixture a bit at a time, until dough forms.
Stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips.

Chill dough for 30 minutes.

preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Scoop dough with onto a cookie dough sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will still be soft and won't spread that much. Be careful not to overbake or you will lose the doughy-ness! Let the cookies cook on the pan for one minute before transferring to a cooling rack.

• #42 Sara Hanne
• #31 Deidre
• #35 Stacy Knight

Congratulations to you all!

I also cleaned the carpet, only to have Murphy run all over it with his muddy paws. I know. It’s an exciting life I lead.

In other news, I made these cupcakes.

The folks at All You magazine sent me a kit to try the Duncan Hines new Frosting Creations. Frosting Creations are basically packets of different flavorings that you can add to a can of unflavored frosting

I’m a sucker for anything s’mores so that’s why I decided to try the chocolate marshmallow frosting first! They came out pretty well and frosting was good although it I didn’t really detect much marshmallow taste in the frosting.

I also made these whoopie pies using the orange creme frosting. You can find the recipe here. I liked the taste of this one as well but found both frostings to be a little too runny for piping.

Overall, I like the offers unique flavor choices that Frosting Creations offer. You should  be able to find them at your local Walmart (mine didn’t have them in yet). I would like to try the cotton candy and white chocolate raspberry next!

And now, you can enter for a chance to win a Frosting Creations kit! The kit includes:

• 2 boxes of Duncan Hines devil’s food cake mix
• 2 boxes of Duncan Hines french vanilla cake mix
• 4 starter cans of frosting
• 4 flavor packets (chocolate marshmallow, orange creme, cherry vanilla, and strawberry shortcake)

I’m giving three kits away; here’s how to enter:

1. Leave a comment letting me know which new frosting flavor you would like to try
2. Become a fan of The Caramel Cookie on Facebook, leave a comment letting me know you are
3. Follow @Caramel_Cookie_ on twitter, leave a comment letting me know you follow me
4. Pin the cupcakes on pinterest and leave a comment letting me know

The giveaway ends on March 30th at 10:00pm.

*I was given the frosting creations kit and a copy of the lastest All You by All You. All reviews and opinions are my own*

Note: the devil’s food cake mix, frosting starter and orange creme frosting appear to be vegan. Yay!

S'more Cupcakes

From Duncan Hines

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Layer:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup melted butter
2 tbsp. sugar
pinch of salt

Cupcakes:
1 pkg. Duncan Hines® Devil's Food Cake Mix
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups water
2 cups marshmallow fluff
2 cans Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Frosting Starter
2 packets Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Chocolate Marshmallow Flavor Mix
2 tbsp. graham cracker crumbs (optional, for topping)
24 mini-marshmallows (optional, for topping)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place cupcake liners in muffin pans.

Mix 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar and salt in small bowl. Place 2 tsp. of the graham cracker mixture in bottom of each cupcake liner. Use bottom of small juice glass to pack and flatten graham crust in liners. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes until graham cracker layer is golden. Let cool.

Meanwhile, prepare cake batter as directed on package. Scoop cake batter on top of graham cracker crust, filling cupcake liner no more than two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcakes comes out clean.

Let cupcakes cool for 5 minutes, then turn out of pans to finish cooling.

Cut a cone-shaped piece from middle of cupcake. Do not cut through graham cracker layer. Put marshmallow fluff in a piping bag or plastic bag with the corner cut off and squeeze fluff into hollow of cupcake.

Pour 1 packet of Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Chocolate Marshmallow Flavor Mix into 1 can of Duncan Hines® Frosting Creations™ Frosting Starter. Stir until evenly blended. Repeat with second can and packet.

Frost cupcakes with the Chocolate Marshmallow frosting you just created.

Sprinkle tops of cupcakes with extra graham cracker crumbs and garnish with a mini-marshmallow, if desired.

A few weeks ago my husband decided that we needed a Playstation 3.  He’s never been much of a gamer and said he wanted it mainly for the Blu-Ray player. Why he couldn’t just get a Blu-Ray player made no sense to me but, alas, we ended up with a Playstation 3. He even picked up a few games from our local Blockbuster that was going out of business so he could “play something every once in awhile.”

And Call of Duty has offically stolen my husband.

So while Ryan was shooting some bad guys and Murphy was contently chewing on the furniture his toy, I kept myself busy by baking these cookies.

I’ve had a jar of tahini that needed to be used up and was intrigued by this recipe as I had never heard of cookie recipe calling for tahini.

I’m normally not a huge fan of tahini (except for in hummus) but these cookies were quite delicious. While I wasn’t thrilled with the taste of the cookies they were still quite good. They were soft and chewy and actually tasted better the day after they were baked. So If you find yourself with some leftover tahini I would recommend giving these a try–they are certainly interesting.

Tahini Lemon Cookies

Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
Makes 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup evaporated cane juice
1/2 cup tahini, at room temperature
3 tablespoons almond milk
1 tablespoon lemon bakery emulsion (or extract, or zest)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
extra sugar, for rolling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, add the shortening and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-ish minutes). Add in the tahini, almond milk, and lemon emulsion.

Next, mix in half of the flour with the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Add the rest of the flour, using your hands to mix if you have to. The dough should hold together when squeezed. Add more milk or more flour if needed (I had to use more flour since my tahini was so oily).

Roll dough into tablespoon since balls and roll them into the extra sugar. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat. Flaten the dough balls down just smidge and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are a very light brown.

Cool the cookies on the sheet for 10 minutes before moving them to a rack.

Have you seen the new cherry flavored M&Ms? They are delicious!

I bought a pack on sale after Christmas knowing they would be great on top of a chocolate cake–perfect for Valentine’s Day!

I was looking for simple cake recipe and ran across the chocolate cake and frosting recipe on the back of my Hershey’s cocoa box. Since it only uses one bowl I gave it a try and was very pleased with the results. The cake was moist without being too dense and the frosting complemented the cake well. I also topped the cake with chocolate ganache to make it extra special.

You can leave off the M&Ms if you can’t find them but I think they add the perfect punch of cherry flavor to take the cake up a notch.

Note: I halved the cake recipe to make two 6-inch rounds but used the full frosting recipe. You may want to double the frosting to top an 8 or 9-inch cake.

Chocolate Cake

From Hershey's
Makes one 8 or 9-inch two layer cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup boiling water

For the frosting: (you may want to double if you like a lot of frosting like me!)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the ganache:
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup half and half (or cream if you have it)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1 package cherry M&Ms

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray AND flour two 8 or 9-inch pans.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add in the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the boiling water. Do NOT use the mixer unless you want a huge mess (I know this from experience).

Divide the batter between the two pans and bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to cooling rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:
Melt the butter in the microwave and pour into a large bowl. Mix in the cocoa. Add in the powdered sugar a cup at a time, alternating with half of milk. Add in the vanilla and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes. If the frosting is too thick, add a little more milk.

For the ganache:
Place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.

In a small sauce pan over medium heat, bring the syrup and the half and half to a simmer. Pour the mixture over the chocolate and let stand for a few minutes, until the chocolate begins to melt.

Gently stir the cream and chocolate until the mixture is smooth. Let the ganache cool in the fridge for 10-15 minutes, stiring every 5 minutes. Pour the ganache evenly over the top of the frosting cake. Let cake set in the fridge for 10 minutes before topping with M&Ms.

I know it’s way past Christmas time but I wanted to share this cake with you all–it’s soooo good! I made this coffeecake in early December for a party and it turned out to be a favorite holiday dessert for my husband and I.

I got the recipe from the genius mind of Jessica of How Sweet It Is. I just love her dessert recipes!

I used Silk eggnog for the cake, and it came out very well. I’m normally not a huge fan of soy-based drinks but their eggnog is really good! The eggnog flavor in the cake is not very strong at all, so you can please both the eggnog lovers and haters in your life. In fact, most people had no idea it even had eggnog until I told them.

If you can still find eggnog around, make this cake! Don’t wait until next holiday seaon.

Eggnog Coffeecake

From How Sweet It Is
Makes a 9x13 dish

Ingredients:

For the cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon + an extra 1/4 teaspoon
1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar + and extra 1/3 cup
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup eggnog

For the cumble topping:
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the eggnog glaze:
1/3 cup eggnog
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of nutmeg

Directions:

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray/grease a 9×13 baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. In a seperate bowl combine the flours, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, Stir the butter and sugars together. Mix the eggs in, one a time, until completely combined. Stir in vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined. Pour in the eggnog and stir until smooth. Pour half of the batter in the baking dish and sprinkle the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture over top. Cover with the remaining batter, spreading it around as best you can. Top with the crumble recipe below.

For the crumble topping:
Combine eggnog, sugars, vanilla, and nutmeg in a small bowl and stir well. Sprinkle evenly over the batter.

Bake cake for 30-35 minutes.

For the eggnog glaze:
In a saucepan over medium heat, mix together all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the mixture to a simmer for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and let set until cake is finshing baking. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes all over and pour the glaze over top.

He was a Christmas gift from my husband. We had been talking about getting a dog for awhile but I had no idea he was getting me one for Christmas!

The picture above is on Christmas Eve when Ryan gave me Murphy. He’s the cutest dog ever. Not that I’m biased or anything.

He’s also the reason for the lack of posts. He’s been keeping me busy but I’ll be back soon with posts of what I’ve been baking.

I know it’s super late but I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years!

This year I participated in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap put on by Lindsay of Love & Olive Oil and Juile of The Little Kitchen.  I sent a dozen homemade cookies to three bloggers and received three dozen delicious cookies in return.

I baked up these delicious molasses cookies to send to Kelley of Mountain Mama Cooks, Leah of The Primrose Bird, and Kelly of Sallaboutme.

I received chocolate chip cookies make with sunflower seed butter from Michele at Foodbrarian. She also sent me these cute “Cookeys.”

Emily of Life on Food sent some delicious peanut butter, toffee, and pretzel cookies. I took shared these with me co-workers and they disappeared really quickly. Suzanna of Kokocooks send me the most beautiful Lemon Almond Springerle I’ve ever seen.

I chose to send these molasses cookies because they remind me so much of the holidays. My mom made them every year growing up (and still does!) and they taste like Christmas in your mouth. The recipe is really easy and can be made in one bowl. Win!

I sent the bloggers both a thin and crispy, and thick and chewy version of the this recipe. I prefer the thicker, chewier recipe which is the one posted below.

Everyone needs an easy holiday cookie recipe like this!

To learn more about the cookie swap and to sign up for next year’s even, click here.

Molasses Cookies

Makes 2 dozen cookies
Adapted from Grandma's Molasses (it's on the side of the molasses jar!)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger

Additional sugar for rolling.

Directions:

In a large bowl beat the shortening, sugar, egg, and molasses on medium speed until well blended and smooth (about 1-2 minutes). With the mixer on low, mix in the flour, baking soda, salt, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325. Roll the dough into heaping tablespoons (I used a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop) and dip the tops into the sugar. Place the cookies sugared side up onto a greased or silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake for 9-12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are brown. Cool cookies on pan for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Now that the weather is really cooling off I can only think of one thing: pumpkin.

Okay, okay, that’s not the only thing I think of but it does have me craving all sorts of pumpkin flavored things! Lattes, cookies, bread, and the like.

This was my first time making pumpkin cornbread and I can’t believe I haven’t made it sooner! It’s perfectly sweet, prefectly savory, and is as good for breakfast as it is with chili.

Also, the cornbread is fairly moist and keeps well for several days–if it lasts that long!

Pumpkin Cornbread

Makes about 6 servings

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/8 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/8 cup canola oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Grease an 8-inch or 9-inch loaf pan.

Mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt.

In another bowl mix together the maple syrup, almond milk, oil, and pumpkin. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined.

Spread the batter into the prepared plan and bake for 15 minutes.