Whoopie for Whoopie Pies!

Yes, I know I've already done a post about whoopie pies. It's just that I love them & they're easy & they always remind me of my awesome childhood! Since I had some leftover pumpkin, I decided to make my Gram's regular whoopie pies, but have the frosting be pumpkin-y. The fam & I were going to a party so I figured they'd be great. I love being right! They were a hit, and one of the partygoers asked me for the recipe, so I shamelessly plugged my blog. :)

Here is a great recipe for chocolate whoopie pies with pumpkin cream cheeze frosting. I hope you try this one, too!

Yes, this photo is taken on my phone, so it is not the best quality. I just had to get a picture before they were all gone! You can't tell here, but the pumpkin filling is a pale shade of orange with specks of cinnamon & nutmeg...so tasty!


Pumpkin Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes

Pies
1 3/4 cups unbleached flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp soy butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 tbsp flaxseed + 3 tbsp water
1 cup soy milk (try not to use light!)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whoopie!
4 ounces Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) soy butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup canned solid pack pumpkin
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg

Pies
1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Place soy butter, shortening, and sugars into a bowl. Mix with a hand mixer on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add flaxseed and water; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3. Mix in half the flour mixture, then the soy milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining flour mixture.

4. Drop about 2 teaspoons dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies spring back when lightly touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool 10 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets and transfer to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.

Whoopie!
1. In a medium bowl, whip together "cream cheese", soy butter and confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg; whip until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.

2. Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons filling on the flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping the flat sides down.

Brother-in-law Chuck & I both agree that these are better than the other whoopie pies. I like them because they're so much like my Gram's. Deidra likes the pure pumpkin pies better. So I guess you'll just have to make both and find people to taste them for you!

Mushroom Marsala

If you haven't figured out by my posts about my mom, she's a great cook. She can turn anything in the fridge into a delicious meal (except for American Chop Suey, which I will forever hate...). One of my favorite things growing up was Chicken Marsala. It was always over pasta, the chicken was never dry, and marsala wine has a very distinct, sweet taste that just worked.

I had some mushrooms in the fridge and some marsala wine in the pantry, so I decided to make Mushroom Marsala for dinner served over whole wheat rigatoni. I paired it with some fresh, homemade fococcia bread that was to die for...and that recipe will follow shortly!



Mushroom Marsala
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsbp soy butter
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2-1 cup marsala wine
1 cup vegetable stock
8 oz pasta

1. In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook till al dente.

2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add onion and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute or so. Add the dry spices, then add the butter and melt.

3. When butter is melted, add the mushrooms and saute for 10 minutes, until nice and brown and the juices are released. Carefully add the marsala wine and cook until wine has reduced by half. Add the vegetable stock and cook until it slightly thickens. (Note: if the sauce is not thick enough for you, mix a little bit of cornstarch and water and add to it until you get the thickness you desire.)

4. Drain pasta, toss with the sauce, and try not to eat it ALL in one sitting! (Although, it's really not bad for you...)



It was a great meal and the bread was great to sop up the leftover sauce. Make sure to pick a pasta that will really allow the sauce to stick. Thanks, mom!

Stuffed Shells with Pesto

I've gone on a few blog rants about how I LOVE Jaclyn and her awesome webpage. Plus, she's from my home state, so she's even cooler. One of her favorite recipes (according to her blog) is Stuffed Shells with Pesto. I love pesto. I love stuffed shells. Cody, however, feels a little iffy about tofu turned ricotta.

Not in this meal!!!

Found in the beautiful Isa's cookbook, Vegan with a Vengeance, the recipes for both stuffed shells and pesto are combined and made into a beautiful dinner. The brother-in-law grew some basil over the summer and it turned tree-like towards the end, so I took it all. :) Good thing, too, because the pesto calls for so much basil my house smelled like an italian restaurant for days!



Stuffed Shells with Pesto
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Classic Pesto Ingredients
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

½ cup walnuts (I used pine nuts because I have a hard time thinking about pesto without them)
3 cups packed basil leaves
3 cloves garlic, smashed and coarsely chopped
1 ½ tsp coarse salt
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste (I added little by little...I probably only used 1/4 cup total)
½ cup nutritional yeast (optional - but it's not going to be the same without it! Cody & I agree, this was the best pesto ever.)
2 tsp lemon juice

1. Toast the walnuts (or pine nuts) in a toaster oven at 350* for 5 minutes or on a baking sheet in a conventional oven for 10 minutes, turning once. (Again, me being different, I put them in a pan and cook them for like, 5 minutes, flipping a few times.)

2. Combine the nuts, basil, garlic, and salt in a food processor or blender and process while you add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Add the nutritional yeast and lemon juice, and pulse to combine. The sauce should be the consistency of a slightly grainy paste, not a puree. I like it to be a little thinner so it's easier to spread it on the shells so I add a little more olive oil until it's the right consistency.

Basil-Tofu Ricotta Ingredients
Makes about 2 cups

1 pound firm tofu, pressed
2 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp salt
Dash fresh black pepper
Handful of fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2 tsp olive oil
¼ cup nutritional yeast

1. In a large bowl, mush up the tofu with your hands until it's crumbly.

2. Add the lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil. Mush with your hands again; this you want to get it very mushy so squeeze through your fingers and mush until it reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese.

3. Add the olive oil, stir with a fork. Add the nutritional yeast and mix all ingredients well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Stuffed Shells with Pesto Ingredients

Classic pesto recipe
Basil-Tofu Ricotta recipe
½ box of jumbo shells

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly spray a baking dish with olive oil.

2. Boil water and cook shells until al dente. Drain.

3. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of Basil-Tofu ricotta into each shell (enough to fill it). Place each shell with the open side facing down on the baking dish.

4. Smear about a tablespoon of pesto on to each shell. It's not going to look pretty, but it's tasty.

5. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and ENJOY!



I highly recommend only stuffing as much as you need. Because the pasta isn't in a sauce, the leftovers get pretty stiff. We put a little bit of tomato sauce on them every time we heated them up, which worked well, but only cook as many shells as you're going to eat.

This is definitely one of our new favorites. I'm going to use both the pesto and the ricotta again. Thanks, Jaclyn! You're the best!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

'Tis the season for pumpkin, my dear friends. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bisque, pumpkin pancakes (thank you, brother-in-law Chuck for making some of the tastiest this weekend!), and pumpkin whoopie pies. Whoopie pies are a thing of my childhood. My gram made the greatest whoopie pies in the world. Sometimes, we were lucky and my mom would recreate them. Now the recipe has been passed on. My aunt makes them, my brother has mastered them...if you don't know what a whoopie pie is, you need to get on that immediately. It's an absolute treat, one bite at a time.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a bit of a Rachel Ray fanatic. I have almost every cook book, thanks to the husband, and I also get her magazine. A few years ago, she had a recipe for her Pumpkin Whoopie Pies and I was instantly hooked. I didn't make them last year because it was a crazy fall. This year, when I found out sister-in-law Deidra loves pumpkin, I knew I had to make them. They were pretty easy to veganize, so here is my adapted version of Rachel's Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.



Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 14 minutes

Whoopie Pie
1/2 cup soy butter, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 egg equivalent (2 tbsp flaxseed, 6 tbsp water)
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (I refuse to buy pumpkin pie spice, so I used almost a full tbsp of cinnamon mixed with enough nutmeg, allspice, and ginger to equal a tbsp)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups unbleached flour

Cream Cheese Filling
1/4 cup soy butter, softened
4 oz Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 pinches salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the egg replacer, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.

3. Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 14 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened soy butter with the "cream cheese". Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

5. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

Cody has put these in his top three favorite desserts. They're closely behind Sopapilla Cheezecake and my Apple Crisp. Personally, I like them better than the Sopapilla Cheezecake. They have a great hint of pumpkin and the filling isn't too sweet. I will definitely be making these again...probably more than once this season. You need to try them! I promise, you will love them.

German Choc-o-lotta Cake!

When I learned that a majority of pre-made frostings were accidentally vegan, I immediately added some to my shopping cart. One of the different kinds I grabbed was German Chocolate Frosting. It's kinda gooey, has coconut, and I'm pretty sure some nuts. To go with the frosting, I had to make a cake worthy of such gooey-ness. I kind of put together my own chocolate cake...rich, not to sweet, and loads of chocolate flavor.



German Choc-o-lotta Cake!
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30-35 minutes

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soymilk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9-inch pan with cooking spray.

2. Sift together flours, baking powder, and baking soda.

3. In a saucepan, heat the soymilk on low-medium heat. When it is slightly bubbling, add the cocoa powder and wisk well until it is dissolved. Remove from heat.

4. Combine the other liquid ingredients in the flour mixture. Add the cocoa mixture and combine well.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan, bake at 350° F for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick or knife comes out clean. Let cool completely and frosting.

This cake rose so much I was able to half it and make two layers. It cake itself wasn't too sweet, which I really like. Cody gobbled up two pieces right away, then we brought half of the cake to the fam's house for dessert. It was awesome! You could top it with whatever frosting suits your mood, or just eat it plain. Whatever you do, just make sure you enjoy it!

Penne with Steamed Asparagus and White Wine Sauce

ASPARAGUS IS ON SALE!!! ASPARAGUS IS ON SALE!!! As I'm sure you know by now, Cody and I loveLOVELOVE asparagus. Pickled, roasted, steamed, grilled...you name it, asparagus is probably our favorite vegetable. That's why when asparagus goes on sale, we buy it pound for pound. This trip, we bought 7 pounds. Three pounds for roasting at the fam's house, two pounds for pickling, and with the other pound, I cooked up something new.

For this dish, I decided to steam the asparagus and toss it with some whole wheat penne (the only pasta I had in my pantry, but a good choice, I must say!) and top it with a white wine sauce. The sauce was buttery, creamy, with a touch of garlic and a dash of heat behind it. Not to mention the pinot grigio I threw in there. :)



Penne with Steamed Asparagus and White Wine Sauce
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

1 lb asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 oz wheat penne, or whatever you have on hand
1/4 cup soy butter
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Oregano
Salt & Pepper
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

1. Prep and steam the asparagus until al dente. You want it to still have a crunch to it! Boil the pasta until al dente, too. I don't like mine with too much of a bite, so maybe a little bit longer if you're like me.

2. In a large skillet, melt the butter. Saute the garlic for 3 minutes. Add red pepper flakes (I add lots of red pepper flakes), oregano, salt and pepper. Add the wine; let it cook till it reduces. You don't want too much of an alcohol taste. Just enough. Add the soy milk and let simmer for a few minutes.

3. When it's all said and done, combine the three, top with some soy parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast, and serve!



I threw in some garlic bread because bread was on sale at Sunflower, too. I love sales. And I love food. Enjoy!

Hummus Wrap

I got home from the gym yesterday and was famished. Usually I'll just grab a banana, or maybe a bowl of cereal...but I was hungry! After rummaging through my fridge, this is what I came up with. (Note: this is for those of you who are still questioning veganism and its tastiness.)



Hummus Wrap
Prep time: 3 mninutes

1 wrap of your choice (I use the spinach wraps)
2 tbsp (OR MORE!) hummus; I had chipotle on hand
Assortment of vegetables...
- Romaine lettuce
- carrots, shredded
- thinly sliced cucumbers
- bean sprouts
- chopped kalamata olives

1. Put it all together, wrap it up, and enjoy!



It was so refreshing, yet it hit the spot. I paired it with some fresh marinated olives and a few slices of cucumber. The perfect post workout snack!