Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Happy Baking Soda Day!

Blogger of the Day: Kris at nom! nom! nom!
Pubs:
The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes
The Damn Tasty Vegan Baking Guide
Have Your Cake and Vegan Too
The I Heart Trader Joe's Recipe Cards
The I Heart Trader Joe's Vegetarian Cookbook
Vegan Desserts in Jars
Vegan Ice Cream Sandwiches

Baking Soda Day? Yep, today you can celebrate the wonders of that humble white magic. You can put it to work or put it to play...make fizzy eggs, fat balloons, lots and lots of rockets and fountains of dayglo lava flows. Crazyfun stuff!  ;)

Or you can make it bake! Baking soda is a leavening agent, which means it helps make dough or batter rise by creating trapped carbon dioxide bubbles...baking powder does the same. So what's the difference?

Baking soda requires an additional acid (like buttermilk, citrus juice, molasses, yogurt or vinegar) to work...
Baking soda + acid + liquid = bubbles --> immediate rise

Baking powder contains baking soda and acid so all it needs is liquid to activate. Double-acting baking powder (what you see in most grocery stores) boosts it up when heat is added...
Double-acting baking powder + liquid = bubbles --> immediate rise + heat = more bubbles --> extended rise

Some recipes require both...balance is the key. Too much soda, powder or acid will result in a bitter taste so follow directions and measure carefully...this is why baking should be considered a science and why you should get school credit for flipping fluffy pancakes!  :)

Kris is a wise and clever baker, supersmart recipe creator...and Harry Potter pastrymaker! She's also a chemistry whiz in the kitchen so watch, listen and learn...then eat!  :)













Baking soda basics and more...
Leavening Agents -- Definitions, Cooking For Engineers
Food Science: Baking Soda and Baking Powder by Brian Geiger, Fine Cooking
Kitchen Chemistry by Professor Angela G. King, Wake Forest Magazine
The Difference Between Baking Soda and Baking Powder by Matt Shipman, NCSU
Leavening, Food Science 101, Oregon State U
Kitchen Chemistry includes (chocolate!), Dr.Patricia Christie, MIT

Does the chemistry of baking interest you? Have you used baking soda in a science project? What's your favorite fluffed up baked treat?  :)

Celebrate some more with our 2014 Daily Food Holiday and Featured Blogger Series!
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Sunday, December 28, 2014

Happy Biscotti Day!

Bloggers of the Day: Allysia and Mike at The Real Meal

By night Allysia and Mike bang out indie rock hits with their bandmates...by day they create deeelish eats, teach cooking classes like Vegan Feasts, Vegan Sushi and Intro to Raw Foods, and curl up with their supercute kitten! They delight in spiked treats and hearty comfort foods including yumfully filling brunches and chunky stacked sammies...crazyamazing stuff when you need to fuel up for a full day or rev up for a rockin' night.  ;)

Biscotti are sliced cookies that are twice baked to give them a slightly chewy, mostly crunchy bite. They're best when dunked in milk, coffee or hot cocoa, or dipped in slightly melty ice cream...yumza!  :)













*UPDATE!
As of July 2014, Barnivore has declared most of the Kahlua lineup Vegan Friendly! 
See the details here...
http://www.barnivore.com/search?keyword=kahlua
But you can still make your own if you like.  :)

Do you dunk your cookies? Have you tried making biscotti? What are your favorite brunchy foods?  :)

Check out the rest of our 2014 Daily Food Holiday and Featured Blogger Series!
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Friday, December 26, 2014

Happy National Candy Cane Day!

Blogger of the Day: Celeste at Growing Up Veg

Celeste is the ideal vegan mom...besides baking up loads of donuts, Star Wars cupcakes and Strawberry Shortcake cakes, she volunteers at the local nature center, helps out with the annual Twin Cities Veg Fest and runs VegKins, a Twin Cities based group providing fun creative activities and support for plantloving families. Her lucky kids get to taste test everything from spaghettios to Southern-style pecan pie and her crunchychewy chocolateminty awardwinning candy cane cookies! And right around the corner is Celeste's specialty...sugarsmacked Valentine madness!  :)

Crushed candy canes make the perfect cookie topper because what else can you do with all those spiralstripey sweets?  ;)












Is your family all vegan? Do you get to taste test vegan recipes? What's your favorite use for leftover candy canes?  ;)

Find more feasts in our 2014 Daily Food Holiday and Featured Blogger Series!
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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Happy Anise Seed Day!

Blogger of the Day: Ann at vegAnn's Kitchen

Anise cookies are a family favorite, especially around the holidays. You'll find various versions depending on where you bake:
• New Zealand Aniseed Wheels...cute wagon wheel shapes!
• Italian Pizzelles...delicate wafer cookies made with a patterned iron
• German Pfeffernüsse...full of pepper and spice and traditionally covered in powdered sugar
• German Springerle...charmingly sweet biscuits with pressed designs
• Austrian Anisbögen...potato chip-shaped cookies!
• New Mexican Bizcochitos...crunchy cinnamon anise cookies, the state cookie of NM
plus Peruvian Picarones...crispy spicy pumpkin and sweet potato doughnuts
and Netherland muisjes ...candied anise seed sprinkles!  :)
Source

Ann is a whirlwind of talent...after completing the Chef's Training Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute and an internship at crazyfamous Millennium Restaurant, she served as the pastry/salad chef at the award-winning Ravens' Restaurant. Currently she's creating fabulous meals at the beautifully serene Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. You can't get a better resume than that! She has generously shared many of her yumful recipes on her blog including these easy glazed anise cookies with sprinkelz! If you don't like anise you can leave it out or experiment with other extract flavors. If you love anise try her Apricot Anise Cookies too!  :)












A sampling of anise...
From Savory Spice Shop
Anise Seeds
Ground Anise Seeds
Pure Anise Extract
Pure Anise Essential Oil
From The Spice House
Spanish Anise Seed
Anise Extract
From LorAnn
Super Strength Anise Oil ~ 1 dram size
Super Strength Anise Oil ~ 1 ounce size

Have you tried anise cookies? Which are your favorite?  :)

Find more feasts in our 2014 Daily Food Holiday and Featured Blogger Series!
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Thursday, December 18, 2014

Happy Bake Cookies Day!

Blogger of the Day: Holly at Petite Panettiere

We've got a batch of peanut butter cookies in the oven now and the whole house smells like warm cookie heaven...yumza!

Both of my Sicilian grandmothers were strong believers in the holiday cookie tradition. In between busy careers and community center volunteering and important family time, they somehow managed to create a tablefilled feast for every holiday, including hundreds of squealingly scrumptious sweets! Nana M specialized in Cuccidati, Biscotti Regina, Almond Fingers and Tutus, while Nana N pressed Anise Pizzelles and rolled Vanilla Chocolate Chip-filled Cannoli...I'm happily melting with the memory of them! To my grandmothers, nothing said love like baking these beautiful handmade cookies and pastries for friends and family. Holly carries on a compassionate baking tradition too...gorgeous treats made with a creative eye and a loving vegan heart. Her family is a lucky bunch to share in these delicious delights and her smiley spirit!  :)













Keep going beyond the cookies...Holly's got biscuits and burgers and scones and granola, boatloads of fudge and puppy treats too! These superyumfuls are next on our cookiemaking list...GF Butterfinger Bars.  :)

Which of Holly's cookies would you bake up first?  ;)

Celebrate some more with our 2014 Daily Food Holiday and Featured Blogger Series!
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