Makin Cranberry Pancakes

Pancakes, cranberry syrup, well HELLO Thanksgiving morning, How ARE you? Seriously, Thanksgiving day for most people is like a cooking marathon with a very, very satisfying ending. Well, I propose we take a moment to focus on the beginning of the day. You better start it off right, how else will you have the energy needed to get through one of the most epic cooking days of the year? Why not whip up a batch of fluffy pancakes with homemade cranberry syrup to get everyone in the cooking/festive mood? Sounds like a plan to me, AND these pancakes don't use eggs SO you don't have to worry about running out to the store for more when it comes time to make your famous *insert egg based holiday dish here* A few words about the cranberry syrup. It. Is. Awesome. You don't have to chop, puree, crush anything! Just throw the berries in a pan with some sweet sticky stuff, whisk a few times, and VOILA homemade (mostly) syrup! Cranberries deliciously bursting with every bite of sweet fluffy pancake.... Thanksgiving breakfast reclaimed.

Fluffy Eggless Pancakes

from cooks.com contributed by Dawn Linke
Makes 8 medium pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup whole milk (or soy milk)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter

Combine dry ingredients and mix. Add milk, oil, water, and vanilla. Mix until just combined, be careful not to overmix, it should be a bit lumpy (and you don't wanna strain a muscle!). Set aside to rest for a few minutes. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. While pan is heating throw in the two tablespoons of butter. As soon as the butter is nice and melted, add it to the pancake batter. Return pan to the stove and stir in that butter. When pan is hot (a drop of water should sizzle when dropped on pan), ladle on some batter. Cook until bubbles form on the surface, then flip em over and cook until goldeny brown.

Meanwhile....

Cranberry Syrup

from Cooking Light
1 cup cranberries (thawed if frozen)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice


Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for about eight minutes or until berries begin to pop. Stir occasionally so it doesn't burn/stick to pan. Remove from heat and pour over pancakes.
*Leftovers are awesome stirred into oatmeal or yogurt, OR over ice cream.
Yes. Please.
Bliss....

Linking up at Tatertots and Jello and Under the Table and Dreaming

Vegan Pumpkin White Chocolate Bars

ANOTHER vegan recipe... I am really starting to like this whole vegan thing. It gives me a bit of a challenge, adapting recipes so that they are completely vegan, and I LOVE a good challenge! This one turned out scrumptiously! I was trying to adapt a blondie recipe, but I wouldn't call these blondies, they have a moister, fudgy consistency (thanks to the pumpkin), but they retain that delightful chewiness with caramel undertones that blondies are so famous for. They don't have to be made vegan, so I included tips for making a regular version as well. The pumpkin flavor is just perfect for this time of year and who can say no to a little white chocolate? Not me!

Pumpkin White Chocolate Bars

Adapted from Coconut Blondie recipe by Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 ounces vegan "butter" (I used Earth Balance), softened to room temperature (or for non-vegan, use 4 ounces unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature)

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 cups vegan white chocolate chips (can buy them here, or use regular)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper and mist with non-stick spray (or butter, or grease).

Mix together butter, sugar, pumpkin puree, and vanilla until smooth. Add flour, salt and pumpkin pie spice.

Mix until combined.

Fold in white chocolate chips.

Smooth batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until set but still a bit soft in the middle.

Happy Monday!

Blackberry Pinwheel Cobbler

It's the weekend! I had Thursday off work, which was amazing! I spent the day at the GRAND OPENING of H&M with my friends Lauren and Jamie (you can read more about the amazingness on Lauren's blog). After that exciting shopping trip, I had worked up an appetite! I have been looking for a great recipe to use up the last of the blackberries I picked this summer, and when I found this one on cooks.com, I knew this was it! It's kind of a cross between the most amazing cobbler ever and really delightful cinnamon rolls. I had to adjust it a bit as it was a little lacking in the directions, I also wish I would've used a smaller pan! The recipe says to use a 13x9 inch pan, which turned out to be WAY too big! Too large pan not withstanding, this is easily the best cobbler I have ever had. I almost wrote it off as a failure when I pulled it out of the oven, the rolls had not expanded as much as I thought they would, but I am SO glad I took a bite before making that decision! The cobbler rolls are crunchy and sugary, almost like a soft sugar cookie. The blackberries had released juice during baking which mixed with the sugar sauce to create a jam like sauce that when spooned over the rolls was absolutely fabulous! Be sure to let it sit for at least 15 minutes after removing from the oven to let the sauce thicken up a bit. The recipe says you can make it with any fresh or frozen fruit, so time to break out those frozen summer berries, peaches, nectarines, and I really wanna try it with mangoes! Now the recipe... cause unless you hate delicious food, you should probably go ahead and make this, right. about. now!

Adapted from cooks.com

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1/2 cup butter (I used vegan)

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening or butter spread (used vegan)

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon milk (used Soy)

3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries (I used about 2 1/2 cups defrosted and drained of excess juice)

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan; stir well.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Set aside. Place the 1/2 cup butter in an 8x8 inch baking dish in a 350 degree oven for 3 minutes or until butter melts. Set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cut shortening or butter spread into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal; add milk, mixing with your hands just until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly 4 or 5 times.

Roll dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle.

Spread blackberries over dough. Roll up, jelly roll style, beginning with long side. Cut dough into 12 (1 inch) slices.

The easiest way to cut the dough without smooshing it is this: grab your box of dental floss (go with me here, I promise, it works). Tear off a piece of floss (about 10 or so inches). Slide floss under roll, cross ends and pull until floss slices through roll.

Place slices, cut side down, in butter. Pour sugar syrup around slices. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, or until golden.

I sprinkled on some granola, that counts as breakfast, right??

Kinda like a big berry filled cinnamon roll

Sit back, relax, eat up!

Vegan Acorn Squash Muffins

This weekend, I tried a vegan recipe! I have been considering going vegan lately, but I am still having trouble completely giving up meat so I haven't fully converted. BUT I think that if we all cut down on our animal intake, or at least focused on eating animals and animal products that are certified humane, the world might be a little better place for our furred and feathered friends :) Anyways, this recipe is super easy and doesn't involve any strange ingredients so don't be scared by the veganness! I found the recipe on Hell Yeah It's Vegan! The original recipe used sweet potato puree, which I am sure would be great, but I only had an acorn squash so I subbed that in, instead. I also used molasses instead of maple syrup and didn't add in any lemon juice (as the original recipe called for). The muffins are PERFECT for this time of year, cinnamon and nutmeg are great complements to the sweetness of the acorn squash. They rose up beautifully and are best served warm with a drizzle of powdered sugar glaze. Enjoy!

Acorn Squash Muffins

Adapted from Hell Yeah It's Vegan

1 c + 2 Tbsp squash puree

3/4 c soy milk

2/3 c brown sugar

1/3 c water

¼ c oil

2 Tbsp molasses

2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400°F and lightly oil a muffin tin. In a large bowl, mix together puree, soy milk, brown sugar, water, oil and molasses. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and spices.

Combine wet and dry mixtures until just mixed.

Spoon batter evenly into prepared pan, filling muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let muffins rest a moment in the pan, then cool slightly on a wire rack before serving.

Before the glazing

Glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tablespoons milk

Mix together, adding milk until desired consistency is achieved.

Yay for vegan muffins!