Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I know that's a conceited claim, that these are the best oatmeal raisin cookies...but I wouldn't claim it if it wasn't true. I promise you, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that these will be the best oatmeal raisin cookies you will ever eat in your life. They are chewy and soft and perfectly spiced, with just the perfect amount of both oatmeal and raisins. Everyone who tries these raves about them.

Now you can make them too, and collect all the accolades for yourself. I promise, I won't tell that it's not your original recipe.

Disclaimer: These are not healthy for you. Cookies are not meant to be. They are a sometimes food. Healthy cookies are just...gross. If you're on a diet, don't make these. But if you want a great treat to indulge in once in a while, these are your ticket.

Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes 3 dozen.

1 cup margarine {2 sticks of Earth Balance}, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup unrefined white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 banana, mashed well
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups oats
1 1/2 cups raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cream together margarine and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and banana and mix well.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the sugar mixture until combined.
3. Add oats and raisins and stir until evenly distributed. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls onto a greased {or parchment-lined} cookie sheet and bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Bread with Cranberries

Perfectly-spiced and delicious, Pumpkin Cranberry Bread was the perfect treat to take into work yesterday.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Robin Robertson's version of the classic Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Peach Bundt Cake

This was one of the top 10 most delicious things I’ve ever put in my mouth. It’s a recipe from The 100 Best Baking Recipes, and that book is worth the purchase for this recipe alone.

The cake was tender and moist without being crumbly, and studded with sweet little peach gems. In the middle was a layer of pecans/brown sugar/cinnamon that really took the cake over the top.

This will definitely become a go-to recipe for me.

Maple Banana Bread

You’ll come to realize through reading this blog that I am an opinionated person, with opinions on many things. One of those things is banana bread. I am sick to death of recipes that yield dry, crumbly, or doughy-in-the-middle bread. Even worse are the recipes that have so much sugar that the bread is practically a dessert. If I wanted banana cake I would make banana cake {mmm…maybe with a sour cream/cream cheese frosting…but that’s another post}. When I want banana bread I want it moist, evenly cooked, healthy but delicious, and with the natural sweetness of the bananas shining through.

I came up with the following bread. It is healthy and hearty, moist and tender, sweet and perfect with pats of Earth Balance melting down over its warm happiness.

Maple Banana Bread
Makes 1 loaf.

3 ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
¼ cup non-dairy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease an 8 x 4 loaf pan generously.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together bananas, maple syrup, canola oil, apple sauce, milk, vinegar, and vanilla until well combined.
3. In a small bowl, sift together baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and flour.
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. Pour into loaf pan and smooth the top.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

This bread is a great jumping off point for the addition of chocolate chips, nuts, or even peanut butter {sub 1/4 cup of peanut butter for either the applesauce or the oil}. I’ve also made it with 1/2 cup of cocoa powder stirred in to make “chocolate banana bread”.

It also doubles REALLY well. I tend to get overzealous when buying bananas {you never know when your 2-year-old is going to demand 3 bananas in a single day!}, and therefore frequently find myself with 6 bananas that are past their prime. Usually by the time I get around to making banana bread, I have enough bananas to make two loaves. One for us, and one for a neighbor or friend. Or…two for us. Because really, this bread is flippin’ delicious.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shells

This afternoon I made the Chocolate Peanut Butter Shells from The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes — yum! They are so delicious, but very rich.

The chocolate dough was a dream to work with, but the peanut butter dough was a pain in the butt. However, I chalk that up entirely to my own stupidity. I got overzealous and started mixing the peanut butter filling ingredients before reading the directions. Do you know how hard it is to combine a bunch of peanut butter with a bunch of powdered sugar? I’ll give you a hint — VERY. I’m sure it would have been much better if I’d slowly added the powdered sugar, as the author so helpfully suggests. D’oh! In the end, it all came out okay, though.

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

I had the opportunity to pull out The Urban Vegan yesterday for the first time since getting it. The first recipe that caught my eye was in the desserts section {naturally}, this beautiful Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake.

The cheesecake was perfect, with a texture akin to standard New York cheesecakes, however I failed to put it in a water bath while baking {or rather, the recipe failed to mention the necessity of doing so} and the top came out horrifically cracked.

Oh well, no harm, no foul, and definitely not something that a can of cherry pie filling can’t fix!

Coconut Lime Bars

Coconut Lime Bars from The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes.

I made these tangy little beauties for a family gathering, and they were a hit. I came home with little but crumbs in the bottom of the pan. I was expecting that they might be more creamy, they were more “gel”y than I’d anticipated, but it wasn’t a bad thing. I think I would definitely make them again.