Monkey Face

Even though I said I was going to post weekly, I let the holiday and time with family prevail. Not a bad thing but I did not follow through with my word. For anyone out there who actually pays attention to this blog, I apologize. I intent to do better.

We are starting again. This time with Monkey Faces. Sort of. These cookies taste amazing but don't actually look anything like I was expecting from the recipe description. We'll start at the beginning.

http://community.tasteofhome.com/community_forums/f/30/t/342014.aspx

This was the link to the original recipe I used. If you look at that recipe and remember anything about our food situation, you know that I did not follow the recipe to a T. Perhaps that is why my monkey faces turned out looking like this...

Little aliens, if you ask me. Still, they tasted good. So good that I am fending off the children as we speak.

Here's the recipe:

Mix together:

1/2 C shortening

1 C brown sugar

1/2 C molasses (I used cane syrup since that is what I had and the taste is similar. Another plus, it is cheaper than molasses.)

Add:

1/2 C almond milk (Probably any milk will do but this is what we keep for the allergenic child around here.)

1 tsp vinegar (I just used plain old white vinegar.)

Mix in:

2 1/2 C flour

1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Drop by rounded tsp. 2-12" apart on ungreased baking sheet. Place 3 raisins on each for eyes and mouth. Bake @375º 10-12 min. or until set. Remove from sheet in 1 min. Faces take on droll expressions in baking. Makes 4 doz. 2-1/2" cookies.                     

I made half of the cookies with raisins and half without. Here's the picture of the others.

I don't know why exactly, but the ones with the raisins are slightly more chewy and soft. The others still taste wonderful but I think I will use the raisins all the time now.

Happy baking and happy blessings. May all your experiences be full of YES.







At Last!

Well, after months of not being able to log in, here I am. No idea what happened or why but I couldn't even get an answer from the blog world itself! Personally, I think it had to do with the firewall we had on our computer. I think it kind of went haywire. Once we changed that, BAM! All sorts of things we were having problems with got fixed. Who knew?

I will get back to posting once or twice a week now that I know I can get in here. The next recipe will be coming soon and it was a HUGE hit tonight. My DD with all the allergies said "This is awesome! I love it. Do we have enough for leftovers?"  Later in the meal, she asked when I was going to make it again. I think this one was good.

And a preview for more things I can't wait to share with you:
granola bar no bake cookies (they are healthy and yummy!)
a couple of cool websites I have come across
a bread recipe
muffins
and more....

I am glad to be back and hope you will continue to join me as I stumble along my way making Food In The World of YES!

Cupcake Failure

After I posted about the egg substitutes, I had to make cupcakes. Well, I think I used the wrong substitute. Or it could have been that I used the wrong two substitutes, since I had to substitute for milk as well. Whatever it was, they were weird!

I made the cupcakes following a recipe out of the red and white cookbook for a one layer chocolate cake. I substituted water for the milk; probably, this was the first bad substitute making it too liquid. The other substitute I made was for the egg and I used the 1 T water + 1 T vinegar + 1 tsp baking powder. Oh, and I only had wheat flour (but I have done that before and it wasn't a problem.)

At any rate, they tasted good, though with a grainy texture due to the wheat flour. They not only rose and then sunk, leaving a hollow like a volcano cone, but they spread out over the top edge of the muffin tin. Oh, and they were really crumbly. However, they were eaten and approved of, even if I couldn't ice them and pass them out like cupcakes.

Lesson learned, though. I remember reading in one of the vegetarian cookbooks I have borrowed from the library that some egg substitutes are heat activated and work better for baking. That was probably the biggest problem; I should probably have used the arrowroot sub. I will have to go through and see if I can find a good website that has a list of the best application for each sub. If not, I will try to contact the author of that cookbook and see if I can reproduce it because it is gonna be useful!!

Happy baking.

Egg Substitutes

Did you ever get up and decide to work on a recipe only to read eggs in the list and know you didn't have any? Used to be that I would put that recipe aside. Now, I know better. Since DD number 2 has been diagnosed with an egg allergy, I have found out that there are actually a huge number of possible substitutes.

These Snickerdoodles were made with arrowroot flour.

I have used several of them. In fact, the cookies in the oven right now used the arrowroot flour substitute. You will do better if you have an idea of the taste of what you are making is like - mainly sweet or savory. I am going to be making cupcakes tomorrow using an egg substitute. I will let you know how that turns out.

For now, here is the list that I have compiled of possible substitutes for eggs.

Use one of the following bullets  for each egg, up to 3 eggs, paying attention to the type of dish you are making and the flavors that will compliment it.

• 1 tsp baking powder + 1 T liquid + 1 T vinegar
• 1 tsp yeast dissolved in ¼ C warm water
• 1 ½ T water + 1 ½ T oil + 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 pkg gelatin + 2 T warm water; mix just prior to use
• 2 T arrowroot flour
• 2 T applesauce + ¼ tsp baking powder
• ½ banana (medium, mashed) + ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1 T vinegar + 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 T lemon juice + 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 T cornstarch + 3 T water

These have worked really well for me. I hope they work just as well for you. Happy baking.