Happy National Pancake Day!

In honor of National Pancake Day, I decided to make pancakes for dinner. A search of Post Punk Kitchen for a vegan pancake recipe, I found this. Yes, indeed a keeper. And what I like about it is that it doesn't use sugar. It does have a small amount of pure maple syrup as a sweetener, but otherwise I think they reserve the sweet for adding syrup (or maybe a vegan cream cheese topping?) on top.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes (Vegan):

INGREDIENTS:
2 T. ground flaxseeds
1 C. almond milk
1 t. apple cider vinegar
1/4 C. water
1/4 C. pure maple syrup
2 T. canola oil
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 C. all purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. allspice
1 C. peeled grated carrot (grated, not sliced)

PREPARATION:
In a small mixing bowl, using a fork, beat the flax seeds together with the milk for about a minute. Add the vinegar, water, maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Mix well. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon just until combined. Fold in grated carrot. Let batter rest for at least 5 minutes.

Preheat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Lightly coat pan with cooking spray or oil. Add batter in scant 1/4 cup scoops. Cook three at a time for about 4 minutes (or until the tops look mostly cooked), then flip and cook until lightly browned, 2 more minutes.

***I made a half batch and it was delicious.
***I found this recipe here: Post Punk Kitchen

Coffee Cake - Vegan Style

OK, I woke up this morning and thought, "I know! I'll make a coffee cake to share with my friends." (Mandy and Brian are staying with me this weekend; they're going to see U2 tonight here in Nashville.) My original idea was to make one using the Pioneer pancake mix in the cupboard but when I got there, I realized that I didn't have enough of the mix to make the recipe.

Turn on computer and search Google: "vegan coffee cake recipe." And up popped this. It's baking in the oven now....

East Coast Coffee Cake:

INGREDIENTS:
Topping:
1 C. flour
1/3 C. brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 C. canola oil, plus up to 2 T. more if needed

Cake:
3/4 C. non-dairy milk (I use almond milk here.)
1 t. apple cider vinegar
1/3 C. sugar
1/2 C. canola oil
1 t. vanilla
1 1/4 C. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

PREPARATION:
Preheat over to 375 degrees and grease an 8-inch square pan. Mix the milk and vinegar together and set aside to curdle.

Mix topping by combining flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add canola oil and mix until crumbs form. You want mostly large crumbs.

For the cake, mix milk mixture, sugar, canola oil and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder and salt, and mix until smooth. Pour batter into pan. Evenly sprinkle the topping over the batter and pat down just a bit.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes (I baked for 30 minutes). Let cool one hour before serving and sift powdered sugar on top before serving, if you like (I like).

***This took less than 10 minutes to stir up and what I love about vegan recipes is that they are such basic ingredients that you are bound to have them in your kitchen if you cook or bake at all.

***I found the recipe here. This person found it in Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, which sounds like my kind of recipe book. I'll have to check that out.