Thanksgiving Pie

This post is a bit wordy but I've had a couple of people ask about gluten-free/vegan desserts recently so I will have to post about pie. If you have spend any time with my family you would know that while we are dessert crazy, we are pie obsessed. I was taught that pie can be a complete meal. For example, pumpkin pie has your diary, grain, protein and vegetable. All you need! For my brother's 30th birthday we put candles in pie. A few years ago my parents had to be on the other side of the country for Thanksgiving and I think my sister, Dr.L, and I overcompensated for their being away.

Apple pie, apple tart, pumpkin pies, grape, berry, shoo-fly, peach, strawberry-rubarb, sweet potato and a pecan pie. We made all of the pies in this picture ourselves and Dr. L bought more at the Dutch Market (we have strong Pennsylvania Dutch roots).
Since then, the family has gotten more health concious and Dad, who has celiac disease, and Dr. L & her husband, Dr. K, have all gone vegan. I haven't managed to join them but their bloodwork numbers are much better than before and they all feel better. I still have the obsessive urge to feed them so I keep experimenting with foods that they will eat and Pumpkin Pie is one of the best recipes I've found.

I found a vegan Pumpkin Pie recipe thru pinterest, because isn't that where you would look first? And this was the recipe I decided to try.

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/desertrecipes/r/tofupumpkinpie.htm

For years now I have made pumpkin pie without the crust. It's fast, it's easy, and if you put a little less sugar in it you can call it a vegetable!  And that is the fastest way to make it gluten-free! If you prefer having a crust, I recommend using the Oil Pastry recipe from the red&white checked cookbook (otherwise know as the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook). Just replace the wheat flour with Authentic Foods Superfine Brown Rice Flour. It's a little harder to work with but just keep patting and poking bits of dough into the holes and it bakes up wonderful.

Here is my version of Vegan Pumpkin Pie that everyone: kids, grownups, vegans and omnivores all like:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Ingredients:
One box (12 oz.) of silken/soft tofu
1 16oz can of pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
pinch of cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses (very important!)
1 1/2 Tablespoon ground flaxseed

Put all of the ingredients in your food processor and process until smooth and there are no specks of white. Pour into a greased glass pie pan. Bake for 15 minutes and then lower your oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake for another 40-50 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Enjoy!

Yummy Muffins!

A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine - teacher, crafter, and baker extroidinaire - shared some of her favorite vegan recipes with me. I haven't tried them all but my favorite on is her Basic Muffin Recipe. As is usually the case with my favorite recipes, I can customize to my little heart's content! And I do!

So far the version I like the best is my Apple Cinnamon Muffins. And to my joy, my 7 year old loves them! He won't eat my bannana bread, my strawberry bread, any cookies with nuts, most versions of biscotti,...probably better for him that he doesn't eat most of those things but I do like to feed the ones I love!

Here is the Basic Muffin Recipe.
Dry Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingreadients:
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup soymilk
1/3 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup of add-ins: blueberries, cherries, diced apples, chocolate chips, nuts, etc...)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400
-Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray
-In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and make a well
-Add wet ingreadients one at a time to well
-Mix just until combined, fold in add-ins
-Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full
-Bake 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For Apple Cinnamon Muffins I mostly follow the orginial recipe except for:
- I add 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients
- I leave out the vanilla
- instead of applesauce, I LOVE to use apple butter, soooo tasty!
- my add-in of choice is 2-3 granny smith apples, peeled, diced, place in a microwave-save bowl and microwave for 2-3 minutes until most pieces are soft, let cool while you get the rest of the ingredients ready; sometimes I add a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar to the apples if they are especially tart.

The apple muffin recipe makes a dozen big muffins OR 12 small muffins & 12 mini-muffins OR 3 dozen mini-muffins.

Try my version. Make up your own version. Just keep me posted on your favorite combinations!