GRIT Biscuits

I had a serious craving for homemade biscuits this weekend.

The GRIT always had great whole wheat biscuits for brunch. I liked them just as much making them at home from their cookbook.

The only thing missing was the nutritional yeast gravy (if you haven't tried it, you have no idea!!).

Here's Brunch Biscuits Deluxe courtesy of The GRIT Cookbook...

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder

1 3/4 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon, plus 2 pinches salt

3 tablespoons vegetable shortening

2 tablespoons butter, chilled and chopped into small pieces

3/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

extremely small pinch dry mustard

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease baking sheet w/ butter or shortening (I used a non-stick pan).

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Cut shortening and butter into flour w/ a pastry blender until particles are extremely fine and well distributed throughout mixture.

Stir together buttermilk, vinegar, and dry mustart. (it is important to note that the pinch of mustard should be extremely small) Form a well in the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture all at once. Gently fold in the liquid just until fully combined.

With floured hands, consilidate dough into a ball and transfer to a floured surface. Sprinkle lightly with flour, and pat and flatten dough gently with hands into a slab 1/2 to 2/3 inches thick. Cut into 13 two-inch wide pieces with a floured knife, cookie cutter, or lip of a water glass. Place biscuits on prepared baking sheet w/ sides just touching.

Bake on middle oven rack 12 minutes or until bottom of biscuits just begin to brown. Remove from oven and brown tops briefly under broiler.

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I have to admit...I don't actally have any real milk or buttermilk in my house...I made my own buttermilk by using my rice milk and mixing w/ about a teaspoon of vinegar and letting "curdle" for about 10 minutes. Worked great!

Vegan Apple Pecan Muffins

My parents live in Travelers Rest, above Greenville. I'm so jealous of their frequent mountain trips - they always have the best food. We're lucky that they always bring something back to share. Last weekend my mom gave me the sweetest little apples that she got up near Hendersonville.

I decided to try the Apple Pecan Muffins from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The Joy of Vegan Baking. These ended up being delicious....the 2nd time around. For the first batch, I decided to try using an all-natural substitute sweetener - Stevia (this was not recommended by Patrick-Goudreau). It was terrible. I had to try it again w/ regular sugar - it ended up being delicious. The really cool thing about these muffins is that the egg replacer is FLAXSEED!!! How healthy, right?

CPG recommends using whole flaxseed, grinding and mixing w/ water, similar to how you would use Ener-G Egg Replacer. I've read that flax goes rancid fairly quickly...I'm keeping them in my freezer...I'll let you know how that works out.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

6 tablespoons water

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped raw apples

1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease muffin tins.

In a medium-size bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

In a food processor or blender, whip the flaxseed and water together, until it reaches a thick and creamy consistency.

In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce, oil, sugar, vanilla, and flax mixture. Beat with an electric hand mixer or wire whisk until creamy smooth. Add to the flour mixture, stirring until well blended. Do not overmix. Fold in the apples and nuts.

The batter will be thick rather than smooth and wet, but it's okay. If you feel it's too stiff, you may add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water.

Fill the greased muffin tins about three-quarters full. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Cool in tins for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

I just checked out The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau from the library. I was fascinated by the many egg substitutes suggested...for these cookies I used Ener G Egg Replacer...it's a powder, primarily made of potato starch. To prepare, you mix w/ water in a blender or food processor til it gets frothy. It ends up looking kind of like egg whites.

One box lasts forever...like over 100 eggs.

These cookies were great, especially freshly baked. I would recommend undercooking just a bit...I wished I had - by day 2...they started getting a little chewy...not bad though.

The recipe follows

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (sifted)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer (equivalent 1 egg)

2 tablespoons water

1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

1/2 cup non-hydrogenated, nondair butter

3 tablespoons nondairy milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup ground peanute (optional)

1/2 cup nondair chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheets w/ parchment paper or use non-stick

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Whip the egg replacer and water together in a blender or food processor, until thick and creamy.

In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, peanut butter, butter, milk, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed with an electric hand mixer until well blended. Add the egg replacer mixture. Beat just until blended. Ad the flour mixture, ground peanuts, if using, and chocolate chips, if using, and mix just until blended.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly in a criss-cross pattern with the tines of a fork.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. Do not overbake. Remove fromthe oven, and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 3 to 5 minutes before removing to let cool on a wire rack.