Vegan Swedish Fish Cupcake Recipe

They said it couldn't be done, but I did it.  I made vegan cupcakes with Swedish Fish*, and they are absolutely delicious. 

There's a lot going on in these cupcakes, but it all works.  I created an orange cupcake base for my cupcake because I thought it might nicely accent the ummm.... cherry flavor?  Are they cherry?  I just don't know, but I thought red flavor would go well with orange.  This basic vegan cupcake recipe is the one upon which I was built.  My recipe is much different, but I like to give credit to those who came up with the original ratios.

If you don't have coconut oil, you can substitute it with canola or vegetable oil.  Ditto if you don't have rice milk.  It can also be replaced with an appropriate analogue if necessary

Ingredients  

1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid

2/3 cup demerara sugar (or raw sugar)

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 ½ cups rice milk (warmed to room temperature)

1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon pure orange extract

zest of one orange

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup of small Swedish Fish

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin pan with 12 paper baking cups.

Beat together the coconut oil and sugar.

Mix in the rice milk and cider vinegar. Add the orange and vanilla extracts.

Add the orange zest, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until well combined.

Slowly incorporate the flour taking care not to over mix.

With a spatula or spoon, stir in the Swedish Fish.

Portion out the batter into the pre-lined muffin pan. They don't rise a lot, so I filled the cups almost to the top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

I iced my cupcakes with this Vegan Orange-Chocolate Frosting.

* Swedish Fish are vegan.  PETA says so.

Pumpkin Scone Recipe

There is a conspiracy in your cupboard: most commercially canned pumpkin is actually butternut squash (or a combination of other winter squashes).  These squashes tend to be sweeter and less stringy than traditional "pumpkin", so by creating these blends, the commercial pumpkin companies are actually providing us with a better product. 


This is why I feel no guilt when I call the following recipe my "pumpkin scones recipe" even though I used butternut squash to make it.  Regardless of the controversy, these scones are delicious.

*note* I was a touch conservative with the spices, so feel free to tailor the spicing to your own personal tastes. 


Pumpkin Scones

Ingredients
2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
½ cup cold butter
2 cups mashed butternut squash* (or Libby's 100% Pumpkin)
2 tbsp milk (or rice milk)

Preparation
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda.  Cut in butter, adding a bit at a time until mostly incorporated (it will probably be lumpy, but that's ok because that will make the scones more flaky).

Add pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg and combine well.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough a few times.  Form 18 lumpy balls of dough (each will be about ½ cup) and put them on baking sheets.

Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes or until no longer doughy.





*Roasted Butternut Squash
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.  Cut a butternut squash in half and scrape out the seeds.

Place squash halves on a lined baking sheet flesh side up brush liberally with melted butter.

Bake the squash on a baking sheet at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until fork tender.

Depending on the size of the squash, it may take 30-90 minutes to become fork tender. (I ended up having to toss a sheet of aluminum foil over the squash to help it along after 60 minutes) and it still took another 30 minutes).

When it is finally tender, scoop out and mash/puree the squash flesh. Allow to cool thoroughly. 



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Vegan Applesauce Peanut Butter Bread Recipe

Today I wanted to make banana bread, but I didn't have bananas.  I did, however, have apples.  Is it possible to make banana bread with apples? 

The first difficulty is that chopped apples do not have the same consistency as mashed bananas.  I solved this problem by making a quick applesauce.  While making my applesauce, I realized something else: apples and peanut butter are absolutely delicious together.  Could I add peanut butter into the mix?  How about chocolate chips?  Could this actually work?  Am I losing my mind or am I a genius?  What is this sticky stuff on my foot?  Why am I asking so many questions?  Scroll down to find out...


Vegan Applesauce Peanut Butter Bread Recipe

You can either make your own applesauce or use store bought. 

Applesauce Recipe:
     2 peeled, cored, and diced large apples (I used Granny Smith)
     1/2 cup of water
     1/8 cup of honey (or 1/4 cup sugar)
     1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

In a saucepan, combine apples, water, honey, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.


Applesauce Peanut Butter Bread Batter:
     1 cup whole wheat flour
     3/4 cup dark brown sugar
     1 tsp baking powder
     3/4 tsp baking soda
     1/4 tsp salt
     1 cup applesauce (homemade or store bought)
     1/3 cup peanut butter
     1/2 cup rice (soy or almond) milk
     1 tsp apple cider vinegar (white vinegar will also work)
     1 tsp vanilla extract
     1/2 cup diced apples
     1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (or chopped peanuts)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Combine the whole wheat flour, dark brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  Stir in the peanut butter and applesauce (if you just made the applesauce, allow it to cool before adding or your chocolate chips will melt).


Add the rice (soy or almond) milk, apple cider vinegar, and vanilla extract to the mixture and stir thoroughly.  Stir in the diced apple and chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into a bread pan which has been lined with parchment paper.


Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.





(The sticky stuff on my foot was honey that I dripped onto my foot while making the applesauce.  As for the other questions, you'll just have to find out for yourself).

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