Honey-Bourbon Cornbread Muffins (Eggless)

Once upon a time, a woman decided to make cornbread muffins but didn't have any eggs.  Undeterred, she replaced the eggs with a little water and carried on with her baking.  Like magic, muffins turned out lovely.  The next time she made the muffins, she replaced the eggs with bourbon and they turned out so good that she decided to share the recipe.  She tried to scream it from the mountain tops, but the words got jumbled and everyone ended up with "money" instead of "honey" in their cornbread and it didn't taste very good.  Then she learned about the internet and decided to put the recipe there.  And the people rejoiced because they now could make Honey-Bourbon Cornbread Muffins of their very own.  -The End.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cornmeal (regular, fine, or coarse grind)
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup honey
4 tablespoons bourbon

1 cup rice milk (or milk or another suitable milk substitute)
1/2 (or 1/4 cup) stick of softened butter

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Combine cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add honey, bourbon, rice milk, and butter.  Mix until smooth (about 1 minute - do not overmix).

Portion out into a standard muffin pan which has been lined with paper cups.  These muffins do not rise a lot, so you can fill the cups more than other muffin recipes.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Makes approximately 12 muffins.




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Pie Crust Dessert Snails (Vegetarian)

Pie Crust Snails are a quick and dirty way to re-purpose leftover pie crust.  This is a simple recipe that contains tons of butter, so I'm sure Paula Deen would approve.

I, however, love snails so much that I decided to just make a full batch with some homemade pie crust.  You can use your own pie crust recipe or use pre-made pie crust. 

Pie Crust Dough (with butter, lots and lots of butter)

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (or ½ cup) unsalted butter, frozen and cut into 1/2” cubes

1 teaspoon white vinegar

Approx. ¼ cup ice cold water

Using a food processor or a pastry blender, mix together your flour, sugar, salt, and butter until just barely combined.  Stop when all of the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas. It will look uneven and chunky.  That is a good thing because the chunks of cold butter in the dough will make the pastry flaky.  

If you were using food processor, transfer the flour/butter mixture into a large bowl or onto your countertop.  Drizzle 1/8 cup of the ice-cold water over the butter and flour mixture. Using a spatula or your hands, gather the dough together.  If necessary, add a little more water a tablespoon at a time until the dough pulls together.  Try not to overwork the dough.  If you have prepared the dough correctly, you still see unmelted butter pieces throughout the dough. 

Wrap the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap or in a Ziploc bag.  Form the dough into a disk about ¾-1” thick disk.   Let the dough chill in the fridge for at least one hour.  It will hold in the refrigerator for a week.

Filling

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup softened butter

When you are ready to make the rolls and the dough has chilled in the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Filling

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside until ready to use.

Cut the dough into four equal pieces, and place one quarter of the dough on a floured countertop and the rest of the dough in the refrigerator (you want to keep it cold so that the butter doesn't melt too much while you work with the dough).

Roll out one quarter of the dough on the floured counter top into a rectangular shape (approximately 5”x7”).  Liberally smear the dough with the softened butter and sprinkle heavily with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Roll up the sheet of dough with the cinnamon-sugar mixture inside.  Cut into four pieces and place the “rolls” on a lined baking sheet.  Put the baking sheet into the refrigerator to chill while you repeat the process with the other three quarters of the dough.

When all of the rolls have been prepared, place the baking sheet into the refrigerator for 5 minutes so that the butter in the rolls can chill before baking (cold butter = flaky crust). 

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-30 minutes.

The dough smeared with butter

Sprinkle, sprinkle!

A roll of delicious.

A different angle.

Oooh, five pieces.

Ready to bake.

Vegan Tom Yum Soup Recipe

I love Tom Yum soup.  I have tried to make it a number of times and failed miserably.  This is the first time that I made it that it was actually good.  I used this recipe for the foundation and tweaked it to my own taste.  I also had some lovely, home-grown summer squash lying around, so I tossed it in.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 quart low-sodium vegetable broth/stock

1 stalk lemongrass, sliced

3 whole kaffir lime leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried crushed chili

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 thumb-size piece ginger, diced

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 teaspoon brown sugar

4 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lime juice

1 1/2 cups baby bok choy (cut off the bottom of the bok choy and separate the sprigs. If the pieces are large, slice the bok choy)

5-6 sprigs of fresh cilantro

Chili oil, to taste

(optional) 1 cup tofu, 1 cup quartered and sliced summer squash, and/or 1 cup cherry tomatoes

Preparation

• Put vegetable broth in a stock pot.  Add the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, dried chili, garlic, and ginger. Boil for 5-8 minutes.
• Add the mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5-8 minutes, or until mushrooms are soft.
• Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, and lime.  Simmer for 1-2 minutes.
• Add the bok choy (and any optional ingredients).  Remove from heat. 
• Do a taste-test.  If you want more heat, add a little chili oil. If you want it to be a little more salty, add some more soy sauce.  Add a little more lime juice, if you want it to be a little more sour.  If it is too sour, add a little more brown sugar.
• Serve with a little fresh cilantro.

Vegan Swedish Fish Cookie Recipe

It's 98 degrees in my kitchen, but it's worth it because now I have Swedish Fish Cookies.  I may, however, die before I have a chance to eat any.  It's so hot.  So very, very hot.

 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vegan butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening (I used Crisco)

3 tablespoons water

Zest of one orange

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon orange extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup Swedish Fish (cut in half)

 

 

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, shortening, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the water, vanilla, orange extract, and orange zest.  Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add the Swedish Fish.

Shape the dough into walnut-sized balls and place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes.

Makes approximately 36 cookies.

Eat at Lu's Recipe Directory

Honey Cornbread Muffins

One year and forty-eight recipes later, I'm starting to forget what recipes I have created since starting this blog.  To help my memory and make life easier, I have created a directory to all of the recipes that I have created so far.  

Cupcakes

Vegan German Chocolate Cupcakes with Vegan Coconut Topping

Gluten-free, Vegan Strawberry Preserve Filled Banana Cupcakes

Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes

Gloopy Vegan Chocolate-Mint Lava Cupcakes

Curry Bomb Cookies

Vegan "Juggalo" Cupcakes made with Grape Faygo

Vegan Cranberry-Orange Cupcakes

Cherry Delight Cupcakes with Graham Cracker Base

Vegan Strawberry Preserve Filled Banana Cupcakes

Vegan Lime Pudding Filled, Chili Spiced Chocolate Cupcakes

Vegan Vanilla-Chai Cupcakes

Vegan Jaffa Cake Cupcakes (filled with Orange Marmalade)

Vegan Swedish Fish Cupcakes

Eggplant Stew

Cakes

Vegan Lemon-Rosemary Olive Oil Cake

Muffins

Honey Cornbread Muffins

Blueberry Wheat Bran Muffins

Corn Dog Muffins

Cranberry-Orange Wheat Bran Muffins

Cookies

Swedish Fish Cupcakes

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vegan Vanilla-Chai Cookies

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Applesauce Drop Cookies

Curry Bomb Cookies

Frostings

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Gina's Cream Cheese Frosting

"Juggalo" Cupcakes

Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting

Vegan Vanilla-Chai Frosting

Vegan Chocolate-Orange Frosting

Coconut Topping for German Chocolate Cake

Quick Breads

Vegan "Buttermilk" Biscuits

Pumpkin Scones 

Vegan Applesauce and Peanut Butter Bread

German Chocolate Cupcakes

Pretzels

Soft Pretzels

Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels

Soups

Vegan Onion Soup

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Chickpea Noodle Soup 

Vanilla-Chai Cookies

Savory Dishes

Vegan Mesir Wat (Ethiopian Red Lentils) 

Vegan Multipurpose Eggplant Stew

Vegan Corn and Black Bean Salad

Vegan Paella

Chutneys

Apple Chutney

Pear-Apple-Cranberry Chutney

Apple-Cranberry-Groundcherry Chutney  

Apple-Cranberry-Groundcherry Chutney

Miscellaneous

Candied Pecans

Sugared Cranberry Slices

Honey Citrus Butter

Roasted Fava Beans

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's a cookie party!

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup vegan chocolate chips

 

Preparation:

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, peanut butter, and brown sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the water and vanilla.  Mix in the flour and baking soda.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into walnut-sized balls and place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes.

Makes approximately 36 cookies.

Vegan Vanilla-Chai Cookies

These are essentially my Vanilla-Chai Cupcakes in cookie form.  A bit crispy, they are delicious with coffee or tea.

For those who I subjected to my Curry Bomb Cookies, these are sweeter (but with less sugar) and less explosive.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons softened vegan margarine

6 tablespoons shortening (Crisco)
3/4 cup demerara sugar (or regular sugar)
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons garam masala spice mix**

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups whole wheat (or all-purpose) flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt


Preparation: 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, shortening, and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add the water, garam masala, ginger, and vanilla.  Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Shape the dough into walnut-sized balls and place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten slightly. 

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes.

Makes approximately 36 cookies.

** Check the ingredients on your garam masala mix.  I accidentally picked up one with onion and garlic powder.  They didn't taste horrible, but they didn't taste good.  I recommend McCormicks.

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