Spiced Cake Donuts

I finally broke down and bought a donut pan. Gary has wanted me to make donuts for a while now, but I refused to make them. I haven't been the biggest donut fan because they are fried greasy messes. Have you ever eaten one for breakfast, burped hours later and that taste came right back up with the burp? Yea, I get that and it grosses me out. It stays with me all day and it's not the healthiest breakfast out there to start the morning off right.

Another reason I didn't want to fry anything at home was because of the hassle of using a lot of oil, then not knowing what to do with it afterward. The cleanup is a mess, and it's not worth it for a dozen donuts. Then came the baked donut. It's lots easier to make and easy cleanup as well. I've seen many recipes out there, so hey, why not. It'll get Gary off my back and I can have cake for breakfast :). I started off with the recipe right on the back of the packaging, adapting it slightly to make it dairy free. The first words out of Gary's mouth, "Wow, these are good!" I guess these are a winner!

I haven't quite got the hang of how much batter to use yet, as you can see by the different sized donuts in the picture. I'm hoping my future donuts are just as delicious and uniform in size.

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Spiced Cake Donuts
recipe by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from the back of the Norpro package




ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 TBSP shortening

for the glaze:

• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 TBSP hot water
• sprinkles, optional

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Spray the donut pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, spices, and salt.
3. Add in milk, eggs, vanilla, and shortening and mix until just combined.
4. Fill each donut cup about 3/4 full.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until donuts spring back when touched.
6. Cool slightly before removing from pan.
7. To make the glaze, whisk together the confectioners sugar and hot water. Dip the donut to coat on one side. Flip over and sprinkle the sprinkles on top if using.

Yield: 12 donuts

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Roasted Sesame Maple Ginger Tofu

I've always liked tofu, but other than putting it in soups like my mom did, I never really ventured out. When I saw this baked tofu recipe, I knew I had to try it. It looked simple enough and the flavors sounded great. Gary was onboard, so that was also my deciding factor in finally making it.

This tasted great and Gary enjoyed it even though it wasn't fried! It had a nice crispy exterior and chewy center that worked very well. I did reduce the sesame oil by half, since Gary doesn't like the taste of it. He's fine with everything else sesame though, go figure.

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Sesame Maple Ginger Tofu

recipe by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from Cara's Cravings




ingredients:

• 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed, cut into 1 inch squares
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 TBSP tahini
• 1 TBSP soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 TBSP pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 TBSP sesame seeds
• pinch of ground ginger
• pinch of red pepper flakes

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475° F.
   
2. Line a baking sheet with foil, spray with nonstick cooking spray and add the tofu cubes. Lightly spray the top with more nonstick cooking spray and season with salt & pepper.
3. Roast for 10-12 minutes, or until the pieces of tofu are lightly browned on the bottom. Turn the pieces over, and roast for another 10 minutes.
4. Whisk tahini, soy sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, vinegar, sesame seeds, ginger, and pepper flakes in a small bowl until combined.
5. Remove the tofu from the oven, and toss with the tahini mixture.
6. Pour the the tofu back on the sheet, and drizzle the remaining sauce on top. Return the sheet to the oven and roast for another 5-7 minutes, mixing with a wooden spoon halfway through, until desired crispiness is reached.

Yield: 2-3 servings

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Potato Sausage Breakfast Scramble

Most weekends, I try to make something new for breakfast or dinner. I don't have much time on weeknights, so it's my time to experiment. Sometimes recipes fail, but this one was definitely a success.

I received this breakfast scramble for the recipe swap and I knew Gary would love it too. We're huge fans of potatoes (the theme of the swap) as well as the eggs and sausage. We've made similar breakfasts using the same type of ingredients, but I don't recall ever scrambling everything together.

Since we don't eat pork, I used some fresh turkey sausages for this. The links I bought were in a 1lb package, so I used half. I also used two potatoes instead of one, well, because one just didn't seem like enough. In the end, Gary asked for more, so this was definitely a hit!

Remember to check out Sarah's blog for the full roundup of potato recipes, including my submission of sweet potato chili! Yes, sweet potato counts!

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Potato Sausage Breakfast Scramble

recipe by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from Cooking for Fun

ingredients:

• 1 TBSP oil
  
• 8 oz turkey sausages, casings removed
  
• 2 potatoes
  
• 1 small onion, diced
  
• 3 eggs, beaten
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• shredded cheese, optional
  

directions:

1. In a large skillet over medium high heat, add oil and brown sausage, breaking it up as it cooks.
2. Add potatoes and onion to the pan, and add a splash of water. Cover and cook about 10 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
3. Move sausage and potato mixture to one side, add egg to the empty side of the pan and scramble. Gradually mix into the sausage mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. If adding cheese, add now and cover until melted. Transfer to bowls and serve.

Yield: 2 servings

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Vegan Mocha Muffins

If you're looking for a super sweet breakfast treat to start your morning, sorry, you're not going to find it here. What you'll find here is a great healthy muffin which has just the right amount of sweetness that will start your morning off right. I'm not saying that I don't eat sweets for breakfast. I've eaten a cookie before and considered it breakfast. Heck, one of my favorite cereals is Cinnamon Life, even if I haven't eaten it in a while.

As I've grown up, my tastes have changed and I tend gravitate toward healthier options. Getting Gary to eat healthier has been a struggle at times, but even he has changed over the years. In the past, he wouldn't be caught dead eating a vegan meal, now he loves most of them.

I made these one Saturday morning when I got up seconds before my alarm even went off. It snowed all night and left us with a few inches outside. What a better way to start off the morning with a warm muffin out of the oven! I made these while Gary was still sleeping and he ate 2 immediately. He enjoyed them and that's awesome to hear from someone who used to eat 5 whoppers in one sitting when he was a teen!

The only change I made from the original recipe was swapping out plain unsweetened soy milk for the vanilla kind. Gary's picky about soy milks, and the Westsoy brand is only made with soy beans and water, the less ingredients the better!

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Vegan Mocha Cupcakes
recipe by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from Vegan Diner




ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 TBSP flax seed meal
  
• 1 TBSP instant espresso powder
  
• 1 TBSP baking powder
  
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  
• 1/8 tsp fine salt
  
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  
• 1 cup canola oil
  
• 1 TBSP vanilla extract
  
• 1/4 cup brewed coffee, cooled
  
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line or grease a 12 cup muffin tray. Brew coffee and reserve 1/4 cup for batter. Set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, flax, espresso powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk the sugar, milk, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.
4. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined, then whisk in the cooled coffee.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, divide the batter into the 12 cups.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until tops are puffed up and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. (mine were done at 20)
7. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
   

Yield: 12 muffins

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Chocolate Sesame Cookies

While I was browsing through my plethora of food and home magazines, I saw this recipe and it definitely spoke to me. It looked a lot like 煎堆, these pastries that my mom would make for the Chinese New Year holiday, so I knew these would fit right in.

When I told my sister about it, she thought it was weird, but I'm willing to try anything once. I'm glad I did, since these were quite tasty. The chocolate and sesame actually work very well together. Since mine were probably larger than the original recipe size and I baked it for about the same time, the middles were still fudgy and soft.

After reading the ingredients, the amount of flour was concerning me, however it looked like it worked for most people according to the reviews.

I've modified the directions to make it easier to handle. The first ball I tried to roll was still almost pudding like in my hands. I definitely couldn't roll those! I put it in the fridge for another half hour to set. Even then, although it was stiffer, it was still sticky. Then I just dropped the ball in the bowl of sesame seeds and shook it to coat it. It worked much better, my hands didn't get coated with chocolate and I was able to transfer to the sheets easily.

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Chocolate Sesame cookies

recipe by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from BHG Magazine October 2011

ingredients:

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate
  
• 2 TBSP butter (I used vegan butter)
  
• 3 TBSP Tahini
  
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
  
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted (I buy jars of toasted sesame seeds, much easier!)

directions:

1. In a small saucepan melt chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from heat then stir in tahini. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat eggs until frothy. Add brown sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined and light. Beat in chocolate mixture, then beat in flour mixture just until combined. Cover dough then chill at least 1 hour, until easy to handle.
3. Preheat oven to 350° F.
4. Scoop out dough with a cookie scoop, then drop into the bowl of sesame seeds. Roll the dough ball in the bowl to cover complete with sesame seeds. Place on cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until puffed and set on the bottoms.
5. Allow to cool mostly on the sheet, then twist slightly to remove from the sheet, so the bottom doesn't stick to the sheet. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: about 2 dozen (I got 26 using my cookie scoop, not the original 42 the recipe stated!)

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