Merry Holiday Baking

It's been a wild few weeks, folks. But I finally have my voice back (well .. 80% of it anyway), school is finally out until 2014, and I finally found time to bake. And boy oh boy .. I've been baking. I don't have a recipe for you today, but I do have a bunch of awesome links to where you can found awesome baking.

I embarked on an experiment this holiday season -- a little baketivism. In the spirit of veganism and animal-loving, healthyish and healthier baking, I've made an agreement with myself to only bake vegan treats to give as presents this holiday season.

It's been awesome, and not as hard as I expected -- vanilla custard powder and graham cracker crumbs at Bulk Barn are totally vegan! I'd like to thank my good friends Earth Balance (regular, soy-free AND my new favourite -- coconut spread), apple butter, ground flax (flax eggs are totally easy and totally cool!), maple syrup, and nut butter. Let's rock the hippie vegan lifestyle and make wild, unattainable new year's resolutions that we might .. just .. want ... to keep.

So, Merry Holidays everyone, and here we go with the vegan baking!

Lemon Chewies -- I used extra lemon juice and lemon zest to make them extra lemony.

Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles -- I made a great new friend -- cream of tartar -- that gave these cookies the perfect crispy-outside-chewy-inside texture.

Pignoli Almond Cookies -- I totally failed on these cookies -- they melted and fell apart in the oven, but they tasted so good that I squished them back into shape while they were still warm, and presented them as almond, pinenut fudge. Totally worked.

Vegan Nanaimo Bars -- I made these in honour of my visit to out west this summer where we biked over the Lion's Gate bridge into Nanaimo, BC. There weren't any Nanaimo bars to be found, so I made some of my own.

Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookies -- This cookie has the perfect classic texture and flavour, with a little added Christmasy flavour from rosemary.

Fudgy Coconut Milk Brownies, veganized -- The original recipe called for eggs and butter, but thanks to flax eggs and Earth Balance, no animals were harmed or enslaved in the making of these delicious, fudgy, chocolately brownies.

 Nutty Jam Thumbprints -- I made these cookies a little healthier by replacing most of the Earth Balance with apple butter and almond butter. They turned out beautiful -- chewy and moist, with a nice rich, nutty flavour. Find the recipe in "Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar" by Isa Chandra (of Post Punk Kitchen!) and Terry Hope Romero.

Chocolate Bottom Macaroons -- No one will guess that there's tofu in these coconutty balls of goodness, but it's the secret to making perfect macaroons without condensed milk.

Crispy, Nutty Cut Out Sugar Cookies -- I usually don't bother with cut-out cookies, but when it's Christmas Eve and you're spending a cozy day indoors, cut-out cookies are so much fun! Spelt flour, almond butter and apple butter make these cookies a little healthier so you and afford to decorate them with a little icing.

We just finished putting the icing on the last batch of cookies. And oh .. we're bringing smoked tofu and swiss chard casserole to Christmas Eve dinner .. everyone is going to fall in love with tofu and millet!

Merry Holidays everyone!