Adventures in Vegan Baking!

Alright y’all something a little different! This entry is about a journey I took into the world of baking VEGAN! So, I have a friend (Hi Kristen!) who is Vegan… now let me just dispel some things you may be thinking. And the answer is to be open minded because as a meat and dairy LOVER… some of the food is actually not so bad . . . really! I like to think of it as eating something “ELSE” for dinner and not trying to substitute, or maybe pointing out that there are things out there that we eat that we don’t realize just doesn’t have that stuff in it…. Like fruit salad, still “mmm” without the “moo”.

Getting past my staunch European behavior when it comes to food is not always so hard since I tend to have a “sure, I’ll try it” attitude when it comes to food. Okay --get over yourselves, I will not eat bugs, ever. But, I realized that for a couple of hours (while making this dish) I was able to imagine that maybe the doctor told me that I was lactose intolerant or that milk didn’t exist. I have had the grace so far to not develop major allergies to really anything but you never know about the future right…

Relatable Story Time:

The last chef I assisted (I assist cooking classes, fun!) had an amazing menu with all kinds of goodies on it and before I could even register that it was “something different” he mentioned that he was allergic to wheat, rice, milk, just about everything…. And I thought, “Deeeeepressing”! But his way of getting around some of those things was to point out the items that we use everyday and personify those in his meals for instance: making a tomato basil tart or using pecorino in your pasta dishes because it’s made from goats milk (no diarrhea explosion for those of you who are lactose intolerant; ie cow’s milk!).

Chef John also mentioned something that rang true with me when I thought on it… he said that he really didn’t like chocolate, or dessert – it started off that he mostly couldn’t eat them because of the dairy. He loves to make it for his dinner guests but he mentioned that he had a lack for the love of sweets and I thought “how odd”. And then! I was able to relate to this theory of “non-existence” because one Lent I gave up “junk” and after the words were uttered from my mouth I realized that EVERYTHING IS JUNK. No sugar, no pre-made snacks, no quick food what so ever… but by the end of that manic episode 40 days later I realized that I’d completely lost the craving for sugar and now got extremely excited about things like broccoli and Brussels sprouts; even though I already love those veggies, it was weird. I figured mentioning those stories was worth it because taking the sugar out of Brandy is like trying to get blood from a turnip! If I can try it so can you…

Random Reader: “Um, can we get to the point of this damn entry? I thought there was supposed to be a freaking Vegan recipe in this thing…” FINE.

I made Apricot Butter Bars from a book called “Baking with Agave: Over 100 Recipes Using Natures Ultimate Sweetener” By Ania Catalano. The original reason for my purchasing this book was to try and cut back on my sugar (like I mentioned earlier)… this is another story but you should look into Agave if you already haven’t it’s a great way to cut back on processed sugars, no funky after taste!!! At all! And here was a way to bake with it, yippy. But the book also has some Vegan and Gluten Free Recipes so it worked out great when my friend Kristen had a surprise birthday unbeknownst to her and I wanted to contribute!

Dough Ingredients: 1 ¾ cups Rolled Oats (Not quick cooking!), 2 cups Brown Rice Cereal, 1 ½ cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (a choice between that or Spelt Flour – which is more nutritious but a little more on the adventurous side since its grainier and nuttier), 1 tsp Baking Soda, ½ tsp Cream of Tartar (mixed with baking soda for a fluffier rise with nonconventional baking), ½ cup Sliced Almonds, 1 cup Unsweetened Apple Juice, ¾ cup Light Agave Nectar, 1 tsp Vanilla, 1 tsp Almond Extract, ½ tsp Nutmeg, and 2 tsp Cinnamon.

Filling Ingredients: 2 cups Dried Unsulfured Apricots, 2 cups water (more if necessary to keep moist while cooking)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9x13 inch baking dish with oil spray preferably veggie or canola.

Start by making the filling. Put the apricots and water in a large saucepan, bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer; partially covered for around 20-25 minutes. You want the apricots to be soft. With a food processor puree and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together; Brown Rice Cereal, Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, Oats, Baking Soda, Cream of Tartar, Cinnamon, and Nutmeg. In a separate bowl mix together the Apple Juice, Agave Nectar, Vanilla, and Almond Extract.

Pour Wet onto Dry Ingredients and mix to combine.

Take 2 cups of the dough mixture and press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the filling on top evenly. Mix the almonds into the rest of the dough remaining and then spread evenly on top of the filling. Pack tightly. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and let cool… recipe says about 20 minutes of cooling time but I would probably double it so the bars will stiffen up a little.

Overall, they aren’t too bad. I think I would have to get used to the taste of the brown rice cereal but can always tweak your recipe. I think I might make less dough next time to make them a little thinner. They are actually huge even when you cut them into what you thought were small pieces because each bar ends up being about 2 inches thick from top to bottom with this recipe! If you don’t like it at least you can say you tried it …. That’s what I told myself ;-)