Classic “Buttermilk” Biscuits

A great classic breakfast for a holiday morning, or an average weekend morning! Top with your favorite jams, nectars, or butters (I think an apple or pumpkin butter would be top-notch for a holiday feast). This recipe makes about six 2″ mini biscuits, or 3-4 larger biscuits. Perfect if your baking for one or two, if you’re baking for more.. you can easily double the recipe without issue.

Ingredients:

1 C All-Purpose Flour (I used King Arthur Organic) – you could also use a 50/50 blend of AP and Cake Flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp sea salt

3 TBSP Earth Balance Vegan Butter, super cold

3/4 C Coconut Milk + a splash of apple cider vinegar (I didn’t measure, but probably close to 1/8-1/4 tsp)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Splash in the apple cider vinegar with the Coconut Milk, set aside.

2. Whisk (or blend with a fork) together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With two knives (or pastry cutter), cut in the EBVB.

3. Add the vanilla extract to the “buttermilk.” Add milk mixture to flour/butter mixture. Stir until just combined. Slowly slowly, gently gently here. Once combined, turn out onto lightly floured surface and pat into a round until about 3/4-inch thick. Cut with biscuit cutters, or if you want to get whimsical.. any shaped cutter of choice.

4. Place biscuits on parchment lined baking sheet or pizza stone. Bake 16-18 min. If they aren’t brown enough to your liking.. you can turn on the broiler for a few. Serve with jams, agave nectar, Earth Balance, fruit, veg.. whatever! I topped mine with some festive Cranberry Habanero jam (found at the Feast of Artisans Farmer’s Market, handmade by the lovely Jackie’s Gourmet).

Happy Baking!

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Basic “Buttermilk” Pancakes

After taking picture after picture of pancakes in various flavor permutations, i realized I didn’t have a basic buttermilk recipe on here! *GASP* So here it is.. a great morning breakfast, weekend brunch, or if you’re like me, a cozy dinner. 🙂 The other pancake recipes on the Primate are fluffier and more dense.. whereas these are little thinner and more moist. I like both styles.. some days I have a preference one way or the other. I’ll let you decide..

Ingredients:

2 C All-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 TBSP raw sugar (sucanat, turbinado, etc)

1/4 C canola or safflower oil

1/4 C hemp, almond or coconut milk

2-2.5 C hemp, almond or coconut milk + 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar

4 TBSP Earth Balance Vegan Butter + more for greasing the skillet

2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. Proceed with mixing while the skillet gets good and hot.

2. In a measuring cup, mix 1/4 tsp ACV + 2.5 C vegan milk. Set aside to “buttermilk-ify.”

3. Melt 4 TBSP EBVB, set aside.

4. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. [sidenote: If you want to add things like cinnamon or other spices.. now would be the time].

5. Add 1/4 C oil and 1/4 C milk to dry ingredients. [It’ll be kinda lumpy until you add more moisture].

6. Add 2 tsp vanilla extract and 2 C of the “buttermilk”.. determining if you need the last 1/2 C or not based on the consistency of your batter. The thicker the batter, the thicker/denser the pancake will be. The thinner the batter, the more slender the pancake will be. Again, this is a personal choice. You could even add up to 3 C milk for *really* thin pancakes.. I have never found the need.

7. Stir until just mixed ~ don’t overmix the batter.. a few lumps are okay.

8. Pour about 1/4 -1/3 C batter per pancake.. Once the cake starts popping bubbles or the sides are congealing.. it’s time to flip! Mine don’t take very long since they’re thinner. I barely have time to walk away from the stove. Probably about 2-3 min per side (depending on thickness).

9. Top with favorite jam, syrup, or powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Add-ins: fresh blueberries; spices like cinnamon, clove, or nutmeg; alternative extracts like almond or coffee.. so many variations can be created using this base recipe!

🙂

Happy Cooking!

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Raw Date Bars

I fell in love with date bars last year in South Lake Tahoe.. So in love that I’ve carried around an ingredient list from a date bar that I ate in 2011, purchased at one of the cutest little hippie grocers (Grass Roots). And after a second venture to Lake Tahoe, and many a date bar from Grass Roots.. I came home and made my own! This recipe makes a small batch – enough for a bread loaf pan – but feel free to double and make in an 8×8 cake pan.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 C raw almonds (no need to soak, unless you want to)
1/4 C raw walnuts (no need to soak, unless you want to)
3/4 C rolled oats
5 dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/8-1/4 C coconut oil, melted [you can use less coconut oil and it’ll still come out nicely..if you need a little extra healthy fat in your diet, use the 1/4 C]
1/4 tsp salt

Filling:

12-14 dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/4 C water

Instructions:

1. Crust: Place all crust ingredients (except the coconut oil) in a food processor. Blend until crumbly. Add melted coconut oil and blend until combined. This entire process does NOT take very long at all.

2. Remove 1/4 C of the crust and set aside. In a lined bread loaf pan (or if doubling, use an 8×8 cake pan lined with parchment), spread the crust evenly in the bottom. Place in fridge while you make the filling.

3. Filling: Place 12-14 pitted dates into a food processor. Begin to blend..and slowly add the water as you blend. Blend until preferred smoothness. Spread puree onto crust.

4. Topping: With remaining 1/4 C crust, add in a dash of ground clove and about 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Mix with a fork, then sprinkle on top of date puree.

5. Chill in fridge 1 hr (to overnight). Slice and enjoy!

Happy Processing! 🙂

On this day in History: Refried Beans

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Mace & Chai-Spiced Crumb Cake (and Mini-Muffin Variation)

I made this recipe twice – the first time as a full cake for our Cherry Blossom Yoga vegan holiday potluck, the second time (after a little recipe tweaking) as mini-muffins for the Breakfast Yoga Club in The Woodlands. Both came out delicious, but I think after the recipe tweaking it’s now a supreme recipe! The original recipe was veganized from Food & Wine, plus I added in a Chai-spice upgrade. 😉 This recipe makes 1 10-inch crumb cake or 42-46 mini-muffins. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Spiced Cake
2 TBSP ground flaxseed in 4 TBSP warm water
1/2 C almond or hemp milk + 1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 C + 2 TBSP AP (sifted) or Cake flour
1 C turbinado/sucanat sugar (or 1/2 C granulated + 1/2 C brown sugar)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp mace
1/2 tsp each Cardamom, Cloves
1/4 tsp each Ginger, Allspice, Black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C canola oil

Crumb Topping
3/4 C AP flour
1/4 + 1/8 C turbinado/sucanat sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 C canola oil

Directions:

1. Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, combine ground flax and water; set aside. In a small measuring cup, mix together the milk and apple cider vinegar; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients and spices.
3. Add in canola oil, ground flax combo, milk mixture, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine; set aside.
4. Make the crumb topping: Whisk together all the dry ingredients. Pour in canola oil, and massage together with your fingers until it becomes crumb-like.
5. Spoon the batter (it’ll be a little thicker, not so much pourable as scoopable – like a really soft cookie dough) to a greased/floured 10′ springform pan or lined mini-muffin tin (about half-full each mini-muffin). Top with crumb topping.
6. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 min (for the full cake) or 12-14 min (for mini-muffins).

Happy baking!

On this day in History: Chai Granola

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Babka

“Cinnamon takes a back seat to no babka. People love cinnamon. It should be on tables at restaurants along with salt and pepper. Anytime anyone says, “Oh this is so good, what’s in it?” The answer invariably comes back, “Cinnamon.” “Cinnamon.” Again and again. Lesser babka?? I think not.” – Jerry Seinfeld

Just like the Black & White cookie – this babka brings “two races of flavor living together side by side in harmony.” Enter the Elaine-loving chocolate babka, and the Jerry-touting greatness  of the “lesser” cinnamon babka in this explosion of dual-babka heaven! Don’t “go in with a lesser babka” – serve an empirically superior combination of cinnamon and chocolate. A perfect babka for dinner parties, breakfast, or lazy afternoons on the couch at teatime.. 🙂

Ingredients

Bread:

2 tbsp  instant yeast

3/4th cup lukewarm almond milk

6 tbsp Earth Balance

6 tbsp  sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 TBS plain coconut milk yogurt

3 ½ cup  all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

Filling:

1 ½ cups coarsely grated chocolate chips

1 tsp cinnamon, ground

1/4th cup Earth Balance

Directions:

1.  Whisk the yeast into lukewarm almond milk and set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, or the bowl of a KitchenAid, cream together the sugar and Earth Balance until smooth.  Add the yogurt to the bowl in a couple of additions, mixing constantly for 30 seconds between each addition.  Add the vanilla and mix until light and fluffy.

3.  Add 3 C of the flour and salt and continue to mix until it all comes together.

4.  Now mix in the almond milk + yeast mixture and let it mix until it forms a soft dough.  Add in some or all of the remaining 1/2 C flour as needed for a soft, but not not sticky dough.

5.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for another 2-3 minutes. You will have a soft, supple, but not sticky dough.

6.  Let this rise for about 2 hours, or refrigerate overnight, making sure to remove it from the fridge two hours before baking.

7.  For the filling: butter and cinnamon together in a bowl.

8.  Once the dough has risen, roll it out into a sheet with a thickness of 1/8^th to 1/4^thinch. Make sure to keep it dusted well with flour at all times, or else it might stick.

9.  Spread the cinnamon mixture over it, and then spread out the chocolate.

10.  Roll the sheet of dough and then pinch the seams to seal it. Roll it to a length of about 24 inches. Place onto cookie sheet.  Cut the log down the middle lengthwise, making sure to keep the top end attached. Twist over each other to get the braided look.

11.  Let the dough proof for another 1-2 hours.

12.  Preheat the oven to 350F and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Happy Baking!

On this day in History: Chocolate Duo Almond Bark

“Look to the cookie, Elaine..look to the cookie.”

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Kugelhopf

My new favorite egg replacer in baked goods is coconut yogurt!  I’m obsessed with trying it out for all kinds of things.  This kugelhopf recipe turned out great the very first time I tried it.  I just took a non-vegan recipe I found on the web, replaced two eggs with 4 ounces of yogurt and voila!  Light and tasty kugelhopf.  For those of you who’ve never had it before, kugelhopf is a breakfast sweet bread from Austria or Alsace, depending on your nationality.  I did use the “traditional” kugelhopf pan, but really, any 11 cup (or greater) bundt pan will work just as well.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water
1 cup almond milk
7 tablespoons Earth Balance, or other vegan margarine
6 tablespoons cane sugar
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces plain coconut (or soy) yogurt
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries or raisins
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange or lemon zest
About 20 whole blanched almonds
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar

Instructions:

1.  Stir together yeast and water in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

2.  Heat almond milk with 6 tablespoons Earth Balance and cane sugar over low heat, stirring, until mixture is warm, butter is melted, and sugar is dissolved.

3.  Sift together flour and salt into large mixing bowl. Make a well in flour and add yeast mixture. Add warm almond milk in a slow stream, mixing at low speed with paddle attachment (or with a study wooden spoon, if mixing by hand – yes, it can be done!). Increase speed to medium and beat in yogurt, then beat in craisins and zest. Continue to beat until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. (Dough will be very sticky.)

4.  Grease kugelhopf mold with remaining tablespoon Earth Balance. Put 1 almond in each depression in bottom of mold (the almonds are only decorative; you can skip them altogether if your mold has no depressions), then scrape spoonfuls of dough evenly into mold (dough will be very elastic). Cover top of mold with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm place until it fills pan, about 1.5 – 2 hours (depending on temperature in room – to speed things up set heat the oven to its lowest setting, then turn heat off, but let dough rise in the warm oven).

5.  Remove pan from oven, if using that to rise it.  Preheat oven to 400°F.

6.  Remove towel from kugelhopf and gently peel off plastic wrap. Bake kugelhopf in middle of oven 15 minutes, then loosely cover mold with foil and continue to bake until golden and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes more. Cool in pan 2 minutes, then invert cake onto a rack to cool completely, about 1 hour. Dust with confectioners sugar.

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Chai Granola

By now, regular readers are probably aware of my chai obsession (chai, chai shortbread cookies).  Today as I was deciding what flavor granola I want to have for breakfast this week, it suddenly hit me:  chai spice granola!

Ingredients:

4 TBSP Earth Balance vegan butter

1/2 C oat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 C vegan granulated or turbinado sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/8 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 C thick-cut oats

1/4 C brown rice syrup

2 TBSP agave nectar

1/2 C whole almonds

1/2 C pecan halves

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease a large baking pan, or line with parchment paper.

2.  Add the Earth Balance, baking soda, sugar and spices to your food processor.  Blend until the mixture clumps, about 10 seconds.

3.  In a large bowl, mix all ingredients until well blended.

4.  Spread into prepared baking pan.  Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, or until toasty brown, stirring every 10 or 15 minutes.

5.  Remove from oven and let thoroughly cool.  Granola will crisp up nicely as it cools down.  Enjoy!

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Easy Hash Brown Casserole

This dish would make a great breakfast casserole to accompany some fresh fruit on those busy holiday mornings (think of it as a freeing version of hash browns). It would also make a wonderful, new side to those lovely vegan holiday entrees – such as black bean tamales! I can’t stress enough how wonderful and comforting shredded potatoes can be, and that’s exactly the feelings you want to inspire during the holidays…am I right?! 😉 So try this out if you’re looking for something different to accompany your holiday feast.. This will serve about 4-6 (depending on how in love your guests are with potatoes, and how many other accompaniments you have).

Ingredients:

2 TBSP canola or olive oil
3 medium gold potatoes, shredded
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 C veggie broth

Directions:

1. Pour oil in the bottom of an 8X8 baking dish. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Shred potatoes into a bowl. Dice onion, mince garlic, and add to potatoes. Stir to combine. Add in spices, stir to combine. Pour into baking dish, and spread evenly.

3. Pour in 1/4 C broth, cover with foil, and bake in 350°F oven for 45 minutes.
4. Turn heat up to 400°F. Uncover and cook for an additional 10 minutes to brown the top of the casserole. Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

On This Day In History: Giving Thanks, Tex-Mex Style

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Revival: Breakfast Taquitos

One of my favorite aspects of Autumn is the desire to make big, comfy breakfasts. Among these dishes include pancakes or waffles, coffee cakes, or the always-favorite breakfast burrito (aka taquito)! Long-time Primate readers will know just how much Jo and I love our burritos – and it must run in the family, right Casey 😉 ! Anywho.. here’s some burrito porn for the breakfast burritos I posted On This Day In History.

Or for some delicious variations to include in your breakfast burritos:

3-bean Quinoa

Baked Rice

Lime and Cilantro Rice

And it wouldn’t be a Primate Burrito without Potatoes:

Green Chili, Sara’s Fav, or Papas Refritas

Happy Vegan MoFo!!!

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Banana-Pecan Coffee Cake

This is a variation on the banana bread from the Primate’s very first post. I added some pecans and more flax, baked it in a 8X8, and violà…so delicious!

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 C warm water
6 TBSP Earth Balance vegan butter, melted
2 C flour (I did a 50:50 King Arthur Organic AP:White Whole Wheat)
1/2 C ground flaxseed
2/3 C sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C chopped pecans
*optional: 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F, butter and flour an 8X8 pan. In a bowl, mash the bananas. Stir in the warm water, melted butter, and vanilla extract; set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together flours, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and pecans (cinnamon, if using). Add the wet into the dry and stir to combine. Pour into prepared pan, sprinkle with some sugar.
3. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick or knife comes out clean. Let cool about 10 minutes, slice and enjoy!

Happy Baking!

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