Lemon Scones (dairy/egg free)

My hubby loves loves baked goodies for breakfast in the morning...ok...we all do!  Who doesn't!?  So often I will make him vegan muffins, which he usually takes on the road with him for a snack or like I said...for breakfast.  I went against the muffin grain this morning and made Lemon Scones!  Mmmm!  I usually screw these up...too dry or flavorless, but I got the yummy approval this mornin!  Phew!  These babies were almost flawless!  Sorry for all the exclamation marks...my finger can't stay away from that button!!!!!  Anyways, I took a glance at a few different scone recipes that were not vegan and adapted this lovely Vegan Lemon Scone recipe.  So if you if you want these with dairy, just substitute.  I'm sure they would be even more delicious!

Lemon Scones (dairy/egg free)
Yield: 8 large scones/12 medium scones

Scones:
3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
zest from 1 lemon
3/4 cups or 12 Tbls dairy free butter, cold (I use Earth's Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
1 cup dairy free buttermilk (1 cup almond, coconut, soy or rice milk and 2 tsp white vinegar; mix and let sit for 5-10 min)
Juice from 1 lemon

Lemon Glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
Juice from half a lemon(roughly 1-2 Tbls...add little, mix, taste, add more if desired)
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 425deg F.  Prepare one or two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, blend the flour, sugar, baking powder and lemon zest.  Cut the butter into small pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a fork, pasty cutter or food processor, until crumbly.  Add in the buttermilk and lemon juice, mix together until combined.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently for a few minutes; until the dough comes together and all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the dough.  Do not over work or your scones will be tough. Hand pat or roll dough out into a 9-in circle and cut like a pizza to make either 8 large scones or 12 medium scones (I made 8 large..perfect size).  Place scones on parchment lined baking sheet(s).

Bake at 425deg F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on wire rack.  When cool, drizzle with lemon glaze.

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by She Bakes, She Makes ~ Wednesday, February 29, 2012 2 comments

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Aren't these cupcakes just too adorable!?  Not are they so stinkin cute...they are equally or more delicious!
 I wish I had taken more detailed pics of the process and the inside of the cupcakes.  They were really fun to make.  I made these for my Haylen's 2 yr Olivia the Pig party a couple months ago.  And they were a hit!  Let me describe to you the delicious details of this unique lil treat.  The bottom of the cupcake has an open faced Oreo halve(cookie and the yummy center), topped with the angelic white cake with numerous big chunks of Oreo pieces cooked in.  Then topped off with a dollop of cream cheese frosting(the best I've ever had in my life!), then the cute factor...the Oreo halve and cookie crumbles.  Mmmmm...I want one right now!!!  This is one of many to be posted faves of mine from Annies-eats.com!  Love her!

Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Yield: 24 cupcakes

24 Oreo halves, with cream filling attached

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 Tbls unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 2/3 cup sugar

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk

20 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped(quartered is best)

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

6 Tbls unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 Tbls vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

2 Tbls heavy cream

Oreo cookie crumbs

24 Oreo cookie halves

Preheat the oven to 350deg F.  Line two cupcake pans with 24 paper liners.  Place an Oreo halve in the bottom of each liner, cream side up.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir together with a fork and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Blend in the egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in the vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Add the milk and beat just until combined, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.  Gently fold in the chopped Oreos with a rubber spatula until well incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.  

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared cupcake liners.  Bake for 18-20 minutes(I overcooked mine a bit and the paper stuck to the cake..oops), rotating the pans halfway thru baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on med-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  Add the heavy cream to the bowl and beat on medium-low speed just until incorporated, then increase the speed to med-high and whip for 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  

Frost the cooled cupcakes as desired.  Sprinkle with Oreo crumbs and garnish with Oreo halves.

Source:  adapted from Annies-eats.com  who adapted it from Beantown Baker

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by She Bakes, She Makes ~ Wednesday, February 22, 2012 0 comments

Texas Sheet Cake (dairy and egg free)

Picture from The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book

Your world is about get a lot more tasty.  You have strict orders to quickly scribble down the ingredients for this cake and rush to the store, get home and make this cake...stat!  This cake is certainly...life changing.  Texas Sheet Cake...the cake that quickly tops every one's favorite cake list after the very first bite.  I had never heard of this cake..ever.  My thighs and butt have been saved from this cake...til a handful of months ago, when we discovered my husband's dairy and egg allergies.  We thought our life was over and we would never again enjoy a single bite of amazing dessert again(coming from a dairy and chocolate loving family.)  I did some research and quickly stumbled upon miracle worker Kelly Rudnicki and her book, The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book!  She has turned our frowns into chocolate covered smiles :).  Thank you for coming into our lives Kelly!  She cooks allergy free for her son who is severely allergic to dairy, eggs and nuts.  Although we can still have nuts(minus pecans), I will just add them to any recipe if I so desire.  And I prefer to use almond milk rather than soy or rice milk, as she does.  If you prefer a more rich dairy and egg filled version, there are plenty of recipes for such a cake...my fave, Ree Drummond, Pioneer Woman.

Texas Sheet Cake

Yield: 1 cake

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup dairy-free margarine (we use Earth's Best, sticks or tub, found in health food section)

1 cup water

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 Tbls water

1/2 cup dairy-free buttermilk (1/2 cup soy, rice, almond or coconut milk mixed with 1 tsp white vinegar; let sit for 5-10 minutes)

1 tsp vanilla extract (vanilla powder is amazing if you haven't tried it)

Texas Glaze (recipe follows)

In a medium saucepan, bring the cocoa powder, margarine, and 1 cup water to a boil, stirring constantly over medium heat.

In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and flour.  Pour the cocoa mixture over the sugar-flour mixture and blend well. Add the baking soda, 2 Tbls water, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Preheat oven to 400deg F.  Spray a 15x10x1-inch jelly-roll pan with dairy-free baking spray(like Pam baking spray with flour, do not use butter flavored!!)  Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.  While the cake is baking, prepare the Texas Glaze.  

When the cake is done, immediately pour the Texas Glaze over it, spreading evenly.

Texas Glaze

1/2 cup dairy-free margarine

6 Tbls soy, rice, almond, or coconut milk

4 Tbls cocoa powder

1 tsp good-quality vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners' sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine the margarine, milk alternative, and cocoa powder, bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and add the vanilla and confectioners' sugar; mix well.  Immediately pour the glaze over the warm cake. 

*I haven't tried this, but I've seen recipes with nuts sprinkled on top.  

Prepare to be amazed!

Source: adapted from The Food Allergy Mama's Baking Book by Kelly Rudnicki

     

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by She Bakes, She Makes ~ 0 comments

And so it begins

Welcome!  I am so excited right now to be finally posting to this blog, that I have talked about for some time now.  Enough talk...I'm grabbing my computer by the horns and sharing all my creative ventures with other creative folk or even the creative impared.  Get your pens and printers ready...I will be sharing some yummy treats(with dairy and egg free alternatives...for the hubs), tasty recipes, fun and adventureous handcrafting and smart living...I call it.  I will do my very best to capture all of the special moments, creative ventures and definetally all the details, so you can follow along and try these things for yourself.

Oh how rude, I forgot to introduce myself.  I am Jenna Saunders.  I am a wifey and a mommy.  On my days off....let me take a moment to insert a...hahahahaha!!, I meant, my few spare moments in a day, I love to cook, bake and create.  Since being married(almost 8 amazing years now :)), I have taken on the responsibility of making sure my husband Mark has a full belly.  Five wonderful pasta filled years passed and then I had a sweet lil face to feed...my sweet Haylen.  Did I mention she's TWO!  Now accepting prayers :).  She's a stubborn picky eater and I'm on a mission to change that and make sure her chubby counterpart...8 month old sister Kyrie isnt.  Thank goodness all kids are not exactly alike.  Our Kyrie is a champion eater...her thighs are sure proof of that(pics to come ;)).  My cooking got a bit more complicated when Mark's blood test results returned with a list of foods he was to avoid, like dairy, eggs, caesin, too much yeast, pecans...but mostly dairy, eggs and caesin.  So all those yummy cheesy, creamy, scrambled eggy meals were a part of our happy past.  Fairwell...we loved you!  But we picked up our chins and I dug my nose into helpful allergy free books, websites, blogs and such and found a new found excitement in the challenges set before me.  Now we eat almost completely dairy, egg and caesin free but I still love to bake devilishly allergy filled desserts and baked goods for family and friends.  You might see many recipe posts on here in the near future from my two faves....Annies-eats.com(not allergy free) and Thefoodallergymama.com.

Aside of cooking and baking, my first love has been crafting.  I have dipped my hand in a lil of this and that.  I can't seem to stay on one project long enough before I get excited about starting a new one.  I have spent many hours making cards, paper and felt flowers, trying my hand at sewing and many more fun things.  The projects just keep getting bigger and bigger.  We are soon moving into a new place with a garage!  Can you tell I'm excited!?  I remember as a wee one, for Christmas I got a Power Tool Set and a tool belt with my own tools.  I spent many summer days in the garage building who knows what kind of junk out of wood scraps my dad had in the garage.  This Christmas...Mark gave me the big kid version...my very own Nail Gun!!!  Yeah Baby!  I have high plans of building my own furniture and refinishing old treasures.  So follow my fearless creative journey and be encouraged to be fearless too.  Just DO!  

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by She Bakes, She Makes ~ Sunday, February 19, 2012 2 comments