Ashley Anna Brown / Fern Animals: Vegan Baking/Cooking

Justin came out to visit this weekend, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. He brought birthday presents and cooked me a delicious curry stir-fry dinner. We sat down to eat just at magic hour and it felt like we were away on vacation somewhere, a cabin hidden in the woods. There were fresh flowers on the table, Billy Holiday in the air, and the most romantic golden light shining through the open door. It was perfect, and just exactly what I have been needing after all those lonely stormy days and nights.

On top of getting to spend a lovely weekend with Justin, Bill and Jessica and Lincoln were in town again for a couple days. On Saturday afternoon we all went strawberry picking. It is pretty silly how much I am completely in love with this area. I can just go on and on about how beautiful it is, and every time we go to do something out of doors, I manage to find a new spot to fall in love with.

On Sunday Peter and Rhea and little Edie came to visit for the day and the sun stayed out so we were able to have a picnic on the green grass of the Smith Campus. In the afternoon we all went for a walk, and Carrie took us to a beautiful trail that happens to be right behind our house. You have to walk on this little path, and under a cavern of trees, and suddenly it pops you out on a raised path way overlooking fields, with the big green mountains in the not so distant distance (does that make sense?).

These photos really do not do the scene justice. You'll have to come visit and see for yourself!

A couple weeks ago I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies using my own recipe (which is actually a combination of many different recipes) and tweaked it a bit to finally make the best Vegan chocolate chip cookies I have ever had (if I do say so myself!). The problem is that Justin has a wheat allergy, and I don't blame him for not being able to resist eating a cookie, or two, or three, because, well, I definitely ate my share! I just feel bad making a tasty sweet treat that always makes him feel awful. So, I tweaked the recipe a bit more last night, and I can't believe how easy it was! Though it has been quite a long time since I have had a home baked cookie with eggs and dairy in it, I think that no one would know that these ones have no egg, dairy, OR wheat! They are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside!

These cookies are so good and easy to make and don't contain a million weird ingredients like most gluten-free recipes do! It's frustrating to have the urge to bake something late at night only to realize that, no, I don't have any xanthan gum in my pantry. (Actually, a few months ago I caved in and bought some, so, I do in fact have xanthan gum, but for years I didn't. That stuff is expensive! It's like $12-14, and I have only used a teaspoon! Crazy.)

Well, I thought I would share my recipe with all of you in case you are trying to stay away from wheat, or know someone who is, and have been desiring real chocolate chip cookies. Here goes:

Vegan Wheat Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Cup Margarine (I use Organic Earth Balance)

1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1 Tsp Baking Powder

2 Tbsp Soy Milk

1 Tsp Vanilla

3 1/4 Cups Oat Flour**

2 Cups Vegan Chocolate Chips

Preheat your oven to 375F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat margarine, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder together with an electric mixer until combined and smooth.

Beat in the soy milk and vanilla.

Beat in as much of the flour as you can, one cup at a time. Stir in any remaining flour with a fork. Batter will be thick and almost crumbly.

Stir in the chocolate chips. At this point you should take a small scoop and taste the dough. Its really good!

Lay parchment paper out on two cookie sheets (you don't have to do this if you don't have any - this is just how I made my cookies, and I'm not sure if it some how effected them differently than if I hadn't. I doubt that it makes a difference, other than making clean-up a bit easier!)

Drop rounded spoonfuls of cookie dough on the paper, about 2-3 inches apart, and gently press them with your fingers so they are fat little discs. (The dough will spread a little when baking, but not a lot)

Bake on the top rack at 375F for about 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven. Be sure to check on the first batch. You want to take them out just as the bottoms are beginning to brown, but they will still look slightly un-cooked - this is okay because there are no eggs in them, and this will help keep them soft on the inside.

Let cookies cool for a couple minutes on the cookie sheet before moving them to a cooling rack. This will give them time to firm up a little more.

Repeat with the rest of the dough, and eat a cookie!

** You can usually find Oat Flour in a natural foods store, like Whole Foods, but I just buy rolled oats in bulk and grind what I need. (Last night ground 3 cups of oats, used 3 1/4 cups of the flour produced and had some left over. I just jar the leftover, but maybe you could do the math?)

I use a high power blender to do this, but you could probably use a regular blender, food processor, or coffee grinder (be sure to clean any grounds out first, or your cookies will taste like coffee! Grinding rice works good for that.)

If you would like to bake these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies with out omitting the wheat, follow the recipe above, but instead of Oat Flour, use 2 1/2 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, and use just 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder.

So, there you go! If you try out the recipe, please let me know what you think! Or if you have any questions. Happy baking!