When Becca Medvin went vegan two years ago, at age 14, she had no trouble giving up meat. Or milk or cheese or eggs. What she missed was dessert.

“I have the biggest sweet tooth of anyone I know,” said Medvin, now 16. “I need dessert every day.”

Fresh fruit is lovely, but a girl’s got to have her chocolate chip cookies.

Alas, the vegan treats Medvin found “weren’t as good as normal desserts.”

They were flavor-challenged. They had texture issues. She took to the kitchen to create her own.

A junior at Ransom Everglades School in Miami who dreams of having her own bakery some day, Medvin came up with what people tell her is “the best cupcake they’ve ever had, vegan or non.”

Becca’s Vegan Cupcakes are being sold around her town for $1.75 a pop.

“You don’t need eggs and butter and all that to make something as good as it can be,” said Medvin, “and it’s fun.”

Medvin does not claim that her to-die-for desserts beat out broccoli when it comes to nutrition. Nor are they particularly low in calories and fat.

The vegan bonus comes from replacing eggs, milk, butter and even white sugar with products like coconut oil, which adds richness and fat but no cholesterol, and agave nectar, which adds sweetness but is low-glycemic and doesn’t make your blood sugar spike.

The reasons for becoming vegan are varied. Medvin did it “for health, the environment, everything.”

Some do it for health reasons, others cite “the spiritual aspect, as East Coast pastry chef David Kalas said. “You want to prepare food as a loving offering.”

Creating vegan desserts, he said, “is about baking with compassion.”

Cranberry Orange Nut Muffins

These are citrusy, sweet, fragrant and fluffy — a rarity for vegan baked goods.

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh orange juice

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tablespoons orange zest

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, roughly chopped

1 cup pecans, roughly chopped (walnuts would be good, too)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin tin (or use paper liners).

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a fork until well-blended.

Make a deep indentation in the center and pour in the orange juice, oil, zest and extracts. Mix just until all wet ingredients are moistened, adding cranberries and nuts about halfway through.

Fill muffin tins three-quarters full. Bake 23 to 27 minutes, until muffins are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted through the center comes out clean.

When cool enough to handle, transfer to cooling racks to cool completely. Makes 1 dozen muffins.

— Source: Adapted from “Vegan Brunch” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (Da Capo, $19.95).

Nutrition information, per muffin: 280 calories (50 percent from fat), 15.9 g fat (1.3 g saturated, 9.5 g monounsaturated), 0 cholesterol, 3.2 g protein, 32.3 g carbohydrates, 2.1 g fiber, 231.6 mg sodium.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cakey rather than gooey, these are not your classic Toll House cookies, but they deliver big chocolate indulgence nonetheless.

1 cup coconut oil

6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups evaporated cane juice (such as Sucanet)

2 cups Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose baking flour

1/4 cup flax meal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 cup vegan chocolate chips

Heat oven to 325 degrees and place racks toward center of oven. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix the oil, applesauce, salt, vanilla and cane juice, blending well.

In another bowl, whisk the flour, flax meal, baking soda and xanthan gum.

Using a rubber spatula, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ones, stirring until a grainy dough forms. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Using a melon baller or 1-tablespoon measure, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Gently press each with the heel of your hand to flatten slightly and help them spread.

Bake 15 minutes, rotating pans 180 degrees after 9 minutes. The finished cookies will be crisp on the edges and soft in the center.

Cool on the pans for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

— Source: Adapted from “BabyCakes: Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York’s Most Talked-About Bakery” by Erin McKenna (Clarkson Potter, $24).

Nutrition information, per serving: 118 calories (50 percent from fat), 7.5 g fat (5.5 g saturated, 0.7 g monounsaturated), 0 cholesterol, 0.9 g protein, 15.3 g carbohydrates, 0.5 g fiber, 100.1 mg sodium.

Source

Technorati Tags: vegan desserts

Related posts:

1. Vegan Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies To satisfy my cravings for something sweet, I made these...
2. No butter, no eggs, no problem: Vegan baking comes into its own When Becca Medvin went vegan at the age of 14,...
3. Vegetarian Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES Cakey rather than gooey, these are...
4. Eggnog Snickerdoodle Cookies Eggnog Snickerdoodle Cookies...
5. The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets ISBN13: 9781592332809 Condition: NEW Notes: Brand New from Publisher....

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tags: vegan desserts

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 20th, 2009 at 10:17 pm and is filed under becoming vegan, vegan recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.