More Adventurous Baking

In my previous post I mentioned that I hosted a bonfire/campout in celebration (not a very appropriate word considering we aren't very happy about it) of the last weekend of summer. It was very fun though. There was   roasting of marshmallows, mini hot dogs, and tons of smores were made. Along with the various chips, dips, and veggies for snacking, I had to bake something! A chocolate chip cookie seemed to be the best way to please everyone, because who doesn't love a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie!?

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 tbsp melted and cooled until warm unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar 

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips 

Preheat oven to 325, line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt and set aside. In an electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients. Beat at low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Using your hands, grab about a teaspoon of batter and roughly form a ball. (You don't want to roll it into a perfect ball). Leave about 2-inches between each cookie. Bake for 11- 14 minutes, until the edges are slightly golden and the middle is still soft. 

Cool and transfer to cooling rack. 

Along with Chocolate Chip Cookies, I also made Gluten-Free Brownies because my best friend is a celiac. They were surprisingly really good. I didn't tell others that they were gluten-free, and even they enjoyed them! I think someone even tried to roast one over the fire... I'm not too sure how that went haha.

Vegan Baking!

It saddens me to say that this is my last weekend of summer. I start school on Tuesday and it's a little bittersweet. As much as I love summer and being able to do nothing all day, I am excited to go back and see all my friends that I didn't get to see over the summer. Anyway, in celebration of the last weekend of summer, my cross country team had it's annual team sleepover and the following night I hosted my own bonfire/campout. Obviously I had to make something for the both of them! 

Vegan Berry Crumble Bars

I made these delicious mixed berry crumble bars, and yes I did bake vegan! These were a lot of fun to make, and so easy too! One of my good friends on my team is a vegan and I always feel so bad because she can never have any of the desserts that others bring to our team parties. So i decided I would take on the challenge of baking vegan, and well she (and many others) loved these! 

Vegan Berry Crumble Bars

adapted from Smitten Kitten

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)

1/2 a banana, mashed 

1/4 tsp salt 

zest and juice of lemon

4 cups berries (fresh or frozen) 

1/2 cup sugar

4 tsp cornstarch 

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9X13 inch pan.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, baking soda, flour, lemon zest and salt. Using a fork or pastry cutting, blend in butter and mashed banana (the dough will be crumbly). Pat half of the dough into the pan.

In another bowl, mix 4 tsp cornstarch, sugar and the lemon juice. Mix in berries gently. For mine, I ending up kinda of 'mashing' the frozen berries so they were less chunky, but you don't have to. Sprinkle over crust and crumble the remaining dough over the top. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is slightly golden. Allow to cool before cutting.