Spiced Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies (of enduring tastiness)

For a long time I made my grandmother’s recipe for oatmeal cookies.  Recently I started wanting crispier cookies and then we tried this vegan experiment which demanded finding a different recipe.

This recipe is almost certainly a lingering winner.  I am even experimenting with a protein-like bar variation.

• 3/4 cup margarine
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3 cups quick cooking or rolled oatmeal
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Cream together the margarine and sugars until smooth. Add vanilla and soy milk and mix well.

Add flour, baking soda and spices until well mixed, then stir in oats and cranberries.

Spoon 1 1/2 inch balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees, or until done.

But, of course, I’m not posting here just because I like to use copy/paste.  My first modification to this was to find a way to increase the crispiness.  I tried baking for 20 minutes and that didn’t do it.  My attempt to bake for 25 minutes failed due to “I’ll remember” as apposed to using a timer… oops.  What I also did on that attempt was use vegetable oil instead of margarine — which I think helped.  The cookies did come out crispy, but some were a tad scorched.  I do also notice a huge difference depending on the pan used… so, as they say, ymmv.

My next, measured, test will be to follow the same second modification but to definitely time them for 25 minutes.  There is a chance I cooked them for 30 minutes which is why they were overly crisp, though still edible.

Protein Bar Attempt #1

This is a relatively easy variation.  Changes and additions were…

• +1 cup flour (so, 2 cups)
• 2oz (basically, two servings) protein powder of choice (mine was one soy, one rice)
• +1/2 cup soy milk (so 1 cup)
• Optionally, replace cranberries with another berry mix like an anti-oxidant mix

I then spread this out on a cookie sheet to get it as flat as possible.  Bake the same way.

Results:  It was edible, in a good way.  It wasn’t as dense as I wanted nor as protein-like.  It was also more moist than I inteded.

Next time:  an additional scoop of protein, 1/2c less flour (so 1-1/2c), and +5 minutes cook time.

Vegan Bourguignon

Original Recipe is from here:  http://www.simpleveganrecipes.co.uk/index.html?recipe=recipes/vegan-bourguignon-recipe.html.  Though I am reusing a lot of it, I am also adjusting it based on my experience.

A clever title on this one eludes me as the adventure is in the original reading and making of this recipe. First, this recipe comes from a cookbook that we got from the UK. Many of the ingredients are by weight, not by measured cup, so this has made things interesting.  Having a kitchen scale helps.

Second the ingredients order and the cook times in the printed cookbook are out of order or wrong.  There’s even a recipe that the directions call for ingredients that aren’t in the ingredients list.  Fun!  This is cooking without a net nearly at its finest.

This recipe makes a baked dish that is potato-heavy in flavor.  I find that it is very understated and could benefit by being with something more flavorful.  I might even be tempted to add some hot spices to this in another incarnation to give it more characters.

• 8 oz. (225g) onions, chopped — I used a whole “medium” onion
• 8 oz. (225g) carrot, sliced — I used about 4 carrots which I think was more, but it came out fine
• 1 lb. (450g) potatoes, diced — I made a wild guess and went with about 2c of potatoes diced
• 4 oz. (100g) mushrooms, chopped — This is easy, it was half an 8oz package
• Golden syrup — 1t, by the way.  We used honey as we’re not being that super strict with our veganism.
• Plain flour — being “white” flour.  I use 1t of unbleached.
• 7 fl. oz. (200ml) Vegan red wine — There are many sub-cup, non-fractional fluid additions to recipes that are amusing…
• 5 fl. oz. (125ml) Vegetable stock — … this is another funny fluid amount  But trust it.
• Tomato purée — I love this.  How much?  2T.  So I open a whole can just to use 2T?!  This means plan other meals that will also use this, even if only to add it to some spaghetti sauce to thicken it up.
• Bay leaf
• 1/2t salt (or to taste)
• 1/4t pepper (or to taste)
• 3 oz. (75g) frozen peas or green beans — My casserole dish filled up rapidly and I added these later.  It worked fine.

Preheat oven to GM 5 / 375 °F / 190 °C.

Fry the onions and carrots for a few minutes. Add the potatoes, mushrooms and 1 tsp. golden syrup. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Add 1 tbsp. flour and stir. Pour in the red wine, vegetable stock, 2 tbsps. tomato purée, bay leaf and a little salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes. Put the mixture into a large casserole dish and place in oven. It should be baked for 1 hour, with the peas or beans being added halfway through.

Here’s one of those “I get the idea” recipes that I’m going to rewrite.

In a large[1] pan, sauté the onions and carrots over medium heat in 1T of oil (olive oil) until the onions soften — about 10 minutes.  Add potatoes, mushrooms, and 1t Golden Syrup (or honey).  Cook for 3-4 minutes to coat the potatoes and mushrooms in syrup/honey and warm them.  Add 1t of flour and stir well to coat as much of everything as possible.  Add wine, stock, 2T tomato puree, bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Mix and “cook for a few minutes” to warm everything … so let’s say 5 minutes while stirring regularly.  Put mixture in larger casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove and add peas or beans.  Bake for another 30 minutes.

That adventure was relatively simple.  Overall I found the preparation relatively easy which ensures a place in a regular rotation of meals.

[1] I used a 12″ skillet and ran out of room.  So by large, I mean large.  A wok might even be a good idea here.