Homemade Flour Tortillas

Welcome Vegan Potluckers!

As part of the Virtual Vegan Potluck blog tour this year, I am happy to be a part of the "Bread Course." At first I was going to make the huge loaves of bread that I put into my Thanksgiving meal a couple of years ago, but then I would be forced to butter and consume said loaves, which might not do flattering things to my arse. So, since avocados were on sale at three for a dollar last week, and I have a ton of them to eat, I thought to myself, "Tortillas! Yes, tortillas!" They are perfect for dipping into AwesomeSauce (we have seriously made a meal of this), or slathering with guacamole (again, a full meal of just this), or my favorite thing of all - a wrap consisting of guacamole, alfalfa sprouts, and halved cherry tomatoes. It doesn't sound like much, but it's seriously amazing. And, between you and me, you will BM like a soldier for the rest of the day after you eat it. Woo hoo!

HOMEMADE FLOUR TORTILLAS
4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (can sub all-purpose flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cups cold water

Place all dry ingredients into a large bowl and whisk until mixed. Add oil and stir. Add water in 1/2 cup increments, stirring or mixing with hands after each addition. Knead gently in the bowl, for just a minute or so, until dough resembles photo above. Allow dough to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Pinch off a piece of dough no larger than the cup of your palm,
and roll it into a ball.

Lightly flour your rolling surface, as well as your rolling pin.
Roll out your dough ball, getting it as thin as possible.

Place rolled dough onto a hot ungreased cast iron griddle. 

Allow to lightly brown on both sides. 

I like to roll out my next dough ball while the first is cooking. 

Repeat until all your balls are rolled flat and cooked up right.

Enjoy!

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www.themisfitbaker.com

Divine Whole Wheat Banana Bread

I know there are about eight billion banana bread recipes floating around the interwebs, but I have an entire tropical forest of overripe bananas sitting in my freezer and I need to use them!
I swear, I've never made the same banana bread recipe twice. I am always changing up my recipe, trying new ones, different flavors, exotic add-ins. Today I just wanted something simple. I went with what I had in my pantry, which explains the use of brown sugar and coffee liqueur (which I've discovered is a great substitute for vanilla). It turned out very moist and not-too-sweet, and we all really enjoyed it. This might be the one banana bread recipe I actually make more than once. I hope you like it too! 

2 tablespoons golden flax meal
1/4 cup warm water
4 medium to large overripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a standard loaf pan.
• Mix the flax meal and water together, and let stand for several minutes. Stir again before adding to recipe.
• In a large bowl, mix together bananas and oil. 
• Add flax mixture, and mix again.
• On top of your wet mixture, gently dump all of the dry stuff. Do not start mixing until all of the dry ingredients are in the bowl.
• Gently mix or stir until everything is well-incorporated. Be careful not to overmix. Batter will be slightly lumpy, and that's okay!
• Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
• Allow to cool for at least half an hour before digging in. Slice, butter, and enjoy!

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Banana Bread Bundt Cake

If you need a quick and easy cake for a holiday party, this is the one to make! I've slightly "healthified" this version by replacing the butter with applesauce and lowering the amount of sugar, but you can substitute vegan butter for the applesauce and add an extra half a cup of sugar to the recipe to make it more decadent. You can also top it with lemon zest, sugared walnuts, or grated cinnamon for some extra zing.
Oh, and if you don't have a bundt cake pan, don't worry - you can just use two standard loaf pans.

CAKE
1 1/2 cups organic white sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
4 tablespoons flaxmeal
1/4 cup water
6 overripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking soda
3 cups organic all-purpose flour (you can sub whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil or spray a standard bundt cake pan, or two loaf pans, with baking spray.
• Mix the flaxmeal and water together in a small bowl. Stir with a fork or small whisk until well mixed. Set aside.
• Beat bananas, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla together in a large bowl until very well mixed. Add the flaxmeal mixture (this is your egg replacer) and mix until incorporated.
• Sift the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger together directly into your batter bowl. Just let it sit on top of the wet mixture until you're ready to mix.
• Gently stir or beat all ingredients until just-mixed. Do not overmix. 
• Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake for about an hour. Test with a toothpick at 50 minutes and watch closely from there. 
• Allow the cake to cool for a half hour before turning out onto a plate. Then allow it to cool completely before applying the glaze.

GLAZE
1 1/2 cups organic powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vegan butter, melted and lightly cooled
2 tablespoons soy creamer

• Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl until a smooth glaze is formed. For thinner glaze, use more milk (added one teaspoon at a time). For thicker glaze, use less.
• Pour slowly around the top of cooled cake, or drizzle onto cake using a wooden spoon.
• Makes 16 servings.
• Enjoy!

NUTRITION INFO (per serving):

Calories: 252.1 / Total Fat: 1g (Saturated Fat: 0.3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.2g) / Cholesterol: 0mg / Sodium: 238.5mg / Potassium: 220.3mg / Total Carbohydrates: 59.2g (Dietary Fiber: 2.1g, Sugar: 37.2g) / Protein: 2.7g

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Gluten-Free Agave-Sweetened Corn Bread

Remember that great deal on brown rice flour I told you to take advantage of a short while back? Well, now it's time to start feeding the fiddler and using that stuff! At the behest of Kris Carr's new book, Crazy Sexy Diet, my husband and I have decided to try a gluten-free and sugar-free diet for a while to see how it treats us. As usual, he's already lost fifteen pounds and I have lost nothing. Nothing! Why am I perpetually unable to lose weight? Am I cursed?? Anyway, I will say that the gluten-free transition has given me a lot more energy. I've been going to the park with my little one a lot more, and I even hoisted my big butt up onto a bicycle and rode a while yesterday. So, weight loss or not, I am definitely seeing positive changes. Thanks, Kris Carr! Now if I could just get into the habit of downing a big green smoothie every morning instead of a cup of coffee... Well, I'm still working on that.
This recipe is adapted from the cornbread recipe in the Gluten-Free Vegan cookbook. The only things I did different were that I left out the sorghum flour (I just doubled the brown rice flour), I substituted canola oil for the grapeseed oil, and I brushed a little bit of melted Earth Balance butter over the top of the finished product. Can you say, "Yummy-licious?!" We ate this cornbread with some homemade black turtle beans, and it was the perfect complement. Hope you like it too!

CORNBREAD  
(recipe from Gluten-Free Vegan by Susan O'Brien)
"This cornbread can be stored in an air-tight container for several days."

1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer (whisked together with 2 tablespoons warm water)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1 cup hemp or soy milk
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
4 teaspoons baking powder*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cornmeal

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. 
• Spray an 8 or 9 inch square pan with vegetable oil nonstick spray.
• In a small bowl, whisk the egg replacer with the warm water, until bubbles form and the powder has completely dissolved.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the agave nectar and oil, and beat until smooth and thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the egg replacer mixture and milk, and continue to mix until well blended. 
• In a separate bowl, combine the brown rice and sorghum flours, baking powder, salt, and cornmeal, and stir well together. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and stir until it becomes incorporated. Do not overbeat. Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake until lightly browned on top, 18 to 20 minutes. 
• Cool on wire rack and serve. 
• This is wonderful served as an accompaniment to black beans, with a side of guacamole.

*The baking powder link I provided in the recipe will take you to a really good deal on aluminum-free baking powder by Bob's Red Mill. None of the stores in my area supply aluminum-free baking powder, so I was really happy to find this and wanted to share it with you guys!

  
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Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Sorry I've been incommunicado lately. I've had a very busy holiday season this year! But, hopefully, I'll get back on track soon. Unfortunately, I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to cook, and I've been eating a lot of junk food. So, yesterday, I had a little bit of time to myself while my daughter napped, and I decided to make some healthy spinach and bean dip (recipe coming soon), with whole wheat pitas, in an effort to get some good vitamins into my tummy. They were so tasty! They don't have the consistency of your standard pita - they're more like a sprouted grain tortilla. But they still puffed up nicely, and can be stuffed with any manner of yumminess. Give them a try! Here's the recipe...

4 cups whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• Mix all ingredients together. If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook. Otherwise, just stir until you can't stir it anymore, then start kneading and mixing with your hands until you have a nice ball of dough. 
• Turn dough out onto a flat surface and knead for five minutes. 
• After kneading, allow the dough to rest for fifteen minutes. 
• While dough is resting, go ahead and preheat your oven to 500 degrees. If you have a baking stone place that in the oven to heat as well.
• Roll out the dough with your hands until it forms a long snake, then divide it into sixteen equal pieces.
• Roll each piece into a ball with your hands.
• Working with only two at a time, use a rolling pin to flatten the balls into wide circles, making them about a quarter of an inch thick. Place the circles onto your baking stone, or directly onto the oven rack. Watch them carefully, with the oven light on. They will only need to bake for a few minutes. Once they've puffed up nicely (or have puffed all they're going to puff) take them out and set them on a cooling rack.
• Now go roll out the next two while your oven regains its 500 degree temperature. It is important for your oven to stay very hot. 
• When your done, slather those things in vegan butter, pop them open and stuff them with hummus. Do whatever you like. Just enjoy!

NUTRITION FACTS (per pita):
Calories: 101.5 / Total Fat: 0.6g (Saturated Fat: 0.1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.0g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g) / Cholesterol: 0.0mg / Sodium: 218.0mg / Potassium: 0.0mg / Total Carbohydrates: 22.0g (Dietary Fiber: 3.7g, Sugar: 0.0g) / Protein: 4.0g

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Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

I usually wake up around 7:00AM, but thanks to Daylight Savings Time and "falling back," the last two mornings I have woken up at 6:00AM. I don't really mind, though, because it means I have at least an hour of me-time before the husband and the little one wake up. Me-time generally consists of baking and bad TV. And this morning was no exception!
I have never tried making bagels before, and lately I've been challenging myself to step outside of my comfort zone in the kitchen. Delicious, fresh-baked cinnamon raisin bagels are the result of today's challenge. And, yeah, I know my bagels look more like buns, but it was my first try, so cut me some slack. Here's how I did it...

1 packet of active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm (not hot) water
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar (organic preferred)
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup raisins, packed into a mound (cram a lot of 'em in there)
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• Combine yeast and water in a large bowl and whisk. Let it stand for 10 minutes, until bubbles form.
• Add in wheat flour and sugar, whisk until mixed. 
• Using the dough hooks of a hand mixer (unless you're lucky enough to have a standing mixer), start mixing in the remaining ingredients, except the raisins. Dough will be a little stiff, but shouldn't be too sticky.
• Knead dough in the bowl (or on a lightly floured surface) adding raisins in a little at a time. Keep kneading until dough is soft and easy to work with, and raisins are well-blended into the mix.
• Grease the dough with vegetable oil on all sides, and cover bowl with a wet towel. Allow dough to rise until almost doubled, about an hour, preferably in a sunny location.
• While the dough is rising, prepare a large pot with six to eight cups of water and a pinch or two of salt. About 15 minutes before your dough has completed rising, turn on the burner and start your water boiling. It needs to be at a rolling boil for your bagels to cook properly.
• Also, prepare a large cookie sheet with butter or baking spray. You can use parchment paper if you like, but you still need to spray it. 
• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
• Punch down the dough, and move from the bowl to a lightly floured table.
• Roll dough out into a long snaky shape with your hands, and pinch off ten equal pieces of dough.
• Roll each piece into its own mini-snake and connect the ends to form a circle.
• Gently place one bagel at a time into the boiling water. I used a slotted spoon for this. Don't overload the water. Just boil two or three bagels at a time. At first they will sink, but when they are cooking well, they will float up to the surface of the water. When they float up, flip them over and allow them to boil for another 30 seconds or so. Then move them to the cookie sheet.
• When your cookie sheet is covered with boiled bagels, pop it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the smell of cinnamon raisin infused bread has permeated your kitchen. Ahhhh... enjoy it.
• Remove bagels from the oven and flip them over with a spatula to cool bottom side up on the cookie sheet. This is to prevent the bottoms from over-browning.
• When they've cooled enough to be able to handle, you can either eat them straight or cut them in half and lightly toast them. Then slather them with butter! Or vegan cream cheese! Or peanut butter! Whatever you like. They are delicious.
• Makes 10 medium-sized bagels.
• Enjoy!

NUTRITION FACTS (per bagel):
Calories: 219.2 / Total Fat: 0.7g (Saturated Fat: 0.1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g) / Cholesterol: 0mg / Sodium: 466.9mg / Potassium: 98.5mg / Total Carbohydrate: 48.5g (Dietary Fiber: 3.6g, Sugars: 9.2g) / Protein: 6.2g

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Lentil-Rice Burgers on Whole Wheat Buns

There are several versions of the lentil patty floating around the internet and, while they all have lentils in common, their remaining ingredients are often quite different. The point is that you can play with this recipe a lot and it's still going to taste great! This particular recipe is my own favorite version, but sometimes I spice it up with different ingredients like mushrooms or zucchini when I have extras laying around the kitchen.
My absolute favorite way to serve this burger is with homemade BBQ sauce and mushrooms sauteed in vegan butter and garlic salt ladled on top. It's sooooo good!

Here are the recipes for the buns, the burgers, and the sauce. Enjoy!

THE BUNS
2 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 C, plus 2 Tbsp warm water from the tap (not too hot)
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer
1/3 C vegetable oil
1/4 C agave nectar, or sugar
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp salt
2 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C whole wheat flour

• In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1 cup of the warm water. Mix together with a whisk until bubbly.
• Add oil and sugar, and whisk. Allow mixture to sit for 5 minutes.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the egg replacer and remaining 2 tablespoons of water, then add it to the dough mixture.
• Add the salt and the flour and mix together with a hand mixer, using the dough hook attachments. If you don't have dough hooks, you might just have to stir with a wooden spoon until dough thickens and then mix it the rest of the way with your hands.
• Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.
• Divide into 12 equal pieces. I do this by rolling the dough out into a long snake formation and using a knife to make equal cuts, starting from the center.
• Shape each piece into a ball and place 3 inches apart on 2 separate baking sheets.
• Cover dough and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.
• While the dough is resting, preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Bake dough for 6-8 minutes, or until desired "brownness" is attained. Watch out - the bottoms burn easily, so don't let them brown too much.
• Remove to wire racks to cool.   

THE LENTIL PATTIES 
4 C water
1 C uncooked lentils
1 C uncooked brown rice
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
1 small onion, peeled and grated
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
a few shakes of liquid smoke, to taste
2 small to medium russet potatoes - peeled, cubed, boiled, then mashed1/8 C olive oil, or non-stick cooking spray

• Place 4 cups of water, lentils and rice in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Allow to simmer on medium-low heat until lentils and rice are soft and water has evaporated, about 45 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Once lentils have cooled, add your cooked potatoes and mix.
• Add all remaining ingredients and stir well.
• In a large skillet (preferably a well-seasoned cast iron skillet) heat the oil over medium.
• Shape mixture into 12 equal-sized patties and cook in the skillet until nicely browned on both sides (can take up to 5 minutes per side). 
• Be gentle with the patties when you handle them as they are fragile and can fall apart easily.

THE BARBECUE SAUCE 
(enough for 12 burgers)
4 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp light brown sugar, or agave nectar
Dash of unsweetened cocoa powder
A few shakes of liquid smoke

• Whisk all the ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.

Hope you enjoy the burgers!

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Homemade Vegan Cheese Pizza

We love pizza around here, and when it doesn't come vegan-style from the local parlor (seriously, when are the big chains going to catch on to this?!) you have to find new-fashioned ways of doing it the "old-fashioned way." As you know, bread is Jason's thing and he's found a great basic recipe for any homemade pie. Here's how he does it...

1 C warm (hot, but not boiling) water

1 T active dry yeast

2 1/2 C all purpose flour,  with 1/2 C separated
(we tried making this with all whole wheat flour and it turned out great, so if you're watching your intake of the white stuff, feel free to substitute)

1 T salt

1 T sugar (or preferred sweetener - we use agave when we have it)

• Combine the hot water and yeast in a small bowl, then let it sit for about 5 minutes.
• Combine 2 C flour, sweetener and salt in a large bowl.
• Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the yeast mixture into it.
• Combine ingredients with a spoon until it can no longer be properly stirred by that method. Then dump it out onto a floured surface and start kneading, adding more flour in small increments if it's really sticky.
• Once the dough has come together and lost its stickiness-factor, shape it into a ball, place it into a large bowl (the one you already used is fine), and cover it with a towel.
• Allow the dough to sit for one hour.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• While oven is warming up, take out your dough and cut it in half. 
• Use a rolling pin to shape your dough to fit either on a large cookie sheet or (like we do it) on a large round baking stone.
• Use a fork to poke a few holes here and there on your crust.
• Cook the crust at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
• Remove the crust from the oven and add your toppings (we use Muir Glen Pizza Sauce, Vegan Gourmet Cheddar, Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella and sometimes we throw on a bunch of veggies when we have them).
• Place well-topped pizza back into the oven and continue baking for another 10 minutes, or until your toppings are piping hot and your crust is just the way you like it. I can't ever seem to make that vegan cheese melt, so that's why it looks weird in the picture, but melted or not it still tastes pretty good.
• Enjoy!

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Nutty Carrot, Raisin and Flax Muffins

These are super-duper healthy and tasty good. I only used 1/4 cup of maple syrup to sweeten, so they're refined sugar-free and, thank to the flax seed, full of fiber and omega 3's. I adapted this recipe from one I found in my Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food cookbook and I'm so glad I did! The whole family loved them - my daughter kept shoving a bite into her mouth and then running out of the room. I take that as a toddler thumbs up! Here's my adapted recipe...

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2/3 cup plain soy milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups grated carrot

3/4 cup raisins soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan with oil or line with paper baking cups
• Mix the flours, flax seed, baking soda and cinnamon in a large bowl.
• Create a small well in the center and add agave nectar, soy milk, oil and vanilla.
• Hand-stir until smooth. 
• Fold in the carrots, raisins and walnuts.
• Fill the muffin tins three-quarters full. (I used a large cookie scoop)
  
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Enjoy with vegan butter! Delicious!

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Jason's Whole Wheat "Bro"scuits

My husband, Jason, is the bread man. He loves fresh bread more than just about any other food, and he loves experimenting with bread recipes.

Here he is modeling some French "bro"guettes he made last week...

 They're shaped weird because our oven is small, but trust me they were awesome!

Jason's "Bro"scuits are super easy and crazy-tasty. The current recipe is still being partially made with white flour, but when we run out of the white stuff he's going to start experimenting with healthier, whole grain alternatives. When he finds a winner, I'll post the "Bro"scuit Redux recipe for you.

1 C whole wheat flour

1 1/4C unbleached all-purpose flour

1 T + 1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp fine sea salt

2 tsp agave (or preferred sweetener)

5 T sunflower oil (or preferred oil)

3/4 C + 3 T soy milk (oat milk works too)

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Whisk together flours, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
• Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour agave, oil and milk into the well, then whisk into a mealy dough.
• Knead dough gently in the bowl for one minute.
• Dust a flat surface with flour and hand-press (or roll) dough to about 1.5-inch thickness.
• Use a biscuit cutter or glass top to cut out your biscuits.
• Roll remaining dough into a ball (do not re-knead) and re-press and cut more biscuits. Continue until all dough is used.
• Oil and flour a medium cookie sheet (or mist with baking spray) and place biscuits on it.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, until they turn golden brown and scrumptious. 
• Enjoy fresh from the oven with vegan butter, agave and cinnamon or fruit-sweetened jam. Makes a great complement to my Tasty Tofu Scramble too. Yum!!

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