Homemade (Ritz copycat) crackers

I had an inexplicable craving for Ritz crackers yesterday, but can't actually bring myself to buy a package of Ritz crackers. Notably, this is because I get heart palpitations any time I eat anything containing HFCS — including products which don't openly list it as an ingredient, but use the term "glucose/fructose" instead. So it was on to the internet to try to discover a recipe for Ritz-like crackers. Multiple hits predominantly led me to Cupcake Project's Homemade Ritz Crackers recipe, which the author claims is "spot on" in terms of taste.

I made up a dairy-free batch of the dough here, omitting the vegetable oil and using a full ½ cup of vegan margarine as the fat component. I also broke from the technique described and treated this more like a proper pastry, attempting to work in the fat using the fat-handling technique I started using after seeing Anna Olson do it. I used ice water. I tried to work the dough as Anna Olson does: folding it to get it to come together. I tried to keep the dough-handling to a minimum to try not to develop the gluten too much. I gave it a half-hour of resting time. Despite all this, the dough was still noticeably more overworked than my usual pie crust recipe; I suspect the addition of baking powder causes that.

I rolled the dough as thin as I could, still trying not to overwork it. I got it very thin. Coupled with the fact that it clearly has more gluten development than my usual pie crust, this meant that it didn't cut well at all. Still, I baked off a small batch and am pleased to report that they do taste exactly like Ritz Crackers. One small caveat: these are not to be underbaked. The ones which weren't fully crispy had an unsettlingly soft texture. They taste exactly like their crunchier brethren, but are alarmingly unlike the texture one would expect.

I'd like to experiment with using coconut oil in these for future experiments, as I think that will probably improve the crispiness and flavour, but I'll happily munch on these in the meantime.

Most successful batch of doughnuts yet

It's these recipes for the doughnuts and the glaze again, but I didn't bother with the overnight proofing in the fridge. The flavour didn't develop as nicely but otherwise these turned out amazingly well. They're not too doughy, not too oily, with a lightly crispy outside and lofty inside.

That's right. Egg-free egg bread.

As blogged about previously, this eggless version of Betty Crocker's Rich Egg Bread recipe uses a 2:1 ratio of white bread flour to multigrain bread flour, 1 Tbsp sugar, and 1 Tbsp fresh-ground flax seed in 3 Tbsp of water in place of the egg. The crust was almost exactly perfect, and I suspect the only reason it wasn't as fantastic as it could have been is that I wasn't being meticulous about coating the pre-baked loaf in oil/melted shortening.

Adapted Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I made Martha Stewart's Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies way back in late 2011. With Kara and I in the dying throes of yet another cold, we've been staying indoors a lot this week and I thought today would be a good opportunity to veganize the recipe.

First off, I halved the ingredients, because I wasn't willing to be saddled with approximately 30 cookies if I didn't like the results. I estimated the 1 ¼ cups of all purpose flour, used Earth Balance margarine in place of the butter, substituted the brown sugar with the coconut sugar I had on-hand, and used 1 Tbsp of ground flax seed in 2 Tbsp of water (it was supposed to be 3 Tbsp -- oops!) for the egg. As with the Vegan Blondies recipe I recently developed, the addition of flax seed turned out well. I think these cookies turned out slightly more caramel-like than the egg-based chocolate chip cookies I've made, which is a welcome addition. This recipe's a keeper!

Jan 26/14 Update: I made up a batch yesterday with the recommended ratio of water to ground flax seed and prefer the earlier version.

Success! Vegan blondies!

I've had to re-jig several of my old standard recipes in the past year to allow for the fact that eggs are now a no-no for me. After having experimented with other baked goods, I thought I'd try my hand at adapted my (seriously addictive) go-to blondie recipe to be egg-free. This version used 1 Tbsp of ground flax seed in 3 Tbsp of water as the egg substitute.

I'm happy to report that the resultant blondies were flavoured exactly right, if the texture was a little bit more like a caramel than the slightly-fudgey blondies I make when I use egg. I'm sure I can experiment with a bit more flour and/or leavening to make these spot-on.

Christmas comes but once a year

I'm still trying to keep my refined sugar intake to a minimum, but if one can't indulge one's cravings during Christmas-time, when can one?

Behold! The beginnings of a batch of dairy-free fudge. This version includes a pinch of salt an about one tablespoon of vanilla. It's setting now, in preparation for dinner with the in-laws on Sunday. The samples I had from what was left in the pot after the rest of the mixture had been scraped out are fantastic.

Stews aren't photogenic

Although it seems like I haven't cooked anything of note since late October, I've been just as busy in the kitchen as ever. Unfortunately, beef stew looks horrible when photographed, as do many of the other household staples I've been whipping up. It doesn't help that the natural light situation at this time of year is dismal.

Of note: I've been tweaking Betty Crocker's Egg Bread recipe to make it egg-free by replacing the egg with hydrated, ground flax seed. I've also reduced the sugar content. Once I'm suitably thrilled with the results, I'll post my version.