Gimme V'more! - Vegan S'mores Cookies - Recipe 37

Move over girl scouts.. or should I say Martha Stewart?
I adapted these from the MS recipe that is out there, but changed it up pretty good.  For one, these were going into BFF Jr's tummy and I remembered she does not like oats in her cookies.   So, I took OUT the oats and put IN graham crackers (which, let's face it, made more sense anyway, Martha.)

The first time I'd made vegan s'mores cookies, I failed by baking the vegan marshmallows in the cookies.. now, mind you - those first cookies a year ago were DELICIOUS, but they did not turn out a worthy cookie.  No-siree.. they were somewhat of a hot mess. (But a yummy hot mess!)  I think baby mama ended up with some since she often says she doesn't care what food looks like as long as it's edible  (that's my girl). :)

This time I decided thus.  I was going to fire up the ol oven in the heat of the morning on Friday and start working. 
It was hot in the Cov on Friday.   I started up the AC in my villains room and pulled a fan in to point at me while working.   Then I started the oven and started mixing.

It wasn't all that hard.  A cookie, is a cookie, right?  
WRONG.  All cookies are NOT created equal, folks.

Especially when you have chocolate squares melting on top... but I digress.

In the heat of the kitchen I sliced halves of vegan marshmallows, and decorated a plate for the group, while worrying about how I was going to set these things on fire and make them look like they'd just been roasted on an open flame.

Voila, my first batch came out.
So I dillingently placed a 'marshmallow' atop each melting chocolate square and attempted to 'evenly' (and I apparently never do anything 'evenly') set my vegan mallows a fire.

*takes talent, people, takes talent.*


I was proud of my creation.. so with the next set in the oven I was ready for action.
This also gave me time to clean up my mess because I'm a mess cleaner upper like, at the second I make a mess.
There were heat dead cats all over my floor and I had to jump over them at most chances.   Occasionally I'd stop by my vintage metal fan myself and enjoy the breeze it provided.

When I finished my last group (before noon) I sealed the first bunch up.. totally thinking I'd be taking that next group to IL with me the next day and to my lil cousin's graduation party (of which I never made it to because the my ride - aka the mommy, was sick). But that was my plan.. Dani, if you're reading this.. I'm soooorry!!

Regardless, after all that work, it was time to head out to pick up the (I'm terrified of the snake that resides by your house so you gotta pick me up) girlfriend, for this Thierbach Vegan Adventure date.  

We were served chickpea burgers and the BFF's world famous salad.   All the time, lil bff jr was eyeing those v'mores.   It was cute, and they were a hit, and in fact - those Thierbachs are getting the rest of the cookies that I cannot for the life of me finish.   Should be a good little snack for bff jr since she's now on 'camp' type days for summer. 
We had a good night.   Good food, good company, strange movie.. Bff jr took the girlfriend on the grand tour, even showing her the ceiling fans!  
Can't wait for the next 'Vegan adventure' night. 
We need to do a throwdown!


And with that - just wait to see what I have up my sleeve for this weekend.
It's going to be V-logged too - if I can work it out.

The GF and I are about to make Hanaya Yohei proud. ;)



Music enjoyed while baking:
Subsonic Radio

Current Motivation:
Moving in the right direction, with much!

Current Craving:
A peach

Gimme V'More, Please! Recipe 37 - S'more Cookies

Memorial day weekend:
It's the un-official start of summer, and summer means bonfires, grillouts etc...
Which is why it's only fitting to make something w/o the bonfire just yet, but reminiscent of a cool night by a fire...

What would that be?


                       S'Mores!!
                                                       In a COOKIE!

Now, as I mentioned I failed at this cookie miserably last year, but I am going to give it another try, and do a few things differently this time. 
Let's look at my fail, shall we?

Ooh so not pretty, but actually they were good.  (As you know, I eat my fails)


So, some history?
If you're not familiar with s'mores, they are made by sandwiching a toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate in between two graham crackers. The name of the treat comes from the two words "some more," clearly combined because people often wanted to have at least a second serving after having one s'more. The treat was developed by campers in the early part of the 20th century, making use of the fairly new mass-produced marshmallows. Marshmallows were easy to transport, as were candy bars and graham crackers, and the marshmallows could be warmed easily over a fire to make a delicious treat in a situation where other types of sweets would have been difficult to come by.

The true origin of the snack is unknown, as camping recipes tended to be passed from person to person and family to family - often over the campfire itself. The first recipe for s'mores was published in 1927 in the Girl Scout Handbook and the event marked the official introduction of the s'more into popular culture.

The publication of the s'more recipe was not the first pairing of chocolate, marshmallow and cookies. In 1913, the Mallomar cookie was introduced to market, followed in 1917 by the Moon Pie. Both products have a graham cracker-like base - a sandwich, in the case of the Moon Pie - and are topped with marshmallow and a layer of chocolate.

S'mores (as well as Mallomars, Moon Pies and other confections with similar components) are popular because the simple ingredients make a perfect balance of flavors. The marshmallow is sticky and sweet, the chocolate is smooth, and the graham cracker is crisp and crumbly, acting almost like a pie crust to contain the filling.


So, we all know (well I'd like to think we do) that marshmallows are NOT vegan.. they contain gelatin, which is not vegan.   And cookies, have butter and eggs, so this has been a bit of a challenge, but I'm ready for it this time.  

So - numbers now.



Traditional S'more Cookies                                         V'more Please Cookies
1 cookie                                                                        1 cookie
Calories 190                                                                      109
Total Fat 9.0 g                                                                    5g
Cholesterol 26mg                                                                0
Sodium 95mg                                                                      42
Total Carbohydrate 26g                                                    15.2
Dietary Fiber  1 g                                                               2.0
Protein         1g                                                                  1.5
WWpts -   5                                                                         3

And with that - the setting.
Double date with my girl, my bff, my bff jr and bff husband tomorrow night..  bff is going to make a salad, chickpea burgers and sweet potato fries, and dessert - MY COOKIES!  (These were chosen by Elena - bff jr, who had a choice of these or chocolate cupcakes.)  :)

We'll rock, we'll roll, we'll be outta control and hopefully we'll watch something funny on the tube for a while too.  ;)

Til tomorrow - when I - weirdo that I am -  turn on the oven in 90 degree heat outside with no ac a blowin' cuz that's how "I" roll.

Stay tuned,  S'more time is comin' and you don't want to miss it!!



Music enjoyed while blogging:
Goldfrapp Radio on Pandora (because I'm not-so-secretly in love with Alison Goldfrapp)


Current Motivation:
Redux on a failed redux


Current Craving:
Thanks to the girlfriend - I'm now craving Chipotle!

The Egg to the Nog - Recipe 18 - Vegan Eggnog Ice Cream (and sidenote, crazy cookie day!)

So, simplicity rules here... maybe this is why I'm going for the not-so-simple, cookie party day tomorrow!
This recipe was sooo easy, I could probably do it once again with my eyes closed.   Now, I've NEVER been an eggnog fan, but I know Benny is, and I used to (as I said once before) make him real eggnog ice cream for Christmas, but this year - he got the vegan kind, and he didn't seem any the dissapointed.  He ate all of it.     Even my baby mama (who's like me and isn't an eggnog person) had a bowl!

There's my baby mama >>>>  Isn't she pretty?   Luff her.  <3  I think she was saying:  "mmmmm".  Lol.
So, regardless.  Vegan eggnog ice cream was a success.. which is actually a really big deal because it's not extremely easy to veganize anything 'eggnog' related.  Shoot, listen to the word "EGGnog".. it's not even close to 'vegan'.  Then you add 'cream' into the mix?   So not vegan.  But as I said.  Easy peasy.   The hardest part was to make sure it thickened right to churn it into an ice cream consistency.   I utilized cashews of all things.. and guess what?  It did the trick! (Now I wonder if I should have used cashews for that peppermint pie?  Hhhmmm.)

Ye olde churner, the Kitchenaid!

So cooking, cooling, churning, eating..  it's just that easy, and I'm totally ready to make ice cream now!   Just need someone besides myself to make it for!
 Not only was my ice cream the star last night, my Lori made us the best ever vegan chicken and dumplings.  Yum x 239273192732966.  I just ate my leftovers for lunch today.  She's such a good chef, my baby mama.  Very soon she's going to be one of my un-celebrity chefs in a chili cookoff.. oh very soon!

So, now what?  Ala Christmas cookie baking party day - which is tomorrow (as I'm writing this here on Saturday).  This should be fun, so long as my un-celebrity chefs Vicki, Megan, Amy and I don't kill eachother in my sister's tiny kitchen.     Guess I had better get the video camera ready - so someone can video tape me.. :P  Ok, I can videotape my sister who's doing something awesome for me, and veganizing peanut butter kiss cookies.   Can't ask for a better gift than that!!  Those are my FAVE!
Til later!
*******************************************************************************

COOKIE DAY


  Would you look at that there?  That cute lil spread?
Cookie day was fun.  What you're looking at here is L-R:
Vicki's (The sister): Chocolate peanut butter chip cookies.  Bottom middle:  MY chocolate chip cookies.  Right:  My sugar cookies. Top: Oatmeal CC Raisin Cookies (made specifically for Sandra) and right in the middle:  The sister's peanut butter kisses.   These are ALL vegan!  :)  This spread is going to our ornament party at work on Tuesday.  The rest, to whomever wants it.  I'm sugared out.

You may notice, that the gingerbread is missing.  It's not because I didn't make them.. but for some reason they turned out so thin, and so breakable that they were pretty much rendered useless by the time I got them home.. but here they are, all packed up and ready to go.

Regardless, the neice even got into the mix making brownies for school. 
Envision with me, if you will.. 3 Kitchenaid mixers (one 'olive' color from the 1400's - ok 1970's) all mixing at once.  I'm surpised we didn't blow a fuse!  So as I made sugar cookies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and gingerbread, the sister was making peanut butter kisses.. and she'd also made a few others the day before.  Something with hot peppers in it, which didn't taste all that well (probably because it had splenda in it - which, ew.) but they DID have a kick at the end.    And Amy made something called 'Devil Dogs' which were devils food cake with a cream on them and chocolate sauce.   These ended up going to my father, and some kids at school tomorrow (for my neice).   SO NOT VEGAN! ;)

Anyway - there's the group there.  Ignore the weird look on my sister's face.  I am not quite sure what she was doing at this point.  
Regardless, I don't have alot to say about this cookie thing.. probably because I'm on some weird sugar high I don't want to be having.   It was fun.. it was tasty.. it was fantasimo. My cookies were a hit... so were everyone elses.  Even Megan was stealing some of my chocolate chip dough.. (which is surprising because she's such a picky pants.)  

It's time to let this veganization go with the cold cold wind... what's next week? 
CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST!
I know I'll be busy on Saturday night prepping the breads for it, but the rest of it will be made on Christmas morning.  My sister and I will be slaving away in the kitchen, making noise while my dad attempts to sleep, while my mommy is in church.  It should be fun.
Prep info coming soon.    Right now I'm taking my pigtails out and going to enjoy Alton Brown on TV.
Have a lovely up-coming week.

Music enjoyed while baking and writing:
Christmas music on TV
Good Eats

Current Motivation:
The sugar high I'm on


Current Craving:
ANYTHING w/o sugar!

Welcome to sugartown - population, unknown.

It's time for a sugar-high.   This is going to be a two-parter.  This one part I'll be making ice cream. 
For the second part - I've got a crew set up - and we'll be making cookies.
On the menu?

For ME:   Vegan Eggnog Ice Cream. 
Reason?:  It's my main veganization this week. AND a Christmas gift for my baby's daddy, because it's his favorite.  However, I used to make it the un-vegan way for him.  This year, my baby mama gets to benefit from the VEGAN way.  I think he'll enjoy it just as much too.  He's an easy foodie to please.:) 
This is for our ornament party on Friday at the baby mama's house.   My baby mama has promised me vegan chicken and dumplins and time with my lil girls.  I'm excited.  It's going to be fun... especially now that I'm creating an "I Love Sheri" ornament for baby Lotus.  (Who wants an I love Sheri ornament?! - my BABY of course!)  She asked for it, she's getting it.. but I told her I wanted an "I love Lotus" ornament in return.   I'm so excited.  <3 

So, my ice cream-cream has already been started and is cooling so that I can churn tomorrow and it will make it there in it's glory on Friday.    Update on that in the next blog.. but let me get to my next big veganization for the weekend.

Christmas Cookie Veganization!

The Sis, AK, Megs and I are doing Christmas cookies on Sunday after Kundalini.  I'm not sure what Megs is making, and I think AK said something about 'Devil Dogs.'   My sister is making triple peanut butter cookies, a chili cookie,(?) and snowball cookies.
So what matters?  Lol.
*I* am making:
Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip
Vegan Soft Gingerbread Cookies
and
Vegan Sugar Cookies.

Now, you don't think I'm eating all this do you?   Ha!  I'm probably going to take them for our ornament exchange at work... and whatever doesn't get eaten there, I'll leave in our break room.   Ah, the people at work love it when I attempt to fatten them up.  lol.

So ok, lets do the ol' numbers.

                     Eggnog Ice Cream                                         Vegan Eggnog Ice Cream
                               1 scoop                                                               1 scoop

Calories                  250                                                                      180
Fat                           13 g                                                                      10g
Cholesterol             70mg                                                                   0
Sodium                    90mg                                                                  42mg
Carbohydrates       31g                                                                       25
Fiber                         0                                                                          0
Protien                     5.0g                                                                      3.6g
WW Pts                      7                                                                          6

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies                                      Vegan OCC Cookies

                       1 cookie                                                                    1 cookie
Calories          160                                                                            140
Fat                    8.5g                                                                           6g
Cholesterol       2.8                                                                             0
Sodium              135mg                                                                    115mg
Carbs                 18g                                                                           12g
Fiber                  2.5g                                                                           2.0g
Protien               2.0                                                                            2.0g
WW Pts              4                                                                                3

Soft Gingerbread Cookies                                             Vegan Soft Gingerbread Cookies
               1 cookie                                                                             1 cookie
Calories    143                                                                                 122
Fat               6g                                                                                  3g
Cholesterol     9g                                                                              0g
Sodium         147mg                                                                        112mg
Carbs             21g                                                                             15g
Fiber              0.4                                                                             0.4
Protien           1.6                                                                             0.5
WW Pts           4                                                                                2

Sugar Cookies                                                                         Vegan Sugar Cookies
      1 cookie                                                                                       1 cookie
Calories   72                                                                                         60
Fat           3.2g                                                                                       1g
Cholesterol  8mg                                                                                  0mg
Sodium        54mg                                                                                 32mg
Carbs            10.2g                                                                                 8g
Fiber              0.1g                                                                                 0.1g
Protien           0.8g                                                                                0.8g
WW Pts          2                                                                                       1

And there we go.   It's going to be a 'sweet'  weekend all around.   And hopefully I won't be on too big of a sugar high when it's all over.   It's time to roll into this holiday at full force.  Ornaments, Sugar, the works.   Ah, do you think I'll gain a lb?    I guess you better stick around to find out, shouldn't you?
:P

Til next blog.   Be "sweet".

Noise in the background while writing this blog:
The Flintstones

Current Craving:
Some sorta casserole.

Current Motivation:
SUGAR!