Tag: ingredients

Peppermint Cheesecake Brownies

Writ­ten 12/31/24, updat­ed 12/31/24

Recipe from Real Sim­ple Mag­a­zine. NOT veg­an (and not rec­om­mend­ed as veg­an). Pep­per­mint infused and as a top­ping

Materials

Ingre­di­ents

1 pkg Fudge Brown­ie Mix

16 oz Cream Cheese, soft­ened

½ cup Gran­u­lat­ed Sug­ar

½ cup Sour Cream

½ tsp Vanil­la Extract

½ tsp Pep­per­mint Extract

2 ct Large Eggs

⅓ cup+ Crushed Pep­per­mint Can­dy

Option­al: ½ cup Choco­late Chips

Option­al: ⅓ cup Heavy Cream

Sup­plies

Muf­fin Trays w/Liners OR Bak­ing Pan OR Spring­form Pan

Parch­ment Paper

Bak­ing Spray

Mix­ing Spoon

Sil­i­cone Spat­u­la

Large Mix­ing Bowl

Mea­sur­ing Imple­ments

Tooth­pick

Elec­tric Beat­er

Cool­ing Racks

Kitchen Mal­let

Serving and Time

Serv­ing: 24 Brown­ies

Time: 20 minute Brown­ies + 20 minute Prep + 15 minute Bake + 1.5 hour Cool + 10 minute Set = 2–3 hours TOTAL

Directions

Brown­ies

  • Pre­heat oven to 350F
  • Pre­pare Brown­ies accord­ing to pack­age
  • Either line a Muf­fin Pan (12 count) with lin­ers OR grease/parchment paper a Bak­ing Pan
  • Pour brown­ie bat­ter into bake­ware
  • Bake for about 20 min­utes until tooth­pick comes out clean­ly
  • While per­form­ing next steps, let cool

Prep

  • In a large mix­ing bowl, use an elec­tric beat­er on medi­um speed to work Cream Cheese (16 oz) until smooth, about 2–3 min­utes
  • Add Sug­ar (½ cup), Sour Cream (½ cup), Vanil­la (½ tsp), and Pep­per­mint Extract (½ tsp — a lit­tle more if you want more of pep­per­mint fla­vor, but not too much lest it be bit­ter)
  • Beat on medi­um-low speed
  • Add Eggs (2 total), 1 at a time until all com­bined
  • Fold in Pep­per­mint Can­dy (⅓ cup – more if desired for more pep­per­mint)

Bake

  • Make sure oven is at 350F
  • Spread pre­pared mix­ture over top the brown­ies
  • Bake about 15 min­utes, until cheese­cake is set
  • Cool in the pan on top of cool­ing racks for 30 min­utes
  • Refrig­er­ate uncov­ered for at least 1 hour up to 24 hours (if longer than 4 hours, cov­er)

Top­ping (Option­al)

  • Right before serv­ing, using a microwave-safe bowl, add Choco­late Chips (½ cup) and Heavy Cream (⅓ cup)
  • Microwave for 30 sec­onds
  • Stir
  • Microwave for 30 sec­onds
  • Stir until smooth
  • Microwave more if need­ed
  • Spread over top the cheese­cake and gar­nish with Crushed Pep­per­mint Can­dy (desired amount)
  • Refrig­er­ate for 10 min­utes until set

SERVE and Enjoy!

Notes

  • Do NOT do this as a veg­an recipe!! It’s not good! I tried mak­ing veg­an cheese­cake 6 times and it is nev­er good despite using a vari­ety of dif­fer­ent cream cheeses
  • 2024: Made the mis­take of mak­ing brown­ies in a dif­fer­ent pan and then try­ing to cut it out in the shape of the spring­form pan I was using. NOT a good idea. Just bake it in the pan first. Oth­er­wise the bot­tom is weird. If I were to do it again, I would add more pep­per­mint as a whole as I couldn’t real­ly taste it in the cheese­cake. Did not do the option­al frost­ing top
  • Recipe calls for soft pep­per­mint can­dy. I used can­dy canes. The soft­er can­dy prob­a­bly would  melt bet­ter
  • Try­ing it in a muf­fin pan is not a bad idea

Vegan Doughnut

writ­ten 4/8/2024, updat­ed 4/8/2024

What

Veg­an yeast dough­nuts with option­al glaze and/or fill­ing

Main Ingredients

Method 1

2 Cups All-pur­pose Flour

½ Cup Gran­u­lat­ed Sug­ar

1½ — 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

½ Cup Plant-based Milk or Water

Pinch of Salt

1–2 tsp of Sug­ar for Yeast

2 Tbsp Canola Oil

Oil for Fry­ing

Method 2

Egg Replac­er: ½ Cup Aquafa­ba + 3 Tbsp Corn­starch

1½ — 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

½ Cup Water (warm)

4 Cups All-Pur­pose Flour

⅓ Cup Gran­u­lat­ed Sug­ar

1 tsp Salt

⅔ Cup Plant-Based Milk

4 Tbsp Veg­an But­ter (room temp)

Fry­ing Oil

Optional Ingredients

Apple Cider Vine­gar, Apple­sauce (both as egg replac­er sub­sti­tu­tions), Vanil­la Extract

Toppings

  • Orig­i­nal Glaze: 2 Cup Pow­dered Sug­ar + 1 Tbsp Veg­an But­ter (melt­ed) + 2 Tbsp Plant Milk/Water
  • Add any desired extracts or juices to glaze (e.g. lemon, orange)
  • Choco­late: 1 Cup melt­ed dark or milk choco­late + option­al 1 tsp Refined Coconut Oil
  • Cin­na­mon Sug­ar: 3 Tbsp Gran­u­lat­ed Sug­ar + 1 tsp Cin­na­mon + option­al 2 Tbsp Plant Milk
  • Dairy-free frost­ing
  • Sprin­kles, Choco­late Chips, Can­dy Pieces, Cook­ie Pieces
  • Fresh Fruit

Filling

  • Fruit Jam or Pre­serves
  • Cus­tard:

⅓ Cup Corn­starch

1½ Cup Plant Milk

1¾ Cup Full Fat Coconut Milk

½ Cup Gold­en Cast­er Sug­ar

1 tsp Vanil­la Extract

¼ tsp turmer­ic

4 Tbsp Veg­an But­ter

  1. Coconut and Plant Milk to saucepan
  2. Whisk in Corn­starch + Milk (small amount) slur­ry
  3. Add sug­ar, vanil­la extract and turmer­ic
  4. Medi­um to high heat
  5. Stir­ring while it thick­ens sig­nif­i­cant­ly
  6. Whisk in veg­an but­ter
  • Pas­try Cream:

1 Cup Plant Milk

¼ Cup All-pur­pose Flour/Cornstarch

¼ Cup Gran­u­lat­ed Sug­ar

2 Tbsp Canola Oil or 4Tbsp Veg­an But­ter

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1 tsp Vanil­la Extract or 1 Vanil­la Pod

  1. If using Vanil­la Pod, remove seeds from pod and add both pod and seeds to pan, then add milk and sim­mer low-medi­um heat for 5–10 min to infuse, then dis­card vanil­la and bring to boil.
  2. Whisk all ingre­di­ents in saucepan
  3. Medi­um-high heat
  4. Stir while thick­en­ing
  5. Low­er to medi­um-low tem­per­a­ture
  6. Con­tin­ue stir­ring until pud­ding-like
  7. Remove from heat (can store in fridge for 3 days)
  • Fruit Creams: 1 Cup Pas­try Cream + ½ Cup Fruit Puree and ¼ tsp Fruit Extract
  • Choco­late Cream: 1 Cup Pas­try Cream + ½ Cup Choco­late
  • Cream Cheese: 1 Cup Pas­try Cream + ½ Cup Plant-Based Cream Cheese

Equipment

Roller

Flat Sur­face

Fry­er

Plas­tic Wrap

Oil Ther­mome­ter

Tongs/Spider

Cook­ing Spray

Bowls

Clean Cloth

Chop­stick

Pas­try Pip­ing Bag

Round Cutters/Cup/Whatever

Cool­ing Rack

Paper Tow­els

Sifter

Stand Mix­er

Instructions

Method 1 — No Egg Replac­er

Yeast: Warm Milk/Water (½ Cup) to about 105F to 115F and dis­solve Sug­ar (1 tsp), then add Active Dry Yeast (1½ — 2 tsp). Let rest until it blooms

Dough: In a bowl (or stand mix­er bowl if using) com­bine Flour (2 Cups), Sug­ar (½ Cup), and Oil (2 Tbsp). Then add Yeast

Knead: Knead either by hand (10 min­utes) or in the stand mix­er with dough hook (5 min­utes on lev­el 2) until a dough forms

First Proof: Cov­er with plas­tic wrap or a clean cloth and let rise until dou­bled, about 1–2 hours

Shap­ing: Roll out onto light­ly floured sur­face (don’t over flour the sur­face) and roll until about ½” thick

  • Cov­er any pieces not using
  • Using cut­ters or a cup or bot­tle caps or what­ev­er, shape and cut your dough­nuts.
  • If fill­ing, just roll into lit­tle balls and flat­ten them

Option­al Sec­ond Proof: Cov­er with plas­tic (add some cook­ing spray to pre­vent stick­ing) and allow to rise for anoth­er 30 min­utes to an hour

Fry­ing: Heat oil to 360F — 375F

  • Make sure there’s enough for the dough­nuts to float
  • Fry for about 30 — 45 sec­onds until gold­en brown per side
  • Place on cool­ing rack with paper tow­els under­neath

Method 2 — Egg Replac­er

Egg Replac­er: Mix Aquafa­ba (½ Cup) and Corn­starch (3 Tbsp)

Yeast: Com­bine Yeast (1½ — 2 tsp) with warm Water (½ Cup) and Sug­ar (1 tsp). Let rest until it blooms

Dough: In a large bowl, com­bine Flour (4 Cups), Sug­ar (⅓ Cup), and Salt (1 tsp), mak­ing a well in the cen­ter

  • Add Egg Replac­er, Milk (⅔ Cup), and Yeast
  • Mix togeth­er until the ingre­di­ents JUST com­bine (over­do­ing it can make the dough­nut dense)
  • Option­al­ly, let sit for 30 min­utes

Knead: Either 10 min­utes by hand or 5 min­utes in stand mix­er with dough hook set on lev­el 2

  • Add But­ter (softened/room temp, 4 Tbsp)
  • Knead again for about 2 min­utes until you can pull it thin with­out it tear­ing

First Proof: Cov­er with plas­tic or a clean cloth until it dou­bles in size about 1–2 hours

  • Option­al­ly, punch it down then refrig­er­ate overnight. Many bak­ers rec­om­mend this to infuse the yeast fla­vor into the dough, but not nec­es­sary
  • Pre­pare a work­ing sur­face light­ly with flour (don’t over­do it) and turn out dough.
  • Divide into pieces and cov­er any pieces not being used
  • Roll into pieces about ½” thick and cut to desired size and shape (you can use cook­ie cut­ters, drink­ing glass, bot­tle caps, what­ev­er)
  • Re-roll any left­over scraps and let sit for about 30 min­utes before repeat­ing (it is rec­om­mend­ed to re-roll only one time)

Sec­ond Proof: Place cut dough­nuts on a tray or parch­ment lined bak­ing sheet and cov­er with plas­tic wrap (may want to use cook­ing spray to pre­vent stick­ing)

  • Allow to rise for 30 min­utes to an hour
  • Test by pok­ing with fin­ger: if inden­ta­tion pops back out, need to rise more. If it stays, then ready for fry­ing
  • Remove plas­tic wrap

Fry­ing: Heat oil to about 360F to 375F

  • Don’t leave! Each dough­nut should take about 30 — 45 sec­onds per side
  • Fry until gold­en brown
  • Place on tow­el-lined cool­ing rack

Pictures

Glazing and Filling

Allow dough­nuts to be cool yet warm before adding glaze or fill­ing

Glaze

Orig­i­nal Glaze: 2 Cup Pow­dered Sug­ar + 1 Tbsp Veg­an But­ter (melt­ed) + 2 Tbsp Plant Milk/Water

Sift pow­dered Sug­ar 1 Tbsp at a time into the melt­ed But­ter (1Tbsp) and Milk (2 Tbsp) mix­ture

Stir to com­bine

Driz­zle over dough­nuts or dunk top of dough­nut into bowl of glaze

  • Add any desired extracts or juices to glaze (e.g. lemon, orange)
  • Add food col­or­ing if desired
  • Top with cook­ies, can­dy, cere­al, etc
  • Reduce Milk for thick­er glaze

*See Top­pings sec­tion above for more ideas

Filling

Use a chop­stick to poke a hole into the side of the dough­nut

Wig­gle it around to cre­ate open­ing for the fill­ings

Using pas­try pip­ing equip­ment, pipe in your fill­ings

Make sure fill­ings are not super hot

*See Fill­ings sec­tion above for more ideas

Notes

  • I did­n’t have any pas­try pip­ing, so I tried to use a ziploc bag with the cor­ner snipped off. End­ed up hav­ing to use the chop­stick to force the fill­ing into the depths of the dough­nut… Now, mind you, I tried to fill a ring dough­nut, but a hole-less dough­nut or longer cylin­dri­cal like an eclair would be much eas­i­er to fill with­out ded­i­cat­ed pip­ing equip­ment.
  • I over­worked my dough, so it end­ed up being very dense and not fluffy
  • I already altered the sug­ar ingre­di­ent amount because mine were so bland
  • Glaze needs to be thick­er. Mine was so liq­uidy and did­n’t work well
  • Use an oil ther­mome­ter!
  • Most notes say to eat dough­nuts the same day for best results
  • I ate my jam-filled ring dough­nut the next day and I dare­say it was bet­ter than the day before!
  • Reheat­ed my 5in jel­ly-filled ring dough­nut the next day in the microwave with a wet paper tow­el on top for about 15 sec­onds
  • Aquafa­ba is just the liq­uid from a can of beans