Sticky gooey “Cinnabon-like” rolls for the vegan? Yes, you betcha. Any recipe can be converted to  vegan one. While these are not the bastion of good health, they are still better for you than the regular ones. Vegan cooking always makes gains with lower saturated fat and no cholesterol. Very important for heart health as you approach 40 (or 45). Anyway, these are from scratch and take 2 hours to make (don’t get all discouraged, oh Microwave Generation).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 4 cups flour
• 1/8 tsp vitamin C powder (not needed but will REALLY help your dough rise)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup melted Earth Balance margarine
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup melted margarine for brushing on dough
• 1/4 cup melted margarine for topping
• lots of cinnamon sugar mix
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 2 – 4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

As with all breads, combine the water, yeast and sugar. Set aside and let rise for 5 minutes. It should be as thick as a head of Guinness. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl (hopefully a KitchenAid with a dough hook) with the margarine and oil. Gradually add the flour, salt, and vitamin C. Mix for 5 minutes with a machine dough hook or 10 minutes by hand. The dough should be very soft and should stick to your fingers, but not leave any residue. Cover the dough and let it rise for 30 – 60 minutes or doubled in bulk.

Get your oven pre-heated to 425 degrees.

After the dough has risen, plop it on a floured surface. Cut it in half. Put 1 half back in the bowl. Roll the other into a rectangle at least 12 inches high and 18 inches long. The dough should be rolled to almost a 1/4 inch in thickness. With a brush, liberally apply melted margarine to the rectangle piece of dough. Cover the dough with a healthy sprinkling of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Next, spread the nuts and raisins. it is up to you how much you want in the rolls. I put about a handful of each. Carefully roll the dough lengthwise like Clark Gable would roll a cigarette (not like I have EVER seen any of his movies start to finish).  You should have a nice thick roll.

Grease a 9×13 baking pan. Slice 2 inch pieces with a serrated knife. Take each piece and gently place it in the pan face up. Push the roll down to about half it’s height. Continue this process. You should get 6 – 8 rolls out of it. Repeat the same process with the second half of the dough.

Once completed, you brush the tops of the rolls with more melted margarine and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place them in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes.

While the rolls are baking, create the topping.  Combine the soy milk, powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, 4 tbsp of melted margarine, and vanilla in a small mixing bowl. Beat with a whisk. Keep on adding the powdered sugar one cup at a time, You will not believe how much sugar 1/2 cup of soy milk will consume. You want this mixture to be like sludge. Really thick. When in doubt, keep on adding.

Pull the rolls out of the oven. You want the tops of the rolls to be golden brown. Pour the sludgy white stuff all over the rolls. It will melt and then harden. Let the rolls cool for at least 5 – 10 minutes. After that, dig in with a cup of stiff french roast coffee. There is no way you will be able to eat just one.

For those of you not in the computer world, a version number below 1 (version 0.5, for example) means “the software is good enough for general use, but not a finished product”. It has taken me months to find a vegan oatmeal cookie recipe worthy for general release. The cookies I made last night are worthy of a general release, version 1.0. They are soft, chewy, and full of the comfort goodness characteristic of an oatmeal cookie.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of Earth Balance margarine
• 1/2 cup sugar (raw, semi-processed…whatever)
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Ener-G egg replacement
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup  all purpose unbleached flour
• 1 1/4 cups  oats
• 2 tbsp ground Chia seed (provides some kind of healthy redemption)
• 1 tbsp ground hemp seed (ditto)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
• 2 tsp non-dairy creamer

Beat the margarine and sugars until creamy. Add the vanilla, creamer, and the Ener-G mixture until blended. In a separate bowl sift (yes, you need to do this) the flour, salt, and baking soda together. Add the oats, chia, hemp, raisins, and chocolate chips to the dry mix. Pour the dry mix into the wet ingredients and mix just until all ingedients are blended. Over-mixing is very common in cookie creation. The more you mix, the more you activate the gluten in your flour. This is great for breads and terrible for cookies.

You should have a wet dough that holds form when squeezed, but also sticks to your fingers a little. Spoon the dough on cookie sheets (12 to a sheet). Bake the cookies 9 – 11 minutes at 375 (oh yeah, preheat your oven). When you take them out of the oven, let them rest for one minute and then transfer them to a cooling rack. Cooling racks are also very important as they prevent the cookie from continuing to bake (dry out) on the cookie sheet and they allow the heat to dissipate evenly. Go spend $3 and pick up one from Walmart. Serve with Very Vanilla Soy Milk.

All I did here was add a couple of the superfoods to make these (still unhealthy) cookies a little less guilty…and vegan, of course.

3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour (heaping)
1/4 cup brown sugar (heaping)
1/4 cup white sugar (heaping)
7 tbsp margarine
3 tbsp flax seed
1 tbsp hemp seed (rounded)
1 tbsp chia seed (rounded)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 pinch of salt
1 cup of vegan chocolate chips (semi-sweet for the sissies will do)

1 Ener-G Egg Replacement

Grind chia, flax, and hemp seeds in a coffee grinder. Mix the ground powder, margarine, and sugar into an electric mixer or by hand (just go buy a Kitchen Aid). Mix in eggs and vanilla until all is blended. Combine the flours, baking soda, and salt. Add it to the wet mixture and mix just until the ingredients are blended. Add the 1 cup of chocolate chips until mixed throughout. Don’t over mix. You have a lot of gluten in your flour and every stroke makes it more angry and chewy (not the chewy cookie kind,  more like the chewie Tootsie Roll kind).

Use that cool Pampered Chef scooper or two lame spoons and drop the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake them at 375 (oh yeah, preheat the oven) for 9 – 11 minutes. You will know when they are done based on your chewy or crunchy preference. Let cool for 5 minutes and put on a baking rack (invest in one of these, they make a difference).

I dare you to make these and honestly tell me that the “real ones” taste better OR that lame souless pre-made doughs (shame on you busy parents) tastes better than these. The hemp and flax seeds add some oil and earthy flavor to these. They are borderline nutty with all of the soft dough and chocolate infusion.

PS – You get a nice shot of iron, calcium, protein, fiber, omega-3, and antioxidants in these thanks to the superfoods. They still have the calories, but zero cholesterol and a tad less saturated fat.