Homemade Girl Scout Cookies

I grew up in Girl Scouts. I started as a Daisy and made it all the way to being a Senior. I was obsessed with the pins and buttons and patches. My neighbor Jen and I spent countless hours together working our way through our books trying to earn as many badges as possible. I distinctly remember having both a vest and a sash as Junior because I had too many patches to fit on just one. My favorite patch of all was an image of Juliette Gordon Low wearing a fancy dress, in shades of pink and brown. I liked it so much that my mom agreed to sew one on both my vest and my sash. One day a bottle of bleach leaked in the washing room, and it ended up coating a fair portion of my vest, whiting out all the batches. I cried for days.
Aside from earning all sorts of swag, Girl Scouts led to a lot of amazing opportunities for me. I went rappelling. I went canoeing. I went to sock hops & lock-ins & tons of workshops. But most of all, I sold cookies. My sister and I sold countless boxes of cookies. I remember cookie season well. My dad would take our order forms to work and ask people to buy cookies, making sure everything was split evenly between us. We would stand with our troops at grocery stores every weekend. When the cases came in, our living room turned into cookie central. We organized each order in a different corner, double counting all the boxes to make sure everything was just right. And then it turned into a giant delivery operation. There is no doubt in my mind that selling thousands of boxes of cookies helped lead me to my life of baking. The excitement that only came once a year now comes every week as I sling baked goods on the daily.
The Girl Scouts started selling homemade cookies in the early 1900s, but starting using factories in the late 30's. Currently there are two licensed Girl Scout cookie vendors, ABC and Little Brownie Bakers. This year ABC revealed that four of their cookies were vegan! Those are the Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties, Thanks-A-Lot, and Lemonades. The only problem is that the vendors generally sell cookies in different regions. I haven't been able to find any of the vegan cookies in my area. While I am sure that I could wrangle a few boxes online, my conscious won't let me do it. The point of Girl Scout cookies is for the girls to be actively involved, and they intentionally don't allow online sales to promote hands-on learning. Since I can't find the vegan cookies in my area and the cookies I crave the most still aren't veganized, I don't feel too bad about baking my own. I really liked the filling from the samoa hamantashen I made, so if the caramel recipe seems familiar now you know why.


Shortbread Cookies
1 cup Earth Balance margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
8 oz chocolate chips
1 tbl coconut oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat the Earth Balance until fluffy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat until combined. Add flour in two parts. Mixing until a thick dough forms. Roll dough out between sheets parchment, with additional flour to sprinkle if needed, until 1/3" thick. I cut the dough using a 2.5" cookie cutter and then cut the center with a piping tip. Alternatively, if you have a donut cutter it would be great to use here. Bake 15-19 minutes until edges are browned. Allow to cool completely. While the cookies are cooling melt the chocolate and whisk in the coconut oil. Dip bottoms of shortbread in chocolate and allow to set.

Coconut Caramel
1 cup full fat canned coconut milk
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoon Earth Balance margarine
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

In a small sauce pan combine coconut milk, brown sugar and Earth Balance. Allow to come to a low boil. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the mixture has thickened into a syrup and smells like caramel. It will also darken in color. While this mixture is simmering, spread your shredded coconut on a sheet pan and bake at 350 degrees for 4-7 minutes. After 4 minutes stir the coconut to ensure that the coconut isn't browning unevenly. Remove when half of the coconut is lightly browned and continue to stir on the pan while it is cooling, as the coconut will continue to toast while the pan is hot. Stir the coconut and the vanilla extract into the caramel.

Assembly
I found it easiest to pipe the caramel onto the cookies. You don't need a piping tip, just cut the bottom of the bag. I piped a ring around each cookie, then lightly pressed the caramel flat with my hand. I had a little trouble with it sticking to my hand instead of the cookie, so I lightly greased my palm with coconut oil. Drizzle the remaining chocolate in stripes on the top of the cookie. I added a few more chocolate stripes than you would find on a classic samoa. But who can blame me, there's no such thing as too much chocolate.



If you have vegan Girl Scout cookies in your area and are interested in arranging some sort of mail swap, I am all ears! I could trade you all sorts of terrific vegan goods from the DMV area. But there are a few things to keep in mind when you are dealing with the girls!


Heck yeah! The Girl Scouts are amazing for a whole slew of other reasons too. Like their huge push in science, math,& technology programs and their trans* acceptance! Was anyone else in a troop growing up? Or do you have children that are currently involved? I would be really interested in hearing what sorts of events were popular these days.

Samoa Hamantashen

Two years ago was the first time I made hamantashen. I think Greg and I just googled vegan hamantashen recipes and made whatever we found. I remember them being good, but never saved the recipe. This year we decided to take on the challenge of making several recipes until we found one that we were blown away by. We made 4 batches over the course of 2 days. Two of the recipes were good. One recipe was mediocre. The last recipe resulted in pre-jammed biscuits. While I appreciate a good biscuit, it does not make for a good cookie. We also had a large number of our cookies fall apart during baking. I was upset. I don't take failure well, and frankly it has been a while since I have experience a baking disaster. I couldn't sleep because I was too busy trying to figure out how to make perfect hamantashen. Luckily for me, the next morning Greg's sister posted a round up post of interesting flavor combinations which offered an alternative to pinching the edges that I thought might work. But it also caused us to change flavor course. I was no longer satisfied with raspberry, strawberry, and chocolate. I now needed something more interesting. So I settled on samoa and he made a few of the PB&J variety. We still had cookies fall apart with the folding rather than pinching. I decided the main problems were that we were overfilling the cookies (who can blame us?!) and over-flouring the counter as we rolled them out. Once I remedied those two grievous errors, we had plenty of beautiful, photogenic hamantashen. The dough recipe that follows is adapted from the inspiration for the samoa hamantashen I saw on Kitchen Tested. I liked that dough, but my favorite was Hannah's recipe from Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season. It's probably the recipe we will use again next year.


Samoa Hamantashen
halved & veganized from Kitchen Tested
1 cup Earth Balance
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup full fat canned coconut milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
Coconut caramel, recipe follows
13 oz chocolate chips, semisweet or dark.

Cream Earth Balance and sugar. Add coconut milk and vanilla extract. Beat until combined. Add flour in halves, mixing until a thick dough forms. Chill for at least one hour before using (make coconut caramel filling during this time). Roll out between parchment paper with as little extra flour as possible. This will help keep your hamantashen from falling apart. Add approximately a half teaspoon of filling to the center of each circle, then either fold the sides or pinch the edges together to create a triangle. Bake at 375 degrees for 11-14 minutes until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned. Once cookies are cooled dip bottoms in melted chocolate. Drizzle additional chocolate in zig zag formation over top of cookies then sprinkle remaining coconut from the filling on top.

Coconut Caramel
1/2 cup full fat canned coconut milk
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon Earth Balance
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

In a small sauce pan combine coconut milk, brown sugar and Earth Balance. Allow to come to a low boil. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the mixture has thickened into a syrup and smells like caramel. It will also darken in color. While this mixture is simmering, spread your shredded coconut on a sheet pan and bake at 350 degrees for 4-7 minutes. After 4 minutes stir the coconut to ensure that the coconut isn't browning unevenly. Remove when half of the coconut is lightly browned and continue to stir on the pan while it is cooling, as the coconut will continue to toast while the pan is hot. Reserve 1/4 cup of the coconut for sprinkling on top of hamantashen. Stir the other cup of coconut and the vanilla extract into the caramel. This will fill at least 2 dozen cookies, potentially more depending on amount of filling placed into the cookie and the amount of times you eat a spoonful of caramel for good measure.


I ended up making extra coconut caramel and now I feel like I have to make more samoa cookies to really utilize the rest of it. Otherwise I will end up eating it with a spoon when I get home from work and am too sleepy to make myself a real dinner. I can't get the majority of those flavor combinations I read about out of my head. I can't decide what next year will be. Caramel apple? Spumoni? Who knows.

Turtle Tracks Fudge

I cannot believe how quickly time has been going by lately. It feels like November just started a few days ago, and yet I am already writing another rent check. It must be a good sign that things are moving smoothly. I have been feeling pretty confident in myself lately. I have been working on a few small crafty projects and making some larger plans that I am not quite ready to spill the beans about yet (how elusive of me). I am really looking forward to December too. While I really enjoy having time to just hangout and watch obscene amounts of the X-Files, I am going out of town at least twice in December. Eating at the best spots in other cities will always be one of my favorite things to do. Besides the obvious, which is making all the sweets.
I finally made the second flavor combination of fudge that I had intended on making when I made the rocky road batch. I planned the timing well because a few hours after cutting it, six friends came over for a few hours. While they all played Mario Kart the pile of fudge kept slowly diminishing. What I am saying is that this recipe makes a ton of fudge. So if you aren't planning on feeding the masses, then you probably want to split it in half. What I am also saying is that I don't get video games. I didn't grow up playing them, so maybe it is just a total disconnect. I actually tried to play Mario Kart for the first time a few weeks ago on the easiest level with my partner, and it just made me really panicky. Maybe it's a skill that is a lot easier to pick up on as a child. Or maybe I just archaic hand eye coordination?


Turtle Tracks Fudge
base veganized from Kraft's Fantasy Fudge

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup Earth Balance
2/3 cup full fat coconut milk
12 oz semisweet chocolate
1 ten oz container Ricemellow Creme
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 ounces vegan caramels, chopped into small pieces
additional pecans or caramel sauce for decoration

Line a 9x13" or 9" square pan with parchment (I used a larger pan this time because I wanted thinner pieces of fudge). In a heavy bottomed pot combine the sugar, Earth Balance, and coconut milk. Stir continuously over medium heat until it comes to a rolling boil. Allow to boil for 5 minutes. Stir in chocolate, vanilla, and Ricemellow creme. You will need to stir quickly. I highly recommend an electric mixer. Fold in pecans and caramel chunks, then pour into the pan. I reserved a few unchopped pecans and added additional caramel sauce to the top to add a little more visual appeal. Allow to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing into squares with a sharp knife. It's also best if you can find a knife without indentions on the side. You will get a much prettier cut.

Caramel Stuffed Mocha Cookies

At the beginning of the month, once of the first things I made were the caramel stuffed apple cider cookies. It was a really nice coincidence that Spencer's Market had the caramels that I used on sale. I ordered two packages of the sampler packs, because I hadn't tried any of the other flavors. I opened the box and was wondering what I should do with the java flavored caramels. A little light went on in my head, and I decided to to put them inside mocha flavored cookies. I tweaked the recipe a little to add cocoa and espresso. The cookies were by no means perfect. I sprinkled a little extra sugar on top because they didn't seem near as sweet as the apple cider dough (which in retrospect makes total sense since the concentrated cider have tons of sugar in them). If you want to try them, I replaced 1/4 cup of the flour with Valhrona cocoa and added 2 tablespoons of ground espresso. The coffee flavor went largely unnoticed, so next time I might even add a teaspoon or two of coffee extract. I might play with the ratios a bit more next time so that the cookies crack a little more on top too. But overall, I am fairly pleased with them. These cookies were a very decent attempt to bake, photograph, and write about something on a sick day when your head feels like it might explode. Here's to hoping this cold doesn't last for too long!

Caramel Apple Cake

I decided to make this caramel apple bundt. I let it cool a little, poured caramel all over it, and topped with coconut whipped cream. I cut slices to take photograph and somehow I ate two of them absentmindedly while watching TV. I also might have eaten another slice later that night too. This is the reason that I can't have a whole cake in my house. I don't even really like cake that much. I just could not not eat it. It was warm and sweet and spicy. I successfully pawned the remaining 7 slices off on others. It was in my best interest. You should try the cake, but just remember that you should probably make it when you have 6 hungry friends coming over.

Apple Cake
a single 9" layer cake or enough to fill a small bundt pan

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbl baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1 packet Alpine Spiced Cider (optional, but worth it)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 small apples, chopped but not peeled
Wash and chop your apples. If you aren't using organic apples, you might want to peel them. But I prefer the texture and hint of color from the apple skins in the cake. I also suggest using a tart apple. I used Stayman apples. In a bowl mix the flour with the baking powder and spices. In a separate bowl combine all the remaining ingredients besides apples. Fold the wet into the dry until barely combined and then fold in apples. Pour into greased cake pan and bake at 350 for 35-50 minutes.
Once cake is cooled, top with caramel sauce and serve with coconut whipped cream.

Caramel Apples (Two Ways)

This past week has been completely exhausting. Last Tuesday feels like it was decades ago. Going to Tennessee was really nice. But we moved non-stop the whole time. We didn't sleep past 8am a single day of my 4 day vacation. And I stayed up later than normal too. When we landed on the runway in DC on Sunday, we sat there for 40 minutes waiting for a space for the plane to park. Waiting on the runway when you are so close to being home is excruciating, infinitely more so than being stuck in an airport. At least in the airport you can get up and walk to the bathroom or buy a chocolate bar. To top it all off, I got home only to realize that I had lost my keys on the trip. Luckily a housemate was home to let me inside and borrow his keys to make a few copies. Luckily I have a spare car key, so I was still able to drive to work the next day. I was really hopeful that they would be in the lost and found at the airport, but there was no such luck. Now it's time to start making more copies. This is also now the first time that I have lost my keys while traveling. I also managed to leave my keys on the coffee table of a friend of a friend's house in Philadelphia. And I didn't realize until I went to open my front door several hundred miles away. Maybe someday I will learn.


While it might not be the first time I have lost my keys, it is the first time I have made caramel apples. So I thought I might as well do that twice too. Just to make up for lost time. The first attempt is the more traditional route. I used the same caramel recipe I have linked you to several times already this month. I made alterations to the caramel though. I used coconut milk and tapioca syrup rather than soy milk or corn syrup. Also, instead of cooking the caramel to 240 degrees to make solid candies or 220 degrees for a sauce, you will want to heat it to around 230 degrees. This should make the caramel firm enough to not fall off but soft enough that you don't lose a tooth when you bite into the apple.
The second option I found to be superior. I used Isa's peanut butter caramel apple recipe. You basically heat the peanut butter and brown rice syrup until it is warm, dip the apples, and then I rolled them in peanuts. No candy thermometer to scrub tiny pieces of caramel off of, no bubbling sugar waiting to burn your fingers, and about 40 minutes faster. You can't beat that. If you taste the syrup before you coat the apple in it, you won't think it will work. But when you combine it with the apple, the magic happens.


I am so thankful that I have tomorrow off. I can't wait to maybe catch up on sleep, make a giant pot of chili, and drink lots of tea. The fall colors are finally showing up on the leaves here. I will probably even bundle up in a scarf and thick socks and go on a long walk through the park. Nothing like that to calm your nerves.

Chocolate & Salted Caramel Tarts

A few months ago I made a giant jar of caramel sauce for an ice cream social at my house. I have been grateful to have this jar stowed away on multiple occasions. I highly recommend it. You can just make it once, only have to clean a candy thermometer once, and store it in mason jars. The glass jars are great for the caramel syrup because if it ends up firming more then you want, you can just dip the glass jar in hot water to re-melt to sticky, gooey perfection. It’s also perfect to pour a tablespoon or two over ice cream or onto a slice of cake.


Last week I used a fair portion of my remaining caramel to make a quick tart. I also happened to have a half batch of shortbread tart dough (from Vegan Pie in the Sky) in my freezer. I let it thaw, pressed it hurriedly into a three 3” tart shells and baked them while I melted a few ounces of bittersweet chocolate. As the chocolate and shells were cooling I mixed a teaspoon of salt into the caramel. I poured the caramel into still warm shells. And then without even letting it cool just a little more, I attempted to spoon the molten chocolate over them. The caramel and chocolate mixed a bit, and weren’t completely even, and spilled over the edges as I threw the tarts in the refrigerator.
It may be a little messy, but instant gratification tastes so good. These tarts are like a classy, adult version of the Twix bar. If you weren’t making these just to comfort yourself after a rough day, then you might want to let the tart shells cool completely, add the caramel, and freeze them for just a few minutes before you add the chocolate. I highly suggest using a nice bittersweet or dark chocolate to balance the sweetness of the caramel. The snap of chocolate and crispness of the shortbread tart shell also contrast the gooey center perfectly. A sprinkle of large grain kosher salt on top of the shells adds a nice visual balance. Things just can’t go wrong.

Homemade Milk Duds & A Very Caramel Filled Valentine's Day

I have never been the biggest fan of Valentine's Day. I tend to lean more towards the cynical side and normally disgusted by the intensely commercialized pseudo-holiday. If you care about a person, I think you show them on most days rather than save it for mid-February when you give them a stuffed animal.
All these negative feelings aside, my partner and I celebrated Valentine's Day this year. I was given a really terrific sampler from Obsessive Confection Disorder. The rice crispy treats were soft and chewy and partially dipped in chocolate. The caramels were beautiful. Each had a few flecks of gold leaf on top!


I decided to keep with the caramel theme and make him homemade milk duds. I have made them once before, by simply dipping caramels I bought from Pangea in chocolate. But this time I knew I wanted to try to make my own caramels. I used the recipe from Dog Hill Kitchen again, this time heating it to the higher temperature suggested for candy rather than for a sauce. I poured the caramel in an 8x8" pan and let it cool for 30ish minutes. I then used a knife to help me pull off small chunks of caramel that I rolled in my hands to small balls. If the caramel is still a little too warm, the balls will tend to flatten again as they harden. You can reroll these in your hands a few minutes later if that is the case, or just have disks instead of balls. After these cooled I dipped them in melted dark chocolate. And voila, homemade milk duds.


Now while this all sounds lovely, there were a few problems with the caramel. It set a bit too hard. I had intended to cut the rest of the slab of caramel into small pieces and wrap them in parchment. While I managed to cut a few, I knew it was futile and dangerous to attempt to cut the other pound. Instead I broke it into a few large rectangles and rolled into a rough rose shape. I intended it to just be an inedible centerpiece, but of course he plans on eating them. I hope he doesn't break a tooth.


I also attempted some homemade Snickers bars, but those were a total failure. The nougat I attempted was way too soft and when combined with the too hard caramel, the texture was just really off. Maybe I will give it another shot in the future.
I know there are plenty of Go Max Go bars replacing the candies that I miss, but I haven't found a good peppermint patty yet. Maybe that will be next? Are there other candies or candy bars you haven't seen veganized and hope for?

Salted Caramel Pretzel Ice Cream (Take Two!)

This weekend I took another stab at the salted caramel pretzel ice cream that I told you about earlier in the month. Last time I tried to follow Chloe Coscarelli's recipe but forgot the sugar, which is pretty crucial in ice cream. This weekend I tried out some new things. I instead opted for the vanilla recipe from The Vegan Scoop. I got the book over the holidays was pretty excited to finally put it to use. The grocery store near my work doesn't carry Silk soy creamer, so I bought two pints of the vegan brand they did have. While the label was pretty misleading and showed white creamer being poured into a steaming cup of coffee, the creamer itself looked like chocolate milk! I'm not sure if that is only true for their french vanilla flavor, which maybe has additional vanilla extract tinting it? The ice cream tasted delicious, but it did look like it should be chocolate or coffee flavored rather than vanilla.
I also went a different route for the mix-ins. Rather than add the chocolate covered pretzels to the ice cream, I allowed everyone to throw a few on top of their scoop to accommodate for different tastes or potential gluten allergies. The caramel recipe that I used was a recipe I had bookmarked years ago from Dog Hill Kitchen, but hadn't made yet because I only recently bought a candy thermometer. It was perfect! I made a quarter batch and cooked it to 230 degrees F, like suggest for a sauce. I threw in 1/4 tsp sea salt with the vanilla after taking it off the burner. The warm caramel hardened as it hit the cold ice cream, which was really magical for me. I can't wait to make individually wrapped caramels from this recipe.


I yet again apologize for the quality of the picture! This was taken with a phone while friends were quickly devouring the ice cream in the dark. I promise to document things better soon.
I have been thinking about ice cream quite a bit lately. There are several flavors I plan on making soon. At least it's been unseasonably warm while I experiment with more frozen treats. Do you have any favorite ice cream recipes or flavors?

*I'd also like to thank everyone who has been reading my blog posts! Today I reached 10,000 page views which is so exciting. I'm also happy to hear feedback from so many people lately!

Speculoos Caramel Cookie Bars

I got my holiday gift a little early this year. My partner and I are both pretty impatient when it comes to surprises, so we exchanged presents on Monday. I sponsored a chicken for a year in his name at Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary, which I thought was pretty neat. However, I got outdone! He surprised me with a pistachio KitchenAid standing mixer! I have been wistfully staring at pictures of this mixer on their website for many months now. I couldn't believe that it was finally mine! After grinning incessantly and taking a few photos, I decided it was time to put it to use making him something extravagant.


I had seen this recipe on Seitan is My Motor earlier this month and knew it wouldn't be long before I cracked open my second jar of Speculoos spread to attempt it. I have made a dulce de leche before, but this time something went wrong. My caramel never firmed up even though I cooked it for quite a while. In attempts of saving it, I threw in some agar. This made it thicker so that it was no longer a liquid, but it gave it the texture of a custard. I knew that it was going to be too thin for successfully cutting the bars, but I used it anyways.
I really enjoyed the cookie crust from this recipe. It was firm and not too sweet, which balances the super sweet cookie butter layer. I melted two teaspoons of coconut oil into the dark chocolate I used for the top layer, and spread it with an offset spatula.


All in all, my bars were a mess because of my caramel error. But I will definitely attempt these again. They remind me of a Twix bar with a subtle hint of cinnamon. In fact, next time I might try the caramel from this vegan Twix bar recipe. I might also try using the 'dulce sin leche' recipe from VCTOTW, which uses brown rice syrup as a main ingredient.


Sometimes it's good to have a reminder that baking is a trial and error process. At least I have a beautiful mixer now! Did you ask for kitchen or baking supplies for the holidays? I think I have a never ending list of things I would love to have.