Recent Favorite: Semi-Homemade with Marian B.

I’m not just a food snob — I’m a cooking snob. I make my own almond milk; I soak and cook my beans; I turn my nose up at instant oatmeal. I love making things from scratch, and I adore the process of baking. So I’m a little embarrassed to admit how in love I am with this pumpkin bread I made from a box.

As I’ve said before, I’m trying to clean out my pantry over the next few weeks. This box has been in my possession for well over a year, so I figured it was time to do something with it. And since the ingredients were all vegan (hooray!), I just had to throw in two ingredients and cross my fingers.

What I did
The box called for water, oil, and an egg. I used canola oil and my go-to egg replacer:
1T ground flaxmeal + 3 T warm water + 5 minutes = congealed amazingness.
…The rest was quite easy:
Step 1: Cut open plastic bag and dump mix into bowl, trying not to get the powdery goodness all over your countertop, slippers, and laptop. Heaven forbid anything keep me from my Pandora showtunes station.
Step 2: Mix with a wooden spoon, mixing just until combined and trying not to consume 1/8 of the batter before it hits the oven.
Step 3: Grease your loaf pan with Earth Balance (vegan butter). I like to turn a ziplock baggie inside out, grab a pinch of buttery goodness, and smear it in the pan. This makes cleaning up quick and easy!
Step 4: (under-)Bake in 350 degree oven for 50-52 minutes. Let sit for 15 minutes. Swoon as your house smells like pumpkin and rainbows. Realize you only have to wash one bowl, a spoon, and a measuring cup. Smile.
Step 5: Share the love. Maybe bring half the loaf to the bar. Try not to knock over your coworker’s beer when you yell “it’s vegan!!!” accompanied by sweeping hand gestures.

Seriously, this is the most moist, delicious pumpkin bread I’ve ever had. It’s so good I’m actually glad I ignored my impulse to throw in a sprinkle of chocolate chips. And if you use an egg subsititute, you can sleep easy knowing you’re not contributing to the cruel abuse and confinement of chickens (yes, I went there). I’ve been enjoying it for breakfast every morning this week (topped with some PB for protein), and while it’s not as hearty or nutritious as my usual oatmeal, it’s a damn good way to start the morning. It’s November, and I’ll eat pumpkin until I turn orange.

(image via Sweet Tater)

chocolate cupcakes with pumpkin buttercream (!!!!!!)

Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s vegan chocolate cupcake recipe is one of the best things to ever happen to my baking repertoire. Seriously – the recipe is so easy to make, and your friends will be so impressed that these moist (YEAH I SAID IT), chocolatey cupcakes are made without eggs or dairy products. They also don’t have any weird rando scary vegan ingredients, so you won’t have to go spend $50 at the store once I convince you to make them.

This weekend, I completed my 200 hour yoga teacher training. We celebrated the culmination of the nine month process with a potluck dinner on Saturday night, and I jumped at the opportunity to bring dessert. I’ve made Eat, Live, Run’s version of these cupcakes with chai buttercream (and those are amazing too), but wanted to try something a little different this time. Since it’s fall, and you’re basically mandated to make at least one pumpkin-flavored thing a day this time of year, I went with pumpkin buttercream, adapted from this recipe.

chocolatey, pumpkiny goodness. topped with cacao nibs for crunch.

The cupcakes turned out perfectly and the pumpkin-chocolate combination is my new favorite. Please, please try these out and give them to people you love. Erika, I’m looking at you.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Pumpkin Buttercream Frosting

Chocolate Cupcakes:
Find the recipe here
I doubled the recipe and it made 24 cupcakes – you can probably make even more if you don’t chug liberally sample the batter.

Pumpkin Buttercream:
1/2 C Earth Balance (or other butter alternative), at room temperature
1 lb plus 1/4 C Organic Powdered Sugar
1/2 C Canned Pumpkin Puree
1.5 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Cinnamon*
1/2 tsp Nutmeg*
1/4 tsp Cloves*
1/4 tsp Ginger*
1/4 tsp Salt

Ziplock bag and disposable pastry tip (optional)

*you could also just use 3+ tsp pumpkin pie spice – these measurements are far from exact, so just taste as you go to find the spice combo you like best. But be careful with the ground cloves – those things are STRONG.

Cream together Earth Balance, pumpkin, vanilla, salt and spices with an electric mixer. Sift and gradually add in powdered sugar. Taste and adjust spices as you see fit. Try to resist the urge to eat it straight out of the bowl.

This icing was a bit runny, so i chilled it in the fridge for 1 hr before icing. Once your cupcakes are cooled to room temp and your icing has firmed up a bit, cut a tiny corner off of your ziplock bag and insert the pastry tip (insert innuendo here). Dump your icing into the plastic bag and sqeeze onto the cupcakes. Don’t be stingy with the icing! It legitimately tastes like pumpkin pie. Squeeze any excess icing into your mouth. Or do something more socially acceptably with it. It’s your call.

…and then your kitchen will look like this.