Vegan Spice! Amazing Pumpkin Cookies

By Pam Hadder

I love everything pumpkin and pumpkin spice – who doesn’t!  These were heartily approved by my son – my resident cookie monster, and trusted taste tester – and  I am pleased to report that these easy, vegan cookies were a recent hit with his friends also.  I hope you will bake up a batch and enjoy them in good health xo!

INGREDIENTS:

 For the Cookies -
2.5 cups all-purpose flour (or sub ½ cup of flour with quick oats)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves (I grind my own – way more flavour!)
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup granulated white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup vegan soft margarine (I use Becel – can sub ½ cup applesauce, canola oil or coconut oil)
2 cups cooked, pureed pumpkin
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
*Optional - 1 cup chopped mixed, dried fruit (I found a mix with apricots, raisins, dates and cherries) Could also use chopped nuts, coconut or chocolate chips – variations are endless!

For the Glaze -
1.5 cups powdered sugar
Vanilla extract, to taste
Cinnamon to taste
Hot water – approximately 1/3 cup

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly spray the parchment with Pam spray. Mix together flour/oats, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Stir in chopped fruit and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together margarine, both, sugars and the vanilla; stir in the pureed pumpkin.  Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Drop by spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake 15-18 minutes until firm.  Cookies have a cake-like texture, similar to old fashioned hermit cookies.  Let cool completely before glazing.  To make glaze, measure icing sugar into a medium bowl.  Add in vanilla and cinnamon to taste – I used 1 teaspoon of each.  Stirring, slowly add enough hot water to make a soft icing. Using a butter knife or teaspoon, drizzle over baked, cooled cookies. Allow glaze to fully harden before storing or freezing cookies.

Store uncovered or loosely covered – due to high moisture content, these can get mushy and the glaze may dissolve into the cookie if tightly covered.  Freeze well -  flash freeze on a cookie sheet (uncovered), then transfer to bags or containers for  longer term freezing. To thaw, place on plate and thaw at room temp. I would recommend freezing unglazed, and making the glaze fresh.

Yield:  two dozen large cookies (use tablespoon to drop cookies) or three dozen small cookies (use teaspoon to drop cookies).

Pumpkin & Sage Perogies

By Pam Hadder

One of the comfort foods I grew up with was perogies - my Mother's German and Russian heritage meant a lot of savory, stick-to-your-ribs (and other body parts) cooking!  Of course, my Mom and her siblings were long and lean like super models - they were active and helped on the farm so they could burn it all off :) Most of us today are much more calorie conscious!

As a vegan, I was missing the succulent, tender dumplings, that my dear Momma filled with yummy potato and cheddar cheese, AND topped with bacon bits, green onion AND sour cream (just in case there wasn't enough calories in the cheese LOL! My little brothers used to compete with each other to see who could eat the most - OMG (oink oink)!!!

I can never eat that kind of food again - wouldn't want to, in all honesty.  However, I thought if I could find a good vegan perogy dough recipe, I'd fill the dumplings with one of my favourite veggies instead: pumpkin.  I was pleasantly surprised to find several vegan perogy dough recipes online, but couldn't find a good pumpkin filling.  I scoured through scores of pasta recipes, thinking someone MUST have a pumpkin ravioli recipe I could adapt... but no such luck.  So I did a little experimenting! 

The good news is that my experiment paid off - my kids and family all enjoyed these.  The recipe makes about five dozen medium-sized perogies (about 3" in length and 2" at the widest part). The even better news is that these yummy tidbits are satisfying and so much lower in calories and fat.   I served my Pumpkin & Sage Perogies with Gentle Gravy (vegan mushroom gravy**), but you could also top them with fried onions, crisp-fried Shitake mushrooms 
(tastes like bacon!), and/or vegan sour cream.  I will include my fav Vegan Sour Cream recipe with this post also.   These are so worth the effort... the dough is dreamy, soft, super easy to make and easily worked, and this recipe is easily halved.  What more could you ask for? Happy cooking :)

Pam's Pumpkin & Sage Perogies

Dough Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. sea salt
1-1/4 cup  warm water
1/2 cup canola oil
Note: you will need 2 Tbsp. vegan margarine - for after they are cooked
Dough MethodMix together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Combine the oil and warm water and mix into the flour.  When the flour is mostly combined, knead the dough with your hands for about five minutes - it will be slightly sticky, but try not to add any more flour, as it will make your dough tough.  When the dough feels smooth, pat it into a ball and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  Let the dough stand for 30 minutes. While the dough is resting, start making your filling.

After 30 minutes, knead the dough slightly and divide the dough in four parts.  Roll out the first piece on a lightly floured surface - about 1/8" thick.  Cut the dough into circles with a biscuit cutter or, as I do, with a floured drinking glass (about 3" diameter will work nicely). Add a rounded teaspoon of filling (approx.) to one half of each circle, fold over and pinch the edges to seal.

The completed perogies will look like little crescent moon shapes.  Set the assembled perogies aside on a clean cotton tea towel in neat rows, taking care to not let them touch - or they will stick together.  It's okay if the surfaces dry - perogy dough is a bit like pasta and the perogies will soften when boiled.

Ideally, you will have two people assembling the perogies - a cutter and a filler.  I made mine solo the last time, but it really goes quickly and is more fun with company!  When your perogies are all made up, drop about 18 at a time into a large pot of boiling, salted water.  Perogies don't take long to cook - as soon as they float to the surface, scoop them out with a slotted spoon, and cook another batch.

Place the cooked perogies into a casserole dish and add margarine (a tsp. or two at a time, with each batch you cook) - tossing gently to keep them from sticking together. I use a non-stick, wok-style skillet to boil my perogies - it heats up quickly and has perfect depth, as well as a wide surface area to keep the dumplings from sticking.  You may wish to give the perogies a very gentle stir once or twice while cooking - this also ensures that they don't stick together or stick to the bottom of the pot/skillet.  Some folks a) deep-fry or b) lightly pan-fry perogies - boiled is much healthier, but you can easily take the boiled variety and lightly brown them in a non-stick skillet before you serve them: yum! They also reheat nicely in a microwave, and freeze exceptionally well. Pre-freeze the dumplings on a cookie sheet.  When they are frozen, transfer them to freezer bags - this keeps them from mushing together!  After all that work, you need to treat these little morsels with respect ;)
 
Filling Ingredients
2 cups cooked pumpkin or other sweet winter squash
3 medium potatoes (any variety), cooked and mashed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 medium sized onions, finely chopped
12 ounces crimini mushrooms, finely chopped
1 tsp. dried, ground sage
1/2 tsp. sweet paprika
Salt and pepper, to taste

Filling Method
Heat the oil in a medium sized skillet, heating to medium-high.  Add in onion and cook, stirring constantly until the onions are translucent (about 5-7 minutes).  Stir in the mushrooms and all seasonings, cooking a few more minutes.  In a medium bowl, mash together the pumpkin and potatoes until well-combined and creamy in texture.  Stir in the onion/mushroom mixture.  Allow the filling to cool somewhat before beginning to fill your dumplings.

So Easy - Vegan Sour Cream

Ingredients
16 ounces silken tofu
1 Tbsp. olive oil (or canola oil)
5 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar, strained if necessary
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
(you may wish to adjust the salt and sugar to taste - slightly less or more)

Method
Place all ingredients in a blender and process on high until smooth. Use within 5 days

**My secret weapon for the mushroom gravy... add a little Vermouth or other high quality sweet white wine with the vegetable broth.  So nice with the flavours in this recipe xox.

Pumpkin Lasagna

By Pam Hadder

Another holiday season has come and gone. My home and kitchen are small and humble, but I always like to think BIG for holiday meals. It's casual and hearty, and I really have fun adapting traditional family favourites like turkey stuffing to my vegan diet. I also love to try new recipes and flavours.

I am a strict vegan, but my kids and family members are not, so the holiday feast presents challenges.  I have to be realistic and compromise - so, I still cook a turkey and make an orange jelly salad for the children (icky!), but all other dishes are vegan.  

This year the feast included an eclectic mix: vegan samosas with tamarind sauce, Channa Dal, whole grain buns, spinach salad with Mandarin orange and red onion courtesy of my sister, Sooz; cauliflower and carrots; cranberry sauce,  stuffing, gentle (mushroom) gravy, vegan cabbage rolls (thanx Mom!), mashed potatoes, pumpkin lasagna, assorted vegan dainties, and red wine sangria :)

Here is the recipe for my pumpkin lasagna - I was planning to make pumpkin perogies, but ran out of steam, and so the lasagna was born!  Hope you will try the recipe and enjoy it - fair warning, lasagna making  is more of a method, but I have done my best to give you accurate measures and proportions.  You will find it is very forgiving and simple to make, and whether or not you are vegan, I think you will appreciate the savoury and satisfying results :)

Pam's Pumpkin Lasagna

Ingredients:
One pkg. oven ready lasagna noodles
5 cups cooked and puréed pumpkin
2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 medium cooking onions, finely diced
1-2 cloves minced garlic
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. summer savoury
1/3 cup of Vermouth or other sweet white wine
4 cups marinara sauce (home-made or store-bought)
4 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
Assortment of vegan cheese, finely grated (I use Italian flavour and cheddar flavour soy cheeses, Daiya Jack cheese, and soy Parmesan)
Fresh nutmeg, to taste
1 litre vegetable broth (home-made or store-bought)

Method:
To create the pumpkin filling, sauté the onion in the olive oil until clear.  Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook a bit longer - the mushrooms should be lightly browned, but take care not to burn the garlic.  Add in the Vermouth, savory and pumpkin, stirring to combine.  Add in enough of the broth to make a runny consistency - when working with the oven-ready lasagna noodles, additional moisture is essential.  When the mixture begins to bubble, cover and simmer for 25- 30 minutes to combine the flavours.  Meanwhile, grate the cheeses and set aside - you will need about 3-4 cups volume of grated cheese.

Preheat the oven to 350 and assemble your lasagna.  Begin with a 9 x 13 baking dish or medium-size lasagna pan.  Spread half of the marinara sauce on the bottom of the pan and place three dry noodles on top - do not worry if the lasagna noodles do not cover the whole bottom, as they expand when they cook.  Spread 1/3 of the pumpkin over the first layer of noodles. Add three more dry lasagna noodles, topped with 1/3 of the pumpkin sauce and a layer of sliced tomatoes (use half of the tomato slices).  Add a third layer of dry lasagna noodles and top with the final 1/3 of the pumpkin filling and top this layer with the second half of the tomato slices. Add a final layer of dry lasagna noodles, topped with the final 1/2 of the marinara sauce.  Spread your mixture of grated soy cheeses over top (use 1/2 of the 3-4 cup amount),  and grate the fresh nutmeg over top.  Reserve half of the cheese for later use - keep in the fridge. Cover the lasagna loosely with foil - creating a dome-like cover so that the cheese will not stick. Bake for 1.5 hours.  Remove the lasagna from the oven, and test noodles for tenderness.  If the noodles are not tender, you may need to add a few tablespoons of water or broth, re-cover with foil and bake for another 15 minutes.

If tender, top casserole with the reserved cheese and return to oven - broil for 5-7 minutes until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.  Remove from the oven and allow to rest 10 - 12 minutes before cutting into squares.  This lasagna can be varied using layers of your favourite veggies  in place of/or in addition to the fresh tomato slices - for example Japanese eggplant, zucchini or chopped broccoli.

This lasagna, like meat-based lasagna, is even better (and easier to portion!) on the second day.  I hope you will try making this and that you will enjoy putting your own stamp on this recipe by varying seasonings and vegetable choices xox.