Vegan by Valerie

Angel cookies and bean dip

Hi friends!  Right now I’m out of town for the weekend so I scheduled this post ahead of time since I know I won’t have time to post… I’m busy spending time with family (my side and Mike’s side) and attending a friend’s post-wedding bash.

In the meantime… here are two recipes that I promised you awhile ago!  Both are from our recent July 2nd party. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good picture of the angel cookies but I can promise you that it’s one of my all-time favorite recipes.  It is based on a family recipe that has been passed down for generations that I modified with a vegan twist.

These are delicate and sooooo melt-in-your-mouth, coconutty, buttery good.

Vegan Angel Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

1 c. Earth Balance, softened

1 T. flax meal stirred into 3 T. warm water and let to sit for 5 minutes and then stirred again

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. coconut flavoring

water in a shallow bowl; approximately 1/4 c. white sugar, for dipping, in another shallow bowl

Instructions:

1. Combine Earth Balance, sugars, and flax “egg”.

2.  Add in dry ingredients.

3.  Shape into balls and dip the top of each ball into water and then into the sugar for a glaze.

4.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes – these are best undercooked versus overcooked, so be careful to take them out of the oven before they get dark.

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I made both a vegan and a dairy version of a Mexican bean dip for the party, and everyone was shocked at how delicious and ‘authentic’ the vegan version was.  Yet again, I am floored at how delicious Daiya cheese is!!! I can’t imagine it tasting as good with any other brand of vegan cheese.

This is soo ridiculously simple that I won’t call it a recipe – in my opinion, if you can drastically alter the ratio of ingredients in a recipe and it still tastes great, it’s not a recipe but a concoction… but this concoction is quite addicting, I’m warning you!

Vegan Mexican Layer Dip

Ingredients:

16 oz. refried beans

20 oz. vegan sour cream

2 packets taco seasoning (or make your own… I cut corners to save time since party prep is hard work!)

1/2 c. tomato chopped into bite-size pieces

1/2 c. finely chopped cilantro

12 oz. salsa

4 oz. shredded lettuce

3 c. vegan cheddar Daiya

1 c. sliced olives

Instructions:

1. Spread the beans onto the bottom of a 13×9 baking pan.

2. Mix the taco seasoning into the sour cream, and then spread onto the beans.

3.  Mix the chopped tomato with the cilantro and salsa and then spread onto the sour cream layer;  then, add the lettuce layer;  then the cheddar;  lastly, sprinkle the olives on top.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 – the cheese will not totally melt but will become mostly melted by this point.

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Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

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