Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar to be released and shipped to Australia. I love Vegan cupcakes and had to have this one to complete the collection. So when it finally got here I was excited! I had to make something from it this weekend and asked Mike to pick something, anything as I was going to cook up a storm. He managed to pick the recipe which you can find on the PPK website but never-mind they still taste awesome!!!

Chocolate dough:

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 + 2 tablespoons cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

• 3/4 cup natural unsalted peanut butter, crunchy or creamy style
• 1/2 tablespoons of salt
• 2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons Carination soy cream or non-dairy milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar, maple syrup, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa if using, baking soda and salt. Mix to form a moist dough.
Make the filling. In another mixing bowl beat together peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons of soy cream and vanilla extract to form a moist but firm dough. If peanut butter dough is too dry (as different natural peanut butters have different moisture content), stir in remaining tablespoon of non-dairy milk. If dough is too wet knead in a little extra powdered sugar.
Preheat oven to 180 °C. Line baking sheet with baking paper.

Shape the cookies:

Create the centres of the cookies by rolling the peanut butter dough into 24 balls. Scoop a generous tablespoon of chocolate dough, flatten into a disc and place a peanut butter ball in the centre. Fold the sides of the chocolate dough up and around the peanut butter centre and roll the chocolate ball into an smooth ball between your palms. Place on a sheet of waxed paper and repeat with remaining dough. If desired gently flatten cookies a little, but this is not necessary.
Place dough balls on lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to complete cooling. Store cookies in tightly covered container. If desired warm cookies in a microwave for 10 to 12 seconds before serving.
YUMMO!!

This recipe comes from: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Treats by Terry Romero and Isa Chandra Moskowitz Recipe can be found at the Post Punk Kitchen.

Basic Chocolate Cupcake with Coconut Pecan Fudge Frosting

Back in the swing of cooking and loving having time to actually cook, we made these for Mike to eat during the week (oh and me as a after dinner snack – but they were really for him). I was browsing through my cookbooks and came across this recipe (published on Vegan Peace). I’d eyed these cupcakes before thinking they look pretty good and so decided to tackle them. Like the rest of the cupcakes in “Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World” these did not fail to satisfy and we even got rave reviews from Mike’s work colleges.

The combination of a really chocolatey cupcake and the Coconut Pecan Fudge work really well together and it’s all very simple to make. I think the Fudge could also be used in small tartlets or the like as it is so good. The Fudge apparently turns the cupcakes into German Chocolate Cake Cupcakes, which interestingly enough did not originate in Germany. Whatever you call them though they are yummy!!!

Basic Chocolate Cupcake

Makes 12 cupcakes

This recipe is the basis for so many great chocolate cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, chocolate extract, or more vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-processed or regular
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180˚C and line muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat till foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are okay).
3. Pour into liners, filling three-quarters of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

Coconut Pecan Fudge Frosting

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice milk
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch
• Scant pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon whiskey or bourbon, optional.

Directions

1. Whisk rice milk, arrowroot, and salt in a small bowl or measuring cup. In a large stainless-steel saucepan over medium heat, stir together coconut milk and brown sugar. Cook stirring occasionally, till mixture starts to boil. Turn heat down to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for five minutes. Whisk rice milk mixture once more and slowly pour into the coconut milk mixture, stirring constantly to incorporate.
2. Stir mixture continuously till it darkens again, gets very thick and smooth, and arrowroot is cooked, about 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and beat in vanilla and whiskey, chopped pecans, and coconut. Stir till everything is coated and completely combined. Cool to room temperature before frosting cupcakes.

I found that I had a lot of frosting and uneven levelled cupcakes. Seems that I can’t get them pretty and level but I can improvise. So i cut a little hole in the middle of each one and filled it with frosting to try to level them out.