Vegan Fudge Brownie Cupcakes

Very easy recipe. Yummy vegan brownie cupcakes. Definitely tastes like fudge brownie, with the light and airy consistency, not dense like expected from the fudge brownie. Just sprinkled with powdered sugar is enough, although chocolate fudge frosting would be a nice complement.

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup coffee
• 3/4 cup soy milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease 9 x 9 inch brownie pan. Or lined cupcake form with cupcake liners.
Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together brown sugar, coffee, soy milk and vegetable oil. Combine the wet and dry mixes and stir to mix well. Stir walnuts into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, bake 35 minutes. Or fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake cupcakes about 25 minutes. Insert toothpick to check if done. Cool before sprinkling powder sugar or frosting.

 Makes: 16 cupcakes, 160 calories each. Recipe from "Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook"

Caramel Pumpkin Mousse Pie

Post-thanksgiving recipe for great no-bake caramel pumpkin mousse pie. Very light and tasty, not too heavy in calories. Recipe has 10 servings and about 262 calories per slice. Perfect for holidays. My mother-in-law made it for the Turkey Day and it was gone in no time. I have all the ingredients and I will make it this week, so photo will be added. But trust me - this is by far THE BEST and the EASIEST pumpkin dessert I have ever had.

1 graham cracker crust
6 TBSP caramel topping
2 oz chopped pecans
1 cup 2% milk (or skim milk)
1 box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
8 oz light whipped topping

Pour 1/4 cup (4 TBSP) caramel topping into the pie crust, sprinkle with half of the amount of pecans.
In a large bowl whisk together milk, pudding mix, pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg until well blended. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the whipped topping. Spread mixture evenly onto the crust. Chill at least one hour.
Top with remaining whipped topping, drizzle with remaining 2 TBSP of caramel topping and sprinkle with the rest of pecans.

Makes: 10 servings, 262 calories per serving (source: Calorie Count.com)

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake from Cooking Light

First issue of my new Cooking Light subscription finally showed up in my mailbox, and I couldn't resist the cover photography of this beautiful cheesecake with red cranberry swirl. I made it within next couple of days. And I have to say the cheesecake is amazing. Very light and airy with decadent flavor. Definitely a keeper! Great for Holiday season. [It was almost gone before I had a chance to even think of photographing it.]




The cranberry sauce swirl can be replaced with any other fruit swirl, or even a chocolate. The bottom of the cheesecake can be mad with regular Nilla wafers, or graham crackers. If you don't like fruit, i would recommend making white chocolate ganache, or even milk chocolate ganache on top of it to add extra flavor. The base cheese mixture is made using 1/3-less fat cream cheese and fat free yogurt, which helps to keep calories down.

Below is the recipe to save you time for researching the internet.


Crust:
4 ounces chocolate graham crackers
[I used Nilla wafers and 2 TBSP of cocoa powder]
3 tablespoons canola oil

Cranberry Compote/Sauce:
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Chambord (raspberry liqueur)
3 tablespoons water

Cheesecake:
1 cup sugar
2 (8 oz.) packages block-style 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (4 oz.) block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt [I used regular fat free yogurt, not Greek]
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs [I added 4 eggs and skipped egg whites step]
2 large egg whites

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°. Wrap outside and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan tightly with a double layer of heavy-duty foil.
Place crackers in a food processor; process until finely ground. Drizzle with oil; pulse until combined. Press mixture into bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of prepared pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 8 minutes; cool on a rack.
Reduce oven temperature to 325°.
Place cranberries, sugar, liqueur, and water in a saucepan; boil. Cook 8 minutes or until cranberries pop and mixture is syrupy. Cool 20 minutes. Place mixture in a food processor; process 1 minute or until smooth.
Combine 1 cup sugar and cheeses in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in yogurt, vanilla, and salt. Add whole eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Place 2 egg whites in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form using clean, dry beaters. Fold beaten egg whites into cream cheese mixture. Pour filling over crust. Spoon cranberry mixture over filling; swirl together using the tip of a knife. Place springform pan in a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan. Add hot water to pan to a depth of 2 inches. Bake at 325° for 50 minutes or until center of cheesecake barely moves when pan is touched.
Turn oven off. Cool cheesecake in closed oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven. Run a knife around outside edge. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill 8 hours.

[Photo courtesy of Cooking Light]

Basic Crepes

Crepes are very thin pancakes originated in France and actually considered a french national dish. Made by pouring thin consistency batter onto a flat round pan. The batter is spread evenly by tilting the pan in a circular motion, until it creates a round, thin surface. Sweet or savory can be filled with different ingredients and served as a main course or dessert.

My alltime favorite, since childhood, are crepes filled with vanilla creamed farmer's (cream) cheese and strawberry preserve, dusted with powdered sugar. Sauteed apples with sugar and dash of cinnamon make a delicious crepe filling, topped with homemade whipped cream... yum!
Try crepes with nutella and bananas... especially sauteed bananas. Warm bananas melt the chocolate nutella little bit and make it all just come together in the little bites of heaven.



There are several different versions of recipes for crepes, and they all are pretty good. I usually make crepes from my old family recipe that came from my Aunt Maria, who used to cook for a family of french Counts in Poland back in the 1930's.

Crepes

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• 2 cups AP flour
• 1,5 cup milk
• 1 cup sparkling water (regular water is fine, or milk)
• 2 eggs
• 2 TBS melter butter (or vegetable oil)
• pinch of salt
• 2 TBS sugar
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla

Whisk all the ingredients together, the batter should be somewhat thin, much thinner then standard american pancake batter. Refrigerate the batter for 20-30 minutes before using.
Preheat a teaspoon of vegetable oil on a nonstick skillet (use crepe pan if you have it), pour some batter and tilt your pan couple of times around to distribute the batter in a thin, even layer.
Cook on a medium heat about a minute on the first side, flip and another minute or less and the other side. Just until the crepes are lightly golden.

Fill with your favorite filling, and either roll them or fold in a half or quarters...

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