• Syrup Ingredients
  • 180 ml (3/4 cup) water
  • Juice and zest of 1 lemon
  • 500 g (2 1/4 c) sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger

• Doughnut Ingredients
  • 325 g (2 1/3 cups) flour
  • 2 tbsp corn flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • scant 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 c (approx 55 g) margarine
  • 120 ml (1/2 c) non-dairy milk
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional)

• Directions/Method
  1. First make the syrup by adding all of the syrup ingredients to a medium saucepan and bringing to the boil until the sugar has dissolved. This should only take a few minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight until very cold.
  2. To make the dough sift the flour, salt, baking powder, corn flour, and nutmeg (if using) together into a large bowl. Add the margarine in small chunks and mix into the flour lightly with your fingers, until it looks like crumbs and there are no big chunks of margarine left floating around.
  3. Add the non dairy milk and stir with a wooden spoon to bring the flour and liquid together. Switch to using your hands and knead the dough for a few minutes, or until smooth and stretchy (you can add a splash more milk if need be). Wrap in cling film and leave to rest for an hour or two.
  4. Heat a few inches of vegetable oil to 180 degrees C.
  5. Roll the dough out to just under 1/4 inch in thickness and cut into approximate 1/2 inch x 4 inch pieces. Take three strips and pinch them together at one end, braiding the strands together and pinching to seal at the other end. You can make the koeksisters longer if so desired.
  6. Careful not to overcrowd whatever you’re using to deep fry in, place some of the koeksisters in the hot oil and fry until golden (2-3 minutes approximately). Remove from the oil with tongs or a slatted spoon and immediately plunge into the cold syrup and then place in a large 9 x13 inch dish. Continue until all the doughnuts are cooked and pour the remaining syrup over top.
  7. Refrigerate and serve cold or at room temperature. Either way the koeksisters are best if they’ve been left in the syrup for awhile.

Vegan Molasses Cookies

• Ingredients
  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour (140g)
  • 2 tbsp packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp + 1 tsp molasses (35ml)
  • 2 tbsp + 1 tsp non-dairy milk (35ml)
  • 2 tbsp non-dairy butter, melted (30g)
  • 1 tbsp soy yoghurt
  • 3 tbsp glacé cherries (optional)
  • Demerera sugar, for rolling

• Directions/Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 190 C (375 F). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly, including the sugar. Stir in the liquid ingredients and, if using, fold in the glacé cherries.
  3. Scoop into approximate 1 tbsp balls and drop into the sugar. The dough will be a little sticky, but once it’s coated in the sugar you’ll be able to roll it into a ball. Place on the cookie sheet, two inches apart, and repeat with the rest of the dough.
  4. Place the tray in the fridge for 10-15 minutes and then flatten the cookies slightly with the bottom of a glass.
  5. Bake for 10-12 minutes and leave to cool on the sheet.

Fresh Homemade Sesame Udon Noodles

• Ingredients
  • 2 cups extra strong bread flour (high gluten content)
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons warm water (185ml), more if necessary
  • 2 tsp sesame oil (optional)

• Directions/Method
  1. Mix the flours and salt in a large bowl, making a well in the centre. Add all of the liquid ingredients to the well and fold the flour over to mix. Knead the dough for ten minutes, either by hand or using a bread kneading attachment in a stand mixer. The consistency of the dough should be quite firm (at first it may not seem like there’s enough water), but soft enough after kneading to be able to roll out. You may need to vary the amount of water you use slightly.
  2. Knead the dough down into a flat disk, an inch or so thick, and cover with cling film. Leave for a few hours.
  3. On a very well floured surface, roll the dough into a long 1/8 inch thick rectangular (ish) shape. Make sure there’s plenty of flour both beneath and coating the top of the dough at this point.
  4. To make the noodles the easiest thing to do is fold the dough into thirds and slice. To do this, fold one of the long ends 2/3 of the way over the width. Pick the dough up and fold the remaining third of the dough underneath. Slice into noodles as thick or thin as you like.
  5. Boil for 8-10 minutes and use immediately.

Chocolate Strawberry Cookies

• Ingredients
  • 140g (1 cup) all purpose flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/3 cup margarine (approx 70g Pure brand)
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Very finely chopped or grated dark chocolate
  • A few strawberries, sliced thinly
  • A bit of extra sugar

• Directions/Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 175° C (350° F).
  2. Sift the flour, salt, and sugar into the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter while pulsing, until crumbs begin to form. Pour in the water and vanilla, and pulse again briefly to bring the dough together.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a very thin 1/16th inch thickness and cut into 2.5-3 inch squares. Lay a slice of strawberry in the centre of each, along with a pinch of sugar and a sprinkle of chocolate (maybe 1/8 tsp of each).
  4. Fold each of the four corners of the pastry into the centre, pressing lightly together to hold if necessary. Place the mini tarts on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry is ever so slightly beginning to brown.
  5. Cool or eat hot, your choice.

Vegan Banana Bars Recipe

• Ingredients
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 60ml (1/4 cup) non dairy yoghurt
  • 165g (3/4 cup) sugar
  • 30 ml (2 tbsp) apple sauce
  • 30g (2 tbsp) vegan margarine
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 280g (2 cups) all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp mixed spice
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 75g (1/2 cup) icing sugar
  • 1/5 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1 tsp non dairy milk

• Directions/Method
  1. Preheat your oven to 175° C (350° F). Lightly grease a 10 x 15 inch jelly roll tin.
  2. Mash the banana in a bowl until only small lumps remain and it’s liquidy. Whisk into the sugar, apple sauce, margarine, yoghurt, and vanilla and mix until smooth-ish (a few lumps are fine).
  3. Add the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, and salt while slowly mixing until all of the ingredients are combined. Lick fingers multiple times.
  4. Spread the batter, which will be fairly thick, as well as possible across the entire jelly roll sheet. Use a spatula or your hands to make it as level as possible, but it really doesn’t have to be perfectly even so don’t fuss too much over this detail.
  5. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the top is just browned. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to, you guessed it, cool.
  6. To make the peanut butter icing, simply combine the icing sugar, peanut butter, and non dairy milk. The icing is quite stiff, so if you want a more spreadable consistency you will need to add some more liquid. Pipe the icing in random patterns over the banana bars, cut, and serve.

Vegan Mincemeat Bonbon Cookies

• Ingredients
  • 100g (1/2 cup) low or no salt vegan butter substitute
  • 105g (3/4 cup) icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
  • 1 tbsp vanilla or almond flavour
  • Food colouring (optional)
  • 215g (1 1/2 cups) all purpose flour
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • Mincemeat
  • (140g) 1 cup icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp soy milk (or your favourite non dairy drink)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • A few drops of colouring, if desired

• Directions/Method
  1. Preheat your oven to 175 ° C (350 ° F).
  2. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl and mix with the butter, vanilla, and food colouring until well combined. Add the flour and salt, blending until the mix just sticks together (you may need to add a drop of water or soy milk to achieve this).
  3. Scoop tablespoon sized pieces of dough and roll into a rough ball shape. Flatten in the palm of your hand and add about 1/8-1/4 a teaspoon mincemeat in the centre. Fold the sides up and gently roll back into a smooth ball.
  4. Place each cookie at least an inch apart on a baking sheet (don’t worry about greasing it) and bake for 12-14 minutes. Try not to let the cookies brown!
  5. While the cookies are cooling on a cooling rack, make the icing by sifting the additional cup of icing sugar and mixing with the extra 1 tsp vanilla, soy milk, and colouring. Once the cookies are cooled, drizzle the icing over each one with a spoon or pipe it over. Add sprinkles, mini candies, nuts, fruit, or any other creative edible you can think of for decoration!

Classic Cut Vegan Anise Cookies

• Ingredients
  • 1 2/3 C all purpose flour (260g)
  • 2/3 C sugar
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp corn flour (corn starch)
  • 2 tsp ground anise
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 C vegan margarine (105g)
  • 1/4 c soy milk

• Directions/Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 190 C (375 F).
  2. Pulse all dry ingredients in a food processor until mixed well (especially if you’re using larger grain sugar).
  3. Slowly add the margarine, in approximate tablespoon batches, until mixed into the flour. It’ll resemble tiny crumbs by this point and the dough will not come together.
  4. While the food processor is running, slowly pour soy milk in until the dough clumps well. Remove from food processor and divide into two pieces. Wrap in cling film (seran wrap) and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before use.
  5. When it’s time to make the cookies, only remove one lump of dough from the fridge at a time. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness (or even a little thinner for a nice crispy cookie). Using your favourite cookie cutters, cut shapes and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate with coloured sugar or sprinkles, if desired. Continue rolling and cutting leftover dough until most is used.
  6. Bake for 6-8 minutes (but if your cookies are very small and/or thin keep an eye on them; you may wish to reduce cooking time slightly).

Vegan Scottish Shortbread

• Ingredients
  • 50g (1/4 C) vegan butter alternative
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 90g (1/3 C) all-purpose flour

• Directions/Method
  1. Pulse sugar and flour in a food processor for one minute before adding cold margarine/butter. Pulse until mixed completely (another minute or so).
  2. Roll into approx 10 heaped teaspoon balls and with a lightly oiled cookie press, press each to about 1/8th-1/4th inch thickness. If you don’t have cool cookie presses, just use a slightly oiled bottom of a glass.
  3. Bake on a lightly greased cookie sheet at 175 C for about 10 minutes (perhaps a little shorter if the cookies are on the thin side), or until cookies just begin to brown (they look prettier with no colour, but I like the taste of them slightly browned around the edges)!
  4. Cool on a wire rack or just eat them straight out of the oven. Whatever.

Vegan Shortcrust Recipe

• Ingredients
  • 205g (1.5 C) all-purpose pastry flour
  • 4 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 105g (1/2 C) cold vegan margarine
  • 2-3 tbsp ice water

• Directions/Method
  1. Pulse the dry ingredients in a food procesor for a minute to mix and then add the margarine (I use Pure) and continue to pulse until the mixture resembles large crumbs.
  2. Slowly add the ice water until the dough just comes together. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour before use.

Vintage German Black and White Cookies

• Ingredients
  • 250g (2 cups) flour
  • 1 tbsp arrowroot
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 150g (3/4 cup) sugar
  • 125g vegan margarine
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp rum (optional)
  • 2 tbsp soy milk
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp soy milk

• Directions/Method
  1. Preheat the over to 180 degrees Celcius (350 Fahrenheit) and lightly grease two cookie sheets.
  2. In a small bowl sift together the flour, arrowroot, and baking powder.
  3. In a larger bowl, combine the margarine and sugar. Whisk (I use an electric beater) until creamy before adding the vanilla, rum, and 2 tbsp of soy milk.
  4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until all ingredients are incorportaed into a semi-firm dough. Split this dough in half and add the cocoa and the extra tablespoons of sugar and soy milk to one half. Mix until all of the cocoa is combined into the dough.
  5. If you want to make spiral swirls, roll a small piece of each colour dough into a thin snake (you may need some extra flour on your surface). Pinch the ends of the two snakes together and roll into a spiral, stopping when the cookie is an inch and a half (or thereabouts) wide. Cut the rest of the dough away and smooth the edges against the spiral. Place the cookies on the tray about two inches apart.
  6. Bake for 15 minutes before removing and cooling on a rack.

Chana Dal Cutlets

• Ingredients
  • 1/2 cups chana dal, soaked overnight in water (about 1.5 C or 120g cooked)
  • 2 cups (475 ml) vegetable broth (luke warm)
  • 2/3 cup (60g) dried okara
  • 1 cup vital wheat gluten
  • 1/4 cup chickpea (gram) flour
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida
  • salt, to taste
  • Plenty of oil to fry

• Directions/Method
  1. Mix all ingredients together but the oil, which serves only the purpose of frying these suckers up. Don’t over knead the dough, aiming to mix and knead only to incorporate ingredients evenly.
  2. Depending on whether you want to make burgers or cutlets (my preference), divide the dough accordingly. You’ll want to make about 6 balls of dough for burgers and 10-12 for cutlets. Some bits of the dough may fall apart, but don’t worry too much about losing the odd dal.
  3. For burgers, roll the mixture into a ball and flatten slightly into a burgery shape. For cutlets, flatten to about 1/4-1/3 inch in thickness.
  4. Heat a skillet to a medium-high heat and add plenty of oil. Cook each cutlet for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until slightly browned. Burgers may take a few minutes longer, so use common sense.
  5. Serve hot or cold with your favourite basmati rice dish or, if made into burgers, on a bun with mango chutney.

Vegan Cranberry-Oatmeal Cookies

• Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup (70g) cake flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground flax seeds plus 2 tbsp water
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • 2 TBSP vegan margarine
  • 2 TBSP brown sugar
  • 2 TBSP maple syrup
  • small handful dried cranberries
  • small handful nuts and/or chocolate chips (optional)
  • 1/3 cup (30g) dried oatmeal

• Directions/Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 175 C (350 F) and lightly grease a baking sheet.
  2. Whisk the water and ground flax to a gelatinous consistency (flax egg). A nut/coffee mill works well for this.
  3. Whip the margarine and brown sugar until creamy and mostly blended. Add the maple syrup plus the flax egg and mix again.
  4. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into the above mix, along with the cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until just combined.
  5. Fold in the cranberries and oatmeal (plus chocolate chips or nuts, if using).
  6. Drop heaped tablespoons of dough onto a greased baking sheet, at least an inch apart. Flatten slightly and bake for about 12 minutes (a little less for a fan/convection oven). Remove and cool on a wire rack. The cookies may seem very soft still when you remove them from the oven, but once cooled the consistency will toughen up a bit.

Chocolate and Chili Vegan Muffins

• Ingredients
  • 1 cup soy milk
  • 1 tsp cider vinegar
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

• Directions/Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 175 C or 350 F and prepare your muffin moulds or pan (if using the silicone there’s no need to line them).
  2. Mix the vinegar and soy milk together and then add the sugar, oil, and vanilla, mixing it all up nice and good.
  3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chili, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients and mix well, but not too well (a few lumps in muffins aren’t a bad thing).
  4. Fill the muffin moulds about 3/4 and bake for around 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck in the centre comes out clean.
  5. If you are patient, let them cool. If you are me, eat immediately.

Simply Sage “Butter” Gnocchi

• Ingredients
  • 200g potatoes, boiled and mashed well with 2 tsp margarine
  • 75g flour
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
  • 2 tbsp fresh chopped sage
  • 20-25 whole sage leaves
  • Margarine to fry sage
  • salt to taste

• Directions/Method
  1. Mash the potatoes and butter/margarine very well and mix in flour, yeast flakes, chopped sage (if using), and salt (optional). Kneed into a smooth dough and refrigerate until cold. This is the sort of thing you can make the day before.
  2. When cold, lightly dust with flour and roll the dough out into a 3/4″ rope on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into approx 1/2 to 3/4″ pieces. If the dough begins to get too sticky, just flour it a little more.
  3. With a fork make indentations on the top of each piece and then place gnocchi in boiling water for around 5 minutes.
  4. While the gnocchi is cooking, you can quickly and easily heat some margarine in a frying pan to a high heat and fry the whole sage leaves for a minute or two until crispy.
  5. Remove the gnocchi from the boiling water with a slotted spoon. Drizzle sage “butter” and sage leaves over and serve with a leafy green salad or on its own.

Syrian Onion Bread

• Ingredients
  • 450g / 1lb / 4 cups unbleached white bread flour
  • 5ml / 1 tsp salt
  • 20g / 3/4 oz fresh yeast (I used just under a tablespoon of dried active yeast)
  • 280ml / 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
  • 60ml / 4tbsp chopped onion
  • 5ml / 1tsp ground cumin
  • 10ml / 2tsp fresh mint (I used less than this)
  • 10ml / 2tsp ground coriander
  • 30ml / 2tbsp olive oil

• Directions/Method
  1. It’s important to follow the instructions for the type of yeast you’re using, but in the case of using either the dried active yeast or fresh yeast, mix it with a little bit of the lukewarm water (the temperature is relatively important; you don’t want it too hot or it can kill the yeast, but equally it has to be warm enough to activate it. The recommendation is to mix 2 1/2 cups of cold water with 1 1/4 cups boiling water, and measuring out the amount needed for your recipe from that). If using dried active yeast, leave it in the water for 10 or 15 minutes, or until a little bit frothy on top.
  2. Sift the flour and salt together into a large-ish bowl and make a well in the centre (in other words, dig a hole with your spoon). Add the yeast mixture to the centre well and mix together to make a firm dough. Knead for around 8-10 minutes (never underestimate the need to knead!) until the dough has become elastic and smooth. It’s probably worth kneading on a lightly floured surface, to avoid sticky messes.
  3. After you’ve finished kneeding the dough, stick it into a lightly oiled bowl (keeps the dough from sticking to the sides), and cover the bowl with some lightly oiled cling film (or seran wrap for the North Americans). Leave for about an hour to rise, in a warm place (any old counter not located in my fridge seems to do nicely). It could take less time, it could take more time. Essentially you want to see that the dough has doubled in size.
  4. After the rising process, punch the dough down and on a slightly floured surface divide into 8 equal sized pieces. Roll these pieces into a ball and with a rolling pin, roll into 5-6 inch rounds (even if it’s not a perfect circle, it will still taste yummy!).
  5. With a fork, make prick marks all over the tops of the breads (go crazy), and then place on lightly floured baking sheets (make sure they are spaced a few inches apart). Cover them up again with some oiled cling film and leave them to rise for a further 15 or 20 minutes.
  6. While you’re waiting, preheat your oven to 200 C / 400 F / Gas mark 6. Mix the chopped onion (this should be relatively fine), cumin, coriander, and chopped mint. Brush the tops of the breads with a bit of olive oil (I bet it would be really yummy to use flavoured oils) and sprinkle the onion mixture evenly across the breads.
  7. Bake for 15-20 minutes (if you have a convection/fan oven, watch the time), and voila, a perfect fresh bread snack!