Pumpkin Pecan White Chocolate Blondies

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Just when you thought I had forgotten about Vegan Tuesdays this week, I surprise you all with this awesome recipe for vegan pumpkin pecan white chocolate brownies :) I’m sorry for the delay in today’s post, but I forgot to schedule it for this morning. Then I did not get home until a few minutes ago. Work was very busy today, but I was rewarded with an awesome dinner date with one of my very best friends. We ended up chatting and catching up for three hours. Such a nice time! 

I’ve been so excited to share these delicious fall-inspired pumpkin blondies with you. So excited in fact, that I could not wait any longer to share it! This week I’m presenting recipes for Canadian Thanksgiving. Yesterday, I posted Apple Cranberry Pecan Quinoa Salad to start off Thanksgiving Dinner. Generally speaking, I should not follow a salad post with a dessert recipe! But I just had to share this recipe today. It’s too yummy not to share before all of the Thanksgiving main dishes and entrées :)

 I am a sucker for dark, rich, bittersweet brownies – but I also have become smitten with blondies. This past summer, I made vegan Strawberry Chocolate Blondies for my guest post on Fork and Beans and I fell in love with the brownie’s lighter counterpart. Blondies are the best of brownies (all the moistness and wonderful gooeyness), but can have some really unique flavour combinations. These pumpkin pecan white chocolate blondies are good. So very good! :) I loved the moistness from the pumpkin and all of the wonderful spice from the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The toasted pecans add crunch and the white chocolate melts into the blondie adding the perfect amount of gooey goodness! You will not be disappointed.

Wishing you all a wonderful Vegan Tuesday. :) Please check out The Fig Tree’s Vegan Tuesday page for more Vegan Tuesday posts. xo


Ingredients

  • 2 and 1/3 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
  • 1 cup of Earth Balance butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup of organic vegan white sugar
  • 3/4 cup of brown sugar
  • 1 flax egg
  • 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract
  • 1-15 ounce can of pure pumpkin purée
  • 2 cups of vegan white chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup of roughly chopped pecans


Method

1. Preheat oven to 350’F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper – leaving an overhang on all sides. Grease with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until smooth. Beat in the flax egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in the pumpkin purée. Note: don’t worry if the mixture looks a bit curdled. It’s normal.

4. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips and pecans.

5. Spread the batter evenly in a prepared pan. Bake until the edges begin to pul away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached (about 35 to 40 minutes). Cool completely in the pan.

Store in an airtight container for up to three days.

Yield: about 18 blondies

Source: adapted from My Baking Addiction (originally from Martha Stewart)

Apple Cranberry Pecan Quinoa Salad

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Hello and Happy World Vegetarian Day! And Happy October 1st! :) I am so very happy that we are now into the month of October. It’s my very favourite month. October feels like the very heart of fall to me. October is full of wonderful things such as Canadian Thanksgiving, some of my best friends’ birthdays and the always fun Halloween festivities! October is searching for the perfect pumpkin. It’s the happiness of a bonfire with good friends. It’s the smell of fallen leaves. October is the togetherness of family. It’s the bright colours of the trees and the chilly evenings. It’s the warmth of cozy sweaters that embrace you like a familiar hug. It’s choosing the perfect Halloween costume. It’s the aroma of apple pie. It’s overdosing on mini Halloween chocolate bars. It’s the excitement of the first snow fall. It’s getting lost in a corn maze and the puckering taste of cranberry cider. It’s piping hot cups of hot chocolate and pumpkin lattées. It’s the thrill of raking up all of the leaves and taking a running jump into them! It’s the yumminess of caramel apples. It’s the feel of soft woolen mittens. October is also Vegetarian Awareness month! Ahhh….yes, October is pretty much the best thing ever :) October is also the month Jesse and I will be going on a week long trip to NYC. I cannot wait! :)

As mentioned, October is the month of Canadian Thanksgiving. In fact, it’s a week today! And it’s one of my very favourite holidays. I love all of the delicious food and spending time with my family and good friends. It’s a nice holiday, as there is no pressure to buy gifts or go overboard with decorating. (I leave all of that for Christmas! *hehe*) Thanksgiving seems to be most focused around food – and I LOVE food. And since I love food, I’m planning on posting a new recipe each day leading up to Canadian Thanksgiving (October 8, 2012). I’m going to share with you, recipes that I will be serving at our upcoming family Thanksgiving dinner – vegetarian style!

First up, a delicious and unique quinoa salad inspired by fall flavours. It’s full of sweet, crispy chunks of apple and tart dried cranberries. There’s buttery, toasted pecans and fluffy quinoa. And it’s all dressed up with a savoury/sweet cinnamon maple viniagrette. I recently made this for my dad who had yet to try quinoa. He was very skeptical, but in the end, he adored the flavours of this salad. This salad makes for an excellent starter salad for a fall family get-together. Or it can double as one yummy salad to bring for lunches.

Hope you are all having a happy Monday. Did you do anything to celebrate International Vegetarian Day?    

Ingredients
  • 1 cup of uncooked quinoa, well rinsed
  • 1 and 1/2 cups of water
  • 1 large crisp apple, chopped into small pieces
  • 1 cup of pecans pieces, toasted
  • 1/2 cup of dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese (optional)
  • 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil or canola oil
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons of pure maple syrup (to your taste)
  • 1 heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the rinsed quinoa and water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and remove from heat. Note: You want the quinoa to maintain some of its texture and bite, so don’t over cook it.

2. Place the cooked quinoa in a strainer and run cold water over it until well chilled. Drain well. Set aside.

2. Whisk together the apple cider vinegar, olive oil, pure maple syrup, dijon mustard, ground cinnamon, salt and pepper.

3. Combine the cooled quinoa, diced apple, toasted pecans pieces, cranberries  and parmesan cheese in a serving dish. Add the dressing and toss well. Note: Allow the salad to sit for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, so that all the flavours have a chance to develop.

Serves: 6 to 8 side salads

Source: recipe by Courtney Jones; dressing adapted from Vegetarian Times Magazine Oct.2012

Simple Roasted Beet Borscht

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Bears! Beets! Battlestar Galactica! *hehe* Ah yes, one of my favourite scenes from The Office. Do anyone of you watch The Office and recall this scene – where Jim dresses up as Dwight? Always makes me giggle :)

Anyhoo…yes…beets! Delicious roasted beets! A few weeks back, we went to the local farmer’s market and picked up a bunch of autumn squash. We also picked up some fresh fingerling potatoes, fresh herbs including dill and beets in a variety of colours. I’ve been saving the red beets and fresh dill, so I could try my hand at making a delicious, simple roasted beet borscht. A lot of borscht recipes use beef stock as a base. I wanted to make a vegetarian borscht that had just as much flavour as its meat-based counterpart – and one that was easy to throw together on a week night. 

Some borscht recipes suggest adding chopped hard boiled eggs, shredded carrots & cabbage, or cooked potatoes. However, the borscht I ended up putting together was very simple – it highlighted the flavour of slow roasted beets and fresh dill. A touch of red wine vinegar cut some of the sweetness of the beets and the vegetable stock made the borscht a bit more savoury. And a dollop of sour cream added some richness and creaminess that I loved. This simple vegetarian borscht recipe is a keeper for sure! 

Hope you are all having a wonderful week! :) I’ll be back in a few days with my countdown to Canadian Thanksgiving – which is a week and a half away. Since Thanksgiving is one of my very favourite holidays, I have a lot of recipes planned and cannot wait to share them with you! 
Ingredients
  • 4 large beets, peeled and diced into 1 inch pieces (about 6 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons of canola oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons of canola oil
  • 6 cups of vegetable broth
  • large bunch of fresh dill
  • 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • sour cream or greek yogurt for garnish
  • dill fronds for garnish

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375’F. Place roasted beets in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of oil and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Toss to distribute the oil well. Roast the beets, turning once or twice during roasting, for 40 minutes (or until a thin-bladed knife pierces a piece of beet with little resistance). When the roasted beets are cool enough to handle, chop them as finely as possible.

2. Put the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a deep skillet or medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and cook until soft (about 3 minutes). Turn down heat to medium-low and continue cooking the onions until golden and very tender (10 to 15 minutes).

3. Add the beets, along with the stems of the dill (tied together in a bundle with kitchen twine) and broth to cover (about 6 cups). Turn the heat back up to medium-high and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the soup is well coloured and beets are starting to melt away (about 10 minutes).

4. Add the red wine vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Note: you can add a bit more vinegar if you find the soup to be too sweet.

5. Remove the dill stems from the soup. Chop the remaining dill (the fronds). Sprinkle the fresh dill fronds into the borscht reserving some for garnish. 

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and garnish with dill. Enjoy!  

Yield: 4 bowls or 6 cups of soup

Source: adapted from How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman