Vegan Recipe of the Week - Ginger Snaps

This week I am going to share my Ginger Snaps recipe which I mentioned in my blog post last week on the UK Vegan Food Swap as I included some in the parcel I sent out. These are perfect for Autumn evenings, spicy and warming, sweet and delicious (a bit like me! ;-))

Ingredients:

120g Self raising flour, sifted

60g Vegan butter - I used Stork (foil packet)

75g Caster sugar

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp Ground ginger

1 tsp Vanilla bean paste

0.5 tsp Nutmeg

1 tbsp Golden Syrup, I used Maple flavour.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan.

Put all of the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Melt all of the wet ingredients together in a small saucepan over a low heat - vanilla bean paste, butter and syrup and stir to combine.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the melted mixture into the well, then mix together to form a dough.

Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and taking small pieces of the dough, roll them in your hand to form a ball and place them on the baking sheet, spaced apart.

Once you have 12 dough balls, squash them flat with the back of a spoon.

Bake in the preheated oven on the middle shelf for 10-12 minutes.

Take the tray out of the oven and leave it for 5 minutes.

Then place the biscuits on a cooling rack for 20 minutes until cool.

Eat and enjoy! Let me know what yours turned out like in the comments below!

Come back next week for another yummy vegan recipe and don't forget to check out the 'Recipes' tab at the top of the page for all of the previous recipes in one handy place!

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

The Ordinary Vegan - Jus-Rol Croissants

Every Monday on Vegan Vox Blog is the feature - The Ordinary Vegan, which features everyday supermarket items which happen to be vegan! This week it is the turn of Jus-Rol Croissants. Now, I don't know about you, but when I think of croissants, I think of butter, so finding a ready to roll croissant pack that was all vegan I was a bit skeptical.

These are found in the chiller aisle of the supermarket with other pre-made pastry. They are in a cardboard roll and are kept in the fridge. They have a fairly short shelf-life as it is fresh dough inside, so only last a few days in the tube before you have to bake them. 

They are really quick and easy to make. You just tear the perforated strips of pastry off roll into a croissant shape and bake in the oven for 10 minutes or so. You can add crushed up dairy-free chocolate buttons into the dough before you roll it for chocolate croissants which I did.

Then, once baked and cooled on a wire rack, you can sprinkle with a little icing sugar, or serve with jam and dairy-free spread.

Overall, they are a little synthetic tasting, and have a slightly bitter aftertaste. However, if you have people popping over for breakfast or would like something quick and easy as a breakfast treat, they are good value, quick and easy and most importantly vegan! I would rate them 3/5.

If you prefer homemade cooking from scratch then check out the blog every Tuesday for my Vegan Recipe of the Week. Tomorrow is Raw Almond Cookie Bites and Part 2 of the UK Vegan Food Swap post.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx

Vegan Recipe of the Week - Vegan Vox Pizza and Calzone

Last week I posted my homemade pizza on Instagram and got lots of love for it so I thought I'd post the recipe for those who asked and for the regular Tuesday recipe folks.

Vegan Vox Pizza - makes 2 large pizzas - serves 4 hungry vegans!

Ingredients:

For the dough you will need:

275 ml of tepid water

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

450 g strong bread flour

2.5 tsp instant or fast-acting dried yeast (1 x 7 g sachet)

For the toppings:

Pizza toppings are personal but I used:

passata with herbs

roasted red peppers

red onion

sweetcorn

jalapenos

green olives

Cheezly Mozzarella Style (grated)

Italian herbs

black pepper

olive oil

Method:

I use a bread-maker on dough setting for the dough but you can easily make this dough by hand. Pour the water into the bread-maker bucket or bowl. then add the oil, salt and sugar. Cover with the flour and then sprinkle on the yeast. If combining by hand knead for a good 10-15 minutes to combine the ingredients and then leave to prove. After one hour, knock back and then prove again for a further hour. Once the dough is ready remove the dough from the bucket or bowl and turn onto a floured surface and quickly knead. Divide the dough in half and roll each piece into a round disc. Place the rolled dough onto an oiled and floured 12" pizza tin or baking sheet.

Cover with sauce and toppings to within 1" of the edge of the pizza and and then cover with oiled clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking. This gives a nice crispy base. 

Preheat the oven to 220C and bake the pizza for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!

Calzone option:

This can easily be adapted to make calzone (this dough makes 8 small calzone). Brush the edges of the 8 small circles with water, cover half of your circle with your filling, fold over the dough and seal. Transfer to a greased baking sheet, cover with a clean towel and leave to prove for 10 minutes. Brush with olive oil and bake in the 220C oven for 12 minutes, then turn over, brush the other side and bake for a further 10-12 minutes until golden.

Let me know your favourite pizza combinations in the comments below or @veganvoxblog on Twitter, I would love to see your VV Pizza pictures too.

I have tried many different vegan cheese options on a pizza but so far the Cheezly mozzarella style grated is my favourite for melting and taste.

Big Vegan Love,

VVx