Generally I’m not a big fan of the vegan substitutes for various products. I typically just use applesauce and a little olive oil, for example, rather than a vegan-substitute-for-butter type of thing. But lately I’ve been trying out the various earth balance products in my baking. And, just for full disclosure - I haven’t received any earth balance products from them. I’ve been buying them at the co-op in all of their rather-high-priced glory.
Thought I’d share my results thus far, and ask you what YOU usually use for baking in the vegan style… I like the sticks of earth balance vegan butter for cookies. I made a variation on this new york times chocolate chip cookie recipe, vegan style - using earth balance, and they were AMAZING. I’ll post the recipe after it’s been perfected. Because, you see - I tried them again using the earth balance shortening stick, and they were a total flop. All puddles of cookie dough, scorching on my cookie sheet. Plus they didn’t taste good. Recipe needs some tweaking. (This is what coming up with recipes is all about though, right!? They can’t all turn out perfect).
The earth balance shortening for PIE CRUSTS, however - is a whole different story. Made a vegan peach pie last night that is TO-DIE-FOR, using earth balance shortening for the crust, and it’s fantastic. Here’s the recipe (makes one crust, top and bottom, of one standard pie):
- 1/2 cup earth balance vegan shortening
- 1 1/4 cup spelt flour
- 1/4 cup luke warm water
- 1 t. salt
Cut the shortening into the flour, then add water and salt - mix it with your hands until it forms a good dough - then break it in half and roll into two pie-size circles… Fill with your choice of fruit! I used peaches (about 7 small peaches, sliced, mixed with about 1 T. of cornstarch and 1 T. of spelt flour, with honey to taste). Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and bake for another 50 minutes or so.
Anyway — what do you, dear readers, like to use for baking, in place of butter or shortening (or lard, as my grandma uses)???
Tags: butter, earth balance, macrobiotic, peach, pie, shortening, substitutes, vegan, vegetarian
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Christy
on July 4, 2010 at 11:19 am I pretty much shy away from this stuff, unless I use it on my toast (which I rarely eat anyways). It’s so full of fat and crap that I try to find ways to make cookies and bake with more wholesome ingredients. I barely even use oil anymore. Sure it doesn’t taste like the real thing full of sugar, butter, and fat. But I actually like my healthier versions of baked goods. I use a little safflower or coconut oil, mixed with applesauce.
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bursty
on July 6, 2010 at 8:07 am I definitely see the point about this stuff (meaning vegan “replacement” products) generally being full of fat and crap, and that’s why I generally avoid it. That said, I thought the earth balance line seemed relatively simple in its list of ingredients - however, perhaps that’s all just marketing genius? I guess it’s probably pretty processed to get it looking the way it does?
On the fat issue — I am in the enviable position of being someone that doesn’t generally gain weight easily or quickly. So, I actually *seek out* “healthy” sources of fat, as healthy fat helps a person assimilate various nutrients, and also helps the body maintain cell integrity. By “healthy” I mean certain oils (olive, coconut, canola, safflower), avocado (high in monounsaturated fat), and nuts (also high in monounsaturated)… Just my take on it :)
Here’s a good article on “good fats” vs “bad fats” http://www.healthcastle.com/goodfats-badfats.shtml.
on
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