Flying Apron Bakery

There is a reason that I am not a baker.  There is a reason that the last time I tried to make bread, instead of rising into a loaf it sank into a dark hole.  There is a reason that the one time I tried to make pizza dough, it formed into a ball hard as rock and refused to budge.  There is a reason that I failed as an assistant for a hands-on bread baking class.

And the reason is this:  if I could bake... I would do nothing but eat baked goods.  It's true.

Kale farmers would have to cut back on production.  My local natural foods store wouldn't have to restock beets twice a day.  And my partner would no longer be repulsed by my green smoothies every time she entered the kitchen.  All because I would do nothing but eat breads, muffins, cookies, and cakes all day long. 





I learned this dirty secret about myself a little over a month ago when I went gluten-free.  Even though I rarely ate bread before going gluten-free, once I told myself I couldn't have it anymore I suddenly couldn't get it off my mind.  A co-worker recommended Flying Apron Bakery in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle and was shocked that I hadn't been there before.  Not only is it an amazing vegan, gluten-free bakery, but it's down the street from my house.  I had no more excuses not to go. 

I told myself that I had never been there before because I didn't eat many baked goods, which is true.  However, now I know the truth: I had never been there before because if I went there once, I would go there all the time.  A chocolate chip cookie on Monday night just because, a cupcake on Wednesday while working on an article, a berry scone on Friday night with a friend, some bread on Saturday morning for breakfast.  Oh the excuses I will come up with to go there now. 

This bakery is awesome sauce.  Do you live in Seattle?  Because if you do, you need to know about this place.  And if you don't, you need to know that they have take-home kits that you can order online!

Flying Apron Bakery

http://www.flyingapron.com/

Located at

3510 Fremont Ave N

Seattle, WA

and

16541 Redmond Way, Ste E

Redmond, WA

(Gluten-Free) Chocolate Chip Cookies

In a few minutes I am going to share a recipe with you that has more coconut oil and evaporated cane juice than this blog has seen in quite awhile.  And it's going to be good.  This recipe is going to blow your New Year's health resolutions out of the water (sorry about that) and make you drool.  However, we are first going to have a quick chat about drinking water.  I debated about bringing this drinking water conversation up, but I think it's important to talk about.  (If you really want to skip it, I won't be offended if you scroll down to the part about chocolate chips.)  

As I have moved away from processed foods over the past couple of years, I have tried to shift other areas of my life as well.  On the most recent part of this journey I have embraced more and more natural cleaning and beauty products to help rid my home and body of unnecessary chemicals.  Not surprisingly, the more I have shifted away from using chemicals, the more chemical-sensitive I have become.  

Most recently I have begun to notice the smell of chlorine in my drinking water.  I kept thinking that I was smelling residue from our dishwasher detergent and thus began investing better methods for washing dishes.  (Soap nuts, anyone?)  I mentioned this to my partner the other day who questioned, "You know that there is chlorine in tap water, right?"  Um, no.  How did I miss that one? 

This point about chemicals in our water really got to me.  It brought me back to when I was in grad school and one of our class speakers was a woman who crusaded for years to get flouride removed from Oregon's water supply.  I was immensely fascinated because both of her parents were dentists who were opposed to flouride use.  She cited several studies that have actually shown flouride to be toxic to our bodies over time, but (contrary to what we hear form the ADA) she said there have been no studies proving flouride's effectiveness in treating tooth decay.  And, flouride is too small to be removed from water, even with a Brita filter. 

Since I am a water and herbal tea fanatic, this has really had me thinking lately.  Water is such a basic necessity for all forms of life and it deeply pains me to know about the water wars going on around this globe and how many people are deprived of such a vital resource.  (If you are interested in learning more about this I highly recommend the documentary Flow or reading any of Vandana Shiva's work.)  Of course I am grateful to have daily, reliable access to water, but it also really bothers me that I have no control over what goes into my water and that chemicals like chlorine or flouride are allowed because they are at "safe" levels.  And if you drink bottled water, you should also be aware that bottled water is regulated even less than tap water. 

Do you ever have concerns about your water?  What do you think about chlorine and fluoride being added to drinking water?

I think I'll spare you the rest of my rantings and just say that my Brita pitcher is no longer collecting dust on the shelf.  (Even if it doesn't remove everything that I wish it would.)

Now that I am pretty sure I have either depressed, enraged, or deeply bored you, how about I cheer you up with some cookies?  Look!  I baked!

These cookies are my new favorite recipe and not only are they easy to make, they are vegan (of course) and gluten-free!  This recipe comes from Erin McKenna's book, BabyCakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery.  In case you've never heard of Erin McKenna or BabyCakes, you should know that Erin is the founder of BabyCakes, an organic, vegan bakery in New York City.  She has also recently released her second cookbook, BabyCakes Covers the Classics.  I have never been to BabyCakes, but if I am ever in NYC it will certainly be on my list of places to visit.  

Due to copyright laws I cannot post her recipe here, but I highly encourage you to check out her cookbook, or you can also view this recipe over on Oprah's website.  

Samoa Cookies

Somewhere in between a vacation with my partner, a gigantic plumbing failure in our apartment, and baking these cookies... it's suddenly June.  Hello sunshine.

I've appreciated the down time of the last few weeks more than I can possibly explain.  Taking a vacation and focusing on being present, relaxing, and taking care of myself was exactly what I needed.  Thank you for all of your support in the process.  I've missed you. 

And since I've been away from my computer, Blogger seems to have lost my last post and my Feedburner service keeps emailing you folks posts from January.  It's good to be back. 

Now, let's get to these cookies.  If you're one of those people staying away from sugar right now I commend you.  And I'd hate to be the person to spoil that so, please, stop reading and look away.

These are some dangerous ones.  I made these to indulge in my post-vacation sugar cravings and now I can't get enough of 'em.  Some of you may be wondering why there is only one cookie pictured below when this recipe makes two dozen.  Ahem, ahem.  Guilty face.

It wasn't all me, I swear!  They just go fast.

These cookies involve coconut, chocolate, more coconut, more chocolate... you get where I'm going with this.  These are perfect for late-night snacking, picnics, chocoholics, and it doesn't get any better than eating these on your front porch in the sunshine while drinking iced tea.  

Samoa Cookies
Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients
2 cups grated unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup brown rice syrup
1/3 cup almond milk (or another nondairy milk)
1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour (I've used both whole wheat and spelt and either works great)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Chocolate layer: 1 heaping cup vegan chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons coconut oil

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot or skillet, pour in the coconut and toast over medium low heat for 5 – 10 minutes, until the coconut turns golden brown. Be careful not to burn it, and stir occasionally. Once the coconut is toasted, remove it from the heat to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the coconut oil, brown rice syrup, almond milk, flaxseeds, and vanilla and blend until smooth. Sift in the flour, baking soda and salt and stir until the batter is thick. Fold in the cooled, toasted coconut.

Drop tablespoons of dough on a parchment lined pan. Using a measuring cup, press down the dough balls until they are flat discs. Bake the cookies for about eight minutes, just until the edges start to turn golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes on the pan and then cool completely on wire racks.

To make the chocolate glaze: Using a double broiler, melt the chocolate chips and stir in the coconut oil. Allow the mixture to cool for five minutes to allow it to thicken a bit. Once the cookies are completely cooled, dip the bottom in the chocolate mixture and place on a pan lined in parchment paper. Repeat with all the cookies. Use the remaining chocolate to drizzle glaze over the top of each cookie.


To allow the chocolate to cool, place the cookies in the fridge for half an hour, then enjoy!  They are also great frozen and eaten straight from the freezer.

Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

There is nothing I hate more than last-minute baking... during the holidays... when your final product tastes like $*#&... and you have now run out of ingredients.  Not that I would know what that's like, or anything...

The nonprofit I work for has an awesome tradition of having the staff bake holiday cookies for our clients to take home.  There's nothing I would love to do more than give a small gesture of light in these dark times.

On my way out the door of the office someone asked if I had signed up to bake cookies for tomorrow.  With a guilty conscience, I replied no.  In my defense, I figured that no one would want vegan cookies which I would probably make with spelt flour and agave.  But, I soon learned that the person that I was talking to happened to be a wheat-free vegan... so all my excuses flew out the window.

I felt good on the way home knowing that I had just picked up a new tub of Earth Balance the night before.  I had the supplies, I had a little time, and I honestly wanted to do it.

Then I got in my kitchen and everything fell apart.  My oatmeal cookies wouldn't hold together... then a batch burned... heck, my bag of compost even spilled on the counter.  It was a rough night.

Around 10 pm, out of Earth Balance and almost out of patience, I asked Ashley to go to the store and buy cookie dough.  Yes, pre-made cookie dough.  It was an all-time low.

Instead, she returned with another tub of Earth Balance and some encouragement... and cookie dough as a back-up.  These are what resulted.

Happy holidays to you and yours.  

To spare you some pain and heartbreak, here are some important lessons I learned:

• When a recipe says that your margarine (or butter) should be softened, don't melt it -- especially on accident.  Besides, that would be dumb.  Who would do that anyway?
• Keep your cool.  In baking, the more you get frustrated the worse the result.  Take a mandatory time-out if you're starting to lose it. 
• Different cookie sheets cook cookies differently... a little fun-fact I learned after my kitchen filled up with the lovely smell of burnt cookies.  Yum.  Cooking with cookie sheets that do not have edges require less time than cooking with cookie sheets that do.  Now you know.   
• And finally, remember to give thanks to your kitchen-support team.  You know, the people that are willing to run out to the store at 10:30 pm at night for supplies.  You rock. 

Adapted from The Best Recipes Cookbook
Makes about a dozen and a half cookies.

1 1/4 cups Earth Balance, softened

1 1/2 cups (vegan) sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Egg-replacer for 2 eggs

2 1/4 cups oatmeal
1 cups dried cranberries
3/4 cups walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

In large bowl, beat earth balance and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  (I did this by hand but you could use a mixer at medium speed.)  Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and egg replacer; beat until just blended, occasionally scarping bowl with spatula. Stir in oats, dried cranberries, and walnuts.

Use a little less than 1/4 cup of dough and form into a nice cookie shape and flatten just a bit. Place on the ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.  Bake 350 degrees until golden about 10-12 minutes.  Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes you just have to give in. Give in to putting that alarm to sleep for five more minutes. Give in to going for a walk outside just to feel the sun on your face. And give in to yourself and that nagging little voice inside of you that says, "I don't feel like going to the gym today... I feel like making cookies." How I both love and despise that little voice.

I have been reading about organizing your time and your life lately and it's been some interesting research. I'm one of those people that's always got a to-do list going. Every day starts with creating the list and every day ends with an evaluation of how much got done. What I have realized is that I never specifically put fun things on the to-do list. The to-do lists are always about work or chores... writing papers, cleaning the apartment, running errands. As a result, fun things tend to get pushed aside for more "productive" endeavors.

I have never put "make cookies" on my to-do list. But, that certainly changed today. Cookies are an important part of life that often get forgotten in my world. I have decided it is time to bring them back -- along with all my other forgotten treasures like spending more time with friends, creating art, and traveling. And besides, making cookies isn't all about me. There are many people in my life in need of cookies: Ashley, youth at Lambert House, fellow graduate students... I bet if you try real hard you can find some people in your life too.

What's at the top of your to-do list today? What can you throw out and replace with "make cookies"? Or, better yet, make an entire afternoon out of "eating cookies." I think that's on my list for tomorrow.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup Earth Balance, softened
3/4 cup granulated vegan sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Egg replacer for 2 eggs
2 cups (12-ounce package) vegan chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl
2. Beat Earth Balance, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in large mixer bowl
3. Add egg replacer one at a time, beating well after each addition; gradually beat in flour mixture.
4. Stir in chips and nuts
5. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets
6. Bake in preheated 375-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown
7. Let stand for 2 minutes, remove to wire racks to cool completely.