2 The 2 and 1/2 cups of oats when powdered measured to 2 cups. So I think we could also use 2 cups of oat flour instead.

2 In a large mixing bowl add peanut butter, margarine and sugars. Beat together well until smooth and creamy.

3 In a blender (I used the small jar of my Magic Bullet), blend together the egg replacer and warm water until it’s frothy.

4 To the creamed sugar mixture add the egg replacer liquid and vanilla. Beat once again until it’s combined well.

5 To this add the barley flour, baking soda and salt and stir well.

6 Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

7 Spoon the batter onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. I took mine out after 11 minutes.

8 Leave the cookies on the sheet for 5 minutes. Then transfer it to a cooling rack for the cookies to cool completely. Transfer the cooled cookies to an airtight container.

I’m not a peanut butter fan, but I used it to just finish it off. So I was very happy because the presence of peanut butter was not at all felt from the 2nd day onwards.

I bought very little amount of carob chips and used it in this recipe instead of chocolate chips to make it completely vegan. When tasted it by itself, I found that there was a slight difference in taste when compared to chocolate chips. I didn’t like it that much. But I literally couldn’t feel any difference (maybe a little or it was just psychological) when I tasted the cookies and my son didn’t find it. The original recipe had called for 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, since I was using carob chips I used only 1/4 cup of it and I used 1/4 cup of dried cranberries. However I’m not sure if I would substitute carob chips for chocolate chips in a chocolate chip cookie recipe. Maybe it would be too much. I think the better bet is to try other dairy free vegan chocolate chips instead.

2 The original recipe mentions to use cornflakes. I used Rice Krispies because I had only that in hand.

3 Similarly you could use all nuts, or all chocolate chips or any dried fruits etc. Just be sure to keep the measurements same though.

4 At first I thought the quantity of sugar was more in the recipe with 1/3 cup each of brown sugar and granulated sugar, but it was perfect when we tasted the cookies. Maybe it would have been even sweeter, had I used 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and raisins instead of cranberries.

5 The cookies don’t spread like the usual chocolate chip cookies. So I think if you flatten it with a fork you may get crispier cookies but you would have to adjust the baking time. Also I overlooked the 1 teaspoon of water in the recipe. Maybe if I had added that the cookies would have spread a little bit.

6 I have mentioned this a couple of times, but writing it once again. If using a dark coated non stick pan, stay alert and take the sheet out of the oven 2-3 minutes earlier because the bottoms burn quite quickly. The same thing happened in this recipe too. Even after being careful and lining the cookie sheet with parchment paper the bottom of the cookies went black. Maybe double lining the sheet would help. I’m going to try it the next time.

2 In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Since the quantity of butter is very less, the creamed mixture was dry and resembled coarse crumbs.

3 In a blender/food processor blend together Ener-G, water, soy milk and vanilla extract until nice and foamy.

4 Add the Ener-G mixture to the creamed butter/sugar and beat everything together with the hand mixer until thoroughly combined. This mixture looks creamy like a white sauce.

5 In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg (if using). Add this to the wet ingredients. The batter will be thick.

6 Stir in apples and nuts. Mix it thoroughly.

7 Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with just a few crumbs. Mine was done around 38 minutes. You can also see that the cake starts pulling from the edges.

8 This cake can be sliced directly from the pan while its still warm, so no need to wait for the pan to cool to invert it and then slice it.

2 The apples were required to be diced, but I grated it because I was not sure if my son would eat the cake if it had chunks of apples in it. He usually eats all fruits and especially apples and pears are his favorite. But I can never guess him. The apples were really invisible, so if you have a picky eater sneak the apples by grating.

3 I was wondering what to do about the sweetness. If it’s not sweet enough you can always sprinkle some powdered sugar, have it with vanilla ice cream etc. But how to reduce the sweetness. Then I got this idea of coating the cake with unsweetened chocolate so that the bitterness would offset the sweetness. I wanted to try it immediately but did not have it at home. Sent my husband immediately to the grocery store and he got the Baker’s unsweetened baking chocolate. It’s a pack of 8 individually wrapped squares of plain chocolate. I wanted to test very little first. So melted 3 squares in the microwave oven. Cooled it a little bit. I decided to shaped the cake into small balls and dip it in the melted chocolate so that it would resemble truffles. Since the cake was slightly warm and moist I was able to proceed with the idea and shaped them into small balls. Dipped the cake quickly into the melted chocolate and placed it in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I had a perfect slice of cake as well. My husband dipped 3 sides of the cake in the chocolate. I placed the baking sheet in the fridge for the chocolate to set. I couldn’t contain my excitement to taste it. Managed to wait until the next day morning. The chocolate had set perfectly and I took a bite of the apple cake truffle and was literally doing the happy dance. It tasted so good! The bitterness of the unsweetened chocolate took care of the sweetness perfectly. The taste was phenomenal. I’m very glad that I tried this apple cake recipe.

2 In a large bowl, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla.

3 In a food processor/blender whip together the egg replacer powder and water together, until it’s thick and creamy. Add this mixture to the creamed butter and sugar, combine thoroughly.

4 In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.

5 Gradually beat the flour mixture into the wet mixture until it begins to form a dough.

6 When it is almost thoroughly combined stir in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using.

7 I greased a tablespoon to scoop the dough and drop it easily onto the baking sheet.

8 Bake 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

9 Let stand for 2 minutes on the baking sheet itself. Then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool
completely before storing.

2 For vegan chocolate chip cookies use non-hydrogenated, non dairy butter and nondairy semisweet chocolate chips.

2 In a large bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3 In a blender/food processor add Ener-G, water, milk and oil. Blend it thoroughly, for about 3 minutes.

4 Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened.

5 Fill the muffin cups 2/3rds full.

6 Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

7 Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

2 Adding some fresh/frozen corn kernels to the batter would be nice too.

3 This is a general baking tip. I have found that greasing baking sheets/pans with shortening works better than using a non stick spray. Non stick spray leaves burn marks on the sheets while shortening does a clean job.

2 Grease and flour a 9 inch spring-form pan. You can use cocoa instead of flour.

3 In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour,cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

4 In a small blender/processor blend together the Ener-G and water until it’s nice and fluffy like beaten eggs. I used my Magic Bullet blender. I pulsed it a couple of times.

5 In a medium bowl add oil, applesauce, sugars, vanilla extract and coffee powder. Using a hand mixer beat the mixture in medium speed for 3-5 minutes.

6 Add the egg replacer liquid in 3 additions beating it after every addition. Now also add the milk and beat until well combined.

7 Reserving half a cup of the flour mixture, add slowly the remaining flour to the wet ingredients, while beating it in low speed. Combine well the grated zucchini, chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of flour. Add this to the batter and mix it well. Note that the batter is thick at this stage. So don’t worry.

8 Pour the batter in the prepared cake pan and smooth it out using a spatula. While using a spring-form pan it’s advisable to place the pan on a baking sheet, so that the batter or baked cake does not fall down if the pan is not locked properly.

9 Prepare the topping by mixing the brown sugar and pistachios. Sprinkle this mixture evenly on the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Mine was done in 45 minutes.

2 You can also use an 8 inch or 9 inch round cake pan instead of a spring form pan. But I think you cannot do the topping because, while inverting the pan to unmould the cake the toppings may fall down.

3 Zucchini can be grated without peeling. After grating I felt that the strands were very big, so I chopped them coarsely.