The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World

According to this non-vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe from Domestic Fits, this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe in the world. Ben and I, being cookie connoisseurs, just had to veganize it and try it out. AND the verdict is... these are the best. No joke, this is definitely my new #1 chocolate chip cookie recipe. Even though some of the ingredients are a bit tough to find, don't scrimp! It's really the attention to detail that make these so amazing.

Make sure you read the recipe all the way through before you decide to make these on a Friday night! The dough has to refrigerate for 24 hours before cooking!

Note about the flours: All types of flour have different properties and will produce difference results. The combination of the two flours in this recipe creates cookies that are both soft and chewy. You won’t get these results if you just use one type or if you use all-purpose flour.

2 C Cake flour
1 1/2 C Bread flour
1 tsp Corn starch
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 1/4 tsp Baking soda
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/4 C (2 1/2 sticks) Earth Balance
1 1/3 C Brown sugar
1 C White sugar
2 Eggs worth of egg replacement (we used EnerG here)
2 tsp Vanilla
3 C Chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine both types of flour, baking soda, baking powder, corn starch and 1 tsp salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the Earth Balance with both types of sugar, scraping the bottom of the bowl periodically to make sure the ingredients are well-combined. Add the egg replacement and the vanilla and beat well, scraping the inside of the bowl.

Reduce the speed on the stand mixer to low and add the dry ingredients until just barely combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir until incorporated. Be careful not to over mix the cookies or they will be tough!

In order for these cookies to be the best they can be, the butter needs to reconstitute as a solid or the cookies won’t cook well. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the bowl and press it against the top of the cookie dough, making a tight seal. Place the cookies in the refrigerator to chill for at least 24 hours, preferably 36 hours. This is important, don’t skip this step or the cookies will spread and become dry and crispy.

Once the cookies are done refrigerating, preheat the oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and make balls of dough that are a bit larger than a golf ball. Place the balls on a baking sheet with ample space between each cookie. Sprinkle the cookies lightly with the remaining salt.

Bake each cookie sheet one individually for 21-23 minutes or until the cookies are just starting to get a light golden brown. Don’t over bake, the cookies will continue to bake about an additional 10 percent after being removed from the oven. Immediately transfer from the pan to a cooling rack.

Recipe thanks to:
Domestic Fits

Whole Foods' Superfood Salad

So I totally love the Superfood Salad from the deli section of Whole Foods, but it's WAY too expensive! So I decided to try my own :) The measurements aren't totally right since I kind of just did it all to taste, but I'm sure you'll figure out. This salad is seriously delicious and SO healthy! Be careful, though, it goes bad kind of fast (3-4 days).

Salad
1 C Kale, chopped
1 C Nappa cabbage, chopped
1/2 C Carrots, grated
1/2 C Red onion, chopped
1 C Blueberries
1/2 C Grape tomatoes, chopped
1/2 C Edamame, shelled
1/4 C Goji Berries
A small handful Sunflower Seeds, raw
A small handful Cashew pieces, raw

Dressing
1 C Acai juice
2 Tbs Apple cider vinegar
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 Tbs Canola oil
1 Tbs Soy lecithin
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cayenne powder to taste

Mix all salad ingredients together. Blend all the dressing ingredients until smooth and then pour over the salad ingredients. Mix until the dressing has coated the salad.

Golden Phoenix in Salt Lake City, Utah

A few weeks ago Ben and I finally went to Golden Phoenix in Salt Lake. A little while after Evergreen House closed, Golden Phoenix opened up new dining and kitchen sections of their restaurant with Evergreen House's menu. Exciting! So, Ben and I had to drop by. We actually never went to Golden Phoenix when they were around, so I can't comment how it was in comparison, but I can give my opinion on their food in general.

We were super excited about the boba tea they had, as many of you know it is our FAVORITE drink. Theirs was very tasty and in true boba fashion.

Next, we got to try an appetizer they were trying that was kind of like a quesadilla with different  flavors and veggies (right). Then we got the crispy tofu boa, which was totally not what I was expecting. It wasn't like tofu at all... it was kind of like flaky, greasy... chicken fingers with a ketchup-tasting sauce. They definitely weren't bad, but they were SO greasy I could only eat one or two. With the flakiness it was almost like I was just eating layers of grease.

Tangerine boba tea

An appetizer that they gave us a taste tester of. I don't know what it was called but it was so good!

Crispy tofu bao

For our entrees, Ben got the curry potato with soybean and I got the so good seaweed roll with brown sauce. I was very excited when I heard they had brown rice, and both Ben and I ordered it with our meal. Unfortunately, I didn't really like either of our meals. Ben's curry potato with soybean tasted like some kind of weird out-of-the-box gravy over hash browns, carrots, and a really weird tasting soy 'meat.' Mine was totally bizarre and I can't really tell if I hated it or I hate fish now (it's supposed to be like a fish filet). Either way, the nori and brown sauce combination totally grossed me out and I hated how the veggies were undercooked.

Curry potato with soybean

So good seaweed roll with brown sauce

So good seaweed roll with brown sauce

Sooo all I ended up eating was my half of the tester appetizer, a few pieces of tofu boa, and a probably two bites of my entree. I was kind of disappointed and want to go back to see if we just ordered the wrong things, but I also don't want to pay for a bad meal again??? I don't know. From this experience I would have to give it a 3/5.

English Muffins

The other day I sent Ben a link to this English muffin recipe while I was at work. For those of you who don't know, Ben is a stay-at-home dad of four pets who keeps the house in order and does freelance web design. Aaaaand, when I came home, what was ready for me? ENGLISH MUFFINS. Isn't he the most amazing husband in the world?

Note: These are supposed to be cooked on a griddle in ring molds. Ben and I don't HAVE ring molds, so Ben improvised by making some out of tin foil.

2 C Water + 1 Tbs
1/4 C Olive oil
1 Tbs Brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp Yeast
3 C Flour
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking powder
Corn meal, for dusting

Combine 2 C water, olive oil, and sugar in a mixing bowl with a whisk. Add the yeast, flour, and salt. Mix for 3 minutes, scraping the sides occasionally to incorporate all of the flour.

Cover and let sit in a warm area for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Preheat a griddle or pan to medium-high.Combine the baking powder and remaining water and pour into the batter. Stir just enough to combine.

Sprinkle corn meal over the top of the griddle. Heavily grease each ring mold (or tin foil circle) and place the molds on the griddle. Scoop about 1/4 cup batter in to each mold. Cook for 10 minutes then release the ring mold and flip over (alternatively, if you are using tin foil, help loosen the muffin from the tin foil with a fork and then flip). Cook 7-10 minutes on the other side or until cooked throughout.

Pictured here with apricot-pineapple marmalade

New Vegan Item on the Station 22 Menu!

UPDATE 11/2012: Please read this post before going to Station 22.

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Station 22 now has a pulled veggie sandwich! Totally delicious. It's amazing how they get the mixed cooked veggies to have that same deep-marinated and spicy taste of pulled pork. And, served on their lovely ciabatta bread, it's to die for. I also, unfortunately, discovered that their house-made steak-cut fries are vegan. They are deep-fried, battered, and then tossed in a nice seasoning mixture. Tasty!

P.s. No I didn't eat the fry sauce. I just forgot to take it out for the picture ;)

The Vegan Stoner's Chocolate Mousse

Finally made a recipe from The Vegan Stoner... I decided to try the chocolate mousse!

Unfortunately... it didn't turn out quite as expected :(

Dinner With the Fam: Potato Pave

A couple of months ago, Ben and I had dinner at my parent's house and made Potato Pave. Potato Pave is kind of like an even more decadent take on scalloped potatoes--it's basically little chunks of scalloped potatoes are sautéed in oil and spices.

What we did is take Martha Stewart's recipe here and veganize it with some plant milk and Earth Balance. Delicious!

Kneaders Bakery & Cafe in Utah

Kneader's Bakery and Cafe is a great sandwich and pastry shop that has locations all over Utah. What's awesome about them is ALL of their fresh-baked breads are vegan. Sourdough, ciabatta, rye, focaccia, hazelnut,  whole wheat... you name it! Ben and I love stopping by there to get a large loaf of bread and use it for dipping in soup or olive oil.

Besides having great bread, Kneader's is a pretty good place to stop off for lunch. One of the sandwiches on their menu, the veggie avocado, can easily be made vegan with a few tweaks. No kneaders sauce, no cheese, plain yellow mustard only, all the veggies. My favorite bread is the hazelnut 12 grain (shown above). Their veggies are always fresh and their avocados are always perfectly ripe. You can get a half of full sandwich (full pictured above) depending on your appetite, and if you want something sweet they also have an all-fruit smoothie. Super yum!

I would give Kneaders a 4/5. I love their vegan sandwich and though it sucks they don't have anything see that's vegan it's a great place for lunch.

Koi Sushi House in American Fork, Utah

A few weekends ago Ben and I went to Koi Sushi House for dinner to get some sushi. It was the only sushi place close to us open on Sunday (Utah...) so we decided to try it out.

For our appetizer, we got the vegetable spring rolls. I was thinking they would be fresh and filled with fresh veggies, but I was disappointed to see that they were deep-fried and full of veggie mush. Still tasty, but not the greatest.

For our sushi rolls, we got the cucumber roll, avocado roll, mixed veggie roll, and Japanese pickle roll. All of them were pretty good and I liked the veggie combinations. However, the avocado was mushy and the rice was WAY too sweet. Personally, I like my avocado a little on the green side so that it holds up in the sushi roll and doesn't taste like mush with the rice. Also, sweet and stick rice is good. Sweetness that can't be complimented by soy sauce is too sweet.

So, in the end, only 2/5. The food was just ok and the waitress wasn't very good. I would go there again if I was craving sushi on a Sunday, but I probably would rather not go.

Ben's New Cologne

Recently I stumbled upon an article about men's vegan cologne. I had always wished Ben could wear cologne but never really knew how to go about getting a vegan cologne (or perfume for that matter). I mean, I knew you could get cologne at the mall... and I got my perfume from Whole Foods... and I had poked around Amazon... but really, where to you go? So I looked in to the vegan colognes on the companies websites. I decided on Le Labo colognes because of the descriptions of their colognes and because they had $5/no shipping tester vials. BUT definitely not because of the price of their actual bottles--smallest bottle they sell is $60 and the most expensive... get ready... is $700.

Anyway, back to the samples, I got three samples that I thought sounded good. Vetiver, Santal, and Oud. I just HAD to include the descriptions because I thought they were so good.

Oud - Oud 27 is oriental in the purest form, overwhelming and disturbing in its signature and power. Think Genghis Khan meets Shah Jahan for tea with Scheherazade. Or even less politically correct, it’s 1001 Arabian Nights distilled into 27 intense ones. You will enjoy it.

Santal - Do you remember the old Marlboro ads? A man and his horse in front of the fire on a great plain under tall, blue evening skies. This man, firelight in his face, leaning on the worn leather saddle, alone with the desert wind, an icon so powerful that every man wanted to be him and every woman wanted to have him. From this memory is born Santal--the ambition to create an olfactive form inspired by the great American myth still a source of fantasy for the rest of the world. A perfume that touches the sensual universality of this icon, that would intoxicate a man as much as a woman. Here are, in a few words, what Santal is: An open fire and the soft drift of smoke--where sensuality rises after the light has gone.

Veviter - The Rolls Royce of Vetivers, nurtured in Haiti and retired to Grasse in accord with local know-how, is the pillar of this perfume that, without a doubt, is the most masculine of all Le Labo creations! Among the 46 essences that make it up, all have the distinctive “male” scent: pepper, gaïac, labdanum, cedar… Each expresses strength of character in its own way, and the delicate accompaniment of olibanum, a mysterious incense, leaves an intriguing spiritual dimension in its wake.

After trying all three, I think I can safely say that my top two are Oud and Veviter--and I think Oud is winning out. I'm super excited to splurge on a bottle of expensive and exquisite cologne for Ben once he's through with the samples and I am in love with how sexy he smells in it. And Ben likes it too! What a sexy man...

Recent Life Photos

Relaxing weekend painting D&D miniatures and watching LOTR (nerd alert!)

My new laptop!

Birthday dinner with my sister, Alyssa, at City Cakes. Before dinner we took her to AA Callisters and bought her brand new English riding boots!

My sister and I

What I got - cup of chili and a cinnamon roll and scone that Alyssa and I split.

Sigurd watching Ben play FFXI

New cat bed

Cuties... notice the marijuana, ahem, catnip-filled froggie Daggett has tucked under his arm.

Recent Work Photos

I have SO many pictures I want to share! So, first, a couple of new work photos...

View over Utah Lake from my new cube. I have floor-to-ceiling windows all along one side now!

Mmmm green tea kombucha makes every day good

French Lentil Soup

Got a recipe for this awesome French lentil soup from the VegNews email. Ben and I have made it twice in two weeks and love it! I added some carrot and celery since I like my soup a bit chunkier.

I grabbed the picture to the right from the VegNews email, but my soup didn't turn out anything like that. It was way more broth with chunks, not thick. But still good!

1 Tbs Olive oil
1 yellow Onion, chopped
3 Carrot, chopped
2 Celery stalk, chopped
3 cloves Garlic
2 Tbs Dry sherry or white wine
1 C French lentils (I used French green)
1 14.5-ounce can Petite diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tsp Herbes de Provence
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black pepper
5 C Vegetable broth
4 C fresh Spinach

In a large pot over medium heat, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sherry and then add the lentils, tomatoes, Herbes de Provence, salt, pepper, and broth.

Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the lentils are tender, about 45 minutes, adding more broth if needed. Taste and adjust seasonings. About 5 minutes before serving, stir in the spinach.

Frankly Natural Bakers Peanut Butter Brownie

A little while ago Ben and I grabbed a Frankly Natural Bakers Peanut Butter Brownie from Good Earth. I wanted a brownie and this one looked really healthy, so I figured I would try it. Unfortunately it tasted healthy too :( It was really dense and dry, and not very sweet. Pretty much a let down.

Go Raw Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada

On our way out of Vegas, Ben and I dropped by Go Raw Cafe to grab some lunch for the drive. Go Raw Cafe is a really cool herb shop and book store with amazing food.

For his entree, Ben got the “Salmon” Cakes with “fries,” "garlic bread," and a veggie salad (right). The salmon cake was drizzled with “tartar sauce," the "fries" were breaded avocado wedges, and the "garlic bread" were garlicy flax crackers. Ben got this because it sounded really interesting, but the cake was strange and strange-tasting. I wasn't a fan at all and only had one small bit. The avocado of the "fries" were just a bit too ripe--I would have liked them if they were kind of green. I really liked the "garlic bread" though!

I got the vegi-cotti full. The vegi-cottis were raw soft "tortillas" filled with “spinach-ricotta,” pesto, veggies, & marinara sauce served with a side of pasta primavera and a blend of pesto, marinara, olive oil, garlic, and sun-dried tomato. It was a seriously HUGE container of food and we enjoyed every bite. Totally delicious.

I also got the Cal-C-Yumm, which was parsley, kale, carrot, and apple juice. Again, delicsious!

We also got a taster of Kal-Chia garlic basil kale chips. They were SO GOOD, I wish I could have bought a whole container.

Overall, a 4/5. The salmon cake wasn't a success but I have a feeling the majority of their menu items would be a hit. We definitely will go back the next time we're in Vegas. I want to try their coffees, other entrees, and desserts.

Chin Chin in Las Vegas, Nevada

While in Las Vegas, Ben and I went to Chin Chin for dinner. Chin Chin is in the New York, New York hotel on the bottom floor. I had read on Happy Cow that Chin Chin was vegan friendly, so I was hopeful. When we got there I asked our waiter if he knew what vegan was, and he looked surprised and said "of course!" before chuckling to himself. That was a good first sign. He guided us through the menu with ease and I was happy to find out that 90% of their dishes could be veganized with the substitution of tofu instead of meat.

To start, we got the vegetable pan-fried pot stickers. They were really good and great with the spicy dipping sauce.

For his entree, Ben got the chicken lettuce cup with tofu. It was amazing! Tiny fried chunks of tofu with bell peppers, water chestnuts, black mushrooms, pine nuts, and white crunches... yum!

For my entree, I got the kung pao chicken with fried tofu. I had been craving kung pao for a while, but unfortunately this kung pao was just too spicy. It was too spicy to even enjoy, my mouth hurt too much :( Should have picked something on the menu that wasn't spicy! Their spicy is just too spicy for me. I probably ate way more of Ben's than he would have wanted ;) What was great is they had brown rice! I love brown rice!

Overall, 4/5. I would go there again for a safe Chinese meal, even though my entree wasn't so great. I would be excited to try the other items on the menu veganized, and I loved the pot stickers.

La Casa Don Miguel in Cedar City, Utah

For our drive down to Las Vegas (like three weeks ago...) I hadn't planned anywhere specific for lunch. I just wanted to see when we got hungry and then stop wherever that was. So, about the time we got hungry, I whipped out my Happy Cow app and used my phone to find the closest vegan restaurant (I love my phone! so convenient). The closest restaurants were in Cedar City, so we picked one and dropped by.

The restaurant we picked with La Casa Don Miguel, a super-authentic Mexican place that could make many of their menu items vegan.

I got the veggie fajitas, veganized (above) and Ben got the veggie burrito, veganized (below). The veggie fajitas was a massive meal and came with stir-fried veggies, corn tortillas, Mexican rice, black beans, some lettuce, pico de gallo, and guacamole. The veggie burrito was equally big and came with Mexican rice, that mexican brine and veggie salad (what's it called?), and black beans.

The only thing I found weird was their veggie mix (both in the burrito and the fajitas). It had what looked like that cubed frozen veggie mix sautéed in with the peppers, onions, and tomatoes. It was kind of weird in a Mexican dish, but it was ok.

And of course, chips and salsa on the house! All-in-all 3/5. Good for a place to stop off during a drive, but I wouldn't go there on a regular basis.