Sometimes I Require Pizza

So, yeah. It was one of those days. My half is the veggies-only half. The other half has onions and vegan pepperoni. It was awesome, dudes. To make it even better, I made my own herbed pizza crust. It went perfectly with the homemade (no-cook) sauce. Both recipes are below :)

Crust/Dough:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp coarse kosher salt (less if you use regular granulated salt)
• 1 TB sugar
• 1 TB oil (I usually use olive, but you can also use melted Earth Balance buttah)
• 1 cup water (warm, but not super hot)
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (equivalent of 1 packet)
• 1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning spice blend

1. Mix the water, sugar and yeast in a bowl and let rest about 7 minutes, until the bowl is all foamy.
2. Put all the ingredients in your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Set the mixer to setting 2 and let it work until the dough is stretchy and just a smidge sticky. You can add a little more flour if needed. 
3. Prepare a baking sheet with a large piece of parchment paper coated with a tiny bit of flour. Remove your dough from the mixer and shape it into a ball. Place the ball on your parchment and cover with some plastic wrap or a lightly damp tea towel. Let it rest and rise until doubled in size. Mine took about 30 minutes on my stovetop. Once it is poofed, gently pat it down into your desired thickness, slather on the sauce and then top.

Sauce:

• 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
• 1-2 TB Italian Seasoning spice blend
• salt and pepper to your taste
• 1 tsp sugar

1. Just mix it all up and let rest a few minutes. Then taste for seasonings. Just apply it to your uncooked pizza crust.  

Tempeh Joes

I will warn you up front, I don't love sloppy joes. Never have and likely never will. But, my fella made a request for sloppy joes made with tempeh. Since he almost never makes such requests, I was happy to oblige. I cheaped out and used a can of sauce because I was in a rush, but I did make some little changes. And, I made some homemade buns, which were super yummy. Here's the link to the recipe I use (skipping the "wash" and instead brushing on some melted vegan butter after baking to keep the tops soft). As much as I don't generally enjoy joes, I do plan to try some lentil joes because I'm determined to find some kind of joes that I might possibly enjoy. The fella LOVED these tempeh joes a LOT...and he considers himself to be a Joe Aficionado of sorts. 

I used 1 1/2 blocks of tempeh. I cute it into cubes and steamed it about 8 minutes to take a little of the bitterness out of the tempeh. Then, I ran it through my food processor to cut it into little pieces. I minced 2 cloves garlic, diced 1/2 cup onion and 1/3 cup green bell pepper. I added those veggies into a skillet with a little oil and sauteed until the onions were transparent. After that, I added the tempeh to the skillet along with the can of sauce. Then I mixed in some garlic powder, onion powder, a pinch of cumin, some chili powder and a bit of sugar to mellow the tang of the sauce. Mix it all up and simmer for at least 5 minutes to get the flavors all mixed together. Serve with some mustard and tuck in. This should make about 6 large sandwiches.

English Muffins a la Vegan Brunch - Vegan MoFo #22

I've never really much enjoyed English Muffins from the grocery store, and I'd never had homemade before. I feel like a gambler. Taking risks, reaping rewards and junk like that. I have loved absolutely everything I've made from Vegan Brunch thus far, so I took a chance and made the English Muffins (page 190). I was actually pretty nervous. I felt like the dough just wasn't rising enough (or fast enough), when it suddenly hit me: they're supposed to me discs, duh, not giant loaves of bread. I know, I know, seems obvious. But, understand that I have a rocky history with yeasted breads. Also, I never eat English Muffins. Cut me some slack, Jack.

Well, let me tell you, these buggers are AWESOME! I couldn't be any more in love with them than if they made themselves. They did take some time...about 90 minutes total, but I do believe they were worth it. I'm a little bummed, though, that I only made a half batch because I was worried I wouldn't like them. Big mistake. I ate 2 1/2 while they were still hot. Just slather on a little vegan butter and you're in muffin heaven. My only sadness was that I just didn't have the nooks and crannies that I was hoping for. maybe I didn't knead long enough or let my dough rise enough. Whatever, though, because they taste too awesome to complain for real.

You really need this cookbook already. Stop making me pimp it out. If only I got a dollar for every time I tell someone they need to buy it....I'd have a shit-ton of dollars.

Resistance is futile!! Get it. Make the muffins.

Garlic Knots - VeganMOFO #2

Bread baking phobia? Um, yes. Hell yes. It's probably because I have very little patience, what with all that waiting for dough to rise (often twice), and then baking it, and who knows if the little bugger will come right. So, I'm not really the bread type. But (butt - heehee), I have been coveting a link to a recipe for months and months now and decided that today was the day to finally give it a shot.

The original isn't vegan, but the only things I had to change were to substitute almond milk and use Earth Balance for the butter. Oh, and I added a sprinkle of salt to the tops before baking. The only thing that I didn't like was that the bread didn't brown up like the original shown on ZoomYummy. Maybe the temperature was too low? The directions said to bake at 350, but all other breads I've baked said at least 400 degrees F, most higher. The bottoms browned perfectly, so I was scared to bake them longer. Whatever the case, they turned out incredibly tasty.

Oh, and I was shocked at having a bread recipe that didn't require kneading! And I didn't have to have a special stand mixer with a dough hook. Instead, I used the electric hand-held mixer with dough hooks. It was awesome. 

I do very highly recommend that you slather the garlic butter on before baking the knots, and then again when you're serving them. It makes them extra garlicky and extra tasty. They are definitely better when they're still warm from the oven, but even once they're cold, they still taste great. Your tummy will definitely thank you should you make them. You totally should. I command it. If I can make them, with my huge bread phobia, then you can too.

Here are some photos of the progress:

Pre-rise.

Post-rise.

Rolled by hand into a stick and partially knotted.

Ends tucked into the top and bottom, thus the knot is complete.

After the second rise...lotsa knotsas.

Slathered with EB and fresh minced garlic. Drooling as I type...

NOM NOM NOM!

Vegan HushPuppies (Hush Puppies?)

HushPuppies or Hush Puppies? Who cares because these are fabbo!!! Certainly one of my all-time top 10 foods that I have loved since I was but a wee chickpea. So, since I don't eat dairy or eggs, I thought they were forever going to be banned from my tummy (traditional pups are made with buttermilk and eggs- barf, dude). I was wrong. Dead wrong, actually. Okay, not dead wrong, just a lot wrong. I've been craving these buggers for months now, and over the last 24 hours I will admit that I have been obsessed with creating them. Well, my friends (and possibly my enemies), I present to you a delight to behold: The Vegan HushPuppy.

I consider myself to be a bit of a hushpuppy connoisseur, having eaten them for the better part of my life, so I can say with confidence that these are some of the best I've ever had. They're crispy outside with a light, fluffy inside. Quite literally, they're the perfect hushpuppy...at least to me. And, we all know that my tastes are quite exceptional. Hahaha. I crack me up.

New to the hush puppy? Here's the Wikipedia page. They're traditionally served with fried fish, and are sort of a southern thing. They're delicious by themselves, but they're also fabulous in dips (vegan, of course), like ranch, tartar sauce, and even ketchup. They require deep frying, which has been rather frightening to me in the past, but I have over-come my fear for the good of my blog readers. Just don't get used to the deep-frying as it wastes oil and is horrible for one's health*

* That was my health disclaimer. Fry whatever you want. An old boot would probably taste good deep-fried. So there.

This recipe makes about 20 hushpuppies that are 1 1/2-2 inches in diameter.

Ingredients:

• Canola oil for frying. You'll need kind of a lot (needs to be 2 inches deep in the pot)
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• Ener-G egg replacer for 2 eggs (1 TB powder, 4 TB water)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (unbleached, as always)
• 1-2 tsp large-grain salt, such as sea salt or kosher
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 2-3 TB sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup onion, diced or minced
• 1 1/2 TB olive oil

Method:

1. Put canola oil into large, deep pot to a depth of 2 inches. I used a small enameled cast iron dutch oven. Don't start heating it yet, though.
2. In measuring cup or small bowl, combine the almond milk and vinegar and let curdle about 4 minutes. While that is resting, make your eggs and let them set aside and get thick.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, pepper, garlic powder, and onion.
4. Now add the olive oil, milk mixture and egg replacer to the dry bowl and mix until just combined and no dry spots remain. I put mine in the freezer to firm up for about 20 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, turn the oil on to High. Heat to 370 degrees F, then turn down to Medium to maintain the temperature.
5. When the oil is hot enough, use a spoon to VERY CAREFULLY drop balls of batter into the oil. Only do 2-3 at first so you get the hang of it. I like mine a nice medium-brown color, so I think each pan-full cooked about 4 minutes. Don't put too many in at once or they will stick together AND the oil temp will go down a lot. When the temp goes down a lot, you end up with more oil being absorbed into the pups. Then they taste like shit. And grease. A hint: once you drop a ball of batter into the oil, gently use a long slotted spoon to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.
6. Repeat with the rest of the batter until you have cooked it all, duh. Then, come back and tell me how much you love them because I know you will.

Vegan Zucchini Bread!

HOLY WHOA. This is some amazingly good zucchini bread. A couple weeks back, I asked around the twitterverse for recipes using cardamom, and this was one such recommendation. Here's the original recipe from So.ME.Vegans. I mostly made it according to the recipe, but changed it just a little. It's like this compulsion I have...I can't ever follow a recipe 100%.

So, this recipe is a ridiculously addictive, delicious treat. And, it makes your house smell like you died and went to baking heaven. No joke. And, you may want to double the recipe and make 2 loaves otherwise you'll be kicking yourself in anger and frustration. Not that I'd know or anything. GRRRR.  So, anyway, the recipe below has my alterations. If you don't like that, too bad. Just kidding. Not really.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 + 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup plus 2 TB unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup peeled, grated zucchini (equivalent of about 1 small zucchini)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 heaping tsp cardamom
• 1/2 slightly heaping tsp Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder

 Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray your loaf pan with a little cooking spray (I used the butter flavored kind. 
2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until there are no dry spots.
3. Pour the thick batter into the loaf pan.
4. Bake for about 30-40 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick. I left it in the pan for about 5 minutes after removing it from the oven.

French Toast ala Happy Herbivore

So, I finally tried it. I made the french toast from The Happy Herbivore Cookboook. And it was quite tasty. I was skeptical, but it turned out to be very good. And, really, rather healthy as far as calories and fat go.  Although, to be honest, I don't care much about counting calories and fat. I eat what I like and I get exercise, so whatever. But, that's just me though. Maybe you are obsessively counting every calorie, in which case, you probably aren't eating carbs so you wouldn't even be looking for a bread recipe. I digress.

I was quite surprised at how much the taste and texture resembled the french toast I used to make years ago. I like mine a little crispy around the edges and a bit mushy in the middle, which is exactly how this turned out. I also served it with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and a tiny bit of maple syrup. Yum yum. I actually did change a couple of things about the recipe, which I should note for you.

1. I didn't use nutmeg because I don't really like it.
2. I added extra cinnamon because I love it.
3. I used almond milk because I don't enjoy soy milk, though I did accidentally purchase it when the grocery store moved it next to my almond milk. Damn them!
4. The recipe doesn't say what temp to cook your toast at, so I used medium and it worked perfectly.
5. I also flipped mine several times to make sure it cooked to my liking.

The recipe isn't mine to share, so if you'd like the recipe, you should definitely snag the cookbook from your local bookseller or (my personal favorite) your local public library. It's definitely worth it!! The recipe for the French Toast is page 24 of The Happy Herbivore Cookbook: Over 175 Delicious Fat-Free & Low-Fat Vegan Recipes.

Also, this is my Marley and she is cuter than yours. hahaha!

Pizza: It's not just takeout anymore

Pizza!!! Who doesn't love it? If you don't, then I can't be your friend. Easy as that. A person who dislikes pizza is probably a terrible human being with no sense of taste. That being said, you should know that I am a pizza junky. I could probably eat it every day and never tire of it. Really. Especially since I have come to love Daiya so much. I've tried different brands of vegan cheese and none can compare, at least in my humble (or not so humble) opinion. The trick, for me, is to combine both of the Daiya flavors: cheddar and mozzarella. Together, they make an unbeatable combo. And if you don't think so, then you can suck an egg. This is my blog, so I can say whatever I want. 

I cooked pizza on a piece of parchment on a rectangular baking stone, so my crust was perfectly crispy and chewy, which is how I like it. If you use a baking stone, heat it in the oven for at least 30 minutes prior to putting your pizza on it. That ensures it is heated through and super hot.

Here's the evolution of my dinner in the making:

Homemade sauce and some fresh basil:

Black olives and some onions:

Added the cheeses:

 

Melted cheese -- YUM:

 Perfectly crispy crust:

Cooked and ready to eeeaaatttttt:

Garlic Loaves!

If you haven't already realized, I am obsessed (read: totally fucking obsessed) with two food items: Chickpeas and Garlic. They feature in a significant majority of my recipes. Really, can you ever trust a person that doesn't like garlic or chickpeas? I sure as hell can't.  So, if you're a hater, you may want to leave now and save yourself the trouble.

Okay, enough of that. Bread. I am infatuated with bread lately. If you read my garlic naan post, you'll know that I had a love/hate relationship with bread: love to eat it, hated to make it. In fact, I was downright scared of trying my hand at yeasted breads after several failed attempts (that may or may not have ended in tears). In effect, the naan helped me a bit with overcoming some of my bread fears. This bread helped me even more. My bread confidence is slowly building. These garlic loaves are dense and hearty and packed with garlicky goodness.

Bread + Garlic = Mouthgasm.

This recipe is based on Robin Robertson's recipe for garlic bread in 1000 Vegan Recipes. I changed it a bit to fit my own tastes. The recipe that follows is my version. It makes 2 thicker baguette-style loaves or one giant regular loaf. Also, it seems to get more garlicky as it sits overnight (cooked, of course). I love it, especially with my winter stew.

Ingredients:

•  3 cups bread flour (all-purpose is fine, too)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (This is the equivalent of 1 packet)
• 7-8 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 TB olive oil
• 1 TB sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water (110-120 degrees)
• 2/3 cup plain almond milk, warmed up
• 1/4 cup silken tofu, drained
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1 1/2 TB garlic powder

Method:

1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Now, tear off a square of foil. Put the garlic cloves in the foil and drizzle 1 TB of oil over them. Then, gather up the edges of the foil and twist shut. You'll essentially be steaming the garlic in the little packet. Now, put in your oven and cook about 15-25 minutes. You'll know it's done when your house suddenly smells of garlic. Take the packet out and use a fork to mash the garlic into a paste. Cover, and set aside.  
2. Now, get a smallish bowl (think cereal bowl) and combine the water, yeast and sugar. Give it a few stirs so all the yeast gets wet. Set aside 10 minutes. It should be nice and foamy/frothy when it is ready.
3. Put the milk, tofu, 1 TB olive oil, mashed garlic, salt, garlic salt, and garlic powder in a blender of food processor. Blend until fully combined and smooth.
4. Get a large bowl and put your flours in, saving 1/2 cup of the white flour aside to use while kneading. 
5. Gently mix in the milk mixture and the yeast mixture. I used my hands, but you could use a spoon. Whatever floats your bread boat.
6. Now, you will need to sprinkle a bit of the flour on a flat surface and knead for about 8 minutes. Sprinkle in some flour as you go. You want the dough only marginally sticky. It should be somewhat soft, too. Just leave the dough in one big ball for this first rise. It was a smidge larger than a grapefruit, if I remember correctly (which I may not...)

7. Get a baking sheet and cover with parchment or silicone sheet. I gave mine a quick spray with some olive oil cooking spray, just because.Then, place your dough ball on the sheet and lightly oil the top with cooking spray or use a brush and some olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a towel for about 90 minutes. You'll want the ball to double in size. It may or may not happen in 90 minutes, so be forewarned. It all depends on the temperature of the room and such, so I turned my oven on low and sat the baking sheet on top so it would be warmed a bit and would rise more quickly.

8. Turn your oven on to 425 degrees F. 
9. Divide your dough into 2 equal-sized dough balls. Shape each into a long, skinny loaf. 

10. Cover again with plastic wrap or a towel, and let rise another 25 minutes. They should be about doubled again. I made a few slashes in my loaves, but you don't have to. 

11. Now bake about 22-26 minutes on a middle rack, until loaves are browned and the bottoms sound hollow if tapped.

12. Let cool at least 30 minutes on a rack before cutting into them.

Garlic Naan Breads

Naan. Who doesn't love it? No one. Because it is wonderful in every sense of the word! Chewy, dense, foldable and yummy as hell. It's everything I want a bread to be. Especially with my *ahem* brilliant addition of some mashed, oven-roasted garlic kneaded into the dough. You may thank me anytime.

The naan that you'll find in most stores and restaurants is not what we'd call vegan, what with all the ghee and yogurt and such (icky). So, I went online in search of a vegan naan recipe to try out. HAHA. Good luck with that search, sucka! What's a hungry vegan girlie to do when she can't find a recipe? Consult Twitter, of course.

This is only my second successful bread-making experience, so I was worried about whether it would turn out. Scratch that. I was scared outta my damn mind. Me and yeasted breads had a bad relationship that ended with me, in tears, vowing never to attempt baking bread again. Really. I may, or may not, have cried over bread dough once. Don't mock me!

This recipe led me to make 6 big naans. It was my first time (haha), so I didn't realize exactly what I was doing. Fortunately, I don't care as I like them above-average in size (hehehe). Mine, once cooked, ended up being almost as big as my dinner plate. Oops. Well, it worked for me because I filled mine up with my Aloo Masala and pigged out. Don't judge. You would have, too. 

So, here is my version of the naan-- it will take you at least a couple of hours to make from start to finish. No complaining, pansy, it is well worth the time expended. Do something to enrich your life while you wait during the rises...read, learn to knit, watch tv, learn to cuss in Russian--whatever.

7.11.11 Update:

You don't have to roast the garlic! I made it with raw minced garlic (6 loaves with about 3 large raw cloves of garlic) and a tiny sprinkle of garlic powder. Instead of putting the garlic into the big batch of dough, I kneaded it into each loaf before the second rise. MEGA YUM! We liked it even better than the first time I made it.
Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 tsp yeast (its the same as 1 packet)
• 1 cup of warm water
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup plus 1 TB of oil (I used olive oil) 
• 1 TB of salt 
• 3-4 TB almond milk or the milk of your choosing
• 4 cups of flour 
• 3 TB of garlic powder
• 8-9 cloves garlic, peeled, kept whole

Method:

1. I started by preheating my oven to 375 and placing my cloves of garlic on a sheet foil. I added a tiny sprinkle of salt and about 1 TB olive oil to the garlic and then closed it up into a packet. Bake on middle rack for about 25 minutes. Then remove and mash into a paste in a mortar/pestle or with a fork in a small bowl (which is what I did). I covered it with some plastic wrap and set aside.
2. Now, time to start the bread! Get a big bowl. Add the yeast and water and stir. As for water temp, you want it about 110-120 degrees (just hot enough to make you not want your hand in it). Let this sit aside for about 10 minutes, until the water gets all frothy from the yeast. 
3. Mix in sugar, oil, salt, milk, and flour. It'll get pretty messy if you're anything like me. It looked like a bag of flour exploded in my kitchen. But, I used my hands to mix the dough as my stand mixer doesn't have a dough hook.
4. So, now you need to knead the dough. Eek! Don't know how to knead? Go here. I actually really got into the kneading this time. It felt lovely to not hate it so much and know that I was at least - kind of- doing it right.  Alright, knead it about 6 minutes or something. The dough will be dense and soft, but shouldn't be sticky. Place the dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl. Like this:

5. Now, cover your bowl with a damp towel and set aside for at least 1 hour. The dough needs to double in size. I think mine took about 90 minutes. I ended up turning on my oven and setting the bowl on top of the stove so the warmth helped the bread to rise. It should look like this:

6. Use your paws or a knife to separate the giant ball of dough into 5 chunks. You could do more, but it's only because you are an overachiever. Knead just a bit, then knead in some of the mashed garlic alright, I maybe added some garlic powder too. You caught me. So, anyway, knead a minute or two, then shape into a ball larger than a baseball, smaller than a softball. Haha. Look at me using sports ball references. I placed my balls (haha) on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat, like this:

7. Now, cover again with a damp towel and allow the dough balls to rise for about 45 minutes or so. They will double in size and look kinda of wacky.  Oh, and if you heated your oven to rise the bread, don't forget to turn it off. I don't wanna have to hear about your house burning down.

8. Alright, now you'll want to stretch/pat/roll out the dough to be quite thin. I chose the smoosh and stretch method. I have a rather large nonstick frying pan, so I made mine pretty big.

9. So, is your first ball all smooshed out? Good. Heat your frying pan over medium heat. Spray with some cooking spray. Lay your dough out in the pan. After about 1 minute, lightly spray the top, then flip and start cooking the opposite side. You may need to turn your stove down to medium-low. Cook about 2-3 minutes, and flip back again to make sure it is sufficiently browned. Cook about 4-5 minutes total.

10. While you're cooking the first ball, smoosh out the second. And so on. You get the picture. They go fast, so just keep checking your naans so they don't burn in the skillet. 

You're done. Pat yourself on the back or whatever. Now, go pig out.

Cornbread Biscuits - Vegan MOFO #3

It is quite chilly here today, so I was craving something warm and snuggly.  Well, not snuggly, per se, but like a warm hug for my hungry belly.  I spent about 2 hours flipping endlessly through my vegan cookbook collection trying to find the perfect thing to make.  Then, I stumbled upon Isa Chandra Moskowitz's recipe for Cornbread Biscuits and I couldn't say no.  I needed them. A Huge THANK YOU to Isa Chandra because these babies are stellar.  The recipe, can be found in her cookbook, Vegan Brunch.

The recipe makes a lot more than I thought it would.  I made ours into 12 huge drop-style biscuits (think Bisquick drop biscuits).  They're very filling, soft and moist inside with a slightly crisp outside.  YUM!  Perfect with a hint of sweetness, without being sugary.  I am a raving loon for these biscuits, so I will shut up and share the perfect recipe now....

Ms. Moskowitz's Recipe: (Makes 12 huge biscuits or a ton of smaller ones)
Ingredients:

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 TB baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 cup almond milk (or milk of your choice)
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir well.
3. Gently mix in the wet ingredients until just combined with few/no dry spots.  The dough will be pretty thick and heavy.
4. Using a large spoon to scoop out the dough onto a baking sheet.  Like I said before, mine were huge, but make them whatever size you want.  Because of the size of mine, they cooked for about 18 minutes.  Smaller biscuits will bake much more quickly, about 12-14 minutes.  These biscuits don't really brown when they cook, so just feel the tops -- when they're firm, your biscuits are done.  Slather with some Earth Balance and tuck in.  Oh, they also go well with anything spicy, like chili. 

Banana Bread Success!

So, this morning I decided that I really needed to use up some bananas that were quickly turning too ripe to eat.  I was torn between making banana waffles in my amazing new waffle maker or making a simple banana bread.  Since I decided to start trying more things with my cooking, I went for the bread, which I have never made before.  It actually turned out amazingly well.  As soon as it was done, I sliced off a steaming hot chunk and slathered a little Earth Balance butter on it.  It was divine!  This recipe has been added to my permanent collection.

Here is my recipe:

Click Here to Print This Recipe
Ingredients:

• 4 medium-sized ripe bananas
• 4 TB melted Earth Balance, 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour (I used unbleached all-purpose flour)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 egg replacement (I use Ener-G)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ground cinnamon to taste (I used approx. 1/4-1/3) tsp.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mash bananas in a mixing bowl with a fork or potato masher.
3. Add all other ingredients, mixing well with wooden spoon or spatula.
4. Butter/lightly oil the loaf pan.
5. Pour into loaf pan and bake approximately 55 minutes (or until outside is brown and a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean).
6. The end.  Eat it! *
   

*Because I don't know if you've made bread before, here is what I did as soon as I got it out of the oven: I ran a thin silicone spatula around the inside of the loaf pan to make sure the bread wasn't stuck.  Then I flipped the pan on its side and the bread slid right out onto a cutting board.  I let it cool about 20ish minutes and then covered it with saran wrap to keep moist.