White Chocolate Mousse

Simple, easy, delicious. I added mixed berries and sprigs of mint on top to complete the dessert. However I cut down the chocolate in this recipe from 7 ounces to 5 ounces. The sweet essence of white chocolate is still discernible. Have fun baking and happy holidays!

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

I love sweet potatoes and cheesecake is great, but these two are something I normally don't associate together. This was pretty good, but quite rich. Quite interesting paired with sweet potato ice cream as well.

Baked Oatmeal Bars

I love granola bars, and these guilt free ones from KERF are great for a pre/post-workout snack, or any other time. I made a few substitutions: almonds in place of walnuts, almond milk, and omitted the dried bananas.

Mini Chocolate Eclairs

If you're looking for a quick dessert, this one is not for you. 

If you're looking for a decadent dessert that will wow your friends and neighbors, you're in luck. Each chocolate covered pastry puff holds a bounty of rich cream. This recipe requires a lot of patience as well as knowledge. Be sure to look up how to temper eggs and what "soft ball stage" means. But for those who want something different from typical gingerbread cookies and eggnog this holiday season look no further.

Vegan Orange Cranberry Scones

Scone

· 1/2 cup soy cream (or just plain soy/almond/etc. milk)

·  3/4 cup rice/almond/etc. milk

·  1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

·  3 cups all-purpose flour

·  1/3 cup sugar

·  2 tbsp baking powder

·  1/4 tsp salt

·  1/3 cup vegetable oil

·  3 tbsp finely grated orange zest 

Orange Glaze: Sift sugar into bowl; add all other ingredients and mix till smooth.

o 1 cup confectioners' sugar

o 2 tbsp nonhydrogenated margarine, melted

o 2 tbsp fresh orange juice

o 1 tsp finely grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly grease cookie sheet.

In a bowl, combine soy cream, milk, vinegar; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk-vinegar mixture, oil, orange zest; mix until just combined. The dough should be clumpy, not sticky.

Divide the dough in two. Knead one portion a few times, then form into a six-inch disk. Cut the disk into six slice, pizza-style, and place each slice on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until slightly browned on the bottom and firm on top. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Once the scones are cooled, pour the glaze over.  

*This was my second attempt at making these scones. While they looked better, unfortunately they didn't taste as good. I didn't have any oranges, so I used the zest of a clementine. Don't do this! Good thing I barely used any of the zest because the scones were a bit bitter in the parts where there were zest! The first time, I followed the recipe exactly, and they came out tasting great. 

Pumpkin Pie Muffins