Holiday Dressing (Stuffing) - Two Ways

 Holiday Dressing (Stuffing) - Two Ways

Vegan Pecan Stuffing

Ingredients

8 cups GF bread of choice, cubed

1 cup large yellow onion, chopped

1½ cups celery, chopped

7-8 white mushrooms, chopped

1 tbsp dried thyme, minced

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced

2 tbsp fresh sage, minced

2 cups vegetable broth

½ cup pecans, chopped

½ tsp Pink Himalayan or sea salt

½ tsp black pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 400°F. 

Start by spreading the cubed bread out over a cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes (stir at the 10 minute mark), until it's dry.

In a large pot, oil-free sauté the onions, celery and mushrooms for 5 minutes (just add a bit of the veggie broth if it's sticking), until softened. Add the herbs and salt and pepper. Mix it up, then add 1½ cups of broth. Add the bread and pecans then mix everything well. The stuffing should be moist, but not soaking wet. If your stuffing is still a little dry, keep adding a bit of veggie broth until it's moist (you shouldn't need more than 2 cups total)

Bake in the oven for 1 hour.

Let cool 15 minutes, then place in the fridge.

When you're ready to serve it, take it out of the fridge, slice in 1 inch slices, wrap it back up and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F.

Tofu Turkey Stuffing

Ingredients

About 4 cups of gluten free bread cubes ( or use oatmeal or whole wheat bread cubes)
1/2 cup almonds, coarsely chopped and toasted
1 small-medium red onion, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 apple, peeled and diced ( i kept the peel)
1 tsp oil for frying
1/2 tbsp fresh sage, cut into thin strips
1/2 tbsp chopped cilantro or parsley
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp ground peppercorns
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cups dried cherries
1/2 cup no-salt vegetable broth or water

Method 

Place the cubed bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake them in a preheated 225F oven for 20-30 minutes or until dry and crisp.
Meanwhile, heat a skillet. Add about 1 tsp oil and saute the onions and cook for 3-4 minutes or until soft. Add celery and saute for 2 minutes more.
Stir in the apples along with other seasonings. Cook for 5 minutes. Add maple syrup and the vinegar and remove from heat.
Combine the bread cubes along with apple mixture. Stir in almonds and dried cherries. Transfer to a greased baking sheet and pour broth over the top.
Cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the stuffing begins to brown on top. You can make a crisp filling by removing the foil and baking for 10 minutes more.

Creamy Dill Pickle Soup

This was a recipe I saw on FB but it just showed the ingredients list so I tried to wing and boy, was it delicious! You need to be a dill pickle fan for sure, it's very tangy!

Creamy Dill Pickle Soup

Ingredients

1Tbls vegan butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups of vegan chicken stock or veggie stock

2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 large carrot, grated

1 cup of dill pickles, grated (I just chopped finely)

1/2 cup pickle juice

1 cup vegan sour cream

1/4 cup GF flour (I like rice flour for thickening)

Fresh dill (optional)

Method

In a large saucepan or pot add butter and melt on a medium heat.

Add garlic and onions and stir till onions are clear.

Add potatoes and carrots and stir for a few minutes till heated through.

Add stock, pickles and pickle juice and bring to boil.

Once boiled turn to a simmer and stir occasionally until potatoes are cooked through (about 15mins).

Once potatoes are done, mix the flour and 1/4 cup of the soup stock in a small bowl until it becomes a paste with no lumps.

Add back to soup and turn the heat to medium.

Occasionally stir until soup starts to thicken slightly.

Once soup has thickened remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

Serve with a sprinkling of dill and top with sliced dill pickles.

Holiday Sugar Cookies

I adapted this recipe from one on Sugar Spun Fun. It works really well for structure.

Holiday Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

Sugar Cookies

1 cup (226 g) vegan butter softened

1 cup (200 g) granulated vegan sugar

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 egg replacer

2 ½ cups (315 g) GF plain baking flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon table salt

Sugar Cookie Frosting

3 cups (375 g) vegan powdered sugar, sifted (weigh before sifting)

3-4 Tablespoons non-dairy milk

2 Tablespoons light corn syrup (see note)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Vegan food coloring optional

Additional candies and sprinkles for decorating options

Method

Sugar Cookies

Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl and use an electric hand mixer) and beat until creamy and well-combined.
Add egg and vanilla extract and beat until completely combined.

In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Gradually stir dry ingredients into wet until dough is smooth and completely combined.

Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and transfer approximately half of the dough onto the wrap.

Cover dough with clear wrap or wax paper and mold into a flat disk. Wrap tightly. Repeat with remaining cookie dough in another piece of clear wrap. 

Transfer dough to refrigerator and chill for at least 2-3 hours and up to 5 days.

Once dough has finished chilling, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I use reusable silicon sheets). Set aside.

Generously dust a clean surface with GF flour and place one chilled cookie dough disk onto the surface. 

Lightly flour the dough and roll out to ⅛" (for thinner, crispier cookies) or ¼" (for thicker, softer cookies). 

Add additional flour as needed both on top of and beneath the dough so that it doesn't stick. 

Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and use a spatula to transfer shapes to prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 1" apart. 

If you are not intending to decorate your cookies with icing, you can decorate them with sanding sugar at this point before you bake them. 

Bake on 350F (175C) for 10-15 minutes (this is for cookies that are approximately 3" [7.6cm]; note that smaller cookies will need less time and larger cookies will need more), or until edges just begin to turn lightly golden brown. 

Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet before decorating.

Easy Sugar Cookie Icing

Combine powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons of dairy-free milk, corn syrup, and vanilla extract in a medium-sized bowl and stir until combined. You want the frosting a little thick if you're adding food coloring because it will dilute the icing.
If coloring the frosting, divide into bowls and color as desired at this point.

Transfer frosting to a piping bag with a piping tip (I used Wilton 5), or place in a Ziploc bag and snip a small piece of the corner off (not as neat, but this will still work, just take care that the frosting isn’t so thick that it breaks open the seam of the bag when you are squeezing).  

Pipe frosting on cookies and decorate with decorative candies, if desired.

I just use bowls and a spoon and no piping bags.
Allow frosting to harden before enjoying, stacking, or storing (this took several hours for me and may vary for you depending on the consistency of your frosting).

Chocolate Holiday Bark

Chocolate bark is a lovely gift for the holidays! You can use whatever nuts and fruits you like or have on hand. We save peppermint bark for after the holidays since the candy canes are on the tree ;)

I made three batches, which used three trays and 6 packets of chocolate chips. These were gifts for 30 coworkers.

Chocolate Holiday Bark

Ingredients

Vegan choc chips of choice (I used Enjoy Life)-2 10oz bags for each large cookie tray.

Pistachio pieces 

Slivered almonds or almond pieces

Pine nuts

Cranberries

Dried apricot 

Pecans pieces

Method

Line your tray with parchment or wax paper.

Have your ingredients ready to go.

Use a double broiler or a stainless steel bowl that fits snuggly over a saucepan full of boiling water.

Once water is boiled add chocolate chips to bowl and stir occasionally until completely melted.

Remove from stove and wipe any condensation off the bowl with a hand towel. If water gets into the chocolate it will become grainy.

Pour directly onto your lined tray and smooth out with your spatula.

Sprinkle your ingredients over the bark and once you're happy with it transfer it to the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Once completely hardened you can take out of the fridge and use the parchment paper underneath to flip up the edges and crack the chocolate into pieces for serving or packing. You can always 

This is how I packaged it - in sealable bags with a handmade gift tag.

With a fancy vegan white chocolate drizzle.