So in honor of my favorite cookie, I've dug up a couple of vegan recipes I've found. I haven't tried them yet, but they sound pretty impressive so if you end up trying them out before me, let me know how they are!
First off is a recipe for Oreo Crumble Cupcakes. It comes from The Grit, a vegetarian restaurant that's been an institution in Athens, Georgia for over twenty years. I came across their cookbook and this recipe caught my eye.
For the cupcakes:
4 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/8 cup vanilla extract
3 cups strongly brewed coffee
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vinegar
Preheat oven to 300ºF. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and baking powder until well combined. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla and mix until just combined. Slowly add the coffee, mixing for a few minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl, and mix again until very smooth. Add the vinegar and mix for 1 minute. Fill each cupcake liner about two-thirds full. Bake for 25 minutes, and let cool completely before frosting.
Oreo Crumble Icing:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup vegan margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup soy milk
10-15 crumbled Oreos
18 Oreos for garnish
Using a hand mixer, combine the sugar, margarine, and vanilla. Mix in the soy milk slowly (you may use more or less than 1/3 cup). Stir in the crumbled Oreos. Top each cupcake with 1 tablespoon of icing and garnish with half of an Oreo. Serves 36.
How amazing do those look?
I'm a big fan of cheesecake, and becoming a vegan ended my love affair with it. Or did it? NO! Why? Because they actually make vegan cream cheese! Perfect! So I found a recipe for a vegan Oreo cheesecake (what two better things to put together?)
Cheesecake Filling:
8 oz Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
12 oz light firm silken tofu
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup ground Oreos (grind in food processor or Ninja if you're cool like me)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Chocolate Ganache (for topping):
1/4 cup soy milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips (they're vegan!)
Crust:
20 Oreos
1/3 cup vegan margarine, melted
Grind cookies and mix with margarine for the crust and press into a pie pan.
To make:
Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all the filling ingredients in a food processor or blender (or again, your handy-dandy Ninja!) until smooth. Pour into pie crust, and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the center of the pie is almost set. Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Prepare the ganache by bringing the soy milk to a simmer over medium-low heat. Remove the soy milk from heat once it simmers and quickly add the maple syrup and chocolate chips. Stir the ganache until the chocolate is completely melted. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before covering the top of the pie evenly with it. Make sure you've had your pie in the fridge for at least an hour to chill before you make the ganache and put it on top. Garnish with Oreos however you like, whether it's to put crumbles of it on top or half-Oreos sticking up out of the pie. whatever floats your boat.
This is the same Oreo Cheesecake, but with a regular graham cracker-crust. I like the idea of an Oreo crust way better.
I'm pretty excited to make both of these recipes and try them out - they sound amazing, and they should be, they have Oreos in them for Pete's sake!
