Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Earth Balance Vegan butter, melted
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 and 1/2 pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips








Directions:


In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla and pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.


In a large bowl, toss together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft. Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes, or up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory.


Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.


Roll the dough into balls, about 2 Tablespoons of dough each. Slightly flatten the dough balls because the cookies will only slightly spread in the oven. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and underbaked. Keeping them in the oven for longer may dry them out. Remove from the oven and press a few more chocolate chips onto the tops, if desired. If you find that your cookies didn't spread much at all, flatten them out when you take them out of the oven.


Allow the cookies to cool for at least 10 minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack. The longer the cookies cool, the chewier they will be. I let them sit out for at least 1 hour before enjoying.












*Recipe adapted from Sallys Baking Addiction.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie (Dairy Free)

Ingredients:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cubed

1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1 large or 2 small potatoes
1/3 cup butter*
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Seasonings (I use lots of black pepper, salt and different herbs)
32 oz. carton chicken stock
2/3 cup milk*
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts*


Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F


In a pot, combine chicken, carrots, peas, potatoes and seasonings. Add the chicken broth and boil for 15 minutes.



Remove from heat, drain (reserving 1 and 3/4 cup chicken broth for filling) and set aside.



Place the bottom crust on the pie pan and dab with a fork a few times. Place in over and cook for 5-7 minutes.



In a large sauce pan cook onions in butter (over medium heat) until soft and translucent.



Stir in flour, and more of your seasonings. Next, slowly stir in chicken broth remains and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and combine with the chicken, carrots, peas mixture.



Remove pie crust from oven and bump oven down to 375. Place the chicken filling in bottom crust. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.



Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving


*To make this dairy-free, I use vegan butter, almond milk and a dairy-free pie crust.