About Me

About Me

  • Describe Yourself

    I'm a vegan baking freak and I work hard to make this site a place where like-minded people can compare notes and share eats. I'm obsessed with the hows and whys of food science.

    I like to take a food, study it, break it down to it's smallest components, then build it back up again with no animal products while incorporating maximum flavor.

    This whole breaking down food and building it back up thing I call "foodcrafting" and I do it with as many different foods I can get my hands on. It's amazing how understanding beer brewing science can make you a better bread baker for example.

    The result of this is that Veganbaking.net is evolving from having a 100% baking content focus, to showcasing all vegan food.
  • Interests

    Baking and vegan food design, foodcrafting, food science, rediscovering the lost art of food production by hand, camping, friends, beer, home brewing, red wine, cycling, being surrounded by nature, getting lost in large cities, random adventures with random people, running Veganbaking.net.
  • Favorite things to bake

    Pancakes, muffins, crusty artisinal hearth breads, pizza crust, ice cream, cake of any kind.
  • Favorite baked items to eat

    Brownies, any kind of pie, any kind of cookies, french pastry, anything with chocolate.
  • What types of vegan baking are you trying to master?

    Lately I've been super interested in gluten-free flour blends. I just might figure it out on my 147th try!
  • Favorite Music

    Blaring punk rock, minimal techno and everything in between.
  • Favorite Movies/TV Shows

    The Mighty Boosh, ALF, 30 Rock, Summer Heights High, The Office, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
  • Favorite Books

    On Food and Cooking, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, The Secrets of Baking, Wild Fermentation, Baking Illustrated, Joy of Vegan Baking, The Professional Pastry Chef, How Baking Works, Understanding Baking, Designing Great Beers, Chocolates & Confections, Vegan Fusion World Cuisine,
  • City

  • State

  • Country

  • Website

  • Twitter Username

  • Occupation

  • Birthday

    15/05/1976
Mattie

Mattie

Thanks so much mrsplant for sharing your mouth watering Mushroom Gravy recipe!
- 4 months ago
  • Member since
    Sunday, 20 April 2008 00:28
  • Last online
    1 week ago
  • Profile views
    17,259 views

About Me

About Me

  • Describe Yourself

    I'm a vegan baking freak and I work hard to make this site a place where like-minded people can compare notes and share eats. I'm obsessed with the hows and whys of food science.

    I like to take a food, study it, break it down to it's smallest components, then build it back up again with no animal products while incorporating maximum flavor.

    This whole breaking down food and building it back up thing I call "foodcrafting" and I do it with as many different foods I can get my hands on. It's amazing how understanding beer brewing science can make you a better bread baker for example.

    The result of this is that Veganbaking.net is evolving from having a 100% baking content focus, to showcasing all vegan food.
  • Interests

    Baking and vegan food design, foodcrafting, food science, rediscovering the lost art of food production by hand, camping, friends, beer, home brewing, red wine, cycling, being surrounded by nature, getting lost in large cities, random adventures with random people, running Veganbaking.net.
  • Favorite things to bake

    Pancakes, muffins, crusty artisinal hearth breads, pizza crust, ice cream, cake of any kind.
  • Favorite baked items to eat

    Brownies, any kind of pie, any kind of cookies, french pastry, anything with chocolate.
  • What types of vegan baking are you trying to master?

    Lately I've been super interested in gluten-free flour blends. I just might figure it out on my 147th try!
  • Favorite Music

    Blaring punk rock, minimal techno and everything in between.
  • Favorite Movies/TV Shows

    The Mighty Boosh, ALF, 30 Rock, Summer Heights High, The Office, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
  • Favorite Books

    On Food and Cooking, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, The Secrets of Baking, Wild Fermentation, Baking Illustrated, Joy of Vegan Baking, The Professional Pastry Chef, How Baking Works, Understanding Baking, Designing Great Beers, Chocolates & Confections, Vegan Fusion World Cuisine,
  • City

  • State

  • Country

  • Website

  • Twitter Username

  • Occupation

  • Birthday

    15/05/1976
  • Are there any wonton wrappers that are vegan and don't have any corn in them either? My husband is allergic to corn. I'd love to be able to make him something yummy with wonton wrappers if I can find some (or make something to use in its place...) Thanks!
    3 weeks ago
  • Hi Kevsky! Running a cupcake stall at a tattoo convention sounds awesome. Most vegan cupcakes have the exact same shelf life as traditional cupcakes. So if you leave them at room temperature in an air tight container or wrapped in plastic wrap (not r...
    3 weeks ago
  • Mattie, thank you so much for your efforts. The information you share is truly very generous. You had mentioned a recipe for a cocoa butter based shortening, but I can't find it listed anywhere. Can you help? Thank you!
    3 weeks ago
  • Mattie added a reply in discussion What oven to use?...
    Great question Samuel! I've used everything from budget ovens in cheap rental apartments to industrial grade ovens in commercial kitchens and based on my experience, I haven't been able to get a strict preference for either. Some of the more h...
    1 month ago
  • Mattie added a reply in discussion substitutions...
    Hi prettyleodia! The wheat and oat germ don't provide a considerable amount of structure or flavor to the granola recipe so you should be able to add oats that have been briefly pulsed in a food processor or blender. You may be able to use g...
    1 month ago
  • Hi peterbmetcalf! When you say yeast free, I assume you mean a crust where no commercial yeast has been added and the crust is 100% sourdough/wild yeasted right? If so, this is a difficult proposition because the complex sour tang of sourdough...
    1 month ago
  • Hi JME! Unfortunately, If a flavoring extract company is not transparent about how they list the information on the bottle, as in listing natural flavors or artificial flavors in the ingredients list, there's just no telling what they have in...
    1 month ago
  • Hi Testarosa! I prefer barley malt with pumpkin because I feel it brings out maximum pumpkin flavors. You could also use a mixture of half molasses and half agave syrup too. Failing that, you could just use dark agave. Good luck!...
    2 months ago
  • Great question JME! When I had a baking company years ago I found that I could make large amounts of dough and bake half of it while I froze the other half. This sped up my production but I found that the frozen half resulted in cookies with ...
    2 months ago
  • Hi charj! Since this recipe just calls for one yolk, you may be able to work around it by using 1 Tablespoon golden flax meal whisked in 2 Tablespoons water. Normally a whole egg can be substituted with 1 Tablespoon golden flax meal and 3 Tab...
    2 months ago
  • Ape Mattie
    Mattie, I just wanted to tell you that you are a gift sent from heaven to vegans in Earth. Thank you for taking the time and sharing your wonderful recipes.
    2 months ago
    Mattie Thanks so much Ape! I'm so glad you appreciate what I do!
    2 months ago
  • Hi heartsandminds, The two eggs that were added in the original recipe likely added about 2 Tablespoons of additional fat to the overall cookie recipe, along with naturally occurring lecithin, which allows fat and water to mix together and all...
    3 months ago
  • Great question heartsandminds! There is a way to make Vegan Butter but unfortunately it will probably be harder than tracking down refined coconut oil. The other way to make it is to use refined (aka deodorized) cocoa butter which, just like refined ...
    3 months ago
  • Hi realone30, It's not possible to whip a vegan ingredient to stiffness in the same way you can with dairy products like cream cheese and cream. This is because dairy has casein proteins that unwind then bind together to create a subtle incre...
    3 months ago
  • Hi brilliz, That sounds frustrating! After going over your recipe I noticed that the inclusion of silken tofu and cake flour might be the issue. Many bakers believe that cakes need to use egg replacers but it turns out that as long as you're u...
    3 months ago
  • Mattie added a reply in discussion Cider vinegar?...
    Glad the item you baked still worked out nmcardle! In most cases your baked items will be fine without it. But I use it because in my experience it seems to raise the bar just enough that it's worth using extensively. thankyou!! As a student I...
    3 months ago
  • Hi Cinnamongem, Apple sauce is pretty easy to make. Here's my version. If you're using it for baking, you can just core and peel apples and place them in a food processor to make it. Apple sauce works in recipes such as some muffins, cakes and...
    3 months ago
  • Mattie added a reply in discussion Cider vinegar?...
    Great question nmcardle! Lots of vegan baking recipes contain cider vinegar for several reasons: Acidic ingredients are tenderizers in that they slightly inhibit gluten formation for a more soft end product. When people refer to cake having a "more tender crumb" this is what they mean. Acidic ingredients react with baking soda...
    3 months ago
  • Hi Buccaneer Bob, definitely decrease the baking powder. I'd first aim for 3/4 teaspoon instead of the 1 teaspoon that the recipe calls for. This will decrease leavening which will make the cake more dense. 1/2 cup vegetable oil seems like a lot for a cake with only 1 1/2 cups flour. Although reducing the oil would probably make the cake lig...
    3 months ago
  • That's a terrific idea!! Why didn't I think of that?! I can't wait to try that the next time I make brownies. My tip: use binder clips to secure the parchment paper to the edge of your brownie pan. I've noticed that a lot of vegan brownie recipes involve a very thick batter, almost like a dough! Well, when spreading it out in the pan the p...
    3 months ago

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5.0
Reviewed by Mattie
"I think the true test of a vegan cookie is..."
 
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Reviewed by Mattie
"Hi Katie, This is probably a typo on..."
 
N/A
Reviewed by Mattie
"Hello all, I just revised this recipe based..."
 
5.0
Reviewed by Mattie
"Hi Cactus, I know exactly what you mean. I have..."
 
5.0
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"I was so excited to learn there was a recently..."
 
5.0
Reviewed by Mattie
"Let me tell ya, these are bomb. Super easy to..."