Virtual Vegan Potluck: Herbed Roasted Potatoes in Cheezy Sauce

For my contribution to this potluck, I chose to make a potato dish, because one Cannot Go Wrong with potatoes. And this is super easy to put together, and also very tasty.

You can see I had a whole meal of sides when I tested these potatoes. Yum.

Begin with:
5 cups red potatoes, skins on, diced into roughly 1″ cubes (you could use russets, but I tested both and the textural results were much better with the red potatoes)

Bring to boil and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.

In a bowl, combine:
2 1/2 T white flour
2 T nutritional yeast
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp basil
1 tsp tarragon
1 tsp garlic powder

Stir in:
1 T veggie oil
1 1/4 c water

Whisk together until smooth and no lumps remain. Pour into a sprayed 2-qt casserole dish and stir in potatoes to coat.

Roast at 350 for 20-30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until golden brown and easily pierced with a butter knife.

Return to previous dish * On to the next dish * Start over again at the beginning

Literary Post: Farmer Boy. Keeping House. Pound Cake.

I got a set of Little House books, paperback with the solid sky-blue binding, when I was seven. I deemed the first book “babyish” and “stupid”. My friend Edda tried to sell me on it: “But it’s so neat! They go spend Christmas with their cousins!”

Eh, thought I. Cousins are NO BIG DEAL. I only had one at that time in my life, and he was considerably younger and considerably far away. (These days I have to admit Edda had grounds to speak with some expertise on the awesomeness of cousins, however, having quite a horde of them herself.)

No, I was far more interested in the gruesome idea of putting one’s mouth on a pig bladder and blowing it up like a balloon. Aside from that, Little House in the Big Woods held little appeal for me.

The third one, Farmer Boy, I had no interest in, either. It was a BOY story, about BOYS, and surely it was therefore BORING. But finally I read it and it immediately became my favourite in the series, and I think it still is (though Little Town on the Prairie is awfully close.)

The entire series talks about food a lot. I have to admit, most of the food doesn’t appeal to me at all, but I felt I could hardly do a literary food series without giving some sort of nod to the Little House books. Pickled watermelon rinds were out. Salt pork was out, and blown-up pig bladders definitely out.

And then I remembered this:

That day they made ice-cream again, and they ate the last cake. Alice said she knew how to make a pound-cake. She said she’d make one, and then she was going to go sit in the parlor. Almanzo thought that wouldn’t be any fun. [...boring paragraph where Eliza Jane tells Alice not to sit in the parlor, blah blah blah...]

That afternoon he came into the kitchen to see if the pound cake was done. Alice was taking it out of the oven. It smelled so good that he broke a little piece off the corner. Then Alice cut a slice to hide the broken place, and then they ate two more slices with the last of the ice-cream.

(My friend graciously typed the quote up for me, since my own copy of the book is currently in storage. I left her bracketed comment in because it amused me.)

I decided to experiment with the notion of pound cake in the sense that the Wilders would most likely have eaten it: the 1:1:1:1 ration of butter, flour, sugar, and eggs. I tried it first with flax eggs, and that was a gooey, strange piece of denseness. I tried it the second time with Ener-G Egg Replacer. It was still fairly gooey, but extremely tasty. The third and final time I added a little baking powder just to lighten it up and make it less gooey.

So, here are the weights (quarter-pound of each of the main ingredients) converted to cups, because I hate weighing, and in the event you do too, this makes it easier for everyone.

1 stick vegan margarine
1/2 c sugar
7 T water
2 1/4 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder

Cream together margarine and sugar. Add water and egg replacer and beat together. Add flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix until incorporated.

Bake at 350 in a greased mini loaf pan for 55-60 minutes. Toothpick should come out clean.

The end result: It’s still not the light-fluffy-lemony pound cake we’re all familiar with today. However, it’s got a really lovely flavour and a nice tender texture that would be perfect for eating with fresh berries in the summertime.

Kind of like shortcake.

Maybe even with… ice cream.

Literary Post: The Boxcar Children. Jessie’s Stew.

By the end of last week, I was mostly back to normal, but here are two things that perplex me:

• I have a massive sugar addiction.
• I think Lou Who has a peanut allergy.

Regarding the first thing, I have such bad withdrawal symptoms if I try to just completely stop eating sugar that I’ve yet to make concentrated efforts to completely stop. I can go all morning if I need to. But then I get kind of grouchy and cranky and stuff. So I have a cookie (or two, or ten).

The solution that has worked in the past is to just stop making sweets that go into the freezer, because it’s too easy for me to run out there and grab cookies. I need to make them, take them somewhere, and make sure they don’t come back home with me. And then I’m fine. If it’s not here, I stop feeling like I have to eat it, and the withdrawal symptoms are almost nil. Interesting.

So, that being said, this week’s church potluck is getting a lot of cookies from yours truly, because there are a lot of cookies in the freezer at the moment.

As for the second thing, I have to let the rash around her mouth clear up first and then eat some peanuts again just to make sure it is indeed the peanuts and not something else. I’m bummed because peanut butter-jam sandwiches are about the best thing in the world, and I really just don’t like almond butter. It’s like tasteless paste in my mouth. Bleh. I like the crunchy, chunky, salty flavour/texture of peanut butter. So, I have to keep reminding myself: it could be worse. It could be gluten. I’ll either have to start salting my almond butter or try some other alternatives.

At any rate, it’s time for another LITERARY POST. It should have gone up last week, but I was just too stressed and didn’t have time to prepare it, so here it is today instead.

I was a huge Boxcar Children fan as a child. I read all of the 19 books in the original series, but many of the later ones I only read once. The first 6 or so were my favourites; they seemed to start repeating themselves more and more as the series went on (burning question: did Henry ever make it through college?) My all-time favourites were easily the first book, Mike’s Mystery, The Woodshed Mystery, Mountain Top Mystery, and Snowbound Mystery. I had a stuffed dog I named Jessie and always thought, “What FUN it would be to live in a BOXCAR and have to be INGENIOUSLY CREATIVE.”

No, the irony has not been lost on me.

To me the illustrations in the first book are iconic. I’ve never seen this kind of art in any other book and always was a little sad that this (as I recall) anonymous illustrator did not continue doing the rest of the series. Does anyone know otherwise? Please correct me if I’m wrong.

At any rate, I decided to replicate the stew described in The Boxcar Children.

I didn’t use baby vegetables, although for authenticity you’re welcome to do so if you are lucky enough to have them available. For my “meat” I used some basic gluten steaks chopped up. It had been in the freezer and I just put it into the crockpot frozen, but you could thaw it first if you want to or use it fresh – or substitute whatever your preferred beef sub might be.

Note on crockpots: I used my smallish Rival crockpot that is about 10 cup capacity. If you use a larger one or smaller one, cooking times may vary, but this is what worked for that size.

Stewy stew.

Jessie’s Stew

1 lb faux meat, cut in pieces
2 large turnips, cut in chunks
4 medium carrots, cut in chunks
2-4 green onions – I used 2 because mine are huge
1 tsp salt
1 tsp beef-like seasoning of choice
1 T tapioca flour (or cornstarch)
2 1/2 c  water

Layer the faux meat and veggies in your crockpot in the order given. Sprinkle salt, beaf seasoning, and tapioca flour on top. Pour water over all.

Turn the crockpot on high and cook 5 hours. (I stirred mine just once after 3 1/2 hours).

And now I’ve had a birthday.

And I’m 30, and I really don’t care. In fact, I’d like to flaunt it. 30, and flirty, and thriving, right?

Definitely.

So, my life this past week has been utterly insane and I’m reeling from all the insanity and struggling to keep my head above the water, so to speak. We had a bonfire on Sunday afternoon/evening (I’ll post about that later) and it was loads of fun but also loads of work and I made probably enough food to feed three times the people that showed up. I’m not complaining; we had very good attendance, but I think we’ll be eating Brasilian rice the rest of our lives.

Anyway, due to that, I haven’t slept well in about a week. I think too much while preparing for things and then I think too much afterwards. So. Much. Stimulation. And when I don’t get enough sleep, I begin to get incredibly irrational about everything, and life is miserable and there are lots of tears and everything is disaster and nuclear bombs and despair.

So I almost didn’t make myself a cake because I was feeling so low, but then I decided I would, because why not, even though I’ve been cooking a lot and I’m sick to death of the kitchen and I already have at least 3 kinds of cookies in large bags in the freezer and I’m kind of sick of sugar. Yes, me, sick of sugar.

So I made myself a cake. I call it the Minstrel Boy in Prison Cake. If you don’t get the reference, keep reading and you’ll get some hints later on.

I’m very picky when it comes to carrot cakes. I’ve tried a lot of recipes for them and while they’re all pretty good, the one I grew up with is still my favourite. It has all the elements I consider essential for a carrot cake, not the least of which is CRUSHED PINEAPPLE omnomnom.

So, let’s interject my mom’s carrot cake recipe here, veganised.

In large mixing bowl, sift together:

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

3/4 c sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

In separate bowl, whisk together:

2/3 c veggie oil

4 T water + 1 T Ener-G egg replacer (this is equivalent to 2 eggs)

1 c finely grated carrots

1/2 c crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

1 tsp vanilla

Add liquid ingredients to dry and stir until moistened; beat 2 minutes at medium speed on electric mixer. [I did it by hand and just stirred it around a few times, definitely not for 2 minutes.] Bake at 350 in greased/floured 9×9″ pan for 35-45 minutes, whenever toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan if you plan to remove it.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 oz. vegan cream cheese (I had Follow Your Heart brand in my fridge, but you could also use Tofutti)

1 T vegan margarine, softened

1 tsp vanilla

 2 c powdered sugar

In small bowl, beat cream cheese, margarine, and vanilla. Mix till light. Gradually add sugar, beating till fluffy. If necessary, add a bit of non-dairy milk or water to make it the correct spreading consistency.

This cake does need to remain refrigerated when not in use. (Or “pie”, as GooGoo insisted on calling it. She wanted to eat the “HAPPY BIRDAY” PIE all morning.)

***

Now, what about the minstrel boy?

The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you’ll find him;
His father’s sword he hath girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him;
“Land of Song!” cried the warrior bard,
“Tho’ all the world betrays thee,
One sword, at least, thy right shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!”
The Minstrel fell! But the foeman’s chain
Could not bring that proud soul under;
The harp he lov’d ne’er spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said “No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and brav’ry!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free
They shall never sound in slavery!

Now, if you still don’t get it, read the poem carefully and go back and look at the cake again.

And finally, here is a picture of a seriously awesome birthday present for you to enjoy looking at.

Oh yes I will. Expect recipes with pinenuts (that you can sub sunflower seeds for) in the future. *rolls around in the culinary gold that is pine nuts*

Literary Post: Homer Price. Doughnuts Made With Minimal Labour-Saving Devices.

I have to admit: I’m rather appalled at how few of my friends, including friends I consider fairly well-read, have the slightest inkling who Homer Price is. I first made my acquaintance with him through an old school reader in which his first adventure involving Aroma the Skunk and some interesting radio robbers was (slightly abridged). Afterwards, the book was on my shelf as much as it was on the library’s. Maybe more.

At any rate, one of the most iconic stories in the book involves Uncle Ulysses’ newest labour-saving device, a doughnut machine, that has a technical glitch and won’t quit making doughnuts after a rich lady comes along and mixes up a gigantic batch of doughnut batter one night while Homer is alone in charge of Uncle U’s lunchroom. The machine was a new-fangled contraption that dropped the rings of batter into hot fat, flipped them over, and pushed them out a chute into a bin ready to gather up and eat.

In a whole doughnut
There’s a nice whole hole
When you take a big bite,
Hold the whole hole tight,
If a little bit bitten
Or a great bit bitten,
Any whole hole with a hole bitten in it,
Is a holey whole hole,
And it just plain isn’t!

I realise I already featured a Robert McCloskey book in my Literary Food Series, but who can pass up doughnuts?

I have two things to say about doughnuts:

• I reject the spelling “donut”.
• Baked doughnuts are da bomb.

So, with those two points in mind, here’s a doughnut recipe for you. This is (rather greatly) adapted from a recipe I first tried during home ec.

This is a picture of my first test batch of doughnuts. They were exactly like churros. See the end of this post for what to do if you want to recreate the churro doughnuts.

Preheat your oven to 400. Spray your doughnut pan(s).

With a handmixer, beat together:
2/3 c vegan non-hydrogenated margarine
1 c sugar
2 T tapioca flour
1/2 c water

Add, stirring by hand just until blended:
3 C flour
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c non-dairy milk

Put batter in pans, spreading evenly with a spoon. I had the batter come up pretty much to the rim. Put in the oven and bake 18-20 minutes. While they are baking, prepare the coating (described below) if using. Otherwise, just remove them from the pan when they’re done and allow to cool on a rack, or eat them while warm.

Optional coating:
1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c melted vegan margarine

While the muffins bake, melt margarine in a small saucepan and mix sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Immediately after taking the muffins out of the oven, dip them in the margarine and then the cinnamon-sugar. This amount is enough for dipping just one side. If you want to dip both sides, just double it.

I promise this recipe only makes 12.

Nomming on a sample doughnut from my 3rd and final test batch. Light, fluffy, perfect.

If you want a flavour/texture like churros, make the following changes: reduce water to 1/3 cup, fill doughnut pan slots only 1/2 full, bake at 350 for around 25 minutes, dip in the coating, and eat.

Curried Pumpkin-Acorn Squash-Carrot-Spinach Soup

Well, things have settled a little bit around here. We’re all on the mend. I’ve got a pulled muscle in my ribcage from coughing that hurts pretty badly, and I get tired easily. GooGoo still has a runny nose of epic gloppiness. But otherwise, things aren’t too bad. I spent my entire day pretty much washing laundry. I had a lot more than usual because my washer had some issues last week and Mr Pine Nut got a part just yesterday to fix the issues.

So, I not only washed clothes, but I’m working on washing all our sheets and blankets too, to rid them of the ickies from the flu. Kind of like how they burned everything in the Velveteen Rabbit, except less destructive. Tomorrow I get to wash diapers and more blankets. Woohoo.

In between loads of laundry, I made soup.

This is one of those soups that was born out of an urgent need to Use Things Up. In this case, we had an acorn squash, a pumpkin, some spinach, and some carrots. I decided to make a pumpkin soup. Curried pumpkin soup sounded good. So I asked The Google and The Google found me this recipe.

Squash is generally considered more autumn-y, but I don’t care particularly. One must use what one has, even in February. This soup will kill any bacteria residing in your digestive tract and clean out your sinusi* as well as taste delicious.

I changed it a bit from the original. This is what I did.

In your soup pan, stir together:
2 c chopped green onions
1 T cocoanut oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 T grated fresh ginger
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp dried hot red pepper flakes

Saute a few minutes, until oil is melted and onions are tender.

Add:
4 c pumpkin puree
4 c water
1 1/2 c mock chicken or veggie broth
2 c diced carrots

Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let it cook about 20 minutes. Carrots should be to desired tenderness.

In a separate pan, stir together:
2 T cocoanut oil
2 tsp brown mustard seeds
2-4 c packed spinach (you could also use kale or another leafy green. I used 2 cups and next time would use 4.)

Stir oil and mustard seeds together until seeds begin to pop. Add spinach and continue stirring until wilted. Add to pot of soup right before serving.

Enjoy. I’m looking forward to eating the leftovers from this tomorrow.

——

*Neither of these statements have been validated by the FDA, but I am pretty sure I’m right.

Literary Post: Flicka, Ricka, Dicka Bake a Cake. THE Cake.

Maj Lindman’s “Flicka, Ricka, Dicka” series (and the corresponding “Snipp, Snapp, Snurr” series) were staples of my childhood reading experience. These girls are industrious, helpful, model little citizens without being preachy about it. They seek to help those less fortunate and the elderly, make sure they right wrongs, and are willing work hard for things they want, and unhesitatingly give up the things they’ve worked for to help someone else.

In Flicka, Ricka, Dicka Bake a Cake, the girls want to give Mother a surprise for her birthday and an aunt helps them to bake her a cake.

I always thought this cake looked so delicious. My mind’s mouth said it should be cherry-flavoured. The book was kind enough to detail what all the girls dumped into the bowl to make the cake:

…butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, cream, and raisins were all mixed together in the big blue bowl.

They frosted it with pink frosting and put small pieces of candied fruit all over the frosting. Here’s the picture of the girls rejoicing over their finished product:

So… where to begin? I decided to use a recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook as a starting off point, and this is what came of it: a cake that tasted like a Pillsbury funfetti cake. In other words, totally a classic birthday cake flavour that is intensely sweet but quite fantastic.

(One note: I used almond milk. If you want a more creamy milk for the “cream” you could skim the cream off canned cocoanut milk and use that, but I don’t think it’d make that much difference in the end.)

The Cake

Sift together:
2 c all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

In separate bowl, mix with a mixer:
1/2 c vegan margarine
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 c non-dairy milk
1 tsp cherry flavour (I used the liquid from a jar of maraschino cherries)

In small bowl, whip until frothy:
4 eggs’ worth Ener-G Egg Replacer (1/2 c water+2 T powder)

Combine the margarine and flour mixtures in a bowl. Using a handmixer, beat about 30 seconds at low speed and around 2 minutes on high speed. Fold in egg replacer and thoroughly incorporate. Then fold in 1/2 c golden raisins.

Bake in a bundt pan (I used an angel food cake pan) at 375 for 30-40 minutes and allow to cool. Remove from pan to cake plate when completely cool.

My finished cake

The Frosting

3 c powdered sugar
1/3 c vegan margarine, softened
2 T non-dairy milk
2 T maraschino cherries
A few drops red food colouring

Blend cherries and milk together in a blender until cherries are well pulverised.

In a bowl with a hand mixer, blend margarine and powdered sugar until crumbly. Add milk/cherry blend and beat until smooth and fluffy. You can add more milk if needed. Spread over the cake. Decorate with golden raisins (or, alternately, sliced almonds).

Literary Post: Blueberries for Sal. Blueberry Muffins.

This year, I’m going to have a Literary Food Post the first Wednesday of every month. (At least, this is my very real intention.) Mostly this will be children’s books, but I may throw in a non-juvenile book on occasion if I feel like it.

For my first one, I’ve chosen a favourite from my childhood: Blueberries for Sal.

Robert McClosky clearly had children, because “Blueberries for Sal” is alarmingly true to life. Last summer during blackberry season, GooGoo went through the following routine every time we went out picking:

• picks berries to put in her bucket
• once she has about 3, she eats them
• then she tries to take a handful out of my basket
• I tell her she needs to pick her own berries because we’re saving these ones for winter.

Somehow I feel old just writing all that out.

Blueberry muffins are kind of a staple, aren’t they? Pretty much everyone likes a blueberry muffin, and they are most comforting to me at least. I have lots of memories of eating them growing up. My mom usually paired them with chicken soup and I remember anxiously watching as she took them out of the muffin tin, put them in her large shallow “muffin bowl” and covered them with a cloth to keep them warm, and then we’d all sit down to table and I’d try to grab several while they were still practically too hot to eat. My dad preferred the ones not “corroded with blueberries“, whereas I loved the ones with huge pockets of juicy berry goodness.

I loved this illustration growing up. It’s so homey, complete with wood stove. I used to just look at it for the longest time.

My mom always used a recipe from a card she got free in the mail, if I remember correctly. This is the basic recipe (veganised, with notes).

Basic Blueberry Muffin

1 3/4 C flour (I do 1 cup white, 3/4 cup whole wheat)
1/3 c sugar (optional: drizzling a liquid sweetener on top afterwards or spreading with jam is nice)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c blueberries, frozen (I’ve subbed other berries too)
3/4 c non-dairy milk
1 T ground flax + 3 T hot water (or egg replacer of your choice to equal 1 egg)
1/3 c vegan margarine, melted (you can sub pumpkin puree with excellent results; you can also sub veggie oil for a more scone-like texture)

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir in blueberries.

Add milk, flax egg, and oil. Stir just until mixed.

Pour into 12 muffin cups. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.

Blueberry-Ginger and Chocolate-Blueberry Muffins

Now, how about some variations?

Blueberry Ginger Muffins: Add 1/2 tsp ginger to dry ingredients and (optionally) stir in 1/4 cup finely chopped candied ginger in with blueberries.

Blueberry Chocolate Muffins: Decrease flour to 1 1/2 cups. Add 1/4 cup cocoa and do not omit sugar, though you can reduce it to 1/4 cup if desired.

***

I welcome your suggestions for favourite children’s books that involve or allude to food in some way – I’ll gladly consider all suggestions and post about whichever ones get my creative juices going!

Gingerbread People and Felines and Phantoms, Oh My!

How to turn gingerpeople into gingercats.

These gingerbread cookies were a yearly Christmas tradition at my house for many years. They are very soft and tasty and a great hit with everyone who has tasted them.

Erik, the Phantom of the Opera: This was the first year I went all-out on these, I think, in 1999. My camera was lousy in those days. Sorry.

1 1/2 c light molasses
1 c packed brown sugar
2/3 c cold water
1/3 c shortening
7 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix molasses, brown sugar, water, and shortening.

Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350. Roll dough 1/4″ thick on floured board. Cut with floured gingerbread cookie cutter or your favourite shaped cutter. Place about 2″ apart on lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes. Cool.

I made a pattern out of brown paper bag for these angels and cut them out with a sharp knife.

To decorate, use a mixture of icing/powdered sugar and non-dairy milk or water. Usually about 3 c sugar to 2-3 tablespoons of the milk or water. Use a small round tip on an icing bag.

One year the pirates (and one dunce and his duck) took over completely.

This is what I think of being eaten.

Chocolate-Ginger Muffins

I really need a flour sifter.

I keep looking, but the antique stores charge too much for something that’s used, and the thrift stores haven’t turned up one for me yet. And I’m too cheap to go buy a new one. Maybe that’s lame, but there it is.

Anyway, so I use a fork in the meantime to smush up my dry ingredients if I have dry lumpy stuff like brown sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda in.

Speaking of recipes with dry lumpy stuff, here’s a recipe. For THESE.

Ever since my secret sister at church gave me some dark chocolate-covered ginger from Trader Joe’s a while back, I’ve become a little obsessed with the combination. At first I was like, “Uh… chocolate? Ginger? How does that even go together?”

But it DOES. It’s actually really amazing. So I’m on a quest to ginger-ify various chocolatey things.

I found this basic vegan chocolate muffin recipe and adapted it a bit for my purposes. Here’s my version.

Chocolate Ginger Muffins

Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl:
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c white flour
1/2 c cocoa powder (just regular – I used half carob in the pictured batch because my cocoa stash was very depleted)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger powder
1/2 cup brown sugar (I used a little under 1/2 cup)
1/4 c minced candied ginger (optional)

(If you have a flour sifter, that’s awesome. If not, use a fork.)

Add in the following:
1 1/2 cup natural unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla

Stir just until combined. Spoon into 12 regular prepared muffin cups or 24 mini ones. Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

And then eat them.

Update since I originally wrote this post: I NOW HAVE A FLOUR SIFTER.