corndog bread! and cookies...much needed cookies.

I like corndogs.  However, I am a bit fry-phobic.  It just seems...unnecessary to fry stuff, most of the time.  All that added fat, for what?  I say that anything that can be fried, can probably be successfully baked.  Oven baked fries?  sign me up.  Baked mock crabcakes?  yes, please!  So why not corn dogs?  Well, they have to be battered, which wouldn't hold up in the oven, really.  All of this is an example of the roundabout conversations Michael and I have had over the past few months as to how to get a corndog into our dinnertime without frying it.  Then he had a brilliant idea:  encase the dogs in cornbread.  Now, I will admit, after he came up with this, I researched it a little bit and saw a few blogs with corndog muffins.  Well, I didn't wanna screw with muffins.  So I made cornbread with hotdogs in the middle of it.

i couldn't get to it before michael cut it

I used the skillet cornbread from Vcon, and it worked perfectly.  Since the cast iron skillet was preheated in the oven, the bottom layer of batter firmed up pretty quick so that I could put down a layer of cut up hotdogs without them sinking to the bottom.  Slather on the rest of the batter, bake, and voila!  Corndog bread.  And it was good!  We ate it with some ketchup and mustard, baked beans (that I spruced up with spicy mustard and some vinegar), and these:

roasted brussels sprouts, broccoli, and leeks

The leeks didn't mush up like I thought they would, but this was still pretty yummy.  I just put them all in a pan, sprinkled with fresh rosemary, dried thyme, garlic powder, and pepper, then poured on a little veggie broth.  Cover with foil, roast in a 400F oven for 30 or so minutes.

All in all, it came together quite nicely.

it works best when you smoosh all this together to eat

Earlier in the evening, I had made a batch of cookie dough to refrigerate until after dinner, so they could be freshly baked when we ate them.  I made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies from Celine's blog, Have Cake, Will Travel.  If you haven't been there yet (where have you been!?), go.  She comes up with some fabulous ideas for baked goods that will make your knees tremble.  These are the first recipe on that page:

oh so perfect cookies

These cookies are amazing.  I had to modify because I didn't have any arrowroot, but I found something online that said 1tsp arrowroot = 1 Tbsp wheat flour.  The recipe calls for 1 Tbsp arrowroot, so I used 3 Tbsp wheat flour.  It made them a little dry, so I then added more pumpkin.  Didn't make any difference, in my opinion.  These are SO GOOD!  This is my first recipe tryout from Celine's blog, and I'm happy to say that she's a genius.  These have the texture of a really fabulous oatmeal cookie (not the kind with coarse chunks of oats..you grind the oats in this cookie) with a lovely pumpkin flavor and sweet chips everywhere.  Any recipe that calls for the same amount of chocolate chips as it does flour, I'm game.  So!  Very well, Celine, I am convinced of your complete awesomeness now.  I did manage to make 8 cookies instead of 6, thank goodness.  Seeing as I ate 3 of them last night, I'd be sad if they were all gone so quickly.

Next up, the results from my 3 hour baking spree on Monday.  Vegan Addict got her package and put up pics, so I will now show mine!  Although...I think hers might be better.  First up, Lemon Poppyseed Crackle Cookies from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan.  These were really, really, really amazing.  I kept a couple of each thing I made for...Michael...to...taste....yeah.

little drops of lemony wonderfulness

Next up are cookies that I based on the carob-carob chip cookies from the same book, but didn't have carob anything (or any real reason to use it), so I put chocolate everywhere it said carob.  Those are crushed cashews on the tops.

much chocolatey goodness

For a sort of healthier option, I made the hearty autumn muffins from Vegan Dad.  I reaaalllly liked these.  They are just slightly sweet with nice little apple chunks and not too many raisins.  Pumpkin-y, but mostly spicy.  Not like hot spicy...you know what I mean.  Plus, there is a full cup of bran (wheat and oat) in these.  So, yeah.  They're good for that reason too.

i love my vegan muffin tops

That's it for now...  I don't think I'm cooking tonight, but you never know.  I might whip something up.  But I just had a giant bowl (i.e. an entire package) of popcorn with nutritional yeast and am going to a party later, and I have the feeling (given my mood this evening) that I will be happy to dine on the remainders of those pumpkin cookies and go straight to bed.  But we shall see.

Hmmm?  What's that?  You want a cute and cuddly kitty picture?

Geesh.

Well, ok.