Thursday, May 16, 2013

Whole Grain Vegan Baking: Blog Tour (& Giveaway!)

Welcome to the next stop in the 
Whole Grain Vegan Baking Blog Tour!

Celine Steen (Have Cake Will Travel) & Tami Noyes (Vegan Appetite
have come out with a wonderful new book : Whole Grain Vegan Baking

Their last book, Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day was probably my favorite vegan cookbook from last year. I love it so much. So, when they asked me to participate in a blog tour for this new book, I jumped at the chance. Their publisher, Fair Winds Press, offered me a copy to review, but - uh - I had already bought myself a copy! So, lucky for you all, I've got a copy to give away.


The first thing I made from WGVB was this Hearty Barley Fruit Bread, based on an old family recipe from Celine. I loved, loved, loved this bread so much. I want to eat it every day for the rest of my life. It truly is hearty, and filled with walnuts, dried figs, candied orange peel, and warming spices. It's dense and totally delicious. I really look forward to making it again soon. 

Bonus: I got to use up some of my homemade candied orange peel. That recipe really made a LOT of candied orange peel!



Next up, I made the Lemony Spelt Scones (notice theme of using my homegrown citrus! - these called for lemon juice and lemon zest!). I really enjoyed these scones, especially since I hardly ever make scones. The texture was just perfect: dry -- but not too dry, dense -- but not too dense. They were perfectly crumbly and went great with my morning cuppa joe.

All of the recipes call for whole grain flours (obviously!), but also un-refined sugars, and generally quite wholesome ingredients. I suppose if you are on a super tight budget, or don't have any good natural foods stores around, this could be a bummer. But, I've been happily surprised to easily find every ingredient I've needed for these recipes in the bulk bins at my local hippy store. These scones, for example, call for Whole Spelt Flour, Brown Rice flour, Sucanat (unrefined sugar), and other more standard ingredients. Nothing too hard to track down!


Finally, I made a beautiful batch of Hidden Treasure Muffins! I love that name. These are super lemony whole-grain muffins with secret jam hidden inside! What fun. I used some apricot jam that a friend gave us. :) I made these for my mom on Mothers' Day. They were so great - a little bit sweet and naughty, but also hearty and wholesome. I'll definitely make these again!

Besides all the great recipes, there are a lot of great things to love about this book:
~ Beautiful layout: glorious pictures (taken by Celine!), one recipe per page, super cute fonts, and even the paper is smooth and matte and super fun to feel. This sort of thing really affects how much I can groove on a cookbook.
~ Recipes give weights AND measures. I really love that.
~ The recipes are totally awesome! I have so many more marked down that I want to make:
Whole Grain Artisan Bread, Lemon Ginger Rolls, Pesto Knots, Garlic Naan, Nectarine Topped Oatmeal Cake... and on and on!

Yes! YOU CAN HAZ A COPY!

Fair Winds Press is offering one copy to a winner (open to U.S. & Canada only, sorry!). Just leave a comment here on this post, and you'll be entered to win. Be sure to leave your blogger contact or email, because I am not going to spend hours hunting you down! I'll pick a winner in one week - next Wednesday, May 22nd.

44 comments:

  1. I love when American cookbooks offer weights. And I definitely need to check this one out, those scones sound great.

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  2. Anonymous8:47 AM

    I love baking with whole grains. This cookbook looks awesome!

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  3. A baking cookbook by the uber-talented Celine and Tami that I don't yet have? Um, yes please! Plus, I'm always excited to explore new flours and other fun ingredients.

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  4. Anonymous9:37 AM

    Celine and Tami are amazing. I am anxious to check out this book.

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  5. Always excited about a new one from these two!

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  6. I want that figgy bread! YUM!

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  7. Those hidden treasure muffins look awesome! What a great idea!

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  8. What a wonderful review. Thanks for sharing. :)

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  9. Thanks so much for this giveaway! I love Celine and these treats look delicious.

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  10. I would love to win a copy!

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  11. Those hidden treasure muffins made my mouth watery!! I'd love a copy of this book, especially because I live near three grocery stores so I can find everything I need.<3

    Adriana Robles
    vegcourtesy.blogspot.com

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  12. Terri Cole2:47 PM

    This looks like a great cookbook. I've had my baking ups and downs in the 14 months since going vegan. I could use a good book to help me. Thanks for the chance to win a copy!

    gaia (at) cinci (dot) rr (dot) com

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  13. Oh please-I would like to haz a copy so I can stop licking the screen!
    www.ibeknitting.blogspot.com

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  14. I would really love to win a copy !! Thank you for the giveaway :)

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  15. Oh man, I would really love a copy of this book!

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  16. oh my gosh all these treats are making my mouth water!

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  17. Celine's cookbooks always rock. I'd love to win a copy; thanks for sharing!

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  18. Sophie4:36 PM

    Oh that sounds so good! I would really love to get one! sophie_680 AT hotmail DOT com

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  19. Celine and Tami's cookbooks always rock! This one looks extra awesome. Thanks for the opportunity :)

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  20. Thanks for the giveaway, and the mouthwateringly good photos!

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  21. Those Hidden Treasure Muffins are making me spinningly hungry...I would love to try them with all sorts of jams and marmalades inside!
    Love the sweet huggable kitty too!

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  22. This cookbook looks like it is filled with great recipes I would love to try!
    tofucat@aol.com

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  23. Those muffins look great!!! But your kitty drawing is ah-dor-able!

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  24. Anonymous4:50 AM

    Loved to try those muffins. anything with jam in it is awesome.

    -Midnite (harrypotter_rox(at)msn.com)

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  25. This book looks great - love the scones!!
    cabby22 at gmail dot com

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  26. This would be wonderful, would love to cook through this cookbook this summer! :)

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  27. Oh yum! I hope I win!

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  28. all things bread are totally my weakness!

    plainoldsarah at gmail dot com

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  29. Anonymous5:52 PM

    This looks great! I usually sub in whole-wheat flour for all-purpose already. It would be fun to try out some different flours too.

    commanne yahoo

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  30. Oh my, the fruit bread looks amazing, and deliciously satisfying! As do the other recipes you've tried, really. Celine and Tami have clearly done a terrific job, once again!

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  31. I have this on my wish list!

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  32. I've got my fingers, toes & eyes crossed hoping to win this one!

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  33. Ooh, this looks fantastic! :3

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  34. Ruthe2:02 PM

    Thanks for the opportunity to win the book. I, too, absolutely love their sandwich book! dreamloudDOTrhATgmailDOTcom!

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  35. Becca6:32 AM

    Yum! That all looks delicious!
    BeccaMFerguson@aim.com

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  36. I'm so excited that there is some savoury stuff! I would love a copy.

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  37. Although I'm not vegan, I'm a kitchen experimenter, and I like to be able to provide for my friends who are! Thanks Amy! <3 Rachel and Crew

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  38. What a great idea! I was getting tired of so many white flour vegan dessert cookbooks

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  39. Yum! I need all the recipes I can get! Thanks!

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  40. lemon scones!! You had me at lemon scones!! Love using the whole grains, but don't have a lot of experience baking with them. I'll have to buy myself a copy if I don't win :)

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  41. I'd like to try out some recipes with barley flour, never used that before

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  42. I love to bake and want to try to clean up my diet a bit, so this book would be perfect!

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