Thanksgiving Recipes: Cookie Sheet Apple Pie and Dressing

There are certain dishes that were such a fixture of my childhood that it simply wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without them.  For me, the best things about Thanksgiving dinner, aside from all my cousins coming over, were the made-from-scratch stuffing and my mom’s apple pie.   After repeated efforts, I’ve veganized both recipes to my satisfaction.

Cookie Sheet Apple Pie

In March, I reminisced about my mother’s cookie-sheet-apple-pie when I posted an apple tart recipe.  Click on that to read why pie is best in a cookie sheet, but come back here for the recipe, because those mini tarts weren’t nearly as good as the real thing!

You’ll need two large glass bowls.

Mini Apple Pies

As most children do, I looked forward to holidays mainly for the tasty, once-a-year foods they brought.  That is normal, right?  Well, the best thing about Thanksgiving, in my view, was that it was the one time of the year I could be sure my mom would bake a cookie-sheet apple pie.  For those who haven’t had this, let me explain… Apple pie in a cookie sheet is superior to everyday round apple pie for two reasons: The crust to filling ratio is higher, since the dish is more shallow, and for some strange reason, pie tastes better when cut into squares than wedges.

I lingered in the kitchen every Thanksgiving Eve while my mother peeled and cored the apples, measured out the spices, and mixed the dough.  She made a huge dough batch and cut diagonal strips of it to make a lattice on top, which I always watched her interlace with awe.  The elaborate pie-making process was heightened by my anticipation of eating the corner slice the next day.  And I always got at least one of the corners.

Every now and then when I’m feeling moody, or I’ve got the Mean Reds, I remember that a pastry wrapped around baked apple is the ultimate in homemade therapy.  Though I haven’t yet mastered the art of making a “real” pie crust, complete with lattice, I can make a quick mock-up of my mom’s apple pie, now veganized as well!  And, today it occurred to me that if pie corners are good, pie with edges all around must be even better!  So I made some apple tarts instead of a cookie sheet pie this time.  Of course, you’re welcome to use this recipe in a plain ol’ round pie tin as well.

Cranberry-Orange-Walnut Bread

Mmmm, chopped cranberries...

This recipe is so yummy and fun that mid-November, when I entered the produce section in search of carrots and saw the bags of cranberries that only appear this time of year, I may have done a little hop of joy just thinking about making Cranberry-Orange-Walnut bread.  This recipe comes straight from The Veganomicon, and is so perfect that it hasn’t been altered at all, except to double the recipe, because trust me; one loaf will not be enough!   (If, for some unfathomable reason, one loaf is enough, give the other away to your neighbors.)  As an added bonus, this recipe doesn’t have any rare or unusual ingredients, unless you count the cranberries, of course.