Duncan Hines has been a great source of easy, vegan cake mixes. The only “trick” is to use applesauce instead of eggs (1.5 tablespoon of applesauce = 1 egg) and soymilk if they call for milk (a lot don’t). Applesauce acts in the same role in getting the right consistency and fluffiness that eggs do.

October 2005, I noticed that nearly all of the Duncan Hines cake and brownie mixes had started containing milk. I inquired with Pennacle Foods, and they said it was not intentional, but it was purely because they had changed factories. The new factory had been used for so much dairy-containing products, that it added dairy to all of the mixes. Well, apparently they had received such a large response to it (from lactose-intolerant, vegans, kosher people, and those who generally avoid dairy because of the health affects), that they changed back 12 of their 18 cake mixes to the diary-free versions!

I highly recommend the red velvet cakes (with cream cheese frosting from Pillsbury, which is accidentally vegan as well)! You can find vegan icings by Pillsbury right next to the Duncan Hines cake mixes! Chocolate, Vanilla, Cream Cheese frostings are all available.

Dairy-Free Duncan Hines Mixes/Products

• Devil’s Food
• Yellow
• Lemon Supreme
• Butter Recipe Golden
• Swiss Chocolate
• Spice
• Fudge Marble
• Pineapple Supreme
• Butter Recipe Fudge
• German Chocolate
• Red Velvet
• Dark Chocolate Fudge

Thank you Duncan Hines!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup margarine
• 1 cup unrefined sugar
• 1 egg equivalent (1 1/2 tablespoons of apple sauce, for example)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup any kind of vegan chips (peanut butter, chocolate, etc)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix margarine and vegan sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, blend flour, cocoa, soda, and baking powder. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and mix until everything is well blended. Stir in the chips. Form balls and smash them down a little bit on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 7-9 minutes until the tops are no longer gooey.

Its really important to use the purest, most unprocessed, organic ingredients you can find. It makes a huge difference in the way the cookies taste and the way they make you feel.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup non-dairy margarine (DO NOT MELT)
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon Ener-G Egg Replacer
• 2 tablespoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup all-purpose (or whole wheat, etc.) flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• about 1/16 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 cups Cinnamon Apple Quaker Oatmeal (or plain rolled oats)
• 1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruit
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Cream margarine, granulated vegan sugar and brown sugar together in a mixing bowl.
2. Add vanilla, Ener-G Egg Replacer mixture (mix the EnerG and water listed in ingredients together in a separate little dish) and dried fruit to the wet ingredients.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients in steps- first the flour, then baking soda and powder, then salt, then oatmeal. This prevents ingredient overload in the mixing bowl.
4. Add a dash of soy milk if necessary- the batter will be extremely thick and sticky, but it shouldn’t be dry.
5. Bake at 350 degree F oven for ten to twelve minutes. The cookies will not have spread, so you don’t have to worry about how far away to space your cookies.
6. Cool one minute on cookie sheet.
7. Remove to wire rack and allow cookies to cool.