Vegan MoFo Day 22: Creative Mix Ins

Creative cookie baking doesn't always have to involve coming up with new innovative recipes every time. Sometimes taking a base recipe and adding different mix ins can make an old cookie recipe seem entirely new! Here are some suggestions for variations on some classic cookies: sugar cookies, chocolate chip, and oatmeal.


Sugar cookies, at least in my house, are usually made with vanilla extract. They really are equally delicious when you substitute other extracts like Lemon, Coconut or Almond (sprinkle on some slivered almonds before baking, or on the icing before hardening to really up the almond ante) produce an entirely different cookie experience with only a very minor change. Check out Asian markets for inexpensive extracts to experiment with in your cookies. I've had my eye on some Jasmine extract for a while. I'll have to post after some testing with that!

Chocolate chip cookie dough is a great blank slate for all sorts of ingredients. You can keep it super simple and add in a few handfuls of rainbow sprinkles to make rainbow cookies. Like your rainbows bigger? Try some Chocolate Lentils or Whizzers Chocolate Beans in place of or in addition to the chips. Check out your local Kosher market for white chocolate chips or chocolate coffee chips. Walnuts are traditional, but have you tried chocolate chip cookies with hazelnut extract and chopped hazelnuts? It's Nutella-tastic! Some of my other favorite combinations are chocolate chip cookies with dried cherries and blanched slivered almonds, and chocolate chip cookies with peanuts and raisins. Remember Chunky bars? It's Chunky cookies!

Oatmeal cookies are also begging for creative add ins. Who needs raisins when you can have currents or dried cranberries? A handful of coconut really gives a kick to ordinary oatmeal cookies. There are lots of fruit and nut combos that are stellar in the oatmeal base. Try cashews and dried strawberries, pecans and dried peaches or apricots (cut into smaller bits, naturally), or pistachios and dried pears. Going tropical? How about dried mango and macadamia nuts. You don't have to pick just one either. Divide your dough in half or quarters, and mix a little something different into each batch.

What are some of your favorite cookie mix ins?

Vegan MoFo Day 20: Peanut Butter Kisses

Peanut butter cookies with a Hershey's Kiss stuck in the middle are a holiday classic. Hershey's has come out with tons of different varieties of kisses in recent years, but unfortunately, none of them are vegan! This creates a bit of a conundrum. How can you have peanut butter kisses without the kisses?? I experimented with a bunch of different chocolates from pieces of dark chocolate bars to chocolate chips to round pieces of dark chocolate and it was a Goldilocks type problem -- this one was too hard, this one was too soft, this one was too small, that one just looked weird. Problem was solved with really cheap generic supermarket chocolate! In the candy isle, as well as in "candy they keep in produce near nuts" section of my grocery store ("Price Chopper") they have Dark Chocolate Nonpareils, what are basically gigantic Snow Caps chocolates. Not only are they accidentally vegan, they're also quite decorative as it looks like it snowed on your cookie! Sometimes they have seasonal varieties with little red white and green sprinkles for Christmas, or pastel colors for Easter. Regardless of color, they're the right size, right shape, and right thickness to make these cookies live again! Check out your local grocery store, you might be surprised! Cheap peanut butter is good in this recipe because it gives it the junky feel of the original recipe!

I made these for a party I had, hence the cute label

Peanut Butter "Kisses"
About 4 dozen Dark Chocolate Nonpareils
3/4 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy, your choice)
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp almond milk
1/4 cup nondairy yogurt, plain or vanilla flavored
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the margarine, peanut butter, and sugar.

3. Add the milk, yogurt, and vanilla and mix until combined.

4. Stir in the dry ingredients.

5. Roll 1 inch balls of dough and place them on a cookie sheet.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Jam a piece of chocolate into the center of each cookie immediately after removing from the oven. Allow to cool before removing from the cookie sheet so that the chocolate can set up again.

Vegan MoFo Day 19: Pumpkin Cookies

This recipe really walks the line of "Christmas Cookie" and "Thanksgiving Food." With pumpkin, you generally think of Halloween and Thanksgiving. With cookie, you generally think "mmm cookie." There isn't a bad time for cookies, and since my themes so far have been thanksgiving and cookies, it has a place one way or the other.

The one thing that you need to remember when you make a fruit or vegetable cookie is that they stay cakey. Like if you replace eggs with banana your cookie will stay cakey and not get crunchy or chewy. It isn't a bad thing if you like cakey cookies, but if you dislike them, then it's a good idea to avoid recipes with pureed produce. To me, these cookies remind me of little bites of spicy pumpkin bread. I love pumpkin bread, so that isn't a criticism. Take care in how you store them, however. Due to their soft nature, they tend to stick to each other and you get clumps of one cookie on another cookie. A sheet of waxed paper or parchment in between layers will help to prevent that.

Also, this is another "random icing" related recipe. I made a maple icing by taking about 2 cups of powdered sugar, a splash of maple extract, then drizzling maple syrup into it until the proper consistency was reached. It is a nice compliment to the pumpkin and spice.


Pumpkin Cookies
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup margarine, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1/4 cup nondairy yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together the margarine and sugars.

3. Beat in the pumpkin, yogurt, and vanilla until smooth.

4. Sift in the dry ingredients and stir to combine

5. Drop tbsps of dough onto ungreased cookie sheets and flatten slightly.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges/bottom start to get golden brown. Allow to cool completely before you ice.

Vegan MoFo Day 18: Gingerbread Men

Gingerbread men are, to me, the classic Christmas Cookie. I like them very dark and spicy with blackstrap molasses. There are a lot of Gingerbread imitators out there. Cookies that are basically sugar cookies with some brown sugar and cinnamon and a touch of ginger added in. That is NOT gingerbread. Admittedly, some people like that and like to pretend that that is gingerbread and if you are one of those people, you'll probably not want to make these cookies. If, however, you want your house to be filled with the aroma of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, these are for you. They are great on a cold night with a warm mug of tea or hot chocolate. For whatever reason, they come out of the oven soft, get crunchy, then, left a day in a cookie tin, turn soft and chewy again. I ice them with my basic powdered sugar-milk-corn syrup-vanilla icing and stick on some candies for good measure.



Gingerbread Men
3 cups flour
3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) margarine, slightly soft, cut into 12 pieces
3/4 cup blackstrap molasses
2 tbsp ~milk

Combine the dry ingredients. Add the margarine and mix/process until it resembles a fine meal (like a pie crust looks before you add the water). Gradually add in the molasses and milk, and mix until thoroughly combined. Split the dough into two pieces and refrigerate 2 hrs or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out to 1/4" thickness and cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters. Bake for 8-11 minutes until set in center and cookie barely retains imprint with gently touched with fingertip. Let them cool on the cookies sheets for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack.

Allow the cookies to cool completely before you ice them.

Vegan MoFo Day 17: Snickerdoodles!

Can you believe I was a full blown grown up before I ever had a snickerdoodle?? They weren't part of my Mom's cookie repertoire. We mostly made chocolate chip, chocolate with peanut butter chips, spritz, peanut butter and sugar cookies. I missed a lot of good years when I could have been eating sugar cookies! I love vanilla cookies, and I love cinnamon, so what could be bad? These cookies come out delicious. Very tender and chewy with a crackled cinnamon sugar outside. Never again will I go a holiday season without making a batch of Snickerdoodles!! This recipe is adapted from Betty Crocker's. I wish Betty would come out with a vegan cookbook. Maybe some day...

Snickerdoodles
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup margarine, soft
1/2 cup shortening, soft
1/2 cup vanilla soy yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

For rolling:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cream together the margarine, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Add the soy yogurt and vanilla and mix until well combined.

3. Mix in the dry ingredients.

4. In a small bowl, mix together the 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon.

5. Roll about 1 1/2 tbsp of dough into a ball, and roll the ball into the cinnamon sugar. Place the balls on an uncreased cookie sheet.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until spread, cracked, and very lightly golden. Allow to cool until set, then transfer to a cooling rack.

REQUEST TIME!
Does anyone have a favorite cookie he or she would like to see veganized? Or does anyone have an idea for a cookie that doesn't have a recipe? Let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Vegan MoFo Day 16: Sesame Delights

Shifting gears a little... I think I'm out of ideas for Thanksgiving posts, at least for right now. Therefore, I'm going to take the logical next step into CHRISTMAS COOKIES!! Really, any cookies can be Christmas Cookies as long as you make them around Christmas time. I usually make a combination of old favorites, like the aforementioned Spritz and Sugar Cookies, and toss in a few new recipes that I've come across during the year. I read a lot of magazines in waiting rooms, and get handed some down from my mother-in-law and make notes of cookie recipes that sound interesting and veganize them. This first recipe is from a 1997 issue of Country Living. No, seriously. This recipe didn't actually call for any eggs, which put it in the "super easy to veganize" category. They are basically shortbread cookies with sesame seeds, coconut, and almonds. Wow are they rich, but really tasty with a nice toasty coconut/sesame flavor. A little drizzle of chocolate on top finishes them off nicely, both in flavor and appearance!


Sesame Delights

1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening, softened
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup sesame seeds, whole
1/4 cup sesame seeds, ground *
1/4 cup almonds, ground *
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Cream together the margarine, shortening, vanilla, and sugar.

2. Beat in the flour until combined.

3. Fold in the coconut, seeds, and almonds.

4. Split the dough in half and roll each half into a log about 6 inches wide and 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hrs.

5. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

6. Unwrap the dough and slice the log into 1/4 inch slices. It is a little crumbly but should easily stick back together again if you reshape the slices with your hands.

7. Place the slices on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

For the chocolate...
Melt about 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips in the microwave or a double boiler and drizzle over the top of the cookies. Sprinkle with sesame seeds for decoration.

* I grind my seeds and nuts in a coffee grinder dedicated to this purpose (I don't drink coffee! Bleh!). A small food processor will also work, or perhaps a blender. If you have none of these things, just try to chop them up really small! Starting with slivered or sliced almonds will make the job easier.

Vegan MoFo Day 12: Turkey Cookies

That isn't as bad as it sounds, I swear.

Here's the scene -- you, the kind hearted vegan, plan a lovely vegan Thanksgiving feast for your family. At first they all say "That sounds nice" and then as the date approaches it turns into "There really won't be turkey?" I solved that problem by making sure everyone at my Thanksgiving got their Very Own Personal Turkey!! (sugar cookie)

Turkey Cookie cutters are readily available on the internet. With some clever decoration, you can give everyone a humane turkey treat for Thanksgiving! This is the same sugar cookie recipe I use at Christmas, so when it's time to Deck The Halls with Yummy Goodies, just roll out a batch and use your favorite Christmas Cutters! I don't really have an icing recipe, honestly. What I do is put a bunch of powdered sugar in a large bowl. Then I add a good squirt of corn syrup, a bit of flavor extract (vanilla, usually), and then add milk a tablespoon at a time, stirring well in between each addition, until it reaches the consistency I want. Then add some food dye and you're good to go!

These are wrapped up all cute as a place marker!

Sugar Cookies
3/4 cup Earth Balance Margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup pureed silken tofu or nondairy yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract (or lemon, almond, whatever flavor you enjoy)
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1. Cream together margarine and sugar. Add tofu or yogurt and extract and mix well to combine.

2. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until a dough ball is formed.

3. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll the dough about 1/8" thick. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until golden brown.

Vegan MoFo Day 9: Spicy Spritz Cookies

Ahh Spritz Cookies. Nothing brings back warm holiday memories of Christmas as a child like Spritz Cookies. These memories specifically involve my brother, sister, and I decorating trays of Spritz cookies in the dining room, while my father cursed up a blue streak in the kitchen about the ineffective Spritz gun, and the *&(%ing dough is too cold or the $%(& gun trigger won't go. Epic, I'm telling you. As we got older, my sister and I just did all the spritzing ourselves. Saved everyone some trauma. For that matter, we also started putting up the tree, putting lights on the tree, and putting lights on the house ourselves too. Again, reduced the cursing and yelling around the holidays. That's not to say my dad is a crazy man, or abusive, or bad in any way, really. He's maybe just not so good at holidays.

He did have one thing right. Spritz guns can be a bitch. It's very difficult to find a good Spritz gun. Last Christmas, beeps and I tried to make Spritz cookies with a Pampered Chef Spritz Gun she inherited. Here's a tip: Don't buy a Pampered Chef Spritz Gun. It is completely useless. I registered for the Cookie Pro Ultra II Cookie Press for my wedding, and got it, and it is FABULOUS!! You DO need some hand strength, for sure, but man does it spritz nice. They have a bunch of different models, and I've tried some of them like their cordless battery operated cookie press, and that one was TERRIBLE. It just couldn't produce the force necessary to spritz out a cookie. The Cookie Pro Ultra II, however? The Cadillac of Cookie Presses. Buy one. Or two.

I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA where this recipe came from. No joke. I wrote it down years ago in my recipe notebook, and later veganised it. It is a Spicy Spritz Cookie and is lighter and tastier than the buttery mess I remember eating as a kid. (Honestly, I didn't like Spritz cookies -- they tasted like a stick of butter rolled in flour. I was a sugar cookie kid all the way. I just liked decorating and traditions.) For this batch, I stuck dried cranberries in some of the cookies and it really made a nice contrast of sweet and tart against rich and spicy. You can also use sprinkles or chocolate lentils or just leave 'em plain if you like 'em that way!


Spicy Spritz Cookies
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup nondairy yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together margarine and sugar. Mix in the yogurt and stir to combine.

3. Sift in the flour, spices and salt and mix to combine.

4. Follow your Spritz Gun Manufacturer instructions for loading the dough into your gun, and spritzing.

5. Add sprinkles/candies/etc... as desired, then bake for 10 minutes or until the edges begin to get golden. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Tropical Oatmeal Cookies

I don't know where my brain got this idea from. I've always like coconut in oatmeal cookies. It adds a little extra something in there. Coconut and raisins though? Ehhh, I don't know. The genius struck when I saw the dried pineapple in my pantry. TROPICAL OATMEAL COOKIES!! With coconut! And dried pineapple!! These came out quite yummy. I altered my Nana's original oatmeal cookie recipe and they're nice and crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. I changed 1 cup of butter to 2/3 cup of canola oil (because it's cheaper than Earth Balance), but go ahead and use 2 sticks of EB if you are feeling generous with your buttery spread.

Another ingredient note -- I used a full tsp of fresh ground nutmeg in this. Actually, this is several notes on the nutmeg topic. One is that if you don't like nutmeg, you aren't going to want to use a full teaspoon because you can definitely taste it. It has an interesting little kick that pairs well with the coconut, but if you don't like it, leave it out or sub with cinnamon. Second, CAN YOU BELIEVE I DIDN'T USE CINNAMON IN THIS RECIPE?!? I put cinnamon in everything. Third, really, use fresh ground nutmeg. Grind it yourself. If you don't have a microplane, definitely get one. I love that thing, despite it chunking off pieces of multiple fingers (totally my fault, I'm sure). Fresh ground nutmeg tastes like an almost completely different spice than ground nutmeg you buy at the store. I don't know how to explain it. It's not like dried basil and fresh basil where both are good, but they're different flavors. Compared to fresh ground nutmeg, pre-ground nutmeg isn't good. Being a NutMeg(atarian), I consider myself an expert in this field. That said, if you're not using nutmeg because you think you don't like it but you've never had fresh ground then do yourself a favor and try fresh ground before you make a final decision. If nothing else, the nuts have a really cool swirly pattern inside when you grate them. Do watch your knuckles though!


Tropical Oatmeal Cookies
2/3 cup canola oil
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tbsp of flax seeds soaked in 6 tbsp water (that is, two flax eggs)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp coconut extract
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (or all purpose)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (or 3 cups of either)
3/4 cups unsweetened coconut
1 cup dried pineapple, chopped.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a couple baking sheets (optional, though you can shove one down your gob faster if you don't have to wait for them to cool and release from the cookie sheet :) )

2. Cream together the sugars and oil. Add the flax eggs, vanilla, and coconut extracts and mix until well combined.

3. Add the flour, soda, nutmeg, and salt and stir until just mixed in.

4. Fold in the oatmeal, coconut, and pineapple.

5. Place walnut sized balls of dough on the cookie sheet and flatten with your hand (they won't spread, but they're also yummy golf balls if that's how you roll).

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the cookie sheets.

Cookbook Review & A Bastardized Recipe

When I was making up my amazon wishlist for Christmas, I came across this book:



Sweet Utopia: Simply Stunning Vegan Desserts by Sharon Valencik. Somehow in all my veg forum reading, I had never come across it. My vegan dessert book collection is pretty hit or miss. Joy of Vegan Baking? Hit. My Sweet Vegan? Miss. (And by miss I mean I got it as a gift probably 2 years ago and haven't made a single thing out of it, though I've read through it on multiple occasions) But it looked interesting, and I thought I'd give it a go. This book does NOT disappoint! There are pictures of every recipe and there isn't a single one in the book that I'm not interested in making! I'd like to work my way through cover to cover, gaining pound upon vegan pound in the process. What sets this apart from the Joy of Vegan Baking (which is a fantastic book as well, but I think everyone knows about it already) is that it is ALL DESSERTS!! Here's what I've made thus far...

Peanut Butter Mini Cheesecakes

These were the boy's pick for his Birthday, Round 1. It was like eating a gigantic Reese's cup. Totally rich and decadent, it's a good thing they're mini because it would be easy to eat way too much of this and make yourself sick if it wasn't already portion controlled. These were very popular with our dinner party guests, and we didn't suffer at all having to finish the leftover ones!

Ultimate Peanut Butter Cup Cake

I don't actually need to tell you who this was for, do I? Birthday, Round 2. This time with his parents. I only made a half recipe of this cake because there were only 4 of us eating it, and I didn't think we'd need a layer cake. It was fantastic. The frosting was so rich and creamy and the cake itself was incredibly moist with a really good crumb. I think we all ended up having two pieces, even though we were all already stuffed full of Chinese food.

Orange Burst Cookies N Cream

They're the ones on the right. That is the cookie tray I brought to Easter this year. On the left are Raspberry Oat bars from JOVB. I was skeptical about these cookies, but gave them a go and I'm really glad I did. The cookies are orangey but not too sweet, which is compensated by the filling which is super sweet, being cream filling and all. I cut them into egg shapes to make them festive for Easter. The cookies look like they'd be crunchy, but they actually stayed tender, which was great because the filling wasn't super hard, but it didn't squish out the sides. The only complaint (ish?) I had about this recipe was the cream filling recipe made at least twice as much cream filling as I actually needed for the cookies. Turned out Ok though. I made a chocolate cake later in the week and frosted it with the leftover cream. (Haven't uploaded the pic of that yet...)

Banana-Cranberry-Cashew Cookies

Ok, that picture is not actually of the banana cranberry cashew cookies. I somehow failed to take a picture of those. That is a picture of my Banana Split Cookies, which is today's featured bastardized recipe, which I altered the original Banana cranberry cookie recipe to become. I was really excited to see another use for black bananas, because I usually have tons of them since as soon as bananas get spotty I don't like them anymore. The original cookie was really good, very cakelike and moist. I decided to play with the ingredients a bit though, and that's where the Banana Split Cookies were born.... they go something like this...

Banana Split Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pureed ripe banana
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
heaping 1/2 cup shelled peanuts
heaping 1/2 cup dried cherries
heaping 1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together the oil, peanut butter, and sugars.

3. Add the almond milk, bananas, and vanilla extract and stir until well combined. (Doing all this with an electric mixer really speeds things along)

4. Sift in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the chips, nuts, and cherries.

5. Drop 1 tbsp of dough per cookie onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. These cookies do not spread, so if you don't want them in ball form (which is a legitimately delicious option), flatten them out a bit with your palm before baking.

Super Peanut Butter Cookies

The boy asked me this week if I would make him "super peanut butter" cookies. I asked him what that meant, and he just said really peanut buttery peanut butter cookies. Sure, why not. These couldn't be your ordinary run-of-the-mill peanut butter crosshatch cookies though. Instead I created a crisp peanut butter cookie filled with a chewy, crunchy, slightly chocolately peanut butter filling. I mostly stole the filling from Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows from the ppk blog, only I added in some chocolate to the filling since the "crust" was also peanut butter. Needless to say, these went over VERY well in my household. I believe he ate about 8 of them last night when I mdae them. Very yum. This recipe yields about 30 cookies... which will probably all be gone by the end of the weekend.


Super Peanut Butter Cookies

Cookie:
1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened margarine
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy yogurt, plain or vanilla

Filling:
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tbsp rice milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 oz dark or ricemilk chocolate, chopped fine or grated

1. Cream together the margarine, peanut butter, and sugars. When it's light and fluffy, add the molasses, vanilla, and yogurt. Mix until combined.

2. Sift togther the dry ingredients, and then gradually add them to the wet until just mixed.

3. Cover and Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.


4. Make the filling by mixing together all the filling ingredients. Start with 2 tbsp of milk, adding more if the mixture is too dry and crumbly.

5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

6. (I used a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop and 2 tsp cookie scoop for the dough and filling respectively) Scoop the dough into ping-pong ball sized balls. Flatten the ball into a disc with your hand, then add a heaping tsp of the filling, and wrap the dough around it so it's sealed. Reroll into a ball and flatten slightly with your hand. Repeat for the rest of the dough.

7. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until the cookies are just slightly golden. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooking rack.

Cinnamon Swirl Cookies

I was leafing through a Martha Stewart magazine in the copy room at work and on the last page was the Cookie of the Month: Cinnamon Swirl. They looked so enticing, with nuts and cinnamon and brown sugar swirled with an orange butter cookie, that I tore out the page and stuck it in my pocket. It looked easy enough to veganize, and they're just so cute! I've been biding my time waiting for an opportunity to spring these beauties on the world, but with the price of Earth Balance these days I didn't want to waste them on just any old day. Thus, I made them for the Easter Potluck.

Honestly, they weren't what I was expecting. For one thing, I got about 4 dozen cookies out of half of a recipe that was supposed to make 5 1/2 dozen. I'm very glad I halved it. Second, I was expecting a more tender cookie, where these were actually very crisp and crunchy. Despite that, they grew on me, and I was sad when we ran out. They're definitely a great dipping cooking for tea or cocoa. One change I would make in the original recipe is that I'd add 1/2-1 tsp of vanilla extract to the dough. It only called for orange zest, and I think it really needed the vanilla. A little almond extract might be good too. Ooo.. or hazelnut and use hazelnuts in the filling... Now the wheels are turning. Needless to say, there are many possible variations to the cookie, but the original was pretty good too.

I forgot to actually take a picture of these... so I stole someone else's picture that they took all nestled in next to their white chocolate macadamia friends.


Cinnamon Swirl Cookies
(this is the halved recipe!! I mean, do you really want 8 dozen cookies??)
Dough:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup plain soy yogurt

Filling:
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Cream together the margarine, sugar and orange zest. Add the yogurt (and vanilla here if you're using some) and mix until thoroughly combined.

2. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet, and mix until a dough ball is formed.

3. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

** Time passes **

4. In a small bowl (or as I used, your food processor) combine the canola oil, nuts, sugar, and cinnamon.

5. Roll out the cookie dough into a 10 by 12 inch rectangle. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the dough, and roll the dough up, starting with the long side (jelly roll style. you want a long thin log, not a short fat one).

6. Wrap the dough log in plastic wrap again, then put it in the fridge for at least one hour to firm it back up again.

7. Preheat the oven to 350. Slice the log into 1/4 inch slices and gently place the cookies on a cookie sheet. (The roll doesn't need to be stuck together exceptionally well as they will get bigger and the sugar will glue it all together once it's baked) Bake for 15-19 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool on the sheets until you're able to handle them.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

Vegan white chocolate is not easy to find. It seems that white = milk to chocolate makers, so white chocolate, which is actually considered chocolate since it doesn't have the cocoa solids just the cocoa butter, generally has dairy in it. Fortunately our Kosher friends have resolved this problem by making dairy free white chocolate chips! I really like the Kosher section of the grocery store for a lot of things that are hard to find dairy-free, like bread crumbs, and things that are gelatin free, like jello-style fruit flavored gelatin-esque "food" (is that food really?). Buyer beware, however... not all "white chocolate" chips are created alike. Some white chips are just "decorator chips" and do not include any cocoa butter at all!!

Tangent aside... we found vegan white chocolate chips, with some pretty pastel white chocolate chips mixed in, at the kosher section of the grocery store and had to make white chocolate macadamia nuts. This is a super special treat both because of the dairy free white chocolate, and the fact that 1 cup of macadamia nuts cost nearly $4 on sale. That said, it is a fantastic, rich, decadent treat, and oh so delicious! This recipe is a mutant form of Betty Crocker's white chocolate macadamia cookie recipe.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain or vanilla soy yogurt
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. With an electric mixer, cream together the margarine and shortening with the sugars. Add the yogurt and vanilla and mix until fluffy.

3. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and then gradually add to the wet mix.

4. Stir in white chocolate chips and nuts.

5. Drop dough by tbsp 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light brown.

Florentine Lace Cookies

Florentine Lace were always one of my favorite cookies from the Italian bakeries. I never knew what they were made of, other than that they had chocolate in the middle, they were just this mystery cookie that one could never make at home.

Turns out they're oatmeal and sugar, basically. And really quite easy to make. I've seen a bunch of variations on this cookie including ones that include nuts and candied citrus, but I like the simple oats-suspended-in-sugar cookie. You can eat them as is, or sandwich two together with some melted chocolate in the middle. For these, I used half white and half semi sweet chocolate (not in the same cookie! Though that would be kind of cool). The white chocolate was from http://www.veganstore.com/ -- which, if you've not ordered from them before but you need some speciality items, I'd highly recommend them. They ship fast and they've got great customer service. One of my bags of white chips I'd ordered had done some sort of mail-splosion sprinkling little white bits among my other items, and they offered a refund, a store credit, or a replacement. Nice people. Definitely buy from them.

Florentine Lace Cookies

6 tbsp of margarine, melted

2 cups quick oats (must be quick!!)

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup flour

1/4 cup corn syrup (probably could use any sort of sugar syrup here, but I've only tried with corn)

1/4 cup rice milk (soy milk, oat milk, whatever)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp of salt

2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix the oats, sugar, flour, and salt together. Make a well in the center and add the liquid ingredients. Fold together until everything is a big sticky mess.

3. Line your baking trays with aluminum foil or silpat sheets. Roll heaping 1 teaspoonfulls of dough into balls, then flatten into discs with damp fingers. These will spread a LOT! Leave at least 3 inches between cookies (I get 6 to a sheet).

4. Bake for 5-8 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely on the baking sheet, then carefully peel off.

5. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave or over a double boiler. Spread melted chocolate on the smooth side of the cookie, and stick another cookie (smooth side down) on top to make a sandwich. Squish them together a little so the chocolate oozes out the side and holes. Wait for them to set up, then eat!

Dark Chocolate Dipped Orange Cookies

I am a bad, bad blogger.

Here's the quick rundown from that last post to now -- the boy and I spent November jumping through all the hoops one has to jump through to buy a house, we closed on the house Dec 5, I had finals in until the 12th of December, I went to visit my parents on the 10th of December to help my mother out after some surgery (she's fine), then just got back this past Saturday and now we're stripping lots of wallpaper and trying to get the new house in order so we can move in January. On the positive side of things: I HAVE A HUGE KITCHEN! We're going to put in a big 6 burner gas stove so I can cook like crazy. I expect until I'm all settled, my posts will be few and far between, especially because I'm trying to cook all the food in the pantry so we have less to move. (My new pantry is also huge.) This results in a lot of random meals. BUT! We've been invited to a New Year's Party, and I've perfected my Dark Chocolate Dipped Orange Cookies and had to share.

These cookies are fantastic. They're sweet and tart and orangey, and the dark chocolate is a perfect compliment. You could, of course, just eat them without the chocolate... but why? The boy has declared these possibly his new favorite cookie, and that's high praise as he's a die hard peanut butter fan. And so, without further ado....


Dark Chocolate Dipped Orange Cookies
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp orange juice concentrate
The zest of one orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy yogurt -- plain or vanilla
2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

8 oz dark chocolate
1 tsp canola oil

1. In a large bowl, mix together the sugars, margarine, oil, OJ concentrate, orange zest, vanilla and soy yogurt with an electric mixer.

2. Add the flour, powder and salt and stir/mix until combined.

3. Refrigerate the dough at least 2 hours or until you get back to it.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking sheets by lightly spraying with cooking spray (or use Silpats).

5. Scoop out heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Flatten the ball with the bottom of a glass dusted with flour. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the edges of the cookie are golden brown. Let them cool on the cookie sheets for about 10 minutes until they harden up a bit, then cool completely on a cooking rack.

6. Break or chop up the dark chocolate if it is in bar form or large pieces. Add the 1 tsp of canola oil and melt it in the microwave or over a double boiler. (If microwaving -- microwave for one minute, stir a bunch, if it isn't all melted then microwave for another 30 seconds, stir a bunch more. If it still isn't all melted, melt in 20 second intervals until it's smooth. Be sure to stir a lot in between each microwaving because the remaining solid pieces will melt a lot in the already hot melted chocolate and you don't want to overmicrowave)

7. Dip or spread half of the cookie in chocolate, top and bottom. Set on wax paper to harden. The fridge will expedite this process.

An earlier prototype -- The texture wasn't quite right, but aren't they festive?

Gingerbread Cookies

I've been a bad blogger. I started a new job that is sucking my will to live via boredom from the lack of diverse tasks and at the end of the day I just collapse. I have a bunch of things to upload off of my camera, but in the meantime in celebration of summer...

GINGERBREAD!!

Christmas in June maybe? Ok, gingerbread is not the summeriest food around, but I love it so much, especially REAL honest to goodness gingerbread and not some brown sugar cookie with a bit of cinnamon in it. This gingerbread is full of blackstrap molasses, ground ginger and spices. It's a magic cookie, I think, because when they come out of the oven they are crunchy, but then they sit around for a day and they become soft and chewy. Here they're featured with a maple-cinnamon glaze -- which is just powdered sugar with cinnamon, thinned with maple syrup and rice milk. A nice lemon glaze would make them more summary, if you need an excuse to make Gingerbread in June. This recipe originally came off the internet somewhere and I haven't ever been able to locate it again so I don't have a better source than that.



Gingerbread Cookies
3 cups flour
3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) margarine, slightly soft, cut into 12 pieces
3/4 cup blackstrap molasses
2 tbsp rice milk

[The original recipe recommends doing this either in a food processor or with a stand mixer. I use my stand mixer cause I don't have a food processor... though I'm sure a hand mixer would work just as well. ]

Combine the dry ingredients. Add the margarine and mix/process until it resembles a fine meal (like a pie crust looks before you add the water). Gradually add in the molasses and milk, and mix until thoroughly combined. Split the dough into two pieces and refrigerate 2 hrs or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out to 1/4" thickness and cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters. Bake for 8-11 minutes until set in center and cookie barely retains imprint with gently touched with fingertip. Let them cool on the cookies sheets for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack.

Allow the cookies to cool completely before you ice them.

Good Cookies

Like everything but the kitchen sink in your cookies? You'll love these. Another recipe I jotted down from somewhere, they're simply labeled "Good Cookies." They've got an interesting combination of ingredients, and come out nice and chewy when they're cooled. It's kind of like an oatmeal cookie gone wild!! Don't ask me where the cereal comes in, but it works. All you can really say about them are "Wow, these are Good Cookies!"


Good Cookies
1/2 cup margarine, soft
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pureed silken tofu
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup Rice Krispies cereal
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/4 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together the margarine and sugars.

3. Add the pureed tofu and vanilla and mix to combine.

4. Beat in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

5. Fold in the cereal, oats, coconut, and pecans.

6. Drop by heaping tablespoonful onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Leave room for the cookies to spread!

7. Bake for 9-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is a mystery. I wrote it down in my cookbook-notebook many years ago, and of course didn't cite it. I haven't made it it in a long time though, mostly because the original calls for non-fat dry milk. As a splurge with my Co-op Member Appreciation Coupons this winter, I bought a canister of powdered soymilk for another recipe, and now that I've got it, I thought I'd try it out in this recipe as well. It worked! These cookies have a great melt-in-your-mouth texture straight out of the oven. Then stay soft and chewy even when they're cool, and the refreshing mint well offsets the rich chocolate. If you aren't a mint fan, leave it out, and have yourself a chocolate chocolate chip cookie instead!

Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup soymilk powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup margarine, soft
1 cup canola oil (or other flavorless vegetable oil)
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup pureed silken tofu
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1. Sift together the flours, cocoa, soymilk powder, baking soda, and salt

2. Cream the margarine, oil and sugars.

3. Beat the soymilk into the margarine mixture, then stir in the extracts.

4. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients.

5. Fold in the chocolate chips.

6. Drop by rounded tablespoonful onto a greased cookie sheet.

7. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before attempting to consume... or move.

** This dough is quite soft - Don't worry, it's fine! **

Perfect Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recently the boy said to me, "You know you've never just made chocolate chip cookies." It sounded like a fair assessment. I like putting *stuff* in them, like oats, or cherries and almonds, or pecans, or candy pieces, or peanut butter... you get the point. There is something to be said for a homemade plain old chocolate chip cookie though, and he was spot on with his request. These are magically delicious, and almost a week after making them, are still soft and tender. These are adapted from the back of the Ghirardeli bag.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (or 1/2 whole wheat pastry flour, 1/2 white)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup margarine, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup pureed silken tofu
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cream together margarine and sugars until fluffy. Add the tofu and vanilla and mix until incorporated.

3. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring well after each addition.

4. Add in the chocolate chips and stir to combine.


5. Using a cookie scoop (or a tablespoon), drop dough by scoop/spoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden.

Mmm... Hot out of the oven...

Rugelach

My mom has always been a fan of jam-and-piecrust tarts. My grandma used to make them out of piecrust scraps and whatever jam was in the house. Rugelach is similar to jam-and-piecrust tarts, and equally popular with my mother. It's a traditional Jewish cookie-type thing, with a rich, but not sweet, cream cheese dough rolled with a filling. I've seen chocolate and brown sugar cinnamon, as well as fruit and nut. These are a fruit and nut and cinnamon sugar rugelach, the recipe for which I stole and altered from one on epicurious.com. There are seemingly a bunch of steps, but it really isn't that hard to make, and the end product is definitely worth it!!

Rugelach
Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup softened Earth Balance (margarine)
8 oz tofutti cream cheese, softened

Filling:
1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup each apricot preserves and seedless raspberry jam (or whatever fruits you like, do try to use good jam though, not the HFCS crap)
1 1/4 cups walnuts finely chopped
Plain soy/rice milk for brushing cookies
4 tsp sugar, for sprinkling

1. Beat together margarine and tofutti cream cheese with an electric mixer (or in the trusty Kitchenaid!)

2. Add the flour and salt and stir until a soft dough ball forms

3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm -- at least 8 hrs.

*wait*

Preheat the oven to 35o degrees

4. Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into four portions. If you don't work fast with dough, put the other 3 back in the fridge wrapped up.

5. On a well floured clean counter (or whatever you normally would roll your pie crusts on), roll the dough out into a 12X18 inch rectangle. It's very important that it does not stick to your counter or your rolling pin. You don't want to have to reroll because the dough will get tough.

The rectangle need not be perfect

6. Spread 1/4 cup of jam/preserves evenly over the rectangle

This one is Apricot. Note the chunks of Apricot. They won't hurt anything.

7. Sprinkle a heaping 1/4 cup of walnuts over the jam.

8. Sprinkle 2 tbsp cinnamon sugar over the nuts and jam

9. Starting with whatever LONG side looks easier to you, begin rolling the dough up, jelly roll style. Again, you want to roll the long side, not the short side. It should be 18 inches long in the end.


10. Place your Rugelach-Log on a lightly greased baking sheet (you'll thank me when the jam melts), and repeat with other 3 balls of dough. When you've got all 4 logs done, refrigerate them for about 20 minutes to firm up the dough again.



11. Once out of the fridge, brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with reserved tsp of sugar. Then cut the logs at approximately 1 inch intervals, but do not cut all the way through the dough! I alternate doing them on the diagonal so I get triangle cookies. You could do them straight too to get rectangle cookies. I've also found a pizza cutter in a stabbing motion works better than a knife.

12. Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown. Wait as as long as you can for them to cool, then cut them the rest of the way though.

Mmm.. I wish I was eating one right now.