Cookies, cookies, and more cookies!

Most people know that I love to bake. I bake cupcakes and cookies predominantly, but also love to bake dog treats. I have an excellent taste tester in my dog, Huckleberry.

For New Year's, I decided to make some cookies. I had made cupcakes (3 dozen) for Christmas and gave them away to my co-workers at Senior Helpers and to the human owners of Huckleberry's best buds. I used recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World and The Joy of Vegan Baking to create Chocolate with Peanut Butter frosting, Strawberry with Strawberry Buttercream, and Maple Pecan with Maple Cream Cheese frosting. The PB frosting was divine! Huck helped me finish that off. (The great thing about vegan baking, besides it being delish, is that you don't have to worry about raw eggs and Salmonella so you can eat the raw dough and frosting.)

As for the cookies, Huck reminded me that we forgot to give our friends at Ark Pet Hospital some goodies. (Yes, I speak dog.) After putting our heads together, we came up with 3 options (all vegan natch). 


First up, Maple Almond Butter Chocolate Chip. These cookies have ZERO oil so you can feel good about eating them. They also have fiber and Omega 3s thanks to the addition of flax seeds (that's the binder in place of eggs).

INGREDIENTS
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp maple flavored extract (you could sub maple syrup)
3/4 cup almond butter (I used unprocessed almond butter from Winco's grinder)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tbsp flax meal plus 3 Tbsp water
1/2 c chocolate chips (I used semisweet)

Non-dairy milk as needed (I used coconut milk)


DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl mix the flax meal and water. In a stand mixer, cream the almond butter and brown sugar until well combined. Add the maple extract and flax meal mixture and mix again. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: whole wheat flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Slowly add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips by hand (a spoon is pointless, so don't be afraid to get in there with your hands to smoosh the chips into the mixture). 


Using your hands, grab a chunk about the size of a golf ball, roll it between your hands, flattening it slightly and then place it on a greased baking sheet.


Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. 


These cookies will be chewy thanks to the flax meal and whole wheat flour.


Next up, Chocolate Chip cookies with no nuts. This recipe is from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (pg. 35).


Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes two dozen two inch cookies or about 16 three inch cookies.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

2/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)

1 tablespoon tapioca flour

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

Mix together sugars, oil, milk, and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important that you don’t get lazy about that step. Mix in the vanilla.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stuff so use your hands to really work them in.


For 3 inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes – no more than 9 – until they are just a little browned around the edges. I usually get 16 out of these so I do two rounds of eight cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.


For 2 dozen two inch cookies roll dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches and bake for only six minutes.


Finally, quite possibly the best cookie. E.V.E.R. This cookie is from the fantastic cookbook, The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (she has several - check her out!!)


I changed up the nuts - I used pecans instead of walnuts. If you're a crazy cookie traditionalist, use walnuts. Rock on with your bad self.

INGREDIENTS

4 and 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer (equivalent of 3 eggs)
6 tablespoons Water

1 cup non-hydrogenated, nondairy butter (I use Earth Balance), softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar (I used dark)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 cups nondairy semisweet chocolate chips (I used organic dark chocolate chips)
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or use a non-stick cookie/baking sheet. 

In a food processor or blender, whip the egg replacer powder and water together, until it’s thick and creamy. I used the whisk attachment on my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and let it run while I got everything else together. You want it to get frothy and creamy like whipped cream. Move the mixture to another bowl. Wipe the mixing bowl clean (or don't bother - I didn't). 

Cream together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add the egg replacer mixture to the creamed butter and sugar and thoroughly combine. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Gradually beat the flour mixture into the wet mixture until it begins to form a dough. When it is almost thoroughly combined, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using.

Bake 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let stand for 2 minutes on the baking sheet; then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely before storing. 

Try not to eat them all. I dare you!!