Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Treats (26 page)

½ cup nonhydrogenated vegetable
shortening
½ cup nonhydrogenated margarine,
slightly softened
¾ cup powdered sugar, sifted
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
A generous pinch each ground
coriander and ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chai tea leaf blend, about the
contents of 1 tea bag
4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
or generous ½ cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Using electric beaters in a large bowl, cream together the shortening and margarine till smooth. Fold in the powdered sugar and vanilla, then cream again with beaters till smooth and creamy.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, coriander, pepper, baking soda, salt, and optional chai tea. Fold half this mixture into the creamed shortening mixture to moisten all ingredients. Fold in the remaining flour mixture till a dense dough forms. Fold in the chocolate; knead the dough three or four times to completely incorporate the chocolate.

4. Divide the dough and form two logs approximately 8 x 3 inches and about ½ inch thick. With a thin, sharp knife carefully slice logs into ½-inch-thick slices. Use a spatula to carefully transfer the slices to baking sheets, placing each slice about 2 inches apart. If a slice crumbles during slicing or transfer, simply press any crumbling bits into the cookie slice when it’s on the sheet.

5. Bake shortbread for 12 to 14 minutes till slightly puffed yet firm and the edges are just turning golden. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before using a spatula to transfer them to wire racks.

Morsels

 

✦ You may encounter some frustrating crumbliness when slicing this dough while attempting to slice through chunky chocolate chips. A better solution is to use finely chopped dark chocolate instead of chips. Use a heavy knife to chop by hand either a chocolate bar or chocolate chips to create fine bits of chocolate.

✦ If the dough is very soft and difficult to work with, try chilling it after forming logs. Chill for 30 minutes before slicing.

½ cup canola oil
2 cups strong, thick black coffee, cooled
to room temp
⅓ cup molasses
⅔ cup sugar, plus additional for
sprinkling
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
A generous pinch finely ground black
pepper
½ teaspoon salt
1 generous cup dark raisins

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, coffee, molasses, and sugar until thick. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, black pepper, and salt. Fold in the dry ingredients till almost completely moistened, then fold in the raisins till a soft dough forms.

2. Chill the dough in the refrigerator (no need to remove from the bowl) for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. After dough is chilled, lightly moisten your hands and divide the dough in half. Form it into two logs on top of parchment paper, each measuring about 13 inches long and 3½ inches wide. Leave 3 to 4 inches of room between logs as the dough will spread when baking. Sprinkle the tops of logs with additional sugar and gently press into dough.

4. Bake 24 to 26 minutes until the edges are lightly browned and the logs feel slightly firm. Cracked tops are fine, even traditionally desired with this cookie. Allow the logs to cool for 15 minutes, then with scissors or a sharp knife slice the parchment paper between the logs in two. Gently slide each log with its parchment paper onto a cutting board. With a sharp knife, slice the logs into 2-inch-wide slices, using a single downward motion with the knife. Carefully move each slice onto wire racks to complete cooling.

½ cup fresh mint leaves, lightly packed
½ cup nonhydrogenated margarine,
softened
½ cup nonhydrogenated vegetable
shortening
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon mint extract
¼ cup nondairy milk
1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips (lightly chop chips
if they are very large; this will make
slicing the dough much easier)

1. Wash the mint leaves and pat them dry with a towel or spin them in a salad spinner. Remove any stems and with a heavy knife mince the leaves very fine.

2. In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, cream together the margarine, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl often. Beat in the vanilla and mint extracts. Add nondairy milk and beat until creamy. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda and mix to form a soft dough. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the finely chopped mint and chocolate chips. Dough will be slightly sticky.

3. Scrape the dough, with a rubber spatula, onto a large sheet of wax paper. Form a log about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long, taking hold of the ends of the wax paper and gently tugging to create a rounder log of dough. Wrap and tuck in the ends of the wax paper and chill the dough till very firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice the dough into ½-inch-thick slices, place them at least 2 inches apart on the sheets (cookies will spread), and bake 12 to 14 minutes till the edges start to brown. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool 5 minutes before carefully lifting them with a spatula onto wire racks to cool. Store in a loosely covered container.

Morsels

 

For best results really
chop that mint very fine,
as fine as you possibly can.
Tiny specks of green leaves
look cuter than
large ones.

 

½ cup nonhydrogenated margarine
¼ cup nonhydrogenated vegetable
shortening
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup fresh red grapefruit juice
1 tablespoon red grapefruit zest
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

1. In a large mixing bowl, with a hand mixer on medium speed, cream together the margarine and shortening. Beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla, grapefruit juice, and grapefruit zest. Add flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt and beat until a soft dough forms.

2. On a piece of parchment paper form the dough into a log about 14 inches long. Roll the log up in parchment paper and rotate it, pressing the dough to square off the sides. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

4. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut the rectangle into slices just under ½ inch thick; place them on the cookie sheets. The end slices are going to be a little wacky; that’s okay, just discard them or make two weird-looking cookies.

Frosted Grapefruit Icebox Cookies