Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Treats (10 page)

Morsels

 

A lazy way to toast pecans is to
make use of that preheating oven,
since nuts like to be toasted in low heat.
Spread them on a cookie sheet and 5 minutes
into turning the oven on, pop the sheet right in.
Bake for 6 to 10 minutes, watching very carefully!
Nuts should be fragrant and just barely
browned. Remove the nuts from the oven
and allow them to cool before chopping
or breaking into smaller
pieces, if necessary.

 

1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup nonhydrogenated vegetable
shortening
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup oat flour (make your own by
whirring rolled oats in a food
processor)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

1. First, reduce the pumpkin. Place it in a saucepan over medium heat for about 45 minutes. Keep the heat low enough that it doesn’t boil, but it should appear to be steaming. Stir often. After about 30 minutes, spoon the pumpkin into a liquid measuring cup to check on how much it has reduced. It should be down to around ⅔ cup at this point. Return the pumpkin to pot to cook until it has reduced to ½ cup. Set aside to cool completely.

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

3. In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together the shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in the cooled pumpkin and vanilla.

4. Sift in all remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Spoon onto cookie sheets in rounded tablespoons of dough, flattening the tops with your hand. Arrange a few pumpkin seeds in the centers, if you like.

5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Morsels

 

Look for instant Italian espresso
powder at gourmet markets
in the coffee aisle or even in the baking
aisles at fancy supermarkets. Instant espresso
powder has a rich, concentrated
flavor that’s magical in baked goods.
If you can’t find it, it’s okay to substitute
instant coffee granules;
the flavor will just not be
as intense.

 

½ cup nondairy milk
½ cup canola oil
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
⅓ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
⅔ cups all-purpose flour
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1¾ cups quick-cooking oats
¾ cup chocolate chips

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

2. In a large bowl, mix together non - dairy milk, oil, flax seeds, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Sift in flour, cinnamon, espresso powder, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add quick-cooking oats and chocolate chips and stir until all ingredients are moistened.

3. Drop generous tablespoons of dough about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake for 14 minutes, until cookies are slightly puffed and the edges appear dry.

4. Let the cookies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Store in a loosely covered container.

Macadamia Ginger Crunch Drops

Morsels

Substitute more
vanilla extract if
there’s no coconut
to be had.

 

 

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

2. In a medium-size bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.

3. In a large bowl, beat together oil, sugar, brown sugar, nondairy milk, flax seeds, and the vanilla and coconut extracts. Fold in the flour mixture and mix to moisten. Just before mixture is completely combined, fold in the macadamia nuts and ginger.

4. For each cookie, drop 1 generous tablespoon of dough onto the cookie sheet. The dough will be sticky and thick. Leave about 2 inches of space between each cookie.

5. Bake for 14 minutes until edges start to brown. Let the cookies rest on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to complete cooling. Store in a tightly covered container.

1 very ripe medium banana
⅓ cup canola oil
⅔ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose
flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups quick-cooking (
not
instant)
oatmeal or rolled oats
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets.

2. In a mixing bowl, mash the banana well. You can use a fork for this, but your hands work well, too. Add the oil, sugar, and vanilla and mix with a strong fork. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Add the oatmeal, walnuts, and chocolate chips and mix well. It’s actually good to use your hands for mixing when using oatmeal, that way you make sure that the oats get nice and moist. If the dough is very slippery you might want to add a few tablespoons extra flour—it really depends on how big your banana was.

3. Clean your hands and roll the dough into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball. Flatten it a bit in your hands and place each ball about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.