Vegan Cookie Recipie for the Holidays
By Peggy Rynk
Recipe Index
The fragrance of homemade cookies just out of the oven or the sight of a freshly filled cookie jar is enough to bring joy to the hearts of both children and adults. And munching on them while they’re still warm is a pure delight.
Cookies come in great varieties, and most are easy to make. They can be crisp or chewy, soft or firm, moist or crumbly. Most of us have our favorites, too, whether they’re chocolate chip, peanut butter, lemon, or another kind entirely. Most cookies are a welcome dessert or snack, pack easily into lunch boxes and knapsacks, and look beautiful piled onto a decorative plate when company comes. When my son was small, I always kept a supply of fresh, homemade cookies (along with chilled fruit juices) on hand for him to share with his friends.
When time is limited—as it often is—you can still easily make fresh cookies for yourself, your family, and your guests. Just choose a bar cookie recipe or an icebox one. Bar cookie batter can be stirred up in just a few minutes, baked for about a half-hour in most cases, then cut as soon as they cool a bit. Icebox cookie dough can be put together a day or two ahead, shaped into rolls, wrapped in plastic wrap, then chilled until you’re ready to bake them. This can be at the very last minute if you want the fragrance to waft through the house as guests arrive.
If you come across a non-vegan cookie recipe you would like to adapt, this is simple to do in most cases. Cornstarch and arrowroot powder (found in Asian and natural foods stores) both work well as egg substitutes. Use approximately 2 Tablespoons of either one for each egg the recipe calls for, and mix in with the dry ingredients. Then, add a little extra liquid—soymilk or fruit juice, for example—when adding the wet ingredients. Nonhydrogenated vegan margarines (be sure to read the label) easily replace butter.
Cookie-making leaves lots of room for creativity. Use the ingredients you like. If you prefer one extract over another—almond instead of vanilla, perhaps—use it. If a recipe calls for raisins and you prefer dried cherries, use the cherries. You can substitute whole wheat pastry flour for all-purpose—and vice versa—if you choose. Bread flour will also work.
When baking, you can use whatever cookie sheets and pans you have on hand. It’s helpful to know that the lighter the color of the sheets or pans, the less heat they hold—and, therefore, the more delicately browned the finished cookies will be. If you’re shopping for new cookie sheets, consider buying insulated ones and line them with parchment paper when you use them. The cookies will have beautifully golden bottoms, and you won’t have to grease the cookie sheets or the parchment paper.
Many cookies, even those that contain only two or three grams of fat each, may contain more fat than you’d like if you’re tempted to eat them by the fistful. Therefore, a good way to serve them is to place two or three on a dessert plate beside a dish of fruit sorbet or ices or chilled fresh fruit. Cookies are excellent, too, with hot tea.
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