Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook (84 page)

Read Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook Online

Authors: Isa Chandra Moskowitz,Terry Hope Romero

Tags: #food.cookbooks

TIME:
35 MINUTES
 
 
It’s official—everyone loves the combination of chocolate and raspberry. These cookies are soft, dense, chewy, and just a little puffy. They’re wonderful as ice-cream sandwich cookies.
½ cup raspberry preserves
1 cup sugar
⅓ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa pow-
der (sifted if clumpy)
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
 
PREHEAT THE oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the raspberry preserves, sugar, canola oil, vanilla, and almond extract.
In a separate mixing bowl, sift together the other ingredients. Add the dry to the wet in three batches, mixing well with a fork after each addition. When you get to the last batch, you may need to use your hands to work the batter into a soft and pliable dough.
Roll the dough into walnut-size balls and then flat ten them with your hands into 2½-inch-diameter disks. Place on a cookie sheet (they need be only inch apart because they don’t spread out when baking). Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. You can also serve these cookies still warm over a scoop of ice cream. Or three.
FIG SMUSHED-ANISE-ALMOND COOKIES
 
MAKES 24 COOKIES
TIME:
40 MINUTES
 
 
You could call these Koala Noses because that’s what they look like. Using demerara sugar adds a slight brown-sugar taste and a little crunch because the crystals are bigger than normal sugar, but you can use turbinado sugar (as available in supermarkets as Sugar in the Raw) or even regular old granulated if that’s what you have; just cut back on it by two tablespoons or so. These cookies are crispy outside, chewy inside, and the anise pairs beautifully with the fruity figs. Plus, they will have your kitchen smelling like an Italian bakery.
¼ cup soy milk
2 teaspoons ground flaxseed, or 1½ teaspoons
whole flaxseeds
1¼ cups demerara sugar
⅔ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon anise extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup finely chopped almonds (start with slivers or
sliced to make your life easier)
12 dried black mission figs, rough stem removed, cut
in half lengthwise
 
PREHEAT THE oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets.
If using preground flaxseeds, place in a mixing bowl and beat vigorously with the soy milk. If using whole flaxseeds, grind them up in a blender and then add the soy milk. Blend until frothy. Add to the mixing bowl and proceed with the recipe.
Add the sugar and oil to the mixing bowl and beat until emulsified. Mix in the vanilla.
Add about 1 cup of the flour along with the baking powder and salt. Mix well. Add the remaining flour and mix. Fold in the chopped almonds. At this point a hand blender might not work, so use a wooden spoon or your hands.
Loosely roll the dough into golf ball-size balls, then flatten them with your hands into 2-inch-diameter cookies. Place on a cookie sheet and gently but firmly smush a fig half, cut side down, into the center of each cookie.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. The fig should be soft and the cookies should be golden brown on the bottom. The tops don’t brown much.
Remove from the oven and let sit on the sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
TERRY’S FAVORITE ALMOND COOKIE
 
MAKES 24 COOKIES
TIME:
35 MINUTES
 
 
Terry says, “Calling this cookie ‘my favorite’ makes it sound like I’ve been searching far and wide for the ultimate almond cookie. Which is sort of true; almonds usually find their way into my favorite desserts and snacks. These crisp cookies are inspired by the kind one might find in their local Chinatown; flat, crunchy, with a distinctive almond aroma but without the obvious texture of chopped almonds. They rely on the subtle presence of almond meal and almond extract to give them that special flavor.”
 
➣
This recipe makes large cookies (good forfor sandwiches). Make smaller cookies by using just 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie and reducing the baking time by 2 minutes.
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup almond meal or ground almonds
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup canola or peanut oil, or a mixture of the two
¼ cup brown rice syrup
¼ cup rice or soy milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons almond extract
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
⅓ cup sliced, blanched almonds
 
PREHEAT THE oven to 350°F. Grease two large cookie sheets.
Sift together the flour, almond meal, baking soda, and salt, and set aside. In a large bowl, beat together the oil, brown rice syrup, rice milk, sugar, extracts, and sesame oil. Add the flour mixture and mix until a firm dough forms.
Roll the dough into balls, using about 2 tablespoons of dough apiece. Press one side of each ball into the sliced almonds and place at least 2 inches apart, almond side up, on a cookie sheet. Flatten each ball to about an inch thick (a flat-bottomed 1-cup measuring cup works great for this). Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until slightly golden brown on edges.
Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from the sheets; the cookies will be very soft when first out of the oven but will firm up while cooling. Let cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
CHOCOLATE-CHOCOLATE CHIP-WALNUT COOKIES
 
MAKES 36 COOKIES
TIME:
30 MINUTES
 
 
Deep, dark, chocolaty and nutty, this is a perfect (soy)milk and cookies cookie for chocolate lovers. The recipe is incredibly versatile, so check out some of the variations.
 
➣
If you don’t have flaxseeds, you can leave them out of the recipe. The cookies will be a bit less chewy but still yummy!
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup canola oil
1½ cups sugar
4 teaspoons ground flaxseeds
½ cup soy milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
¾ cup vegan chocolate chips
¾ cup walnuts, chopped small
 
PREHEAT THE oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate large bowl, mix together the oil and sugar. Add the flaxseeds, soy milk, and vanilla, and mix well.
Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When the batter starts to get too stiff to mix with a fork, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts, and mix with your hands again. Your hands will get covered in chocolate, but worse things have happened.
Wash your hands and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and flatten into disks about 1½ inches in diameter. Place about an inch apart on the lined cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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