Last night one of my friends celebrated her 22nd birthday. It was a dual party- a celebration of her birthday as well as the upcoming holiday, Halloween. It was a really small, intimate get-together. We met up at her quaint Church Hill apartment and everyone
brought along a dish to share. The twist- a significant portion of the people attending the party were vegan/vegetarian.
I am not vegan or vegetarian and until recently I really only knew 2 or 3 people who would actually consider themselves "vegetarian." Over the past 6 months, however, as I've gotten to know my new friends, I've also gotten better acquainted with the vegan subculture and, of course, vegan baking.
For most bakers, the idea of working without eggs, butter or milk is daunting but, let me assure you, it is completely possible to create delicious masterpieces without the help of dairy products; it's often healthier for you anyway. Below are two very easy cookie recipes that I've recently used to bake a nice fall treat for my vegan buddies. Vegans aren't the only ones who can enjoy these cookies- share them with your nonvegan family members, friends or coworkers, I'm sure they won't be able to tell the difference!
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| Courtesy of Ely Rusiecki |
(Adapted from cookiemadness.net/)
1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/4 and 1/8 tsp Salt3/4 cup packed Brown sugar
6 Tbsp Vegetable oil
3 Tbsp Honey/Agave nectar3/4 tsp Vanilla extract
3 Tbsp Unsweetened apple sauce
3/4 cup Natural peanut butter (e.g. Smart Balance)
In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt.
In a second bowl, mix the brown sugar, vegetable oil, honey, vanilla, apple sauce and peanut butter. Stir until smooth. I prefer to use honey in this recipe but some vegans are strongly against honey, due to the poor treatment most bees face. A good idea is always to ask. If you're willing to spend a little money, you can always use agave nectar which has a similar taste/consistency of honey but is actually made from plants.
Add the flour mixture to the brown sugar mixture. Stir until well mixed. Form the dough into tiny balls and place them onto ungreased cookie sheets. Use a fork to create a cross-hatch pattern.
Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes.
Let the cookies sit 3-5 minutes after taking them out of the oven, transfer them to a wire rack to continue cooling. Makes 32 cookies.
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| Courtesy of Ely Rusiecki |
(Adapated from ChooseVeg.com)
1 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
1 Tbsp Vanilla
1 Tbsp Maple syrup
1 tsp Almond extract
Egg replacer, 1 egg
Cinnamon and Sugar
Mix the flour, sugar, soda and salt together in a bowl.
In a second bowl, mix the vegetable oil, vanilla, maple syrup, almond extract and the egg replacer. For those people new to vegan baking, egg replacer is a powder-like substance that, obviously, is used to "replace" the eggs in a recipe. A good brand is Ener-G Egg Replacer, which can be usually be found in Kroger, Whole Foods or any specialty food store.
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. Stir until well mixed. Form the dough into tiny balls and then roll them through a cinnamon and sugar mixture. Place the cookies onto greased cookie sheets. Flatten them slightly, so they can bake more evenly.
Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.
Let the cookies sit 3-5 minutes after taking them out of the oven, transfer them to a wire rack to continue cooling. Makes 18 cookies.
