​HIPSTER VEGAN CHRISTMAS COOKIES, SHHH... KNOW ONE WILL EVEN KNOW

​HIPSTER VEGAN CHRISTMAS COOKIES, SHHH... KNOW ONE WILL EVEN KNOW

I went a little wild testing some vegan cookie recipes this weekend.

I am after all hosting Christmas eve this year and I love cookies, so I wanted to make sure I was properly prepped to do some killer entertaining, enjoy some treats and adhere to my plant-based intentions.

I had posted about being disappointed in myself over Thanksgiving, because I let the circumstances and my fear of not belonging take over my food decision making. 

I vowed the next holiday would be on my terms, while still including everyone.

So on to the Cookies!

Vegan SuGar Cookies

These were awesomely easy, we refrigerated the dough for about an hour before rolling it out.

I would probably add a little vegan butter to the icing next time.

As is, the icing was great for a drizzle, but the flavor was a bit flat. I guess I just prefer a creamier frosting.

Totally kid friendly. K helped me from start to finish.

COOKIES

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 cups Sugar
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup  Vegan Butter (we used Earth Balance sticks)
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1/4 tsp Almond Extract
• 2-5 Tbsp Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk, add bit by bit for the right consistency  (we used Good Karma flax milk)

ICING

• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tbsp Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk  (we used Good Karma flax milk)

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1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C)
2. Cream the vegan butter and sugar together and then add the vanilla extract and almond extract.
3. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking soda and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in by hand until crumbly. Add soy milk and mix in to create a big ball of dough. If your mix is too crumbly to form a ball of dough, add in a little more soy milk until it does.
5. Flour your hands and a baking mat and transfer the ball of dough to the baking mat.
6. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to around 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, dip a cookie cutter into flour so it doesn’t stick and cut out your cookies. Transfer the cookies to a parchment lined baking tray. With the remaining dough, form it into a ball and then roll it out again and repeat.
7. If you want round cookies and don’t want to make shapes, then you don’t need to roll out the dough, you can simply tear off pieces of the dough and roll into balls and place the balls onto a parchment lined baking tray. Flour the bottom of a glass and use that to press down on the balls to flatten them neatly before baking.
8. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before decorating.
10. Prepare your decorating frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vanilla and soy milk to an electric mixing bowl. Start on low speed and gradually increase speed until smooth. If you need a little more soy milk then add it a drop at a time so that you don’t use too much. The consistency will be very sticky, almost gluey. Separate into 2 bowls. Add a drop of food coloring into each bowl and mix in.
11. Decorate the cookies and allow to set before serving.

Vegan Molasses-Spice cookies

These are my favorite!

They are super spicy and chewy,  and smell like Christmas.

Perfect for getting into that Holiday state of mind.

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) vegan butter, softened We used Earth Balance sticks
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup Course sugar (Turbinado) for rolling cookies
• 1 chia egg (1 T chia seeds soaked in 2.5T water for 5 minutes)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup molasses

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1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Vigorously whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice in a bowl and set aside.
2 Use an electric mixer and beat the butter for 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes with mixer set at medium speed. Add egg, vanilla extract, and molasses. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.
3 Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Dough is pretty sticky
4 Place remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Working with 2 Tbsp of dough each time, roll dough into 1 3/4 inch balls. Roll balls in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart.
5 Bake until the outer edges of the cookies begin to set and centers are soft and puffy, about 11 to 13 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring them to cooling racks . (We did 13 minutes and they were great!)
Note: do not overcook. The centers of the cookies should be somewhat soft and spongy when you take them out of the oven, otherwise they will end up hard and dry.