chocolate sugar cookies (aquafaba recipe)

It is officially fall! And the very first holiday we encounter is Halloween. As someone with children, especially vegan children, Halloween has always been important to me because of all the treats that they encounter that aren't vegan.

I remember when they were very little and we'd go trick or treating; they would go up to the houses, get their "treats" and when we got back to the house, we would trade their non-vegan (or non-vegetarian many times!) with our homemade or online-bought (no luck finding anything in stores at the time) vegan treats.

In a way, it was a double bonus for them because they got two activities for the price of one. As they got older, they went with their friends and traded candy with them instead of us. Luckily for us, they never felt cheated out of all the non-vegan treats; our kids always knew why we were vegan. Of course, at that young age, it wasn't in graphic detail, but simply because eating animals is wrong.

Now that they are older (youngest will be 17 in February) and all in college, the only thing that has changed is that they no longer trick or treat - not that some of them still don't want to! The "treat" part is still on their minds, however, and when the treats are adorable in one way or another, it makes it all the better.

These cookies are just fun enough to treat adults and kids alike - and they go over well with the cook, too. This is a very easy chocolate sugar cookie to throw together, roll and bake.

This is a chilled dough, so it is important to plan accordingly. This batch will make about 30 to 40 cut cookies.

Roll them to be just a tad thicker than 1/4-inch and bake them for about 10 minutes. Cool them on the baking tray until they firm up, about 3 minutes, and cool them completely on a cooling rack before icing.

There you have it! Happy Halloween!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Makes about 30 to 40 cut cookies

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) vegan butter
3 tablespoons aquafaba**
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa, regular or Dutch-processed***
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Vegan frosting or royal icing, for decoration

1. Combine the sugar and butter in a medium bowl. Cream the ingredients together using an electric hand mixer until homogenous. Add the aquafaba and vanilla and mix again. 
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder into a small bowl. Sifting will eliminate the lumps in the cocoa.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Transfer the batter to a wax paper and fold over well. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F.  Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a little thicker than 1/4-inch. If the dough is breaking a bit, set aside to warm up for a few minutes. Cut the dough using cookie cutters and transfer to a baking sheet prepared with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to firm up on the baking sheet for 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack until completely cool to the touch.
4. Decorate the cookies using frosting or royal icing. If using royal icing, allow to completely dry before stacking. 

** Although aquafaba is best if homemade using the recipe provided in the book, you can use aquafaba from canned chickpeas. Use the organic, low-sodium, canned chickpeas and strain off the liquid into a measuring cup using a fine mesh strainer. Note the amount of liquid you acquired, then add it to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the liquid reduces by 1/3. Cool the aquafaba completely before using.

*** Dutch-processed cocoa is lighter in color and less bitter because it is alkalized. Regular cocoa will make a darker cookie, but it is a bit more bitter and more harsh in flavor. 

© 2016 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

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NYC black and white cookies

 Lit Group selection this week was "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Given that the protagonist is also the antagonist, it seemed fitting to bake a cookie that embodied close to the same quality. Of course, Jekyll and Hyde are not complete opposites, although many do consider them to be - the good v. the bad, to use a cliche. Hyde is a part of Jekyll, but not an equal part. Therefore, my cookie being half black and half white does not serve the book accurately, but the teens certainly enjoyed them.

These are not small cookies - they each use a 1/3 c of batter, and I made 26. Except for the one I managed to hide in the oven for David, there remained only a lonely half-eaten piece by the time Lit Group was over.

Out of  Moskowitz's and Romero's "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar " cookbook, another success! These are citrus cookies with chocolate on one side and glaze on the other. And, in case you've missed past cookie posts - no  eggs or egg-replacers are needed. Occasionally some recipes use flax seed as a replacer, but no commercial egg-replacers are used by the authors.

Cost Breakdown:

powdered sugar: $2

chocolate: $2

nut milk: $.50

citrus juice, zest; $1

oil, sugar: $2

flour, arrowroot, baking powder and soda: $1.50

Total to bake 16 large cookies:

$9.00

mexican snickerdoodles - gluten free

Not only did I bake cookies that were gluten, nut, dairy and egg free, but I also made them without bean flour! I would love to take the credit, but Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Moskowitz and Romero beat me to it. They use a combo of coconut flour, white rice flour, millet flour, cornstarch and flax meal to sub for the gluten.

I love it! No bean flour.

I made the Mexican Snickerdoodles out of the book and while they say to sub the GF flour on a one to one ratio, I found that the batter needed a little more. Next time I will try refrigerating the batter for a bit since coconut flour absorbs liquid very well and giving it some time might help.

The cayenne pepper in the batter was a little too much for the kids, though, so if you are planning on making them with kids in mind, skip the cayenne. I had made two batches for my group, in case the pepper was too spicy.

The kids loved them and I had no complaints. I'm loving this book :)

Cost Breakdown:

coconut, rice flour, millet flour: $2

cornstarch: $.50

maple syrup, cocoa powder: $1.50

sugar, oil, baking soda: $1.50

Total to make 24 cookies:

$5.50

milanos cookies

I baked these Milanos cookies for the Lit Group this week. This is a recipe out of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Moskowitz and Romero.

What is fabulous about this book - besides all of the delectable recipes - is that the authors make it clear that not only are eggs not needed in cookie recipes, but neither is the boxed egg-replacer. What a fabulous revelation! No more whipping the egg-replacer! I am free of that extra, annoying step, not to mention the cost involved :)

Starch is the binder or ground flax seeds. In these cookies, it was just cornstarch! I baked 40 cookies - there was not a single one left after the book club - except for the ones I hid for David, who, btw, thought they were very authentic, these having been his favorite cookies.

Have I mentioned how easy they were to make? I don't think I have made an easier cookie, with less ingredients involved, than these 3 batches. A true pleasure and a heartfelt gratitude to those two geniuses. I can't wait to make something else - and neither can the kids.

Cost Breakdown:

flour, cornstarch, baking powder: $1.50

vanilla, almond milk, orange zest: $.50

chocolate: $1.50

Total to make 18 cookies (1 batch):

$3.50