Saturday, April 28, 2012

"Yo Dawg" Oreo Cookies

This cookie was born about a month ago when we had extra Oreos that no one wanted to eat. So, naturally, I baked them into something! Since then, everyone who's tried them has pestered me constantly to make them again, and again, and again. These are especially good with mint Oreos.

Equipment: Oven, bowl, spoon, measuring devices, pan.

Ingredients:
1/2 c vegan butter (Earth Balance; or an equal amount of canola oil)
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp chocolate extract (optional; throw in some mint extract if baking with mint Oreos)
1/4 c potato starch mixed with 1 c water (equivalent of 8 eggs)
3/4 c cocoa powder (I always use Hershey's special dark)
2 tsp baking soda (or 3 tsp baking powder)
2 c flour
8 double stuf Oreos (the minimum requirement, of course)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar and extracts. Rigorously mix the potato starch and water with a fork in a separate bowl, then add to the butter mixture. Add the cocoa powder and baking soda. Finally add the flour and mix until a dough consistency is achieved. Crush up the Oreos; quarter-sized pieces are perfect. Knead them into the dough. Grease a cookie sheet. Form 2 tbsp of dough into a ball, then squash a little. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes; it's hard to tell when the cookies are done, so I'd suggest trying one after 10 minutes to make sure it's been cooked all the way through. Feel free to share these, but be aware that you may gain a few stalkers if you do.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Settlers of Catan Cookies


So, apparently I never put up my FAVORITE vegan sugar cookie recipe! This recipe is adapted from Perfect Vegan Sugar Cookies, and it is one of the few recipes that I don't mess with, because they actually are perfect. They work great in all kinds of shapes, and you can get really fancy with them. Anyways, here's the recipe:

Equipment:
Oven, cookie sheet, large mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons. (For fancy cookies: rolling pin/wine bottle, cookie cutters, lots of little bowls, toothpicks, ziplock bags and scissors).

Ingredients
Cookies:
1c vegan butter
1 c sugar
2 eggs (1 tbsp egg replacer, corn starch or potato starch mixed with 2 tbsp water, or mixed in dry if you're lazy like me.)
1 tsp vanilla
1 one-serving container of coconut yogurt (or soy yogurt, or 1/4 c vegan cream cheese or sour cream)
2 tsp baking powder (or 2 tsp baking soda with a little more corn starch, potoato starch, or egg replacer powder)
4 c flour (an estimate, add as much as you need to get the consistency you want)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 F. Warm or melt the butter. Mix in the sugar, egg equivalent, and vanilla. Add the yogurt/cream cheese/sour cream and mix until combined. Mix in the baking powder. Add flour two cups at a time, mixing first with a spoon, then kneading with your hands until the dough is pliable, but stays together very well. If you are cutting cookies in shapes, roll out the dough (I use an empty wine bottle for a rolling pin), then use cookie cutters (or a Settlers piece wrapped in foil) to cut the cookies into the right shapes. Cookies can be baked pretty close, since they don't spread, for 10-15 minutes, just until they start turning golden brown on the edges. Let the cookies cool for at least an hour, then prepare the icing.

Icing:
Vegan milk
Corn syrup
Powdered sugar
Flavor extracts (I like almond, but anything will taste good)
Food coloring

Mix together the milk, corn syrup, and powdered sugar until you get a thick icing (you really just have to experiment with proportions, but start with a few cups of powdered sugar, 2 tbsp milk and 1 tbsp corn syrup, then adjust based on how the cookies are coming out.) Add flavor extracts and food coloring. Once cookies are thoroughly cooled, dip them in the icing, then hold them upside down for a few seconds to let the excess drip off, and put them on a covered surface to dry.
For fancy cookies, use plastic bags as icing bags or toothpicks to add details. If you decorate while the icing is still drying, the colors will mix a bit, and the icing will be smooth. If done correctly it can look really cool and professional. If that doesn't work, wait for the icing to dry for at least an hour, then decorate with other colors on top of the dry icing.