Vegan Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I have been making a lot of oatmeal cookies especially with almond butter lately. I think I am craving peanut butter cookies but since P hates peanut butter I don't think that would go over so well. These cookies were super tasty and moist but didn't have the almond butter kick I was looking for...the quest continues. 

 Vegan Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies
From Alien's Day Out
Makes 24 - 26 cookies

1/3 cup natural, smooth roasted almond butter
1 Tbs non dairy butter
2/3 cup organic sugar
1/3 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the almond butter, non dairy butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until everything is smooth and creamy. 
3. In another bowl, sift together flour, soda and salt. Add the rolled oats.
4. Combine the wet with the dry, and mix until just incorporated. Add chocolate chunks
5. Drop large spoonfuls of cookie dough onto baking sheet and slightly flatten with your fingers.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until set. 
7. Remove sheet from oven and let cool on tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a cookie rack.

Vegan Almond Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

It's that time again. Secret Recipe Club time. Once a month a bunch of food blogger's get together, are secretly given someone else blog to cook from, then blog about it.

This month I was given a lovely blog called The Boys Made Me Do It (Such a cute name!). Blogger Cara has a husband and three young boys which  is where the inspiration for the name comes from. Go check out her site. She has lots of great recipes and usually does a weekly menu planning post letting you know what she is cooking for the week. I love this idea.

I had a bunch of great recipes from Cara open, trying to decide which one to cook but something about these cookies kept calling out to me. I made some changes to the recipe to make them vegan. Also the original recipe uses peanut butter but since P hates peanut butter I used almond butter instead. The cookies turned out really yummy but I decided to fill them with just plain almond butter rather than a frosting. I will definitely be making these again (I think they are the perfect texture to make ice cream sandwiches).

Vegan Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies
recipe adapted from The Boys Made Me Do It

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened
1/2 cup smooth almond butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup oats, quick cooking or old fashioned


Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Sift together with a whisk.

In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, peanut butter, sugar and molasses until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Add in the flaxseed and water mixture and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients and mix  just until incorporated. Stir in the oats until evenly blended.

Use a small cookie dough scoop to portion out the dough (about 2 teaspoons), rolling each portion into a ball, and place them on the prepared cookie sheet, a couple inches apart. Bake about 10 minutes.The cookies will look very soft but let them cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cook completely.

To turn the into sandwiches layer some regular almond butter between two cookies and enjoy with a glass of almond milk!

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes Stuffed with Cinnamon Cookies & Topped with Cinnamon Buttercream

I don't know why but I had a craving for cupcakes that contained a cookie. I didn't know how these would turn out. Would the cookie be crunchy or soft? Could you even tell it was there?

I broke the cookies up a bit before adding them to the batter but I think you could even live dangerously and keep them whole. When you bite into the cupcake the cookies are soft and almost melted into the cake. They leave these delicious sugary cinnamony streaks. Add the cinnamon buttercream and you you have a winner.

Vanilla Cupcakes Stuffed with Cinnamon Cookie

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups almond milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 - 2 cups of cinnamon cookies, broken up slightly (I used 1 package of Lucy's Cinnamon Thins)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 muffin pans with 20 paper baking cups. 

Measure the apple cider vinegar into a 2 cup measuring cup. Fill with almond milk to make 1 1/2 cups. Let stand until curdled, about 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the almond milk mixture, coconut oil and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Add the cookie pieces and spoon the batter into the prepared cups, dividing evenly. 

Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool then frost with cinnamon buttercream.

Vegan Cinnamon "Butter"cream Frosting

1 cup soft vegan margarine
1 lb powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Combined all ingredients and mix for 5 minutes. Keep covered in fridge until ready to use.

Vegan Almond Butter and Sesame Seed Cookies

These cookies are reminiscent of a soft peanut butter cookie but the sesame seeds add a lovely crunch. I used almond butter because that is what I had but any nut butter would work.

 

Vegan Almond Butter and Sesame Seed Cookies
Adapted from Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened
1/2 cup chunky almond butter
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup of black and white sesame seeds

Preheat to 350F and lightly grease two cookie sheets.
Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon, and set aside.
In a large bowl use electric beaters to cream the Earth Balance until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the peanut butter, agave, sugar, soy milk, and extracts, and continue to beat until creamy, 4-5 minutes. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture and stir until a firm dough forms.

Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls. Roll each ball in sesame seeds, and place on a prepared cookie sheet, leaving about 1 1/2″ of space between each cookie. Flatten the balls just slightly and bake for 10-11 minutes for chewy cookies, up to 14 minutes for firmer, crunchier cookies. Remove from oven and allow cookies to remain on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

These cookies are really yummy. I like to use super dark chocolate for some bitterness. I brought these to a work event and they were devoured. The recipe was adapted from Sarah Kramer's Vegan a Go-Go. Make a double batch!

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Egg replacer to equal one egg
1/2 cup vegan margarine
3/4 cup sucanat (or use regular sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
3/4 cup vegan dark chocolate cut into squares


In a food processor or large bowl, blend or mix together the egg replacer, margarine, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, coconut and chocolate chips. Add the margarine mixture and stir until well incorporated. Roll dough into balls, lay on cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Let cookies cool 5 minutes before removing from sheet.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches with Basil

Normally I am pretty humble about the food I make but let me tell you, these ice cream sandwiches were awesome. I wanted to use some fresh basil growing on my balcony so I added it to chocolate chip cookie batter. The basil flavour was pretty mild though so next time I would also mix some fresh basil into the ice cream.

Basil Chocolate Chip Cookies
3 cups spelt flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 "eggs" using egg replacer
1/4 soy milk
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup fresh basil, julienned

In a medium bowl mix dry ingredients.

In a large bowl mix together butter and sugar. Then add egg replacer, soy milk and vanilla.

Fold dry ingredients into wet to form dough. Mix in chocolate chips and basil.

Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper and roll dough into walnut sized balls. Place on cookie sheets one inch apart and bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes on pan before transferring to a wire rack.

To Assemble
Let cookies cool completely. Take ice cream out of fridge (I used coconut and chocolate dairy free sorbet) and let soften for 5 - 10 minutes. Here is where I would add some more fresh basil.

Take a cookie and scoop some ice cream onto it. Top with another cookie and squish the sandwich together slightly. Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Repeat using all cookies. Put cookie sheet into freezer for an hour or two until cookies and ice cream are frozen again. Then serve or transfer to an air tight container to store them.

1. Solo Fruit Sorbet 2. Cookie batter 3. Cooled cookies

Vegan Snickerdoodles

I have made this snickerdoodle recipe from vegan*core a few times in the last few weeks. I might be obsessed. The first time I made them they were to doughy for my taste so this time I made smaller cookies and turned the oven to 325 F. Perfect!

Vegan Sugar Cookies

Finally! I found a great vegan sugar cookie recipe. Rolls out nicely, cut easily, bakes ups wonderfully. I am happy.

Trail Mix Cookies

I remember my dad making these cookies when I was a kid. The recipe got lost somewhere along the way and then a few years ago magically turned up. We were vegan at the time so I adjusted the recipe and tried them out. They were as delicious as I remember and have become a favourite in our house. The best part about these is you can use whatever "trail mix" ingredients you have around - different types of nuts, seeds and dried fruit all taste good.

This batch of cookies had chocolate, raisins, brazil nuts and sunflower seeds

Trail Mix Cookies
3/4 cup Earth Balance
3/4 cup sugar
Egg replacer equivalent to one egg
1/3 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cinnnamon
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried fruit
3/4 cup nuts
1/2 cup seeds

Cream together Earth Balance and sugar. Add "egg", soy milk and vanilla and mix. This mixture may separate a bit but don't worry it will work fine. In a separate bowl mix together oats, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients to wet and then fold in the chocolate, dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Make walnut sized balls and place onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Be sure to flatten the cookies a bit as they don't spread very much. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes. Once cool store in an airtight container.

Valentine's Day Chai and Chocolate Cookies

I made these little babies for everyone at the office. I used a regular sugar cookie recipe (not one that I was impressed with - so I won't post it) and just added my own spice mix. You could do the same spice mix with a sugar cookie recipe you like. Then I used some fun new cookie cutters to make cute little heart shaped cookies. Baked these and then filled them with the best chocolate icing. Happy Valentine's day!

Chai Sugar Cookie Spice Mix
20 cardamom pods opened and seeds removed
3 cloves
1/2 tsp star anise
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
2 - 3 Tbsp loose green or black tea (optional)

Grind cardamom seeds, cloves and star anise with mortar and pestle or in a spice grinder. Add this plus the cinnamon and nutmeg to your dry ingredients. Crush tea in mortar and pestle until the leaves are ground. Add to wet ingredients.

Vegan Chocolate Frosting
3/4 cup Earth Balance, soften to room temperature
1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 - 1 cup cocoa powder

Mix earth balance, maple syrup, and 3/4 cup of cocoa powder with hand mixer until smooth. Check consistency and add more cocoa powder if needed.

Heart and Star Linzer Cookies

I am still in cookie cutter mode and thought these linzer cookies from Hell Yeah It's Vegan looked great. They turned out really nice. I used hazelnuts instead of almonds, added some vanilla extract to the dough and used cherry jam to fill them. I also had to add an extra 1/2 of flour before the dough formed properly. Time consuming but so cute!

 1. Cherry Jam 2. Heart shaped linzer 3. Pre-assembled cookies

Roll Out Cookies

P and I are back home after spending the holidays in Calgary. I had some time and came across some cute cookie cutters so I thought I would make these sugar cookies from vegetariantimes.com and these gingerbread cookies from theppk.com.

Both turned out yummy but the dough for the sugar cookies was too crumbly for my liking and only baked up okay. The gingerbread dough however turned out perfect and was easy to work with. They were soft with crunchy little edges. So yummy! I did add 2 Tbsp of fresh ginger instead of dried and I also added some ground black pepper because I like my ginger cookies spicy.

Baking to Say Thanks

I work for an organization called Apathy is Boring and we have a lot of volunteers that come into the office to help us out. Next week is our volunteer thank you week and everyone in the office is bringing in yummy treats. I spent Sunday baking some chocolaty goodies for all of our amazing volunteers.

I got started with some Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti from Veganomicon. This was my first time making Biscotti and they turned out lovely and crisp.

Next up was the Chocolate Chip Cookies also from Veganomicon. I made a few changes by replacing regular flour with a mix of whole wheat and spelt flour and leaving out the cocoa powder. I wanted these to be a more classic cookie.

Lastly were the Double Chocolate Banana Cookies from one of my absolute favorite vegan cookbooks - Get It Ripe. The recipes in this book are clean, simple and always turn out amazing. And I love these super chocolaty cookies.

After 10 dozen batches of cookies here is what my kitchen looked like!