Holiday Cookies?

[animallover7249]

I want to bake holiday cookies for my family/friends this year. I don't have a recipe though, and instead of looking one up online, and testing it out, I would love to have a recipe that someone has already tried and knows it works!!
-I would love for it to be vegan
-has to be simple to make and with not a lot of vegan sub. (I can't get a lot of vegan speciality items here, I've never seen anything like vegan butter or anything in stores around here)
-cheap ingredients
-can't taste 'weird' to omnis

I'm up to looking at any suggestions for flavors. I would love to make chocolate chip but I have no idea how I could do that vegan. How about a peanut butter cookie or something? Whatever recipe you have to share I will be grateful for!
thanks! :)

[Fyvel]

This (http://bakingbites.com/2006/06/white-chocolate-macadamia-cookies/) is a really great recipe for white chocolate macadamia nut cookies (we just use regular oil, not the macadamia nut kind cause it's super expensive). I've never seen the vegan white chocolate chips in stores though, we buy them online (http://www.veganstore.com/index.html?stocknumber=809).

[animallover7249]

Thank you!! I need to look around veganstore, I forgot they sold vegan baked goods..maybe I should just buy a packaged vegan mix box from them and bake it.

[animallover7249]

I'm wondering how the recipie would taste without the chocolate, but I dont want to mess it up!

[animallover7249]

I just found this online and it seems like something my family wouldn't think was 'weird' and would try..it's also sugar free so my grandfather could eat them.


Ingredients:
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 ripe bananas (overripe is fine)
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp soy milk
2 tbsp maple syrup (optional)
2 ½ cups quick cooking or rolled oatmeal
dash cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup flour
Preparation:
In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork until smooth. Add peanut butter, soy milk, vanilla and maple syrup and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 13-16 minutes at 350 degrees, or until done.
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/desertrecipes/r/pbbananacookies.htm

I'm wondering about the bananas. Are they there for an egg sub.? Will the cookies have a banana taste or will the peanut butter over take them? I dont think cookies that taste like peanut butter and banana would taste very good..

[icreep heather]

Peanut butter AND banana are pleasant together :p


I USUALLY find that peanut butter over powers the taste of banana when mixed together, but I can't guarantee that will be t he case in that recipe.

Sorry I couldn't be more help!

[animallover7249]

It's okay :)
I don't have much experience baking besides from a box..

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

Don't go to the expense and trouble of buying online boxed, premixed products. Even if they are vegan, they still taste like a boxed mix.

Your family will MUCH appreciate something home-made!!

What do you mean about not finding "vegan butter"... you mean like Earth Balance? Wal-Mart and most grocery stores carry it.
Even Crisco Shortening, though not all that great, is still "vegan".

Many many stores sell chocolate chips that are vegan. Look at the semi-sweet ones, and usually the cheap, or store brand semi-sweet have a POSSIBILITY of being vegan. I can think of 4 or 5 generic--or-"store"-type brands that are...

All the recipes below use standard grocery-store ingredients (except you may have to look for vegan chocolate chips, but they're pretty common) and they are all recipes my 9-year-old makes... (I stole them from her "Favorites" file just now...)

(While I would love to recommend my daughter's most wonderful chocolate-chip-cookie recipe (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=49691), it does require a couple ingredients that may be hard to find.)

This one CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6391.0) from veg-web is pretty fool-proof, (just use REGULAR BROWN OR WHITE SUGAR where they suggest turbinado sugar) and read thru the comments...

And this PEANUTBUTTER COOKIE (http://www.simple-vegetarian-recipes.com/desserts-vegan-peanut-butter-cookies.html) recipe is basic, easy and good too. You can just use regular white or wheat flour instead of organic, free-range-locally-grown-fancy-whatever flour they suggest...


And the ultimate holiday cookie? GINGERBREAD COOKIES (http://www.lanternbooks.com/blog/entry.php?id=374)! These are awesome!!

SERIOUSLY - give homemade a try. It doesn't have to be hard!

[katt]

This (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=12701.0) is my favorite cookie dough recipe for sugar cookies. It's so easy and has always made delicious cookies.

I -believe- the generic brand of semisweet chocolate chips from Walmart are vegan- they're in an orange bag. The bag I have appears to be vegan, at least.
Other egg subs I've used in the past are applesauce, ground flax and silken tofu. The Post Punk Kitchen (http://theppk.com/veganbaking.html) has a good page on how to use these subs. The other flavors in the cookies will overpower any strange tastes.

[Tofu-N-Sprouts]

Katt... the generic Wall-Mart chocolate chips are vegan - at least around here. (I've heard that WalMart uses different manufacturers in different areas to save costs, so as always, read the label.).

[LadyFaile]

basic sugar cookies and shortbread are easy to make and decorate and there's nothing "wierd" in them to make nonvegans scared to try them.

simple sugar cookies (originally from www.vegcooking.com)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp maple syrup
equivalent of one egg (use egg replacer or just cornstarch and water-i think 2 tsp starch and 1 tbsp water makes one egg.. or is it the other way around.. i just eyeball it til it looks like it has the consistency of a beaten egg. if you use warmish water the starch disolves easier)
cinnamon and sugar to coat (you can skip this and use sprinkles or icing or whatever

mix dry ingredients in a bowl. mix wet ingredients in a measuring cup. make sure they're blended well. stir wet into dry. use hands to form dough into a big ball. it should stick together well if it's the right consistency. sometimes i have to add a bit of water if it's too crumbly.form dough into cookie-sized balls and roll them in cinnamon-sugar mixture. place on ungreased cookie sheet. flatten each ball a little. bake at 375 F for about 7 minutes. makes about 18 cookies.

at christmas i roll them out and use christmas cookie cutters and use red and green sprinkles instead of the cinnamon and sugar. oooorrrr i make them in balls and flatten them but use stencils to put sprinkles on in a christmasy shape. that works really well


shortbread (i forget where i got this one, probably here lol but don't ask me who posted it)
1/2 pound margarine
1/2 cup confectioners sugar (icing sugar)
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt (i just realized the recipe doesn't say when to add the salt, i guess at the same time as the sugar??)

preheat oven to 275 F. in mixing bowl cream margarine and gradually add sugar. work in the flour 1/4 cup at a time. on a floured board/counter, knead the dough for at least 10 minutes, using small amounts of flour to keep it from sticking. pat and roll dough until it is 1/2 inch thick. cut the dough into rectangles and transfer pieces to ungreased cookie sheet, leaving about 1/2 inch between pieces. prick each piece 2 or 3 times with a fork. bake 30 minutes or until the cookies become slightly golden brown around the edges. allow to cool.

instead of rectangles you could use christmassy cookie cutters
one year i made shortbread like this and melted some semi-sweet chocolate and dunked the ends of the cookies. let the cookies cool first so they don't just absorb the chocolate and go soggy. and it helps if you let the chocolate start to cool a bit so it's thicker


these i made for halloween this year they turned out really yummy. i stole the recipe from some flyer my mom got in the newspaper and just substituted margarine for butter and skipped the white chocolate chips they suggest to top them with.
chocolate shortbread cookies
1 cup margarine, softened
1 1/4 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

heat oven to 300 F
in a large bowl beat margarine, icing sugar, vanilla until creamy. add cocoa, blend well. gradually ad flour, stirring until smooth.
roll or pat dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface or between 2 pieces of wax paper (try the wax paper, mine turned out really dry and crumbly towards the end because i had to keep adding flour, my roller kept sticking. i gave up and used my hands but by then i had added so much flour it wasn't holding together so well anymore). with cookie cutters, cut into holiday shapes. re-roll dough scraps, cutting cookies until all dough is used. place on ungreased cookie sheet. bake 15-20 minutes or just until firm. (if you find vegan ones, if not skip this part) immediately place white chocolate chips flat side down, in decorative design on warm cookies.
let cool slightly, remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. cool completely. store in airtight container. (i used a rubber spatula to get them off the pan. they seemed really stuck at first but they lifted off really easily with the spatula and didn't break but if i used my hands they probably would have

[ashlend]

The sparkled ginger cookies from Vegan with a Vengeance are awesome. Very holiday-like and there's nothing "weird" in them. Both my husband and mom are omnivores and LOVED them (and my husband can be a tough audience sometimes with vegan cooking and baking.)

[headxbanger]

This one CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6391.0) from veg-web is pretty fool-proof, (just use REGULAR BROWN OR WHITE SUGAR where they suggest turbinado sugar) and read thru the comments...

SERIOUSLY - give homemade a try. It doesn't have to be hard!

:drool: i've been making these cookies non stop all week,
everyone loves them- omni and veg alike

[rabid_child]

Sugar cookies and gingerbread are two of my favorites, and I've got the recipe up on my blog. I've found that silken tofu works best for eggs in sugar cookies because you can't taste it and they stay moist longer. Ener-g type egg replacers make them get stale really quickly.
(just ignore that they're decorated for easter) http://megatarian.blogspot.com/2008/03/sugar-cookies-easter-style.html
This gingerbread recipe is great -- really nice and dark and spicy -- and doesn't even need an egg replacer
http://megatarian.blogspot.com/2008/06/gingerbread-cookies.html

[cowgirrlup]

Your family will MUCH appreciate something home-made!!


(While I would love to recommend my daughter's most wonderful chocolate-chip-cookie recipe (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=49691), it does require a couple ingredients that may be hard to find.)

This one CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6391.0) from veg-web is pretty fool-proof, (just use REGULAR BROWN OR WHITE SUGAR where they suggest turbinado sugar) and read thru the comments...

And this PEANUTBUTTER COOKIE (http://www.simple-vegetarian-recipes.com/desserts-vegan-peanut-butter-cookies.html) recipe is basic, easy and good too. You can just use regular white or wheat flour instead of organic, free-range-locally-grown-fancy-whatever flour they suggest...


And the ultimate holiday cookie? GINGERBREAD COOKIES (http://www.lanternbooks.com/blog/entry.php?id=374)! These are awesome!!

SERIOUSLY - give homemade a try. It doesn't have to be hard!

I am thrilled TNS! I just used the peanut butter cookie recipe you posted here and it is the very best! I can't tell you how many vegan peanut butter cookie recipes I have tried and they are all dismal failures.

Vegan cupcakes & cakes are not problem, (only vegan recipes though) but cookies are huge problem at the high elevation where I live. This recipe came out perfect though!

I made one minor addition..I used the 1/2 brown & 1/2 white sugar and I added 3 tablespoons of maple syrup (we have almost no humidity here so I needed some more moisture to mix them).

Perfection! Hubby is munching them as we speak.

Thank you for sharing the recipe. I can't wait to try the other recipes now!:pibo:

[whisper]

These vegan oatmeal cookies (http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=28463) are delicious and no weird vegan replacements. It makes a lot of cookies too.

[shannon1976]

These are family faves
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
http://www.recipezaar.com/Amys-Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-123406
use applesauce (1/4 cup) instead of egg
Chocolate Chip Cookies that stay soft and you can make them big
http://www.recipezaar.com/Vegan-Chewy-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-190720
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
http://www.recipezaar.com/Chewy-Vegan-Chocolate-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-99094
No one knows they are vegan and they love all of these cookies and all of them are using things that you can find in most grocery stores. If you cannot find vegan margarine, you can use vegetable shortening which I think makes the best cookies anyway. I am making all of them for Christmas.
Here is another one that I like to make but you would have to use applesauce instead of the egg or ener-g egg replacer for 1 egg and vegan white chocolate chips
http://www.recipezaar.com/Cranberry-Hootycreeks-148581
Peanut Nut Vegan Oatmeal cookieshttp://www.recipezaar.com/Vegan-Chocolate-Chip-Oatmeal-Nut-Cookies-147033
Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/christmas/gifts/chocolate-chip-cookie-mix.htm
Damn now I want some cookies!