Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies – these cookies are healthy, moist and full of carrot goodness!

Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies
Pictures and Recipe by The Baking Stone
Makes 2 dozen.

Ingredients

1 cup white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup quick cooking oats (rolled works too)

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted

1 cup shredded carrots

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Start heating the coconut oil over medium low heat on the stove. In a large bowl, sift together the whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the oats. Add the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and coconut and stir together.

Once the coconut oil is melted, add the maple syrup and stir to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until combined. Drop teaspoons of dough onto the cookie sheet and use your fingers to flatten the dough, not completely, just until the top is even.

Bake for 10 minutes. I definitely didn’t want to over bake these and 10 minutes was perfect. They are delicious warm or cold. Enjoy!

This post is dedicated to my Grandmother.

She always has an assortment of cookies on hand around the Holidays; jam thumbprints included. Funny thing was that when I was little I wouldn’t touch them. Nope. Not even a little nibble.  I was not a fan of jam/jelly as a kid. Which also meant no PB & J’s for me – I was a honey girl.

However, I adore jam thumb print cookies today! Jordan has a lot of fun making the “thumbprint”. He thinks I am letting him play with his food…

So thank you Grandma… for not giving up on your thumbprint goodness. They are adorably sweet… just like you!

Strawberry Walnut Thumbprint Cookies

The combination of aromatic almond extract and strawberry jam is a match made in heaven. What I really love about these vegan Thumbprints is the texture from the pecans and walnuts. Of course, the fruity, gooey middle is impossible to resist!

Recipe and pictures from Oh She Glows

Yield: 14-16 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup + 2/3 cup stone-ground kamut flour* see flour note below
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely crushed or processed in food processor
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 2 tbsp brown rice syrup
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 3 tbsp almond milk
• Approx 1/3 cup strawberry jam
• 1/2 cup pecans, crushed or processed

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or non-stick mat.

In a large bowl combine the flour, crushed walnuts, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and whisk until combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients: maple syrup, melted coconut oil, vanilla, almond extract, brown rice syrup, and almond milk. Stir well.

Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined.

Roll the dough into balls. Now very lightly dip your fingers in a cup of water, tap off excess, and then roll the ball in your wet fingers. Now roll the ball in the crushed/processed pecans. This little bit of water helps the pecans stick to the ball. Now place the ball that is now covered in crushed pecans onto the baking sheet.

With your thumb and finger press a large well (approximately 3/4 inch in diameter) into the center of each ball (but don’t go all the way through!) and shape it with your fingers, pinching the edges as you go around. Fix any cracks that may form in the dough with your fingers.

Fill the hole with a generous amount of jam- about 1/2-1 tsp. Place cookies about 1 inch apart.

Bake in the oven at 350F for 17-18 minutes. The cookies should be slightly firm to touch. Cool for about 15 minutes on the baking sheet. Now, chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes before serving. My favourite way to eat them is cold, straight from the fridge as the flavours seem to pop more! The cookies are also really good from the freezer too.

Flour Notes: I tried various flours and the stone-ground kamut was superior in texture and taste. Kamut flour yields a dense, almost caramel-like interior. I also tried 3/4 cup white flour and 2/3 cup whole wheat flour and the result was cake-like so it was not my favourite. I also tried whole wheat pastry flour and this was a huge flop. The cookie was very wet, spread out too much, and didn’t set so I do not suggest subbing in WWPF in this recipe unless you are willing to undergo a few trials and adjust the liquid amount. All in all, if you want the best outcome, use stone-ground kamut flour. You may be able to sub in all-purpose for the Kamut, but I am not sure if the flour amount would need to be adjusted or not.

I admit – I am a sucker for raisin oatmeal cookies. The chewy oats, soft raisins and the hint of cinnamon… perfect with tea! When I found this recipe that calls for cranberries instead of raisins, well I was sold!

Note: You MUST add the pecans!

Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies Recipe
Recipe from egglesscooking.com
Yields: 40 cookies

Can vegan cookies taste as good as regular cookies? Yes! of course! Try these vegan oatmeal cranberry cookies and you are in for a surprise.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup Vegan Margarine (I used Becel Vegan Spread)
• 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
• 3/4 cup Brown Sugar (I used dark brown)
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup Non Dairy Milk (I used almond milk)
• 1 cup Flour ( I used whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 3/4 teaspoon Ground All Spice
• 3 cups Quick Cooking Oats
• 1 cup Dried Cranberries
• 1 cup Chopped Pecans (optional, but I would recommend using)

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes.
2. Cream together the margarine and sugars until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and milk.
3. Add the flour, baking soda and spice; mix well.
4. Stir in the oats, cranberries and pecans.
5. Spoon tablespoonful of dough on ungreased cookies sheets (see My Notes) and bake between 12-15 minutes or until done. I baked 20 cookies at a time on a big cookie sheet. If you are using 2 sheets at once, shift cookie sheets halfway through baking.
6. Remove the baking sheets from the oven and stand the cookies on the sheet itself for 2-3 minutes before transferring it to the cooling rack and let it cool completely.

I want snow.

I grew up in the woods; about 20 miles from any town and  our cabin was closer to a ski resort than to any grocery store. And that meant only one thing in the winter: SNOW. I remember waking up to get ready for school (5 o’clock AM, mind you) and it was not uncommon to see a foot or more fresh new powder on the ground. School was still on time and ALL of the busses were still on route. We were accustomed to this kind of weather. In fact, it was abnormal for us NOT to see snow during the winter months. Everyone drove 4 wheel drives (I am a Subaru girl for life!), knew how to work industrial sized snow blowers and never felt claustrophobic when our windows were buried with snow that fell from the roof. You could say I grew up in a Winter Wonderland!

That was in Eastern Washington – the Cascade Mountains. I now reside in Western Washington – the Puget Sound in the Seattle area where we see one flake of snow and the entire city is shuts down, schools are closed and drivers completely loose their ability to drive sane and safe. The only good thing about living in Seattle during the winter: I’m able to stay home, all curled up with a blanket and enjoy the snow with a cup of coffee. Bliss.

Did you grow up with snow?

If, and when, you are snowed in I encourage you all to make a batch of these Vegan Crunchy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies! Chocolate + Peanut Butter = Heaven!

Vegan Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
makes about 16 cookies
recipe and photos from Eat Live Run

Ingredients:

1 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup canola oil
2 T peanut butter
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together your spelt flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add sugar and stir to combine. It’s important you sift when you use spelt flour because it’s a bit denser than other flours and you don’t want rock-cookies.

In another bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, canola oil and peanut butter. Pour into dry ingredients and add the peanuts and chocolate chips.

Scoop into small balls and place on a lined cookie sheet, pressing down gently. Bake for 10-12 minutes then cool on the baking sheet for 10 more minutes.

Time:

30 minutes

Vegan Snickerdoodles – They have my heart. Hell, roll a rock in cinnamon and sugar and I would probably eat it…

Vegan Snickerdoodles
Makes about 18 Cookies
Photos and recipe courtesy of YumYumVegan

1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Earth Balance
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Prepared Ener-g Egg-Replacer Egg
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/4 tsp Baking Soda

Cinnamon Sugar, for rolling

Cream sugar, Earth Balance, and vanilla extract together. Prepare the Ener-G Egg by following the package instructions (1 1/2 tsp powder whisked with 2 Tbs hot water until foamy), and add it to the Earth Balance and sugar mixture. Whip (or whisk) it all up until it’s light a fluffy, like so:

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Add 2/3 of the dry ingredients to the whipped mixture and whip until combined. Add in the remaining flour and mix by hand. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375º F.

When the dough is chilled, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a #40 ice cream scoop, make balls of dough (each ball will be made with 2 Tbs of dough, if you don’t have a #40 scoop). Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar.

Now time to squish them! Using a fork (or whatever you want), squish the dough out into cookie shapes.

Bake at 375º F for 10 minutes for chewy cookies, 12 minutes for crunchy. Remove from oven and let sit for 30 seconds. They’ll be very soft when they come out of the oven, but that’s just fine! Gently remove cookies from the baking sheet and let cool for a few minutes on a wire rack before serving.

I am an only child. While I wished at times I had a brother or sister to play with, I felt very blessed to have my parents all to myself. I was treated like an individual, older than I was. No kids table talk, no sharing, no baby sitting… and while I knew Christmas wasn’t all about the gifts, I did pretty well on Christmas morning.

My most memorable Christmas morning gift was my NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). I was killing Bowser by the age of 8 and I still love video games today. And yes, I still have my NES system and yes, it still works! What can I say: I’m a nerdy gamer and a Nintendo fan for life! My favorite game: Zelda. Oh, I do love me some Zelda!

What was your most memorable Christmas morning gift?

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies: These beauties are vegan, gluten free and mighty tasty! They are chewy and filled with almond chocolaty goodness!

ALMOND- CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
[vegan and gluten-free]
Recipe and pictures from Kitchen Grrrrls

1 cup almond flour (we just ground up some whole almonds-nothing special)
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 Tbsp. agave nectar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, agave and vanilla. Pour wet mixture into dry and stir until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Drop dough by level teaspoonful (literally- a teaspoon!) onto baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 7 to 8 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely.

Yield: 24 little cookies

December 1st. Hot chocolate, sweet treats, sledding, Elf, Holiday décor, gatherings with family and friends, cozy nights by the fire, Bing Crosby and jolly Santa Clause. Standing in front of a frosty window and drawing little smiley faces or hearts with your warm finger tip… it’s time to embrace the warm spirit of the season and share your love with the ones who mean the most. Remember, it’s not about the receiving, it’s the giving. Take a moment this month the let the ones dear to your heart that you love them. And if you cannot make new memories, cherish the ones that already exist.

For the next 25 days, I am going to be counting down with a new cookie recipe everyday. So go pre-heat your oven, synch up your apron and get baking!

Gingerbread Men : how fitting! Oh gingerbread, how I love thee! With your chewy texture and molasses perfection… run little man, run!

Photo courtesy of http://www.ildiariogastronomico.com/

Vegan Gingerbread Cut-Out Cookies
Makes about 16 cookies (depending on the size of your cutters)
Recipe courtesy of The Post Punk Kitchen

1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup plain soymilk

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour (or a mix of both)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

spice blend:
1/2 teaspoon each ground nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

Directions
In a large bowl whisk together oil and sugar for about 3 minutes. Add molasses and soymilk. The molasses and soymilk won’t really blend with the oil but that’s ok.

Sift in all of the other dry ingredients, mixing about half way through. When all of the dry ingredients are added, mix until a stiff dough is formed. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour or up to 3 days in advance. If you chill longer than an hour you may want to let it sit for 10 minutes to warm up a bit before proceeding.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease your cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to a little less than 1/4 inch thick. Cut out your shapes with your cookie cutters and use a thin spatula to gently place on cookie sheets. If you are using them to decorate a tree or something, remember to punch a hole in their heads (!) before baking. Bake for 8 minutes.

Remove from oven and let them cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet then move to a cooling rack. Wait until they are completely cool before icing.

Photo courtesy of Pickle