‘Tis the Season to Bake Cookies

By Jasmin

 

With the holiday season come holiday parties. With holiday parties often come a slew of meat-laden, dairy-packed dishes. This kind of cuisine can be a turn-off for those of us who work to end animal cruelty – those of us who know how delicious cruelty-free food can be. When you’re faced with a holiday party situation like this, I have two words for you: vegan cookies!

Some say that the single most effective thing you can do to advocate for farm animals is to share delicious vegan food. Speaking as someone whose cookies are requested at nearly every social gathering I attend, I’ve gotta say: There’s something to that. Haven’t you ever noticed that the one vegan dish at the party tends to be the first one to disappear? Perhaps it’s because, whether or not they will admit it, people are often drawn to the yumminess of plant-based cuisine.

You owe it to the animals – and to the taste-buds of your non-vegan friends and family – to make delicious plant-based food! I find that baked goods (such as cookies) go a particularly long way in showing others just how good compassion tastes. 

So when you attend your next holiday party, bring some cookies ... or cupcakes or cake or crumble, oh my! And be sure to resist the urge to eat them all before they make it to the table. Difficult, I know, but this is advocacy, folks!

Here’s one of my favorite recipes for chocolate chip cookies. Also check out the new book Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. And, if you feel like sharing, post your favorite cookie recipe in the comments section below. (Then send me several samples.)

Comments

[Susan]

Thank you for the cookie recipe! Here is one of my favorites. It's not a cookie, but it's a cake and I think it is the best chocolate cake I've ever had! Enjoy!
Magic Chocolate Cake from "The Peaceful Palate"
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
3/4 cup sugar or other sweetener
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 cup cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a bowl and stir with a fork until mixed. Make a well in the center and add the vanilla, oil, vinegar, and water. Stir with a fork until well mixed. Pour into 9x9 baking dish (or cupcake pan) and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, then frost with Chocolate Cream Frosting (below)

Chocolate Cream Frosting
2 Tbsp softened margarine (Earth Balance)
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla
2-4 Tbsp water

Cream the margarine in a small bowl, then add suger, cocoa, vanilla, and enough water to make a thick but spreadable frosting.

[liz]

It's not cookies, but my favorite vegan pie is the sweet potato pecan pie from the cookbook _Cooking' Southern, Vegetarian Style_.

[Vegansalt.wordpress.com]

I couldn't agree more! I used my new copy of Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar to make Swedish Chocolate Balls, which sound kind of dirty and taste fantastic! See a photo of the fabulous finished product on my blog: http://vegansalt.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/cookie-trial-a-success/

[bklynchic]

I brought some vegan gingerbread cookies (recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookiejar) to work last week, waited until everyone had some and praised them, and then revealed they were vegan. People were pleasantly surprised and requested more.

[Catherine]

It's hard to top vegan chocolate chip cookies! Printing out copies of the recipe and leaving it next to the tray of cookies might be nice too.

I agree about product introductions as a crucial part of advocacy. At work, I asked if they would get soy milk for our coffee, tofu spread for our Friday bagels, and cheese-less veggie pizza for weekly luncheons, and my co-workers have been devouring all three. We regularly run out of soy milk mid-week. I recommend to everyone to try and get soy milk for your office refrigerator and at your local coffee shop. Will go so well with those vegan chocolate chip cookies!

Happy Holidays!

[Eleni]

Thanks for the post on my favorite December, January, and the rest of the year topic...my favorites are simple but delicious. Used to make 'em with mom: (aw):

Vegan Russian Teacakes
½ cup Earth Balance Spread
4 T powdered sugar + ¼ cup additional for rolling
2 t vanilla
½ t salt
¼ - ½ cup walnuts
1 cup flour

Beat the Earth Balance with the vanilla and 4 T sugar. Add the flour and salt. It will be a bit crumbly for awhile. If needed add more vanilla or a drop of soy/rice/almond milk. Once the mix becomes thick dough pasty goodness, add the walnuts. Roll these into little tiny balls the size of…those bouncy balls in gumball machines. But a little bigger.
Cook at about 350 for 10-12 minutes.
Remove and roll in additional powdered sugar. After cool, roll them once more.