Durango

Almost Durango cookies (veganized with a bit of cornstarch and water, and dark instead of milk chocolate):

I used alder smoked salt, and though I thought I was sprinkling it on a bit too generously, in the end I couldn't really taste any smoke at all. Nevertheless, these are excellent chocolate chip cookies with almond and cocoa nibs, and salt, and they are flat with crisp edges and chewy middles. A bit more smokiness would be delicious I'm sure. I read about these on the Tipsy Baker, and I think she might've suggested using smoked almonds which is an excellent idea.

Cilantro?

Yesterday, I happened to read this post on the Food 52 blog. This blogger's cilantro chocolate chip cookies made it onto their 'what's in' list. It was like a compulsion or a dare, I couldn't not try them. I followed her recipe for basil verbena cookies, replacing those herbs with cilantro. (It was easily veganized: I just left out the egg and added a little water and cornstarch).

I couldn't let the cookie dough rest as long as it should have: it rested for about 3 hours in the fridge. And the verdict? Delicious. The cilantro added a mild but zippy mintiness. Overall, though, I think I might prefer actual mint. I might try basil next time, as in the original recipe.

Stroopwafels

I found a stovetop waffle-cookie maker at a charity sale recently. I hadn't realized that I wanted one, but for $2 I couldn't resist.

And so, stroopwafels!

For the wafers, I used the yeast stroopwafels recipe on this page, minus the egg. (One third of the recipe made 10 wafers -- each dough ball was about 28 grams. They were a bit bigger than the circumference of a mug -- just the right size for the traditional trick of perching them over a cup of tea or coffee to warm up a bit.)

For the caramel filling, I used Hannah's recipe. (I halved it, which was more than enough for 5 cookies.)

These were really delicious. I liked that they were not as sweet as other ones I've had. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the cookie maker was to use -- even though I have an annoying electric stovetop, it wasn't too hard to get the temperature right. Maybe ice cream cones are next...

Saffron

I don't really know what saffron tastes like. I've had it quite a few times, mainly flavouring rice, and I just can't pick out the flavour. It tastes good; tastes different from the same dish without the saffron (I think), and yet I couldn't really tell you how it tastes.

So now that you know how untrustworthy my tastebuds are when it comes to saffron: I made these saffron-vanilla snickerdoodles from 101 Cookbooks recently. I really liked them, but they taste like marzipan to me. I should say that this photo doesn't quite capture their golden yellow colour. (I veganized them of course, made smaller cookies (a half batch made a dozen), left out the vanilla bean, and also skipped the refrigeration step and baked them straight away.) I think this recipe, minus the saffron, and plus the regulation cinnamon-sugar, might become my standard snickerdoodle -- the cookies puffed and crumpled nicely, and they had a soft chewiness that I really liked.

Hamantaschen

Same recipe as last year. Half apricot and half poppyseed. Yum.

Icebox cake

I think I first read about icebox cake on Smitten Kitchen, which if that is true, means it was 5 years ago (!). Anyway, since then I have had it in the back of my mind to try a vegan version. I finally did it yesterday, prompted by (1) leftover rad whip, and (2) weather too hot to turn on the oven in.

I layered rad whip, Nice biscuits and sliced banana, and left it in the fridge overnight. It worked out really nicely -- the rad whip has a very pleasant, neutral-creamy flavour, and I really like how the banana flavour permeated the whole thing.

Ice cream sandwiches

It's fig season here. This is fresh fig ice cream from The Perfect Scoop (with cashew cream replacing the cream) and honey and oat cookies with walnuts and lavender,  based on Chocolate and Zucchini's Spelt and Honey Crisps.

Popcorn cookies

These have been on my to-make list for a while. They got on the list because -- how could you not want to try cookies made out of popcorn? They stayed on the list, unmade, because I was sort of dubious that they could be anything but healthy-tasting.

And how were they? Surprisingly good. They go into the oven as very unpromising looking piles of grains held together with a little oil and sugar, and come out as beautifully crisp wafers. I must admit that I increased the sugar slightly, to 2 tablespoons (yes, this is a mini-recipe: it makes only 6 cookies). (Mine took much less time to cook than the recipe suggested -- I think only 7 minutes.)

Hamantaschen

These worked out really well. I veganized this recipe using Tofutti cream cheese, and coconut oil for the butter.

Toast the Oats and Pecans

I made the oatmeal raisin cookies from the book I always attribute to "Peter Barley," The Modern Vegetarian. I used 1c oats and 1c pecans, and toasted them, as he suggests, for 10 minutes before pulsing them. (Half the oat/nut mix is pulsed into a fine powder, half is roughly cut.)
These are FINE cookies. Even better, methinks, because I added chocolate to them. I couldn't resist.

World peace cookies

You might think that the name of these cookies is a bit effusive. I did, until I made them. They're very good. The recipe (you can find it here) is by Dorie Greenspan.

 A couple of notes:

• There is a very troubling sequence of instructions in the recipe. First you are told that the dough may be crumbly, and not to worry about it. Then you are told to form said dough into logs. The recipe does not seem concerned that crumbly dough may not want to be formed into logs. (I found that swearing at the dough helped a lot with this step.)
• While the recipe instructs you to refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours, if you are like me and don't read all the way through and have plans to bring these cookies to a dinner party in about an hour and a half, don't worry. Just stick the dough logs in the freezer for as long as you can (about 40 minutes worked fine for me).

Biscotti

Food routines are funny. As a kid, I would eat the exact same thing in my sandwiches every day, until suddenly I would demand some other thing, and have that every single day. While you're in the middle of your obsession, it feels like it will never change, but it always does.

With that in mind, here's one of our current favourites: biscotti. We are steadily going through a batch a week, dunking them into our tea and coffee. Always almond, sometimes with some walnuts, and this time with some chocolate sprinkles (brought back from the Netherlands). (Recipe modified from the green tea and walnut biscotti from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.)

One day we won't be obsessed with these; I don't really believe it.

Rice Krispie Treats Cookies

We had (1) some store brand Rice Krispie knockoffs that didn't taste that good, and (2) homemade vegan marshmallows that worked out kind of dense. I wanted to make cookies, and was inspired by this recipe for Momofuku Milk Bar's cornflake, choc chip and marshmallow cookies. And so I bring you Rice Krispie Treats Cookies:

 

I based the recipe on the Cowboy Cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, simply replacing the oats with the rice krispies, adding a marshmallow on top, and leaving out the coconut, chocolate and nuts. These were really good: incredibly sweet and butterscotch-ish, with a bit of crunch from the rice krispies.

Pride

Last month I had my biggest ever cooking disaster. We were invited to a barbecue, and I decided to make my old faithful: curried chickpea tart. There were a few hiccups -- for instance, the kitchen here on LI has no blender of any kind, so I had to use an antique eggbeater to mix the batter, and in addition there are no tart or pie plates, so I had to send our lovely host to the supermarket to buy a disposable aluminium one. Anyway, long story short, when we got there I went to cut the tart and it hadn't set up right. I served the first piece/dollop to the host of the party, who assured me it was delicious. And then I tried some... oh my god it was way way oversalted and overspiced. (Maybe it reduced down too much while I waited for the disposable tin? But then why didn't it set up? Maybe the salt in the LI kitchen is superpowered?)

I was mortified.

It was lucky, after all, that the tart was in a disposable tin. It meant I could slink out of the party at the end of the night without having to claim my leftovers.

Anyway, tonight we are going back to those same people's house for a dinner party -- I had to redeem myself. Hence: peanut butter filled chocolate cookies (with the usual vegan subs, and egg replacer). They are tooth-rottingly sweet (like giant peanut butter cups) and I will be walking into that place with my head held high.

De-Stressed Baking

I woke up on Saturday at 4.30, ran starting at 5, and finished work at 4.30pm. I came home ready to relax. This is what I did. The cake is the Cook's Illustrated chocolate snack cake (fudged because I ran out of vegan mayo -- I used some old sour cream, which probably wasn't a great idea -- too dense). The cookies are from 101 Cookbooks, thanks to David Lebovitz. Really super tasty.

Cookie experiment

Inspired by the technique in this recipe from the New York Times, I bring you a cookie experiment: chocolate chip cookie dough based on the one in Vegan With a Vengeance, with one batch baked immediately, and the other 27 hours later.

Exhibit A: the immediate one.
Exhibit B: dough baked after 27 hours.
The verdict: Exhibit A was fine, but Exhibit B was better. The edges were crisper and there was a nice caramel taste. Yay science!

Birthday = Pink

I can never quite wrap my head around the girly-girl thing.  You say "pedicure," I think "complex labor issue."  But apparently, I'm on a mission to bring pink cakes to the table when someone calls "Birthday!"

In the foreground, ginger cookies with lumps of crystallized ginger and some fresh ginger (minced) in the mix too.  The star is a beet cake with crystallized ginger, pecans, and some local goat cheese stirred with sugar and maple for (center) frosting.  

Both were good, but I need to get an oven thermometer.  My cake was a bit dense in the middle and cooked on the edges.  Grrr.

    

You don't have to tell me twice

I have done as you commanded. They're still cooling down as I write this. I know they're going to be great because I had a few tastes of the dough before I cooked them. (It tasted inexplicably like malt to me. And I love malt.) I had no black sesame seeds, so doubled up on the regular ones. (Sesame in cookies? Genius.) And the dried fruit is cranberries. Has it been 10 minutes yet?

Stop Everything and Make THIS Cookie

Preheat oven to 375.  In a medium bowl, mix: 1/4c w/w pastry flour (spoon and level), 1/4c oats, 1/4c light brown sugar (I've cut this a bit), 1/8t soda, generous pinch sea salt, 1T black sesame seeds, 1T brown sesame seeds, 2T dried fruit (I've been using golden raisins).

In a small bowl, whisk 1T (generous) tahini, 1/2T canola, 1T (generous) unsweetened "milk", 1/2t vanilla.

Combine wet and dry ingredients, divide dough in 4 equal portions, and bake 9 minutes.  Leave them on the baking sheet for at least (seriously) 10 minutes before cooling them on a rack.  

I cannot tell you how much I love these cookies.  Wow.  Seriously wow.  And Yum.  (PS: They freeze beautifully.)

Cookies. (Of course.)

If we can overlook several things: 

Washing my car on Saturday,

Excitement over running "hills" in a parking garage,

The thrill of swimming outside (yes!) under the dark morning sky...

I had a small this-girl-ain't-midwestern breakthrough while making cookies.  I made SMALL cookies.  Seriously.  And they were better for it.   (Plates in photo are actually 3.5" coasters.)

I made some gingerbread cookies from Cooks Illustrated, and two recipes from Clotilde over at C&Z.  Her chocolate cookies - half whole wheat flour to support all that chocolate - are amazing.  (I followed recipes here and used butter.)