Snickerdoodle Cookie with Peanut Butter filling

I have this yummy Snickerdoodle Cookie with Peanut Butter filling recipe for you today! I know I’m on a no sugar lifestyle these days but I had to do a recipe that would use up the rest of the organic evaporated cane juice I bought so I made these! They are a COMPLETE INDULGENCE and nothing healthy at all! It’s also a three part recipe which is a bit time consuming but they are worth the effort. Most of the Snickerdoodle recipes I have seen include the cream of tartar but I didn’t have any on hand that’s why it’s not included on the recipe but if you have it, feel free to add it! I would recommend adding 1 ½ teaspoons of it but they do taste amazing without it!

I have come to realize that trying to go about not eating sugar is so hard and not because I can’t have anything sweet because I can but rather the fact that sugar is in everything! I know this isn’t a surprise to anyone but I’m glad I cook about 97% of what I eat and only pre-packaged things like wraps and bread sometimes when I’m not in the mood to make my own. I really do think it’s beneficial for more people to make most of what they eat and I know it’s not possible for everyone but I have feel 10 times better making my own food than buying processed junk.

Where I live at the moment, there is a complete and utter lack of cooking and most people just eat pre-packaged pizzas, French fries and everything essentially and they don’t understand why you have to cook three times a day and honestly it baffles me. Growing up, my mom mostly made everything; yeah we had pre-packaged food sometimes but mostly snacks not as actual meals. I find it sad when you've come to a point where prepackaged food is the norm and actually making something is too hard of a task for people.

I find it comforting to know what it’s in the food I eat and I love to make my own versions of foods. If I can financially get to a point where I don’t have to buy ANY pre-packaged items and make my own food entirely that will be amazing. It is definitely a goal of mine.

I hope you’re all having a great day!

- Alexis ♥

Snickerdoodle Cookies with Peanut Butter Filling

• 2 ¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups evaporated cane juice
• 1 cup vegan butter
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon molasses
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Coating

• ½ cup evaporated cane juice
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

Filling

• ¾ cup cold peanut butter

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

Take your peanut butter and chill it until it’s really cold and manageable. Oil your hands just a bit and roll into teaspoon sized balls and then freeze them until you’re done with everything else you’re making.

Combine the cinnamon and extra evaporated cane juice in a small bowl and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy and then beat in the applesauce, vanilla extract and molasses.

Whisk together all of your dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add them to your wet ingredients a cup at a time until everything becomes well combined.

It will be a wet dough but it should be manageable. If it’s too wet add another ¼ cup flour and then wrap your dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Set up your peanut butter balls, chilled dough and cinnamon sugar coated on your counter. Oil your hands a little bit and take a tablespoon sized amount of dough and flatten it, add the peanut butter ball and lift up the sides until you cover the ball completely and then roll in your hands to create a smoothed ball shape out of the dough. Roll it in the cinnamon sugar and then place on a parchment sheet lined cookie sheet. Repeat until your finish with all of the cookies.

Once you’re done with all of the cookies, take any round flat surface and oil the bottom of it and then flatten the cookies out just a bit until they become flat circles, not too flat though just press on them a little bit.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges have firmed up, the middle will remain soft until they cool.

Tip: the longer you let them sit to cool, the more the flavors meld together. 

Grapefruit Cookies!

I never thought to make grapefruit cookies before but I had one lying around and figured they would be similar to lemon cookies and they are! They’re quite delicious! I used evaporate cane juice in this recipes and it worked out well, I find it to be a bit less sweet than the more refined sugar. If you want to use regular sugar you can and you can substitute from cup for cup. I used applesauce in this recipe instead of flax egg because I find it tends to dry out baked goods which is why I don’t use it as much. There are some fun spices and flavoring in this recipe like ginger, cardamom and Fiori di silica. Fiori di Silica lends citrus vanilla notes to whatever you put it in and takes these cookies to a whole other level! I suggest buying it but you can use regular Vanilla extract as well.

I’ll be attending the Veggie Pride Parade this Sunday! I’ve never been but since it’s another vegetarian/vegan event I wanted to check it out. Although I hope it’s less obnoxious than I think it will be haha. I only say that because it’s basically a parade of people telling over people to go vegetarian, which is great, but can be highly overbearing. I’m sure there will be tons of great people there though. I’ll be sure to post about it either Sunday evening or Monday afternoon!

- Alexis♥

Grapefruit Citrus Cookies

• 1 ¾ cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup organic evaporated cane juice + extra to sprinkle on top
• ½ cup vegan butter
• ¼ cup applesauce
• 4 tablespoons grapefruit juice
• 1 tablespoon grapefruit zest
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia extract (you can substitute with vanilla)
• ½ teaspoon cardamom
• ½ teaspoon salt
• A pinch of ginger

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and then beat in the applesauce, grapefruit juice, and the zest and Fiori di silica.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices and add half, mix it in, then add the other half until everything is well combined. It won’t look like traditional cookie batter, it’ll be wet. This is fine.

Lightly oil your hands and take the batter, a tablespoon at a time, and roll into a ball in your hand before placing them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. When you’re done rolling all of the cookies sprinkle them with a little bit of the evaporated cane juice.

Bake for 8-10 or until they turn a light golden brown around the edges.

Let cool and then enjoy!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!  These are so good but you definitely need the maple to get that traditional oatmeal raisin cookie tastes so don’t skimp on that and use some other syrup! The cookies are chewy and the texture is perfect, you can even add some roasted walnuts in it if you wanted to.

- Alexis♥

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• 1 ½ cups rolled oats
• ¾ cup flour
• ¾ cup raisins
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• ½ cup vegan butter
• ¼ cup apple sauce
• 2 tablespoons flax seeds (optional)
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (has to be maple!)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon baking soda

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy and then beat in the applesauce and vanilla extract.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda and then add it slowly to the wet ingredients until well combined. Use a spatula to mix in the oats, flax seeds and raisins.

Let the dough chill for 5-10 minutes to make it easier to work with.

Using a tablespoon measure, spoon the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, two inches apart.

Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until the edges start to turn a golden brown.

*Tip: Rotate your baking sheet halfway through cooking to ensure they bake evenly.

Enjoy!

Flourless, Refined Sugar Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies!

I’m back with some healthy Flourless, Refined Sugar Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies! These are a great alternative to the regular flourless peanut butter which contain up to a cup of sugar. These are a great base for experimentation for flourless cookies and I already have other ideas running through my head that I can’t wait to try! These come together really quick too and within twenty minutes you’re munching on some tasty good for you cookies! I hope you enjoy them!

- Alexis ♥

Flourless, Refined Sugar Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1 Cup Creamy or Crunchy Natural Peanut Butter
• 1/3 Cup Raw Agave Nectar (or less to taste)
• 1 Flax Egg (1 Tablespoon Flax meal + 3 Tablespoons Warm Water)
•  2 ½ Tablespoons Cacao Powder
• ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
• ½ Teaspoon Sea Salt (if you use regular pb omit the salt)
• ½ Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Mix together the flax meal and warm water and set aside until it becomes gelatinous.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the peanut butter, agave, cacao powder, baking soda, salt, flax egg and vanilla extract until well combined. The dough will be sticky and less like traditional cookie dough.

Coat your hands in a bit of oil and roll out tablespoon sized portions of the dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet (for easy clean up).

*I say to this because I have tried it by just spooning it on but it doesn't create a nice round top for the cookie.

Bake for ten minutes (These cookies will crack a bit on top because of the substitution of agave but they will taste delicious!).  When you take them out they might seem like they’re not done yet but it’s important to let them sit for 8-10 minutes because they will harden.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Challenge Day 1: Strawberry Almond Shortbread Cookies!

The Vegan Valentine’s Day Challenge begins with Strawberry Almond Shortbread Cookies! If you love marzipan you are going to LOVE these cookies and they’ll make great homemade gifts! I also love the fact that there are only six ingredients and they’re all easily accessible and most people already have lying around. You should definitely try these out and if there's any sweets you want me to try out let me know!

- Alexis ♥

 Strawberry Almond Shortbread Cookies

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Filling

• 1 cup strawberry jam
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Beat together the butter, sugar and almond extract until light and fluffy and then add in the dry ingredients a cup at a time until fully incorporated and starts to form a ball. Chill for an hour or until firm.

After letting the dough chill, flour your work surface and roll out until it’s a ¼” inch thick. Using a heart shaped cookie cutter cut out as many cookies as you want, re-rolling out the dough as needed.

When you’re done cutting out the cookies, using any utensil you can draw with that’s not sharp (I used the rounded end of metal chopsticks) create an outline of a heart and then use your fingers to create a deep enough hole to fill it with the jam. Using a ziplock bag with the edge cut off, pipe the jam in the heart wells you created, making sure not to overfill it.

Bake the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet for 15-18 or until the edges start to turn a golden brown.

Let cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Cranberry Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches!

I haven’t had ice cream sandwiches in years before I made these because I could never bring myself to buy vegan ice creams. I had tried So Delicious soy milk ice cream before but it always had this weird aftertaste but I remember the coconut milk based one tasting better. These ice cream sandwiches are so chocolately and the cranberries actually taste like cherries in this, they’re like little brownie ice cream bits of goodness! You can make any sized cookie you like but I went for the traditional size ice cream sandwich cookies. Also, the ice cream doubles as chocolate pudding! Don't freeze it and eat it just like it is and it's delicious!

Yesterday I went on an amazing 10 mile walk around Far Rockaway in Queens and it’s sad to see so many stores still closed and recovering from Hurricane Sandy but at least they’re still working towards it. It was refreshing to go outside in the cool breeze and get some exercise in! Winter is the hardest time of the year to convince yourself to exercise but yesterday was a surprisingly warm day and me and my boyfriend took the opportunity to go and walk around and it was great! The views of the sunset and the ocean were beautiful. More people should take the effort to walk to more places, not even for the exercise, but for the experience. I've walked from one end of the city to the next and you see so many things you wouldn't by just taking the train. I’m looking forward to our walk to Brooklyn on Wednesday!

 -  Alexis ♥

Chocolate Cranberry Brownie Cookies

• 2 Flaxseed Eggs (2 tablespoons Ground Flaxseed + 6 tablespoons water)
• 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 ½ cups Brown Sugar
• ½ cup Vegan Butter
• ½ cup Dried Cranberries
• ½ cup Vegan Chocolate Chips
• ½ cup Unsweetened Dutch Processed Cocoa
• 1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoon Instant Coffee
• ½ teaspoon Salt

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350° F.

Mix together ground flaxseed and water and set aside until it thickens.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy and then beat in the flaxseed eggs, instant coffee and vanilla extract. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients, the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, a half a cup to a cup at a time until well incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips and dried cranberries.

Wrap your cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a half hour just so it’s more manageable to work with.  After refrigerating, drop spoonfuls of dough (the size is up to you, I clearly made larger cookies) 1 inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes or until the cookies are set.

Chocolate Ice Cream

• 1 Avocado
• ½ cup Unsweetened Dutch Processed Cocoa
• ½ cup Non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk)
• ¼ cup Agave (or more to taste)
• ½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ½ teaspoon Instant Coffee
• ¼ teaspoon Salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.

Freeze overnight or until firm.

*For Ice Cream Sandwiches: Let the cookies cool and then freeze them  so they are firm enough to withstand squishing the ice cream between them. After they’re frozen, place a scoop of ice cream between them and squish the two cookies together and you have ice cream sandwiches! If you let the cookies and ice cream meld together in the freezer for a bit of time, they’ll taste even better!

You can serve them plain with the ice cream or add chopped nuts, sprinkles, etc.

It's never too late for Sugar Cookies!

I think food is one of the best ways to connect you to another culture. The process of buying the ingredients, toasting the spices or salting the cabbage brings you closer to how another culture works and acts. The 7 buying and learning excites me and makes me want to explore the ideas behind what I’m making and what it means for that culture. We are always moving and growing and globalization is always on the rise, whether it be for bad or good intentions but the continuing access we get through blogging, television or music creates this sense of closeness that we didn't have before.

 As a vegan, I am always searching for new recipes and exploring new flavors to get out the monotonous rut that becomes salads and veggie burgers and I find myself fortunate to be in a position where I am seeking out these new things because it brings me closer to something or someone I've yet to know or explore. If you haven’t yet tried Korean or Indian or Thai food or any food besides your normal fare, I suggest you go out there and find it and try it and then try and find out what it means. It’s never too late to open your mind to something besides the life you live and the people you know.

I took a little trip to flushing in NYC today and it’s a perfect example of going out and trying something new. I love exploring all the supermarkets and seeing these ingredients I’m not familiar with but hope to know very soon! Don’t be too surprised if you see some more international themed recipes on here in the near future!

After that little tidbit of musing, onto the sugar cookies!

Vegan Sugar Cookies

• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour (I like to add this to most of the recipes I post but you can use regular flour instead)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup vegan butter
• 1 flaxseed egg (1 tablespoon flaxseed powder + 3 tablespoons warm water, I suggest doing this in advance because you need it to thicken before you can use it in the recipe)
• 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 375° F.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flaxseed powder and water and set aside to thicken.

Sift all of your dry ingredients; flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy and beat in your flaxseed egg and vanilla. If you’re using a hand mixer, I suggest switching to a wooden spoon or a spatula before adding in your dry ingredients as the dough will start to form a ball and make it difficult to continue to mix.

Slowly add in your dry ingredients a cup to a cup and a half at a time until everything is well incorporated. If you find it too hard to mix, try adding a tablespoon of water as necessary.

Cover your dough in plastic wrap and chill for an hour to two hours.

After chilling, sprinkle some powdered sugar or extra flour and roll out your dough until ¼” thick. If you’re using cookie cutters, make sure to flour them so the cookies will come out easier.

Bake the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet for 8-9 minutes or until the edges start to turn a golden brown and let cool for two minutes on a cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack.