C is for Cookie...

...and that's a good enough reason for me to bake up two dozen every weekend.

Seriously, I seem to go through a vegan baking phase every winter. Two years ago it was vegan cupcakes. Last winter it was pies. This winter it's cookies. It's not a healthy habit, but life is short, and I do have help taking care of them from a certain cookie vacuum I live with!

These two cookie recipes are, sort of, healthy. The first one is agave sweetened peanut butter cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. So, they not sweetened with sugar, which is nice. However, the three generous handfuls of chocolate chunks I added to them had plenty of sugar, I'm sure. What are you gonna do? But these were gooood people. Like, shut. up. good.


My next attempt at "healthy" cookie making was the oatmeal, walnut and dried plum cookies from Alicia Silverstone's new book, The Kind Diet. I changed them quite a bit by using raisins and pumpkin seeds instead of plums and walnuts, and had to use 1/4 cup regular sugar instead of the maple sugar called for, but that's OK. They still were low(ish) on the sweeteners (they also called for maple syrup) and used only 3/4 cup flour. These flattened when they baked, which was disappointing, but they were chewy and actually pretty good! I would make them again for sure.


On that note, I highly recommend The Kind Diet. Although I have had the utmost respect for Alicia Silverstone for years for speaking out against cruelty towards animals and advocating a vegan/vegetarian diet, I was skeptical this book would be good (sorry Alicia!). I was wrong. It's awesome, and a great book for anyone wanting to try veganism, vegans who need a diet make over, and people who just want to know how to eat a little healthier. Although it's a "diet" book, Alicia makes a point to say if you are paying attention to what you eat and striving to eat lots of veggies and grains, that's the most important thing. She also stresses not beating yourself up if you eat crap every once in a while (I didn't just eat an Oreo brownie from Vegan Treats!), and to make sure you don't deprive yourself. Her view on exercise is very similar to mine as well, there is no point in forcing yourself to sweat on a treadmill at the gym if you hate it- you're much better off doing something you love, like yoga, or going for a long walk. She even says she likes to still go to beginner yoga classes just so she doesn't feel pressured and can move at her own pace- that's awesome!!!! OK, done gushing.

A Spicy Saturday Feast

Last night for dinner we made.....

Jamaican vegetable patties from Vegan Soul Kitchen. A lot of work, but very worth it. Not only do they taste yummers, the spices in the filling make your kitchen smell amazing while it is cooking.

I was missing one key ingredient, turmeric, for the dough, which would have given the patties a nice yellow glow. But through the magic of iphoto, I have added it here! We had a nice arugula salad with a simple lemon vinaigrette on the side- perfect combo. This cookbook has yet to let me down, and there are still so many recipes left I want to try! Fried green tomatoes, anyone?





For desert, we made Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I had a strange experience with these cookies- they didn't taste so tasty warm out of the oven... a cookie experience I don't think I'd ever had before. However, when they cooled they were chewy and delicious and had a nice spicy kick to them! Look out!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

I love it when a good cookie plan comes together!!! My mom used to make these cookies around Christmas time when I was a kid, and I have been dreaming of having one again ever since. My mom and I were inspired to try to veganize them them for Christmas Eve dinner, and dove into the process last night. I was pretty nervous about how they would turn out, as the original recipe calls for 4 eggs, but fortunately the results were chocolaty, chewy and tasted just as I remembered them.

Although I associate these cookies with Christmas/Hanukkah time, they would be delicious warm out of the oven on any cold winter night.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 Egg replacer eggs, preferably Ener-G brand
• 4-6 tbs. soy milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2-2/3 cup powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. In a large mixing bowl, combine canola oil, melted chocolate, vanilla and "eggs." Slowly add wet ingredients to dry using a hand held or stand mixer. Add soy milk one tablespoon at a time until the dough is nicely combined and pulls together (it should look slightly sticky). Cover the bowl containing the dough and chill in the fridge for 30 mins. to an hour.

Once dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease a cookie sheet, and take dough out of fridge. Put powdered sugar in a shallow bowl, and begin to roll dough into 1 to 1.5 inch balls. Once balls are formed, roll them in powdered sugar to coat completely, then place on the cookie sheet. Bake cookies for 10-12 mins, until they are cracked at the top. Allow to cool for 5 mins. before transfering to a cooling rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

Many thanks to Dave of www.EatingInTranslation.com for this beautiful picture of my cookies at The Greenpoint Food Market... I think this picture does them much more justice than mine did!

Greenpoint Food Market- A Success!

In case you've been sleeping off a mulled wine hangover (not that I have!) or have been in an oblivious haze the past two days, let me catch you up. It snowed on the East Coast. A lot. Or at least most people think it's a lot- being from Colorado I would only call it a medium/small-ish storm. Anyways, this ridiculous storm caused my flight home, which would have been this morning, to be canceled.

Needless to say I am pretty bummed, I want to get home and do Christmas stuff, like a gingerbread house throwdown, asap! But, the hard blow of the reality that I won't be home until Monday night was softened yesterday by the fact I sold out of everything but 7 chocolate rugelach cookies yesterday at the Greenpoint Food Market!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a lot of fun, partly because everyone was in a Christmasy cookie mood, and partly because I once again shared a table with my buddy Aja, aka Sandwich Friend, who is awesome and makes seriously yummy sandwiches.

The set up- not the greatest picture, but you get the idea.


Chocolate chocolate-chip gingerbread cookies- these were a last minute addition but were the most popular- inspired by Martha Stewart, but veganized and spiced up with crystallized ginger on top. These sold out, and I have to admit I was kind of disappointed, I had hoped to at least save one to eat later! The lighting is crappy- you can't see how chocolaty these really are....
The chocolate and raspberry rugelach!!! It sparked many conversations- people told me how their grandmothers used to make it, or how they became addicted to it living in South Williamsburg. The raspberry was the first thing to sell out- much to Phil's disappointment.


Aja's sandwiches- she always has a vegan option that is off the hook. Yesterday it was a "Saucy Tempehtress," tempeh baked in bbq sauce with pickles, pickled red onions, swiss chard and some Vegenasie... I think the quality of my life would drastically improve if she could pack my lunch every day....

So yeah! It was a lot of work, but a lot of of fun, and satisfying to see people eat my cookies, and sometimes even come back for seconds, or a whole bag. This was The Lindzertort Bakery's second official time out, and I am learning so much... Even though I made a ton of cookies to sell, I think this is only the beginning of my holiday baking- stay tuned!

A Vegan Hanukkah Feast- Serious Latke Overdose

I don't think there has ever been a year I have not been home for at least part of Hanukkah, but this year it falls early and I am still in NYC until next week, when Hanukkah ends. Luckily there will still be Christmas at home (yes, I am one of those lucky people who celebrated both growing up! twice the presents!), but I still wanted to light the menorah and eat some fried potatoes.

My brother had the same dilemma of not being home for Hanukkah, so he came over and we ate. Too much. But it was delicious!

Vegan latkes- with toffuti sour cream and applesauce...



Broccoli and chickpea casserole from Vegan With a Vengeance- just to throw some protein and real veggies into the mix...


And chocolate rugelah- because there can never be enough rugelach- even when I make nearly 100 next weekend...

Extreme Vegan Rugelah Closeup!

Today I spent some time making rugelach dough. If all goes as planned, I will be selling this yummy cookie at the next Greenpoint Food Market in a couple of weeks.

While I was making enough dough for 80 cookies to freeze until I bake them the night before the market, I figured a couple of test batches of new flavors couldn't hurt...


The chocolate rugelah surprisingly reminded me of pain au chocolate- flaky and buttery with thick and gooey chocolate!


Phil's vote goes to the raspberry/pecan/raisin rugelah, tart, sweet, buttery, and "too rich to be vegan!"


There may be a second cookie in the works to sell, but it's not final yet... In the mean time, spread the word!

Holy Hamantashen!

Today was one of my most favorite kind of days, a SNOW DAY! Apparently people who work in offices don't get to take snow days, so I had the apartment all to myself. I needed a project. After giving it some thought, I decided to attempt to make hamantashen, delicious three cornered cookies eaten on the Jewish holiday of Purim.

Why hamantashen you may ask? First off, I have never made them before. Second, I know I will be tempted with many a non-vegan hamantashen cookie at school in the week ahead, and I thought it might be a good idea to be armed with my own vegan version. Unfortunately, my beautiful baby-pink Kitchenaid mixer in currently in-transit from Colorado to Brooklyn, so this project proved to be a little more difficult than I had intended.

The dough recipe is hodge-podged from a few different places, but mostly inspired by a Barefoot Contessa recipe for rugelach I have veganized and used in the past which is so good it's addictive, with a few modifications (mostly because I was running low on some ingredients).

Hodge-Podge Vegan Hamantashen
(makes a dozen cookies)

The Dough
3/4 cups Tofutti Cream Cheese (at room temp)
1/2 cup Earth Balance or any vegan margarine (at room temp)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
5-6 tsp. vanilla soy milk

Cream together tofutti, earth balance and sugar in a mixer (I had to do this in the food processor, which was a bit more tedious but worked). Mix in flour, salt, and vanilla until combined. The dough will be crumbly, so just as you would when making a pie crust, add soy milk one tsp. at a time until it just comes together. Dump onto a floured surface, knead until it sticks together in a large ball, and throw in the fridge or freezer for an hour or so. While it is chilling, you can make the poppy seed filling.

Poppy Seed Filling
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 tsp. corn starch
2 1/2 tbs. agave nectar
1 tbs. earth balance
zest of 1/2 lemon

Simmer soy milk and poppy seeds together in a small sauce pot for about 10 minutes. Add cornstarch and earth balance, whisking to prevent as many clumps as possible. Simmer for about 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Take off heat and add the lemon zest, and let cool.



Other (and easier) fillings include jellies and jams. In addition to the poppy seed filling, I used some raspberry jam I picked up at the farmer's market last week.

Take dough out of the fridge, and roll out with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Use a cookie cutter or a glass to cut circles a couple of inches wide out. Put a teaspoon of whatever filling you are using in the middle of the circle, and fold three sides up to form a triangle. Pinch the corners closed very tightly (especially if you are using jam) and put on a greased cookie sheet.











Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-50 minutes until just brown.


Conclusion: if you are looking for a project to take up half of your day, make hamantashen filled with jam (which I found to be the tastiest anyways). If you are looking for a project to take up all day and drive you slightly crazy, make hamantashen with poppy seed filling.