Yield: approximately 3 dozen cookies

In my go to chocolate chip cookies, I like a blend of vegan butter and vegetable shortening for the best of both worlds.  Craving cookies, but with no shortening, I decided to substitute coconut oil (solid at room temperature) and oh, boy, those of us who haven’t been baking cookies with coconut oil have been missing out!  The resulting cookie has the most delectable crispy-crumbly-tender texture imaginable, but they don’t fall apart, no sirree!  They are perfection in every way.

The coconut oil imparts to the cookies a very subtle hint of coconut flavor, that will make coconut lovers swoon; but not so much that the coconut averse would object.  However, we love coconut in this house, so I decided to add some toasted coconut instead of nuts and the result was addicting and just as comforting as old-style chocolate chip cookies.  However, feel free to load them up with the chips, nuts, and dried fruit of your choice.

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 1/2 cups demerara sugar (or lightly packed light brown sugar)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspooons baking soda

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I use white whole wheat)

10 ounces vegan dark chocolate chunks or chips (most organic brands are vegan; check the label)

1 1/2 cups lightly toasted coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with silicon mats or parchment paper.  With an electric mixer, beat together butter and coconut oil until creamy.  Add sugar and continue beating until fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.  (Note: if using dmerara sugar, because of the larger crystals, they will not dissolve completely.)  Add baking powder, soda, sea salt and one-third of flour, mixing on low speed just until combined.  Add remaining flour in two parts, continuing to mix on low speed, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.  Add chocolate chunks and coconut and mix just until combined.  Drop by generous rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets, using dampened fingers to gently flatten the tops of the cookies.  Bake 9 to 11 minutes, rotating pans after 5.  Cool pans on wire racks.

My brand new cookie recipe was just published on One Green Planet.

Click HERE for my tasty twist on the traditional (and ubiquitous) chocolate chip cookie.

This is the kind of junk, I mean, chunk you’ll definitely want in your trunk!

Yield: 24 “normal” cookies or 12 “behemoths“

(If pressed for time, I make the big boys. But these are equally good large or small.)

Today, I had an appointment with a periodontist and scheduled gum-grafting surgery for September 3. It seems that for years I’ve done a little too good of a job of brushing my teeth and have some gum recession to tend to before getting the aforementioned Invisiline braces. I now know, first-hand, from whence the phrase “long in the tooth” comes.

What does that have to do with these cookies? It is the only reason I can think of for why I had an especially irrepressible craving for something sweet and tender, chock full of crunchy and chewy morsels like nuts and dried apples, foods I won’t be able to eat post surgery. I was told that I would need to eat a soft diet for two weeks. Hmm…that sounds like soy lattes, wine, soups and vegan ice cream to me. So, in the meantime, I think I should hoard the forbidden foods in my jaws like a squirrel.

Once again, my favorite dough (but with half whole wheat flour and a little oatmeal) plays a supporting role in these cookies that star dark chocolate chips, walnut pieces, dried apples and a warm and toasty blend of spices which is especially tasty. Be sure to use all four spices because they are more than the sum of their parts.

½ cup vegan butter, room temperature (I like Earth Balance)
½ cup vegetable shortening
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk, preferably at room temperature (plain or vanilla soy milk works too)
1 generous teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
1 cup + 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup + 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
pinch nutmeg
scant 1/2 cup oatmeal
scant 1/2 cup vegan dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
scant 1/2 cup walnut pieces (or almonds, hazelnuts, pecans)
scant 1/2 cup diced dried apples (a 1/4-inch dice seems just right)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, shortening, brown sugar, and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Slowly blend in the soy milk, vanilla and maple extract. Add the flours, baking soda and spices, and mix on low speed until well combined. Then fold in the remaining ingredients. Drop 24 small scoops onto Silpat-covered, oiled or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Press tops of mounds down slightly and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Or make 12 extra large cookies using two scoops of dough, pressing the mounds down to about a 1/2″ tall disk, leaving 2″ between, and baking for approximately 12-15 minutes. Check after 12 . Cool slightly on cookie sheets and then remove to racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

Yield: 24 “normal” cookies or 12 “behemoths“

(As I have said before, like so many people, I seem to always be pressed for time, so I make gigantic cookies. But these are equally good large or small.)

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. Last week, I needed a few food gifts and wanted to make my chocolate chip cookies (posted on this site), but with dried cranberries or cherries. However, I discovered that I didn’t have enough chips and the only dried fruit I had on-hand were figs, already cut into 1/4 inch cubes from a previous recipe.

No worries. I simply made the dough as usual, but nudged it gently in a more wholesome direction by substituting 1 of the cups of all-purpose flour with 1 cup of whole wheat flour. And, instead of adding 1 1/2 cups of chips (or 3/4 cup of chips and 3/4 cup of nuts), I added 3/4 cup oatmeal and 1/4 cup each of dark chocolate chips, nuts and dried figs. A combination of ground cinnamon and ginger provides just the right spicy background for these cookies that subtlely suggest that autumn is just around the corner.

½ cup vegan butter, room temperature (I use Earth Balance)
½ cup vegetable shortening
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk, preferably at room temperature (plain or vanilla soy milk works too)
1 generous teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt (omit if butter is salted)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup vegan dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup of pecan pieces (or almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias, walnuts, etc.)
1/4 cup diced dried figs (a 1/4-inch dice seems just right)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, shortening, brown sugar, and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Slowly blend in the soy milk and vanilla. Add the flours, baking soda and spices, and mix on low speed until well combined. Then fold in the remaining ingredients. Drop 24 small scoops onto Silpat-covered, oiled or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Press tops of mounds down slightly and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Or make 12 extra large cookies using two scoops of dough, pressing the mounds down to about a 1/2″ tall disk, leaving 2″ between, and bake for approximately 12-15 minutes. Check after 12 . Cool slightly on cookie sheets and then remove to racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers.

Yield: approximately 8 mega cookies or 20-24 normal size

I met Reannon Peterson, the creator of my inspiration recipe, a couple of years ago when I consulted with her for “Vegan 101,” a story I wrote for The Virginian-Pilot. She was and is employed by PETA, though she recently returned to school and has almost earned her teaching license. (What a great addition to the profession she will be!) You can find her original recipe, known as “RP’s Famous Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies,” at http://vegcooking.com/. One taste and you’ll know why they’re famous. I didn’t monkey with her recipe too much, but I did add almond extract, as I think it deepens the peanut butter flavor, making it a little more complex. I also substituted 1 cup of the flour with whole wheat flour. And finally, I omitted the tiny bit of water in the original recipe, gave a more specific amount of soy milk and added more chocolate chips. You’re sure to enjoy either version whether raw–the dough is irresistible–or cooked.

1 cup peanut butter (preferably, non-hydrogenated), creamy or crunchy
1/4 cup vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ cup granulated sugar or raw sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk
6 ounces vegan (non-dairy) chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with Silpat. (If making normal size cookies, use two baking sheets.) In a large mixing bowl at medium-high speed, cream together the peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and almond extract. Add the sugars and continue creaming until fluffy. With the mixer on low speed, mix in flours, baking soda, salt and soy milk. Dough should be soft enough to hold its shape, but not sticky. If too stiff, add more soy milk, a teaspoon add a time until desired consistency is reached. When almost combined, add chocolate chips and mix until all ingredients are well combined and chips well distributed. Avoid over-mixing.

For mega cookies, use an ice cream scoop to make 8 mounds of dough, about two inches apart, in three staggered rows on one cookie sheet. (To make normal size cookies, use a small scoop to make 20-24 mounds of dough, divided between two baking sheets.) Flatten each scoop to approximately one-third of an inch thick using your fingers. Press fork tines lightly into dough first in one direction, then turn the fork 90 degrees and press again to make a classic criss-cross design. If fork sticks, dip in flour or spray with non-stick spray. (For mega cookies, press fork two to three times, side by side, in one direction to nearly cover surface before turning 90 degrees and repeating.)

Bake mega cookies for 13-15 minutes and normal size cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are golden, rotating sheets halfway through. Be careful not to over bake. Cool cookies slightly on trays until they hold their shape, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Source: Slightly adapted from Reannon Peterson at http://vegcooking.com/

Yield: 25 to 30 “normal” cookies or 9-10 “behemoths“

(Like so many people, I seem to always be pressed for time, so I make gigantic cookies using an ice cream scoop. But they are equally good large or small.)

Twice in less than a week, I have gifted visiting artists at my school with these cookies as a partial “thank you” for their generosity. Today’s artist called me tonight to request the recipe because she had attended a dinner meeting after work, but had not had time to prepare a dish. So, she took the cookies as her contribution to the “pot luck” and they received rave reviews from three women who happen to be vegans. Instead of sending her the recipe, I decided to make this favorite recipe my first official post and direct her to The Blooming Platter.