Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies and Giveaway Winners

Well well...whadid I tell ya? I'm back with another post and a month hasn't even gone by yet. Am I fast or what? =p But seriously, I'm touched by each and every one of you who is still dropping by (and new readers are always welcome!).

No cookie cookbook, or cookie monster (nom?) for that matter, would be complete without a fabulous recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Hardly surprising, but Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar does not disappoint here. Authors Isa and Terry's margarine-free rendition of The Classic even passed the stringent Carnivorous Boyfriend Test. P gobbled these up just as fast as the many (many) buttery counterparts I've baked him. And this batch mixed up in a flash. No stressing about ingredient temperatures or breaking out the mixer -- just a girl happy with her whisk n' bowl. The cookies were good by the book, but fellow fans of the crisp outside, soft within combo shouldn't miss my alternative baking temperature directions at the bottom of the recipe. Yay for gooey goodness!

FLAVOR: 4/5
TEXTURE: 4/5
EASE OF PREPARATION: 4.5/5
OVERALL: 4.5/5

Tying it all together, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar is a gem of a cookbook suitable for vegan and non-vegan bakers alike. These aren't simply dairy recipes with butter and egg substitutes find-and-pasted in. I particularly appreciated the number of recipes using oil and not margarine, though please note that those cookie doughs will feel different from doughs with solid fat. Much as with their cupcake book before this, Isa and Terry built recipes from the ground up to be great period, not just great-considering-it's-vegan. I also applaud the authors for going beyond bake sale classics to also include intriguing selections like Macadamia Lace Cookies and Green Tea Walnut Biscotti. I'm excited to explore the rest of this book and hope my posts have inspired you to check it out for yourself.

Now without further ado, the 3 winners of the vegan cookies cookbook: comments 20 and 51 from my Sweet Potato Blondies post and comment 26 from my Pignoli Almond Cookies post. I've already reached out to you folks, so please email me your info and I'll get these babies right to ya.

Chocolate Chip Cookies [Printable Recipe]
Reproduced with permission from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
via the authors' blog with my comments/changes in brackets
Makes two dozen two inch cookies or about 16 three inch cookies

1/2 brown sugar
1/4 white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
[I used soymilk and could taste it a little, so I'd recommend something milder]
1 tablespoon tapioca flour [cornstarch is okay]
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups chocolate chips [I found non-dairy ones at Trader Joe's]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

Mix together sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important that you don’t get lazy about that step. Mix in the vanilla.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stuff so use your hands to really work them in.

For 3 inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes - no more than 9 - until they are just a little browned around the edges. I usually get 16 out of these so I do two rounds of eight cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

For 2 dozen two inch cookies roll dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches and bake for only six minutes.

XIAOLU'S NOTE: I had to bake these a few minutes longer than the recipe says. Also, I chose to bake 2 batches instead of multiple trays at once. I stuck the dough for the second batch in the freezer for 20 minutes and also accidentally kicked the oven up to 400 degrees F. Realizing my mistake, I yanked them from the oven as they started to color on top (4-7 minutes?) and they were really good -- crunchy outside with chewy, slightly gooey innards.

PREVIOUSLY: Sweet Potato Blondies, Espresso Chip Oatmeal Cookies, and Pignoli Almond Cookies