Lemon Zucchini Cookies - and Vegan too!

This recipe couldn't wait until I composed my zucchini post I'm planning to do - so here it is- Lemon Zucchini Cookies - sorry for the crappy photo - the cookies sure weren't crappy!
I think these are my new favorite cookies - cookies are not normally in my diet - the gluten issue- but these - I definitely indulged in them! They are moist and lemony- perfection in a cookie blob....Here is MY recipe.....

Beat together:

1/2 c. Earth Balance "Butter"- Soften

1/4 c. Spectrum Shortening

1/2 c. white sugar

Add in and beat:

1 egg replacer - EnerG (1.5 tsp per 2 Tbs. H2O)

1/2 tsp lemon extract

1 tsp grate lemon peel

In separate bowl- mix up the dry ingredients-

2 c. unbleached flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. cinnimon

Mix dry ingredients with the "butter mixture".

After combined add:

1 c. grated zucchini

1 c. chopped walnuts

With 2 tsp. cookie scoop- mound the dough on GREASED baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Now onto the glaze -

Mix together:

1 c. powder sugar

1/4 tsp. lemon extract

1.5 Tbs. lemon juice (add a little extra if neccessary)

While cookies are cooling (still warm) spread the glaze onto the cookies.

These are just the bomb - a lemon bomb - no, a lemon drop - yeah serve these cookies with a lemon drop, you know, like a chaser!

Oh- and these puppies freeze great! So add this recipe to your - 101 things to do with a zucchini!

The BEST Vegan Chocolate Cookies

I did it....I, the busiest laid off vegan has tweaked the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe- just look...... What makes the best you ask???? These puppies don't get hard after a couple of days, they are just sweet enough and the chips themselves get all gooey - they are perfect, well at least in the Goods household. Here is my tweaked recipe from the tollhouse site..........

2 1/4 cup unbleached flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 c Earth Balance "Butter"

1/2 Spectrum Shortening

1/2 c. of white sugar

3/4 c. of light brown sugar

2 "eggs" using Ener-G egg replacer

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. of Kroger Organic Chocolate Chips

Beat the butter, shortening and sugars together. Add in the eggs and vanilla, beat some more. Combine in another bowl, the dry ingredients- whisk together. This is my lazy way of sifting- don't judge, it works just fine. Mix the dry stuff into the wet stuff. Add the chips. I used a 2 tbs. cookie scoop to put the dough onto a cookie sheet - don't grease it - just a naked cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 9-11 mins. Enjoy with a glass of cold soymilk, or better yet, a vodka and diet coke...again, don't judge me :-)

Enjoy!

Happy Mommy's Day

And for my Mommy I made this dragon fly in ceramic class. Can't tell from the photo my the wings are Mother-of-Pearly...I just realized the Mother-of-Pearl and Mother's Day--HA, how appropriate is that???

Then since she LOVES oatmeal cookies, and she doesn't bake them for herself- I sent her a batch of Vegan ones...which she could care less that they are vegan.

I know everyone has made oatmeal cookies before, but I'll still post the recipe just in case some alien just landed on earth, and has never made them.

Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from the Quaker Oatmeal lid

1/2 cup of soften Earth Balance "butter"

1/2 cup of Spectrum Veg. Shortening

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar( I use dark brown)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 Eggs Replacer Mixture

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups Oats old fashioned, uncooked

1 cup raisins- presoaked in water

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat "butter" and sugars until creamy. Add egg replacer mixture and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Half way thru I squish the cookie mound down, with a fork. Bake 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown. Half way thru I squish the cookie mound down with a fork, to flatten. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.ABOUT 4 DOZEN

Happy Mommy's Day Y'all!

I'm sure even if you are not a Mother, you have

guided and enriched lives of young ones.

The Birdies Returned & Brought Cookies....

Finally I have been assured, by the birds, that Spring is definitely here. THE ORIOLES RETURNED SATURDAY MORNING! See......

We were all set for them:

Organic Oranges - CHECK

Grape Jelly - CHECK

Camera - CHECK

Then the BLUE JAYS migrate thru....

The above photo only shows a few of the birds....at times we've had 50-100 birds at one time. Well it helps that we bribe them with peanuts.

So now you are wondering which birds brought the cookies. I must confess, they didn't....but I did make some Peanut Butter Chunky Cookies per Goods request.

Sorry for such a poopie picture - I was on the fly when I took it, no amount of PhotoShop could help it either.....but the recipe isn't poopie - totally yummy. It comes from the Jiff Website, I'm reposting it with my changes.

Ingredients-
3/4 cup Jif Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Vegetable Shortening (Spectrum)
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 Tbs rice milk
1 Tbs vanilla
1 egg replacer
1 3/4 c unbleached flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4-1 c. coarsely chopped unsalted
blanched roasted peanuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
Combine peanut butter, Shortening, light brown sugar, rice milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended.
Add prepared egg replacer. Beat just until blended.
Combine flour, salt and baking soda.
Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Stir in chopped peanuts.
Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.
Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork.

Bake at 375ºF for 7 to 8 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown.
Makes 3 dozen cookie

Just a note - THESE ARE GREAT COOKIES!
Definitely 5 out of 5 forks.

Grandma B goes Vegan

My Grandma B was a GREAT baker. I've been lucky enough to have some of her recipes passed on to me. I remember helping her make Christmas cookies, even though I'm sure I ate more then I helped. Here are some of my favorites!

Grandma B's Banana Bread

I know, everyone has an awesome banana bread recipe, but I SWEAR this is the best. I've tweaked it and veganized it, but it's just the bomb. It's moist, fluffy and makes you all warm an fuzzy inside

Banana Bread
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. earth balance
1/4 c. shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs-Ener-G replacer
3-4 smashed bananas (I go 4)
1 tsp. baking soda in 1 Tbs hot water
2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c nuts (or more)

Cream together with mixer, sugar & "butter". Add "eggs", baking soda mixture, & vanilla and mix. Add flour and salt, little at a time while mixing. Then add bananas, mix and then add nuts. Spread into prepared (greased & flour) loaf pan. Bake @ 350 degrees for one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean.

I changed the "butter" amount from my Grandma's original recipe. It did call for a complete 1/2 c. of butter but I changed it to 1/4 c. and added a 1/4 c. of shortening. This made it a lot fluffier, and moister, all butter tends to make it drier. Also, I use bananas prefrozen. I think this adds some moistness also to the bread. If the banana have too much liquid when they thaw, I do drain it off.

Next up.....

Butternut Ball Cookies

I've totally avoided making butternut balls since I turned vegan. These are my favorite, and I just didn't think the Earth Balance could pull it off. Well I'm tickled to report - IT DID!! Goods confirmed after sampling MANY, you could NOT tell the difference. Here is the very simple recipe...

Butternut Balls

2- 3/4 cups of flour
3/4 c. power sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. Earth Balance "butter"
1 tsp. vanilla
2 -1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Sift flour, sugar and salt in separate bowl. In larger bowl cream "butter" and vanilla. Mix flour and cream mixture well. Add walnuts, mix. Roll approx. 2 tbs (a little shy) of mixture into balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or when sides get tanish. Roll in powder sugar when balls are still hot/warm. [FYI- if any of them make it to your freezer- these puppies are excellent to eat frozen!]
And the final recipe...

Raisin Filled Cookies

The recipe that I have for these, is very vague...so hopefully I filled in the blanks correctly...well I guess I did because the cookies turned out very yummy. Goods calls them Raisin Pies since they are so big.

Raisin Filled Cookies

4 c. flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c. shortening
1/2 tsp salt
2 "egg" replacer
1 c. white sugar
1/2 c of soy milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

Blend together flour, baking powder, shortening and salt in one bowl. Mix together sugar, eggs, milk, baking soda, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Then mix everything together. Put in refrigerator to chill.

THE FILLING

1 lbs raisins (approx 2 1/2 c.)
1 c. white sugar
2 c. water

Cook - Simmer the raisins, sugar and water for 15 minutes. Thicken with arrowroot until mixture is like gravy. (I used 3.5 Tbs. of arrowroot)

Assembling- Roll out chilled cookie dough (Good's job- he is the BEST roller!). Using two different size glasses, cut the dough (larger glass for top of cookie) . Place filling mixture on smaller dough circle and cover and seal with larger dough circle.

Baking- this is were it got a bit crazy...not sure if it's because I made them so big (like 3" diam) but I baked them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. My vague recipe doesn't state how long they should be in the oven, but I've read other recipes that call for 8-10 mins.

The end.
Enjoy your holiday!