Cookie monster
Last weekend, I had the random desire to bake.
While I love sweets of all kinds, including cookies, cakes, brownies, cupcakes, etc. – I could go on and on – I have neither the skills to whip up delicious baked goods or help in eating them, as my husband’s sweet tooth is practically nonexistent. If I bake a bunch of brownies, those suckers will sit there until I eat them all.
After our adventures with the slow cooker, I’ve gained a bit more confidence in the kitchen. When I was in the mood for some kind of pumpkin goodie, I Googled “pumpkin cookies” and these came up on the first results page:
http://www.theppk.com/2008/10/pumpkin-oatmeal-cookies/
I didn’t even realize I’d stumbled upon a vegan website until I started preparing the cookies. I’m not a vegan or a vegetarian, but was attracted to the recipe because I love pumpkin, oatmeal in cookies and recipes that don’t require too many ingredients. These were very easy to make. I did not use flax seed, FYI. With the pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon and molasses, they smell incredible while baking. I ate about 20 of these the day I made them. Not kidding.
They are incredibly delicious and sort of healthy, with the pumpkin, raisin, nuts and oatmeal. I’m a fan of any kind of cookie, but cookies that are both ridiculously tasty AND sort of nutritious? They were gone in two days (though I did give some to family). Even John is a fan of these. They come out almost cakey or muffin like and just have a “fall” feel. I think they will be my cookie standby.
This weekend, since we were having family and friends over Friday and Saturday nights, I decided to make a double batch, only I used chocolate chips instead of raisins in one batch. As good as pumpkin is alone, chocolate only makes things better. And that variation was just as good, if not better, than the original. These seemed to be a big hit this weekend. I’d love to try making these using mashed bananas instead of pumpkin, because I also love the combination of chocolate, bananas and nuts.
I also made these
http://www.theppk.com/2008/10/chewy-chocolate-chocolate-chip-cookies/
I also did not use flax seed for these. And instead of soymilk, I simply used warm water, as someone in the comments suggested. They came out pretty flat but have a great crispy-chewy texture. They are fairly oily, though, so I may try making them with less oil next time. These also got rave reviews.
I think I’m hooked on baking. Now that I have the right tools — actual quality cookie sheets instead of pizza pans of different thicknesses, real cookie racks to replace trivets, nice mixing bowls and measuring utensils — it makes it easier to get things right. Baking is a science. It’s frustrating when something doesn’t turn out right but it feels awesome when what you made is delicious and crowd-pleasing.
Got a favorite cookie recipe? I’d love to try it out!
