Guest post
Last year I decided to join a movement which has now become a usual occurrence in my household. I participated in “Vegan-uary”. Every January, people all around the globe decide to be vegan for a month.
Both for environmental reasons, and to challenge myself, I decided to join in. During that month, I found some things were really hard to give up, specially those containing dairy. An avid lover of coconut milk myself, it wasn’t milk I found hard to avoid, but rather all the sweet treats that have dairy in them.
I absolutely love my sweets. Cookies, cake, muffins… anything of the lot! But unfortunately, those often come with eggs, milk, and butter. So in order to satisfy my cravings, I decided to look for vegan baking recipes.
Since then, I have tested the water with brownies, truffles, and so. But these red velvet cookies are by far the best. Perhaps it is because they were the first vegan recipe I ever baked, but they seem to get better every-time I make them.
What you will need:
• 1½ Cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¼ teaspoon Salt
• ½ Cup Vegan Butter, I enjoy “Pure” butter.
• ¾ Cup White Sugar
• 3½ teaspoons Red Food Colouring
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup or Agave, you can also use honey
• 2 Tablespoons Non-Dairy Milk of Choice, coconut will give it a sweet flavour but you may use any.
• ½ Cup Powdered Sugar
Serves: 24 Cookies
Optional: Vegan chocolate cut into small pieces
Making the cookies
First, pre-heat your oven to 180C and cover two baking trays with parchment paper, setting it aside for later.
Then, mix together the dry ingredients – meaning the baking soda and powder, the salt, the cocoa, and the flour – in a large bowl.
In a medium bowl, mix the vegan butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy. If the butter is too hard, put it in the microwave for about 15 – 30 seconds, but be careful for it not to become too liquid or you won’t be able to get the necessary texture for the butter and sugar.
Stir in the food colouring, vanilla, maple syrup, and non-dairy milk of your choice into the mix. Making sure to blend it well.
Pour the liquid mix in the medium bowl into the flour mix in the large bowl, making sure to combine them until the dough comes together. If you want to, mix in some vegan chocolate chopped into small pieces to make for some chocolate chip extra good-ness.
Prepare a wide bowl, or dish, with powdered sugar. Making sure there is enough space for you to roll the dough balls in there comfortably. Using a spoon, make a hearty dough ball and roll it in the powder sugar until it is fully covered.
Then, place the ball on top of the baking tray and lightly press down to flatten into a small cookie shape. Sprinkling some extra powdered sugar on top, repeat the process until the baking tray is full. Be sure to leave some space between each cookie.
Place the baking tray in the oven for 10 – 12 minutes. After the cookies are done, remove from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes on the trays.
Lastly, enjoy the beautiful taste of the cookies!
Written by Max Lami
