Vegan Pastry-Press Cookies

There were several different cookies that my mom made every Christmas (she still does, just not all of them now). We made Russian teacakes, candy cane cookies (where you twist two colors of dough), chocolate crinkles, and cookie-press cookies! Technically, it's a pastry press because (as I recently discovered) it makes more than just cookies. But, to me, it's a cookie press. This year I was determined to make cookies with my son around the holidays, so I transformed the cookie-press dough recipe into a vegan Christmas miracle. I usually don't use sugar in my recipes, but it's the holidays...and it's not like I ate the whole batch...by myself...the day I made them...and then made a second batch to replace them before my husband and son came home. Yeah, I definitely did not do that.

Note: If you don't have a cookie press, which, I'm not sure why you wouldn't. If someone in your family either did not pass one down to you or merely gift one to you because they still use theirs, you might find one at a thrift store, yard sale, or ebay. But even without it, you can just roll the dough into 1-inch balls and flatten a little bit (but not with a fork, because that will make them peanut butter cookies).  

Cookie press with my favorite holiday plates.

Ingredients:

1 cup vegan butter

3/4 cup sugar 

1 flax egg*

1 t pure almond extract (ingredients should contain bitter almond oil)

1/4 t salt

2 1/4 cups flour (I used hard red whole wheat flour that I pre-ordered and picked up at the farmers market from Nash's Organic Produce, but any flour will work)

1/4 t baking powder

any color natural food coloring (I used a beet-powder based color)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream vegan butter and sugar together with a hand mixer (the original recipe didn't say "until fluffy", but I like to mix it until it has a little fluff). Add flax egg and almond extract and mix well. Combine dry ingredients (including the food coloring if you're using a powdered form), then gradually blend into butter mixture. If you're using a liquid food coloring, add it at this stage. Fill your cookie press with dough and crank those buggers out on an ungreased cookie sheet. Remember that the dough will expand a bit, so err on the side of smaller cookies to keep their proper shape. Bake for 10-12 minutes. 

*To make a flax egg, combine 1 T ground flaxseed with 2 1/2 T water and let sit for at least 5 minutes. 

Dough colored with a natural beet-powder based food coloring. 

Before the oven. 

Tastes just like Christmas.

Banana Cookies

Variation with buckwheat flour, coconut, and cacao nibs. 

Sugar is a nasty beast. I’ve cut it out for short periods of time only to be reeled in by it once more.  I’ve also tried to stave it off by making smoothies with fruits and greens in hopes that my body will get enough nutrition so as not to crave extraneous unhealthy foods. Sometimes it works. It's important to me to have foods around that replace the foods I would normally grab during a snack attack. These banana cookies do the trick for me. They’re also great for a quick breakfast. 

Most of the recipes I'll be posting are original creations, but this one I discovered from Five Heart Home. I use her recipe for Banana Breakfast Cookies and modify it a bit. My modifications vary almost every time I make them, just to keep things exciting. Here's my version, with more modifications below.

Ingredients:

2 cups oats

1/2 t ground spices (cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, grains of paradise; any kind or combination)

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 large bananas (ripe or slightly overripe), mashed (about 1 cup)

1/2 cup peanut butter (or any other nut or seed butter)

1 t vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, any kind or combination)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine oats, ground spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl combine mashed banana, nut butter, vanilla, and nuts; mix well. Then gradually stir the dry ingredients into the banana mixture. Make sure everything is mixed well. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Each cookie requires about 1/4 cup dough, so you can use either a spoon to scoop out the dough or use your hands to form and ball then pat it down slightly. Bake for about 15 minutes or until they're just browned on the bottom. The cookies will not spread, so their shape on the baking sheet is how it will look once it's baked.

[Modification Notification! Sometimes I omit 1/2 cup of the oatmeal and add 1/2 to 1 cup buckwheat flour. I almost always add 1/2 to 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes and 1/2 cup cacao nibs to the dry ingredients. Sometimes I add 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa. One time I added 1/2 cup finely grated carrots and 1 T finely minced fresh ginger. Try some of your own fun variations!]