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.

Chai Banana Latte

Most of the time hot tea hits the spot for me (yes, even in the summer) but sometimes in colder weather I really miss a creamy chai latte, a London Fog, or even a regular latte or mocha.

A while back at the end of a summer season, I was talking to someone who was trying to stop drinking coffee. They were talking about how it would be fairly easy until that switch into autumn when they would be craving those creamy lattes, which got me thinking about how strong seasonal marketing is for us consumers. Half the time (if not more) we don't even realize that we're being preyed upon and made to want to buy things. Companies plant and culture seasonal cravings in us, usually for their products specifically (like pumpkin spice lattes and peppermint bark) but also for broader categories (like turkeys and rosé and egg nog). If someone was marketing water to us in the summer time, we would all be drinking more of it. But instead, we're being encouraged to drink more addictive substances like sugar and dairy products. I think the first step in combatting this mindset is to realize that the marketing is happening and to be aware of it. Once you take a step back, you can recognize it for what it is and you can work against it. So, this recipe is my way of pushing against it: creating a healthy alternative that's not padding some corporation's pockets.

I came up with this recipe when I was visiting Michigan in April. I had some Maté Chai with me from Shen Zen Tea and my aunt and I were craving chai lattes and were trying to figure out how we would make something similar with no dairy and no sugar. So, my mind immediately went to the one item that I used to sweeten everything: bananas. Brilliant! So we steeped some tea, got some almond milk, and the rest is history. 

Ingredients:

2 banananas

1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (flax, almond, hemp, soy, coconut, hazelnut, etc.)

tea of your choosing brewed strong but not long (I can't get enough of Shen Zen Tea; their Masala Chai, Maté Chai, London Fog, and Lemon Turmeric are all great for this recipe)

1 t ground cardamom, ground cinnamon, or pure vanilla extract (whichever spice or flavor complements your tea)

Brew your tea so that it's strong, but remember that black tea shouldn't be steeped any longer than six minutes. Combine bananas, non-dairy milk, and ground spices in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour equal parts of the banana mixture and tea into a cup and mix with a spoon. If your tea is not piping hot, you may need to heat your drink in a small saucepan before consuming. 

Variations on tea and spices: Earl grey tea with pure vanilla extract. Masala chai tea with ground cinnamon and cardamom. Lemon turmeric tea with ground cardamom (which is pictured; I also added a little bit of Old Growth Heirloom Pu-erh for caffeination). 

Chai Banana Latte. 

Lemon Turmeric and Old Growth Heirloom Pu-erh teas.