veganholiday — Blog — uprooted kitchen blog

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.

A salad my niece made, with vegan dressing.

Thanksgiving? But, you say (I can hear you), it's almost Christmas! The excuse of my life, but I have been busy. In any case, if I post my dishes from Thanksgiving I can hopefully help you bring some ideas for Christmas dinner to the table (quite literally).

This was my first major food holiday being vegan, and it went quite well. My sister-in-law and niece (who's becoming quite the chef/baker) intentionally made some vegan dishes which was amazing! I didn't anticipate getting stuffed to the gills, like I usually do, but I did so I count that as a success!

Dish #1: Whole roasted parsnips (from Kirsop Farm). I rinsed, cut off the ends, tossed in sunflower oil, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and ground rosemary (grown by my friend Maggie, dried and ground by myself; super fresh). I actually roasted these in our toaster oven (out of necessity, because holiday baking), so it was good to know that it works.

Dish #2: Butternut squash wedges (squash from Alvarez Farms). I peeled the squash (tip: using a carrot peeler works a lot better than using a knife, like I'd been doing for years!), cut it in half and deseeded it, and chopped it into wedges (think potato wedges, but you just have to work with the contours of the squash). Then I tossed the wedges in sunflower oil and seasoned with salt, pepper, and freshly chopped sage. I baked them for about 45 minutes and accidentally broiled them for half the time, which worked out well as it gave them some crispness.

Dish #3: Lime Cheesecake, from The Splendid Table website. I'm still trying to perfect my vegan cheesecakes. My goal is to get them as smooth and creamy as Liberation Bakery, so I'll just keep buying theirs at the Ballard Farmers Market for motivation and, of course, for deliciousness.

This crust has so many good flavors going on.