The best molasses cookies...I'm back !!

It has been eons since I have posted on my blog, not because I haven't been cooking, more a question of time and inspiration. I use my blog all the time to look up recipes, there are some great ones !! Now two things have aligned to motivate me to post again...time, due to the pandemic and need. There are recipes I have been using that I have to search for through old text threads and browser histories.

These soft chewy molasses cookies are so good and strangely enough they are vegan. I first made them for a vegan friend, now I make they because they are soooo good. I have no idea where I got the recipe, I have only two cut off images of the ingredients and the instruction. My apologies to the original chef.

Chewy Molasses Cookies. Yield 30-40 cookies

Ingredients

 1 cup soft vegan butter *
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
 3 1/4 cup all purpose flour
 1 tablespoon baking soda
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 1 tablespoon ground ginger
 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg or cardamon
1/2 cup white sugar for rolling

* I use Miyoko's vegan butter, I think it give a better cookie than other brands.

 Instructions 
1) Preheat over to 350 F. Line two large baking sheets with silicon baking mats or parchment paper.

2) In the bowl of a standing mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until creamy.

3) Add the molasses and vanilla, scraping the sides and beating until smooth.

4) In another bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.

5) Carefully add the dry mixture in two batches to the creamed batter, mix on low speed to combine.
    The dough will be thick but not dry.

6) Place the white sugar in a small bowl,  roll the dough into balls, then roll in the sugar to completely coat.  Place on your prepared baking sheet. The size of the balls is up to you.

7) Bake for 11-12 minutes, switching the sheets half way through the baking time. They will begin to crack on top, they will look very soft but they firm up when they cool. Try to leave them for 10 minutes to cool, it's a challenge !!

Enjoy !!

Notes:
-They ship and freeze very well.
-The original  recipe warns you to measure the flour very carefully...I go slightly under rather that over...

Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies.

My dear sweet yoga teacher made cookies for all her classes this week in honor of Valentines Day. She loves to bake and cook and has a wonderful food blog of her own.

Monday she brought these chewy oatmeal cookies to class. If she had not told us, I would not have guessed they were vegan.


Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

1/3 cup  coconut oil, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar packed
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons soy or almond milk
1 tablespoon  cornstarch
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon*
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cardamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries, chopped if they are whole.
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

* The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, which contains the spices I used plus some others. If you have the pumpkin pie spice use that. You can just use cinnamon if that's all you have.

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 2 large baking sheets or cover with parchment paper.
2) In a large mixing bowl ( you can use a handmixer or strong fork) cream together the coconut oil and sugars.

3) Mix in the vanilla. Add the cornstarch and milk, and mix until the cornstarch is dissolved.

4) Whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices and salt, then add to the bowl, mix to combine.

5) My cranberries were whole.

 So I chopped them into smaller bits.

6) Add the oats, cranberries and nuts, to your mixture, mix well.

7) Scoop cookies out with a tablespoon or server, using about two tablespoons of dough per cookie.

8) Place about 2 inches apart. Flatten a little with your hand.

 
9) Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until edges are lightly browned.

10) Remove from oven and cool for about 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

As you can see from this photo, or at least I can see...some of the cookies spread more than others. I think this was due to incomplete mixing of the dough, next time  ;-)

Cowboy Cookies !!

I am still not sure why they are called Cowboy Cookies, looking online one writer suggested it was because they are rather hard and would travel well in a saddlebag...my cookies would not fit that bill.

They are very filling and would be a great snack while riding the range ;-)

Someone else suggested it was because they have nuts, hahaha...

When I served them at our last poker game, there were lots of jokes about them having beans in them, no they do not !

My guess is that the original recipe has been around for a long time. The one here is actually a vegan version from my friend and fellow food blogger, Laurie.

I couldn't believe these were vegan when I first tried them, they were so good.
My poker pals agreed, these are just plain tasty, toothsome cookies.

Cowboy Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats*

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup oil

2/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar 

1/2 cup  vanilla soy milk or almond milk

1 tablespoon ground almond meal 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup coconut, shredded unsweetened

1 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips (semi-sweet, can also use chopped chocolate)

1 cup pecan pieces, chopped and toasted (can use other nuts, too)

* The recipe called for quick cooking oats, I did not have any nor did I want to buy any. Instead I took my two cups of regular rolled oats and put them in the mini-food processor for  a few pulses.

That did the trick !!

1) In a medium sized bowl combine oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

2) In a second bowl beat together oil, sugar, brown sugar, milk, almond meal and vanilla until foamy.

3) Fold in half of the flour mixture to moisten, then fold in second half to just barely mixed.

4) Fold in coconut, chocolate chips and pecans.

5) I chill the dough for an hour or overnight to make it easier to form the cookies.

6) When you are ready to bake the cookies,  preheat your oven to 350 F and prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease them. 

7) Use a big spoon or ice cream scoop to form the cookies, leaving two inches between cookies. 

    Pat them to flatten them slightly.

8) Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, switching the cookie sheets halfway through the baking time. The edges will begin to brown slightly.

9) Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

See how long they last at your house ;-)

Note: There were two issues the other Laurie had with these cookies: 1) the chocolate chips would not stay combined in the dough while mixing. To fix that I made sure to add them while the dough was still moist and the flour not completely mixed in. 2) They were crumbly when she went to form them into balls, this I fixed by chilling the dough.