cookies

It's shaping up to be a busy final semester for me in library school as I'm spending this semester doing an internship in one of my favorite libraries. Two years ago around this time, I was putting the finishing touches on my grad school application and now my graduation is just around the corner!

Instead of crafting, I've been doing lots of reading and cooking lately to occupy my time. Unfortunately, my knitting and sewing has been sidelined because of a wrist injury. Hopefully the hand doctor will be able to help me out on Monday because
I've been going through knitting withdrawal these last two weeks!

 

I've been trying to use the cookbooks in my collection rather than just acquire new books (just like in the putting your idea books to use challenge), so in the last two months my sister and I have been baking cookies from the new vegan cookbook, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. So far we've made Chocolate Fudgy Oatmeal Cookies, Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles, Spiced Sweet Potato Blondies, Lazy Samoas, Chocolate Chip Chai Spice Shortbread, Caramel Pecan Bars, and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies. The Lazy Samoas recipe alone makes thie cookbook worth purchasing! Samoas are my favorite Girl Scout cookies and these cookies were so much better than the packaged version.

Pictured clockwise from top: Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles, Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, Caramel Pecan Bars

The crowd favorite so far has been the Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles, so here's my adjusted recipe for those.

Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Cookie Ingredients:

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons non-dairy milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of cayenne (add more, up to 1/2 teaspoon, if you can handle the heat)

Cookie topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix together oil, sugar, syrup, and milk in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add in the vanilla extract.

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and sift into wet ingredients. Mix the dough together until it is pliable.

In a separate bowl or shallow plate, mix together the cookie topping ingredients.

Roll the dough into walnut-size balls and roll around in the sugar mixture. Place the cookie onto the baking sheet and lightly press the top to flatten. Place cookies 2" apart from each other and bake for 10-12 minutes until they are crackly on top. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.