Soft Vegan Ginger Spice Cookies with Molasses Icing

If you don't already own the cookbook Vegan With a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, you simply must add it to your collection. The recipe I made below was adapted from her recipe for "Sparkled Ginger Cookies". If you are in one of those moods for a soft cookie that's easy to make, look no further.

You will need:

4 T vegan white sugar
2 C all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 C light brown sugar

Icing:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup hot water
2 T molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease or line with parchment paper 2 cookie sheets. Pour the white sugar onto a small plate and set aside.

2) Sift together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt over a bowl. In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, soy milk, oil, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring just until well incorporated.

3) Roll dough into 1" balls, place onto cookie sheet about 2" apart. Use a fork dipped into the white sugar to flatten the balls slightly. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let the cookies sit for a couple of minutes after you pull them from the oven before transferring them to a cooling rack.

4) To make the icing, whisk the powdered sugar with the hot water (add more water if it's too dry, but be careful to not make the icing too runny), then whisk in the molasses and vanilla. Use a spoon to drizzle onto cookies.

This recipe makes about 24 cookies.

Deliciously Chewy Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Craving a soft and chewy peanut butter cookie? Looking for a recipe that excludes eggs and butter? Look no further because these cookies will satisfy your every cookie desire!

You will need:
1/2 cup margarine
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons agave syrup
Ener-G Egg Replacer = 2 eggs
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare two sheet pans with parchment paper.

2) Cream the margarine in a mixer on medium speed, add the sugar slowly and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low and add the oil, "eggs", peanut butter, agave syrup, molasses, and vanilla. Blend until smooth.

3) Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt into the wet mixture. Stir by hand just until incorporated.

4) Use a small ice cream scooper to scoop dough and space them about 2" apart on cookie sheet (I put only 6 cookies per sheet). Pour a little sugar on a plate, dip a fork into sugar, and use the fork to flatten the balls of dough into a cookie shape (but don't flatten too much, the cookies will spread out during baking).

5) Bake 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden on top. Pull from oven, allow to rest a minute, then scoop cookies off pan and place onto cooling rack. Makes about 18 cookies.

Variations: You can add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the batter or press chopped peanuts onto the tops before baking for added texture. Yum!

Note: I've found that these cookies stay chewy for about a day, so don't make them days ahead if you plan to bring them to a party (but they are still delicious crunchy!)