Why?

1. It’s based off of my all-time favorite cookie.
2. It reminds me of High School Alexa’s favorite treat from Starbucks, Lemon Loaf.

I’m choosing a chocolate dessert 99.9% of the time, but…I love citrusy things this time of year. Pittsburgh is impossibly grey most of the late winter/early spring, and nothing puts a pep in my step like a lil lemony baked good.

So naturally, I was craving a lemon cookie.

But I wanted something quick. And easy. I didn’t want to use a million ingredients, chill the dough, do a little dance, or wait 24-48 hours until I enjoyed my treat.

I wanted it ASAP, so I looked to the easiest cookie I know for inspiration: my Nana’s To Tos.

They are, quite possibly, the easiest cookie you’ll ever make. Mix the ingredients, roll ’em up, bake, glaze, done.

So easy, and it’s a shock I don’t make them every week because I love them so very much. They’re a cakey cookie, not chewy, and they have a lovely crisp exterior. And a vanilla glaze!

But after the 9753rd cold day this year, I needed something a little brighter. A little lighter.

Enter: Lemon Loaf Cookies.

Your regular cookie cast of characters can be found in the ingredient list:

• Butter (vegan)
• Sugar (cane)
• Lemon (zest)
• Vanilla (bean paste or extract)
• Flour (all-purpose)
• Powder (baking)
• Powder (soda)
• Salt (kosher)
• Milk (almond)
• Oil (neutral)

Cream your butter, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla. Mix your flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Add your dry ingredients and almond milk to the creamed butter mixture and you have a dough.

Then comes the slightly unconventional part: rolling your cookies into balls with oiled hands.

YES. Oiled hands.

As I said in the original recipe, I think we do this to ensure a nice crisp exterior on our cookies. But then again, I’m not 100% certain. But if Nana did it, I’m doing it too.

Then you bake, glaze with a simple powdered sugar, almond milk, vanilla, lemon zest glaze, and you’re done! Eat ’em up!

I really love these cookies, and it’s kinda crazy how much they remind me of Starbuck’s Lemon Loaf. I actually had one with coffee the other day, and it made those vibes so much stronger.

And my dad, fellow lover of To Tos and all-things lemon, also was a fan. He said (and I quote) “They are excellent! I wouldn’t change anything.”

Can’t get much better than that.

Lemon Loaf Cookies

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An easy, no-chill cookie recipe that’s zippy, lemony, and cakey. A lemon and vanilla bean glaze takes them over the edge!

• Author: Alexa [fooduzzi.com]
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 13 cookies
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

DOUGH:

• 1/4 cup vegan butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup raw cane sugar (or your fave granulated sugar)
• zest of two small lemons
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• 240 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• pinch kosher salt
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, at room temperature
• neutral oil (like avocado) for rolling

GLAZE:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• zest of one small lemon

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Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine vegan butter, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla bean paste in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer and a large bowl). Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Scrape down the sides as needed.
3. Meanwhile, combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine.
4. Reduce your stand mixer speed to low and slowly add 1/3 of your dry ingredients, followed by half of your milk, 1/3 of your dry ingredients, the remaining milk, then the remaining 1/3 of your dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and mix until just combined.
5. Take chunks of your dough (I like making mine slightly bigger than a golf ball, about 2 tablespoons), oiling your hands in between each, and roll them into a ball. Stick them on your baking sheet with a bit of room between each (they don’t spread too much). Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until you can see the bottoms slightly browning.
6. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet, then move them to a cooling rack for glazing.
7. Whisk the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Dunk the tops of the cookies in the glaze, swirling so the entire top is covered. Place the cookies back on the cooling rack so that the glaze can drip down. Allow to set up at room temperature.

The post Lemon Loaf Cookies appeared first on Fooduzzi.

It’s Fooduzzi’s 10th birthday!

Wowowow.

Yep, today’s the day we switch from spelling out Fooduzzi’s age to just using a number.

I’ve spent 10 full years over here in this corner of the internet. 10 years of incredible opportunities, amazing friendships, and tasty plant-based recipes.

10 years is a pretty long time to be doing something. Like if Fooduzzi was a person, it would be in 4th of 5th grade. That’s a long time!

There have been seasons where things have been more active around here, and other seasons when they’ve been more quiet. But we’re still here, still kickin’, and still making some really fun and delicious recipes.

Speaking of…

These Calico Sugar Cookies are our chocolate-peanut butter recipe this year! Because we always celebrate Fooduzzi’s birthday with a chocolate-peanut butter recipe:

• 1st birthday: Peanut Butter Cup Muffins
• 2nd birthday: Snickerdoodle Buckeyes
• 3rd birthday: Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls
• 4th birthday: Vegan Buckeye Cake
• 5th birthday: Swirled Chocolate Peanut Butter Slice and Bake Cookies
• 6th birthday: Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites
• 7th birthday: Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
• 8th birthday: Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache Frosting
• 9th birthday: Vegan Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
• 10th birthday: Calico Sugar Cookies ← today’s recipe!!

I saw a picture of cookies that looked like calico cats on Pinterest like eight years ago, and I haven’t stopped thinking about them since. So I finally got it together to make my own version based on a vegan sugar cookie recipe I found from Nora Cooks!

As you probably know, I have a cat, a silly, opinionated, sassy, perfect calico named Maya. Her orange, black, and white coat is what we’re trying to recreate with these cookies.

We’ll start out with a relatively standard sugar cookie dough and then divide it in thirds:

1. The first third stays a sugar cookie and gets a bit more flour.
2. The second third gets a bit of powdered peanut butter.
3. The third third gets a bit of cocoa powder

We’re adding only dry ingredients so the textures of the three doughs stay more or less the same. I realize peanut butter powder is a bit of a weird ingredient. But it gives the dough a peanut buttery flavor and (importantly) the right color for our tricolor cookies.

Once your doughs are mixed, you’ll break off pieces and smoosh them together like the picture above. Feel free use smaller chunks of each dough if you want, but I was impatient and went with big chunks, and the cookies still turned out super cute.

Then you’ll roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thick, and then you’ll cover it with parchment paper and chill in the fridge overnight. The dough will spread just a bit, but chilling the dough will help the dough relax and prevent overspreading.

The next day, you’ll cut your cookies (the exact cutter I used is out of stock, but any cat cookie cutter will work!) and stick them in the freezer to chill again while your oven is preheating.

Then…bake! Again, the cookies will spread a bit, but a chunky cat is still a perfect cat. More to love!

Since sugar cookies typically get some sort of icing/sugar coating for extra flavor and texture, I decided to spread melted chocolate on the backs of these cookies. I didn’t want to cover up the cute design, and the thin chocolate coating just gives the baked cookies a bit of a flavor boost.

And like…more chocolate is never a bad thing, IMO.

I just love how cookies turned out. LOVE!! Most people I know IRL knew about them weeks ago because I couldn’t stop texting people pictures of them. They’re the cutest things I’ve ever made by far.

So happy birthday, Fooduzzi! Starting this blog still is one of the very best things I’ve ever done for myself. I’m still saying it 10 years later!

And thank you for being here! Whether this is your first time or you’ve been here from the beginning, I’m honored you’re here. Thank you thank you thank you.

Calico Sugar Cookies

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The CUTEST calico cat cookies…made vegan! Peanut butter and chocolate give these sugar cookies their look and flavor.

• Author: Alexa [fooduzzi.com]
• Prep Time: 40 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 12ish cookies (depending on your cutter size)
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

BASE:

• 3/4 cup vegan butter, slightly softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch salt

FOR THREE COLORS:

• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons peanut butter powder
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

FOR FINISHING:

• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips, melted
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• pinch salt (optional, but good!)

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Instructions

1. Add your vegan butter to a large bowl and beat with a handheld mixer on medium until smooth and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer!
2. Add your sugar, and beat on medium until light and fluffy, another 2-3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
3. Add the milk, cornstarch, and vanilla, and beat on medium until combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Add 1 cup of flour, your baking powder, and salt, and mix again until combined.
5. Add the second cup of flour and mix only until just combined. You really don’t want to overmix here, as we have more mixing to do!
6. Separate your dough into thirds, each third going in its own bowl. 
7. In one third, add your final tablespoon of flour. Mix well to combine, but avoid overmixing.
8. In the final third, add your peanut butter powder. Mix well to combine, but avoid overmixing.
9. In another third, add your cocoa powder. Mix well to combine, but avoid overmixing.
10. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take the three different colored doughs and form them into small, irregular patches (see photos). Gently press the patches together on the parchment paper to create a calico pattern.
11. Place a second piece of parchment paper on top of your dough, and roll the dough out evenly until it forms a flat, cohesive sheet, ensuring the patches stay connected but maintain their distinct colors. The dough should be about 1/4-inch in height.
12. Keep dough covered and place in the fridge to rest overnight.
13. The next day, cut out your cookies using your favorite cat cookie cutters. You can re-roll the dough to get more cookies out of your batch, but the look will be more tortoise-like than calico! Still v cute.
14. Place your cut cookies back on the parchment-lined baking sheet and put in the freezer while you preheat your oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the middle of your oven.
15. Once your oven is preheated, place 6 cookies on another parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving a good 2 inches between the cookies as they will spread. 
16. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies start to brown at the edges. 
17. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Continue baking the rest of your cookies.
18. Meanwhile, melt your chocolate, peanut butter, and pinch of salt together in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, or in a method of your choosing.
19. When the cookies are completely cool, flip and spoon a thin layer of the melted chocolate on top. Allow to set in the fridge.*

Notes

*If you want your chocolate to be more stable (and less melty) at room temperature, you’ll need to temper it. If you want to temper, skip the peanut butter in the chocolate mixture. I’ve used this method in the past, and it works great. Add the sprinkle of salt to the chocolate once it’s spread on the cookies. Otherwise, keep the chocolate-coated cookies in the fridge until ready to serve.

Recipe adapted from Nora Cooks and inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest years ago!

The post Vegan Calico Sugar Cookies appeared first on Fooduzzi.

But yeah. Combining two of my favorite sweet treats into one mega-treat?

Genius behavior.

I’ve had a bit of a love affair with almond croissants as of late. Perfectly crispy, not too sweet, loaded with almonds, and almost juicy in a way words can’t quite explain.

La Gourmandine here in Pittsburgh is a great place to get them. They always hit the spot, and the almondy filling (known as frangipane) always gets extra crispy on the edges and it is just so gobbleable. I love them. And I saw Viridis (100% vegan and recently re-opened in a new location!!) has vegan almond croissants available some days.

So when I saw Trader Joe’s started selling almond paste, I got an idea.

A wonderful, crazy idea.

What if I stuck a little nugget of almond paste in the middle of a sugar cookie? And then topped it with sliced almonds, granulated sugar, and a little powdered sugar?

Would it sorta give me almond croissant vibes without needing to make a yeasted dough, laminate said dough, and spend a few hours shaping and baking a batch of finicky (yet delicious) croissants from scratch?

Spoiler alert:

The cookie base is my go-to sugar cookie recipe (the same one from this lemon blueberry variety!), requires no chilling time, and comes together all in one bowl. No weird ingredients, all easily purchaseable from your local mega mart.

Then you’ll need some almond paste, typically found in the baking aisle at the store. Like I mentioned, Trader Joe’s has started selling it, so yay. Easy.

It’s sweet, chewy, soft, and very almond-forward in flavor, and it becomes an almond cookie dough-like center for our cookies.

And the topper? Granulated sugar and sliced almonds. You’ll want to flatten the cookies with the topping on top (with the bottom of a measuring cup, bowl, or similar) so that everything sticks. It gets a little messy, but it’s worth it.

To really drive home the whole almond croissant visual and feel, I topped my cookies with powdered sugar right before serving. Totally optional, but I think it looks cute. You don’t need a lot; just a light little dusting will do.

These are so good and fun, and I think they’d be perfect for the holidays.

TGFFB.

(Thank God For Fall Baking)

Almond Croissant Cookies

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Soft, chewy, sugar cookies with a surprise almond paste center! The almond topping is nice and crispy, and this recipe is 100% vegan as written!

• Author: Alexa [fooduzzi.com]
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 13 minutes
• Total Time: 28 minutes
• Yield: 9-10 cookies
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: Holiday
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

DOUGH:

• 1/2 tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 1 and 1/4 tablespoons water
• 112 grams (1/2 cup) vegan butter, softened
• 105 grams (1/2 cup) granulated sugar (plus more for rolling)
• splash vanilla extract
• pinch salt
• 160 grams (about 1 and 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• If needed: 1 tablespoon plant milk (like almond)

FILLING:

• 9–10 teaspoons almond paste*

TOPPING:

• 1/4 cup raw sliced almonds
• granulated sugar
• powdered sugar

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Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F with a rack positioned in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, combine your ground flax and water. Mix to combine and set aside.
3. In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), beat your butter and sugar together well until light and fluffy, for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add vanilla and salt, and beat again until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
5. Add your flax mixture, and beat again until combined.
6. Add your flour, baking soda, and baking powder, and beat again until combined, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl if necessary. If the dough is dry (mine was), add a tablespoon of plant milk and mix well. Try not to overmix.
7. Roll dough into 9-10 golf ball-sized balls.
8. Put a finger into the middle of the dough, and place a 1 teaspoon chunk of almond paste in the divot. Enclose the almond paste with the dough, and flatten slightly. Place cookies on your prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly because they will spread a bit.
9. Top each cookie with your sliced almonds and a sprinkle of granulated sugar. Keep in mind that almonds/sugar not on the cookie may burn on the parchment paper, so do this part with a little care. Press the topping into each cookie with the bottom of a measuring cup or bowl so that the almonds stick. See photos for what they should look like pre-oven!
10. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until lightly golden brown around the edges of each cookie.
11. Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
12. Top with a light dusting of powdered sugar if desired right before serving.

Notes

*Almond paste is not marzipan. You can typically find almond paste in the baking section of your local mega mart. It comes in a tube, and it’s typically in a box. I got mine from Trader Joe’s, and that particular one is vegan. Be sure to find a vegan (eggless!) one if that’s important to you.

The post Almond Croissant Cookies appeared first on Fooduzzi.

Why, you may ask?

Well, if you’ve been around Fooduzzi for a while, you may recall that Fooduzzi and I share birthdays.

It’s true! Nine whole years ago today, I decided to press publish on my very first blog post.

I didn’t know what I was doing, the pictures are… there, and I didn’t know the difference between a Post and a Page. But I started.

It was (and continues to be) one of the best gifts I’ve ever given to myself. Fooduzzi has opened up so many incredible opportunities for me and has introduced me to countless amazing people. AND! It continues to allow me to do the things I love (cook, write, design, and connect with readers!).

I couldn’t be more thankful for the nine years we’ve been keeping this lil corner of the internet warm and full of vegan eats. Thank you for being here and for reading.

To celebrate our birthdays, I always publish a chocolate-peanut butter recipe. Every year.

It will always be my favorite flavor combination, and I never ever run out of ideas for combining the two. Here’s how we’ve celebrated in chocolate-peanut butter style the past nine years:

• 1st birthday: Peanut Butter Cup Muffins
• 2nd birthday: Snickerdoodle Buckeyes
• 3rd birthday: Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls
• 4th birthday: Vegan Buckeye Cake
• 5th birthday: Swirled Chocolate Peanut Butter Slice and Bake Cookies
• 6th birthday: Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites
• 7th birthday: Vegan Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
• 8th birthday: Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Peanut Butter Ganache Frosting
• 9th birthday: Vegan Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (today’s recipe!!)

To be completely honest, I’ve tried quite a few chocolate-peanut butter recipes these past few weeks. Some were too sweet, others weren’t flavorful enough, and a few didn’t have the right texture.

But for all of those recipe failures, I couldn’t be more tickled with what we ended up with: super soft and chewy peanut butter cookies with crispy edges, drizzled or dunked in chocolate.

Simple is sometimes best, and that’s exactly the case with this recipe today!

Ingredients are pretty standard for a vegan cookie:

• A flaxseed egg
• Vegan butter
• Brown and white sugar
• Vanilla
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Salt

To make these extra special (it’s our birthday, after all!) I decided to use vanilla bean paste, which has such a delightful, strong vanilla aroma that you can’t really get with extract. Extract will work just fine, but the paste is really delicious!

Then you can dip, dunk, or drizzle them in chocolate. I mixed some dark and semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips together, melted them down, and just had fun.

As I mentioned, the cookies are soft, so I actually like chilling them in the fridge completely before eating. I think the texture is so much better and chewier once they’ve had a chance to “set” in the fridge.

That said, if you like warm/room temp cookies, you can bake the cookies for an extra minute or two to make sure they’re completely set (while still staying pretty chewy!).

Happy birthday, Fooduzzi! I love ya to the moon and back.

Vegan Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

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Soft, chewy chocolate peanut butter cookies! These vegan cookies are so easy, require minimum chilling time, and are ready in about a half hour! So good.

• Author: Alexa [fooduzzi.com]
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 12 cookies
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

FOR THE COOKIES:

• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup vegan butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup no-stir peanut butter*
• 1/2 cup lightly-packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste/vanilla extract
• 1 cup + 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

FOR TOPPING:

• 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used a combo of dark and semi-sweet!)
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil (refined for no coconut flavor)

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Instructions

1. In a small bowl, mix your flaxseed and water (this is your flaxegg!). Set aside.
2. Add vegan butter and peanut butter to a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a big bowl and a hand mixer!), and beat to combine for 1 minute. The mixture should get nice and fluffy. Scrape down the sides.
3. Add both brown and white sugar, and beat for another 1-2 minutes, or until the mixture is cohesive and fluffy. Scrape down the sides.
4. Add your vanilla bean paste and flaxegg, and beat to combine. Scrape down the sides.
5. In a separate bowl, add your flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
6. In two batches, add your flour mixture to your butter/peanut butter/sugar mixture, combining between each. Mix well, about 20 seconds, until everything is combined.
7. Stick the bowl with the dough in your fridge, then preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Once your oven is pre-heated, take your dough from the fridge and roll them into golfball-sized balls. The dough will be sticky but workable.
9. Place 8 cookie balls on your prepared baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes.
10. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and bang the sheet on a heat-safe surface a couple times to get the cookies to flatten. Then bake for another 7-9 minutes (for a total of 13-15 minutes baking time)**.
11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
12. Meanwhile, melt your chocolate chips and coconut oil (I used a microwave with 30-second bursts). Drizzle chocolate over your cookies with a spoon, allow to set in the fridge, and enjoy!

Notes

* Use a no-stir peanut butter (not a natural one) for best results. I like the no-stir peanut butter from Trader Joe’s.

** If you like warm/room temperature cookies, bake for 15-17 minutes so that the cookies are completely set. I like underbaking and keeping them in the fridge –– they’re extra chewy this way!

Adapted from The Cookie Dough Diaries.

The post Vegan Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies appeared first on Fooduzzi.

These are the best cookies I’ve ever made.

I honestly think that is the case. These cookies… I just can’t quit them!

I have many cookie recipes on this site. Cookies are my love language. Getting them, making them, eating them.

Can cookies be a hobby? If so, it’s my favorite hobby.

But even though I love cookies, I don’t always need a batch of 10 or 12 or more sitting around just for me. Sometimes I want cookies without needing to eat cookies for three weeks straight, you know?

That’s why I love this small-batch recipe. Not only are they crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, there’s only four of them. Perfect to have as a little treat throughout the week without making you feel like you need to eat four cookies a day so you can consume them before they go stale.

Not only are these some of the most delicious cookies I’ve ever had, they also only require one bowl! And minimal chilling! And they don’t require any hard-to-get ingredients!

Your Ingredient Lineup

You’ll need your regular cookie cast of characters: vegan butter, brown sugar, vanilla, plant milk, salt, flour, baking soda, chocolate chips. That’s it. You probably even have all of those ingredients in your house right this very second.

And if that’s the case, there are about 30 minutes that stand between you and four freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies.

I also highly recommend sticking with the weight measurements when you bake these cookies since it’s small-batch and there’s less room for error. A kitchen scale (like this!*) is about $10 and it makes baking so much more accurate. It also cuts down on the amount of dirty dishes by a lot since you don’t need to use a bunch of different measuring cups! Win-win.

My very favorite way to enjoy cookies is straight from the fridge. Yes, a gooey warm cookie is a heavenly experience, but for an everyday cookie experience, cold from the fridge is where it’s at. The edges stay crunchy and the middles are so chewy, almost cookie dough-like!

Regardless of how you like to enjoy your chocolate chip cookies, show yourself a lil self-love and bake some cookies for little ol’ you.

One Bowl Small-Batch Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

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3 from 2 reviews

Emergency small-batch vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe to the rescue! Crispy edges, gooey centers, and ready in 30 minutes.

• Author: Alexa [fooduzzi.com]
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 13 minutes
• Total Time: 23 minutes
• Yield: 4 cookies
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

• 42 grams (3 tablespoons) vegan butter, melted
• 50 grams (about 1/4 cup packed) brown sugar
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened plant milk
• splash vanilla extract
• 56 grams (about 1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch salt
• 90 grams (1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons) chocolate chips (+ more for topping if desired)
• optional: flaky salt for topping

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Instructions

1. Add your vegan butter to a heat-safe bowl. Melt in the microwave or over a double boiler.
2. Add your brown sugar, plant milk, and vanilla, and whisk well to combine.
3. Switching to a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, add your flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until nearly combined, then add your chocolate chips and mix.
4. Place the bowl in your fridge while you preheat your oven.
5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (I highly recommend an oven thermometer* here!).
6. When your oven is preheated, divide your dough into four equal sections. Roll your dough (it’ll be slightly sticky, so do the best you can) into balls and place on your prepared baking sheet.
7. Bake for 12-13 minutes.
8. When the cookies come out of the oven, feel free to press some extra chocolate chips and/or flaky salt into the tops for looks.
9. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then move them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
10. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge (my fave!) or on the counter.

The post One Bowl Small-Batch Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies appeared first on Fooduzzi.

7 years after I posted my very first vegan Girl Scout Cookie dupes –– Tagalongs and Do-Si-Dos –– we now have another.

And arguably… the best?

Chocolate peppermint… oh boy. I go crazy over chocolate peppermint goodies. It’s my go-to ice cream flavor, I love it in other desserts, and Thin Mints were my favorite Girl Scout Cookie back in my Girl Scouting days.

And now… they’re vegan! Er… as long as you have a few minutes to throw together the dough and bake them, of course.

I made this “raw” version of Thin Mint cookies years ago. They’re good. No, they’re great. But they’re also not a cookie (in the traditional sense).

These are. There’s flour, sugar, vegan butter, and baking involved. There’s a peppermint-spiked chocolate coating, a thin and crisp wafer cookie, and just many enjoyable chocolate-peppermint moments waiting for you.

This is a one-bowl recipe! Or, it can be if you wash your cookie dough mixing bowl and also use it for melting the chocolate chips.

But the dough comes together in a snap. One of the star ingredients is dutch-processed cocoa powder, which gives these cookies a supremely deep chocolatey flavor. Dutch-processed cocoa has a lower acidity over the natural cocoa powder, which gives any baked good using it a smoother, darker flavor. Hershey’s Special Dark can typically be found at any mega mart, so that’s what I used here!

Mix together all of your dough ingredients (including some peppermint extract) in a big ol’ bowl, using your hands at the end because it’s rather thick. Once all of the flour and cocoa has been incorporated, pop the whole bowl in the fridge and start preheating your oven.

Once your oven is preheated (I highly recommend using an oven thermometer* to be extra sure!), roll out your dough and punch out your cookies. I used a biscuit-cutter set (like this*) because I had them, but feel free to use anything that’s about 2 and 1/4″ in width –– a cup, a shot glass, etc.

Once they bake, allow them to cool completely, moving them into the fridge to firm. Then dip them in a rich pepperminty chocolate coating and devour!

I always stored my Thin Mints in the fridge for that cool/crisp/chocolately moment, and I do the same with these! They are so fun, so tasty, and just really simple to make! Enjoy!

One Bowl Vegan Thin Mints

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A quick and easy homemade Thin Mint recipe that’s 100% vegan! It requires just one bowl and less than 15 minutes of active prep!

• Author: Alexa [fooduzzi.com]
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 12 cookies
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

DOUGH:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons (56g) vegan butter, at room temperature
• pinch salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder*
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
• 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3/4 cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (20 grams) dutch-process cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark) — plus more for rolling

COATING:

• 1 cup dark or vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil (refined for no coconut flavor)
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

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Instructions

1. DOUGH: In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat your sugar and vegan butter until slightly light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
2. Add salt, baking powder, non-dairy milk, and peppermint extract, and mix until combined. Sift in your flour and cocoa, and mix until combined, using your hands near the end to form the dough and to not over-mix.
3. Stick the whole bowl in the fridge, and then preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. When your oven is pre-heated, dust your rolling surface with some additional cocoa powder. Dust your rolling pin as well.
5. Roll your dough into 1/8-inch slab, and cut out your cookies with a circle cutter that’s 2 and 1/2-inches wide. Dust any excess cocoa powder off the tops of your cookies, and transfer them to your baking sheet.
6. Re-roll your remaining dough, and cut out more cookies until you have 12 total. They won’t spread, so you can place them pretty close together on the baking sheet.
7. Bake your cookies for 13-15 minutes, or until they smell chocolatey and look dry around the edges.
8. Allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet. I like to allow the baking sheet to come down to room temperature and then transfer the entire thing into the fridge.
9. COATING: Add your chocolate chips and coconut oil to a microwave-safe bowl (you can clean the one you used for your dough and dry it really well to make this a one-bowl recipe!). Melt in 30-second bursts, stirring between each, until melted. Add your peppermint extract and mix.
10. One-by-one, dip your cookies into the chocolate, coating completely. I like to balance the cookie on a fork and beat the fork off the side of the bowl to remove any excess chocolate. Place back on your parchment-lined baking sheet.
11. Once all cookies have been coated, return them to the fridge to set completely. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge!

Notes

*Espresso powder is optional, and it’s there to bring out the chocolatey flavor even more.

Dough recipe adapted from this recipe from King Arthur Flour!

The post One Bowl Vegan Thin Mints appeared first on Fooduzzi.

Of course, it needs to be a really bad cookie for me to completely turn my nose up at it. But I just don’t typically gravitate towards cookies with fruits or nuts in them.

That said…

I’m very much a fan of these. With their caramely, chewy dates and crispity-crunchity green gem-like pistachio pieces, these cookies have shed a new light onto fruit and nut-filled cookies.

At least they have for me. 😉

I love many things about these cookies:

• They’re not too sweet (only 1/2 cup of added brown sugar in the whole dang batch!).
• They’re crunchy (from the pistachios obv).
• The middles are ooey gooey (thanks to slightly underbaking but also because of the way we roll our dough balls taller than they are wide –– see photo above).
• They’re chewy (because all cookies should be chewy. Yep. I said it.).
• They’re quick to make (they take roughly 30 minutes from ideation to consumption!).

And they’re just… different. We’ve all had our fair share of chocolate chunk cookies, but these give you a lil something extra.

The chocolate pools mixed with the sweet, sticky dates and the crisp crunch of those pistachios? They’re special, my friend.

These are special cookies you make for a special occasion, a special someone, or a special day.

For me? This was the first cookie recipe I baked in my new kitchen! This is a cookie fit for that very special occasion.

Date & Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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With their caramely, chewy dates and crispity-crunchity green gem pistachio pieces, these vegan chocolate chunk cookies are so very special and tasty!

• Author: Alexa [fooduzzi.com]
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 12 cookies
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegan

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon ground flax
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1 and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup melted vegan butter*
• 1/2 cup lightly-packed brown sugar
• splash vanilla extract
• 4 large room temperature medjool dates, pitted and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup raw, shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
• 1.5 ounces vegan dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• flaky salt, for topping if desired!

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Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix your flax and water in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Whisk your flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
4. Whisk your vegan butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and flax mixture in a medium bowl.
5. Mix your dates and pistachios into the flour mixture, using your hands to break up the date chunks if they decide to stick together.
6. Add your wet mixture to your flour mixture, and mix with a spatula until almost combined. Stir in your chocolate chunks (reserving a few for topping if you desire), making sure not to over-mix.
7. Measure out 3 Tbsp. dough and roll into mounds that are taller than they are wide (see photo in post) – they’ll look like an oval, and this ensures that they spread the correct amount!
8. Evenly space six of your dough balls on your baking sheet. They don’t spread very much, so feel free to put more on your baking sheet if desired.
9. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden. They’ll look underdone, but they’ll continue baking on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with flaky salt if desired.
10. Allow your cookies to cool for 15 minutes on the baking sheet before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Continue baking the second batch of cookies.
11. BONUS TIP! I love storing my cookies in the fridge. They’re SO chewy and yum.

Notes

*Your butter should be melted but not hot or it’ll melt your chocolate!

The post Date & Pistachio Chocolate Chunk Cookies appeared first on Fooduzzi.

I’m going to go on record and say that biscotti are fussy lil cookies.

You need to make the dough, bake it in a log, wait for it to cool slightly, slice them into cookies, bake them on one side, flip, bake on the other side.

It’s a lot. A lot of steps.

But let me let you in on a little secret: they’re 100% worth the fuss.

While biscotti involve a lot of steps, they’re easy steps. And the end result is just… so satisfying.

I’m typically firmly in the “chewy” cookie camp, but I grew up with biscotti in my Italian household, so every time my teeth break off a chunk of a crisp, sweet biscotti, it makes me so very happy.

We’re getting extra Italian here since chocolate + hazelnut is a very classic Italian combination.

When I was in Italy, I remember Nutella or other chocolate hazelnut spreads always being on menus or breakfast buffets to pair with toast, cornetti, fruit, or all of the above.

Truly such a superior flavor combo. So much so, you’re getting another chocolate + hazelnut recipe from me in the not-so-distant future!

Huzzah!

I modeled this recipe after my Lemon Biscotti recipe, but I used my favorite holiday cookie secret weapon in this recipe: Bob’s Red Mill’s Gluten Free Vegan Egg Replacer.

I use this stuff (which is a mixture of potato starch, tapioca flour, baking soda, and psyllium husk) constantly because it helps me effortlessly create vegan versions of my favorite recipes. A tablespoon of this mixture (plus two tablespoons of water) creates your “egg,” so it’s an egg-free, shelf-stable mix that you can keep in your pantry all season long for all of your baking needs (I do)!

We’re also using our other regular cast of characters:

• Flour
• Vanilla extract
• Olive oil
• Sugar
• Baking powder
• Salt

Plus chocolate and hazelnuts, of course! I opted for the classic “dipping of the bottoms” for some of my biscotti, and I kept some plain for my dad who was around while I was making these. I don’t know why anyone would leave the chocolate out of anything, but he requested it and was a fan nonetheless!

That said, I believe that a little chocolate makes everything better, so I very much suggest not skipping that step when you make these.

And yes, I said “when.” Did you catch that? 😉

The post Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti appeared first on Fooduzzi.

I made you Vegan Lemon Blueberry Sugar Cookies. ← That might just be the greatest sentence that’s even been written.

So long, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” I’ve got you beat with this zippy summery treat!

There are many reasons to love this recipe, but let me give you three:

1. You don’t need to chill the dough.

I have a love/hate relationship with chilling cookie dough.

Yes, chilling cookie dough (like we do here or here) allows the flour to absorb all of the liquid ingredients, resulting in the chewiest of chewy texture.

That said, when I have a cookie craving, I need it satisfied STAT. So it’s pretty wonderful that you can get these cookies in the oven in just about 10 minutes. And then into your mouth about 15 minutes after that.

But don’t worry. Even though we’re not chilling this dough, these cookies are still super chewy and (vegan) buttery. Think: Those thick, extra chewy bakery-style sugar cookies!

2. It’s packed with summer flavors.

I dare you to name a better summer duo than blueberry and lemon. I dare ya!

I can’t come up with one. It’s a classic for a reason –– you get a sweet burst of blueberry alongside the bright and tart lemon, and it tastes just like summer vacation.

3. They’re rolled in sugar!

To sparkle like sand at the beach.

No, not really. Just for the extra hit of sweetness and an addictive crunch.

I love a baked good (or fried good, like donuts!) rolled in sugar. That contrast between soft, chewy interior and crunchy exterior is just… one of my favorite food experiences. Hands-down!

In terms of ingredients, they’re pretty standard in terms of vegan cookies.

You’ll cream together some vegan butter and cane sugar, then add in your vanilla and lemon zest (from one large lemon or two smaller ones — I always err on the side of a little too much lemon zest versus not enough!).

Then, dry ingredients: my go-to Organic All-Purpose Flour from Bob’s Red Mill, raising agents, and salt.

This flour from Bob’s Red Mill has a higher protein content than most all-purpose flours (in the 10-12% range!), so we’re ensuring an extra chewy texture in these cookies by using this flour!

Once everything is combined, you’ll carefully fold in some freeze-dried blueberries. Kind of an obscure ingredient! I like using them here because they don’t add any extra moisture, but they do add a ton of extra flavor. The dried process concentrates the blueberry flavor and it’s just… so good. Plus, they soften once added to the batter and baked.

Honestly though, I’m not really sure why you’re still reading.

I mean, thank you so much. It really does mean a lot.

But also… you could have these cookies in the oven in about ten minutes. Go forth and bake, my friend! You won’t regret it one bit.

The post Vegan Lemon Blueberry Sugar Cookies appeared first on Fooduzzi.

That happened to me last week: my co-worker (Katie!) jumped on a meeting with me, and she was munching on some peanut butter-stuffed pretzel nuggets.

I love peanut butter, and I love pretzels, so it should come as no surprise that I completely and totally adore peanut butter-stuffed pretzel nuggets. I used to eat them a lot as a kid, but I hadn’t had them in years.

Well, friends. I’m happily well on my way through my second bag in a week. A gloriously tasty week.

But! Upon first bite, I had a devious idea: “Could I add these to cookies?” I thought. “More importantly, could I add them to chocolate chip cookies?“

Pretzels in cookies are not a new thing –– you see them everywhere these days, as the crunchy, malty, saltiness of a pretzel meshes beautifully with a sweet, rich cookie.

And we all know chocolate and peanut butter is just… a faultless union of flavors.

So what I have for you today is a perfect vegan cookie base, melty chocolate chips, and those crisp peanut butter pretzels… in each and every bite.

Oh me, oh my.

The cookie base is simple and relatively free of any “weird” or hard-to-get ingredients.

Just a simple combination of a flax egg, flour, baking soda, cornstarch, salt, vegan butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract is all you’ll need. Add in your chocolate chips, then let the dough chill out (literally) in the fridge for two hours.

These two hours are crucial –– they allow the flour to further hydrate with your liquid ingredients, making for a more tender, chewy cookie. Plus, if your dough is chilled, the cookies will spread less in the oven, yielding a puffier, softer result.

You’ll want to add your chopped PB pretzels riiiiight before baking. You don’t want that crisp pretzel to:

A. Lose its crunch

B. Absorb the liquid that the flour needs to absorb instead

So, to be safe, it’s best to toss in your pretzel chunks right before you shape your cookies!

Speaking of, one of my favorite cookie-making tips comes from the baking queen herself, Sally from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

She recommends shaping your cookie dough balls taller than they are wide to prevent spreading and to give us a thick, chewy cookie. I do this with nearly all of my cookies at this point, and it never lets me down.

If you’re someone like me who also thinks that crunchy chocolate chip cookies have no place in your kitchen, don’t skip this step!

For me this week, “self love” is me diving face-first into those seductive pools of melty, gooey chocolate, the crunchy, salty pretzels with a fun nutty center, and that chewy, buttery vegan cookie dough.

Give yourself a little cookie self love, friend. You deserve it.

The post Vegan Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies appeared first on Fooduzzi.