Vegan Cookies Part I: Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Kisses

Vegan MoFo

Reason Number 21: Seriously, these cookies are vegan!

Let me confess. I sometimes eat dessert before dinner. I have this insatiable sweet tooth that creeps up on me no matter how far away I've stored my latest sweet concoction. These latest cookies: Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Kisses have served as both breakfast fare and pre-dinner dessert "snacks". My cookie obsession goes way back--to those darn wafer things that came in pink and had this luscious pink creamy filling. (I have always loved the color pink.) That's where I think this all began. Then the Toll House tubes my mother would bring home only to open one end, bake a few of the cookies, leaving the remainder of the dough in the fridge for me to "snack" on. And then, my maternal grandmother's delicious cookies--the rolled in nuts with a maraschino cherry in the middle (the same cherries she used in her cocktails)--I scooped those up! She also made this amazing Mexican Wedding cookie that I bake every year. She used lard and oleo, I have had to change this a bit. Then, I have this very tiny Christmas Cookie booklet that I was given when I attended a holiday open house at a local home decor store ten years ago. Every year, my husband and I try to get into the holiday spirit by visiting local "festive" stores. This particular store held its holiday kick-off tradition by hosting an open house with holiday trees dressed and ready to go and serving, all day, trays and trays of cookies and some other stuff (I really don't remember). My only memory is of the cookies. During one particular visit I asked the owner if there was a chance he might share some of the recipes (I had nearly tested all of them by this point)--he could see how enthusiastic I was (or hungry). Nonetheless, he told me his mother had baked them all and that he did have a "few" of her recipes printed up, but had to check with her for approval for sharing. I felt like this was a serious test of my cookie-making commitment. I assured him, I would be forever in his debt and always remember his mother when I baked her treats. Kindly, he returned with his mother in tow and a copy of some of her recipes. To this day, I pull this booklet out and begin my holiday baking with one of these cookies. My version of this Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Kiss cookie evolved from a Chocolate Cherry cookie. Creating a vegan version and taking out the cherries and subbing with the peanut butter--this cookie is amazing and so very easy to make. Turn your kitchen into a "snack station" and try some of these!

Vegan Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon extra fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup Earth Balance

1 cup sugar

1 egg from Ener-G Egg Replacer plus 2 tablespoons warm water

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter

vegan chocolate ganache (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. (Bake one batch at a time--this recipe makes two batches). Mix the Ener-G Egg Replacer with water in a small bowl, whisking well, then set aside. Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl: flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda and set aside. In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer until creamy. Add mixed Ener-G Egg Replacer and vanilla extract and mix until creamy. Add the dry ingredients in thirds by hand to the wet ingredients until it all comes together and looks mixed. I used my hands for this part--if you over mix, your cookies will turn out hard. Now, shape the dough into 1" balls. Place on cookie sheet. Now, take your pinky and punch a little hole into the center of each ball--no need to go through the entire cookie. Just a hole to hold the peanut butter. Take the peanut butter and place in a zip lock baggie. Cut a hole on one end and (tying the other end with a twistie to keep it from coming out all over your hand)--dab each hole with about a teaspoon of peanut butter. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, make your ganache (which can be put on the cookies while they are warm, it will settle into a firm topping as cookies cool).

Vegan Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

1/4 cup soy milk

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of powdered sugar* (for thicker ganache if you want that--it's optional)

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat. Let warm just enough to melt the chips and mix well until smooth. You can remove this from the heat and the chips will continue to melt. Just be sure to mix until the lumps are gone. Then, take a spoon and drizzle this mixture over the warm cookies. Allow to cool completely and store in an airtight container. These are good and moist and will keep for several days!