Chocolate Chip Cookies

No matter how hard I try, I have not mastered the chocolate chip cookie. It always seems to be lacking butter…. Well, I am not giving up! I will continue to experiment with my nondairy options. Here is my latest attempt:

1 ½ cup unbleached white flour
1 ½ cup oat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup Earth Balance margarine
½ cup Earth Balance or Spectrum shortening
2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift together flours, salt, and baking soda.
Cream together shortening, margarine, and brown sugar until fluffy, about 3 – 4 minutes.
Add eggs and vanilla; beat until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Drop dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 13 – 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cool slightly on cookies sheet, then transfer to cooling rack.

Thin and Chewy Chocolate Delights

My attempts at sifting through my recipes so I can purge the bad ones and organize the good ones usually results in a pile of “I must try these!” and nothing thrown away. Well, I’m glad I kept this one, even though I’ve had this recipe for so long I don’t know where I got it. Nonetheless, I tried it (with the usual adjustments) and it was an instant hit. The trick is not to eat too many.

chewy chocolate delights

Chocolate Cookies

1 1/4 cup margarine, Earth Balance
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla, Frontier Vanilla Flavoring
1 3/4 cup unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup cocoa, Valrohna or Scharffen Berger

Beat margarine at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add the sugar, beating well. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa; stir. Gradually add to margarine mixture until well combined. Chill until easier to handle, about an hour.

Either lightly grease or use parchment paper on baking sheets. Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake 10 – 12 minutes at 350°. Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute; remove to wire racks.

Vanilla Pretzel Cookies

This is the first time I tried this recipe and the family wasn’t demanding more which makes me wonder. These lovely cookies are slightly sweet, but seem to have more the texture of a true pretzel rather than a cookie. I dipped the tops of about a half dozen or so in chocolate and that seemed to cause more excitement, but I make so many chocolate cookies, this may not make the cut next year.

vanilla pretzel cookies

Vanilla Pretzel Cookies

6 tablespoons margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon Rumford baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup vanilla rice milk
2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

White nonpareils

Beat margarine, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined. Add egg yolks and vanilla until combined. Gradually add rice milk; then beat in the flour. Place in a smaller bowl and cover with plastic wrap; chill for 4 hours or until easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a tablespoon of the dough into a 9-inch long rope. Loop each rope into a pretzel shape and place on cookie sheet.

In a small bowl, combine egg and one tablespoon of water and beat lightly. Brush cookies with the egg mixture and sprinkle with nonpareils. Bake 12 – 15 minutes or until light brown along the edges. Cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Pretzel Cookies

This year I decided to try a butter-free version of this family favorite. Surprisingly, I liked it better than the headache-inducing butter one. These take a little time to make, but they are worth it!

chocolate pretzel cookies

Chocolate Pretzel Cookies

1 cup powdered sugar
½ cup Earth Balance margarine
½ cup shortening
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoons Frontier vanilla flavor
2 ½ cups unbleached white flour
½ cup Vahlrona cocoa
1 teaspoon salt

chocolate pretzels

Blend sugar, margarine, and shortening until creamy; add egg and vanilla. Add mixture of flour, cocoa and salt, mix well.

Roll out a teaspoon of dough into an eight-inch rope; twist into a pretzel shape and place on baking sheets. Bake at 350º about 5 – 7 minutes. Cool on racks. Dip cookies in glaze; sprinkle with nonpareils and place on wire rack to dry.

Glaze: Melt a bag of chocolate chips with two teaspoons margarine; add a little hot water to thin.

Cranberry-Orange Shortbread Cookies

I’ve made shortbread with butter, but never with margarine, and, yet, this cookie turned out surprisingly good.

cranberry-orange shortbread cookie

Cranberry-Orange Shortbread Cookies

1 cup Earth Balance margarine, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoon Frontier vanilla flavor
1/2 teaspoon Frontier almond extract
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
2 cups unbleached white flour
1/4 teaspoon Rumford baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 – 1 cup chopped dried cranberries

wax paper

Beat margarine until creamy; gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Add extracts and orange zest. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and dried cranberries; beating at low speed until blended. Divide dough into two 8-inch logs, wrap in wax paper, and chill.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Slice logs 1/4 – 3/8-inch thick, place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Cool on wire rack.

Cookies for Christmas

Nothing tastes better on a cold wintry day than a warm, chewy, chocolate cookie. As long as I have my Chocolate Crinkles, I don’t mind that almost all the other Christmas cookies are made with butter.

chocolate crinkles

Chocolate Crinkles

½ cup canola oil
5-6 ounces unsweetened Scharffen Berger chocolate, melted
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup good quality cocoa
2 teaspoons Rumsford baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar

Mix oil, melted chocolate and sugar in a large bowl. Add the eggs one at a time; blend well. Add vanilla. Mix the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt together; add slowly to the chocolate mixture. Cover and chill overnight.

Roll in to a ball and then roll the ball of dough in the powdered sugar. Place on a greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for about 10 minutes or until set. Cool on wire rack.

Better than Oreos

Usually, “wheat-free” and “dairy-free” mean taste-free, but not with these cookies. I took one bite of the Newman-O’s Wheat-Free Dairy-Free sandwich cookies and had to hide the bag from myself. Okay, I am exaggerating a little, but these cookies are good!

cookies at attention

# Wheat-Free Dairy-Free:
Organic Barley Flour, Organic Sugar, Powdered Sugar, Organic Palm Oil, Organic Corn Flour, Organic Rice Flour, Canola Oil (expeller pressed), Organic Cocoa, Cocoa (processed with alkali), Organic Unsweetened Chocolate, Natural Flavor, Salt, Baking Soda, Soy Lecithin (an emulsifier).