Simple Vegan Sugar Cookies

I love productive weekends. I love being able to make a big ol' to-do list on Friday and cross everything off by Sunday afternoon. This was one of those weekends. Granted, there was also a lot of downtime in my weekend -- the older I get, the more I appreciate a weekend of staying in. So yesterday involved a lot of napping, reading, and movie/TV watching. Jakers and Mabel LOVED IT. So then today, I kicked it into high gear and got up early, did a long run (15 weeks until the Chicago Marathon!!), and ran errands all morning.

Baking was *not* on my list this weekend, but Lord knows a girl needs something sweet to snack on. One of my go-to cookie recipes is this super simple sugar cookie recipe that I came across a few years ago. It's one of those recipes that requires totally basic ingredients that I always have on hand. And - bonus - they are SO TASTY! I found it on Mercy for Animals' website - they're an incredible nonprofit that promotes a vegan lifestyle.

I'm going to get back to crossing off my to-do list...and eating a few of these cookies while they're still warm!

Simple Vegan Sugar Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
• Egg replacer equivalent of 1 egg
• Cinnamon and sugar, to coat

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate small bowl (make sure they're blended well). Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Using your hands form the dough into a big ball. (If it sticks together well, then it's the right consistency. If not, add a bit of water and mix it well.) Form the dough into cookie-sized balls and roll them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball a little bit. Bake at 375°F degrees for about 7 minutes. Makes about 18 cookies.

Making a Home

I am loving life right now. Things in Boston are going really well! It took some time to get things figured out at work -- I needed to find a good balance of clients, and now that it's figured out, things just feel right. I have never doubted my decision to pick up and move to an unfamiliar city, but I definitely had some bumps along the way as I settled in.

I could not be happier with my apartment. I'm on the second floor of a house that was built in the 1700s. It has the original hardwood floors, original brickwork from where the the wood furnace once sat and I have a back porch where I can feed the birds and enjoy a view of the Bunker Hill Monument, which is just a couple of blocks away. It has so much more character than anyplace I've ever lived before. I love it. Jakers and Mabel also are really happy - they love all the windows and squirrel-watching that allows. :)

I was able to get moved in and unpacked while we were living in corporate housing, so it was nice to be able to get totally settled before actually living here. I tend to move fast - I don't want to live in limbo. So I had everything decorated and feeling like home in the first month. I'm still working on a few things (need to buy a comfy chair and figure out some storage needs), but this feels like such a comfortable home for me and the babes. :)

I've been doing a good amount of baking and cooking, too. I have been baking cookies on the weekends, so I have something sweet through the week (and I like to offer the dog walker something extra, so Jakers gets to be their favorite stop!). Below is a gingersnap recipe that I found and baked today. I used to bake gingersnaps with my Grandma...so while they aren't top of my list of "favorite cookies", they are a sentimental favorite. :) And it's a nice change of pace from my usual oatmeal chocolate chip and peanut butter rut. (Just realized I've never shared my pb cookie recipe on here. That will change soon!)

Vegan Gingersnap Cookies
Courtesy of Food.com (with some tweaks)

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup molasses
• ¼ cup soymilk or almond milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Powdered sugar for dusting
  

1. Sift dry ingredients, except sugar, into a bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine wet ingredients, including sugar, and whisk until blended.
   
3. Stir in the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
4. The dough will be quite sticky and you may need to dampen your hands to work with it. Roll the dough into little balls (about 1 Tablespoon) and flatten out to your liking.
5. The thinner the cookie the crisper it will be - a slightly thicker cookie will yield a crunch on the edges and a slightly chewy interior.
6. Press the coarse sugar onto the tops of the cookies and bake about 8 minutes at 350 on a greased cookie sheet. (I prefer a non-greased baking stone.)'
7. Put on cooling rack and once cooled, dust with powdered sugar.

Long Time, No Post!

Sorry about my lag time in posting! But it's Labor Day Weekend and I've got VERY little going on, so plenty of time to post today. :) I'm happy to have three straight days of relaxing and catching up on housework.

Although, my weekend started out kind of rough. Jakers had an emergency vet visit on Saturday morning, and we found out he had a scratch across his eye. Aww! Poor babe! The vet is guessing a cat (perhaps by the name of Mabel?) :) is the culprit. So he's on pain meds and eye drops all weekend. Makes me glad that I didn't plan a trip for this weekend! Plus, I've been back and forth to MN twice in the past month for friends' weddings, so I could use a weekend at home.

Of course I can't have a weekend sans-baking, so I just finished taking my oatmeal raisin cookies out of the oven. I'm not even that big of a fan of oatmeal raisin, but I don't have any vegan chocolate chips in the house, so had to try something new. These are SO GOOD. I think I'll have to bake a full batch (I only made half, so I could have some sweets in the house, but not risk binging!) and bring them into work this week. Just that good.

Try 'em out and let me know what you think! :)

Soft 'n Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• 3/4 cup margarine (make sure it's vegan!)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup raisins
• 3 cups rolled or quick cooking oatmeal

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat together the sugar, brown sugar, vegan margarine and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Add the soy milk and mix until combined.

Add the flour, baking soda, salt and spices, and stir until well mixed. Add raisins and oatmeal.

Drop by 3 inch balls onto cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until done. Cookies will still be slightly soft and chewy. Perfecto!