It’s about time that I introduce you to some of my friends.
Meet Jill. Jill is one fierce cookie, although me might try to fool you with her demure presence and coy smile. Do not be fooled. She’s a firecracker and she’s got your number.
I ventured into Jill’s kitchen one Sunday afternoon to make her famous vegan cookies. I’m not a big vegan cookie baker, and I thought I reach out to an expert.
I met Jill when I hired her at a tiny Los Angeles coffee shop I managed. We both learned very quickly that Jill is not a morning person and Joy is. We also learned that Jill thinks Black Widow spiders are cool and Joy runs screaming for the hills at the mere mention of one. But Joy and Jill share a deep love for, well… occasional boy talk and fast food tacos. Joy and Jill are great friends.
So what’s the deal with vegan cookies? No eggs, no butter, no milk. None of the regulars that you’ll usually see on my blog. Instead, I let Jill introduce me to tofu and vegan margarine in my baking. I have to say, Jill knows her way around some tofu and I was so pleased with these cookies. We ate them warm out of the oven with soy milk. What a good vegan I was for those few hours!
Thanks for opening up your kitchen to me Jill! You rock my socks.
Vegan Cookies with Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Cinnamon
1/2 cup vegan margarine (can be found at most grocery stores in the States)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup soft tofu, drained
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder ( Ghirardelli is vegan)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl combine margarine, brown sugar and tofu until well blended. Stir until virtually no chunks of tofu remain. Add the peanut butter and vanilla and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine.
On a parchment or foil lined backing sheet, heap cookie dough by the Tablespoon. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven, let sit for 5 minutes then enjoy with soy milk!
August 6th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I find myself in your same boat Joy, but this vegan cookies do look tempting…maybe I will be a vegan for a few hours too!
August 6th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Joy!
You are welcome in my kitchen anytime. It was delightful and i’m a lucky gal to have you as a friend..
xo Jill
August 7th, 2008 at 12:27 am
i can’t believe those cookies are made out of tofu!!! i’m definately trying this reciple. i SUCK at cooking from scratch, but this makes me slightly optimistic.
August 7th, 2008 at 1:26 am
It’s very handy to have a good vegan cookie recipe, thanks for sharing, Joy!
BTW, I wanted to let you know that I’ve tagged you for the 10 Favorite Food Pictures meme, so please feel free to play along, if you so desire!
August 7th, 2008 at 4:00 am
i agree too that its hard to believe these cookies are vegan…they’re awesome!!
August 7th, 2008 at 4:19 am
No butter!! my fav kind! Bookmarked the recipe to make somewhere in the near future!
August 7th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Sounds like we could all benefit from a Jill in our lives.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Ahh, the best friendships are always formed over occasional boy talk and fast food tacos. And maybe a little tequila.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:32 am
These remind me of some great no-bake vegan cookies. Instead of flour, you use old fashioned oats. Basically you heat up the cocoa, sugar, EB butter, and cinnamon. Then you take it off the heat and add the vanilla, peanut butter and oats. It’s yummy and only takes about 10 minutes from the pantry to your stomach!
August 7th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Those sound and look delicious! I really need to get my butt in gear and start trying some of your delicious recipes!
August 7th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Hi Joy,
Thanks for the lovely pictures and article featuring Jill…she’s a ray of sunshine and the cookies are so GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LF
August 7th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Jill! So pretty.
August 8th, 2008 at 7:16 am
These cookies look great. Thanks Joy (Jill).
August 8th, 2008 at 7:20 am
How great it is to cook/bake together with a good friend! The cookies look yummy!
August 8th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Good friends are few and far between. What fun to be introduced to vegan cookies-I think I would only eat them if they were made by a trusted friend,too.
Love the red accents in these photos!
August 8th, 2008 at 10:28 am
i love those, they seem to float.. thanx.. and i love your description of the reason you love breads and all.. Me tooo…. I’m on my path to be a pastry chef… so cool!!
August 9th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I just made these cookies…they are amazing! I didn’t have any margarine so I added butter and they turned out just fine! Yummy! I will definitely make again! Thanks!
August 9th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
These cookies sound really fun :). I’ve never made vegan cookies with tofu but it sounds like a cool idea. Isn’t it nice to have friends that can bake? That way when we have a craving but are too lazy to bake something up for ourselves, they can do it for us :D.
August 11th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Holy cow! I am thrilled to see a Joy recipe I can bake as-is for my dairy allergic daughter. I swear, you are becoming my favorite person EVAR.
August 12th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
I looooove pb & cinnamon combos, & I love pb & chocolate combos, so this sounds amazing. I’ve made cookies w/ tofu once before but these look even better. Thanks!
August 18th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
when you say “soft” tofu, do you mean “silken”? thanx
September 24th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
[...] made these [chocolate peanut butter cookies] for the office without telling anyone they were [...]