The Vegetarian Memoirs: Double Chocolate Balsamic Cookies

I haven’t made cookies in a long time.  I love them, but we have a plethora of kids who sell stuff for their schools, and Joe loves to buy the cookie dough.  That is obviously not good for us, but Joe just can’t say no to the little buggers.  When I came across this recipe that didn’t involve a mixer, I had to try them pronto.  I made the first recipe below because they were lower in fat and I thought I liked cakier cookies like Susan described them.  It turns out, I like a lot more crunch (which is what butter does).  So I tried the second recipe below that she posted from Habeas Brulee.  And I added carob chips. You could add semi-sweet chocolate chips if you can’t find the carob chips.  I got them for super cheap at the bulk bins at the Turnip Truck, so I’m all about them right now.  When you don’t have to pay for the packaging, things get soooo much more affordable.

She mentions pureed prunes.  I could not find non-dried prunes, so I used baby food prunes.  It was worth paying the $1.70 not to clean my heavy food processor.

Also, I reduced my balsamic vinegar to about 1/2 of its original volume.  What I didn’t use in the first recipe, I stored in the leftover baby food prunes jars.  Yay recycling!

Fat-Free Balsamic Fudge Cookies

These fudgy-but-fat-free cookies have three chocolate enhancers: cinnamon, prunes, and balsamic vinegar. You probably won’t be able to detect any of them in the finished product, but they lend the cookies a deeper, more chocolaty taste.

1 cup unbleached white flour (or use gluten-free baking flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch cinnamon (optional)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
2/3 cup demerara sugar (or other vegan sugar)
1/2 cup prune puree (see note)
1/3 cup soy yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (see note #2)
Vanilla sugar (I did this the quick way by pulverizing a vanilla bean with sugar in my blender)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Mix the flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt together and set aside.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the prune puree with the sugar and cocoa and stir to combine. Add the soy yogurt, vanilla extract, and balsamic and stir until mixed. Finally, add the flour mixture and stir just until it’s combined—don’t over-mix.

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets about 1 1/2-inches apart. Using the back of a spoon, flatten each cookie slightly and sprinkle with vanilla sugar. Place them in the oven. Bake for about 9 to 11 minutes—be careful not to burn the bottoms!

Remove from the oven and lift the parchment paper or silicone mats onto cooling racks. Allow to cool completely. These taste best cold and somehow even better the next day. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

*4 out of 5 for chocolatey goodness, but too cakey and sticky.

Vegan Balsamic Fudge Drops
(adapted from Habeas Brûlée)

*My changes are in italics and bold*
1 cup unbleached white flour (or use gluten-free baking flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine I used Earth Balance shortening.  You could use butter if you’re not going for the vegan version.
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup soy yogurt This is what replaces the egg.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar reduced is soooo good, even if you do have to open a window
Vanilla sugar (I did this the quick way by pulverizing a vanilla bean with sugar in my blender) I didn’t have a vanilla bean, so I just sprinkled with regular

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Mix the flour, soda, and salt together and set aside. In another bowl, mix the cocoa with the sugars and set aside.

Melt the margarine in a medium-sized saucepan. When it is completely melted, take it off the heat and add the sugar/cocoa mixture and stir to combine. Then add the soy yogurt, vanilla extract, and balsamic and stir until mixed. Finally, add the flour mixture and stir just until it’s combined—don’t over-mix. This is where I added the carob chips.  MMMMM double chocolatey flavor!

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop tablespoons of the dough onto the baking sheets about 1 1/2-inches apart. Sprinkle lightly with vanilla sugar, and place them in the oven. After 5 minutes, switch the pans around so that the one on top is on the bottom and the front sides are in the back. Check again in 4 minutes. Be careful—depending on the type of pan you use, they can go from underdone to burned in seconds (I found out the hard way!) They shouldn’t need more than 11 minutes and will look soft on top, but they’ll harden as they cool.

Remove from the oven and transfer onto cooling racks. Makes about 2 dozen cookies. I don’t have cooling racks.  I just put them on some paper towels on the counter.  These come off the parchment paper way easier because of the butter/margarine/shortening.  P.S.  I’m getting big into Earth Balance products–all natural, lower fat, non-dairy.  Nice.

*5 out of 5!  These are soooooo good.  I realize that they have more fat, but they are still vegan (if you don’t use butter) and better for you than most cookies.  I highly recommend!

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