Vegan Ginger Cookies

Tags

baking, cookies, desserts, ginger, lime, recipes, soft cookies, vegan

Do you have a friend who you can always count on to show up late?  Like they don’t even have to try, they’re just gifted with the skill of tardiness?

Hi, that’s totally me.

I really don’t like being like this, though.  In fact, I’ve checked out a time management book for people like me, as lame as that sounds.  And in an effort to be less high maintenance, I’m attempting to accept my hair in its natural state, meaning no blow drying or flat ironing.  (Ever wondered how Ron and Hermione’s offspring would look?  Now you know.)

I made these cookies a long time ago, as in a week before the Easter bunny made his rounds.  They’ve been on my mental to-bake list and I finally had a party to go to, and therefore a reason to make and share them. 

Due to my typically poor judgment of time and having to go back to the store for more ginger, I ended up bringing cookie dough to the shindig and baking them there.  At least I wasn’t very late and rolling out dough balls with friends was pretty fun.  Plus, we got to eat super freshly baked cookies, even though we were a bit full of raw dough.  Oops.

These ended up being really gingery in a different way from gingersnaps.  They’re not spiced with Christmas flavors and the centers are soft!  And aside from the whole sugar thing, they’re pretty healthy to boot.  Just remember that the dough requires at least an hour of chill time.

Or you could forget like me and show up with vegan cookie dough.  Win/win.

Vegan Ginger Cookies
adapted from Joy the Baker

So I ended up mixing things up a little with these, mainly by using coconut oil and lime in place of the canola oil and lemon.  However, in my rush, I only added half the zest called for and the cookies didn’t have a very limey flavor.  Next time I might try adding up to a tablespoon and rubbing the zest and sugar together to really bring out the flavor.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup minced candied/crystallized ginger
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lime zest (or more…see above)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling the cookies balls (I used raw/demerara)

Using a whisk, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and candied ginger in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, rub together the sugar and lime zest with your fingers.  Add the lime juice, flaxseed, applesauce, and coconut oil and whisk until thoroughly combined.

Pour the wet mixture onto the dry mixture.  Using a wooden spoon, stir together until all the flour is moistened.  It will get hard to stir and quite crumbly.  Turn the dough out onto a clean surface, flatten into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for an hour or overnight.

Adjust the oven racks to the middle and upper third positions.  Preheat the oven to 350F and line two cookie sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Form golf ball-sized balls out of the dough, then roll in the sugar.  After you place them on the cookie sheets, gently press down on them with your hand to flatten a bit.  Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until light golden brown.  Let cool on the sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a cooling rack.  Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days, Joy says.  I can vouch that these turn into rocks after awhile (I had some left over and couldn’t eat them fast enough!).

The demerara sugar added sparkle and crunch!

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