Monday, December 24, 2012

Christmas food ideas 2012: Vegan strawberry and white chocolate cookies, and cranberry and dark chocolate cookies




I know Christmas is tomorrow. You have probably planned your menu, started your preparations, finished your baking, and packaged up edible treats if you are giving any food items as gifts.

Given the above, this is a poorly timed post. However, I only made these biscuits (cookies) yesterday. I wanted them for Christmas, not in advance. I wanted them fresh and chewy and just right to bite into.


I hope you'll forgive me. The plus side is, if you do need a last minute baking idea, these biscuits are pretty wonderful. And if you make them today, they will be fresh and chewy and just right to bite into for you too.


I made these by adapting a recipe for chocolate chip pecan cookies in Kris Holechek's The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes. I wanted a festive variation on standard chocolate chip biscuits, and elected to combine dried strawberry pieces with dairy-free white chocolate, and dried cranberries with dairy-free dark chocolate. You could use any variety of chocolate, but I would recommend using larger chunks (by chopping chocolate pieces) instead of chocolate chips. You get more chocolate that way, you see.



Strawberry and white chocolate cookies, and
cranberry and dark chocolate cookies

Soft, chewy, sweet and chocolatey - with two flavour variations
Adapted from a recipe in Kris Holechek's The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes
Makes about 30 cookies in total (15 of each variety)
Vegan


Ingredients
1 cup non-dairy spread, loosely packed (I used Nuttelex)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
Decent pinch salt

1/4 cup roughly chopped dairy-free white chocolate (~50g; I used the Sweet Williams brand)
1/4 cup roughly chopped dried strawberry pieces

1/4 cup roughly chopped dairy-free dark chocolate (~50g; I used dark chocolate medallions)
1/4 cup dried cranberries


Method
Preheat your oven to 180'C (350'F) and line three baking trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the non-dairy spread and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch, milk and vanilla and beat briefly to combine.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the butter/sugar mix and stir through, mixing well to combine. Divide the mixture evenly into two bowls.

To one bowl, add the white chocolate pieces and dried strawberry pieces. Mix through. 

To the second bowl, add the dark chocolate pieces and cranberries. Mix through.

Using your hands or a spoon, create heaped tablespoon sized balls of dough and place on the baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, until cookies are golden at the edges but still soft in the centre (they will harden on standing). Allow to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.


I will be taking these with me to our Christmas day celebrations tomorrow, but have already taste tested several. As I am not usually a big cookie / biscuit fan (I like them, but don't love them), it is noteworthy that I struggled to stop my taste testing and put the rest away for sharing. I really, really liked them. Mr Bite has only tried the white chocolate variety at this point, but has already declared them the best cookies ever.

As this is my last post ahead of Christmas day, I would also like to wish all of you a very merry Christmas if you celebrate it, and a very happy and safe holiday season even if you don't. May you have good food and good company, wherever you are.

Happy Christmas!

17 comments:

  1. oh my goodness, those cookies look divine! and i'm suffering from some serious food envy...would u mind springing me from the US so i can come visit and eat them all with u guys on xmas? ;) jk.
    but seriously, those guys look SO gooey awesome i'm drooling. have a WONDERFUL holiday my dear! :)

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    1. I would post you some but fear they wouldn't travel well :p Happy holidays to you too Cait!

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  2. Biscuits are great all year round, so the recipes won't go astray, and they sound delicious (say the word chocolate and I am there). I have some post Christmas sweets post to come based on the same principle - treats are year rounders! Merry Chritsmas to you and your family Kari.

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    1. Thank you, & you too :) I'll look forward to your Christmas sweets too!

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  3. Merry Christmas to you too, Kari. I love the look of these cookies and I don't think I've ever had a cookie with strawberry in it before. I hope you have a great day tomorrow catching up with family and friends xx

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    1. Thank you Charlie and I hope you had a great day :)

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  4. Merry Christmas Kari!! I hope you have a great one! These cookies look amazing! :) Going to be doing some baking (again) when I get home from work today. :)

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    1. I hope you had fun baking & a great Christmas!

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  5. Cookies sound good to me year-round so have no fear, these could never be "too late". They sound delicious and I love that they're vegan!

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  6. Those cookies sound fabulous!!!! I haven't started my baking yet, however, with the fresh snow I think I will stay put and not make a grocery store run. I have some cookie stuff already to make, I just need the motivation to get my rear in gear and start baking.

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    1. I wish we had fresh snow! I hope you had a great day Tasha.

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  7. As a procrastinator, I appreciate this recipe. Happy holidays!

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  8. hope they were as good on christmas day - one of the bonuses of hot weather is that cookies like this are really melty at room temperature and taste as good as straight out of the oven - hope this was the case - they look delicious

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  9. The last verse become ordained online rounds the poem off magnificently. I love the metaphor 'The bright stars were my angels'. And the wonderful alliteration 'heavenly host' brings instantly to my mind's ear a large army of angels singing along with Young.

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