I enjoy cooking up fancy things, but sometimes it's really satisfying to bake something from what you have lying around. I baked these fun cookies yesterday with just what I had on hand. Here's the recipe, originally from Veganomicon, rewritten with my modifications:
Chewy Chocolate-Raspberry Cookies
Makes about 15 cookies, give or take.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup raspberry preserves (I used strawberry, actually, because it's what I had.) Try to find an all-natural, less-sugar kind.
1 cup sugar (Better to use organic sugar that has not been made with bone char, as most refined white sugars are. Also, feel free to reduce amount. I used more like 3/4 cup, which was still a lot.)
1/3 cup canola oil (I feel like this could be reduced for healthier cookies, too.)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Mix together preserves, sugar, oil, and extracts.
In separate bowl, mix all other ingredients.
Add the dry to the wet in three batches, stirring in between. You may have to use your hands to mix in the last bit.
Roll into ping-pong sized balls, then flatten with your hands. Place on baking sheet that's been sprayed lightly with cooking spray or oil.
Bake 10 mins, cool for 5, remove from sheet and cool completely.
These seriously took me like 20 minutes, including bake time. And they're not bad!
Note: Photo is of actual cookies I made, on my elephant plate. :)
7 comments:
I like this:
"1/2 cup raspberry preserves-Try to find an all-natural, less-sugar kind"
Then the next ingredient is
"1 cup sugar"
Funny.
I am still impressed that you cooked them though. I pretty much never do anything like that. They look very good.
Don't be impressed. The point is that they are super easy. You will also see that I recommend using natural sugar, and less of it, but glad you're amused.
What is natural sugar?
I'm going to go ahead and respond to your comment as if it wasn't snide, Matt, which perhaps it wasn't. (Perhaps I'm overly sensitive.)
Generally, "natural" refers to sugar that has not been refined, or that is less processed. The whitening and refining process often uses animal bones, making these sugars not vegan, and also makes them taste different. There are better options, like raw sugar, beet sugar, or agave nectar.
Please see:
http://www.naturalphysiques.com/cms/index.php?itemid=109
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-natural-sugar.htm
No, it wasn't snide. I just thought sugar was an inherently processed food, and I didn't know what could be considered "natural" sugar.
True. And really I also mean organic, rather than "natural" per se. So many of these terms are subjective.
Looks yummy!
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