Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

A month ago at a networking event event I drank a few glasses of wine and told the President of the Chamber of Commerce that I was a vegan caterer. What? The following day she told the owner of the coolest glass blowing school in town that I was a vegan caterer. A few days later we received a call from the glass blower asking us to create vegan edibles for an event they were hosting for 150 people. No problem, I’ve got this (insert exaggerated look of simultaneous horror and excitement). The event is an all day open house at their enormous glass studio. There will be local artists doing demos and magnificent, handcrafted glass pumpkins and veggies for sale. The owner asked if we would set up a vegan sweets snack bar for the 150 attendees. Who wouldn’t want an eco snack while enjoying funky art and glass blowing demonstrations?  Anything else would just feel wrong.

I have spent most waking moments over the past month thinking about (obsessing over) what to serve, how to package it and how to display it. I have been test driving recipes and eating more than my share of failed attempts and must haves. I found this cookie recipe yesterday, veganized and modified it and fell in love. If this doesn’t bring all cookie seekers to the awesome side of veganism…I do not know what will.

Double Dark a l’Orange Chocolate Cookies

Original recipe  from KeepitSimpleFoods and modified by S. Duquet

Makes approx 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 C softened vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)

1/3 cup packed brown sugar (I used Florida Crystals)

1/3 C sugar

1 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacer whisked with 2 Tbsp water

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp orange extract

1 and 1/4 C self-rising flour

3 Tbsp cocoa powder (I used an extra dark)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 C vegan semi sweet chocolate chips

Make it Happen:

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

~Cream the Ener-G, sugars, vegan butter, orange extract and  vanilla together until creamy.

~Gradually add  the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Mix well.

~Add the chocolate chips and combine. They will be difficult to mix but just keep at it.

~Cover and chill the dough for 10 minutes.

~Spoon two inch balls of the dough onto a cookie sheet. I used a packed,  mini dough scoop and that worked really well. If you do not have a scoop, just use a spoon. The cookies will not spread so feel free to pat down into a round cookie shape.

~Bake for 10-11 minutes. Leave on pan for a second, until they can be transferred to a cooling rack.

This is my new go to cookie recipe because they are so easy to create and the flavor bypassed unbelievable and was actually flirting with dangerous. The added orange extract amps up the chocolate experience to a mach 10. They are like dense butter cookies that have been abducted and enrobed in dark chocolate. My kind of kidnapping. I will keep you posted on the Glass Academy event.

Have a delicious day.

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