Authors: Terry Hope Isa Chandra;Romero Moskowitz
Tags: #Best cookbooks
Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Treats (3 page)
You can make your cookies as organic as you please. Organic ingredients (flour, sugar, extracts, etc.) function the same as their nonorganic counterparts in these recipes.
Use the following ingredient list to guide your next shopping trip if your pantry is looking bare. We’ve listed items in the order of largest to least volume in a recipe; you’ll need several cups of flour and just a little bit of baking soda, for example.
IMPORTANT FLOUR MEASURING TIP ALERTTHE MISMEASURE OF MANFor accuracy, we always use the “scoop-and-scrape” method of flour measuring. It’s also useful for measuring cocoa powder and other dry ingredients. Simply use your measuring cup to generously scoop up some flour, enough so that the cup is overflowing. Gently tap the side of your cup; this helps the flour settle and eliminates any tiny air pockets. Finally, use the back of a knife to scrape the excess flour from the top of the measuring cup to create an even, flat surface. Flour to the people!
The “bones” of a cookie start with a good flour. Most of the cookie recipes in this book call for old reliable all-purpose, but don’t let anything stop you from replacing up to half the amount with whole wheat pastry or whole wheat white flour—you’ll get more fiber with excellent results. See our substitution guide (page 27) and check out the Wholesome Cookies chapter (page 93) if you’d like to experiment even further with healthier baking.
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
is the most commonly used, thanks to its accessibility, consistent results, and neutral flavor. It’s made from wheat that’s had the dark germ and bran removed. Sometime it’s further whitened by bleaching but we don’t go there ... look for unbleached all-purpose flour with its characteristic off-white hue.
is the most commonly used, thanks to its accessibility, consistent results, and neutral flavor. It’s made from wheat that’s had the dark germ and bran removed. Sometime it’s further whitened by bleaching but we don’t go there ... look for unbleached all-purpose flour with its characteristic off-white hue.
WHOLE WHEAT PASTRY FLOUR:
All of the nutrition of whole wheat flour, but light and delicate, too? Sign us up. Whole wheat pastry flour is a baker’s dream and it’s typically organic as well. This delicate flour is ground from wheat berry that naturally has a lower gluten content. It will give your whole-grain baked goods a lighter texture and flavor than if you used regular whole wheat flour. It’s interchangeable with all-purpose flour, so you can switch in half of a recipe’s all-purpose flour content with whole wheat pastry to increase the fiber and nutrition without upping the characteristic grainy “health food” flavor. But if you’re feeling super-whole wheaty, go ahead and use all whole wheat pastry—crazier things have been done.
All of the nutrition of whole wheat flour, but light and delicate, too? Sign us up. Whole wheat pastry flour is a baker’s dream and it’s typically organic as well. This delicate flour is ground from wheat berry that naturally has a lower gluten content. It will give your whole-grain baked goods a lighter texture and flavor than if you used regular whole wheat flour. It’s interchangeable with all-purpose flour, so you can switch in half of a recipe’s all-purpose flour content with whole wheat pastry to increase the fiber and nutrition without upping the characteristic grainy “health food” flavor. But if you’re feeling super-whole wheaty, go ahead and use all whole wheat pastry—crazier things have been done.
WHOLE WHEAT WHITE FLOUR:
Whenever a new kind of whole wheat flour hits the supermarket shelves we sit up and listen, and with whole wheat white flour we like what we’re hearing. Whole wheat white is ground from hard white wheat berries; it’s lighter and milder in flavor than regular brown whole wheat flour, resembling all-purpose flour after baking. Use the same as whole wheat pastry flour.
Whenever a new kind of whole wheat flour hits the supermarket shelves we sit up and listen, and with whole wheat white flour we like what we’re hearing. Whole wheat white is ground from hard white wheat berries; it’s lighter and milder in flavor than regular brown whole wheat flour, resembling all-purpose flour after baking. Use the same as whole wheat pastry flour.
OTHER WHOLE-GRAIN FLOURS:
Lots of whole-grain flours are becoming more common on grocery store shelves, and they can be great when you want to whip up a more nutritious batch of cookies. Oat flour is what it sounds like, flour made from oats. We like to use a touch of oat flour with wheat flour to create a pleasantly grainy texture. Brown rice flour has no gluten at all so unless you’re going for gluten-free baking (see our gluten-free tips below), you’ll need to blend it with wheat flours to get properly formed cookies. Other favorite nonwheat flours of ours include quinoa and millet. Both have their own particular taste and texture ... try substituting ½ to ¾ cup for all-purpose flour in recipes and see if you like their unique flavors.
Lots of whole-grain flours are becoming more common on grocery store shelves, and they can be great when you want to whip up a more nutritious batch of cookies. Oat flour is what it sounds like, flour made from oats. We like to use a touch of oat flour with wheat flour to create a pleasantly grainy texture. Brown rice flour has no gluten at all so unless you’re going for gluten-free baking (see our gluten-free tips below), you’ll need to blend it with wheat flours to get properly formed cookies. Other favorite nonwheat flours of ours include quinoa and millet. Both have their own particular taste and texture ... try substituting ½ to ¾ cup for all-purpose flour in recipes and see if you like their unique flavors.
THE ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR MYSTERYNot all all-purpose flours are created equal—this can become apparent even when baking cookies. From coast to coast, north to south, or country to country, flours will vary ever so slightly in moisture and protein content. Sometimes your cookies will be higher or flatter or softer than other times (even when you’re sure you did everything right). Typically this has a lot to do with the composition of the flour, how you measure it, and even the weather. See our Troubleshooting tips on page 30. As a general guideline, we recommend using standard, unbleached, all-purpose flours for well-structured cookies. Do not use “cake”-type white flours as they are low protein and may unexpectedly sabotage all your hard cookie work.
Cheer up, Mr. Gloomypants, and step away from the ledge. Just because you can’t have gluten doesn’t mean you have to be left out of the milk and cookies party. In fact, this might be the beginning of an all-out adventure. There is such a variety of flour available these days that sometimes the hardest part of living gluten-free is deciding which ones to use. The tastes and textures of these flours are so interesting and yummy that sometimes we go gluten-free just for fun. But, ya know, we also organize our spice rack for fun, so take that with a grain of salt.
So here’s a news flash: any of the cookies in this book can be made gluten-free. Yeah, we said it. There are a few gluten-free-specific recipes in these pages, but the reason there isn’t a big whopping GF chapter is because cookies are so flexible, subbing in gluten-free flour is a breeze.
The basic trick is that gluten-free flours across the board absorb liquid differently than all-purpose flour, so a bit of tweaking of the amount of flour is necessary. Generally, we use up to ¼ cup more gluten-free flour per cup of all-purpose flour. If you’re using a store-bought gluten-free mix, it may say that it’s a 1:1 swap, but we suggest adding at least 2 tablespoons more to improve the structure of your cookies. Our gluten-free mix already makes that swap, so use as directed.
Isa & Terry’s Gluten Frida MixEven though the flours in this recipe add up to more than a cup, use this ratio 1:1 per cup of flour. If you can’t find these flours at your health food store, they are all available from Bob’s Red Mill (
www.bobsredmill.com
). When choosing between coconut and almond flour, know that these flours do taste like the nuts they come from, so decide which you’re in the mood for. When choosing between quinoa and millet flour, know that quinoa costs three times as much—that might help you decide! Store gluten-free flours in the fridge to keep them as fresh as possible.
www.bobsredmill.com
). When choosing between coconut and almond flour, know that these flours do taste like the nuts they come from, so decide which you’re in the mood for. When choosing between quinoa and millet flour, know that quinoa costs three times as much—that might help you decide! Store gluten-free flours in the fridge to keep them as fresh as possible.
¼ cup almond flour or coconut flourcup white rice flour
cup quinoa flour or millet flour
3 tablespoons tapioca flour
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
OATMEAL
is probably the most famous whole grain (as in actual whole seed with bran and germ intact), making a much-beloved appearance in oatmeal cookies. We like to experiment with the subtle difference between delicate quick-cooking oats and hearty, chewy old-fashioned rolled oats. Beyond oats, most other uncooked grains are too tough to just toss into cookie dough.
SWEETENERSis probably the most famous whole grain (as in actual whole seed with bran and germ intact), making a much-beloved appearance in oatmeal cookies. We like to experiment with the subtle difference between delicate quick-cooking oats and hearty, chewy old-fashioned rolled oats. Beyond oats, most other uncooked grains are too tough to just toss into cookie dough.
Probably the second most important ingredient in any cookie is a sweetener. Lucky for us, in this modern age we have a vast array of sweeteners ranging from the pristine, minimally refined to the classic, easy-to-use white variety. Choosing the right sweetener can strongly influence the flavor and texture of your cookie, so check out our substitute section before sacrificing that cup of maple syrup to the cookie gods. When we call for sugar in a recipe, we mean either granulated white sugar or evaporated cane juice, unless otherwise noted.
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