'Vecan' Cookies Recipe

Hi everyone!

I have been having a lot of time to relax and enjoy life lately, and it's been really nice because I was tense little ball of anxiety that needed to de-stress. Relaxing for me involves copious cups (or buckets) of tea, various crafts involving wools and yarns and baking. Knitting, crochet and tea aside (not for long, it'll go cold) I have been experimenting with my baking lately, because I wanted to try and make some cookies that weren't chocolate based and yet still delicious. My papa bought me a vegan cookbook a little while back, and I had avoided using it because a lot of the ingredients were very expensive. I mean, who has matcha and agave nectar stashed in their cupboards in odd quantities? I can barely afford some of lidl's mixed nuts, let alone half of Holland and Barrett. There was a recipe for matcha and pecan cookies, and I thought I could adapt this recipe to suit my tastebuds and vegan student status. I basically looked in my cupboards and found alternatives to fancy ingredients and things I had run out of because Lidl is a long walk and we were about to watch Bake Off (priorities) so here is my take on this recipe. This can be made non-vegan if you wish, but then they would be 'no ve-can't' cookies!

Can we bake it? Yes ve-can! (puns for DAYS!)

'Vecan cookies' - Makes 12 decent-sized cookies

Ingredients:

80g vegan margarine

110g caster sugar

30g cocoa powder (or cacaopowder - this is way healthier!)

2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

2 teaspoons of water

150g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon of maple syrup

60g chopped pecans

Method:

1. Cream together the margarine and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy (I used an electric mixer, but you can do this by hand) and then add the vanilla essence, maple syrup and water and mix it all in (again, I used my mixer but by hand is fine also, just make sure you beat it all together really well!)

2. Add the flour and the baking powder to the mixture and combine until a dough is formed (I found I used an extra sprinkle of flour as the dough was still to sticky to work with comfortably) and then add the chopped pecans, using your hands to work with the dough and ensure an equal distribution of nut-to-dough, nobody likes a plain cookie!

3. Empty the dough from the bowl and onto a clean surface, and work it with your hands into a long log. Wrap this up and put it in the fridge to chill for at least an hour (this makes the cookies crispier in my experience!)

4. When the time is right, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius/gas mark 4 and grease a baking tray (or two, I have a tiny oven) and get the dough out of the fridge. Cut the log/roll into 12 equal pieces and roll them into small balls, flattening them onto the baking tray(s). Space them out evenly or they will merge together, the cookies should be 2cm-3cm in diameter when flattened onto the baking tray.

5. Place the cookies in the oven, they should take between 10 and 15 minutes depending on your oven (fan ovens should take no more than 11 minutes as they will begin to burn), or remove them when they have reached the desired crunchiness. Leave them to cool the tray for a couple of minutes and then move them onto a cooling rack to finish cooling off. 

Cookies are best served still warm with a hot beverage of your choice!

My housemates really enjoyed these cookies, and they were really nice to have with a cup of tea whilst watching Mary and Paul kick the bakers into shape! I hope you enjoy making these - they can be made with normal margarine - they don't have to be vegan! Enjoy!

It's been real,

B x

Áine Carlin:

This book is pretty good, but the recipes are a tad too expensive - a student version would be amazing!

 To check out Áine Carlin's blog click here

To buy her book 'The New Vegan' click here