Recipe: Almond Moonies / The Best Cookies I’ve Ever Made

July 29th, 2009 - filed under: The Food » Recipes

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No but really, these are the best. Like, ever.

I don’t even love almond that much, but I was out of vanilla extract at 11 o’clock at night, with sandwich cookies on the brain. Something had to be done.

And thus, I stumbled upon these babies in a fit of culinary creativity. Simple, exquisite, and still my favorite cookie almost a year after their inception.

My non-vegan neighbors just had a baby (yay!), and I whipped up a batch of these for the homecoming. A few days after dropping them off, I got this Facebook message from brand-new-Dad, “— has a baby asleep in her lap, otherwise she says about your cookies: nom nom nom, best cookies, nom nom nom . . . ”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.



Cookie Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup evaporated cane juice

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup Earthbalance™ or margarine

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup alternative milk

handful vegan chocolate chips


Frosting Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup Earthbalance

2 teaspoon plain alternative milk

1 teaspoon almond extract




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Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, cream the Earthbalance™ and sugars. Combine with the almond and soy milk, mixing well.

Pour the wet into the dry and add the chocolate chips, stirring until it just comes together.  Spoon the dough onto a lined sheet, and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on how big you’re making them. Pull them out still a bit soft – they’ll harden up as they cool off.

Cool the cookies on a mesh rack. When they are completely cooled (at least an hour), match them up in pairs by size and shape. For each pair, frost the bottom of one and then smoosh the other on top. SMOOSH!




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Enjoy!

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  • me3

    whole wheat pastry flour? evaporated cane juice? vegan chocolate chips? Do most people have these on-hand?

    What would be a more accessible substitute for evaporated cane juice?

  • http://flightsofthevalkyrie.blogspot.com/ Valerie

    Oooo! As soon as the average temperature stops being over 100F I definitely have to make these! Sadly that won’t be until October:( I’ve been wanting to try to make some vegan baked goods.

  • http://jcaddell.wordpress.com JLC

    Those look so yummy! I think this heat is putting me in a snacking mood.

  • Kelly

    Oh good grief, those look amazing! And pretty simple to make too. I will nomming on them very soon! :o)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ me3 – Haha, sorry if the ingredients sound too esoteric. They’re really not, I swear! Evaporated cane juice is just unrefined sugar, sometimes called raw cane sugar. It should be in the sugar section of any major grocery store, and it’s just a bit healthier (less processed) than white sugar (it has a brownish color because not all the molasses have been removed). If you don’t want to use it, you can substitute plain sugar 1:1.

    Whole wheat pastry flour is just whole wheat flour ground extra fine and made from soft wheat. It’s also better for you because not all the husk and bran have been removed, and adds a depth of flavor that I really enjoy. You can feel free to substitute either all purpose flour or whole wheat flour, or any other flour, at a ratio of 1:1.

    Vegan chocolate chips – well, milk chocolate chips will not be vegan because of the milk, but most bittersweet chocolate chips and all dark chocolate chips should be vegan. Just read the ingredients. Or, you know, if you’re not vegan and don’t care, then don’t. =)

    Hope that helps!

    @ Valerie – I feel your pain. I want to make these again so bad, but Eek! Not in this heat!

    @ JLC – Oh man, heat does just the opposite for me. But thanks!

    @ Kelly – They are so simple, I couldn’t believe how nommy they were. =)

  • http://lightleadersyoga.com Crystal D’Angora

    These are the brownies I brought to the dessert party last night – Enjoy!
    Raw vegan brownie recipe
    Ingredients:

    Brownie:
    1 cup walnuts
    1 cup dates
    1/4 cup cocoa powder

    Icing:
    2 avocados
    1/2 cup agave nectar
    1/4 cup cocoa powder
    2 tablespoons coconut oil
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    dash salt
    dash cinnamon

    Directions:

    1. Food process the brownie ingredients until blended and dry chunky.
    2. Press into a small pan.
    3. Put all icing ingredients into vitamix blender, and blend on hi till smooth.
    4. Spread icing over brownies and pop in freezer to set for 1 hr. then cut and put in snack sized baggies.

    Easy, isn’t it? I hope you enjoy eating your brownies as much as we enjoyed ours!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Crystal D’Angora – Looks amazing, thanks!

  • Christine

    I just made these last weekend. YUMMMMM!!!
    This was one of the rare occasions when I just happened to have all of the ingredients already. I love that.

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Christine – Ooh, a blast from the past recipe. I made these for my first ever vegan bake sale, awww. So glad you like them!

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