• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
• Release Date: Nov 10, 2009
• ISBN: 9781600940484

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Treats

Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone's Favorite Treats reviewed by Laura Frisk (prime.peta.org)

Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero have written a new cookie cookbook that is the best addition to my baking cookbook collection this year. It has something for everyone, including cookies that are sweet, decadent, wholesome, fun, and fancy. And, of course, they’re all vegan.

The Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles are chocolaty and chewy with a cinnamon-sugar topping and a hint of heat from cayenne pepper for a totally different and awesome cookie.

The Citrus Glitters call for the zest of oranges, limes and lemons, but since I have a Meyer lemon tree in my yard, I opted to use only lemon zest. These cookies are a refreshing treat!

Mocha Mamas are more chocolate than coffee flavored with a sugary sweet frosting, and they’re wonderful with a cup of soy cappuccino for an afternoon pick-me-up.

I also made the Cowboy Cookies, packed with roasted pecans, chocolate chips, and coconut—one big cookie was sufficient for one sitting. And the Macadamia Ginger Crunch Drops were light but very sweet, and they go great with a hot cup of herbal tea.

The brownies and blondies are also delicious. I added vegan chocolate chips to the Peanut Butter Blondies making them taste like a fudgy peanut butter cup. They are so rich that just one or two little squares will fill you up.

The Deluxe Cocoa Brownies were turned cake-like with the addition of vegan cream cheese frosting. They were so yummy that we ate the whole pan of them in a 24-hour period, half of them being consumed with coffee in the morning, which I consider the perfect time of day for chocolate.

By the way, cookies freeze beautifully, so if you make too many to eat or give away (that’s probably not going to happen, but just in case), just pack them in a container or plastic bag made for the freezer, and you can pull them out as needed for another month or two.

I started with the easy recipes, the Drop Cookies and Bar Cookies, but Isa has a chapter on the fancier cookies for all you cookie experts. Wedding cookies, shortbread cookies, sandwich cookies, frosted cookies, macaroons, special holiday biscotti, and more are included in her “Fancy Cookie” chapter. She also has a chapter on “Wholesome Cookies” using oats, dried fruits, and agave syrup that I plan to tackle right after the holidays when I am sugar-cookied-out, if that’s possible.

If you are really into cookies or are new to baking, this is the cookbook for you. I hope my pictures inspire you to run out and buy Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I guarantee everyone will love these cookies the moment you start baking and sharing them with your vegan and nonvegan friends.