The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur. Kelly Peloza

As per my previous post I've had this book for a few weeks now and have actually made some cookies from it. (Me?? Make cookies? unheard of!) Firstly I got each family member to pick a cookie they wanted to try, and then over the following wee while I made them.

First up is the "Soy Milk's Favorite Cookie" page 112, chosen by M.
I think I made these too thick! I'm pretty sure some of my 1/8th of an inch cookies were more like 1/4 inch, but never mind. I would have preferred if the diameter of the dough roll be specified as well, as I think I made mine too small. They were very easy to make, not too sweet, so the chocolate flavour was the star. I didn't make the filling and cookies in order, but the intro says you don't have to! The cookies were nice and delicate, shortbread like, with a deletable crumble. I found the filling a little too shortening-y tasting for my preferences, but did that stop everyone from enjoying them?? No way!

Response from the kids?? "mmmmse mmmr mmmmmry mmmmmmy" or "these are really yummy" with a mouth full of cookie.

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Next I made Orange Chocolate Chunk Cookies on page 90.

I must start by saying that R chose these, and only because I have an Orange Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe which she loves more than any other (on some given days) and I think she was expecting these to be the same. They're not, so she was a little disappointed.
I found the dough needed more soymilk to form together, I added an extra Tablespoon and probably should have added 2 as the resulting cookies needed help forming into shape, and were a touch dry. Not so much that they weren't good to eat. Otherwise no issues - though it does say that it makes 16 Tablespoon sized cookies, I got 22 much bigger than Tablespoon sized!

Response from the kids?? "Nice" "OK" "Yummy" "Can't taste much Orange" So not as huge a winner as Soy Milk's Fave.

*****

Up next, H's choice, Chocolate Biscotti, page 168 (are you noticing the unintentional theme of our choices???)

The tops of these cracked a lot in the first baking, and fell apart a little in the second baking so they didn't look pretty enough to take pictures of, but, boy oh boy, did they ever TASTE good!!(which IMHO is MUCH more important!!) I will remake (or make the Vanilla Biscotti) some point soon and try for a photo then.

H took them to work and the feedback he got was lost in the scramble for everyone to get one. Winner!

*****

Then we come to my choices. I allowed myself a few.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, page 205.

I like making GF stuff every now and then, as I like having a break from wheat. I find Soy Flour really hard to find where I am, so I subbed Millet flour for that in this recipe. I don't know whether it was the sub but I then had to add another Tablespoon of Soymilk to get everything holding together, but that is no biggie. The result was lovely. Crisp outsides, soft insides, not chewy, but nicely textured soft, not delicate like GF sometimes can be, not too sweet, a great looking and tasting cookie. Nice one Kelly!

Then I made the Cashew Cappuccino Nanaimo Bars, Page 153. These were super easy to make, they just took a little time. Easily fit into a busy afternoon though.

I must confess I thought I had more icing sugar than it turned out I did so I only made 2/3 of the filling layer, and in a way I am glad I did. These bars are SWEET, not quite tooth-hurting-ly sweet, but close, so any more than 2/3 of the filling would have been too much for me. Best served in dainty lady sized portions, not honking great handfuls, unless your sweet tooth is bigger than mine. Flavour? really good, nice level of coffee, subtle more than super in your face, and the base was just that little bit crumbly when you bit into it as a Nanaimo Bar should be. Yum.

H took these to work too, and came back with a request for more!

Lastly, well, in this round of cookie making, I made the Chocolate Peppermint Wafer Cookies, page 122, mainly because the girls are Sparks / Brownies and we sell the cookies but don't eat them. I wanted to try a Girl Guide-ish cookie.No issues with the making of these, though the coating is pretty messy! I gave some to the teachers at the girls' school, and they didn't last long!

*****
Overall I like this book, my only wish / request / constructive feedback would be for more descriptions in the recipes. What the dough should look and feel like, both before baking and as they are ready to come out of the oven, how long, and wide, things should be, stuff like that. I can guess, but a less experienced person may not be able to.

Will I be making cookies from this book again? Most likely, yes, when my own creative juices are a little run down.

Would I recommend this book?? Absolutely.