The Earl of Snickerdoodle

For those of you keeping track, Earl didn't join our family this weekend. I was notified by the rescue that the foster family that Earl is currently with has a nasty case of kennel cough running through all of their dogs and they want to wait until this coming weekend to bring the dogs up from the south. Bummer. I can't help but wonder if this may have been a small blessing, though. I'm finally going to be able to get into the shop starting this week to set up and whatnot and I wouldn't have had time to spend with a puppy anyway. I don't know what I was thinking. So, no new dog for us. The cat can breathe a sigh of relief and Olive can continue to go on her merry, spoiled little way.

Now, onto baking news...

I tried a new cookie recipe yesterday and these are to die for! This is another vegan recipe for anyone who is interested. I'm not vegan. I'm an on and off vegetarian and have been for most of my life. I've been known to dabble in the vegan lifestyle from time to time and I still pay attention to any vegan recipes that cross my path. They tend to be low in fat and therefore good for the current diet I'm on. I'll include the recipe below. Let me know if you decide to try them out. This recipe makes a small batch (2 dozen or so) and they're almost completely gone already. The company we had last night gobbled them right up. So good. Oh, and if you've made the No Knead Bread I talked about last week, please let me know what you thought, and especially if you've tried different flavor combinations.

Snickerdoodles

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

A generous amount of cinnamon (and I mean generous!)

A generous amount of nutmeg (again, go crazy)

A pinch of ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup white sugar (if you don't eat white sugar you can use all brown)

1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup vanilla or plain soy milk (you can use cows milk if you don't have soy)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together all dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, mix the oil, sugars, vanilla and soymilk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well. If the dough seems too dry (remember, we're not using exact measurements here), add a bit more milk until you get to a cookie dough-like consistency.

Shape into small balls (about a heaping teaspoon) and place on a greased cookie sheet. Smoosh the balls down into patties as thick as you'd like your cookies to be. Sprinkle more cinnamon and sugar on top if you'd like.

Bake for 10-13 minutes until the cookies are juuuuuuust about to turn brown. This makes a nice, chewy cookie. If you prefer a crunchier cookie, raise the oven temp to 450 and bake for two more minutes, or until the cookies are hard to the touch.

Remove the cookies from the oven and place on a rack to cool.