*I'll have to go back through and add some of the sweet pictures I've got for this post later - they're doing maintenance on the website and it won't let me upload any more pictures for right now.
As you know, I'm big into sweets. And shortbread cookies just happen to be one of my favorite sweet treats in the whole world. Don't get me wrong, I like a lot of rich, fancy desserts too, but every so often I just get a craving for the simple goodness of a shortbread cookie. Today is one of those days, so I looked through my Skinny Bitch in the Kitch recipe book and hallelujah, there's a vegan shortbread cookie recipe! I haven't made them just yet, I'm going to once I'm done working on this post so I'll have to let you know how they came out tomorrow or whenever I get around to posting something again. But, I will share with you the recipe so you can try them out, too.
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (if you can't find this, just use regular pastry flour)
1 tablespoon coarse nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup refined coconut oil (this shit's solid, so cut it up into pieces if you have to so you get one cup)
1/2 cup powdered evaporated cane sugar (this is one of those specialty things that can be hard to find - substitute with regular powdered sugar if you can't find it)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (don't buy that imitation vanilla shit - the stuff they use in it gives it a slightly bitter flavor - just spend the extra $3 on the real stuff)
1 tablespoon orange juice
Directions
Preheat oven to 325F, line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, nutritional yeast, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the coconut oil, mixing on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and orange juice, mixing until well combined. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 to 4 additions, mixing until just combined. Transfer the dough to a work surface, shape it into a 3/4-inch disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm enough to roll out, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll out to 1/4-inch thick. Cut into shapes and arrange on prepared baking sheets. Re-roll the dough and cut into shapes one or two more times. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown.
That's a pretty simple, basic recipe for some vegan shortbread cookies. There are about a million other things you can do with them, too. You can add all kinds of things to the dough: nuts, cranberries, blueberries, orange or lemon zest, chocolate chips, you name it. Another thing you can make is royal shortbread, which is where you dip the cookies in melted chocolate. Using Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate is good because they're naturally vegan, and they're top of the line in quality, too. Once you've dipped them in chocolate, you can dip them in tons of other things, too: sprinkles, chopped nuts, crushed candy canes, crushed M&Ms, etc. So with shortbread there are endless possibilities.
As for me, I'm having mine plain and simple tonight, with some hot chai tea. That'll be the perfect ending to an almost-perfect day. My friend Liz came down with her little boy Mason (who will turn 1 year old on November 11th). Liz and I have been friends for going on three years now; we met working together at Elder Beerman when I worked for Lancome there and she worked for Clinique. She was the first friend I made when I started there and we've been super close ever since. She's truly one of the funniest people I have ever known in my life - she has a crazy sense of humor and always knows how to cheer me up and make me laugh. We had such an awesome time just hanging out at the playground and going off in search of wine at the Ashland Beverage Center (go there - they have so many different types of wine it's amazing and they were so, so, so friendly) and then searching for clove cigarettes. Yeah, I'm not a fan of smoking but damn, those things are just so good. Anyway, the only thing that could have made my day any better would be my allergies disappearing so I don't sneeze 5702830284 times.
So I'm ending my awesome day on an awesome note, hope your day was bangin' too!
Me and Liz at our favorite bar, Cactus Joe's
Liz at her wedding.
Liz and I dancing at Cactus Joe's.
