Chocolate Cookie Bars Recipe (Vegan)

We've been having some reactions lately and had to cut out cocoa butter, so I decided to come up with a chocolate cookie bar recipe.  Now Sam can still have that rich chocolate flavor, but without as much sugar as brownies have.  These cookie bars are very chocolate-y and moist and are a great addition to our dessert rotation.

Chocolate Cookie Bars Recipe

1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Spray an 8x8 square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Spread batter evenly into pan with a spatula. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

Sugar Cookie Recipe (Vegan)

Sam rarely gets cookies with brown sugar in them anymore due to her sensitivity to it, so I reworked my Basic Cookie Recipe to use just white sugar, and the cookies turned out great. I didn't realize at the time I created my Basic Cookie Recipe that it would be sugar cookie dough without the brown sugar. These are perfectly sweet, crispy, and chewy Sugar Cookies by themselves, or you can frost them or decorate them how you wish.

Sugar Cookie Recipe

1-1/4 cup unbleached flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Lightly flour your work surface, your hands, and your rolling pin. Roll out part of the dough at a time to 1/8" thick and use a 2" cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Use a spatula to move the cookies to the cookie sheet. Recipe will yield 25 cookies. Bake for 12 minutes.

If using rice flour to make these cookies use the following in place of the unbleached flour above:
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp white rice flour
2 tbsp binder (potato starch, tapioca flour, arrowroot powder, etc.)

Agave Tea Cookies Recipe (Vegan)

I've recently been re-stocking my freezer with baked goods and sorbets that Sam can eat that don't have granulated sugar in them. I really like this tea cookie recipe I came up with that uses light agave nectar for the sweetener. The cookies are thin and crisp. They start out slightly sweet tasting and end with a hint of salt for a nice balance of flavors. Sam loves these cookies, too, which makes all of my efforts worth it. Richard was instrumental in this recipe's success. The dough comes together really nice, but it's sticky and I was having a hard time getting the cut shapes off my work surface and onto the cookie sheet. I was so frustrated I almost threw this recipe out. Richard noticed my frustration and suggested I flour my surface first before rolling out the cookies. Duh! My other cookie recipes aren't sticky like this one and I don't have to flour my surface for them, so I just didn't think to do it. It worked like a charm. Richard also named these cookies. They do go really nice with a cup of tea.

Agave Tea Cookies Recipe

2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup light agave nectar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. The dough will come together nicely, but will be sticky.

Spray 2 cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray. Lightly flour your work surface, your hands, and your rolling pin. Roll out part of the dough at a time to 1/8" thick and use a 2" cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Use a spatula to move the cookies to the cookie sheet. Recipe will yield 36 cookies. Bake for 12 minutes.

Gingersnap Cookie Recipe (Vegan)

Being in the midst of Fall made me crave gingersnap cookies. I took my Basic Cookie Recipe and made a few revisions to it and came up with a very flavorful gingersnap cookie that satisfies my craving for spices.

Gingersnap Cookie Recipe

1-1/4 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Top with Sugar in the Raw

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients. Make sure to get all the lumps out of the brown sugar. Add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Roll out part of the dough between 2 pieces of wax paper to 1/4" thick and use a 2" round cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Use a spatula to move them to the cookie sheet. Recipe will yield 20 cookies with this method. Or you can use a tablespoon to scoop out a ball of dough and roll it into a ball in your hand. Place the ball on the cookie sheet and press it with your fingers to make a flat circle. Arrange cookies in 3 rows of 5 across. Recipe will yield 15 cookies using this method. Sprinkle tops of cookies generously with Sugar in the Raw. Bake for 15 minutes.

If you want to make Gingersnap Cookie Bars, spread the batter into an 8x8 baking pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Use the back of the spoon to spread the batter evenly and press it firmly into the pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Wait for it to cool before cutting into squares.  Makes 16 cookie bars. 

If using rice flour to make these cookies use the following in place of the unbleached flour above:
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp white rice flour
2 tbsp binder (potato starch, tapioca flour, arrowroot powder, etc.)

Vegan Shortbread Recipe

I created this recipe first as a pre-baked pie crust for an ice cream pie. It was such a good pie crust, and since we don't eat pie very often, I decided to make cookies with it. Sam loves these simple cookies. I make them with unbleached flour and also with rice flour.

Vegan Shortbread Recipe

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Pinch of salt
1 cup unbleached flour
Non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

For Cookies:

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. In a mixing bowl, add the sugar, canola oil, and salt. Mix thoroughly to incorporate all of the sugar and salt into the oil. Next, add the flour, and using a fork, mix everything together thoroughly. Pour the crumbly mixture onto the middle of the cookie sheet, cover the pile with a large piece of wax paper, and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a rectangle or oval about 1/8" thick. Use a pizza slicer to cut the rolled out dough into 1" or 2" squares like this:


Lightly spray the tops of the cookies with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Let them cool before removing them from the cookie sheet with a spatula.

For Pre-Baked Pie Crust:

Spray a 9" pie pan with non-stick cooking spray. Make dough according to the recipe above. Pour the crumbly mixture into the pie pan and press it with your fingers into the pie pan until the pan is covered and the dough is well-pressed. Lightly spray the top of the pie crust with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes. Wait for pie crust to cool before filling. Works great filled with prepared custard, pudding, or ice-cream.


If using rice flour to make these cookies or pie crust, use the following in place of the unbleached flour above:
2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup white rice flour
1 tbsp arrowroot powder

Basic Cookie Recipe (Vegan)

This is my favorite cookie recipe I've created. It is extremely versatile in that you can add chocolate chips, or dried currants (my favorite), cranberries, raisins, or nuts to it and have a different experience. The cookies are crispy and chewy and not too sweet. They also freeze well.

Basic Cookie Recipe

1-1/4 cup unbleached flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup "add-in" (choc. chips, currants, cranberries, raisins, nuts)

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients. Make sure to get all the lumps out of the brown sugar before adding the "add in." Add the "add in" to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Use a tablespoon to scoop out a ball of dough and roll it into a ball in your hand. Place the ball on the cookie sheet and press it with your fingers to make a flat circle like this:


Arrange cookies in 3 rows of 5 across. Recipe will yield 15 cookies. Bake for 15 minutes.

If you want to make cookie bars, spread the batter into an 8x8 baking pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Use the back of the spoon to spread the batter evenly and press it firmly into the pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Wait for it to cool before cutting into squares.  Makes 16 cookie bars.

If using rice flour to make these cookies use the following in place of the unbleached flour above:
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp white rice flour
2 tbsp binder (potato starch, tapioca flour, arrowroot powder, etc.)