Baking for vegans may seem like a task, but ever since we made a gaggle of vegan buddies, it's become a necessary evil. Really, it isn't that difficult to do, with the help of some simple tricks like using Earth Balance in the place of butter and replacing eggs with apple sauce or egg replacer mix.
After making these vegan gingerbread men, we gave them to friends, dairy eaters and non-dairy eaters alike. If our friends were being honest, and it's pretty impossible to tell them apart from their milky counterparts. Besides, what's sweeter than showing some love for the lactose intolerant this holiday season?
We found this recipe on eHow.com, a compendium of everything DIY.
The Ingredients.
As always, it's good to make sure the batter is lump-free. No one wants a clump of flour in the mouth when biting into a cookie.
If you opt to use egg replacer like the recipe calls for, you can find it at Sunflower Market, along with the Earth Balance. It's important to prepare the fake egg and water mixture in a separate bowl to make sure it's fully combined. The specific ratios will be found on the back of the box.
This recipe calls for a lot of molasses. We're not huge fans so we cut back a little. We also cut this recipe in half and found we needed to add more flour to make the dough solidify.
The dough should be able to be balled up when it's ready. Be sure to cool it in the fridge though so it will hold up to the rolling process several times.
You can use a rolling pin to roll your dough, but we found a cup works just as good if you don't have one handy.
We used some cookie cutters to cut the men and women. We also found that our friends had a great time cutting their own unique cookies.
The cookies yield a lovely color once they make it out of the oven. They look and smell just like the holidays.
Put some icing (which can be made with Earth Balance, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract) in a pastry bag with a decorating tip. Get different colored sprinkles and any other decorations you can think of. This is a great time to involve your friends, allowing them to make their very own personalized cookies. It's a lot of fun!
Our friends are frosting fiends, so you might consider leaving some frosting out to use as dipping sauce. You could even make a vegan-friendly ganache for some chocolatey good cookies.
Using our favorite pink bakery boxes from ABC Baking, you can take your cookies to go or deliver them to a friend.
Next week, Fresh Baked Gifts will feature a super secret family recipe that's sure to perk up even the most Scrooge-like holiday guest.
