New Cookbook Overload

In the past few weeks I have bought three new cookbooks. I never got around to mentioning it, or even making anything from them, until now. Which books you ask?

I think I'm in love.

I ordered My Sweet Vegan from Barnes & Noble's website, and stumbled across the other two in store. Which was a weird experience for me, because these just aren't the kind of books you find around here. To say I am happy is an understatement. I grabbed the books and held them tightly to my chest, even though the chances of someone trying to steal them from me were non-existent. There were two other people in my vicinity, and neither looked like they even knew what 'vegan' meant, or how to turn on their oven.

Last weekend I made Peanut-Plus Cookies from My Sweet Vegan and Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Joy of Vegan Baking. I just wanted something standard as these were going to work with me, and my co-worker's are leery of "weird" foods - so basically anything I bring.

The Peanut-Plus Cookies were AMAZING. Crunchy, peanut buttery and soft - all in one cookie. Okay, I was a little put off by the ingredients, but that didn't stop me. They involve ground lentils (dried of course), mashed potato flakes and cornstarch. Yesterday I was stopped by a woman at work that wanted to know all about these cookies. She was thoroughly impressed by the taste and texure, and intrigued by the ingredients so I copied the recipe for her.

My picture differs from the book. In the book you can see flecks of red from the lentils. I must have ground mine finer. Anyways, they turned out wonderful. I halved the recipe and followed it as is. I got 13 cookies.

I love trying different chocolate chip cookies, even though all the recipes are basically the same. The ones from The Joy of Vegan Baking were really no different, just written to be gigantic. I didn't want huge cookies though. I halved the recipe, used a flax egg instead of Ener-G and chopped up an Organic Dark Chocolate Chocolove Bar instead of chips. I dropped them by tablespoons onto the sheet and baked them just until they started to get lightly brown on the edges. I love slightly undercooked cookies. They spread like mad, and came out huge anyways. I have no problem with that.

I got about 18 cookies. They were chewy and gooey while still warm, and stayed soft even the next two days. They lasted until about lunchtime on Tuesday. I was told that I am spoiling my coworker's and that they don't deserve it. They probably don't, but somebody has to eat them - I can't do it all by myself and still fit in my pants.

This weekend I am going to tackle the Cookies and Cream Pound Cake from My Sweet Vegan and some cookies, though I haven't decided which. I have a box of goodies to make up this weekend for a friend. I hope to find something in Eat,Drink & Be Vegan.