Baby it's cold outside. When winter rolls around, it just feels like the right time to drink some hot chocolate and curl up in front of the gas fire place. A wood fire place would be ideal, but we have gas, so it's a gas fire place that I curl up next to.
How about something special this holiday season. Instead of just a hot chocolate drink, we try hot chocolate cookies! They're so cute and fun to decorate, the kids will love making these. Plus they are so soft and chewy, which makes them even more delicious.
Honestly, when I was trying out this recipe, I was going for some chocolate cut out cookies, but instead this is what I came up with, and I think they are even more wonderful.
Recipe:
1/2 cup soft vegan butter (Earth Balance, Smart Balance)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flaxseed, ground
3 tablespoons water
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup almond milk, unsweetened
1 1/2 cups flour
Toppings: vegan marshmallows
Icing:
2 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
4-5 tablespoons almond milk
4 ounces melted dairy-free chocolate
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F. In a small bowl add the ground flaxseed and water and mix together, this is our flax "egg". let it sit for 2-3 minutes. In a medium mixing bowl add the sugar and vegan butter and mix until it is just combined. Add the almond milk and flax "egg" and mix until it is combined. In a separate bowl add the dry ingredients; flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Then add the dry to the wet ingredients, and mix until it is well combined.
With well floured hands, drop a heaping tablespoon of the dough on your hand and form it into a round flat-ish shape. Place on a lined cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, then remove them to cool.
Icing Directions:
Melt the dairy-free chocolate in the microwave or on the stove. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stir until it is well combined and the consistency you want. Add more almond milk as necessary.
Spread the icing onto the cooled cookies, and top with vegan marshmallows and candy canes.
Did you know candy canes are not vegan? Or vegetarian! Red dye is typically made from crushed BUGS! Cochineal insects to be exact.
Who would think to use bugs in our food?! Here's an article that talks more about red dye, and where it can be found: Red Dye.
There are a couple of different vegan brand marshmallows, but the one I enjoy the most come from Trader Joe's. They taste just like normal marshmallows.
If you're not aware that marshmallows are not vegan, or really even vegetarian, now you do. They contain Gelatin, which comes from the collagen of various animal body parts. Ew. I don't know why they mess around with our food so much, and use unnecessary products.
If you are unable to find vegan marshmallows in any store near you, you can always order them online: vegan marshmallows.
