So you’re invited to a potluck picnic. You’ve been to similar gatherings all summer, and you’re getting tired of showcasing your favorite dishes over and over. You need something new. Something inspiring to make. Something that tastes so divine you want to stamp it with the vegan flag so that everyone that tastes it will know once and for all that vegan food is downright delicious. But you want it to be easy and uncomplicated, and will practically make itself, of course. Look no further.
I was faced with this dilemma yesterday morning. My friend Karen gave me one of her favorite go-to recipes for Power Cookies. I was on my way to the store to get the ingredients when I remembered that any dishes also needed to be nut-free… Uh oh! I looked through the Power Cookie recipe from Dreena Burton’s Plant-Powered Kitchen to see if I could make substitutes, and I stumbled on a whole nut-free section. And then I found a featured cookie – Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chip Cookies. I had already been thinking about using cranberries instead of chocolate chips because of the 90 degree weather we were going to be dealing with, and vanilla bean cranberry sounded mighty fine to me. I was oh so right!
I really try not to feature recipes here unless they are compliant with the Ultimate Weight Loss Program since that’s really how I eat 99% of the time. But I know a lot of readers aren’t quite there yet. This recipe is too good not to share, but if you’re early in the UWL stages or avoiding all sweets, move on to the next post. Come back to this one if and when you can be trusted with cookies in the house!
I didn’t have time to seek permission to re-post this recipe in time for this Meatless Monday post, so instead I’ll send you straight to the source: Plant-Powered Kitchen
I made these as directed but used cranberries instead of non-dairy chocolate chips. And then I threw in some carob chips for one tray. Both ways were absolutely delicious. I’ll be excited to experiment with other combinations like mint chips, white chocolate macadamia, dark chocolate and cherries, cinnamon raisin… You can see how this could get dangerous, right? This dough is the perfect backdrop for any flavor, in my opinion, so it would be easy to mix it up without making it any harder.
The only downside to this recipe is that the dough should chill in the fridge for half an hour. So you’ll want to make sure you plan ahead just a smidge. Oh and you might as well go ahead and double the recipe from the get-go. Trust me, you’ll want more than a single batch!
Dreena Burton has a new cookbook out called Plant-Powered Families. She was interviewed by Howard Jacobsen in his fabulous podcast called Plant Yourself. Listen to the full interview here to hear the great information she shared about cooking for vegan kids, working with a spouse who is always looking for more flavor, navigating social situations yourself and as a parent to vegan children. I listened to it on my run this morning and I wished I had been able to take notes!
Happy Monday!
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