Twenty-Something and Starving

Well, the “snowicane” (as the people on the Weather Channel called it) has come and gone. Though my family in the Great North (Jersey, that is) are beyond snowed in right now, I am left with nothing more than a slushy parking lot and a lovely white coating over all of the ugly old snow. No complaints here.

Obviously, a snowy day makes me want to bake. Who doesn’t want to bake on a snowy day? I immediately ran into an issue: I had no butter. What the heck am I supposed to bake with no butter?

What I did have was flour, sugar, vegetable oil and apple sauce. Add some cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves and it kind of sounds like apple pie, right?

But it’s not apple pie; I wanted to make cookies. Apple pie cookies!

These absolutely delectable, perfectly moist and slightly sweet with just the right amount of spice cookies just so happen to be vegan, too!

Apple Pie Cookies

2 & 1/4 cup flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat, 1 and 1/4 all purpose, but use what you have on hand)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients until combined.

3. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the apple sauce, sugars and vanilla.

4. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing well to incorporate. Add the second half and repeat. The dough will be pretty sticky.

5. Scoop dough by the teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet. (Don’t attempt to roll them out; the dough will just stick to your hands. Instead, wet your fingers once your cookie sheet is lined and press down the cookie dough with your fingers, rewetting them when the dough starts to stick again).

6. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with a little of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

7. Bake for 8-10 minutes until fragrant and the tops are golden brown.

8. Let cool for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a baking rack to cool completely. Or you can eat them while they’re still hot from the oven. They’re good either way, I promise!