Yay or Nay?

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by Hannah (BitterSweet)
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Freed of a decade-long mayonnaise aversion, the unctuous white condiment may not be the first thing on my grocery list, but certainly has earned its keep as a refrigerator staple, thanks to its irreplaceable contribution to my very favorite chocolate cake recipe. Thus, I’m probably not the ideal judge of a new take on the classic spread, but the offer to taste Nasoya‘s latest contribution to the category was irresistible.

Curiosity fueled my investigation, since the original Nayonaise and I have a considerable history. It was the first time I ever tasted vegan mayonnaise, which sadly but quite frankly reinforced my original bias against it. Somehow a bottle of the stuff found its way into my fridge, likely after a photo shoot had wrapped and left the extra behind, and I couldn’t seem to get rid of it for the life of me. Eventually I became desperate, attempting to pawn it off on any friends who visited. It was convenient that each and every one “forgot” the glass jar when it came time to depart…

Revitalized and reformulated, my hopes were high for a surprise comeback. In addition to the previous offerings of their Original Sandwich Spread and Light (which I didn’t get to sample), there is now the option of Whipped, which is said to approximate the taste of Miracle Whip more closely. Let’s not beat around the bush here: I do not like Nayo Whipped, Sam I am. It strikes me as being too sweet, pulling my taste buds in the opposite direction of what they would desire in a savory dish, all with a beany undercurrent that muddies up the flavor. Unfortunately, this is exactly what I feared when I signed on for a sample. The jar of Whipped may be around for quite some time, wedged into the farthest reaches of the fridge, unless anyone would care to drop and take it off my hands.

The outlook isn’t as bleak for the Original, however. Despite an inauspicious appearance of a broken, greasy emulsion, the mixture does genuinely feel smooth and creamy on the tongue. The leading and finishing note is one of mustard, with a gentle touch of vinegar and salt chiming in. Appropriately rich and just slightly sweet, I do believe it’s an improvement over the first version that turned me off so many years ago. Is it my favorite mayonnaise option? No. But is it a perfectly serviceable alternative? You bet! The odds of success only improve once it’s mixed into a recipe with more complimentary flavors to enhance that baseline taste.

For my first trick, I thought I would turn the classic BLT sandwich into a fun summer hor d’oeuvre, taking out the bread and stuffing the contents into hollowed out tomato shells. BLT bites, so simple that a formal recipe would be overkill, are nothing more than seeded Roma tomatoes filled with shredded romaine lettuce and chopped chives, tossed with Original Nayonaise, and finally topped with coconut bacon. Serve thoroughly chilled for the best eating experience, especially on a hot day.

Where Nayonaise really shines, however, is in baking, just as I had predicted due to the success of my experimental chocolate cake so long ago. Churning out a batch of chocolate chip cookies in record time and only seven ingredients all told, this recipe is reason enough for me to always keep a jar on hand.

Amazingly, the mustard flavor mellowed significantly in baking, becoming nearly undetectable when paired with the right ratio of sugar and chocolate. The combination shouldn’t work, couldn’t possibly be delicious, but somehow, it really is. The best part is the texture- You would be hard-pressed to find a chewier, gooier, or more lusciously toothsome treat for so little effort. For that incredible contribution alone, Original Nayonaise gets the official thumbs-up from me.

Yield: Makes 20 - 24 Cookies

Miraculous Mayonnaise Chocolate Chip Cookies

Miraculous Mayonnaise Chocolate Chip Cookies

You would be hard-pressed to find a chewier, gooier, or more lusciously toothsome treat for so little effort. No one will no that mayonnaise is the secret ingredient!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
Total Time 23 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Vegan Mayonnaise
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
  • 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 1/2 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the mayonnaise, vanilla, and both sugars. Stir until smooth and homogeneous before adding in the flour, baking soda, and chocolate chip. Begin the mixer on low speed to prevent any of the dry goods from flying out, and allow the machine to gently combine all the ingredients. Be careful not to over-mix to prevent the cookies from becoming too tough. Stir just until the dough comes together and there are no remaining pockets of unincorporated flour.
  3. Use a medium cookie scoop or large spoon to portion out about 3 – 4 tablespoons of dough per cookie. Place them about 1 1/2-inches apart on your prepared baking sheets, and use lightly moistened hands to flatten them out slightly if domed.
  4. Bake one sheet at a time for 11 – 13 minutes, until golden brown around the edges. Immediately pull the silicone mats or parchment paper off of the hot baking sheet to allow the cookies to cool completely.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 181Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 89mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 2g

All nutritional information presented within this site are intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on BitterSweetBlog.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. Even though I try to provide accurate nutritional information to the best of my ability, these figures should still be considered estimations.

© Hannah Kaminsky
Cuisine: American / Category: Cookies and Bars

30 thoughts on “Yay or Nay?”

  1. I remember Nayonaise back in the day when they were the only vegan mayo around. Now that there’s more choices, I prefer the other brands. I’ve never heard of mayo in cookies before, then again, I’m not much of a baker. I’ll have to try it out, they sure look good. :-)

  2. Those cookies look delish. I wonder if homemade mayo (vegan of course) would work with these because alas, like just about everything else invented for the vegan confraturnity, narf7 doesn’t get to partake of the nayonnaisy goodness :(. Love the recipe and cheers for the chocolate cake. I am going to experiment with homemade mayo and see how it goes. I note the P.P.K. has a mayo recipe out that might just tweak the strings of this recipe…”To the experimentation food mobile Robin!” ;)

    1. Don’t worry, you really aren’t missing out on too much this time… I would absolutely love to hear how your experiments with homemade mayo turn out though! I’ve been wondering about it myself, since I know that I could approximate the flavor, but I don’t know how it would translate in baked goods and other recipes. Please keep me in the loop!

      1. I will Hannah, and if I start to glow in the dark we can call it an added bonus…we can sell it to the Christmas toy market and be instant millionaires! ;)

  3. FINALLY! Someone who can understand my utter hatred of mayonnaise!

    I must say, though, I am intrigued by your method of adding it (or its vegan counterpart) to baked goods… Those cookies look divine!

  4. Amazing! Only you could put mayo in cookies and make me want to try it :-) I don’t have any aversion to vegan mayo. I quite enjoy it, but Neal hates it so I generally avoid it because I like to share meals with him :-). However, I will say that like you, when I tried Nayonaise back in the day I did not like it. I am hesitant to try the reformulated version. I’m happy with vegenaise when I need mayo.

  5. I just can’t get on board with Nayonaise. Vegan mayo just really isn’t my thing. I will take a tiny bit in a cole slaw or potato salad, but never enough to go through a whole jar.

  6. I found the recipe really interesting and thank you for your always interesting articles. Not so sure about the nayonnaise but will try at some stage. Look forward to next article.

  7. Hmm, I liked the original Nayonnaise just fine, but then I’m one to make my own mayo from silken tofu and I like that, too. I hadn’t heard of coconut bacon so that was the most intriguing part of your recipe for me. I’ve now looked around and found a good-looking recipe to try for it, now it’s on my list!

    1. I didn’t want to give too much away here, but if you can wait, I do have a recipe for coconut bacon going into Easy as Vegan Pie… I’m so excited to be able to share soon!

  13. Never heard of this mayo before but now I really want to try it! The nails are pretty neat too, is that the crackle stuff?

  14. I’m on Team No Mayo all the way–have never liked the taste or texture, or that terrible sour aftertaste that lingers once you’ve finished the meal. But in baking? Veeery interesting. Maybe that’ll make a convert of me, after all.

  16. How easy of a recipe! These sound perfect! Before I started eating vegan, I baked a lot with mayo and sour cream. They are often the best baking secrets! I am excited to give these a try- I just bought a big jar of vegan mayo!

  17. NAY! This is the worst cookie recipe I have ever seen. 1 cup of mayo? 1 1/2 cups sugar AND 1 1/2 cups chocolate? Obviously you are not vegan for the health benefits.

  19. I’m trying to catch up on my Feedly (woefully behind) and was tickled to see this, because my review goes up tomorrow. Also I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one who experienced the separating. I’ve read quite a few reviews online that didn’t mention it, and was thinking I might be the only one. One difference though… I liked the whipped much more than the regular :)

  20. Even in my pre-vegan days I never really cared for Mayo, I was more of a Miracle Whip person.

    I have had a jar of Nayonaise sitting in my pantry for about 6 months or so. I have had mayo cake and it does provide a great moistness so I’m sure that it would do the same for cookies.

    I however, am intrigued by the BLT bites, those look super cute and fun! Great appetizer.

  21. I don’t care for raw tomato, but I must say BLT Bites is an absolutely genius appetizer idea. I haven’t tried these new products and last time a recipe called for mayo, I made my own from a recipe in the first PETA cookbook.

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