Mmmaple

Though endlessly tempted by the idea of lining up a “12 days of cookies” series of posts, it just never seems to work out. Six days into December and only now do I remember those grand plans, dreamed up in warm August, so far away from the holiday action. How time flies, and how impossibly busy this season always turns out to be. Regardless, I’ve always been an advocate of quality over quantity, so I’ll save the indecision and uncertainty over questionable cookies, and just present you with one fail-safe, fool-proof winner of a baked good. Who needs the extra 11 recipes if they’ll never get made, anyway?

Both simple in concept and complex in flavor, these sweet little gems will satisfy the sweet tooth of anyone on your list. Rich maple flavor carries these surprisingly soft cookies, accented by the subtle warmth of ginger. Tame enough for the kids to appreciate but still plenty sophisticated for all types of palates, I instantly regretted preparing only a half batch the first time around- They flew faster than I could press two together into a sandwich!

The funny thing is, I thought these were absolute goners as they went into the oven. Impossibly soft, sticky dough molded into delicate little shapes? There was no chance they would stand up to the heat of the oven… And yet, out they came, as perfectly shaped as before. Just treat them with a gentle hand and keep the dough as cold as possible, and you shouldn’t end up with any amorphous cookie blobs, either.

Yield: Yield depends on size of cookie cutters; Makes about 2 Dozen 1-Inch Sandwich Cookies

Maple-Ginger Sandwich Cremes

Name: Maple-Ginger Sandwich Cremes
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 3 h 15 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 Cup Vegan Butter; 2 Tablespoons Vegan Cream Cheese; 1/2 Cup Maple Sugar; 1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed; 1/2 Cup Maple Syrup; 1 Teaspoon Maple Extract, Optional; 1 Teaspoon Salt; 1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger; 3 Cups All Purpose Flour; 1/4 Cup Tapioca Starch; 1/2 Cup Vegan Butter; 2 – 3 Cups Confectioner’s Sugar; 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger; 1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon; 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract; 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

No Ratings

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Additional Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Total Time 3 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

Maple-Ginger Cookies:

1 Cup Vegan Butter
2 Tablespoons Vegan Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Maple Sugar
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
1 Teaspoon Maple Extract, Optional
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
3 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Tapioca Starch

Ginger Creme Filling:

1/2 Cup Vegan Butter
2 – 3 Cups Confectioner’s Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/8 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup

Instructions

In your stand mixer, cream together the vegan butter, cream cheese, maple sugar, and brown sugar, until softened and smooth. Add in the maple syrup, extract, and salt, and beat on a low speed until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula before proceeding, to make sure that everything is being incorporated.
In a separate bowl, sift together the ginger, flour, and starch, before adding the mixture slowly into the bowl of the stand mixer. Slowly mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until you achieve a smooth, cohesive dough. Scrape it out and cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough thoroughly until firm; at least 2 hours.
Ounce chilled, preheat your oven to 325 degrees, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Cut your dough in half, and on a lightly floured surface, roll one half out to about 1/8 inch in thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes of any sort, but try to keep them on the smaller side. My maple leaves were just about an inch wide. Use a thin metal spatula to remove the cut shapes and transfer them to your prepared baking sheets, to prevent tearing or mushing. Be gentle, because it is a very soft dough. If you have trouble removing them from the counter, place a frozen metal cookie sheet over the whole length of dough, and allow the dough to cool down and become firmer before trying to move the cookies again.
Place your sheet of cut but unbaked cookies in the freezer for just 15 minutes before sliding it into the oven, to make sure they all hold their shape. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, until the edges are just barely golden. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for about 15 minutes before transferring them to wire racks. Repeat with the remaining half of dough, and re-roll scraps and repeat once more.
For the filling, once the cookies are completely cool, begin by beating the vegan butter in your stand mixer to soften. Add in the first 2 cups of confectioner’s sugar, along with the spices, vanilla, and maple syrup. Mix on low speed until the sugar is mostly incorporated, and then turn it up to high, whipping the mixture for 3 – 5 minutes until light and fluffy. If it still seems too loose to you, add in the remaining cup of confectioner’s sugar, and whip on high again. Spread on cookies and sandwich two together.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 319Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 184mgCarbohydrates: 52gFiber: 0gSugar: 38gProtein: 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.

December 6, 2010November 13, 2021

Hannah (BitterSweet)51 Comments

Friday, Black Friday

Lock the doors and hide the credit cards; it’s the scariest shopping day of the year! While more discount-savvy commercial hunters may relish the opportunity to forage and gather, scooping up the best sales around, I tremble in fear of the mere concept of waking up at 4 am in order to buy holiday gifts. Even for big ticket items reduced by hundreds of dollars, the pain and suffering simply can’t be worth the written price tag. Big price cuts bring big crowds, and I can’t help but flash back to the image of hapless gawkers being trampled half to death as soon as store doors crack open an inch. No, I’d be much happier safely holed up in the kitchen, cranking up the oven and making my own holiday gifts, as per usual.

Dark as coal but a much sweeter gift to receive, it seemed only fitting to make a black dessert for the occasion. Contrary to how it looks, however, it’s not a brownie, and doesn’t even taste a bit chocolaty. Though a generous scoop of black cocoa is employed to intensify that charcoal color, it doesn’t contribute significant flavor. Instead, this bar is all spice, all the time. Complex and delicately nuanced, this is a gingerbread built for the discerning palate looking for something just a bit different from the same old spice blend. Rounded out by rich molasses, these bars are fantastically dense and chewy, like the best blondies should be. Though I hesitate to call them blondies based on their appearance, that’s how they started life; A few tweaks that lead to bigger alterations, built upon a recipe in my Blondies and Brownies ebook.

Seeking out a slightly fancier presentation, you may have noticed that these bars were in fact cut as rounds. Fun, unique, and eye-catching, I do love the shape, but it creates quite a bit of blondie “waste” in the process. Not to worry, nothing is truly wasted here- Especially if those scraps are used to make…

Caramel-cinnamon ice cream with black gingerbread chunks? Not such a bad consolation prize for the baker, I’d say!

Being only the day after Thanksgiving, it may seem like I’m jumping the gun on holiday gifts here, but this season it’s non-stop holiday madness for me; Hannukah is less than a week away, already! Even if you’re planning ahead for Christmas, the good news is that once baked and sliced, these bars keep beautifully in the freezer for up to 3 months, wrapped in plastic and stored in an air-tight container. So bake your heart out, and leave your wallet at home! Black Friday can be a much tastier affair.

Yield: Makes 12 - 18 Bars

Black Gingerbread Bars

No Ratings

Dark as coal but much sweeter, they're not simple brownies either. Complex and delicately nuanced, this is a gingerbread built for the adventurous eater, looking for something just a bit different from the same old spice blend. Rounded out by rich molasses, these bars are fantastically dense and chewy, like the best blondies should be.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Black Cocoa Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Instant Coffee Powder
1 Tablespoon Finely Grated Fresh Ginger
1 Tablespoon Ground Ginger
2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Cloves
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/4 Teaspoon Paprika
Pinch Ground Black Pepper
1 1/2 Cups Chopped Walnuts
1/3 Cup Brown Rice Syrup
1/3 Cup Molasses
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Apple Butter
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Crystalized Ginger

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, coffee powder, and spices so that all the dry goods are well mixed. Add in the chopped chopped walnuts, and toss to coat with flour, so that the pieces don’t simply sink to the bottom of your bars.
Separately, mix together the rice syrup, molasses, sugar, oil, apple butter, and vanilla. Pour these wet ingredients into the bowl of dry, and stir just enough to bring everything together. A few errant lumps are just fine; Be sure not to over-mix. The resulting batter will be extremely thick and sticky, to the point of being difficult to mix- Don’t panic! Just make sure you get out any pockets of dry ingredients before proceeding.
Transfer the batter into your prepared pan, and use lightly moistened hands to press it down into one even layer until it reaches all of the corners and sides. Sprinkle the chopped crystalized ginger over the top, and press gently into the unbaked bars with your fingertips.
Bake for 28 – 35 minutes, or until no longer shiny on top, firm around the edges, and highly aromatic. Let cool completely before slicing either into squares, or cutting into rounds with a cookie cutter.

Caramel-Cinnamon Ice Cream with Black Gingerbread Chunks

No Ratings

Creamy cinnamon-scented ice cream is swirled with rich ribbons of gooey caramel and freckled with chunks of chewy gingerbread. It's worth making extra bars to serve this on top!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 5 hours

Total Time 5 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 Cup Full-Fat Coconut Milk
2 Cups Vanilla Vegan Creamer
1 Cup Vegan Caramel Sauce
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Pinch Salt
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 Heaping Cup Bite-Sized Black Gingerbread Cubes (See Recipe Above)

Instructions

This ice cream is really easy as can be; Combine the coconut milk and creamer in a medium sauce pan, along with the caramel, cinnamon, salt, and corn starch. Whisk vigorously to combine and beat out any lumps. Turn on the heat to medium, and whisk occasionally until it just comes up to a boil and has thickened significantly. Cool completely and add the vanilla.
Chill thoroughly before churning in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions, adding in the gingerbread chunks in the last 5 minutes of churning.
Transfer to an air-tight container, and freeze solidly for at least 4 hours before serving.

For the Sake of Dessert

It’s a crime that all bakers have committed at least once in their modest or illustrious baking career, and one that I can not deny being guilty of as well. Always well-intentioned, who could blame us mad pastry chefs for occasionally dropping some sort of dessert bomb… And not the kind smothered in chocolate. No, far from it.

After the shock of a particularly indulgent recipe beings to wear off, we seek some sort of half-baked way to repent for our sins, perhaps switching out chocolate chips for fruit, upping the whole wheat flour, and really, is all that oil absolutely necessary? The attempts at “health-ifying” desserts are valiant indeed, but there comes a time to draw a line. No, I do not want sugar-free, fat-free, taste-free cardboard cake, thanks.

One sweet treat most commonly burdened with this misplaced desire is by far the oatmeal cookie. Depressingly few vegan recipes exist that don’t attempt to make them into breakfast-friendly bricks of portable oatmeal, or bona fide granola bars.

Don’t get me wrong, those cookies are plenty tasty and I would have a hard time turning one down regardless, but sometimes, as the weather grows colder and the need for comfort foods becomes more pressing, I just want a damn cookie. Like the oatmeal cookies I grew up with, before being vegan, before caring what on earth was making those morsels so irresistibly sweet and chewy, before everyone started fearing eating a full-fledged dessert for dessert’s sake.

If you really wanted, you could still spin these as the smarter choice, being vegan and cholesterol-free of course, but really, they’re just good cookies. The best thing they can offer your health is perhaps a temporary elevation in mood, which is still more than I can say for a plain old granola bar.

Yield: Makes 2 – 3 Dozen Cookies

Bakery-Style Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

No Ratings

When you want a genuine cookie and not some healthi-fied granola bar, these are these treats you're looking for. Big, fat, soft, and chewy, they're filled with plump raisins and perfumed with rich, buttery brown sugar crumbs. These are definitely dessert, not breakfast fodder.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 27 minutes

Ingredients

2 Cups Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Chopped, Toasted Walnuts
1 Cup Raisins
1/2 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
2/3 Cup Date Syrup
1/2 Cup Vegan Butter, Melted
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line two or three baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
First, place the oats in your food processor and pulse until they’re mostly broken down and look like “instant” oats, but still have slightly more texture and some whole oats remaining. If you were short on time, you could substitute half rolled oats and half instant, but the texture isn’t quite the same. Transfer the lightly ground oats to the bowl of your stand mixer or just a large bowl, and add in the
flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins. Stir to distribute all of the dry goods evenly and coat the raisins with flour so that they don’t all clump together, and set aside.
In a separate bowl, thoroughly mix the brown sugar, date syrup, melted vegan butter, and vanilla until smooth. Pour these wet ingredients into the bowl of dry, and mix until you achieve a thick batter, and no dry patches of flour remain. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl every now and then as you stir to make sure you don’t miss any big clumps hiding out there.
Scoop out a scant 1/4 cup of dough for each cookie (I find that an ice cream scoop is an indispensable tool for even cookies here) onto your prepared baking sheets, and very lightly press down the tops so that they’re not mounded up in the center. Bake for just 10- 12, and err on the side of less time to ensure soft, chewy cookies. Slide the sheets off the hot baking pans immediately after pulling the cookies from the oven, and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container, or serving up with a tall glass of non-dairy milk.

Supersize My Snack

When a standard assembly of cake and frosting just won’t do, and the birthday girl won’t give any hints about her favorite flavors, what’s a baker to do? Stick to the same old, somewhat boring but crowd-pleasing classics? Not on my watch! This sounds like the perfect opportunity for experimentation.

Inspiration for this one came from an unlikely source, not exactly the stuff of celebration or happiness, but in fact, the obituaries. At a loss for how to spoil my sister on her 23rd birthday, it was the last thing on my mind as I was reading the newspaper and came across the announcement that the world had just lost Richard LaMotta, inventor of everyone’s favorite frozen treat, the Chipwich. A staple of American culture, I can’t be certain I’ve actually eaten one myself, but I definitely grew up surrounded by them. The loss was crushing, but my sadness was soon forgotten when I realized that very concept might be just the ticket to a novel new birthday cake.

Taking some liberties with the design, I switched out the traditional vanilla ice cream for chocolate, a move that my vanilla-ambivalent sister greatly appreciated. Though chocolate chip cookies and chocolate ice cream are hardly a creative combo, I knew for sure that my sister had a soft spot for both. Throw in some colorful, crunchy sprinkles to coat the sides, and you had yourself a deal.

Needless to say, it was an unqualified success with the birthday girl.

My only suggestion for anyone wishing to make their own chipwich cake, is to absolutely make the cookies thinner than what is pictured here! I took a full batch of my Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies (published in Go Dairy Free) and simply divided it between two 8-inch round cake pans. Next time, I would use only half that amount, because the effort it required to slice through those giant cookies was practically herculean! We had to break out both the electric knife and the kitchen torch!

Additionally, make sure you allow plenty of time for your ice cream to set up and freeze solid, so that it doesn’t melt before you finish cutting the cake. I used a 1/3rd batch of my favorite chocolate ice cream recipe, minus stracciatella, in this case.

If there ever was a way to improve on such a fantastic sweet treat, this would have to be it!

May 29, 2010November 22, 2025

Hannah (BitterSweet)49 Comments

Maca Mania

Who knew that maca was the new hot, must-have ingredient? Not I, that’s for sure! Though the $50 iHerb shopping spree was plenty popular, I wasn’t sure if there was more interest in winning, or just getting that cookie recipe! Never fear, I wouldn’t make you lovely people choose between the two, so let’s get the bookkeeping out of the way first, shall we?

The winner is commenter #90, who is Gail, of Cooking at the Pacific Outpost! Congrats, Gail, you’ll be hearing from the kind folks at iHerb shortly. Hope you enjoy that SuperBerry and SuperFruit Blend you were eyeing!

And for everyone else, don’t forget, you can still get $5 off your first order by using the discount code “NAH833“.

Losing may never be so sweet though; These long awaited maca bars will surely soothe the pains of missing out on the contest. One of those flavors that is hard to describe, and even harder to replicate with alternate ingredients, it’s just something you’ll have to try for yourself. Trust me, it’s worth any hardships to find real maca powder, if only to bake these cookies!

Yield: Makes 6 - 8 Bars

Maca Maca Bars

No Ratings

Maca powder and macadamia nuts combine in one buttery, sweet, and decadent cookie bar.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

3/4 Cup White Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tablespoons Maca Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil, Melted
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 Plain Non-Dairy Milk
1/4 Teaspoon White Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Unsalted Macadamia Nuts

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, maca powder, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon, and whisk to combine.
Separately, whisk together the melted coconut oil, sugar, non-dairy milk, vinegar, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and with a wide spatula, stir just enough to bring the two together without too many lumps.
Transfer the batter into your prepared pan, smooth out the top so that it fill the loaf pan in one even layer, and sprinkle the macadamia nuts evenly across the top. You may choose to lightly chop them if you feel they’re too large, but I like the visual impact of the whole and halved mac nuts. Use your hands to lightly press the nuts into the batter.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until golden brown around the edges, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely in the pan before slicing.

Gone, but Not Forgotten

At last, the storm has passed, and the dust has begun to settle once again. Having been on a practical lock-down at Christmas, hoping to weather the storm with as little damage as possible, there’s a disgraceful number of treats and crafts that weren’t shared in time. And really, who gives a flying fork about holiday goodies after the fact? Done and over with, be it a time to remember or desperately try to forget, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all washed our hands clean of jolliness and moved on.

So do me a favor, would you? Disregard the fact that I made these in a frenzy of holiday spirit, whipping up a quadruple (unless it was quintuple- I don’t quite recall) batch, bathing in the powerful aroma of chocolate and peppermint for hours. Squeezing that cookie gun for what felt like hours at a time, crossing the line from average holiday baker to crazed foodie once the blisters surfaced on my palms, it was an experience of both joy and extreme frustration.

Thrilled to be sharing something sweet with so many friends and family members, wincing in pain at my hands, both looking redder and angrier by the moment, all of my energy went into just getting them done. Cool the cookies, fill them, wrap ’em up, out the door, done, done, done.

Seeing them begin to arrive at their destinations, the misery was more than worth it, and all the complimentary comments were little nudges saying “Hey, you should share this on the blog!” I had the pictures, the recipe, everything ready to go, but I was sick of those adorable and delicious little morsels. Overdosing on the leftovers to cap off the whole experience, I had literally and figuratively taken one bite too many.

Slowly digesting that episode throughout the ensuing weeks, it may have taken over a month now, but I’m finally ready to think about those deceptively simple sandwich cookies again. Honestly, you won’t incur the same distress if you stick to one batch at a time, and there’s hardly any reason for the mentally sound person to go above that limit- It’s a big batch by any standards, even when you figure that every two cookies only makes one sandwich.

The classic combo of chocolate and peppermint is an easy crowd pleaser, the crisp but still soft cocoa cookies yielding to a creamy, lightly minted filling, riddled with crunchy pieces of smashed candy canes.

It’s the sort of staple that you just can’t go wrong with, whether you give them as holiday presents, or whip up a batch later in the year to serve in the middle of summer. They do, by the way, taste fantastic straight out of the freezer, cold and refreshing, so don’t think you can safely “hide” them in there for too long.

Yield: Makes about 80 Chocolate Cookies; 40 Sandwich Cookies

Chocolate Spritz Cookies

No Ratings

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 10 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

Chocolate Spritz Cookies

2 Cups Vegetable Shortening
1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
1 (6-Ounce) Container Vanilla Vegan Yogurt
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
3 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder

Candy Cane Filling:

1/2 Cup Vegan Butter, Softened
1/2 Cup Vegetable Shortening
4 Cups Confectioner’s Sugar
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
4 Ounces Crushed Candy Canes or Starlight Mints

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheet with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Set aside.
In your stand mixer, thoroughly cream together the shortening and sugar, so that the mixture is homogeneous. Add in the vegan yogurt and vanilla, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and cream that in as well.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together all of the remaining dry goods for the cookies so that all of the ingredients are well-distributed throughout the mixture, and slowly add them to the stand mixer, incorporating them in 2 or 3 separate additions. The resulting batter with be very thick, and it may seem like it’s not going to come together, but just be patient; Do not, under and circumstances, add any extra liquid!
Once you achieve a cohesive dough, place a few mounds of it into your spritz cookie gun, which should already have the design you desired installed. Squeeze out cookies as directed by the manufacturer of the gun, reload when you run out of dough, and repeat. Once you use all of the batter and have your cookie sheets filled, place them in the oven and bake for 8 – 10 minutes, until no long “wet” looking on top and the cookies look solid. It’s hard to tell when they’re done since the cookies are so dark to begin with, but make sure you never bake them longer than 10 minutes or else they’ll taste burnt.
Let the cookies cool on the sheets for at least 10 minutes, and then completely on a wire rack before filling.
To make the filling, simply whip together the vegan butter and shortening in your stand mixer until smooth. Add in the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, and crushed mints, start the machine on a slow speed so as not to send sugar flying out, and gradually mix to incorporate. Once there’s no longer a risk of sending ingredients out onto the walls, turn up the speed to high and beat for about 5 minutes, until smooth, creamy, and fluffy.
Apply to cookies as desired, sandwiching two together to finish.