Frances loves treating her students to Gingerbread Yogis the last class before the holidays!
VEGAN GINGERBREAD YOGI COOKIES
from Simple Recipes for Joy by Sharon Gannon
1/2 pound (2 sticks) vegan margarine, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the baking sheet.
*I like to use the vegan butter brand "Melt" and I grease my baking sheet with a coconut oil aerosol can
1 cup sugar
Egg replacer equivalent of 1 egg
*I use a tbsp of ground flax whisked with 3 tbsps of water
1 cup molasses
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon ginger
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar. Mix in the egg replacer, molasses and vinegar and set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
Divide the dough into 3 equal balls, wrap tightly in plastic wrap or damp dishcloths and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 12 x 14 inch baking sheet with vegan margarine and set aside.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit for 5 minutes, until it is soft enough to roll. Using a rolling pin, roll each ball of dough out on a floured surface to a 1/4-inch thickness. If the dough is too crumbly, mix a very little bit of water into the dough to help it stick together. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet. For a traditional gingerbread man or woman, use a human-shaped cutter, but don't limit yourself - gingerbread cats and dogs and cows and chickens are people too and just as tasty and so much kinder than the real thing Trees, houses and geometric shapes also make great cookies. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until the edges are brown.
Remove from the oven, cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookies are cooling, make the icing.
*I use this super easy 3 ingredient Royal Icing recipe: http://theblenderist.com/vegan-royal-icing-aquafaba-recipe/
I like to add a little more icing sugar to get it thicker for easier piping.
When the cookies are cool, fill a pastry bag with the icing and using a number 2 tip, decorate your cookies.
Decorating options: Apply the frosting as an outline to suggest clothes or cover the whole surface of the cookie with frosting. Press into the frosting raisins, currants, chocolate chipes or nuts to form eyes, mouth, nose, buttons, etc.
*I use Patti Paige's (creator of Baked Ideas) piping tutorial on YouTube to decorate my Gingerbread Yogis! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzCg-OoelrI
*This recipe makes about 45 Gingerbread Yogis.
- Frances Vicente
*I purchased my yogi shapes from https://www.bakedideas.com/ She is presently out of stock because they're so popular, but keep an eye out for when she has them back up! They are so worth it!
