Howdy. I am not vegan myself. So my knowledge is very limited. Sorry if these are stupid questions.

About once a week I bake cookies for my boyfriend and his buddies. One of his friends is a vegan and unfortunately he cannot partake of my baked offerings since all of my recipes use egg, milk or butter. I feel bad that I'm always leaving him out.

Well I was reading my package of Bob's Red Mill Stone Ground Whole Grain Soy Flour the other day and I saw that one of the tips on the bag reads "Use soy flour as a cholesterol-free egg substitute in baked goods. Replace one egg with one tablespoon soy flour and one tablespoon water."

Then I saw under the Vegetarian and Vegan friendly foods thread here that Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening is listed.

My questions are:
1. Has anyone tried the soy flour egg substitute thing? Does it work alright? And if the recipe calls for multiple eggs do I just double or triple it? Or is it one of those things that can only replace SOME of the eggs?
2. If Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening is okay, what about Crisco Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening? I use that in some of my cookies instead of butter anyway.

Thanks. Hopefully I can figure out how to alter my recipes so I won't have to leave the poor guy out next time!

I'd avoid shortening. It's labelled 0 grams trans fat, but has partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. It's allowed to say zero if less than 0.5 per serving, which is 1 T - a moot point if you don't restrict yourself to one cookie, and most say any trans fats are damaging. I'm not sure whatever they came up with to replace it is any more natural or will prove to be any safer.

The butter flavor version contains "natural flavors" which is always suspicious because they're not telling you what that those ingredients are.

But I know there are a variety of ways to bake vegan. Sorry I haven't done it myself!

I read an article in the New York Times yesterday about a new vegan cookie cookbook called “Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar: 100 Dairy-Free Recipes for Everyone’s Favorite Treats” by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. It might have some good recipes and tips for you to try.

Here's a recipe from the book that they included in the article:

Banana Everything Cookies

Nonstick cooking oil spray

1 very ripe medium banana

1/3 cup canola oil

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, or as needed

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal or rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips (vegan, if desired).

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray two baking sheets with oil. In a mixing bowl, mash banana well. Add oil, sugar and vanilla, and mix with a strong fork. Add flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, and mix until just moistened.

2. Add oatmeal, walnuts and chocolate chips. Using your hands or a sturdy spoon, mix well, making sure oats are well moistened. (If dough is very slippery, add one or two extra tablespoons flour.)

3. Using clean, wet hands, re-wetting as needed, roll dough into balls slightly smaller than a golf ball, about 1 1/3 inches in diameter. Flatten slightly and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 2 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: About 2 dozen cookies.

I have some vegan cookbooks at home. I'll see I what I can post about it when I get home.

Thanks! Wow, those Banana Everything Cookies look SO GOOD! I will have to try those sometime soon. Maybe this weekend.

I should have clarified this earlier, but my bf's friend isn't so much a vegan for health, but more on principle. In other words he will eat "unhealthy" food as long as it's vegan, but he won't wear a wool coat even if he's freezing.

As for the other guys, HA! Most of them pretty much live completely on fried chicken, doughnuts and beer. So the cookies can't taste "healthy". If they don't like them they'll just drink instead then stop off at McDonald's on the way home.

Anyway, I'm TOTALLY open to any other vegan cookie recipes but I would also like to convert my own recipes if possible. I would hate for someone to request a particular variety and I tell them that I'm not making them anymore because they're not vegan. Or worse, send another version and it not live up to the glory of it's non-vegan predecessor. That would kind of be a disappointment.

Thanks for all the help!

I'm looking at Eat, Drink and Be Vegan (Dreena Burton). It looks like she doesn't really use an egg replacement in most of her cookie recipes. For example, her oatmeal cookie recipe:

3/4 c + 1T spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 c quick oats
1/4 c unrefined sugar
1/4 c raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch allspice (or 1/4 tsp nutmeg)
1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4-1/2 tsp blackstrap molasses
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 c canola oil

Sift/mix each group together, then add the dry to the flour, then add the wet.

Slightly flatten each spoonful, bake at 350 for 11 minutes only.


Some of her general suggestions:

1 T flax meal with 3 T liquid for 1 egg (let sit a few minutes to get gooey) - adds softness and structure

1/4 c soy yogurt for 1 egg - adds moisture and density

1/4 c blended silken tofu for 1 egg - adds moisture and density

1/4 c applesauce or mashed banana for 1 egg - adds a great deal of moisture and stability (and sweetness)

I've often made vegan cookies, sometimes "healthy" sometimes not. The best are chocolate-chocolate chip cookies! Nobody ever knows they are vegan.

Basically it is the Toll House cookie recipe, which you can find online. Nestle chocolate chips aren't vegan, but there are sometimes brands in the regular supermarket that are, for example Ghirardelli, but check the bag as I heard they started adding milkfat... of course, the easiest way is to go to a natural foods store or a Whole Foods where vegan ingredients will be easier to find.

Anyway, I just follow the recipe, substituting 1) some kind of (questionably healthy) margarine-type substance (again, check to make sure no milk ingredients) for the butter and 2) egg replacer - I use the Ener-G brand, one box of which has lasted me YEARS. I add 1/3 to 1/2 cup cocoa powder to the batter.

Insanely good. Too bad I'm trying to lose weight and I haven't baked in ages...

Have fun with that ... must move away from this section now...

Alright. I tried to make some cookies last night. I didn't use a recipe, I just winged it. I'm usually pretty good with that sort of thing. But they were awful! lol My dog likes them though. I guess you could say that I made very time-consuming dog treats. At least the ingredients are all good for her.

I'll figure it out eventually though.

And those Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies sound great, Emma. I'll play with that idea too.

Here are some recipes from the Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar:
http://www.theppk.com/vegan-cookies.html

The Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles are really good, I made them myself and I can't bake, seriously.

Oh and here are some recipes from previous books by that author. These are Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies:
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbreci...p?RecipeID=111

Here are Oatmeal Peanut Butter cookies:
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbreci...hp?RecipeID=31

Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies:
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbreci...p?RecipeID=187

I made those Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies and they were SO good! And they didn't use any weird ingredients.

I actually like them better than my regular oatmeal raisin cookies! I ate two and sent the others with my bf today, when he gets home I will know if the guys liked them. Thanks for posting that, Nelie!

This vegan recipe was in today's Washington Post and looks really good.

Macadamia Ginger Crunch Drops

The Washington Post, December 9, 2009

Summary:

These chewy vegan treats are rich, sweet and subtly spiced.

MAKE AHEAD: The dough can be made and refrigerated a day in advance. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

* • 2 cups flour
* • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* • 1/2 teaspoon salt
* • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
* • 2/3 cup canola oil
* • 2/3 cup sugar
* • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
* • 1/3 cup nondairy milk
* • 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
* • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* • 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
* • 1 1/3 cups (about 6 ounces) unsalted macadamia nuts, chopped
* • 1/2 generous cup (4 ounces) crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg on a sheet of parchment paper or wax paper.

Combine the oil, sugars, nondairy milk, flax seeds and the vanilla and coconut extracts in a large mixing bowl; mix well, then fold in the flour mixture. Just before it is completely combined, fold in the macadamia nuts and the ginger. The dough will be sticky and thick.

Drop a generous tablespoon of dough for each cookie onto the baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 14 minutes, until the cookie edges start to brown. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Recipe Source:

Adapted from "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar," by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2009).

168 calories, 10g fat, 1g saturated fat, n/a cholesterol, 63mg sodium, 20g carbohydrates, 1g dietary fiber, 11g sugar, 1g protein.

Hi Im vegan and bake a lot! tofu is a great egg replacer for heavier/dense cookies and brownies. powdered egg replacer (found in most health food/organic stores) works well, especially in cakes/cupcakes. bananas also work. i substitute oil for applesauce too because when you cut out real eggs and use oil some desserts get to greasy! the applesauce works great and is obviously better for us. there's an awesome vegan cookbook writer named Isa Chandra Moskowitz. She wrote "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World" and "Vegan with a Vengeance" that has some great cookie recipes. she has blog. just google "vegan cupcakes take over the world. so much for dieting