Goody! Cookies!

Remember when you were in elementary school and the best part about going to a birthday party–well, aside from the cake of course–was getting a goody bag* to take home?

*Are they called goody bags because you want to squeal, “Oh, GOODY!” when you receive one?

Well, obviously I couldn’t throw a birthday party celebrating my blog turning two years old without sending home party favors.

And obviously, they had to be edible.

Because we were celebrating the birthday of my blog, and a recurring theme over here in The Smart Kitchen is the consistent consumption of nut butters of all kinds, I originally focused on creating a peanut butter-inspired version of my nearly perfected vegan cookie recipe. The result was a PBB+H [Peanut Butter Banana + Honey] Vegan Cookie that was good…but not great.*

*I tried to use some of the honey powder I’ve been saving for…well, I don’t know what. I think it messed up the consistency a bit.I mean, I still put one in the treat bags; after all, there is no use in wasting a happily edible cookie. And I mean, it’s not like I wasn’t content to snack on one (or two) when I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and couldn’t go back to sleep. (With a side of broccoli…but that’s a whole different issue to work out.) They just weren’t quite what I wanted them to be, you know?Luckily for everyone involved in the brunch–including the “mysterious ghost” who ate half of them without me realizing until the day of the brunch and caused a flurry of panicked cookie baking before everyone arrived–the second cookie that found its way into the goody bags was exactly what I wanted it to be…and perhaps even more.These (vegan) Cranberry Ginger Walnut Cookies also seemed fitting for a celebration of The Smart Kitchen, because were would any of us be without my sometimes slightly odd–and yet, somehow so right–flavor combinations?*

*Maybe this one isn’t as crazy as say pickles and pineapple, but you know, whatever.And yes, in case you were wondering, I DID have to remove (most of) the cranberries from the mixing bowl after I realized I had forgotten to take the picture you see above. It happens.And even though she’s not really feelin’ ginger right now, Kath ate one and declared they had the perfect texture. I replied, “They’re vegan!”…but I don’t think she really cared. You shouldn’t either.Even though my first set of cookies didn’t turn out exactly how I’d intended, I figure holding a cookie batting average of 0.500 ain’t bad.*

*And yes, I just had to google “how to figure out what is a good batting average.”

(Vegan) Cranberry Ginger Walnut Cookies

• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/3 cup pure cane sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. ground golden flax
• 3 Tbsp. unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp, baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
• 1/4 cup diced crystallized ginger
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine oil, sugar, extract, flax seed, and almond milk. Whisk well with a fork until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and cardamom.
4. Combine wet and dry ingredients, stirring well to combine.
5. Mix in walnuts, cranberries, and ginger.
6. Roll dough into balls and bake for 15-17 minutes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
7. Allow to cool for a bit on the sheet before transferring to a wire baking rack to complete cooling!