I took an idea from Vegan Cookie Recipes and after a couple of alterations to make them acceptable for us to eat made up a batch for Kirk to take to work today. The cookies are tiny, they do not raise much but are very delicious. Think like little soft fruitcake. (A big change I made was not using candied fruit. The majority of it is dyed with artificial coloring. Dried cherries taste so much better!)
Iced Fruit n’ Nut Cookies
- Ingredients:
- 1 stick Earth Balance buttery spread (½ cup)
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup stage 2 baby food sweet potatoes
- 2 tsp corn starch
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ cup raisins
- ½ cup dates, diced
- ½ cup dried cherries
- ½ cup pecans, finely diced in a mini food chopper
- Glaze/Icing (see below for recipe)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer bowl beat the buttery blend until light, add in the sugar and beat until fluffy. Turn the mixer to low and add in the corn starch and then the potatoes. Mix until combined (it will look somewhat separated).
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and spices together, add to the mixer bowl and beat in on slow. Add in the dried fruit and pecans, beat on medium until fully mixed.
Drop by 1 Tablespoon size portions onto the baking sheets (use a disher for best results: Norpro Stainless Steel Scoop, 1 Tablespoon, 35mm
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes (mine took 15 minutes and I used the convection setting on my oven) until golden brown but not dark, they will appear a bit soft overall.
Let cool for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Finish baking all the cookies and then save the used parchment paper. Take the paper and line under your cooling rack to catch the excess glaze. When the cookies are cooled use a fork to drizzle the glaze over them, then let set up.
Makes about 32 cookies.
Vanilla Icing/Glaze
Ingredients:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp vanilla almond, soy or rice milk
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions:
In a small mixing bowl add the sugar, vanilla and 1 Tbsp milk, stir till blended. If very thick add in the additional 1 tsp. It needs to be fluid enough to drizzle with a fork.
~Sarah