I took a little vacation from the blog to celebrate my birthday, ride my bike in some gnarly snow, and spend time with my friends.  I hope that the end of the year treated you as well as it has treated me.

...Annnnnd, we're back!

We had a magical time at Grease Rag a couple of weeks ago.  We used the dremel to cut some metal, changed into our winter studs, and did some serious work on a stuck crank arm.

And no Grease Rag would be complete without treats, of course.

I didn't have time to bake, but luckily the talented Jennifer brought some vegan peanut butter cookies!  They were so yummy and Jennifer was kind enough to give us her recipe.

The recipe follows Jennifer's notes, below.

Here's the recipe from tonight. I took a lot of shortcuts...start off with creaming Earth Balance and PB, then add sugars. This is also a good time to add 2 Tbsp of water, which will replace the egg. When time to add the flour mix, start with 1/2 c. flour and dump the baking soda and baking powder on top (including the stuff for the "egg"). That way you won't have to whisk all the white powdery stuff together at the beginning. The other thing that I did differently: I made the cookies into balls and rolled them in sugar and then froze them for two days. I don't know how this affects the final product because I've never tested it another way.

Jen

Adapted from "A Baker's Field Guide to Christmas Cookies" by Dede Wilson. Found on a random Strib blog about food.

• 1 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) vegan Earth Balance
• 1 c. smooth, unsalted, natural peanut butter, at room temperature (after the Skill Share discussion, I got this from the Wedge)
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar, plus more for coating
• 1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• In place of egg: 2 Tbsp water, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda
• Vegan chocolate (I used Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate baking chips, which don't have any dairy. I don't know about the sugar. Some of their stuff is vegan and some isn't (surprisingly, most/all? of the dark chocolate isn't vegan).)

To prepare dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt and reserve. In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and peanut butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add about 1/3 of flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Gradually add remaining flour, mixing until just incorporated.

To prepare cookies: When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough between your palms into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in granulated sugar to coat completely and place cookies 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until just light golden brown on bottoms (peek to check), about 18 minutes. (I did 14, it was fine. You may have noticed the cookies had a very crumbly texture. I don't know if that was due to freezing, veganizing, or baking time.) Remove from oven and use the back of a measuring spoon (1/2 tsp works well) to press little indentations into the center of each cookie (cookies might crack, and that's OK). After cool, melt chocolate chips (pyrex in microwave, double boiler, whatever) until the melted chocolate will spoon/pour easily. Spoon a little chocolate into the center of each cookie. The chocolate will set very quickly in the freezer/outside.

Jennifer has been showing up the last few Grease Rag nights, and I'm glad to be able to get to know her.  Not only does she make amazing vegan cookies, but she's also crafty as all get-out.  (Um, and she is smart!  Jennifer is the kind of person that makes science work.)  We now have reflective ankle bands with really cute bike fabric for sale, and some patches featuring cross-stitch bikes on them.  (She has been known to take a custom order...)  I will definitely be posting more on Jennifer's creations later.