Boyfriends favorite cookies...

I am really excited to be heading to a local high school tomorrow to talk to their advanced cooking class. They are having their own version of cupcake wars and asked me to come speak about my experience on the Food Network Challenge and teach them to bake something vegan. The class is only 50 minutes so I figured the only thing we would have time to make would be cookies... These cookies are my boyfriend's favorites so I know the high school kids will love them. They are an adaptation of a cookie we used to make at Avanti Cafe when I worked there, and are very delicious, so I thought I would share the recipe with you!

Ego's Favorite Cookies
makes approximately 25 cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Vegan Margarine
1/4 cup Canola Oil
2 T room temp water
2 t Vanilla Extract
1 3/4 cups Flour
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Baking Soda
1 1/2 t Egg Replacer
___
1/2 cup Uncooked Thick Cut Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Brown Rice Cereal
1/2 cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

Place Margarine and Sugar in your mixing bowl and allow Margarine to soften slightly while you prepare your other ingredients. In a separate container measure out your Oil, Water, and Vanilla, set aside. In another bowl combine your Oats, Rice Cereal, and Coconut, set aside. Sift remaining dry ingredients together in a forth container and set aside. Begin creaming your Sugar and Margarine, allow to fully combine and become light and fluffy. Once combined add wet ingredients mixing slowly at first and increasing in speed as mixture emulsifies. You may need to scrape the bowl a few times to make sure things fully incorporate. Once the fats, Sugar, and water are emulsified add the Flour mixture and mix on a medium speed for about 30 seconds, scraping down the sides, or until fully combined. Add the cereal mixture and mix on a low speed for another 30 seconds.
Scoop cookies at approximately 2 T and gently press the scoop so the top is flat. You are not pressing the cookie flat! Just making sure the top isn't rounded.
Bake for 10 minutes in at 350 degrees. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool for 3 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool.

Let's get sconed

I just made some raspberry lemon scones yesterday... they were a good first run and with a little tweaking I hope to add them to my growing pile of cookbook ready recipes. What are your favorite flavor combinations for a scone? Anything you hate?

My lifelong pursuit for the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe

Here is my latest attempt at making the perfect chocolate chip cookies. So far I have been unable to think of what would make them better, so that must mean I am pretty close. This is v 4.1

What makes a perfect chocolate chip cookie, you ask?
*No animal ingredients. How can you enjoy a delicious cookie knowing you are contributing to the suffering of animals and environmental destruction?
*Not too big, not too small. I want to be able to eat more than one.
*Melty and gooey out of the oven, soft and chewy the next day.
*The perfect ratio of chocolate chips.
*Simply delicious, don't ruin my chocolate chip cookie by putting cinnamon or something in it! I only want to taste chocolate, vanilla, and butter! Ok... and maybe coconut.
*Round and cute.
*Not too oily, dry, flat, or tall.

What do you think makes the perfect chocolate chip cookie? What am I missing?

Cookie contemplation...

Here is a quick video I made going over baking tools that will help you in your cooking making... Let me know what you think!