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     I truly admire my daughter, Maddy, for her ability to choose a vegan lifestyle and stick to it the way that she does.  We have a lot of family dinners around here and there are sometimes very few choices for her to eat, even though I try to make sure there are some vegan choices.  Also, there are a lot of temptations! Just yesterday we had a big dinner and there was delicious Texas Sheet Cake! Definitely not vegan and Maddy had to pass on it as she ate her rice and fruit choices.  I felt bad for her, even though she was uncomplaining.  I know that I do not have that kind of will power.  Well, while I searched for my Texas Sheet Cake recipe, I came across another old recipe that I had forgotten about.  It is this Goofy Chocolate Cake that has no eggs, no milk and can easily be sweetened in a vegan way. Since there were many people here yesterday and the Texas Cake is just about gone, I decided to make up this cake this morning as a surprise for Madalynn! She deserves a reward. 

     Besides not containing any eggs or dairy products, this recipe is inexpensive to make! When you are out of eggs and milk, you can still have chocolate cake that is delicious! It rises very well and is fluffy and super chocolaty.  I think that the secret to the rise is the combination of vinegar and baking soda. We all know what those ingredients do in science project volcanoes! Don't worry, you don't taste the vinegar at all, just the delicious chocolate taste that comes from the cocoa powder used in this recipe. 

Goofy Chocolate Cake (vegan!)

     You can frost the cake however you would like, of course.  Just remember that if you are keeping it vegan not to use dairy in your frosting! Here are a few alternatives:

• Use almond milk in your regular frosting recipe and shortening instead of butter. 
• Use some homemade (or purchased) jam or jelly to fill the cake and drizzle on top! 
• Make a frosting with fruit juice instead of milk.  Orange frosting tastes great on a chocolate cake.  Just substitute orange juice for the milk.  Add the zest for even better flavor. 

I love chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, so I used the almond milk alternative for Maddy's cake. 

    This cake is rich and moist.  I believe that it can rival any chocolate cake out there! I don't think Maddy will have to eat the entire thing on her own. 

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      Because Maddy tries hard to stick to a vegan diet, when I cook for our family I try to be conscious about including things that she can eat in the menu, but it isn't always easy for me to come up with vegan ideas other than salads! For example, last night we had company over for dinner.  The main dish was a family favorite chicken enchilada casserole.  (I posted a crock pot version of it here.) So, that wasn't something she could eat.  I also made a cabbage salad that had onions, almonds, mandarin oranges and ramen in it.  It was delicious and definitely vegan, something she could eat.  For dessert we had pumpkin pie, so she couldn't eat that.  I wasn't sure if everyone liked pumpkin pie, so I decided to make No-Bake Cookies as an option.  But, as I started to make them, I realized that I had used all of the canned milk when I made the pies.  What I did have was canned coconut milk, so that got me to thinking that I could turn this recipe vegan for Maddy's sake, plus it would be something everyone else could enjoy as well. 
     I substituted the milk with coconut milk, the butter with coconut oil and I added a cup of coconut into the mix.  Maddy buys herself vegan peanut butter.  I don't know what makes peanut butter not be vegan, but I do know it has less sugar in the vegan variety.  But, I used regular peanut butter.  I didn't want to use up all of Maddy's pricey stuff, but if you are died in the wool vegan, that is an option.  Also, you could substitute coconut sugar for the regular sugar.  We didn't have enough for this recipe.   The cookies came out softer than regular no bakes, and even though there is a lot of coconut products in there, there isn't a strong coconut taste.  But, everyone enjoyed them and I hope that you will as well! 

Vegan Coconut No-bake Cookies

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It's one week until Christmas! So exciting! One of my favorite Christmas traditions is making our favorite goodies and bringing them to friends and neighbors (usually with a carol too!). If you do this same tradition and are looking for new recipes to make and share this season we've rounded up 16 of our cookie recipes for you guys.

1. Fudge Mounds- You can't have a better chocolate cookie than this. It's cake-like texture makes it so scrumptious, especially paired with a plain vanilla frosting. These are so easy to decorate for Christmas too.
2. Chocolate Dipped S'more Bars- these are no bake but seriously so delicious!
3. Vegan Chocolate Chip- Don't forget about your vegan friends.They need a special treat this season too and these cookies will not disappoint vegans and non-vegans alike!
   
4. Chocolate-Chip Peanut Butter- Is there an any more magical combination than Chocolate and Peanut Butter? Probably not. This cookie holds all that magic you need for the season.
5. Zebra Cookies- A classic chocolate chip cookie but with a fun twist.

     6.Gingerbread- A holiday classic that doesn't just have to be in the shape of people.
     7. Owl Cookies- If you have an owl lover in your life they'd be delighted to receive these adorable 
        cookies on their holiday plate.
    8. Cookies to Hang on a Mug- Use our sugar cookie recipe to make these cute treats that hang
        nicely on your mug of cocoa (made from a hot cocoa bomb of course)!
    9. Marbled Sugar Cookies- Although our original recipe was about autumn, this could be easily
        adapted for Christmas by swapping out the shapes and colors. These are great when you just
        don't feel like messing with frosting and sprinkles!

   10. Turn Everyday Cookies into A Holiday Treat- For when you don't want to turn out a classic
         recipe but you do want something a bit more festive.
    11. Carrot Cake Cookie- A delightful morsel with flavors that go surprisingly well with the season.
   12. Oatmeal Cookies- We actually did a whole series of testing and trying out oatmeal cookie
        recipes but these were the ones we loved the most.
   13. Oatmeal Butterscotch- The delicious cookie that started us on the oatmeal cookie quest with
         neither raisins nor chocolate chips.
   14. Strawberry Shortbread Sandwiches- These crisp and delicate cookies are perfect for your
        holiday plates of goodies. The strawberry jam has the perfect Christmas color and tastes
        heavenly with the lemon!
  15.Pumpkin Snickerdoodles- Why should pumpkin be kept as just a fall cookie? These delicious
        cookies rolled in cinnamon sugar will delight your taste buds!
  16. Strawberry Thumbprints- An old favorite who's red and white appearance is sure to evoke
        images of Santa to the recipient.

These aren't all of our cookie recipes but these are some of our favorites! Do you have any favorites you like to give away each year?

Merry Christmas! And Happy Baking!