When I was in New York a while back, staying with my friend Emma, she brought home some cookies from the bakery where she works. They were called ‘Honey Bears’ and were all vegan ingredients, except they contained honey. They were so delicious and I wanted to recreate the recipe when I got home and make them truly vegan. That was quite a while ago, but I finally worked out a recipe that I think is very similar to the ones Emma brought home. This combination really is something special and they are very filling. Plus, these cookies are animal friendly and the bees will be pleased to keep their honey in their hives where it belongs.
The Recipe
Makes 12 sandwich cookies
FOR THE COOKIE:
1/2 cup vegan shortening (like Earth Balance)
1/3 cup vegan sugar
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs nondairy milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 cup oats, ground up slightly
1 cup flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
FOR THE FILLING:
3/4 cup creamy unsalted peanut butter
1/4 cup agave, bee-free honee, or maple syrup
2 Tbs Earth Balance
Preheat oven to 350 F. Chop oats with a knife, in the blender or in the food processor. The idea is that you want a finer consistency than whole rolled oats to make the cookies more delicate. In a mixing bowl, mix shortening and both sugars until smooth and creamy. Add applesauce and combine. Add vanilla and nondairy milk and mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine into a moist batter/dough. Grease a cookie sheet or use a nonstick baking sheet or cookie sheet lined with parchment. Drop blobs of the batter onto the cookie sheet and, using the back of the spoon, smooth out the dough into nice flat rounds. You should get at least 24 good-sized cookies out of this batch. It doesn’t matter how many you make–just make sure it’s an even number. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool slightly and move the cookies to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
While the cookies are baking/cooling, mix up the filling. Mix filling ingredients thoroughly either with an electric mixer or with the mighty power of your own muscles.
When the cookies are cool, spread a generous smear of the peanut butter mixture on half the cookies. Top them with the other half of the cookies and press the little sandwiches together gently. Enjoy!
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