From thestar.com
TODAY’S BAKER
Hi, my name’s Mahdis Habibinia and I’m a reporter at the Star’s city hall bureau. To make today’s recipe, I was joined by my sarcastic mom and my self-designated sous chef and seven-month-old kitten, Clover.
TODAY’S RECIPE
In 2018, I made my first-ever batch of (non-vegan) gingerbread cookies with a well-reviewed recipe I found online which I thought I followed to a T. The outcome? Hard as hockey pucks. My mom stuck a needle and string through them and hung them on our tree. Today, I’m making a comeback with these vegan gingerbread cut-out cookies.
Mahdis Habibinia’s vegan gingerbread cookies.
THE COOKIES
First things first: in our Persian household, we don’t measure anything when we cook, so step one was purchasing measuring cups. (OK, maybe I see what went wrong in 2018).
Prep time was pleasantly short, accommodating my impatience.
One thing that grinded my gears: What does “1-1/2 cups flour” mean? One cup plus another half or “pour in anywhere between 1 to 1.5 cups?” I went with the former.
The dough is made up of flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt with shortening, sugar, molasses, hot water and vanilla. Mahdis Habibinia/
Again with the hot water: Is tap-temperature hot OK? Do I bust out a humidifier? I boiled some and let it sit for a bit. I panicked when I saw the grains of sugar separating once I stirred it in with the molasses mix, but the flour mixture soaked it up nicely. Phew!
Out of the fridge, onto the floured counter top — as instructed! I have no idea why the dough was married to the surface. My mom stared at me trying to use a knife to pry out the gingerbread man shapes. “Have some faith!” I said.
This is Clover judging the size I rolled the balls into. RIP cut outs. Mahdis Habibinia/
“Why would I give you false hope?” she replied, adding that I could always give this batch to my friends for their trees this time. After three attempts at cookie cutters, I gave up and balled the dough.
I forgot to set a timer, so after about 10 minutes I poked some with a toothpick to make sure the insides were cooked. Although slightly well-done on the bottom, the cookies turned out tasting a lot better than I thought. Soft, but not too sweet and the ginger doesn’t overpower.
I called my mom. “Hello?” Two cookies consumed at this point and still chomping down, I said: “Kiss my ass!”
THE SCORE
Is it the best gingerbread cookie I’ve ever had? No. Would I feel comfortable bringing this to a party? Yes. 4 out of 5.
THE RECIPE
Vegan gingerbread cut-out cookies
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup molasses
2-1/4 tbsp hot water
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar with a fork. Stir in molasses, hot water and vanilla with large spoon. Stir in flour mixture until smooth, 1 minute.
Cover dough. Chill 2 to 4 hours.
On lightly floured surface, roll out dough. Cut out shapes. Bake on cookie sheet in 400F oven 8 to 10 minutes, depending on size. Cool on sheet. Decorate as you like.
Makes 18 to 24 cookies.
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