Cowvin Cookies from Sticky Fingers Bakery

Once I had discovered a vegan cookbook that looked promising- so promising, in fact, that I went out in an active search of vegan "butter." If I was going to stick to a vegan recipe, then dang it, I would do it right.

The nearest store that carried it was a Whole Foods situated about an hour away from where I lived. So I marched in, and did the obvious: I sniffed every essential oil, briefly looked for this one beer (don't ask), fought the temptation to hoard buy chocolate, and bought what I needed. I also ended up with two bars of goat milk soap, a decision I regretted terribly. The stuff dried out my skin like no other.

In any case, long story short, I bought vegan butter.

Then the said vegan butter sat in my freezer, semi-ignored, for a long, long time.

Why? The vegan cookbook failed to pull through on its promises. The cake that was supposed to be dark red turned out gray-blue. The biscotti was so tough I couldn't bite into it.

Naturally I concluded it wasn't worth it to open a box of vegan butter... if the next recipe (and this time, a recipe that would actually require using it) turns out to be yet another disappointment.

But then the famed Sticky Fingers Bakery cookbook ended up in my hands, I turned to THE famous Cowvin Cookies, and end of story, the vegan butter finally saw the light.

Sticky Fingers Bakery is the vegan bakery that owned the Cupcake Wars with their 100% vegan treats. It's been said that the Cowvin Cookie is one of three signature treats that made the bakery what it is now. 

After making them myself (albeit with slight altercations), I have to say there's an odd attractiveness to these cookies. They're simple oatmeal sandwich cookies, but they're not that simple. I can't quite explain it.

They're good. Really good.

The original directions call for scooping the dough and baking them as individual round cookies, but I went ahead and baked the whole dough in a 9x13 inch pan. I then divided the pan in half, trimmed the edges, sandwiched the halves, then cut into bars.

I recommend that you go the individual round cookie route. I think it's faster, and a lot less work.

BUT if you're adamant you want rectangular Cowvin cookies, simply bake the entire batch in a 9x13 pan for about 17-20 minutes, let cool, then proceed as described above.

The best part (aside from eating) is telling people they just ate all-vegan cookies.

Cowvin Cookies

*makes 10 to 12 cookies*

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup worth vegan buttery stick 
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp soymilk
• 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup while whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 cups rolled oats

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
3. In a large bowl, combine and cream together the vegan butter, sugars, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure that all the ingredients are mixed. Mix for 1 minutes more to combine thoroughly.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the soymilk and oil.
5. Slowly drizzle in the soymilk mixture. Scrape the bowl again to make sure all the ingredients are mixed; mix a minute more, if necesssary.
6. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the oats. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
7. Scoop the dough onto the baking sheets with a spring-loaded 2 ounce ice cream scoop. Leave 2 to 3 inches between each cookie and gently pat down with your fingertips.
8. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the cookies appear dry on top.
9. Place the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely while you make the frosting. 
10. Fill a pastry bag with the frosting and pipe a large dollop of frosting on the flat (bottom) side of half of the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies, flat side down, pressing down slightly so the filling spreads to the edges of the cookies

Creamy Vanilla Filling

*makes 2 cups*

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened at room temperature
• 1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 to 1 Tbsp soymilk, as needed

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whip the vegan butter until light and fluffy.
2. Incorporate the powdered sugar, then add in vanilla and the soymilk. Continued to mix until the frosting is light and fluffy.

Slightly adapted from Sticky Fingers' Sweets: 100 Super-Secret Vegan Recipes