Superdoodles

Imagine the most perfect snickerdoodle cookie you've ever eaten--soft, sweet, with just a touch of crunch from the sparkly cinnamon sugar coating.  Now imagine them in deep chocolate.  With the gentle warmth of cayenne.  And they're vegan.  Wait...are we dreaming? No sir--these cookies are real, and they're from the Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar cookbook.  As of this blog posting, Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles are one of the four recipes from the book featured on the Post Punk Kitchen's website.

The geniuses behind one of my favorite cookbooks are at it again, this time bringing you 100 mouth-watering recipes for vegan cookies.  Whether you're a vegan, vegetarian or a ferocious T-Rex at the table, the recipes in this book are sure to please.  Aside from being vegan there are other benefits too. People with dairy or egg allergies can enjoy cookies again!  Think about it: no waiting for butter to soften, no wondering if you have eggs in the fridge or if said eggs are still fresh.  You can have cookies in your mouth in less than 30 minutes (in most cases)!  And... no eggs means you can chomp away to your heart's delight on the raw dough.  Take THAT, Salmonella!


Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles  (makes 24)
From Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar; recipe found on PPK

For the topping:
⅓ cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

For the cookies:
½ cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
¼ cup pure maple syrup
3 Tbl. almond milk or your preferred non-dairy milk (I used chocolate soy milk)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. chocolate extract (or more vanilla if you have no chocolate)
1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder (I used half regular, half Hershey's Special Dark) 
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. cayenne

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix the topping ingredients together on a flat plate.  Set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together oil, sugar, syrup, and milk.  Mix in extracts.
4. Sift in remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them.  Once all ingredients are added mix until you've got a pliable dough.
5. Roll dough into walnut sized balls.  Pat into the sugar topping to flatten to roughly 2 inch discs.  Transfer to baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread).  This should be easy as the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet. 
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, they should be a bit spread and crackly on top.  (Don't forget to set your timer and over bake like I did!)  Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes:
These are goooood.  If you're worried about the heat or plan on serving these to children, use half the amount of cayenne.  These aren't tongue-on-fire-give-me-that-water-quick kinda hot, but they do have a pleasantly warm finish.  I would compare it to how your mouth feels after eating some cinnamon gum or candy--NOT a super intense cinnamon Altoid®, but something regular like Big Red® or original Dentyne® gum.  Does that make sense?


Feeling less adventurous?  Try some variations: 

- Swap out the cayenne for some espresso powder.  
- Skip the cinnamon & cayenne and make a peppermint variation with peppermint extract.  Roll the dough in a mixture of sugar and pulverized candy canes.  <--maybe next on my list!
- Skip the spices and roll dough in finely shredded coconut
- Roll in powdered sugar for snow-tops