The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2012: Vegan Gremlins (cousin to the monster cookie)

Happy Cookie Swap! It’s finally the day to post our recipe! Nick and I had so much fun with the cookie swap. We hope that our cookies were well received and enjoyed! The cookies that we received were DELICIOUS! I have to admit, I may have gotten a little impatient while waiting for them – I couldn’t wait to check the mail everyday! We definitely got 3 winners. I can’t wait for the recipes!

The first batch we received were Gingerbread Biscotti from Rachel at My Naturally Frugal Family. They were just spicy enough, with a super great, crunchy texture and they went wonderfully with coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Yum!

We received batches 2 and 3 on the same day – double the fun! We had Molasses Crisps from Heather at Better With Veggies and Orange Pepper Biscotti from Zaika Zabardast. The Molasses Crisps were awesome! I could have easily eaten the entire bag myself. 🙂 The Orange Pepper Biscotti was equally wonderful. Super complex flavors that made every bite exciting.

Thank you, ladies! Your cookies were great!

We had a hard time deciding what cookies we wanted to make for the swap. There are so many choices! But finally, we had a winner. Our recipe inspiration was the monster cookie, but we took it to a different level. We spent quite a bit of time trying to decide what to call them. Thankfully, Lil Sis stepped in and brainstormed with us. Vegan Gremlins was the winner. These cookies aren’t traditional monster cookies, but they are just as easy and certainly just as tasty! (if not even more so) They are super easy to throw together. The hard part is waiting for them to to cool!

Vegan Gremlins
(recipe adapted from Recipe Girl)
1 1/2 cups creamy almond butter (we used Maranatha)
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 cup evaporated cane juice
1 stick (8 tablespoons) vegan butter (we used earth balance)
Egg replacer equal to 3 eggs (we used Ener-G)
2 T pure vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 tsp baking soda
Scant 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat mat. Using a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the almond butter, vegan butter, and sugars. Add the egg replacer and vanilla. Finally, add the oats, baking soda and flour.

Using a cookie scoop, place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. (this will ensure that they set)

Transfer to cooling racks and let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

If you wish to make them gluten free (which we have done and it worked great!) substitute gluten free oats and an all-purpose gluten free flour. (we like Better Batter)

These are a tasty, little cookie. We found that these cookies are even better the second day. They are insanely chewy and are not overly sweet.

Enjoy! Give these Gremlins a try! 🙂