This isn't going to be a review of Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero's newly released "Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar," but I just got my copy and *had* to bake from it. However, I will say that I had a tough time narrowing it down from 100+ cookie/bar/biscotti recipes to the two that I made last weekend. There aren't as many pictures as in "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" but you don't need a ton of imagination to get excited about Chocolate Chip Mint Leaf Icebox Cookies (unless you don't like mint or chocolate).
The first recipe I tried was the Caramel Pecan Bars. I followed the recipe with one exception. The recipe says to cover the pan with greased aluminum foil, but I learned from my friend's cooking disaster with caramel and aluminum foil, so I used greased parchment paper and had no problems. The bars came out very easily.
I was afraid the bars would be too sweet, since there's almost 3 cups of sweeteners in total, but there was just the right amount of sweetness for me. If I keep them in the refrigerator, they stay nice and chewy but firm. I'd definitely make these again, as they were a crowd-pleaser for both me and the non-vegans.
My friend L and I also made the Orange Agave Chocolate Chip Cookies from the book. We used the zest from two oranges instead of one, because the oranges were kind of small. Also, we ground the flaxseeds with a mortar and pestal instead of the VitaMix but L got them ground pretty well. The cookies turned out *very* orange-y, which I like. They smelled amazing! They weren't as agave-y as I'd hoped, but we did add a ton of orange, so that makes sense.
And the wine pairings!
My wine expert recommended pairing the caramel bars with a shiraz, so I used a 2006 Australian shiraz. (The expert also recommended pairings for the cookies, so if I get some more wine before the cookies are gone, I'll post that.) The wine by itself was a bit light, with not much nose, and coppery. It wasn't really sweet, but gave an impression of sweetness, and I didn't notice much tannin flavor.
I tried the wine with the bars first, since that was the intentional pairing. The bars, not terribly surprisingly, made the wine taste a bit sour, but they also gave the wine more body. After drinking the wine, the bars also tasted sweeter. Overall, I liked this pairing. It wasn't amazing, like caramel bars and shiraz were made for each other, but the two definitely complemented each other, with the result of a tasty, sweet dessert and a wine with a bit more oomph than it had on its own.
The wine and orange cookies didn't go as well together, so I hope I get to the wine store before the cookies are gone. The cookies gave the wine a softer sourness than the bars, without any of the body. In addition, there was a very subtle fruity aftertaste that wasn't there before. Palatable, but no real chemistry there.
