Vegan Soft, Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

When we are going through hardship, we wonder why we are punished. We wonder what did we do wrong to deserve the pain and suffering. But the fact is, it is not like that at all. What did those kids who died in Newtown, CT school shooting did to deserve to die like that? What did the parents do to deserve such a pain? When you think about these, there is absolutely no explanation to any of the things that happen. Guns bought for protection seldom do that. They always harm some innocent people and when everyone is arguing about what needs to be done, I just pray and hope that something happens to prevent these things from happening again. Because, deep down in my heart, I understand that whatever the change the government makes, there will always be bad in every corner and era of this world. I do sometimes wish that the mythological stories I grew up hearing and reading can re occur and that God will come to this world to save all good from bad. One can only hope right?

This peanut butter cookie is a vegan adaptation from the book. These were soft, chewy and not very sweet. They are perfect to have with a cup of milk.

One Year Back - Coconut Banana Loaf Cake, Sourcream coffee cake, Cashew Cookies
Two Years Back - Almond Butter fudge Balls
Three Years Back -  Masala Corn Muffins, Holiday Cookie Platter
Adapted from King Arthur Flour Baking companion - makes about 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients: 
All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups
Vegetable shortening - 1/2 cup (I used crisco)
Granulated sugar - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup packed
Flax seed meal - 1 TBSP mixed with 3 TBSP of warm water
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Peanut butter - 1/2 cup (Smooth and not natural)
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp (You can skip it since peanut butter has enough salt)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In another bowl beat shortening, peanut butter and both sugars. Add in the flax seed and water mixture and beat till creamy. Add vanilla and beat followed by the dry ingredients. It will be very tight towards the end. Switch to a strong wooden spoon or a spatula. You can even mix everything by hand. It will make a crumbly dough. Make lemon sized balls and flatted very slightly. Place on the cookie sheet with 3" space between them. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. It will have lot of cracks on the top and it will look like it needs few more minutes. But remove and let it stand on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. It will firm up as it cools down. If you over bake, it will turn out to be crispy.

Notes:
You could use 1/2 cup canola oil instead of shortening. Then, the cookie will spread more and become thin. In case you are using oil, don't flatten them so that they don't spread too much.

Check out what my friends are baking for this bake-a-thon :  Preethi, Priya, Srivalli,  Sumana and Jayasri.  

Enjoy.