Another recipe that was actually made a million years ago that I just never posted! Aren’t you excited??!! (why do I share this information with you? I should just be pretending that I made this mere moments ago and I’m so on the ball that I immediately had to post and share about it. This is the road that a sane person would take, however, I’m embracing my insanity and the idea of “radical honesty” – which is a real thing by the way – check out this article written by one of my favourite authors (it’s informative and entertaining, win-win!!). In all honesty (ha!) though, I find it disturbing that it needs to be termed “radical” which seems to imply that the idea of being honest is so insane and out there that a whole movement had to be created to “give this whole honesty thing a trial run, but I digress….as per usual 😉 )
So what you’re looking at here is essentially an oatmeal cookie stuffed with a cinnamon-heart buttercream. Now if you feel about cinnamon the way I do, then you would gladly run over your own mother to get one (sorry mom – love you…almost as much as cinnamon 😉 )
These cookies also have the benefit of having multiple options for how to display them and/ or consume them. Exhibit A is the photo above where the front runners are the ones that I made in mini muffin tins and made a thumbprint sized hole in the middle and filled it with delicious, delicious cinnamon heart infused buttercream and topped with a gorgeous little white chocolate chip. Isn’t it pretty and classy? This is the way you want to make them if you’re having a party (ha! remember parties? Because it’s been so long that I don’t actually think I do anymore, so can you remind me?) and you want everyone to think you’re a classy and elegant human. On the other hand, and likely more appropriate for the times right now, if you’re not feeling classy at all, but you want a big a#@ cookie that fills your whole face, the kind that you’d possibly be embarrassed to be seen eating because the icing squishes all over the place because you’ve mounded it on so high and you’re licking it off your clothes for days (oh, that doesn’t happen to you? What do you mean you change your clothes daily? I’ve been wearing the same outfit since the start of this whole covid business (and yes, I’ve excluded the “19” because I don’t think the virus deserves that level of respect 😉 ), I just shower while still wearing it and just call it a day 😉 . Then I just smell like various deliciously spilled baked goods all day. Who doesn’t want that? And why am I starting to get the feeling that when this is all finally over, I won’t have any friends any more? (or only ones that are willing to see me via Zoom. “Uh…sorry Amber, we just can’t see you in person because…uh….uh…***static noise, static noise***…sorry, you’re cutting out….***static noise, static noise***, *line goes dead 🙁 ).
Anyhoodle, bake up these little (or large) dollops of cookie goodness to warm the cockles of your heart this Valentines day, and share them with the one you love. And if you can’t be with the one you love except at a 2 meter distance, then just take photos or videos of you eating them and tell your partner that you’re “eating for two” (and then, after a lengthy pause in which they have a heart attack, you can laugh and say “Ha! Sorry, I can see how that sounded confusing, I meant I was eating your share and my share. Happy Valentine’s Day”.
It’s probably a Cinn(amon) to be a jerk like that, but if they stick with you after that, you know they’re a keeper 😉 .
Yield: 2 dozen sandwich cookies
Ingredients
Oatmeal Cookies:
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, room temperature
- 1/4 + 2 tablespoons cane sugar
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 egg replacer
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup cinnamon heart powder (basically, pulverize cinnamon hearts in a food processor until you have a powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup vegan white chocolate chips (optional)
Cinnamon Heart Buttercream:
- 1/2 cup cinnamon heart candies (1/4 cup of which will also be puverized in a food processor, so feel free to do this at the same time as that which you’re using in your cookies)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons water
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon whisky (or 3 tablespoons water)
- 3/4 cups vegan butter
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
- large pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon extract (or more if you want it really cinnamon-y)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat (alternatively, if you want them like the little cup looking ones above, I used a mini doughnut pan, and put the dough in that, then, once they’re baked, you just fill the cavity with your buttercream and top with an extra white chocolate chip. If you decide to do this, I recommend baking for 5-6 minutes instead or they will get a bit too hard).
- Using a hand mixer, in a large bowl beat together the vegan butter, both sugars and molasses until fully combined and fluffy-ish, about two to three minutes. Beat in egg replacer and both extracts.
- In a small bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon heart powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Beat into the wet ingredients. Stir in the oats and white chocolate chips (if using) until just combined.
- Place about a tablespoon of dough onto prepared sheet and bake for about 6-8 minutes, until the cookies are set and the edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and let cool while making the cinnamon buttercream.
- For the cinnamon buttercream, to a very small saucepan, add 1/4 cup cinnamon hearts, water and cinnamon whisky (if using). Stir frequently over low heat until candies are dissolved, about 10 minutes, and remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
- In a medium-sized bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the butter for about a minute, sift the icing sugar in slowly/in batches of about 1/2 cup at a time until fully incorporated. Beat in the salt and cinnamon extract. Beat in the cinnamon heart syrup and powder until well combine.
- To assemble – spread desired amount of frosting (aka a lot 😉 ) between 2 cookies.
- Store at room temperature.
0 Comments