Cabin Fever Cookies (aka Vegan Snickerdoodles)

The ice has mostly melted, and we were finally able to get out of the house this weekend- joy!  But not before I had a chance do do some baking (what else are you supposed to do when your work day ends at 4 and you're at loose ends?).  First, I made some classic, yummy chocolate chip cookies, courtesy of Chloe Coscarelli's Chloe's Vegan Desserts.  I followed the recipe exactly, except that I halved the amount of chocolate chips (we don't like too many chips in my house), and it turned out amazing.  Inevitably, we started to run low, so I thought I'd bring back an old, slightly less caloric, favorite, Snickerdoodles.  I've tweaked this recipe from several other vegan and non-vegan recipes to arrive at something that's low in fat and calories, but still tastes delicious.  This recipe makes 36 cookies, so you'll have plenty to last you for a few snow days!

Ingredients

For Cookie Dough:

• 1 3/4 cup 100% whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup Cornstarch
• 1 tsp Baking Powder 
• Pinch salt
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread (or other vegan butter) 
• 1/4 cup sugar free applesauce
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup, almond milk(or other non-dairy milk)
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

For Cinnamon-Sugar Topping:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly coat baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and baking powder in bowl. 
3. In a separate bowl, or in a stand mixer, beat vegan butter, applesauce, and sugar until light and fluffy. 
4. Beat in almond milk and vanilla until smooth. 
5. Add flour mixture, and beat 30 seconds or until smooth.
6. To make Cinnamon Sugar: Combine sugar and cinnamon on in a small bowl.
7. Shape dough into 1-inch balls (I use a melon baller and then roll in my hands to shape). Roll each ball in Cinnamon Sugar, and place on prepared baking sheet. 
8. Bake about 12 minutes, or until cookies look dry on tops and are lightly browned on bottoms. 

Yield: 36 cookies

Nutrition (per 1 cookie)

Calories 80
Total Fat 1 g
Saturated Fat 0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 84 mg
Potassium 27 mg
Total Carbohydrate 17 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 11 g
Protein 1 g