It is getting so close to Christmas (less them 2 weeks! AAHHH!!) which in my house means it is officially cookie time.
Starting my cookie baking binge on a quick and easy cookie. Shortbread. Made with few ingredients, one bowl, one sheet, in and out and done. To spice up the flavor a little I added orange and for ease of not having any non frozen vegan butter, I used olive oil instead which I think, judging by the reactions of the mr and sister, was a great idea. (I had to hide the cookies from mr.. he couldn't stop eating them)
ll sorts of flavorful and crispy, these are a good cookie to have and to share. Just the right amount of cookie to get into the cookie season.
And because I am nothing if not a stickler for aesthetically pleasing things, look at the shape. Most cookies are round. It’s nice to have a long and rectangular cookie around for a change, am I right? Am I weird? Yeah, a little.
To the cookies!
The stuff. Flour, salt, mild olive oil, brown sugar, an orange, and some chocolate chips.
Sugar and oil go into a bowl and mixed until completely combined. Add in a few tablespoons of juice from the orange, mix, then add in flour, salt, and zest from orange. Mix until it all comes together into a dough that is a little crumbly.
Gather dough and place on a cookie mat or parchment paper and gently roll out into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Place on a baking sheet and pop into fridge for about 1/2 hour. Preheat oven. Then once oven is preheated, pop the baking sheet into the oven.
In the meantime, rough chop up the chocolate into smaller pieces.
After about 18 minutes, the cookie should be a light golden brown. Pull it from the oven and working fast, take a sharp knife, pizza wheel, or bench scraper and cut the giant cookie into smaller cookies. Long strips look nice, but whatever shape you want, just do it fast and gently and don’t burn yourself.
Then pop the cookies back into oven again for another 5-6 minutes until a little darker brown.
Once cookie is a nice golden brown, pull it from oven and sprinkle the still hot cookie with the chocolate. Wait a minutes or two until it starts to melt, then with a knife, smear it around. Sprinkle with sprinkles or fancy gold dusting sugar if your feeling festive.
Now you should let them cool so gently slide them onto a wire rack. Just until the chocolate sets.
Then it is cookie time.
-C
Chocolate covered Olive Oil and Orange shortbread cookies
make around 2 dozen
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon orange juice
!/2 cup chocolate chips either smashed or cut into little pieces
2 tablespoons sprinkles (optional)
Garb a bowl and mix the oil and brown sugar together until completely incorporated and there are no chunks of sugar. Add in orange juice and mix. Then add in the salt, flour, and orange zest. Mix until a slightly crumbly dough forms. Gather dough into a ball (use your hands) and place on a large piece or parchment or a splat mat. Roll out into a rectangle-ish shape about 1/2 inch thick. Slide the whole thing still on parchment or mat right onto a baking sheet. Stick the baking sheet into the fridge to rest for about 20-30 minutes.
In the meantime, preheat oven to 350
One giant cookie has chilled a bit, place it it the oven and bake for for 18- 20 minutes or until a light golden brown. Remove from oven and right away, very carefully, cut the large cookies into whatever shape and however many pieces you want using a knife, pizza wheel or dough scraper. And don’t separate them yet. Once cut, pop back into oven for another 5-8ish minutes or until cookies are a nice golden brown.
Remove from oven and while still hot, sprinkle the chopped chocolate all over the top. Let it melt for a few minute then with a knife, carefully spread the melted chocolate all over and sprinkle with sprinkles of course. And now you can separate them.
Transfer cookie to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Now eat them.
These cookies will last a week, if not more on counter in a air tight container. They also ship well!
Because it is cold outside. Because I had an hour to kill before I needed to leave the house and because I wanted to make a sweet treat for the mister (who had been dealing with frozen pipes all day) and for the little littles that I was going to hang out with. 
The stuff…Flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and allspice. Cocoa powder, brown and white sugar. Veggie Oil (you can use butter, or vegan butter instead for a chewier cookie) vanilla, a little vinegar and a nice cup of chai tea... Also a little bowl of cinnamon and sugar to doodle the cookies.
The sugars, oil, tea, vinegar, and vanilla go into a big bowl. Beat for a minute on medium, then add the rest of the stuff and beat some more until fully incorporated…. Simple simple. 
Aahhhh…….pulled from the oven and placed on a rack to cool. Fluffy, chewy, pillowy soft and spicy cookies. Oh the smell of so good!
Made extra large to make extra little littles happy. The best part? I made each little sing me a song for a second cookie… I am the greatest!