Cinnamon Sugar Pillow Cookies (Vegan)

And another unexpected surprise!  These cookies were delicious! Even the "cream cheese" made of soy tasted pretty good.  Back in my teen years I did make a lot of vegan recipes but mostly things like eggless "depression" chocolate cake and many desserts with black beans or chocolate cream pie using silken tofu and such but never quite made a vegan cookie like this.

The dough is a little difficult to work with so I simply pressed it between my palms to make a disk and set aside.

Once they were baked they were soooooo good, like a sugar cookie with the cream cheese filling that has a slight hint of saltiness.  I'm very impressed.
Now I might not be making this again for myself but if someone requests a vegan cookie or I have vegan guests this recipe will come out again.  I'm thinking about doing a regular version inspired by this cookie and posting it soon (not too soon, I've got a whole lot of cookies on hand right now!)


Cinnamon Sugar Pillow Cookies

(makes 7-11 stuffed cookies)

3/4 cup (not packed) all purpose flour or  spelt flour (120g)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar (55g)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2-4 tsp almond milk or soy milk (8-16g)
3 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil (35g)

A bowl of equal parts cinnamon and sugar for rolling (Omit if desired.)
Filling ingredients listed below:

For the filling combine 2 tsp powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons cream cheese-style spread (I used YoSo Spreadables "Cream Cheese" - you can use Tofutti non-hydrogenated, but I’m sure other full-fat brands such as Follow Your Heart or Trader Joes would be fine.) Beat well, then set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine first five ingredients and stir very well. In a separate bowl, combine all liquid ingredients and stir. Pour wet into dry and stir to form a cookie dough. Smush into a giant ball with your hands (or, as an easier trick: transfer dough to a plastic bag and smush into a ball once the dough is inside the bag). Now roll into 22-26 mini cookie dough balls, then flatten each and divide the filling among only half of the flat discs. Place the other discs on top, cinch the sides, then roll into balls. Roll the balls in the bowl of cinnamon-sugar, place on a baking tray, and chill for at least 30 minutes. (If you desire crispy cookies, you can skip this chilling step.)

 Preheat oven to 325, and cook 11 minutes- they’ll still look a little underdone, but that’s okay. Important: allow cookies to cool at least 10 minutes before trying to remove from tray.

Recipe courtesy of Chocolate Covered Katie