Vegan Double-Chocolate Bourbon Cookies

This is a small batch of cookies that I made to give the leasing office and maintenance of my building because they are awesome.  I ran out of sugar after I made the tequila lime cake, so I created this recipe with the last of my brown sugar.  They're bourbony!

Ingredients

• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup bourbon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup vegan chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together the coconut oil & brown sugar.  Add the almond milk and vanilla.
3. Slowly sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
4. When the dry ingredients have been incorporated, knead in the chocolate chips.  (The dough is going to be a little crumbly).
5. Roll into walnut-sized balls & place them on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten them a bit with your palm. 
6. Bake for 7-10 minutes.

Makes 15-18 cookies

Vegan Tequila-Lime Cake with Mango Jam Filling

Ingredients

Cake:

3/4 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid

1 ½ cup demerara sugar (or raw sugar)

Zest of two limes (save the juice)

1 ½ tablespoon cider vinegar

2 cups rice milk (warmed to room temperature)

¼ cup tequila (plus ~2/3 cup tequila to sprinkle on the cake later)

1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Mango jam:

Two mangoes, peeled, and finely chopped

1 cup demerara sugar (or raw sugar)

2 tablespoons lime juice (juice from 1/2 lime)

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

¼ cup tequila

½ cup water

Glaze:

1 cups demerara sugar (or raw sugar)

1/8 cup water

Juice of 1/2 lime

Zest of 1/2 lime

1/8 cup tequila

1 tablespoons Grand Marnier

(To make your shopping list a little easier: In total, you will need about 1 1/2 cups of tequila, 4 large limes, and 3 1/2 cups of sugar).

INSTRUCTIONS

Make the cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans.

In a stand mixer (or with handheld mixer), cream together oil, sugar, and lime zest.  Add the cider vinegar, rice milk, 1/4 cup tequila, and vanilla.  Slowly add the salt, baking powder, and flour.  Scrape down sides of bowl as needed.  Do not overmix.

Divide the batter between the three cake pans. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Check for doneness at 30 minutes.

Allow to cool and remove from pans.

Make the mango jam:

While the cake layers are cooling, make the mango jam.  Put the finely chopped mango, sugar, lime juice, Grand Marnier, tequila, and water in a medium sized sauce pan and boil stirring occasionally.  Boil hard until the mixture reaches approximately 245 degrees Fahrenheit (about 30-40 minutes).  It will get quite thick and turn a dark amber color.

Assemble the cake:

Slice the top off of two of the cakes to create a flat surface to work with.

Sprinkle one of the layers that has had its top removed with 2 tablespoons of tequila and 1 tablespoon of lime juice.  (I put it in a spray bottle and just drenched it).  Spread half of the mango jam on the layer. 

Gently place the second decapitated layer on top of the jam covered first layer.  Spray (or sprinkle) the second layer with 2 tablespoons of tequila and 1 tablespoon of lime juice.  Spread remaining mango jam on the layer.

Stack the final layer on the cake.  Spray (or sprinkle) the final layer with 2 tablespoons of tequila and 1 tablespoon of lime juice. 

After the cake has been mostly assembled, prepare the glaze:

Place the sugar, water, and lime juice in a medium sauce pan. Heat on medium-high heat and gently stir to dissolve the sugar. Allow to boil until large bubbles form on the surface (230 degrees). Remove from heat and stir in lime zest. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes.  Add the tequila and Grand Marnier (it will bubble up a lot when you add the liquor). 

Pour the glaze over the cake.

Loosely based on a recipe by Rocco DiSpirito

http://www.roccodispirito.com/recipes/tequilalimecake