Saying Thanks with Vegan Cookies

For the past six weeks, contractors have been renovating the third floor of my house. My house is old and crooked, so the work hasn't been easy. It's a workout just to walk up to the third floor, but these guys have carried all their equipment and heavy building materials (including 20 boxes of heavy wood flooring) up there. They have been very nice about everything and never complain.

So now that the project is wrapping up (next week? hopefully?), I've been baking these cookies that I'll package up and give them as a little thank-you gift...

Chocolate Chip Cookies
You can't go wrong with chocolate chip cookies, especially the perfectly wonderful ones from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, with a crunchy exterior and chewy inside. I added some peppermint extract to them for the holidays (pictured below), and they were a big hit. I posted that modified recipe here; just delete the peppermint extract to make regular. Chocolate Peanut Butter Pillows
These were everyone's favorite of all the 300+ holiday cookies I made. They take a little effort, but they are worth it. If you are an omnivore or know an omnivore skeptical of vegan cookies, these are guaranteed to win skeptics over. But note: don't substitute! The recipes from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar were built from the ground up so that all the ingredients work together. Substituting milk for soymilk, for example, won't work (I know because someone on Twitter tried it). Here's the recipe.

First you make the chocolate cookie batter and the peanut butter filling.
Next you roll out the chocolate dough, add a ball of peanut butter filling, and then wrap the chocolate dough around the filling.The first time I tried one, warm from the oven when the peanut butter filling was gooey, I about toppled over in bliss. I've made these many times since; they are a guaranteed hit.Banana Everything Cookies
These cookies have it all: banana, walnuts, oats, and chocolate chips. They're also from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I made these once before and brought them to my morning Zumba class, and everyone loved them.Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
These weren't for the contractors. These were for me! I had some pumpkin puree left over from a recipe so made these from the Happy Herbivore Cookbook. They're fat-free and filling with a little fiber and protein. And yes, delicious too!