Snickerdoodles From A Box--Vegan And Doggone Good

Have you ever had a day when you received a phone call from out of town relatives that they were headed your way for a visit? That happened to me yesterday and I was down for the count with back pain I figured must be at least at level 15. The medical community says that pain reaches only a level of 10, which they consider to be maximum, but they don't have my falling apart spinal column. I greatly hate osteoporosis combined with osteo-arthritis. But that's another tale.

Fortunately, I had recently purchased a boxed cookie mix simply because I had a coupon for a good amount off the regular price. I don't ordinarily cook from a box, but since I never know when I might be in a hurry, I tend to keep a couple on hand. I always try to veganize whatever is inside the box, usually giving the recipe a once-through and then messing with the substitutions until I think I have a winner. With no time to mess around with experiments, I used my usual exchanges, hoping for the best.

To begin with, I used my favorite product in the whole cookie/muffin/pancake world--Krusteaz. I made the cookies by hand, exchanging my tried and true swaps and was I surprised how good the cookies turned out. I served them to company, along with some wonderful Kona coffee purchased for me by my cousin during his recent Hawaiian trip. Everyone raved about how good the cookies were. I didn't tell them they were vegan until every last crumb had been devoured. All four of my guests were amazed--carnivores that they are.

Here's how I did it:

Heat oven to 375 degrees

Into a bowl place:

1 box bakery style cookie mix by Krusteaz
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 stick vegan margarine, room temperature

Blend together the vegan margarine and applesauce. Add the cookie mix and stir until a stiff dough forms.

Form the dough into balls, and roll them in the cinnamon/sugar mixture enclosed inside the box. Lay them at least 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges.

Depending on which size cookie you want, bake them for:

2" cookies, 6-8 minutes
2 1/2" cookies, 8-10 minutes
3" cookies, 10-12 minutes.

I like big, crunchy cookies so I made the 3" size. They came out perfect.

The cookie mix box has two more great sounding recipes on it and I intend to try both of them. But for right now, the Snickerdoodles this boxed mix made hit the right note with everyone who ate them, especially when served with a hot and steamy cup of fresh coffee from the Islands.

If you give these cookies a try, let me know how you liked them or how you changed the recipe to be even better.

Since I like a hint of nutmeg in my Snickerdoodles, I'm going
to add some to the sugar/cinnamon mix inside the box.