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There are two types of people in the world: Those who think there are just two types of people in the world, and everybody else.

No matter which one you are, you might or might not be a cookie fan, but I think most people are, right? There’s a reason Cookie Monster has been om-nom-nom-nomming his way into children’s hearts for so many years, and that’s because he has tapped into something primal. (Or, light bulb moment: Is it the other way around, and CM actually created this primal instinct in millions of children who then became … us?)

Long story shortbread, we’re a world of cookie eaters. Maybe we eat them regularly, or maybe we try to control ourselves until we can’t. Either way, the holidays represent the perfect excuse to “oh, I’ll have just one more” until, well, I’m not about to talk about holiday weight gain, because that’s not the kind of newsletter I’m running around here. Enjoy your cookies!

Table of Contents

• My next Zoom cooking class!

• I break for animals: Casper

• Recipe: Gingerbread-Spiced Shortbread

• More favorite cookie recipes

The first time I really thought much about vegan cookies was back in 2008, when I went to bake with Hareg Messert, a former Ritz-Carlton pastry chef who had started her own business in D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood. At the now-closed Chez Hareg bakery, she made vegan and non-vegan versions of traditional cookies, catering in part to fellow members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, who avoid animal products on many of their fasting holidays. Hareg told me something that has stuck with me like nonpareils on royal icing. She pointed out that the vegan versions were often better tasting because there was no butter to overtake the flavor of the pecans, chocolate, or other primary ingredient.

Revelation!

The same principle has long guided Alicia Kennedy, the author, newsletter writer, journalist, and former bakery owner. In an essay she wrote to accompany some of the recipes we worked on together for “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking,” she wrote: “When baking without animal products … I can choose to make a chocolate chip walnut cookie even nutteier by using a mix of flaxseed meal and water as the binder. When I want to make a coconut cake, I can use virgin (coconut) oil as my fat to amp up that flavor and full-fat coconut milk as the liquid.”

I’ve written before that baked goods (such as my Classic Corn Bread) don’t always need a one-to-one sub such as a flax or chia “egg,” when other binders are around. In fact, Alicia’s favorite vegan binder, especially for cookies, is arrowroot starch, which is what she uses in fabulous recipes for oatmeal cookies and chocolate-chip cookies in the book.

For holiday baking, though, I’ve become enamored of her take on shortbread, which is a snap to veganize given that there’s no egg traditionally included and that high-quality plant butters are easy to find now. With so few ingredients, shortbread can depend on the quality of butter, since it’s such a big part of the flavor, which is why I try to make the “Mastering” recipe with Miyoko’s, one of my favorite brands. (As it turns out, Miyoko’s has been a little harder to find of late, after the company founded by Miyoko Schinner — who also contributed to “Mastering” — was sold to Melt Organic butter. The good news for bakers: Melt has good flavor, too!)

With many of the recipes in my book, I provide a base recipe and then several variations. That’s because I want readers to realize that once they know how something comes together, they can riff on it to an almost endless degree. Teach a man to fish, you know? Anyway, the shortbread is fantastic plain, but it takes on new personalities with chocolate, chai spice, and gingerbread versions.

That gingerbread one is obviously suited so perfectly to the holidays. It takes a little more adaptation than the other variations, because the essential addition of molasses requires a corresponding increase in the amount of flour — and a few more minutes of baking time. But it’s worth it for the slightly bitter, not-too-sweet, heavily spiced result. That restraint in sweetness also makes it a great candidate for glazing, dipping, or otherwise decorating with a royal icing that uses aquafaba from a can of chickpeas instead of egg whites but behaves identically to the traditional version.

Decorating options place this Gingerbread-Spiced Shortbread squarely in the category of make-it-work-for-your-holiday. Get the right sparkling sugar and/or food dye, and make these cookies red, green, and white for Christmas; blue and white for Hanukkah; black, red, and green for Kwanzaa; or red and gold for Lunar New Year a couple months later.

(FWIW, I’m frankly disappointed in myself that the best I can do with the name here is Gingerbread-Spiced Shortbread. Would I really have to repeat “bread”? I tried to make “Ginjortbread” work; I attempted to choke down “Shortjerbread”; I even had high hopes for “Shorterbread.” I was fooling myself. As The Husband likes to say, “No ma’am, no sir, no ma’amsir.”)

I tend to be pretty minimalist when it comes to cookie decorations, partly because I’m not great with the detail work. I can make outlines and then fill them (or not). I can dip and sprinkle. Boy, can I sprinkle! But if I tried to pipe intricate designs on these? They’d still taste great, but trust me, they’d look like the Cookie Monster made them.

A Zoom cooking class today!

I’m sending this newsletter a smidge earlier than usual today, because my second Zoom cooking class is today (Dec. 7) at noon. That means that if you opened this email early enough and are quick on the draw and have a hankering to join us, you can!

While a portion of the proceeds from last month’s class went to Humane World for Animals, this time the beneficiary will be D.C. Central Kitchen, whose mission is to fight hunger differently. The agency, which is in need of donations and volunteers not just this holiday season but year-round, prepares nutritious meals for nonprofits, youth programs, and shelters; and also prepares adults facing barriers to employment through culinary careers, among many other programs.

This time, we’re going to make and decorate cookies! We’re using plant-based shortbread (the basic version of the recipe below), so simple and delicious just plain — or if you want I’ll show you how to flavor it several other ways. Then we’ve got fruit curd (lemon or lime) and royal icing for decorating. We’ll go over some of the easiest ways to make your cookies look special (think dipped and then sprinkling with coconut, pearl sugar, or nonpareils), and we’ll also color the royal icing and pull out the cookie cutters and piping bags for some very basic festive strategies!

As always, you get 25 percent off a ticket to the class as a subscriber to this newsletter; just use the promo code “eatatjoes”! And don’t worry; if you just want to watch and not cook (or pipe) along, you’re welcome to do that. And if you can’t make it live but want to watch later, your ticket gets you access to a recording. (We had a snafu with our attempts to record the first one, but we’ve learned, I promise!)

I break for animals:
Casper

Recipe: Gingerbread-Spiced Shortbread

Dress these cookies up with royal icing (made with aquafaba instead of egg whites) and sparkling sugar, make sandwich cookies with a little bit of jam or fruit curd (made with vegan butter and cornstarch instead of eggs), or simply dust them with powdered sugar to snack on with afternoon coffee or tea. Change up the spice blends, add different extracts, and use different sugars for varied results.

Makes 24 cookies // Time: Weekend // Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 1 month. The dough can be frozen for up to 3 months before shaping and baking.

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups (345g) all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons gingerbread spice (see NOTE)

• 7 ounces (200g) store-bought vegan butter, such as Miyoko’s or Melt

• 1/2 cup packed (90g) dark brown sugar

• 1/2 cup (150g) blackstrap molasses

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and gingerbread spice.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (or in a bowl using an electric hand mixer fitted with whisk), beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth. Add the brown sugar, molasses, and vanilla and beat until the mixture is well combined. It will look curdled; fear not.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in three parts, beating each time until combined before adding more, and continue to beat until the flour mixture is fully incorporated.

Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper and use the paper to help you shape it into a cylinder about 2 inches (5cm) in diameter or square off the cylinder to make a 2-inch rectangular log. Keeping it wrapped in the parchment, transfer to the freezer, and chill for 20 to 30 minutes (or refrigerate for at least 1 hour).

Position racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

Slice the dough into 1/2-inch (1.3cm) rounds and transfer them to the lined sheet pans, 1 inch (2.5cm) apart. (If the dough becomes very soft, place the sheets with cut cookies into the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes to firm up again.)

Bake the cookies until matte on top and firm to the touch, about 15 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time.

Transfer the sheet pans to wire racks and let the cookies cool fully on the pans before decorating, serving, or storing.

NOTE:

If you don’t have gingerbread spice, use this: 1/2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground allspice + grated nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon each ground black pepper + ground cloves.

Recipe adapted from “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking” (Ten Speed Press, 2024), copyright Joe Yonan.

More favorite cookie recipes

These are gift links to the recipes at the Post. Note that they require you to register but not subscribe. Gift links are free to access for 2 weeks, so if you want to come back to any of these recipes but don’t subscribe or want to subscribe, I suggest you find a way to save them!

Cardamom and Rose Thumbprint Cookies

Vegan Eggnog Cookies

Chocolate-Matcha Cookies