Like most people, the thoughts, smells, and taste of certain foods can elicit strong memories. Do you have a smell that brings about a strong memory? For me, whenever I see or smell cinnamon rolls close to Thanksgiving, it is a reminder to make sure I have enough yeast to make my Grandma’s famous cinnamon rolls. I forgot one year; it was anarchy in our house! This week is my friend, Cara’s birthday. Cara was well known for her amazing cinnamon rolls that she baked at a local bakery and lunch place called Blackberries. But for those of us who knew her from our kids’ school, it was her World Peace cookies that we loved so much and asked her to make for every school holiday party. That soft, chocolate, melt in your mouth cookie that had you reaching for more.
This particular birthday was bittersweet for me because Cara passed away a little less than a year ago from colon cancer. While I miss going into Blackberry Market to see her smiling face and to catch up on what the kids are doing, I can still feel close to her by making those World Peace cookies. So that’s what I did!
Here’s a little background for those who have never heard of these amazing cookies. This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan’s Paris Sweets cookbook where she referred to them as Korova Cookies (Sablés Korova) after the restaurant in Paris, off the Champs-Elysees where Chef Pierre Hermé created these cookies. In her recent book, she changed the name to World Peace Cookies after a neighbor said a daily dose of these cookies was all that was needed to create peace and happiness in this world. Once you have tried these rich and chewy chocolate cookies you to see what I mean and after my third helping, I could not agree more!
The recipe below has been adapted to make it vegan, which was easy since the recipe was already egg-free. I just substituted the butter with Earth Balance’s non-dairy margarine and the bittersweet chocolate chunks with Enjoy Life’s dairy-free, mini-chocolate chips. You can even substitute gluten-free flour for this recipe with good results. So, here’s to Cara and Dorie Greenspan and their heavenly, World Peace cookies!
Vegan World Peace Cookies
These cookies adapted from Pierre Herme and Dorie Greenspan and these cookies are SO good they could provide world peace to all! This Vegan World Peace recipe is full of deep chocolate richness and softness that you won’t be able to eat just one. Be sure to not overbake them as they should be chewy...
- Prep Time: 3h 15m
- Cook Time: 12m
- Total Time: 3h 27m
- Yield: 36 cookies
- Category: Dairy Free, Egg Free, Nut Free, Sweets, Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
- 1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 11 tbsp. non-dairy margarine
- 2/3 c packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 c sugar
- 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 c non-dairy mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together. Set aside. Using a stand mixer beat the non-dairy margarine until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes more.
- Pour in the flour mixture, a little bit at a time. Drape a kitchen towel over the stand and mix at low speed until the flour disappears into the dough. Make sure to not work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added. The dough should look a bit crumbly. Toss in the non-dairy chocolate chips and mix.
- Turn the dough onto a work surface, gather it together and then divide it in half. Shape each half of the dough into logs that are 1 ½ inches in diameter. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. The dough can be kept in the freezer for up to 2 months. Frozen dough does not need to be defrosted before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. With a sharp knife, slice the logs into rounds that are ½ thick. The rounds may be crumbly after slicing, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie. Place cookies on the parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 12 minutes. They will not look done and they will not be firm; that’s the way it should be. Transfer cookies to baking sheet and let them cool until they are just warm.
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