pillows aren't always for sleeping

with the start of my new blog, i thought yesterday would be the perfect day to get baking. and boy, the baking bug was in me today!

i slept in super late (it's vacation after all, what's a girl to do?) and dove in even before i made breakfast. peanut butter pillows were up first. they just looked so cute in the recipe from Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar that i knew i had to try them. this is my second trial from this book, and like all of Isa's recipes, they turned out great.

delicious (let's just say my grandmother had more than just one). snazzy. quick baking. and easy-to-make-batter.

but why did i just say simple batter, you ask? well that's because making it was all that was simple about it. unfortunately, the dough was super sticky and when i tried to roll it into a ball and proceed to flatten (both vital to this cookie), it just wasn't happening. the dough resisted me like no other and stuck to my hands.

i tried everything:

• flouring my hands
• pam-ing my hands
• using a spoon (sprayed liberally with pam, no doubt)
• washing my hands a ton (let's just say my michigan-induced dry hands are now worse)
• refrigerating the dough then repeating the attempts above frantically

yes, my dear pam did let me down. oh well, better luck next time. luckily, my struggle didn't show too much once they were settled down on their waiting cookie sheet. okay, well the not-quite straight rows might have been a tip off...

the peanut butter mixture wasn't as attached to me, though. actually, it worked perfectly. wahoo!

i figure my problem probably had to do with the liquid in the recipe. Isa said that the chocolate dough should be wet but mine didn't seem to be. i added more liquid, thinking it would help (since it did in the first recipe i tried by her). whoops. i think i'll try writing Isa about this recurring problem because both cookie recipes i've made by her were gobbled up by my shocked-the-delicious-cookies-were-vegan family and will definitely be making another appearance in this house.

anyway, i would recommend that everyone try this recipe because it got amazing reviews from my omni family (i'm not a big fan of sweets otherwise i'd contribute, too) and they look pretty, too (always a plus!). oh come on, i know you all love nut butters as much as i do ;)

go get your vegan baking on! there's more to come, my vegan-cookies :)

Mandie..