Vegan with a Vengeance

and cut into three strips. Place this dough over the filling-topped one and seal the edges by lightly pressing with your fingertips. Cut into 1½-inch lengths but don’t separate them. Bake for about 18 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then cut each cookie again to separate and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

    No Apology Necessary
    I‘ ve had dinner parties where I spent practically the whole time explaining the meal to my guests, with all sorts of excuses as to what went wrong. “Well you see usually the dough is more tender but I let my cat mix the batter and you all know how cats can be. ...” One day I brought a batch of brownies to my office job and I was just done explaining to my cubicle friends why they weren’t as fudgy as usual when my friend Jamie from Kentucky pulled me aside and said, “Never apologize for your food.” I have taken that advice to heart and sure, if you use salt instead of sugar in your cookies then just don’t serve them, but if things come out a little different from what you were expecting just go with it. Now that’s Southern class.

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
    MAKES 2 DOZEN COOKIES
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    People love thumbprint cookies. The name and the cute little dollop of jam always elicit as from the masses.
    1 cup all-purpose flour
    â…“ cup cocoa powder
    Â¼ teaspoon salt
    Â¼ teaspoon baking soda
    â…“ cup peanut oil
    â…“ cup soy milk
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    Â½ teaspoon almond extract
    â…” cup sugar
    6 teaspoons jam (I like raspberry or apricot)
    Preheat oven to 350°F; line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
    Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.
    In a large bowl mix together all the wet ingredients (except the jam) plus the sugar. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and incorporate well.
    With damp hands, roll 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball and press between your palms into a disk, then place on a prepared cookie sheet. It’s important to the texture of the cookies that your hands are damp, to prevent cracking at the edges. Bake the cookies for 5 minutes, then remove from oven. Press your thumb into each cookie to make an indent. They’re pretty hot at this point so proceed carefully, or use something thumblike to make the indent. Place ¼ teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake another 6 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for two minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool.

Banana Split Pudding Brownies
    MAKES 12 BROWNIES
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    This is a really fudgy brownie with a banana pudding on top that melts into the brownie layer and forms this unbelievable ooey gooey banana brownie concoction. Although you can hold it in your hand, you may want to serve it with a fork.
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    FOR THE BROWNIES:
    4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
    1 cup mashed very ripe banana (about 2 large bananas)
    â…“ cup canola oil
    1 cup sugar
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    Â¾ cup all-purpose flour
    Â¼ cup cocoa powder
    Â¼ teaspoon baking soda
    â…› teaspoon salt
    FOR THE TOPPING LAYER:
    1 cup mashed very ripe banana
    2 tablespoons sugar
    Â¼ cup soy milk
    Â½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
    FOR DECORATION AND MORE BANANA YUMMINESS:
    1 ripe but not very ripe banana, thinly sliced
    Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 × 13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or very lightly grease with oil.
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    To make the brownie batter:
    Melt the chocolate by placing in a pan or heat-proof mixing bowl over a small pot of boiling water. Stir with a heatproof spatula until completely melted, then remove from heat and set aside to cool.
    In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of mashed banana, the oil, and the sugar. Use a handheld mixer to beat everything together for about a minute. If you don’t have a mixer, use a strong fork and mix for about 3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla and the melted chocolate.

    In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add this to the banana mixture in batches, mixing with the hand mixer as you go along. Mix for about 1 minute more.
    Prepare the banana topping:
    In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients and mix with the hand mixer (remember to rinse the beaters off first) for about a minute.
    To assemble and bake the brownies:
    Spread the brownie batter evenly into baking pan. Pour the banana topping over that and spread evenly. Bake for 30