I never used to eat fresh herbs. They were foreigners in my childhood home. No one was quite sure what to do with the controversial cilantro or fresh parsley. Rosemary, thyme and sage were left in the box of stovetop stuffing. It wasn’t that we hated fresh herbs, it's just that we had no idea what to do with them. My mother and father struggled in the kitchen without having to de-stem woody stalks of rosemary.
But the beautiful thing about changing the way you eat is understanding that your palate changes with it. Eliminating animal products meant that I had to rediscover how to cook, and what it meant to cook. Gone were the days of the perfect cheese pull and quick pan-fried chicken. And I loved it, I still do. The sense of discovery and exploration, a bit of which I touched on last week's blog.
Fresh herbs are now a staple in my kitchen. I even have a few herbaceous recipes on the blog, including this lentil loaf and herbaceous potato salad. But you haven’t experienced fresh herbs until you’ve baked with them. And now is the best time while preparing for the holidays or Christmas.
These plant-based shortbread cookies are everything you want a shortbread cookie to be. Crumbly but still moist. Studded with tart cherries that pair well with lemon zest, orange zest, and fresh thyme. The fresh thyme comes through at the very end, adding an earthy, savory note you wouldn’t find in a cookie. A shortbread base is perfect for experimenting with fresh herbs as well. As shortbread cookies are typically less sweet than other cookies.
The cherries and zest remind us of this holiday season and the thyme adds a deep green. Perfect as a beautiful centerpiece for your plant-based holiday cookie plate. These plant-based cookies are easy to make and can be made ahead of time. They are slice and bake cookies. Which means you can make the dough ahead of time, freeze or refrigerate the dough until you’re ready to bake.
I recommend making a double batch and also experimenting with different herbs and flavor combinations. I love rosemary, orange and cranberry. Maybe replace a ¼ cup of flour with cornmeal to create a sandy texture. Dried figs or apricots would also be delicious. You could also add some chopped nuts like pistachios to invoke more of a holiday feel. These are your shortbread cookies, so make them your own! Let me know what flavors you come up with in the comments.
Happy Holiday Baking.
Cherry, Citrus and Thyme Shortbread Cookies (Vegan)
Ali Lawrence | 12/13/19
- prep time: 45 minutes
- cook time: 12 minutes
- total time: 57 minutes
Servings: about 24 small cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 Cup All purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 Cup dried cherries, chopped small
- 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 Tbsp orange zest
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 Cup (8 tbsp) non dairy butter (earth balance)*
- 1/4 Cup evaporated cane juice
- 1/4 cup organic powdered sugar
Instructions:
- Combine the flour, salt, cherries, zests and thyme in a small bowl and set aside.
- In another medium size bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the non-dairy butter and both sugars. Cream together with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer (I mixed mine by hand)until light and fluffy. You want the mixture to be pale and look more like packed snow than sugary butter.
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix in by hand. This is done by hand because you don't want to overwork the dough too much. Overworking the dough will lead to a tough cookie. I recommend using your hands for this or a wooden spoon.
- Roll into a log about 1 inch in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes or up to five days or in the freezer for up to a month.
- When you are ready to bake preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap the dough and slice into 1/4 inch slices. This is where making sure your cherries are small comes in handy. Large cherry pieces will make the dough fall apart. Bake the cookies for agbout 6 minutes, and then turn them in the oven and bake for another 3 to 6 minutes depending on your oven.
- Save some for the jolly red suited man if you wish, or devour them within three days.
Notes:
- Make sure your non-dairy butter is soft when you do this. This is best done by leaving it out overnight or the morning before you bake. It will make the creaming process a lot easier