Light Almond Carob Cookies

As I wrote in my last post, GR's birthday was last month and we enjoyed two versions of pink strawberry cakes. However, my parents were unable to make it over on her actual birthday, so they came a couple of days later. I wanted to have a dessert for them, too, of course. Even though I'm not much of a dessert girl, my mom is even less so, and chocolate is very challenging for her to eat in particular because of its sweetness. So, I concocted what I thought would be pleasing to her: a not too heavy, not too sweet cookie. She liked them very much and took at least three of them, which I knew was a definite sign of success. So, for those of us who don't have a big sweet tooth, but want something that just hits the spot every now and then, here's my Light Almond Carob Cookies. By the way, these went over just as well with the rest of the clan; there were none left at the end of the night.

Light Almond Carob Cookies

Ingredients:

Batter:

1 cup vegan margarine
1/4 cup vegan or raw sugar
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup soy milk
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Icing:

1 cup of powdered sugar
2 Tbs. carob powder
2 Tbs. hot water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

For the batter: With a beater or pastry cutter, cream margarine and sugar together. Add almond extract and mix again. Add flour and salt and stir well with spoon, until well mixed. Add the soy milk and stir again. Add the sliced almonds and stir one last time. Scoop up approximately a tablespoon of batter at a time and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Gently press cookies into little disks and bake for 12 minutes. Cool in pan on cooling rack for five minutes before transferring cookies to a sheet of foil or wax paper to finish cooling.

For the icing: When cookies are cool, make icing. Whisk together the powdered sugar and carob powder. Add the hot water and vanilla extract and mix well. Either take a butter knife and spread a dollop of icing on each cookie, or dip each cookie into the icing. Icing will dry in less than a half hour, and the cookies will be ready to eat! Makes approximately two dozen cookies. Feeds five hungry vegans and a couple of grandparents.