Vegan Lemon Cookies

A nice balance of sweet and tart, these cookies are easy to make, and vegan-friendly. I needed to find a vegan cookie recipe to make with my students, and I found this one on food.com. It makes a lot of cookies, at least 3 dozen.

I made a mistake when I made these, and must have added too little flour or too much oil. The first batch came out looking like a lace cookie. So for the second baking I added more flour – but a little bit too much. I pronounced it a “cookie fail,” but not wanting to waste them, I brought them to the staffroom at work. Well, either the teachers were starving and desperate, or they really enjoyed them. Some people loved the lacy variety, and others liked the more compact ones. So in the end it was declared a “cookie win,” and I was strongly encouraged to make these again.

I only made one change to the original recipe: I rubbed the zest into the sugar to release the oils, providing more lemon flavour.

What you need:

• 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 2 & 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Place the sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and rub the sugar into the zest with your fingers.
3. Add the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt to the sugar; combine and make a well in the centre. Pour in the liquid ingredients and stir until it is combined.
4. Drop by the teaspoonful onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on whether you prefer them chewier or crunchier.
6. Let them sit on the pan for a few minutes before removing to cooling racks.
7. Store in an airtight container.