Saturday, May 5, 2012

M&M cookies


I have been searching for vegan M&M's for quite a while now. For a while the only option was Whizzer's chocolate beans, but they were not ideal. The chocolate was a little bitter, and while it's nice that they were dyed naturally, the colors were a little boring.
I finally heard about Vermont Nut Free Chocolates a few weeks ago and immediately ordered three 16oz bags of their dark chocolate skippers**. After the cost of shipping, it was $25 well spent! They not only look identical to M&Ms but taste exactly the same. I think someone would be hard pressed to tell the difference between them.
I have used most of the first bag making M&M cookies. I have a lot of plans for the remaining candy, but it might end up with me just eating them on the couch while I watch movies.

leaves & flours vegan m&m cookies

Vegan M&M Cookies
recipe adapted from Ghiradelli

1 tbl Ener-G powder
1/4 cup water
1 cup Earth Balance
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Vermont Nut Free dark chocolate skippers

Preheat oven to 350. Combine Ener-G and water and allow to thicken. Cream Earth Balance and sugars. Add egg replacer & vanilla. Slowly mix in flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in dark chocolate skippers slowly, being careful not to crush the candy shells. Scoop onto silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Slightly flatten the tops of cookies and bake 10-12 minutes, until edges of the cookies are slightly browned.

leaves & flours vegan m&m cookies

These cookies remind me of being a little kid. They are so bright and colorful and satisfying. I think my birthday approaching has me feeling a little nostalgic. I've been watching a lot of children's movies like Hook & Willy Wonka. It's a nice little escape from everyday stress. What's your favorite childhood film?

**A few people have been confused by the Vermont Nut Free Chocolate website. If you read carefully, the ingredients for the dark chocolate skipper are listed immediately after the milk chocolate skipper. You will see that they don't contain any sort of dairy product. There isn't any verification on the sugar (whether it is bone char processed or not), but they are vegan enough for me.

16 comments:

  1. These cookies are so cute !! :) I used to get really excited when ever my mommy brought some home. My favorite movie when I was a kid was mulan & the lion king! ( I used to say they were equal haha !!)

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  2. Those look great :) Cookies with candy in them..or big chunks of chocolate, always goood! I had too many favorite childhood movies but The Rescuers, Thumbelina, and The Little Mermaid.. to name a few.

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  3. I would love to have a batch of these right now. Look so yummy!

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  4. I'm confused, the only skippers I could find contained milk. Where are the vegan ones?

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  5. I went to the webite and I only see a milk chocoalte variety, with whole milk powder... Is there an actual vegan option?

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  6. It looks like the dark chocolate version's ingredients are vegan. They are listed right after the ingredients for the milk chocolate version, it just doesn't pop right out at you the way it's written.

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  7. These cookies really do bring me back... Haven't had M+M type cookies in years! It seems there's an unwritten rule that "adults" can't make rainbow-colored treats. I'm glad vegan options exist to break those rules. :)

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  8. Although the chocolates are vegan, they are still full of chemicals and artificial colors (which include parabens). Another example where vegan does not necessarily mean good for you...

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    1. I don't eat cookies because they are good for me. I am a vegan for purely ethical reasons. I couldn't care less about the health effects.

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    2. Uhm, okay....I don't mean to be rude but that sounds very immature. No, cookies are not innately healthy but to not care about what you put into yourself...that's obviously your choice, I just won't be following your blog.
      M

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    3. I am anything but immature. I eat healthy 90% of the time. I run an organic, vegan bakery. So when I bake at home I choose to divulge in artificial colors and preservatives and things that I don't use at work. Those are my choices. I'm not saying you should follow them.

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  9. Please please tell me they have a peanut m & m version....I miss those!

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  10. I made these according to the recipe but mine spread out a lot and were very thin.

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  11. I had been craving these cookies for quite some time. I finally got my hands on a pack of dark chocolate skippers by VNF and just made these cookies. Wow, so delicious! I followed the recipe exactly in a stand mixer and they came out perfect. Thank you!

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  12. I asked about the very nondescript "wax" listed in the ingredients in these and they replied saying it's a mixture of beeswax and carnauba wax. :/ The vegan m&m search continues...
    - B

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