Vegan White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Christmas cookie baking season has always been one of my favorite times of the year, since I was a little kid making cookies with my Mom.  We would always pick out several different kinds to make that sounded good to us or old favorites, make batches of them and freeze them to enjoy throughout the season or to later share!  I decided I wanted to bake something Christmasy last weekend and I happened to have some candy canes on hand, so I decided to bake some Vegan White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies to kick off the holiday cookie baking this year!

These are really simple and easy to make and I used my chocolate chip cookie dough base because it always comes out so perfect!  I used coconut oil for the fat in these, but if you do not care for coconut oil, you could use melted vegan butter instead.  These use apple sauce for the vegan egg replacement and it gives them a perfect chewy satisfying texture!  For the flour I used whole wheat pastry flour but you could use all purpose flour instead if you prefer, or even a gluten free all purpose flour (such as Bob's Red Mill gluten free all purpose baking flour which I have used with good results).

For the flavoring in these I used both vanilla and mint.  I used vanilla bean powder, but if you don't have that you could use extract instead.  I feel like I gave these just enough peppermint extract to flavor them but not overpower as the balance was perfect! I used chopped candy canes in these but if you wanted to use those round peppermints chopped up those would work as well, just make sure that they are vegan. For the white chocolate I used Pascha vegan white chocolate chips.

These cookies smelled amazing while baking and they tasted even better!  I mean the dough tasted amazing too, but the soft warm cookies with the gooey white chocolate chips and crunchy peppermints were simply heavenly!  If you are in the mood for some delicious cookies, definitely give these Vegan White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies a try!

Vegan White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Makes 16

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup applesauce at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla bean powder or pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour (for a lighter colored cookie)
• 1/2 cup chopped candy canes
• 1 cup vegan white chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees, and line two sheet pans with parchment.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the coconut oil, sugar, apple sauce and vanilla and peppermint extracts until well blended.
3. Mix in the salt, baking soda and baking powder then the flour until smooth.
4. Stir in the candy canes and white chocolate until they are evenly distributed.
5. Form the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on the cookie trays about 2 inches apart.
6. Press the dough balls down slightly.
7. Place the pans in the oven and bake for about 7 minutes, then rotate them and bake another 7 or so until the cookies are done and lightly brown at the edges.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before enjoying.