Vegan Filled Cookies

This recipe is another childhood favorite of mine. Actually, the apricot was always the best in my humble opinion. My second favorite is strawberry. Apricots are so underrated and never get used enough in baking. Anyway, the best thing about this recipe is you can use any flavor of preserve that you like. 

My favorite way to eat them was to start with the edge of the cookie where it's not filled. Eat the entire edge then devour the part that has the preserves. 

While making these cookies vegan, I noticed I needed a little more flour than my original recipe called for. Just a little. Add enough to make the dough not sticky. I guess it depends on your climate and how you measure your flour. When measuring flour, you should always spoon the flour into your measuring cup. If you scoop it directly from the container it's in, it will be packed meaning more flour. 

The original recipe called for shortening but I decided to just try vegan butter and it worked perfectly fine. 

Let's get to the recipe. Here is what you will need. 

1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup vegan butter
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 1/4 cups flour, possible a little extra for non sticky dough
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp plant milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
preserves of your choice. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. 

Add the apple sauce, vanilla and milk and mix to combine. 

In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk to combine then gradually add to the creamed sugar. Do not over mix. 

Measure 1/2 inch balls and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Take a small piece of parchment and place over one of the little balls and gently press with the bottom of a glass or something flat. Press until the cookie is about 1/8 inch thin. If the dough is sticky, it needs more flour. Add a teaspoon at a time until the dough is easy to work with. They will be delicate so be gentle. 

Add about 1/2 tsp of your favorite preserves onto the center of the cookie. 

Make another little flattened disc shaped cookie and place over the cookie with the preserves and gently press the edges. 

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. 

Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking tray for a few minutes. Transfer to a cooling wrack or parchment lined counter top. 

Let cool completely and enjoy.