Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies

Being vegan doesn’t mean there is no indulgence. Craving for a snack one evening, I came across these cookies. They were originally shortbread, but I reduced the fat almost by half and made them into cookies. I love lemon poppy seed muffins, no wonder I loved these cookies too. Lemon in cookies is very interesting and the poppy seeds are mildly crunchy at the back of your mouth. These cookies are a keeper.

Ingredients

Unbleached all purpose flour – 1 cup
Poppy seeds – 1½ tbsp
Corn flour – 1½ tbsp
Nutmeg – 1/8 tsp
Salt – 1/8 tsp
Margarine – 5 tbsp
Sugar – 1/3 cup
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Lemon zest – 1 tbsp
Vanilla – 1 tsp
Water – 3 tbsp

Method

Preheat the oven to 375F. Mix flour, poppy seeds, corn flour, nutmeg and salt together. In a separate bowl, cream margarine, sugar, lemon juice, zest and vanilla together. Add the flour mixture to the margarine mixture and mix lightly. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of water at a time and knead very lightly till the dough comes together. Don’t add water more than necessary.

Line a baking sheet with silicone sheet or spray with a nonstick spray. Pinch a tbsp of dough, form a ball and lightly press flat. Bake until the edges are lightly brown, about 18-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and store in an air tight container. This yields about 13 cookies. Recipe adapted from Tassajara.