Foodiva's Kitchen: V.I.P. Tamarind-Coconut Cookies (Vegan)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

V.I.P. Tamarind-Coconut Cookies (Vegan)

A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand. ~ Author Unknown


You must be thinking, what weirdly-shaped cookies are those? Yes they are weird-looking and for good reason. My sister, who lives in Switzerland, is currently home on holiday and she bought me this set of adorable V.I.P. cookie-cutters by Birkmann. The abbreviation stands for Very Important Plätzchen (meaning 'cookies' in German) and as far as sweet things rank for a sweet tooth like me, they are very important indeed. The special deal about these cutters is that they create cut-outs in the cookies to enable you to hang them off the edge of a glass or mug, or allow you to tidily tie a ribbon in a stack of these if you're gifting them away. Don't you simply want to hug the person who thought of this coolness?

My Very Important Plätzchen cutters

I was keen to try these cutters out, so I quickly rustled up an easy recipe the day after I got them (did I mention I was keen?). My initial thought was to pair tamarind flavor with white chocolate, but after running and tasting a batch of these, I decided that the tamarind would actually go better with coconut milk. That's the great thing about creating your own recipe, isn't it... it's yours to change whatever at whichever stage of the process. Total freedom, I'm all for it.

These two could well go down a dream, but I as matchmaker said 'No'.

Normally when I bake cookies, or anything for that matter but especially cookies, I would use butter. Chunks of it. I love the rich taste and melt-in-your-mouth texture that it imparts and not only I, but my thighs seem to love butter too (cellulite has a certain texture, correct?). Well, yes. I do feel slightly sorry for people who can't or won't take butter, but am enlightened enough to know that everyone chooses their path in this life for whatever reason they feel closest to. So yeah, mine is to bake cookies with butter...normally.

As you can probably tell, I'm far from being vegan but all those time spent cruising around to vegan bloggers' sites must've rubbed off on me. On the day I made these, I plucked up the courage to eliminate butter and create my first vegan cookie recipe.


Truthfully, the absence of butter didn't render these four-leafed clover cookies useless at all. In fact, they tasted wonderful if not exactly shortbread-like (hey, you win some, you lose some). The coconut milk added a certain sweet depth and next time, I would add more tamarind paste to accentuate its tart flavor. Out of curiosity, I dipped a few in melted white chocolate but the sweetness was overpowering so decided it was better to ditch the chocolate.

This has been a lovely experience. The truth is, though.... I can't wait to get back to butter!

Hang off the glass or tie a ribbon around the notch for gifting!


V.I.P. Tamarind-Coconut Cookies
Makes: 60 small cookies
Ingredients:
Wet mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon tamarind paste

Dry mix
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

Method:
1. Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl, then mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Start pouring the wet mix into the dry mix and stir until well combined. You should get a very soft dough. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes before rolling out.
2. To cut cookies, line workspace with wax paper, roll the dough flat to about 1/2 cm thick. Dip the cookie cutter in flour and cut shapes by pressing down on the dough. Dip cutter in flour in between cuts to prevent the dough from sticking to the cutter. Remove the extra dough around the shapes with a toothpick and transfer the shaped cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick parchment paper.
3. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 170C/350F. Leave to cool on tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

32 comments:

Jenny (VintageSugarcube) said...

Those cookie cutters are sooo cute Maya! It pays to have a sister in a different country eh?

penny aka jeroxie said...

How cute are the cutters? I am going to check out my local to see if there are any.. fingers cross.

Unknown said...

Friends and siblings who live abroad are definitely a bonus, Jenny! Of course it'd be better if they were close by and we could see them all the time!

Unknown said...

Penny, if you manage to find any cool cutters like these in Melbourne, make something and show us in a post!

Tes said...

Such a beautiful post! The cookies cutter are so sweet and the recipe seems really interesting. I love tamarind. This is so perfect :)

Yesim said...

nice cookies, i liked the cutters , never seen that kinda shape before,

Torviewtoronto said...

These look delicious and cool bookmarking

Carolyn said...

Wow, those cookie cutters are truly awesome! And I love the flavour combo here. As ever, you are breaking new ground, Maya!

FOODESSA said...

Not to long ago, I became acquanted with tamarind and immediately loved it. So, how wonderful for me to find a cookie which highlights it to go with (I agree) butter next time! Or, at the very least SOME butter...my hips need a little encouragement too. LOL

These cookies can hang on my coffee mug any day ;o)
Thanks Maya for keeping it interesting.

Ciao for now and flavourful wishes,
Claudia

Sandra said...

Oh wowww..amazing presentation, and your cookies looks so cute! I love it!

Unknown said...

I love the cookie cutters, I love coconut and tamarind in the cookies..what a great post! I am so hungry now!!
:-)

Kate @ Diethood.com said...

Oh my, I love the cookies, I love the cookie cutters, I love the presentation! Great job!

Evan Thomas said...

Great recipe! I've never tried baking with tamarind. It must have an impressive flavor.

Steph said...

These cookie cutters are awesome! And I loved how you attached your cookies to a vareity of things :) Very cool, and yummy!

Kim - Liv Life said...

Loving these!! I like the different shape, and I'm eager to try tamarind. I've read about it for so long, but your cookies are inspiring me to actually go out and buy some. I haven't actually seen the paste around, but I have a feeling I know which store will carry it. Thanks!

Stormy @LaMaoomba said...

I love these cookie cutters! What a great idea. The recipe sounds delicious, as well.

Nourhan @ Miss Anthropist's Kitchen said...

Those cookie cutters are adorable and the recipe looks delicious! Thanks for sharing :)

Amy Bakes Everything said...

And you, my friend, have discovered the coolest cookie cutters ever! Those cookies sound super amazing, too!

Kita said...

These look so yummy! I have only been able to work with tamarind once before and this would be a great excuse to use some more! Those cookie cutters are adorable as well.

art is in the kitchen said...

What incredible cookie shapes Maya!!! Fantastic gift from your sister! I am just crazy about new kitchen gadgets. I even invent some at home. Very cute hang off the glass and ribbon idea!!! I have to try your tamarind cookie! They must really taste delicious! This post is filling my mind with wonderful ideas and things to create! Thank you very much indeed!

Unknown said...

Wow Arthur, you must teach me how to invent my own kitchen gadgets! Like you, I go gaga over gadgets and being in the kitchenware shop is like being in a candy store for a big kid like me! Thank you for your encouraging comments, as always, they motivate me to do better.

lena said...

those cookie cutters are cool, guests would be so impressed lloking at those cookies sticking out from their mugs. thanks for showing us this, must check out these cutters. Creating your own recipe is simply brilliant!

briarrose said...

Awesome cookie cutters! Love them.

blackbookkitchendiaries said...

these cutters are so cool. your sister is just so sweet. i love how innovative you are in the kitchen. another great post. thanks for sharing.

Anca@Bistro Gerard said...

Those cookie cutters and resulting cookies are sooo cute! I've never made vegan cookies or used tamarind in sweets before, but now I'm definitely tempted...

Chef Dennis Littley said...

what a cute little cookie! I knew that notch had to be for something, how ingenious is that. Thanks for such a tasty little cookie, now if I only had a few to enjoy this morning!
Dennis

Kimberly Peterson said...

I really like your cookie cutter it's such a unique shape!! Kinda reminds me of a jigsaw puzzle for some reason... lol.

Magic of Spice said...

What a fun gift...these cookies are wonderful and so cute :)

Tasty Trix said...

Your photos here are gorgeous!!! Amazing light. The cookie shape is practical, yet whimsical, and your flavor combinations are really creative!

C&C Cakery said...

This interesting combo really catches my attention - I put tamarind on almost everything, why not my cookies? These cookies are now on my must-try list! Thank you for sharing!

Edible Art said...

these ARE clever!
ahhh i want someee cookie cutters !
ill have to search online,

anyway, youre picture for them are beautiful , def. a fan ^ ^

A little bit of everything said...

the cutters are so amazing. love the idea
tamarind and coconut sounds like a delicious cookie combo.
the presentation is stunning as usual.
thanks for sharing Maya, hope you'll have a wonderful Monday

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