The Betty Crocker Project : Mocha Cookies

We recently made a purchase that has changed our mornings for good. And let's face it: having a better morning can change your life.

We got a coffee grinder.

Dan has been grinding us fresh coffee every morning, and the difference is just lovely. Now, there's a running joke in our family that I don't really drink coffee; I drink coffee-flavored soy milk. I'll admit it; I like my coffee to taste like Mocha Almond Ice Cream. But who wouldn't want that? That's one of the best flavors of ice cream there is, and if you can have more of it in your life in any form, why not enjoy it? You only get one life.

That's what I love about these cookies. They have a lot of what I I like.

Please consider this a trial run. I think I can make these guys a bit better with a few crushed almonds mixed in and changing the caramel sauce a bit, maybe mellowing the coffee flavor with some brown sugar. Expect it soon. Like, SOON.

If you're more of a black coffee type* and want some cookies that go great with your morning cup, or hate nuts, or you just can't wait to eat these... I don't blame you. They're cute little guys, and even without the brown sugar, they stay chewy.

Please excuse any typos; I'm a little caffeinated right now. Let's bake some cookies! WOO!

Mocha Cookies

• 2 Tablespoons Instant Coffee (Be sure and read your labels; you'd be surprised what isn't vegan.)
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon EnerG Egg Replacer
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Milk
• 1 Teaspoon Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Softened Margarine (Yeah, I know, that's a stick of Margarine. Cookies aren't good for you and these are no exception.)
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla
• 1 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Cup Baking Cocoa Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Caramel Drizzle

• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 Cup Agave Nectar
• 1 1/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Margarine
• 1 Cup Soy Milk

In a bowl, mix Instant Coffee, Egg Replacer, Vanilla and Soy Milk with a whisk. You want the Instant Coffee to start to dissolve. With your electric mixer, mix in the Margarine. Then, mix in the Sugar and Brown Sugar with the hand mixer. You're going to want to mix it for like 3 minutes. It will become a paste of coffee-flavored margarine and that's OK.

Now, one at a time, blend in the rest of the cookie ingredients with the hand mixer. If you need to, stir the ingredients in first with a large spoon before you use the electric mixer, to make sure you don't get that hilarious yet very messy powdery blow-back. Once it's completely blended--and like I said, it will be a heavy pasty kind of thing, so don't worry about that--cover with some foil and put in the fridge for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 375.

Once the dough is chilled, pull it out and knead it a bit with your hands in the bowl.
Then, cover a cookie sheet with foil. Take tablespoon portions of cookie dough and roll them into balls in your hands, and then flatten them slightly in your palms. They shouldn't be bigger than your palm or really all that thin. Place them on the covered cookie sheet, and then place the sheet in the oven. They bake very fast--like 5-7 minutes--so keep an eye on them. Cool them on a wire rack before adding the Caramel Drizzle, or the Drizzle will melt together.

While they cool, make this drizzle everyone is talking about.

In a saucepan, heat Agave Nectar, Brown Sugar and Margarine to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Boil for no more than 5 minutes.

With a whisk, blend in the Soy Milk and Powdered Sugar. You're going to really want to put your shoulder in there to make sure you get it really blended; no clumps of Powdered Sugar.

Now I tried 2 versions of the Drizzle. One was suppose to be like frosting and make a little layer on the cookie, and the other was crisscrossed all Starbucks style. I prefer the second because it was a bit prettier, but the first gives you more caramel. So I'll let you decide.

*They believe in nothing.