the tolerant vegan

It’s a quiet day in TTV land. Court Kitty is perched by the bathroom window, watching the squirrels dig through the neighbor’s garden.

Sebastian has claimed the camera case as his bed

and Harrison is watching from up high, the King of the Wok, looking over us all and laughing at how silly we are for doing anything other than napping

I’ve spent the morning thinking about Kentucky. In just under six weeks, Moose and I will be heading to the Bluegrass State for the holidays and I can’t wait.

These cookies were inspired by my mom and her love for chocolate-covered cherries. Chocolate-covered cherries are the one gift that she is always guaranteed to receive on Christmas morning. When I was a kid, I didn’t really understand the appeal. Soggy cherries swimming in some kind of weird gel, dipped in chocolate? No thanks.

But now that this traditional candy has been transformed into a chewy cookie, I’m totally on the chocolate cherry bandwagon.

So preheat your oven, friends! It’s cookie time!

Chocolate-Covered Cherry Cookies
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home
Makes approximately 24 cookies
Printable recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread
• 1 cup refined sugar
• 1/2 ripe banana, mashed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 24 dark morello cherries in syrup
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup non-dairy vanilla milk (I used soy)
• 3 teaspoons morello cherry juice, from jar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place the Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread and refined sugar in a large bowl. Mix on low-medium speed until fluffy.