Eggnog Knots

Wahey! My mom sent me the latest Canadian Living Holiday Baking magazine!! Thanks Mom!! Those of you  who have followed me for awhile know I get this magazine every year and have great fun veganizing whatever I can :-) This year's was slightly different though as it was all cookies - no complaints here! Furthermore, the back even listed all the cookies that don't contain egg or dairy. Nice. So, what's the first cookie I make from it? One that needs veganizing, of course ;-) These just sounded so good, I do love my eggnog, click here for my drink recipe, and thought these looked very cute. So cute in fact I even copied their styling for my photo!

These are seriously good, the recipe called for an egg yolk which I was going to replace with just some cornstarch but then thought Birds custard powder would be better. It's basically just cornstarch anyway but the added colour makes it even look like an egg yolk! Well, they turned out perfect, the texture of these cookies is sublime, they really do melt in the mouth and the dough is so easy to work with. I wasn't however, that keen on their glaze for these. It was icing sugar, rum and nutmeg and I just found it a bit too bitter, too much rum perhaps? Yeah, I can't believe I'm saying that either..... So I had another go and made some Maple Cinnamon Knots. I didn't take a picture of these as they looked the same, just a little darker but were by far my favourites, whiskey and cinnamon flavours in the cookie then glazed in a maple glaze - lovely!

I'll post both versions here as really, I was the only one not too keen on the eggnog version, husband and in-laws both loved it. Basically you can change the flavours in these to whatever you like, you don't even have to add a spice, they would be nice just vanilla too. Recipe makes 20 'knots'.

Eggnog Knots:
50g vegan margarine
50g vegetable fat (shortening)
40g caster sugar (or granulated)
1/2 Tbsp Bird's custard powder
1/2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp dark rum
140g plain flour
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
Glaze:
110g icing sugar
2 Tbsp dark rum
1 tsp water
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Maple Cinnamon Knots:
50g vegan margarine
50g vegetable fat (shortening)
40g caster sugar (or granulated)
1/2 Tbsp Bird's Custard powder
1/2 Tbsp water
140g plain flour
1 Tbsp whiskey
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Maple Glaze:
110g icing sugar
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp hot water

Preheat oven to 150C / 300F and line a baking sheet with baking paper. In a large bowl mix the butter and vegetable fat until well blended. Add the sugar and whisk until light and fluffy. In a small bowl mix the custard powder with the water until dissolved. Add this to the butter mixture and whisk well, then whisk in the rum or whiskey. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt and spice. Add this to the wet mixture and stir until it just comes together, use your hands at the end if need be and form into a log.

Divide this into half. Roll one half into a 10" log shape then cut into 1" pieces. Repeat with the other half. Take each 1" piece and roll into a ball then into a 6" long rope. Tie into a knot, well, they say 'tie' really you are placing it into a knot shape then put it on the baking sheet. They don't get much bigger so they can be fairly close together here, just make sure they are not touching. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden underneath and firm to the touch. (Mine took the full 30).

Mix the glaze ingredients together in a heatproof bowl and whisk until smooth. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water - make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl and heat the glaze up until it is slightly warm.

Now take your still warm cookies and dunk in the glaze making sure they are entirely coated. Remove with a couple forks and place on a wire rack with baking paper underneath to catch the drips. Repeat until all are coated then leave to set and cool.

Source: Canadian Living Holiday Cookies Magazine, and Online.

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