Pawsome Cookies

"There’s so much incredible vegetarian and vegan food and I think it’s so exciting how many people are seeing that too!"

– Kim-Joy

Ingredients

• 200g [¾ cup plus 2 tbsp] salted butter, at room temperature, cubed (or vegan butter – use one that’s close to 80% fat content)

• 90g [½ cup minus 2 tsp] caster or granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

• 280g [2 cups plus 2 tbsp] plain [all-purpose] flour (to make gluten-free, substitute with a gluten-free plain flour blend plus ¾ tsp xanthan gum)

• 100g [⅓ cup] your favourite jam

Tip: Use a variety of different jams for different flavours and colours.

Please note: We haven’t done a carbon comparison for this purrfectly delicious sweet treat recipe (after all, who puts meat in sweet cookies!?) Enjoy!

Method

Line a rimmed baking sheet with baking paper or a silicone mat.

Add the butter, sugar and vanilla to a large bowl and beat together with a spoon or spatula until smooth and spreadable.

Add the flour (plus xanthan gum, if gluten-free) and mix until just combined. The dough should be slightly sticky, but soft and easy to handle.

Divide the dough into 16 roughly equal pieces, then roll each piece into a rough ball and flatten with the palm of your hand.

Arrange on the prepared baking sheet and press each cookie to create indents that resemble a cat paw – 1 larger indent with 4 smaller indents around it.

You can use your fingers, chopsticks or similar to create these indents.

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or in the freezer for 10 minutes, and preheat the oven to 160°C [325°F/Gas mark 3].

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and press the indents back down again (they will have risen up a little while baking). Using a small spoon, add a little jam to each indent, or put the jam into a piping [pastry] bag and pipe it into each indent, if easier. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until just ever so lightly browned at the edges and the jam looks set. Leave to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Store in an airtight container for 1–2 weeks.

44.3% less emissions than Malai Masala with chicken instead of broccoli.