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A favorite cookie all year round, but especially at Christmas, these thick, soft cookies filled with a vegan cream cheese make for the best neighbor treats or goodie plates. Thick, soft and the perfect amount of chocolate these are crowd pleasers. These are also free of: gluten, dairy, egg, peanut & tree nuts; as well as vegan too (with a soy free option)!

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My mom was never one to do large goodie plates for the holidays. She was a fabulous baker, but would usually stick to one thing to give to the neighbors. Then, in high school, I got invited to my friend Kayla’s house and asked if I wanted to him them make goodie plates. I still remember the awe when I saw the large assortment of items they made. It seemed like pure heaven to a sugar junkie/baker enthusiast. I remember coming home and declaring we had to start doing them like Kayla!

Ever since then, I’ve loved doing a good variety of treats to my neighbors. I love having different sweets to pick from. One of our favorite holiday rotation cookies are homemade oreos. I mean, just about everyone loves regular oreos–so why not make them soft, thick, homemade and 10xs better? (PLUS ALLERGY FRIENDLY!??)

I prefer these a million times over to the stale, store bought kind. It’s at least double the height (more to love!) and doesn’t break your teeth when you bite it. Plus, I can control how much filling I want and believe-you-me…I SLATHER on that vegan cream cheese frosting!

If you have kids like I do, my boys like helping me scoop and release the batter with our favorite cookie scooper, and then they can stick the cookies together once I’ve frosted them. Nothing makes holiday baking feel even more festive than getting your family involved…that plus a REALLY good Christmas Pandora music station blaring while you bake.

Another good reason these cookies are amazing…you get to eat two cookies and say you’ve “only” had one oreo!

These were a great bribery for the kids. My oldest ate them completely, while my youngest loved to lick the frosting from the edges first. No matter how you eat them–you’ll be sure to like them!

Also, be sure to pay attention to the recipe–I give two different options for the butter/oil that you can use. AND: If you cannot do soy (which is in the vegan cream cheese, you can sub it out for The Best Dairy-free Vanilla Frosting.

I hope that as you assemble your goodie plates, that you have fun doing it and even more fun giving them away. May your build up to Christmas continue to be merry and bright–as well as safe and inclusive!

Oh–and PS–do you follow me on Instagram? I’ve recently started doing Instagram stories and I did a tutorial on how to smash these cookies to get them just perfectly flat for stacking. Be sure to follow me! 🙂

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Allergy-Friendly Homemade Oreos (Gluten, dairy, egg, peanut & tree nut free; top 8 free; vegan)

Yield: 18 sandwich cookiesPrep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 7 minutes Total Time: 37 minutes

A favorite cookie all year round, but especially at Christmas, these thick, soft cookies filled with a vegan cream cheese make for the best neighbor treats or goodie plates. Thick, soft and the perfect amount of chocolate these are crowd pleasers. These are also free of: gluten, dairy, egg, peanut & tree nuts; as well as vegan too!

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Ingredients

• COOKIE:
• 2 and 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix
• 1 and 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup canola oil (or Earth Balance–see below*)
• 2/3 cup Vanilla Rice Milk (recipe calls for original, but I think you can never have enough vanilla)
• VEGAN CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
• (If you cannot do soy, use this frosting)
• 1/2 cup vegan cream cheese, softened (such as Tofutti or Daiya)
• 1/3 cup vegan butter, softened (such as Earth Balance butter sticks)
• 2 and 1/2 – 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. (*I understand not everyone will want to use canola oil in their cookies. It will make the edges a bit crispy, and makes the dough a little greasy to work with. The perk is that it’s cheaper, easier to find, and does not stick! The ones in these photos, used canola oil.
2. If you’d rather use Earth Balance, the dough will be quite sticky (you’ll need to grease your hands and cookie scooper, as well as the cookie sheet.) They do now have soy-free version, so you have lots of options that way. I’ve done it both ways and been happy with either results, I just wanted to give options!)
3. Preheat oven to 325. Grease a baking sheet, if you’re using the Earth Balance.
4. In a stand mixer, combine the flour mix, cocoa, xanthan, baking soda, cream of tartar, sugar and salt. Mix thoroughly, being sure to work out any lumps of cocoa powder.
5. Next, add the wet ingredients: canola oil (or Earth Balance) and rice milk. Mix until combined, scraping down the sides as necessary.
6. Scoop out the dough and place on cooking sheets. I like to use my cookie scooper, so that they’re all uniform since you’ll be making the sandwiches and want them to fit together.
7. Baker at the center of the oven for 7-9 minutes. Do NOT overcook, as they will dry easily. If you start to smell them, run for the oven! I know this seems like a small amount of time, but they really don’t need longer. They may be a tad bit soft when you pull them out, so you’ll need to be careful moving them to a cooling wrack, but as they cool, they will end up being the perfect temperature!
8. If they are a bit raised/rounded on the top, I simply take a large cup and lightly press them down, to make sure that they’re nice and flat, which makes for easier stacking and frosting before I move them off the pan.
9. While they cool, make the frosting.
10. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese until well blended. Add the vanilla. Slowly add the powdered sugar until it reaches the thickness that you want.
11. Once the cookies have cooled, spread a generous amount of frosting on one cookie, and then top it with another.
12. Keep any cookies you don’t inhale in an air-tight container.

Cookie recipe taken from my: Double Choco Chip Cookies and the frosting recipe slightly adapted from: Minimalist Baker

Don’t forget to pin it, so you don’t lose it! PLUS: Be sure to check out my other allergy-friendly PINTEREST BOARDS.