Dairy, Egg and Nut Free Cranberry Chocolate Drop Cookies

Valentine’s Day is only two weeks away. So now is the time to give these fabulous little chocolate sugar cookies a whirl. Even better, do it on a snowy day like today, when many of us mamas are trapped in the house with rambunctious kids. I love a good simple sugar cookie, and this chocolate version is just as yummy and easy to make. What I especially love is that the dough is very easy to roll out, unlike many sugar cookie recipes which are a pain in the butt to roll, a major pet peeve of mine when making cut out cookies.

On a separate note, my good friend Lori Sandler, owner of the famous Divvies Bakery and gorgeous cookbook The Divvies Bakery Cookbook is hosting Navigating Food Allergies, a cooking/talk show about how to cook for food allergies, shopping for ingredients and how to bring your food allergic kiddos into the kitchen with you to have some fun cooking! The show is sponsored by The Motherhood and ConAgra Foods (the maker of those miraculous Fleischman’s Unsalted and Dairy Free Margarine Sticks that I so heavily rely on). I will be joining her as co-host, as well as many of my other favorite food allergy bloggers, to join in the discussion with our own tips and tricks. The show is today, 1 pm EST/12 pm CST, and you can link in through here. Come with your questions and comments and I REALLY hope to see many of you there! Happy Baking Everyone!

DAIRY, EGG AND NUT FREE CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES

• 1 c. dairy free margarine (I use Fleischman’s)
• 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 2 1/4 tsp. good quality vanilla (I use Nielsen-Massey)
• 3 c. unbleached all purpose flour
• 3/4 c. cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the dairy free margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the applesauce and vanilla, and mix well. In a separate medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and mix until well incorporated.

Chill dough at least one hour in the fridge, or quick chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface. Dip cookie cutter into a small bowl of flour and cut dough into desired shapes. Add sprinkles or leave plain, and bake 10-13 minutes or until set. Cool completely on cookie sheets.