Vegan Texas Sheet Cake Cookies {Vegan, Gluten-Free}
I recently came across Texas sheet cake cookies on Facebook and thought they looked rather interesting. AND, rather surprisingly, it’s a cookie I’ve never had before. Chocolate fudgy cookies with a chocolate glaze? Yes ma’am, sign me up! While a lot of recipes use a boxed cake mix, I decided to go a different route with mine. For those with food allergies, it’s much safer to make everything from scratch so that you know what is in your food, and you can eat it with confidence. Like most of the recipes on my blog, these cookies are both vegan and gluten-free, but can easily be ‘converted back.’ They are also really easy to make, and they freeze well! Also, for this recipe, instead of using earth balance butter I switched over to Country Crock plant butter with olive oil, and it works really well and tastes great! It is substantially cheaper than the Earth Balance sticks, which is why I decided to give it a try. It also slices really nicely, just out of the refrigerator. You don’t have to let it warm up. Ok, now onto making some cookies!
Because this is not something I grew up making at home, I am not sure I am going to be able to do the history of it justice here. The Texas Sheet Cake has an extensive history, and one that is actually difficult to trace. From the reading that I did on it, there are a few commonalities. The Texas sheet cake is typically made in a jelly roll pan. This leads to a large cake that is short in height, like a brownie. Nearly all the recipes use buttermilk and pecans. Sometimes the pecans are in the cake itself, other times they are put in the glaze. Some recipes contain cinnamon. And the cake itself, is topped with a delicious chocolate glaze (similar to my sugar cookie recipe). And of course, as time goes on, the Texas sheet cake, like other cakes and quick breads, has been turned into a cookie for convenience. You can read more here to get more information on the history of it.
Yes! Glaze and all! To freeze, arrange them on a baking sheet in one layer and place in the freezer. After they are frozen, transfer them to a labeled zip-loc bag and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a cooling rack on a large baking sheet and set aside. This setup will be used to glaze the cookies after they have cooled. In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except the flour and melted chocolate.
Step 2. Add in all of the flour, and mix until incorporated.
Step 3. To incorporate the melted chocolate, I first started off by mixing in most of it with a large mixing spoon. As the chocolate cooled, it became a lot harder to mix in. I mixed the rest of it in with my hands, to make sure it was all incorporated.
Step 4. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet and flatten with your hands. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Remove cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool for 3 minutes on the cookie sheet. Then transfer them to the cooling rack to finish cooling.
Step 5. After you are finished baking all of the cookies, make the glaze. Add melted butter, milk of your choice, unsweetened cocoa powder, and vanilla extract to a microwave-safe medium-sized bowl, and mix with a whisk until combined. Add in the confectioner’s sugar, and whisk until smooth. Depending on how fast your mixture cools, you might find that the confectioner’s sugar doesn’t mix in all the way. If that’s the case, stick the bowl in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Whisk again, and you should find that the remaining sugar dissolves and you are left with a smooth glaze.
Step 6. After the cookies have completely cooled, pour or spoon the glaze over the cookies.
More Recipes Like This
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- Vegan Banana Cookies {Vegan, Gluten-Free}
- Vegan Double Chocolate Zucchini Cookies {Vegan, Gluten-Free}
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls {Vegan, Gluten-Free}
- Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pulp Cookies {Vegan}
- Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies {Vegan, Gluten-Free}
Vegan Texas Sheet Cake Cookies {Vegan, Gluten-Free}
Ingredients
Cookies
- 6 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter of your choice (I used Country Crock plant butter with olive oil)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce OR 1 egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 1/3 cup gluten-free flour (I used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free 1:1 baking flour) OR 1 1/3 cups regular all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips of your choice, melted (I used Enjoy Life)
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons milk of your choice (I used original almond milk)
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a cooling rack on a large baking sheet. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except the flour and melted chocolate.
- Add in all of the flour, and mix until incorporated.
- Fold in melted chocolate until just combined. You might have to use your hands to mix the dough to get all of the chocolate mixed in.
- Drop by rounded tablespoon on ungreased cookie sheet. Use your fingers to flatten out the cookies.
- Bake for 7-8 minutes.
- Remove cookies from the oven, and transfer to the cooling rack to cool.
- After all the cookies are baked and have cooled off, make the glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, milk of your choice, unsweetened cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. Add in confectioner's sugar, and whisk until smooth. If lumps remain, place bowl in microwave, heat for 20-30 seconds (1000W microwave), and then whisk again until all of the lumps have dissolved.
- Pour or spoon the glaze over the cooled cookies. Enjoy!
Notes
Recipe adapted from Cookies and Cups
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