THAI EXPLOSION Tea Cookies

I've decided that my health and my wallet have a specific relationship to the visits I make to Trader Joe's: that is, I no longer buy food at TJs; I buy coffee, beer, candy, and processed soythings (ok, tempeh is still a food).  At the farmers market and at my local grocery, I buy things like vegetables, dried beans, nuts, and rice.  That is to say, the things I spend the most money on are some of the least nutritious.

This recipe developed this afternoon because I wanted to make cookies, but had no Earth Balance (because I usually get it at Trader Joe's, and I haven't been in a while).  I was going to make a crazier version of these peanut butter cookies with chili and coconut, but then I realized that someone who's allergic to nuts might want to eat them this evening.  Thus, this recipe.

These cookies taste great: first you taste lime and whole chunks of ginger; then you get a pretty strong kick of cayenne.  The texture, however, isn't my favorite: like the Marbled Pumpkin-Chocolate Cookies, they're rather cakey, almost like an American biscuit (but tiny and interesting).  I think next time they need more oil!  Of course, if these are "tea" cookies, maybe a cakier consistency is okay.  Also, the oddest thing of all is that the outside crust feels exactly like animal crackers in your mouth.

THAI EXPLOSION Tea Cookies

Ingredients

3 c white flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

*

zest of 2 limes

2 TB minced ginger

3/4 c brown rice syrup

1 TB sugar

scant 1/2 c olive oil

1/4 c water

1 tsp vanilla

2 "eggs" (ener-g egg replacer), optional (probably not necessary)

*

1/2 c unsweetened coconut

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350*.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In one large bowl, combine dry; in another, combine wet.
3. Add wet to dry and mix only until combined.  Stir in coconut.  Refrigerate if dough is too soft to handle.
4. Form dough into small balls and place on baking sheet, at least 2 in apart.  Smush them gently.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Makes about 5 dozen.