Earth Day cookies...nom nom nom

Happy Earth Day to everyone! Change is in the air, can you feel it? Today there has been a change in the Arizona air, literally. I went outside and had the shivers! We are having Chicago weather, one day hot the next day freakin' cold. Courtney knows what I am talking about, right? Besides the temperature change there is something else, I know it sounds corny or whatever, but I think this trend of everyone going "green" could really make a difference in our lives. I know, over the top optimistic, but I am seeing big brand companies rethinking the way they do business from their production lines (using alternative fuels) all the way down to the very materials they are using or in many cases re-using. So many restaurants are jumping on the organic and local bandwagon, it is making me silly happy. I even hear Chipotle is offering a faux Vegan chicken to put in their colossal burritos (factory farming is horrible on the environment). I hope this is one fad that sticks around, I do not ever plan on having children myself, but that does not mean I am not concerned with providing a happy healthy environment for the future offspring of the human species.

I try to do my part, I ride a bike, I am a localvore or whatever "in" word there is for buying local foods, we are trying to have a fruitful organic garden in our home, I have switched all the light bulbs, my carbon footprint is pretty minuscule. So to celebrate my achievements of treading lightly on this beautiful Earth I have awarded myself with cookies, so many in fact I need to go work out...like now!

I made Rocky Road cookies based off of the Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar book. The recipe is great, so great the Rocky Road cookie is on the cover of the book! The only thing that was lacking was marshmallows. But Rikki, you say, marshmallows are not Vegan, but fear not my dears, there are some that are. In fact the original recipe for marshmallows did not use ground up horse bones (gelatin) they used the actual marshmallow plant root. The company Sweet and Sarah make amazing marshmallow treats that are Vegan and oh so tasty! So in addition to cutting back the sugar and using raw slivered almonds instead of roasted, I added 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows. These cookies were little discs of heaven. They are so chocolaty and soft that it is easy to eat two or three or four in one sitting. If you have not tried this recipe yet, you must! This cookie will sing to the very core of your soul, or whatever. (: