Earth Cookies for Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!

What a great day to take the time to think about what we can do to reduce our ecological footprint on Earth! What do you usually do? Recycle? Eat organic food? Eat local? Etc. Etc.

I’ve never talked about this on my blog, but I’m very concerned about environmental issues (as well as animal welfare) and have been for as long as I can remember. I had to do something to show my support even if it’s just a simple Earth Cookie. It gives us a chance to talk about this matter.

When I was just a little girl, I had these information sheets about animals and there were additional ones which addressed environmental issues (we are talking about 20 years ago!!). I distinctly remember pictures of fish, birds and mammals trapped in oil or in 6-packs rings. From this moment on, I was a little ashamed of being human. And about these 6-packs rings, I developed a compulsion where each time I have one at home, I cut every single little holes just to be sure no animal can be trapped in it. We do what we can, right?

As a Quebecer, Canadian, this day takes an all-new meaning too because since we elected our new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, our involvement in environmental protection diminished (not to say vanished). Mister Harper pulled Canada out of Kyoto Protocol (we are the only country who withdrew!), unprotected a lot of rivers and backed up oil sands companies (this isn’t new, though). And this is just a few examples because in Quebec we have other matters like the Plan Nord and gas exploitation coming our way. This is all very frustrating!!!

I’ll finish this topic by inviting you to see these 50 ways to help the planet ***. I know sometimes it’s very frustrating to “do your part” and see that powerful people or your neighbor don’t give a s**t. But I hope that someday more people will join the battle and the children of our children can still enjoy the beauties of our planet.

Let’s save the planet together <3

*** It’s funny because in this list there is “Don’t preheat your oven”. I never do. I am thinking a little about the energy, but mostly I don’t do it because I always take too much time to do a recipe!

(Oh and these cookies are DE-LI-CIOUS!!!)

Marjorie
xxxx

Chocolate Malt Cookies
Yield: 36 cookies
Adapted from The Faux Martha

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
  
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons chocolate malt powder
• 1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.
2. Combine together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg. Add the chocolate malt powder.
4. Slowly add in flour mixture until evenly incorporated.
5. Roll dough into teaspoon-sized balls. Flatten balls with the bottom of a glass. Bake up to 16 on a sheet leaving a 1-inch space between each cookie. They will spread about half a inch.
6. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool for 1 minute on baking sheet and carefully transfer to a cooling rack.
7. Allow to cool completely before decorating.

Royal icing

• ½ cup cold water
• ¼ cup meringue powder
• 4 cups sifted powdered sugar.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Beat meringue powder with water until peaks form.
2. Add the powdered sugar and beat until combine.
3. Separate the royal icing in two and color one part in blue and the other one in green.
4. Add half of the blue icing to a piping bag fitted with a #2 tip. Pipe a circle following your cookie’s shape. Let dry about 5 minutes.
5. Now you need a more liquid royal icing. Add a little water to the remaining blue icing until it spreads quite fast, but not too much. With a spoon, put a little royal icing in the center of the cookie. With a toothpick, drag the icing to the edges. You can burst any air bubble with the thootpick. Let dry.
6. Add half of the green royal icing to a piping bag fitted with a #2 tip. Pipe the outline of continents on each cookies. Add a little water to the remaining green icing until it spreads quite fast, but not too much. With a spoon, put a little royal icing in the center of the continent. With a toothpick, drag the icing to the edges. You are done!