{"id":5987,"date":"2009-11-06T12:33:25","date_gmt":"2009-11-06T17:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/?p=5987"},"modified":"2022-05-08T22:49:33","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T02:49:33","slug":"vegan-gingerbread","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/vegan-gingerbread\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegan Gingerbread Stout Cookies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beer Isn’t Vegan?<\/h2>\n

\"BottleYippee, it’s Sweet-Tooth Friday!  It’s Christine here with the first “festive” dessert of the season!  I wanted to make a vegan version of my famous Guinness<\/a> gingerbread, but boy was I in for a surprise when I typed the words ‘vegan’ and ‘Guinness’ together in my search engine – instead of yummy recipes I found lots of discussions on how Guinness (and other cask beers) are not vegetarian friendly!<\/p>\n

Really?  Beer isn’t naturally vegan?  Turns out, many use a fish product called isinglass to filter cask beers.  I can’t believe I had been in the dark about this.  Shouldn’t that kind of information be on the label?<\/p>\n

Actually, the FDA requires food and beverage labeling, but alcohol is governed by a different agency.  Right now, alcohol companies really only need to back up their product with the facts if they make certain claims, like the beer is organic or low-calorie.  I read one comment<\/a> against labeling alcohol that was particularly hilarious: “Wine fined with isinglass labeled ‘Contains: Fish’ would wreak havoc on consumer perceptions.”  Um, yeah, it would!  But is the right response to that just keep the offensive ingredient a secret?<\/p>\n

I understand that transparency is not a black and white issue.  Among many problems is that it is expensive, especially for the smaller companies.  But if it is for something I put into my body, and the economics have worked out over on the FDA side, it seems like it should be worth it.  I don’t think I’ve heard any of the low-cal beers feeling the hardships of their labels (though most are from large companies).  My impression is that it would be a competitive advantage to let consumers have the information to choose.<\/p>\n

After all, lots of people are concerned about calories and carbs.  And the sugar content would be great for diabetics to access.  But you know what’s totally frustrating?  While reading the official 26 page proposal on labeling, I could not find one petition for vegetarians.  With all these health concerns, the use of isinglass, egg whites, bone charcoal, or any other animal product in alcoholic beverages somehow was not an issue.  Luckily, Guinness has confirmed that their Extra Stout is in fact vegan.<\/p>\n

Vegan Gingerbread Cookies with Guinness Stout<\/h2>\n

\"Gingerbread<\/p>\n

So, without further ado, I give you truly vegan gingerbread cookies, made with Guinness Extra Stout.  I modified this recipe from one on the wonderful site The Post Punk Kitchen, where vegan really does rawk.  My main change was adding the Guinness as the liquid.  I simmered it down to concentrate the flavor and get rid of the alcohol.  I also wanted a really super thin and crisp cookie, so I switched to powdered sugar instead of granulated, a trick I picked up from a certain cookie guru.  Then I made up my own Guinness flavored royal icing!<\/p>\n

Ingredients:<\/em><\/p>\n