Dairy Free, Soy Free Cowboy Cookies

When I first had to go lactose free, I was pretty upset about having to discontinue my love affair with Giradelli Milk Chocolate Chip cookies.  However, between the half pound of butter and all the milk in the chips, I knew we had to break up.  I struggled, cookie free except for the occasional Oreo until my wonderful sister in law sent me the recipe for cowboy cookies.  Cowboy cookies have been a big part of my life, until I had to give up soy.  In fact, we are in the process of adopting, and I had always assumed one of the first things we would do when our child is placed would be to make cowboy cookies.  I had a little slightly panicked pity party in my kitchen and may have shed a few tears over the fact I couldn't find shortening without soy.  My wonderful, kind, supportive husband saw how upset I was, did some research and discovered Spectrum Organics makes a soy free shortening, and they sell it at Target.  While there, I discovered they also sell Enjoy Life mini chips which are dairy soy and nut free. 

Let there be cookies! 

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups flour (I use unbleached all purpose)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Wet Ingredients:
1 cup Spectrum Organics Shortening (or use regular shortening if you don't have soy issues)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Additional Dry Ingredients:
2 cups quick oats (you can also use roller oats)
1 package Enjoy Life semi sweet chocolate chips (if you don't need to be soy free 1 cup of semi sweet mini chocolate chips is way cheaper)
1/2 cup sweetened coconut

Optional Ingredient:
1/2 cup chopped nuts (but only if you like your cookies defiled by nuts)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Mix dry ingredients and set aside.  Put shortening in your Kitchen Aid stand mixer and start it mixing.  Add remainder of wet ingredients one at a time.  Make sure kitchen aid is on stir and slowly add dry ingredient mixture.  Once you are reasonably sure it is mixed well enough turning the mixer up won't result in a flour cloud, turn it up one or two clicks.  Add additional dry ingredients one at a time.  Spoon them onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-12 min. 

Note:  My husband loves these cookies.  Once I offered to make some for him to take to a work pot luck.  He politely and lovingly declined because, and I'm paraphrasing here, they were ameba shaped.  I'm pretty sure I  just stared at him squinty eyed and said "but they taste good."  After a few moments, I just chalked it up to being one of those things I just need to accept without understanding.   After a bit of experimentation, I discovered if I use my melon baller to scoop out the dough and then squish the dough a little with my hand, the cookies are uniformly shaped enough that my husband approves.