This is part of a new project – virtual cooking for friends during #COVID19)
Fleur Perry joins us in adding her own favourite recipe.
— This year has been unkind to everyone, and many people have responded with kindness.
Everyone’s locked down, some of us are even still shielding, and the only way any of us are getting through this is by supporting each other. I’ve started thinking of this as Mutually Assured Survival.
There’s been a lot of people who have spotted when I’ve floundered, and sent me exactly what was needed at exactly the right moment. At least half of these people happen to fly the rainbow flag, and so I’ve chosen to make Pride cookies as a way of saying thank you. I won’t embarrass you by saying who you are, but you know.
I made them originally during Pride Month, but you can eat solidarity cookies at any time of year. There’s no rules. Just crunchy chocolaty goodness.
Cookies won’t solve the problem of some LGBTQ+ disabled people being locked down with and relying on unsupportive family or care staff. I know people in this situation, and the pandemic has made it much harder, if not impossible, to live independently for the first time, or change care provider, or hire new PAs.
Cookies will not change the fact that when travel becomes safer, there are still some places where some of my friends won’t be safe. There are some destinations which will never get my money, until everyone else can go there too.
Cookies can’t remove accessibility barriers to events, meaning that even when people can be together again, some will still be left out. Ramps and accessible toilets and quieter spaces and video subtitles and so on are all well-established ideas; exclusion is unnecessary.
… but cookies do taste good!
Weigh out the flour and chocolate 
Mix everything together. 
Cream together 
add the vanilla and cornflour liquid 
Roll the mixture into balls 
cookie to go with a beverage
Ingredients:
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
80g colourful chocolate drops (vegan)
110g sunflower spread
150g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 teaspoon warm water
Cooking Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180C.
- Weigh out the flour and chocolate. Add the baking powder and mix together.
- In a mug, mix the cornflour with a little warm water. This is what replaces the egg in a traditional cookie recipe, and it works surprisingly well.
- Weigh out the sugar and sunflower spread (by weighing them together, you make it easier to clean the pan as the spread does not stick). Cream together, and add the vanilla and cornflour liquid.
- Mix everything together.
- Roll the mixture into balls, and place on a tray, leaving room for them to spread.
- Bake for about 12 minutes.
- Remove them from the oven, and then drop the tray from about 10cm. No, really, I’m serious! This flattens them and gives them a good look and texture. There’s also something quite satisfying about the noise, but if you would like to make them more quietly, place a tea towel underneath before you drop the tray.
- Allow to cool, and serve with tea.
Note: These are vegan, but that doesn’t mean they’re healthy. There is a lot of sugar in here! At some point I plan to try to make them with dried berries and pistachios and other colourful and tasty inclusions, but in the meantime, if anyone would like me to experiment with a sugar-free or gluten-free version, please let me know.
Fleur enjoys experimenting with new recipes and cooking old favourites. Always assisted by someone who can take care of the chopping, lifting, and mixing, Fleur’s role in the kitchen is to create new flavour combinations, find ways of changing recipes to include what she has in the house or to work around her intolerances, and to lick the bowl.
Assisted by SW.