Ladyfingers are not only delightful cookies that can be enjoyed with a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate, but they are also the base for the wonderful dessert that is Tiramisu. Unfortunately, finding vegan ladyfingers in a grocery store is next to impossible, so the only option if you want them is to make them yourself. The process for making ladyfingers is similar to making Mandel broit: first you make a cake, then you slice it and bake the slices. Once you have the ladyfingers baked, you can use them in a wide range of desserts from trifles to Tiramisu. Yes, you can use a yellow cake in its place, but if you are going to have to make that anyway, why not make the actual item you need?

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 28-30 cookies.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup water
Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. Set pad aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and cornstarch.

3. In a small bowl, combine the oil, water and vanilla. Mix well and add to the dry ingredients. Stir until completely smooth. The batter will be thicker than a typical cake batter.

4. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

Cake all baked and golden.

5. Once cooled, cut the cake into lady finger strips. First cut the cake in half horizontally. Then cut each half in half again, this time vertically. Slice each quarter into cookies. Each cookie should be about 4 inches long, 1/2 inch wide and an inch high.

Sliced cookies ready for a second baking.

6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the cake strips on the parchment. Re-bake them at 350 for 15 minutes or until they are just brown. You want them dry, but not too hard.

7. Remove from oven and set the cookies aside to cool.