What can I substitute for whiskey in a cookie recipe?

Old family recipe has 1tsp of whiskey in it. Need suggestions for substitute

Food odyssea
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9 Comments

Nancy September 17, 2014
If you think of the smoky and umami flavors in whisky, you might achieve an interesting using any smoky dried pepper (paprika, Aleppo, chipotle etc). These peppers also enhance all flavors, and are known to go with chocolate (see Mexican cooking).
 
Food O. September 16, 2014
Pretending and going to try the vanilla bean. Thanks all!
 
Food O. September 16, 2014
Did not know vanilla was alcohol. I've always baked with vanilla. Maybe ignorance is bliss. I'm going to eliminate the whiskey. Thanks for all your suggestions. The cookies are basic butter cookies with one chocolate chip pushed into the middle.
 
Susan W. September 16, 2014
Yes..pretend I didn't tell you about the vanilla. They sound similar to a Greek butter cookie my Grandmother used to make. They called for a tiny bit of whiskey.
 
Susan W. September 16, 2014
You could also use a vanilla bean. It would look very cool with the little black flecks.
 
jilhil September 16, 2014
If you need to avoid all alcohol you may have a problem with standard vanilla extract as it does contain alcohol. Unless the recipe makes a really small amount (with the whiskey being a strong part of the flavor) I'd just leave it out and not substitute anything for it.

If the small amount of alcohol in the vanilla extract is also a problem, there are some vanilla flavoring options that don't use alcohol (vanilla sugar, for example). Another option might be to move toward fruit Flavors where you can add juice and zest tins read of the whiskey and vanilla.
 
Food O. September 16, 2014
I need to avoid all alcohol. Vanilla is already an ingredient.
 
Susan W. September 16, 2014
Oohh got it. Vanilla is practically all alcohol. If it's a chocolate cookie, you could use powdered espresso or coffee. It's hard to make suggestions without knowing the flavor of the cookie.
 
Susan W. September 16, 2014
Vanilla, cognac, brandy...many things depending on the recipe and flavor profile. Vanilla would always work and with one tsp, you could even just skip it.
 
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