Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I should start this with … these are THE BEST vegan chocolate chip cookies EVER. And quite nearly the best chocolate chip cookies. But …

I am a carnivore. A carnivore through and through. A believer in a well balanced diet being far better for you than one completing omitting a food group.

I now find myself surrounded by vegetarians and vegans, many of whom consider themselves foodies (?). Always hungry. Always looking for snacks. I need a cookie that would work for everyone and this is the one.

I have found most homemade vegan cookies to be either tasteless, ridiculously complicated to make, way too many ingredients and ending up with a crumbling, sandy cookie like substance.

Try these once and you’ll be hooked. It’s all in the mixing.

• ½ C coconut oil
• 1 C brown sugar
• ¼ C almond milk
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 2 C flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• ½ t salt
• 1 C vegan chocolate chips (I love ‘Enjoy Life Mini Chips” for this)

 

Preheat oven to 350

Cream coconut oil and brown sugar. Best to use stand mixer, second best a hand mixed.

NOTE: The key to this cookie is the length of time you spend combining the ingredients. This should look like butter and sugar having creamed before you continue. It’s not always quick.

Add almond milk and vanilla. Mixture may be a little liquidy.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients using a hand mixer or stand mixer. Fold in chocolate chips.

Scoop tablespoon sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Flatten the balls a bit with your hand.

Bake 7 – 10 minutes

NOTE: You want the dough to be the consistency of cookie dough and not crumbly or sandy as many vegan recipes tend to be.

NOTE NOTE: I have varied the size of the cookie from half-dollar sized to 3 inches around. It holds up no matter the size. Just vary the cooking time.

White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

“Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, lovey.”

“I’m at camp.”

“I know.”

“I’m already homesick. The food is yucky. I’m broke.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I’ll send you some money. And cookies … would cookies help?”

“Mom, your cookies always help!”

This was a conversation with my son, Tommy. The same child who is 24, living on his own, and away working at the same camp he has worked at for at least 7 years.

But he wants cookies.

What’s a Mom to do?

Bake cookies, that’s what a Mom’s to do.

So I off I went to the kitchen to bake cookies to ship to my starving, homesick child. Fortunately his favorite cookies will ship well and make enough to have in the house as well.

You can sub cranberries for the dried cherries and white or dark chocolate for the semisweet chocolate.

• 2 1/2 C rolled oats (Use old fashioned not quick or instant)
• 1 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 C dried cherries
• 6 ozs semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 C walnut halves, finely chopped
• 1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 1/3 C firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk oats, flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; stir in dried cranberries, white chocolate, and nuts.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Continue to simmer over medium-low heat until the milk solids turn golden brown, about 4 minutes; take care not to burn.

Pour browned butter into a large bowl and whisk in brown sugar until combined. Whisk in cinnamon, then whisk in eggs and vanilla, beating well after each. Add dry mixture to wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Mixture will be thick. Drop by generously rounded tablespoon 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.

Bake until light golden brown and just dry to the touch, but still a little soft inside, about 10 minutes.

Slide parchment onto racks to cool cookies completely.

Chunky Chocolate White Chocolate Espresso Cookies

New cookbooks for Christmas are always a great thing. I don’t have to buy them, so they don’t really fall under the moratorium on cookbooks. They are still met with a wee bit of eye rolling, perhaps a grimace, but always followed by a giggle. This past Christmas brought many cookbooks into the house … yay! And even a new bookshelf, built by you know who.

Other people receive cookbooks too! Many I drool over and put on my secret wish list (you know, the ones you order when you know you will be the one to get the mail or perhaps even when someone is travelling …) and many I can easily take a pass on.

Southern Living Home Cooking Favorites is one of those books that someone else received and that may have to end up in my kitchen at some point! While flipping through the book, many ooohs and aaahs and yums were heard, and then a ‘would you please make these for me?’ I never turn down a request to bake something for someone else, that usually means they mostly go on someone else’s waistline and not mine.

These cookies are HUGE! You aren’t reading incorrectly, scoop 1/3 cup of cookie dough for EACH cookie! YIKES! We can try to justify this by saying, well it only makes 15 cookies. Yeah, 15, but 15 4″ cookies that are over 1″ thick! It’s a weeks worth of treats calories in one cookie. They are so worth it though!

• 3/4 C butter
• 1 1/2 C sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 (3 1/2 ounce) dark chocolate bars with finely ground espresso beans, divided and chopped
• 2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1/4 C cocoa
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 (4 ounce) white chocolate baking bar, chopped
• 1 C coarsely chopped pecan halves, toasted

NOTE: I used Perugina for both the white and the cappuccino chocolate. I search high and low and in and out of at least 9 stores to find Ghiradelli dark chocolate with ground espresso beans. No luck. I did, however, find milk chocolate with cappuccino … meh. Not terrible, but not a strong enough coffee taste for my liking. I did like the milk chocolate part, though. I think, sadly, that they’ve discontinued the Espresso Escape bars …

Preheat oven to 350°

Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs and vanilla, beating just until blended.

Microwave half of the dark chocolate in a small bowl, at HIGH, 50 seconds to 1 minute or until melted, stirring after 30 seconds.

Add melted chocolate to butter mixture, beating just until blended.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating just until blended after each addition.

Stir in remaining dark chocolate, white chocolate, and pecans.

Drop dough by 1/3 cupfuls, 2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350° for 21 minutes; cool on baking sheets 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.