Chocolate & Nut cookies
After attempting various recipes for vegan chocolate chip cookies which were more than often dense, crumbly and bland, may prayers were finally answered with this recipe! These cookies are gooey and soft, with indulgent chocolate chunks and a subtle nutty flavour. In my house these cookies are famous and whenever I make a batch of these cookies I always make double as everyone becomes tempted by these simple, but indulgent treats! (Often I stash a couple to have all to myself!)
Before this recipe enlightened me, I believed vegan cookies required a lot of unusual ingredients which I couldn’t afford or find. However, this recipe is simple, affordable and adaptable.
Nuts
Use whichever variety you can find! My favourites for this recipes are pecans although they are quite expensive however, walnuts are a close second and work perfectly on a smaller budget. If using hazelnuts be sure to take off skins after toasting by rubbing them in a kitchen towel. I haven’t tried these with cashews, but if you do please tell me how they turn out! A variety of nuts works well in providing a varied texture and flavour.
I prefer to use vanilla bean paste rather than essence or extract as I find the flavour more intense and also creates a more authentic appearance of vanilla seeds. If you cannot find the paste, or already have vanilla essence/extract, of course use what you already have.
Vegan chocolate
Often, people think they need to buy the most extravagant dark chocolate in order for it to be vegan, stop! You can find vegan chocolate in most supermarkets (yes – even Aldi!) on a budget, just make sure to check the ingredients. Bournville works perfectly and prepared into chunks! I find chunks work better than chips in cookies as bigger chocolate chunks creates more chocolate indulgence within this simple recipe, seemingly lost in a cookie which only has minuscule chocolate pieces. I also enjoy heating these cookies up before eating for a soft cookie with goey chocolate pieces.
Vegan Chocolate Nut Cookies
Ingredients:
50g Nuts (see note above)
2 tbsp. Flax Seed Meal + 5 tablespoons of water (this is your flax egg)
110g Coconut Oil
2 tsp. Vanilla Bean Paste
150g Light Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp. Bicarbonate of Soda
1 tsp. Baking Powder
120g Vegan Dark Chocolate
200g Plain Flour
A pinch of salt
Instructions:
– Preheat oven gas mark 5 and line two baking trays with baking parchment
– Toast the nuts on a medium heat being sure to keep moving and not burn for approx. 5 mins. Leave them aside to cool
– In a small bowl, mix the flax seed with 5 tablespoons of water, stir well and let sit for 5 minutes to create the ‘flax egg’
– Place the coconut oil, vanilla paste, sugar and flax egg in a large bowl and beat together until well combined and creamy
– Sift the flour, bicarb and baking powder into a bowl and add the flax egg mixture with a pinch of salt. Mix until combined
– Next, chop the nuts being careful not to cut into too small pieces as to create texture (halving or quartering is sufficient) and add to the flour mix along with the chocolate chunks
– Combine all ingredients using a wooden spoon or your hands to form a dough. Do not use an electric mixer as this will over work the dough
– Using an ice cream scoop, take 1 scoop of cookie dough and place it on a prepared baking tray. Repeat until all the mixture is used. Remember that each cookie will spread during baking therefore make sure to leave enough space between each ball of dough
– Bake the cookies for approximately 10-12 minutes
– Keep an eye on them during baking to avoid hard cookies! They should be soft but springy to the touch – remember they will continue to cook/ harden when cooling
– Once cooled, enjoy!
Notes:
For double chocolate nut cookies, use 150g plain flour and add 50g cocao powder.Perfect with a war glass of oat milk, or a gold old cup of tea! I also enjoy mine heated for about 30 seconds in the microwave, to make them warm and goey, yum!
Will keep for a week (If you can resist them that is) in a classic biscuit tin or an airtight container.
This recipe was inspired by Lucy Watson’s Pecan Cookie recipe in her book “Feed Me Vegan”
Kate Cooks Vegan 