Good evening!
Our friend Dan’s birthday get together is tomorrow night and I got this great idea to make Dan healthier vegan chocolate chip cookies. You see, Dan is a great guy and he deserves only the best on his birthday. He also loves my vegan baked goods.
Little did I know that my quest to bake a delicious vegan chocolate chip cookie would take 5 trials! Oye. However, I do not go down without a fight. If it takes 5 trials of taste testing cookies, I will roll up my sleeves and dig in. Someone’s gotta do it.
I started with a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe that one of my family members gave me years ago. I decided it was time to veganize this baby! Out went 1 egg, 1/2 cup butter, and a cup of sugar.
See ya, won’t miss ya, I said.
For some reason, I decided I would also turn this recipe into a s’more cookie. I was feeling a bit crazy and delirious, clearly…
Trial 1:
The S’more sandwich.
Hrmm.
It tasted good, but it was nothing to write home about.
Back to the drawing board!
Trial 2:
The S’more Cookie
Oozing with vegan marshmallows, it was good, but not great. Nor amazing.
Next!
Trial 3:
Vegan Chunky Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Whoops. It got a little crowded in there! ;)
I was sick of the s’more cookies and decided to go back to the classic chocolate chip cookie with a nut butter twist. This version tasted phenomenal, but the cookie was a bit thin for my liking.
I was now on a quest to plump it up!
Trial 4:
The thicker chocolate chip cookie
Too thick and cake like. :(
I am now weak. It feels like I have been in the kitchen for days on end. My throat is dry.
This is what happened when I added a chia egg (1 T ground chia + 3 T water) and a bit more flour. Interesting, but much too muffin like in texture and not crispy at all.
I need the crisp factor!
Scratch.
Trial 5:
The Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie…with a twist!
I said a little prayer for this batch. My golden hairs were turning grey. Something had to give….
[This recipe is BACK after popular request!! Sorry for the inconvenience guys!]
Salt-Kissed Chunky Peanut Butter Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 + 1/4 cup whole grain spelt flour* (see note below)
- 1/4 cup organic sugar
- 1/4 tsp fleur de sel (or reg. salt)
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1.5 tbsp cacao nibs (optional, but they add crunch!)
- 3-4 tsp non-dairy dark chocolate chips
- 1.5 tbsp chunky peanut butter
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 3.5 tbsp canola oil
- Fleur de sel, for garnish
- Turbinado sugar, for garnish (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with oil. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients (spelt flour, baking soda, baking powder, fleur de sel, sugar).
- Whisk together. In a medium sized bowl mix all wet ingredients (peanut butter, maple syrup, oil. vanilla). Mix well making sure the PB is thoroughly mixed in.
- Now add wet to dry and stir. Mix with hands if necessary until fully incorporated. Stir in cacao nibs and chocolate chips. Wet hands and shape small cookies about 1.5 inches in diameter and place on baking sheet.
- Bake for just 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack after a couple minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Makes 14 medium sized cookies.
See this post for my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Happy Birthday Dan. If we eat all of them before tomorrow night, this post is proof that the thought was there anyways. ;)
This recipe looks perfect. I need to make these soon!
Dan is one lucky guy to have a friend like you. Those cookies look yummy. :) I would have never thought to add cocao nibs to add crunch.
Looks good! ….I would probably substitute butter in mine ;)
A little bit of salt on something sweet makes all the difference. Everyone always asks me what my “trick” is!
I don’t think you can get better than fresh baked goods for a gift. Especially for a guy! Great idea.
And I hope you got to enjoy one yourself with a glass of almond milk and relaxing, just listening to the rain. :)
Dan is one lucky guy. And so is whoever gets to eat all the “duds”.
i’ll pawn the duds off on friends…hahah
1. I love how dedicated you are to making the best cookie, no matter how many trials.
2. The final product sounds & looks delicious!
OMG. This post made me crave a cookie so bad and I never really crazy cookies or desserts. I HAD to get a spoon of salty peanut butter haha, but the craving was not resolved! I may have to bake…
What a sweet friend you are! The cookies look great- I love salty and sweet. Example: I would love to make a cocoa-based cookie with pretzel bits :D
Wow those look delicious! Thanks for the recipe. I have to bake a dessert for a cross country running party tomorrow and was looking for something new. Who doesn’t love peanut butter and chocolate chips?
They look delish! Though I wouldn’t mind the recipe for the s’more cookies. please.
Mmmm cookies! This recipe looks fabulous! I’m guessing that I could use coconut oil in place of canola oil. Think that would work?
I thought about that too…Im not sure how it would change the cookie but might be worth a shot!
What happened to Trials 1-4?! Are you going to eat all of them? Heh. Awesome. I think I’ll try this recipe, but I don’t have any chocolate chips… maybe I’ll just add some walnuts for crunch! Thanks for sharing! (I love your resolve. I think I get mine from you. :D)
Will be bringing them to the party
Hi Angela. Those cookies look awesome. I have a question for you about Green Monsters. I have finally gotten hooked on Green Monsters, so much that I drink one EVERY day. I love them!!! I put 2 huge handfuls of spinach in with some other ingredients. What I am wondering is if you can eat(drink) too much spinach. I have read conflicting things about the absorption of Iron and Calcium when too much spinach is consumed. What do you know about this and what do you think. I feel like my skin is so much softer and less dry. My hair and nails have improved. My energy is up. These things are amazing. I just want to make sure they are ok to drink daily.
Thanks for introducing me to these and all the great recipes you blog about .
:)
I have read that it is a good idea to mix up and ‘rotate’ your greens. Like any other veggie, this is a good idea. I try to mix up the greens in my smoothies whenever I can…sometimes I use kale, spinach, chard (ew), or other random greens I find in my CSA. I think it is always a good idea to not reply too heavily on one type of vegetable because that might mean we are missing out on other nutrients. :)
Those first two trials look good to me… I made s’mores bars this week, I love that flavor!
Beautiful cookies! I can’t believe you persevered through all the trials, but at least you had some good cookie-fuel for all that time slaving in the kitchen! :)
Those look awesome! Thanks for doing all of the trial work for us so we don’t have to ;)
i love vegan cookies for the sole fact that i can eat it all before it’s baked. what’s better than that?! besides these cookies anyway :)
Those cookies look amazing!! They def wouldn’t last long in my house! :)
I have a feeling I would be pretty happy if my cookies turned out half as good as your “bad” cookies! They all look delish and I’m sure would have no problem being devoured ;)