Having my mom here for the last several days was such a treat. I’ve felt a bit like a basket case lately as we’re dealing with some behavioural issues (the munchkin, not the mom!), and having her here made the world of difference. As I’ve written about in my birth story, the presence of other women who’ve been through it before (childbirth, raising a family, etc.) is a comforting feeling. There is strength to be found in hearing someone else’s child-rearing war stories (which are often hilarious in hindsight…seriously hilarious!). Sometimes you just need someone to tell you that everything is going to be ok, despite feeling like you’re doing most things wrong, unable to find solutions to ongoing issues, or worse yet, creating lifelong bad habits. I’m starting to realize that it’s ok not to have an immediate answer, to sift through the highs and lows of parenting, to do my best each day while troubleshooting through it all, and know that in the end love wins. We have so much love and laughter in this house—I have to remind myself not to lose sight of that. When my mom says to me that soon she’ll be grown and past these phases I find myself welling up with tears because I don’t want this time to pass, yet some days I’m at a loss as to how to get through them. “We are given what we’re able to handle,” she reminds me. Parenting is a humbling experience, and I laugh at my former self who had a long list of “things I’d never do as a parent”. Well, that list has been a running joke around here of late.
Cookies have felt so right lately, in every way possible. I’ve gotten lost in the testing of this recipe, probably 12 times in a few weeks (as you may have witnessed on Snapchat and Instagram!), and I’m so thrilled with how they turned out. I can’t even deal with how delicious these are, and how much joy they’ve brought into our lives. Total comfort food, right here.
Here are some things I love about these cookies:
+ They are jumbo (so glad I didn’t go with my original idea—mini cookies…temporary lapse in judgement, clearly.), chewy, and gooey (thanks to big chunks of chocolate and a short bake time) with a crispy edge (aka: my cookie nirvana).
+ They are vegan and gluten-free with a perfect texture…so pretty much unicorns of the cookie world given how amazing they taste.
+ Much like my beloved Crispy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, they have a wholesome base made up of oats and almonds.
+ They are sweetened with pure maple syrup rather than cane and brown sugar (this is a big request I’ve had!).
+ You only need ONE bowl! And everything is stirred by hand—no electric mixer required!
+ They only contain a few tablespoons of virgin coconut oil—there’s no vegan butter to speak of, but the flavour isn’t compromised one bit.
+ They are bursting with gooey chunks of dark chocolate! I started my testing with 100 grams, then tried 125 grams, and finally settled on 150 grams of chocolate in this recipe. Trust me on this one. Normally, I gravitate toward this 70% dark chocolate, but we all preferred a slightly milder bar in this recipe—Camino 55% dark chocolate bars. Feel free to experiment and find your perfect chocolate in this recipe!
+ Arrowroot flour/starch helps bind these cookies rather than a flax egg (some of you requested a vegan/gf cookie without flax due to flax allergies so I’m happy you can enjoy them too!).
+ They are super fun to photograph (hence, the million pictures). Try it yourself and tag them #ohsheglows on social media so I can see!
+ Did I mention they’re the cookies of my dreams? Ok, I’ll stop now.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Jumbo Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Yield
13 jumbo (4-inch) cookies
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
These vegan and gluten-free chocolate chunk cookies will blow your mind! The cookie dough is sweetened with pure maple syrup—you'd never know they don't contain any granulated cane or brown sugar (aside from the chocolate, of course). Almond butter, oats, almond flour, and a small amount of coconut oil form the hearty and nutritious base of these irresistible cookies. Prepare yourself for an addiction. We love these warm, but they're also great straight from the freezer or fridge! This recipe is inspired by The Bojon Gourmet.
Ingredients
For the wet ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (120 g) natural smooth almond butter (no subs)*
- 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons (105 mL) pure maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons (45 mL) virgin coconut oil, softened but not hot**
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the dry ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (50 g) gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (50 g) gluten-free oat flour
- 1/4 cup (33 g) arrowroot flour/starch
- 1/4 cup (25 g) almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
- (150g) 55% non-dairy dark chocolate (about 1 1/2 bars)***
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a very large (approx. 21 by 15 inch) baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, stir together the wet ingredients (almond butter, maple syrup, oil, and vanilla) until completely smooth.
- Stir the dry ingredients (oats, oat flour, arrowroot, almond flour, baking soda, and salt) into the wet mixture, one by one, until thoroughly combined. The dough will be a bit wet/oily, but this is normal.
- Chop the chocolate into small chunks. Set aside 3 tablespoons (for topping the cookie dough later), and stir the rest of the chocolate into the batter until combined.
- Using a large retractable cookie scoop (or simply a spoon and your hands), scoop mounds of dough (about 2 1/2 tablespoons of dough per cookie). Add each onto the baking sheet, about 3 inches apart, as they'll spread a lot while baking.
- Press the remaining 3 tablespoons of chocolate onto the tops of the cookie dough mounds, evenly distributed. (Reshape the cookie dough mounds if they flatten a bit.)
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (I prefer 8 1/2 to 9 minutes for gooey and soft cookies), until the cookies are spread out. If you prefer a crispy cookie, bake for about 12 minutes.
- Cool the cookies directly on the baking sheet for about 5 to 6 minutes. The cookies will be super delicate until they are cooled. Using a spatula, gently transfer each cookie directly onto a cooling rack for another 10 minutes, where they'll firm up even more. (It's normal to have a small amount of oil on the bottom of the cookies due to the almond butter. If this bothers you, simply place them on a couple sheets of paper towel.) Serve and enjoy! Allow the cookies to cool completely before storing.
Tip:
- * It's important to use natural smooth almond butter that has a fairly "drippy" consistency. Be sure to stir it very well before measuring and avoid using the dry/hard nut butter at the bottom of the jar as it's too difficult to mix with the other wet ingredients. Some readers have also said that using peanut butter resulted in cookies that didn't spread out and didn't hold together, so I wouldn't recommend subbing the almond butter.
- ** What is softened coconut oil? During the warm summer months, coconut oil is the perfect "softened" consistency at room temperature; it's neither solid nor completely melted. If you do need to use melted coconut oil, just be sure that it's not hot/warm or it could melt the chocolate.
- *** I prefer Camino 55% dark chocolate bars in this recipe, but feel free to use the chocolate of your choice.
- Tip: These cookies spread out a lot and are fairly thin. If you prefer a thicker cookie you can try chilling the dough before baking. (I haven't tried this yet myself.)
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
COOKIE FAQs:
I posted this recipe to the Oh She Glows Recipe App over the weekend, and I’ve already had some questions about these cookies that I will share here:
Can I sub natural peanut butter for almond butter? Some readers have commented that they tried this swap and it didn’t work out so well. The cookies didn’t spread out and they were very crumbly. So I wouldn’t recommend it.
Can I make these nut-free? I haven’t tried a nut-free version yet, but if I do it will likely involve trying out sunflower seed butter and finely ground toasted sunflower seeds. Obviously the flavour will change a lot and might be overpowering. The cookies might not spread out, too. If you try anything out, please leave a comment and let us know how it turns out!
Can I swap the arrowroot for another starch? Arrowroot flour is a starch and it helps bind these cookies together. I haven’t tested this recipe using another starch yet (such as tapioca or potato starch), so I can’t say for sure. Again, if you try anything out please report back!
Can I make regular-sized cookies as opposed to jumbo? You sure can!
How do you store these cookies? After cooling completely, I typically store these cookies in a zip bag or container in the fridge (where they’ll firm up even more thanks to the coconut oil solidifying) for a few days. You can also store them in a freezer-safe bag in the freezer (likely for up to 1 month, but we’ll probably never be able to verify this).
I’m going to give these a try, but I find that arrow root powder gives baked goods a gritty, metallic taste in things that I’ve tried … but perhaps all that chocolate chunk goodness will mask the flavor.
M.
These cookies look amazing ! I’m definitely trying them !
Oh wow! These have shot up to the “make in the next day” on the to-do list! My sister is visiting next week, and I think these will be a perfect treat. I am going to go out on a limb, and try extra smooth, homemade sunbutter in place of almond (even despite your note!). I make it in our Vitamin, tamping the crap out of it to get it super duper smooth. I’ll let you know how it goes :) Unless you’ve already tried it…then you can just sake your head in shame at me, haha!! And yeah, moms are awesome. I realize this more and more as I ripen into my late 20s.
I hope you and your sister enjoy the cookies, Annaliese! I look forward to hearing how the sunbutter works out. :)
Yes! Success. Homemade, very smooth, sunflower seed butter (made with 3 cups raw sunflower seeds, freshly toasted, blended with 2 tsp virgin coconut oil and a few dashes sea salt in the Vitamix) worked! I also added a good pinch of cinnamon to the batter, and also a few sprinkles of Maldon sea salt on top prior to baking! Woooo!!! Thanks for the recipe :) :)
can I sub in the flax egg for the arrowroot? I just happen to have that on hand? Sub in one flax egg?
Hey Alicia, unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to try a substitution for the arrowroot myself, yet. If you give the flax egg a try, I hope you’ll report back on how it goes! Good luck and happy baking! :)
These look wonderful! I love your recipes and your blog. All the recipes I make from you blog and book always turn out so good, thank you.
Also, I receive your emails and I thought you might like to know the recipe text is always overlapping and hard to read. I just jump over to the blog, but thought you might like to know. I use an Android and Gmail.
Hope your pregnancy goes well! We have 4 kids now and being a vegan while pregnant makes pregnancy so awesome!!! I always felt well nourished and energized.
I’ve made your “One Bowl Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies” almost every Friday over the last year. My hubby and I love them! I can’t wait to try the new one bowl cookie recipe! …so happy tomorrow is Friday. :)
I hope you love this new recipe just as well, Jess! Happy Friday. :)
I’m a long time reader and fan, but first time commenter! I had to leave a note to tell you how amazing these cookies were! I made a few tweaks to the recipe as I prefer my desserts not too sweet – 2 tbsp less maple syrup than was called for, a little more spelt flour as I had didn’t have enough oat flour, added in 1 tbsp of almond milk to make the dough that wet / oily consistency like you described. I also only used about a 3/4 bar of chocolate.
Somehow I ended up with 6 cookies (apparently I thought they should be mega-jumbo sized haha) but they were honestly, truly, the BEST cookies I have ever had in my life!! I had a little cookie anxiety when they were going in the oven, because I really wanted them to turn out, but I didn’t need to worry. The recipe is foolproof!
They are incredible, and a cookie recipe that I know will become one of those I keep for the rest of my life and serve at the special moments and the ordinary days. Truly. I just finished eating the batch today and I’m off to the store to buy more almond butter so I can make another batch!
Thank you for all you do Angela! Your cookbook and app has become something I refer to daily and is really helping me to become the best version of myself. xo
Ha! I have a 14-month-old and I said I was never going to let him wander around with snacks in his hand. No sirree, he was going to sit down to eat his meals and not put his sticky hands all over my house! *Sigh* Except it keeps him happy and quiet (read: not clinging to my leg and crying) so that I can actually prepare the meal, which he will then not be hungry for. Toddler life.
Ohhhhhh my God…! Perfect and just too amazing. They are completely addictive. Thanks a thousand times for this wonderful recipe. Yummm…!
Ohhh…Angela, I’m wondering if you have calculated the nutrition informations for these cookies ? If yes, it is possible to know the calorie per cookies, for a batch of 12 ? Thanks.
Yummm…!
Angela doesn’t usually post calorie counts. Try copy-pasting the recipe here: https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
Hi Jessica, unfortunately I haven’t personally calculated the nutritional info, but if you head to an online tool like caloriecount.com or nutritiondata.com, you should be able to plug in the recipe and get the calorie count pretty quickly! I hope this helps. Enjoy the cookies!
Hi Angela and Cara,
Thanks for your reply. I’ll try these tools :)
And your cookies are just too amazing !!! Soooooooo good…!!! My husband and I really had to control ourselves last night not to eat the whole bunch. A huge hit here !!! Thanks a thousand time. Actually, all your recipe is always a bit hit here. I’m a huge fan of all your work Angela.
I usually don’t comment on English blog since my English is not very good, but I sincerely admire everything your doing. It is always a success. And can’t wait to have your second book in my hands :)
Have a nice weekend.
I LOVE the chunks of chocolate in these! I’ve been missing cookies lately…store bought ones just don’t do it justice.
We need to treat ourselves every now and then, yes? Can’t wait to give these a try!
Definitely yes! Sometimes cookies are just necessary. :)
Any suggestions for subs for almond meal and butter? I’m allergic.
You could try sunflower seed butter or peanut butter for an almond butter replacement. A common substitute for almond meal is hazelnut flour. Of course, these would all change the flavor of the cookie.
These look SO good! I love that they are so thin and have spread out. They look chewy which I could never master without sugar. No wonder you did like 12 batches. I got so inspired by the sight of your chopped chocolate that I chopped mine and made banana zucchini chocolate chunk muffins. They were delish. Not vegan but with whole wheat flour and maple syrup.
Your mom is right. 10 years later and my sleep after having kids is never the same. No, I sleep well. Really well. No sleepless nights anymore. But I wake up at 6-7 am no matter what time I go to bed. I can’t sleep in. No more of that worry free sleep. My mind is racing as soon as I wake up. I miss that. But you will definitely start sleeping comfortably again. In about 3-4 years. Sorry.:) Enjoy your mom’s visit while you can.
Oh my goodness – you have done it again! I am salivating looking at these pics! I almost bought more almond flour yesterday – will do so asap or maybe make my own tomorrow!!! My boyz have a soccer tournament this weekend and these will be perfect!
So glad you had your mom there – what a gift. I have teenagers and the comfort of talking with other moms is a GODSEND! (& I think these cookies will help too! ;-))
Thank you Angela!!!!
These look incredible! Definitely going to try them this weekend. I have an almond allergy, so I might have to try them with sunflower seed butter.
If you do, I’d love to hear how the sunflower seed works out, Ellen! Enjoy :)
They didn’t spread much at all, but they were delicious! Sounds like similar results to what people found when they used peanut butter. I also substituted coconut flour for the almond flour.
These cookies look delicious, It inspires me to make some of these cookies with pumpkin seed butter for the complete protein.
Oh, if you give it a try I’d love to hear how they turn out!
I made these last night and they turned out AMAZING. Definitely the best vegan/gluten free cookies I’ve ever had…and probably some of the best cookies I’ve ever had, period. I did chill my dough slightly before baking so my cookies didn’t flatten out as much when I baked them. It’s now the morning after and they are still incredibly soft and chewy. So impressed with this recipe. Will be making them again…and again!
One question – given the amount of maple syrup in these and the cost of it, would it be ok to sub for sugar? (cane, brown, coconut, or otherwise?) If so, how much? Tks!
Between the crispy almond butter chocolate chip cookies and the irresistible trial mix cookies, we always have some delicious gluten free cookies around here. I’ve made those recipes so many times that I’ve memorized them! It’s so great to have reliable cookie recipes that everyone loves.
I’m so exciting to give these a try, but I don’t have any arrowroot on hand at the moment. Would potato starch work?
Hi Annalise – I made them with potato starch and they turned out great. They didn’t spread very much, but I think my almond butter wasn’t runny enough. Regardless, they were amaaaaazing. I will be making these a lot. Can’t stop thinking about them!
I made these with the gram weight measurements and they never spread out, they ended up being puffy ball cookies. I’m wondering if the conversion might be off? Still tasted good though go!
Oh my god – this looks sooo good. I have to try them as I’m looking for a good, healthy cookie-recipe :)
I hope you enjoy them if you give them a try!
I came here for this recipe today but what you’ve said about family life has really struck a chord. I recently heard rob parsons speak and he said a quote about “the days are long but the years are short” when it comes to children growing up and that has stuck in my mind so much as it really does reflect how each day can be so difficult whether it’s troublesome toddlers or teenagers we are dealing with and yet they grow up so quickly.