Vegan chocolate chip cookies, made with spelt flour and coconut sugar, that taste just like the sugar and butter filled cookies we grew up with.
These cookies are dairy, egg, and refined sugar free, and you don't need to mess around with flax eggs or any of that time consuming nonsense. They use spelt flour, coconut oil, and coconut sugar for a buttery, caramel-like flavour and have that perfect chewy centre and crisp edge. These cookies are my go-to for any sweet craving, and Graham goes nuts for them. We'll easily it a batch in one day (by we I mostly mean me. Zero self control) but they freeze spectacularly and taste great right out of the freezer, too. The original incarnation of these cookies was with olive oil and topped with sea salt, which I know is a little more refined, but who needs that shit with cookies.
Although it's a simple recipe, there are a couple of things to keep in mind for exact results. If you change some of the ingredients, the outcome will be slightly different - think puffier, or less crispy, for example. I recommend using full-fat coconut cream, taken from the top of a can of coconut milk, because it makes the cookies chewier and less fluffy. Other non-dairy milks result in a more cake-like cookie. That's the big one - but they'll still be good with other types of milk (I've even used water in a pinch). I know it's more sugar than I usually use in the recipes I share, but it's simply not that good without it, and you lose the crispy edges. Go for it, and just don't eat the whole batch in one sitting. And maybe walk a little further to make up for it. Using coconut oil instead of an oil that's liquid at room temperature also makes the cookies chewier.
These cookies are vegan, but I guarantee that if you feed them to non-vegans, they'll never know. My parents, in-laws, extended family, and friends have all demolished these cookies and asked for more. Seriously, two years of extensive testing. I 100% promise that these are excellent.
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Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes a dozen
1 1/2 cups light spelt flour*
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup coconut cream, from the top of a can of coconut milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1. Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F and grease or line a baking sheet.
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients, including the chocolate.
3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, coconut cream, and maple syrup. Make sure the coconut oil is no longer warm, and then pour the mixture over the dry ingredients and stir to combine.
4. Measure out about two tablespoons of dough for each cookie, 6cm apart on the baking sheet. Press each cookie down slightly with the palm of your hand.
5. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan and cooling fully on a rack. They'll keep for 3-4 days in a sealed container on the counter, and freeze well.
Notes:
1. I have made this recipe with all-purpose flour, and it turns out fine. If that's what you have, then go ahead and use it in place of the spelt.
2. Substitutions in this recipe can have very different results, especially in how much the cookies spread. See above for further information.
