Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's national veterinary technician week! So give all your pet nurses a hug, because they work hard to help make your dog/cat/horse/goat/cow/snake/guinea pig feel better!  Sometimes as vets, we get busy trying to diagnose crazy illnesses (I diagnosed my SECOND case of Addison's in the past 3 months, what?!) that we don't get to love on your pets.  That's why we have awesome staff who help us provide the TLC your pet needs to feel better, help restrain animals during exams, pull blood, run labwork, and take x-rays.  They work hard, often coming home bruised, bitten, scratched and smelling like who-knows-what, but still manage to come in the next day with a smile on their faces.  

I brought in cookies and pumpkin-ginger snap bites to the office as my little way of saying thanks to all our awesome vet techs.  A few of our vet techs are vegan or vegetarian, so I had a bit of a baking challenge.  Usually, I'd be all about adding 1/2 lb. of butter to make my chocolate chip cookies, but I had to do a little research on substitutes.  You can also make these gluten free by using gluten free flour (Ex, Bob Mill's).  I know most people, including myself, would skip over anything labeled vegan when it comes to desserts, but these came out perfectly chewy in the center and crispy on the edges. They do spread quite a bit, so make sure you space them out well on the baking sheet.  I found all these ingredients at HEB and didn't have to go to any specialty health stores.  Here's the recipe I came up with:

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
  • 1 c. coconut oil at room temp
  • 1/3 c. applesauce
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 1/4 c. sugar
  • 2 tbs. vanilla
  • 2 c. all purpose flour
  • 1/4 c. plus 1 1/2 tsp. flax seed
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 c. vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Mini chips)
Directions
  1. In a medium bowl, mix together coconut oil, applesauce, salt, sugar, and vanilla.   In a separate large bowl, combine flour, flax seed and baking soda.
  2. Using a rubber spatula, gradually add wet ingredients to dry until grainy dough formed.  Fold in chocolate chips.  
  3. Use a melon baller, scoop dough onto Silpat or parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing 1" apart.  Use the back of a flat measuring cup or glass to gently press down each cookie to form a disc shape.  
  4. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Cool for 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.  Store in airtight container for up to 2 days.

add some icing between two of these, and you've got a cookie sandwich!


Julius says thank you, vet techs!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Copy Cat Kerbey Queso

Image
You cannot be a proper Tex-Mex lover without eating at least 1 quart of queso per year.  I'm pretty sure I started the year off in the right direction by making this copy-cat Kerbey Queso for NYE.   Kerbey Lane Queso is my favorite in Austin.  So creamy, so cheesy, and so good.  White queso with pico and a scoop of guacemole in it that you kind-of have to dig around in, which makes it soooo good.  Have I said how good it is? That being said, I've tried so many queso recipes.  I've made beschemels, I've used expensive, good cheeses.  No queso seems to hold that creamy consistency very well.  So when one of my friends, Rachel, was back home in Austin from her now home-town in Seattle she asked one of the servers what's in it.  She just had to know.  The server leaned in close to her and whispered, "it's white processed cheese."  OMG, my mind was blown.  No wonder it's so flippin' good.  I think the HEB brand white queso is better than Velveeta,
Read more

Mom's Bun Bo Hue Chay (Vietnamese vegetarian spicy "beef" noodle soup)

Image
After many requests from my sister and cousin, I finally documented my mom's vegetarian bun bo chay !  Get ready, this recipe is kind of intense and usually takes 2 days to make.  My mom makes a giant pot of it and the whole family eats it in the span of a day or two.  She freezes the broth for later use (if there is any left over!).  The flavor does enhance each time the broth is reheated, so it's usually better the second day and each subsequent time.  It's so good, I often prefer it to regular bun bo (Spicy Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup). Bun bo Hue  is a specialty of the central region of Vietnam, where my dad's side is from.  You won't find it as commonly as pho  or bun  (vermicelli bowls) in most Vietnamese restaurants.  This is a soup that is a labor of love and family and spicy-tolerance.  My ong noi  (paternal grandfather) used to make the best bun bo hue !  Now my Aunt Angelique/ Co Be  makes a cleaner, tasty bun bo Hue which she luckily taught my sister s
Read more