I am fortunate to be blessed with 14 nephews and 10 nieces. My nephews will inhale anything I cook or bake for them. The nieces are a bit more finicky. Two of them are vegetarian and two are vegan. One of them insists that white chocolate is the devil’s spawn. She even refused to try blonde chocolate (caramelized white chocolate). She is stubborn. Her mom says it comes from her father’s side of the family.
Although I don’t follow a vegan diet, I feel that every good baker should have one or two vegan treats in their repertoire, that they can easily whip up in the event of a vegan guest. I made these cookies for my #1 (in chronological order) niece. She thought they were fantastic. I’m going to try a few more different recipes and I’ll report back to you.
This recipe comes from the “Oh She Glows” website. Baking chocolate chip cookies without butter and eggs is a challenge. This recipe uses coconut oil and almond butter as the main sources of fat and arrowroot flour acts as a binding ingredient, holding the cookies together. They are sweetened with maple syrup, and of course dark chocolate. Use the very best quality bittersweet chocolate you can find. I adore Valhrona 64% feves.
Oat flour, almond flour and oatmeal combine to take the place of all-purpose flour, so they are gluten free too!
Chill the dough for about an hour to prevent the cookies from spreading too much. I used a #30 ice cream scoop to form the cookies. That way, you ensure they are all exactly the same size and will bake evenly.
A final sprinkle of flaky sea salt before they go into the oven, is a prefect finishing touch.
