Nutty Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vegan baking is not a "a piece of cake". Vegan baked goods can however be absolutely delicious; if baked correctly. I have failed miserably with my vegan baking in the past but now, after some patience and practice, I have found a recipe that kills it! Also these cookies are gluten-free! So get your sweet tooth ready. These nutty gluten-free vegan chocolate chip cookies are out of this world.

Ingredients:

1 flaxseed "egg" (1 tbsp of ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tbsp of water. Sit for 5 minutes)

1 cup whole oats; ground into a "oat flour" consistency 

1 cup almonds; ground into an "almond meal" consistency 

1/4 cup vegan butter

1/4 cup coconut oil 

1/2 cup almond butter

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup agave nectar 

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp of sea salt

1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips; chopped into small pieces 

Directions:

Create flax egg and set aside. First grind the oats in a food processor to a fine flour consistency. Next grind the almonds into a fine almond meal "flour" consistency. 

In a bowl mix your vegan butter, coconut oil and almond butter until smooth. Evenly mix in the already prepared flax egg as well. 

Next add maple syrup and agave. Mix in vanilla. Add each of the remaining dry ingredients one at a time, blending until smooth. (Baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, oat flour, and almond meal.) Once mixture is blended smooth, add chocolate chips. Put bowl of dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour to chill.

Scoop dough out into small balls about 2 inches in diameter on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Watch bottoms of cookies. The bottoms will get crispy quickly so 10 minutes was max for me when baking these. Take pan out and let cookies sit a few more minutes on pan before removing to a cooling rack or paper towel. 

This batch made 18 cookies for me. They were a medium size so if you were to make these smaller then you should get 2 dozen at least. 

I am still so happy with how these cookies turned out! The taste honestly is at perfection and has just the right amount of almonds for texture and sweetness from the chips and maple syrup. I am excited to explore more in the world of vegan and (gluten-free) baking! We shall see...

Happy baking! 

~Crago