Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

This past weekend, I made a cake and frosting combo that called for EIGHT STICKS OF BUTTER. Two pounds, four cups, sixty-four tablespoons. Uh. Yuh.

The cake was obvi a huge hit but when it came time for me to bake some cookies (weekly ritual) my thighs, arteries, and life were like NO MORE BUTTAH. Buttah cleanse please! So I set off to make a cookie sans butter. And eggs. And white flour. And extra sugar.

And so, my very first vegan cookies were born. Now I’m not going to sit here and tell you that these cookies taste exactly like your standard butter-laden chocolate chip cookie (because NOTHING compares to the good stuff) but I will say that they are quite delicious in their own way. The coconut oil gives them a buttery feel and the almond flour produces a crispy-crumbly-hearty texture. And the flavor! I have been sitting here trying to describe the flavor for at least 20 minutes and all I have come up with is gooooood. Like a nutty buttery [healthy! shh.] chocolate chip cookie ball. Real gooooood.

OH! And best of all? These babies are so super quick and easy to make!! One-bowl-wonder!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

yield: about 2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut oil, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tablespoons almond milk (or soy or regular, whatever you prefer)
• 1 cup almond flour/almond meal
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips*

*Let’s be real: I didn’t have vegan chocolate chips on hand so these cookies are not *technically* 100% vegan. But if you have vegan choco chips they will be!

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the coconut oil and brown sugar until combined. Add the vanilla and almond milk and stir to blend.
2. Add the almond flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix on medium speed until fully combined; stir in the chocolate chips. Roll the dough into one-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Use your palm to flatten them slightly. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are brown and the tops have started to turn golden (almond flour browns more quickly than regular flour, so don’t be alarmed if they look a little darker than usual around the edges!)
3. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes. The almond flour gives them a crumbly texture, so if you try to remove them from the cookie sheet when they’re still hot you’ll end up with a crumbled cookie mess (learned that the hard way). Carefully transfer the warm cookies to a wire rack to cool. I think these are most delicious served slightly warm!