Vegan Chocolate Cookie Recipe: Using Vegan Chocolate
Most of the time, chocolate chips you see at the grocery store contain butter or milk fat. However, if you look at the ingredients of some extremely dark chocolate bars, you can often find ones that are vegan! One brand that surprised me actually, was Lindt. Several of their dark chocolate bars do not contain dairy.
You pretty much have two options when it comes to getting vegan chocolate chips for this recipe: Buy a vegan bar of chocolate (easier to find, less expensive) and crush it into chips, or buy vegan chocolate chips. Below, I’ve shared a few of the best options I’ve personally found.
Lindt bars can often be found at almost any grocery store or big chain (I’ve even seen them at Walmart and Target). For the others, you may need to check the ‘health foods’ section of your local grocery store, or check out Whole Foods. Our local Whole Foods has several brands of dairy free chocolate chips.
Recommended Vegan Chocolates
My Favorite Baking Tool: The Silpat
When I started my journey toward making my kitchen more eco-friendly (read more about that here)one thing I really wanted to cut down on was parchment paper and wax paper. I used them all the time for roasting vegetables and baking. It just made clean up so much easier – I wasn’t constantly scrubbing my pans with SOS pads! But I knew it was wasteful.
I had a friend recommend the Silpat to me and it quickly became one of my new favorite additions to my kitchen! Essentially, its a baking mat made of silicone and fiberglass mesh. This makes it heavy duty and resistant to high temps – unlike some other mats. I have roasted and broiled all kinds of things up to 425° with no issues. Its also great because you don’t have to grease the pan, or worry about sticking.
Silpats are made specifically for baking – so if you do a LOT of baking, I highly recommend getting yourself one! Just be sure to measure your pan first for a good fit!
VEGAN CHOCOLATE COOKIE RECIPE
Enjoy these delicious grain-free, plant based, chocolate cookies! Only 2g of sugar per serving!
- 1 tbsp Flax Seed Ground
- 3 tbsp Water
- 1/2 cup Tahini
- 1/4 cup Maple Sugar or Coconut Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 tbsp Almond Milk (or other plant based milk)
- 1/3 cup Coconut Flour
- 1/4 tsp Himalayan Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 cup Vegan Chocolate Chips
- 1/4 cup Vegan Chocolate Chips Set Aside
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, or a silicone baking mat like a silpat.
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Prepare your flax egg by throughly mixing the ground flax (or you can use ground chia) with 3 tablespoons of water. Let rest for 5 minutes to thicken.
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In a large bowl, whisk together tahini, maple sugar, vanilla, flax egg, and almond milk.
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Once incorporated, stir in coconut flour, sea salt, and baking soda.
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In a double broiler (or small glass bowl over small pot with about 1" of water in the pot), pour in your 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips. Stir constantly over medium heat, until the chocolate is just melted. Be careful not to overcook! It should be just barely melted.
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Once melted, fold into the tahini mixture. Once combined, fold in the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips. Additionally, you could stir in extra chocolate chips, sliced almonds, chopped walnuts, etc.
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I highly recommend (if you have time) putting the dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes prior to baking - it helps decrease spreading.
If you don't have time, skip to next step.
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Create small rounds on the baking sheet - about 2-3tsp of dough in each. More if you want larger cookies, less for smaller cookies.
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Bake at 350 for 8 minutes, or until cooked on the outside, slightly cracked, and they have spread slightly. They should still be slightly soft. May take longer depending on the size of your cookies, or your oven. Remove from the oven, and allow them to cool on the baking sheet.
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Serve warm with a side of almond milk and berries!
Vegan Chocolate Chips: There are a few vegan chocolate chip brands out there, but they can be pricey. Another option is to buy a bar of super dark Lindt chocolate (many are vegan) and chop into small chips. Check above the recipe for links to my favorite vegan chocolate options.
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