Recipe: Almond Butter/Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (VEGAN)

Cookies: there’s nothing I love to snack on more. Cake, brownies, puddings…I think I could happily give these all up if I was allowed to keep eating cookies. And reigning king of them all is, of course, the classic chocolate chip cookie.

I recently used my best friend Samah’s recipe to bake up some delicious vegan dark chocolate and almond butter cookies. I was in actual awe that something could be so squidgy and flavoursome, yet also be vegan! The cookies practically had the taste and texture of a brownie, but in cookie form; it honestly astounds me that I haven’t come across more vegan cookies like this before. I baked three batches across last weekend, and the cookies were all gone in less than 48 hours (I’m living in a house of six: I promise that it wasn’t all me!)

When I tried Samah’s delicious dark chocolate cookie recipe, I instantly wanted to replicate this same consistency in a classic chocolate chip cookie. I’ve scoured high and low for the perfect vegan chocolate chip cookie, but have yet to find one that has the perfect taste AND texture; most of the vegan cookies I’ve tried tend to compromise on either one of these factors. To me, the perfect cookie is firm around the edges but soft and squidgy in the middle, without being raw or under-baked. You want to be able to hold the cookie without it crumbling delicately, and it’s got to be thick and fudgy! No one likes a hard, thin cookie.

I’m not vegan, but I’m often keen to bake vegan desserts, as they don’t contain eggs, butter, or cream, so in some ways, are a healthier alternative to your full-fat originals. I’m happy to report that these taste just as delicious as non-vegan cookies would, if not, better. I’ve baked about six batches of these in the last few days, and they’re been scoffed up by everyone in this house.

GOOD TO KNOW (substitutions and variations):

I’ve gone ahead and used the vegan-friendly substitutes that Samah used in her recipe for eggs and butter: a tasty nut butter, a plant-based milk, vegetable oil, and maple syrup. For my chocolate chip cookies, I used almond butter and almond milk. The almond butter gives a mild taste that could easily be mistaken for your classic chocolate chip cookie flavour. For vegetable oil, I recommend sunflower, which is flavourless - I would avoid coconut, as this gives quite a powerful taste. If you’re not fussed about keeping the cookies vegan, and don’t have maple syrup to hand, runny honey works just as well.

Your choice of sugar will also alter the taste of the cookie: light brown, dark brown, or muscovado sugar will all work well here; however, the darker the sugar, the more toffee-like the taste of your cookie. My preference is light brown sugar.

When taking these out of the oven, make sure to leave them for a few minutes to firm up and cool down ever so slightly, otherwise, they will be too delicate and crumbly to handle. They will still have a warm and fudgy centre even after cooling; and they tend to get even fudgier the next day. They will have puffed up during baking, but will deflate ever so slightly whilst cooling - they should still have a good rise.

You could always freeze a few cookie dough balls and pop these in the oven whenever you fancy them - just make sure to bake for a little longer (16 minutes) and to only add the salt right before baking.

Lastly, I think that peanut butter will add a punchier flavour to almond if you prefer to substitute that - peanut butter also marries very well with white chocolate if you’re not fussed about keeping the cookies vegan, and would prefer to switch out the dark chocolate!

RECIPE (makes around 12 cookies; total prep + baking time: 30 minutes)

INGREDIENTS

• 200g plain flour

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• Pinch of salt

• 100g brown sugar (light, dark or muscovado all work well - light brown is my preference)

• 75g almond butter OR peanut butter

• 60g vegetable oil (sunflower is best)

• 60g almond milk

• 75g maple syrup, or you can use honey if you’re not fussed about keeping these vegan

• 75g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

• Sea salt flakes for sprinkling

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/160 degrees Celsius Fan, and line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper.

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda. Next, add in the salt and brown sugar. Stir until combined, and set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, beat together the almond butter, almond milk, vegetable oil, and maple syrup until combined. You can use a wooden spoon or paddle attachment to do this.

3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet in three separate batches. Beat together, making sure each batch is fully incorporated before adding the next. The mixture should form a dough-like consistency.

4. Stir in the chopped chocolate.

5. Roll the dough into balls of around 50g, and place apart on the baking trays - space them out so that they have room to expand. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes.

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

7. Once they are a pale golden colour, remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes before transferring onto a wire rack. They should be firm on the outside, but soft and squidgy on the inside. They are delicious whilst warm (do allow them to firm up before tucking in, otherwise they will crumble), but are just as good once cooled. They can keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container, and will stay just as fudgy.

Make sure to tag me in your creations! @ginagoesto #BakeWithGina