Chewy Vegan Cookies

Heyo, sweet friend! How are you, really? How’s your heart? And how has your week been? I’m not doing too bad- I am (reluctantly) starting to get back into the habit of online learning, national lockdown and school from home. I’ve just been pottering around for most of the week- doing school work… blogging… netflix evenings… you get the idea. Since Monday though, I’ve been looking forward to the weekend, and for good reason too! I’ve have been so excited all week because today we have a super-duper awesome post from a super-duper awesome friend of mine- Lucy! I know you’ll love this recipe post as much as I do, so without further ado, over to Lucy!

Cookies are my favourite things to eat, bake and give as presents. The smell of warm, freshly made cookies- along with the gleam on other people’s faces when you give them one- is immeasurable and definitely one of the highlights of my day. These are so good that I have to hide them from my family in order to make sure I have one!

As more people start to become vegan, these tasty cookies certainly will leave them feeling as if they haven’t missed out at all! They are super quick, easy and delicious. And I mean, who doesn’t like a chewy cookie? They certainly never get old!

The recipe I followed was not my own but from this amazing one:

https://tasty.co/recipe/vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies. I have included the measurements from this page at the bottom of this post.

To start with, you need to use a mixing bowl to whisk the sugar, brown sugar, salt and coconut oil. I tend to use melted vegan margarine rather than coconut oil in this step as I prefer the taste, but they both work equally well. It may also seem odd to add white sugar and brown sugar, but the brown sugar helps keep in the moisture to make them chewy- and the white sugar helps to make the cookies thin and slightly crispy around the outside.

The next step is to whisk in the non-dairy milk (I use oat milk as I find that this gives a sweeter taste, but any will do) and vanilla. Vanilla is not essential but does add to the taste so I would advise it if you have it in your cupboards. Make sure that when you have finished whisking in these ingredients the sugar has disappeared to form a gloopy liquid.

After this, you need to add in the flour and bicarbonate of soda and stir this in. Mix until all of the ingredients have formed a dough- making sure that there is no flour left at the bottom or up the sides of your bowl.

Now for everyone’s favourite part… the chocolate chips! I only add in the chocolate chips, but if you are a chocoholic (like most of my family), you can also add in the chocolate chunks. Be sure to check that your dark chocolate is vegan as this is not always the case.

The cookie dough needs to go into the fridge for at least half an hour now- leaving plenty of time for the oven to preheat whilst they’re chilling. I wouldn’t normally put my dough in the fridge, but I find that it helps to stiffen it and make it less sticky before it gets baked. Put the oven on for 180 degrees Celcius, and wait for it to come to temperature. While you’re waiting, you can line your baking trays with baking parchment.

Now time to scoop the cookie dough! You can use your hands to roll the cookie dough into balls, or you use an ice cream scoop to scoop out the dough from the bowl and put this onto the trays. Make sure not to place them too close together- or else you’ll end up with a giant cookie (which you may like!)

Put the cookies into the preheated oven for 12 – 15 minutes. I usually put them in for 12 minutes and then check on them to be sure that they don’t burn. Take them out of the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes- but make sure to take them off the tray before they start to stick- the fatal error I make on a regular basis.

You can see pretty clearly that I am obsessed with these cookies and how easy they are to make! You can enjoy them with a cup of tea, coffee, hot chocolate… or maybe just another cookie!!

I have pasted below the recipe which I followed from https://tasty.co/recipe/vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies for the precise measurements and directions. 

Recipe:

Makes 10 | Preparation time 15 minutes | Resting time 30 minutes| Baking time 12 – 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• ½ cup sugar (100 g)
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar (165 g), packed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup refined coconut oil (120 g), melted
• ¼ cup non-dairy milk (60 mL)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups flour (185 g)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 4 oz vegan semi-sweet chocolate (115 g), chunks
• 4 oz vegan dark chocolate (115 g), chunks

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt, and coconut oil until combined.
2. Whisk in non-dairy milk and vanilla, until all sugar has dissolved and the batter is smooth.
3. Sift in the flour and baking soda, and then fold the mixture with a spatula, being careful not to over mix.
4. Fold in the chocolate chunks evenly.
5. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
7. Scoop the dough with an ice cream scoop onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Be sure to leave at least 2 inches of space between cookies and the edges of the pan so cookies can spread evenly.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until cookies just begin to brown.
9. Cool completely.
10. Enjoy!

I hope you have so much fun baking these and eating them!