Maple Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are some of our favorites!  They are a weekly staple in our house.  We eat them in our lunches and snack on them all the time.  Ok, so that probably doesn't sound very healthy, but check out the ingredients - they are vegan, whole grain and don't have any processed sugar in them. I haven't tried a gluten-free version yet, but I think it could work if you used a combo of brown rice flour and oat flour (brown rice flour is sticky and oat flour is a bit crumbly, so they tend to balance each other out). 

Part of eating healthy at our house is making sure that we have healthy choices that we can enjoy and these cookies definitely play the part!  We love them and feel good afterwards too.  I mean, who wouldn't want to eat chocolate chip cookies everyday?

One of my favorite things about baking vegan is that I get to taste what I'm making all throughout the process!  My one-year-old loves licking the bowl clean and I don't have to worry about raw eggs.  He's learned how to ask for a 'taste' and just keeps coming back for more until they're all in the oven.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour or whole spelt flour

3/4 c. oat flour
1/4 c. brown rice flour

**if you don't have oat and brown rice flour on-hand, you can substitute more whole wheat flour**

1/4 c. almond meal (optional)
1/4 c. flaxseed meal
1 tsp. baking powder

1 c. rolled oats

1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. canola oil
1/3 c. apple juice
1/3 c. applesauce (or more if you need it)
1 c. pure maple syrup

2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. dairy free chocolate chips (I use Sunspire)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

**This recipe is really easy if you use a mixer with the paddle attachment.

1. Combine all dry ingredients (except chocolate chips) and mix well.

2. Add all wet ingredients to the dry mixture. Your cookie dough should be moist (see picture).  If it is not, you can add more applesauce.

3. Let the cookie dough sit in the mixer for around 5-10min.  This allows the flaxseed meal to set up (a great substitute for eggs!).

4. Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet.  I like to use parchment paper (in which case you wouldn't need to grease).



Before



5. Once you have a pan of cookies ready to go, press each down into a flatter shape using your fingers or a fork.  This can be a little time consuming, but is worth it.  If you choose not to flatten the cookies, they will most likely stay the shape that they were before going into the oven.  ...and when you're done, you get to lick your fingers!  Yum!







After





6. Bake cookies for 5min.  The cookies will look a little gooey when they first come out, but will quickly firm up.  Be careful not to leave them in the oven too long or they will be dry!

7. Cool cookies on a rack.  This recipe usually makes about three pans of cookies.

I hope you love these cookies as much as I do!  Let me know if you have any questions, ideas or comments!

~Martha

Today's Ingredients:

Bob Mills Organic Whole Wheat Flour - Fred Meyer

Bob Mills Organic Flaxseed Meal - Fred Meyer

Bob Mills Oat Flour - Fred Meyer

Bob Mills Brown Rice Flour - Fred Meyer

Organic Whole Spelt Flour - Marlene's (or PCC or Whole Foods) in the bulk section

Sunspire Dairy Free, Grain Sweetened Chocolate Chips - Marlene's (or PCC or Whole Foods)

Almond Meal - Trader Joe's

Organic Rolled Oats - Trader Joe's

Pure Maple Syrup - Trader Joe's

Organic Apple Juice & Applesauce - Trader Joe's

Cinnamon & Vanilla - Costco