“WHAT? Vegans eat this well?!”

That’s one of the responses these cookies got. One of the mildly annoying things about veganism is that truly palatable dairy and egg-free baked goods are hard to come by. Luckily, through a lot of trial and error (emphasis on the error thanks to the finicky nature of vegan baking), I’m gradually building up my own arsenal of delicious vegan recipes so I’ll never feel deprived again. This particular recipe comes from a friend of mine: she veganized the original egg-and-dairy recipe amazingly! Not to mention, the strong almond flavors are just irresistible–I’m a bit of an almond addict.

I only modified it a little bit from the one she shared, and these cookies were an absolute hit. I brought a batch to the store I bake for, and they sold out really quickly!

Makes 2 dozen cookies (~3″ diameter)

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1½ cups brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 cup almonds, roughly chopped

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup earth balance (or sub in equal part applesauce to make it lower fat)

2 tbsp flaxseed with 6 tbsp water

1/2 tsp vanilla

Salt to sprinkle on top

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare flax egg by mixing the flaxseed and water in a small bowl. Set it aside, stirring occasionally, until fully combined and gelatinous. (yum!)

2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl: vegetable oil, earth balance, flax mixture, and vanilla. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until combined. Fold in almonds and chocolate chips.

3. Refrigerate the dough for about an hour, then form into balls on a cookie sheet, leaving about a 2″ space between them. Sprinkle a bit of salt on top of each one.

4. Bake at 350 degrees, or until the tops have crisped up. Transfer to cooling rack until set, and enjoy!

Serving size: 1 cookie. Calories per serving: 210 (using earth balance), 180 (using applesauce)