Surprise, surprise – I made you cookies!

Since we're a mere 9 days away from Christmas – yikes!! – how could I not share a new cookie recipe with you? I know I've been talking a lot about healthy eating around here lately, but I've also been talking about balance. So this is my balance. You know I love me some kale salads, I'll also be enjoying some of these cookies this holiday season.

And these cookies? They're not just any cookies. Oh no, these babies are chocolate on chocolate, with quinoa and walnuts sprinkled in. Think rich fudgy brownie, but in cookie form. A brookie? Or a brownkie? Okay, I'm officially losing my mind. We'll blame it on the holidays. Or maybe it's the chocolate.

Either way, I'm not letting it get in the way of these chocolate quinoa cookies, because they are out of this world. And yes, they're VEGAN! *fist bump*

Essentially, these cookies are just a veganized version of my dark chocolate quinoa cookies. I followed the recipe exactly, just swapped out the eggs for flax eggs and added in walnuts. I figured they'd be very similar in the result, but I was surprised how different they actually were from one another.

The vegan version is much richer, fudgier and denser. They're chewy – almost like molasses cookies – and have a darker chocolate flavor than their non-vegan counterparts. They're both equally delicious, it just depends on your mood. Since I love all things chocolate brownie (I used to be obsessed with the Chocolate Fudge Brownie frozen yogurt from Ben & Jerry's – holy cow, yum!), these *might* become my new go-to cookie recipe.

They're just so good!

And since they're vegan, it also means they're more allergy-friendly. Hooray for the perfect holiday gift!

And that's exactly what I did with my batch of cookies!

You might remember around this time last year, I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. It was my first time participating and I'm thrilled to be apart of it again this year. This cookie swap is like others, except this time we actually mail our cookies to three other food bloggers and in exchange get three boxes of cookies back!

This year, I had the pleasure of enjoying cookies from three lovely ladies: Wendy (Around My Family Table), Stacy (Paleo Gone Sassy) and Chelsy (Mangia). I encourage you to hop on over to their sites and check out the recipes – I LOVED them!

Aside form enjoying yummy cookies, this cookie swap is done for a good cause. We all come together and raise money for Cookies for Kids' Cancer – and we've raised over $10,000!

I feel lucky to be a part of this great event and hope that this recipe not only inspires you to make these holiday cookies, but also consider supporting a cause that means something to you this year. It always feels good to give back 🙂

Happy baking!

xx Alyssa