Our household is part of a baking boom that’s driving thousands of quarantined people into their kitchens to knead dough and bake cookies as a way to cope. I’m not unhappy about this new trend, because my girls are becoming wonderful bakers!
One of their most recent creations was this Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie from Cafe Gratitude’s new amazing cookbook called, Love is Served – and I must say, it is absolute perfection. It’s not only vegan and gluten free, but it’s loaded with walnuts which are a plant-based protein and have Omega 3’s.
This recipe also contains a bit of maple syrup and cinnamon to give it just a bit of sweetness and spiciness.
CHOCOLATE CHIP WALNUT COOKIES
Yields 12 cookies
INGREDIENTS:
3⁄4 cup Gluten-Free All-Purpose Bakery Flour Blend
3⁄4 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips
1⁄2 cup raw walnuts, chopped
1⁄2 cup rolled oats
1⁄2 cup cane sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄3 cup Coconut Milk
1⁄3 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1⁄4 cup coconut oil, softened
1⁄2 cup almond butter
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour blend, chocolate chips, walnuts, oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Mix gently until combined.
- In a blender, combine the coconut milk, maple syrup, and chia seeds. Blend until the chia is fully dissolved, about 1 minute. Add the wet blended mix to the dry mix, along with the coconut oil and almond butter. Mix until everything is fully incorporated and forms a soft dough.
- Using a 1⁄4-cup measure, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing each cookie 5 inches apart, and flattening each cookie slightly. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack. The cookies should still be a little soft when you remove them, but they’ll firm up as they cool. Store the cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
From LOVE IS SERVED by Café Gratitude with Seizan Dreux Ellis, published by Avery, and imprint of Peguin Group, a Division of Penguin Random House. © 2020 by Dreux Ellis
