Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan)

I believe I'm lucky enough to already have the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, however it's not vegan friendly at all.  One morning, before work, I had a craving for cookies (c'mon, it's not that weird), and thought I'd give this vegan recipe a shot.

I love how quickly some of these vegan cookies come together.  When the husband came out of the bedroom, all ready for work, he was pleasantly surprised with the baked cookie scent wafting throughout the apartment.  In the morning?!?!?

(There really is no better way to start your day than a freshly baked cookie.  Just saying.)

Because it's vegan I didn't have to soften any butter, or cream the butter and sugar, and that saved quite a bit of time.  The base is white and brown sugars with oil that you beat with a fork until it's the texture of caramel (about 2 minutes).  A chemical reaction occurs when the sugars and oil mix, and if you get lazy about this step you will be left with some greasy, separated cookies and then nobody has a good time.

I brought these cookies to the office and everyone was so impressed - you baked these before work???  Little do they know how quick and easy it was.

The flavor was very good, and I seriously doubt anyone would have known they were vegan unless I had told them.

Do you have some vegan friends to bake for?  Are you out of butter/shortening/eggs?  Do you just want a quick and tasty cookie?  This is the recipe for you!


Chocolate Chip Cookies
(from Post Punk Kitchen)
Makes ~ 2 dozen cookies

1/2 brown sugar
1/4 white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
1 tablespoon tapioca flour (arrowroot or cornstarch are suitable substitutes)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I had to use 2 cups because it was just too wet to hold any shape)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups chocolate chips
     (If you're looking for vegan chocolate chips, Whole Foods has some, or you can use Ghirardelli     Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips that contain no dairy products).

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix together sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour (or substitute) in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important that you don’t get lazy about that step. Otherwise the sugar and oil will separate during baking and create a gross, greasy mess on your cookie sheet.  Mix in the vanilla.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Add in extra flour if the dough is too wet, like mine was.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop rounded tablespoon of dough onto lined baking sheet. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 6-8 minutes until they are just a little browned around the edges. I did have to bake mine a little bit longer due to the wetness of the dough.  Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.


Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

I love chocolate chip cookie dough.  Don't get me wrong, baked cookies are fantastic, but I really love eating the raw dough.  I know a lot of folks are worried about the raw egg, but it hasn't killed me yet.  Very scientific, I know.  But my dad, also a cookie dough lover, has been eating raw dough for over 50 years without incident, so I'm not particularly worried.  However, that being said, the raw dough in this recipe is egg free, so no worries!

I had a suspicion these cupcakes would be over the top, so I wanted to make them for just the right occasion.  I think my birthday is sufficient, so bring on the ridiculous amount of dough!

The awesomeness begins with a brown butter cupcake.  Mine ended up a little more amber than brown (I'm terrified of burning it), but the caramel and nutty flavors still shined through.  Then the cupcake is filled with a ball of raw (and eggless) dough.  The frosting is thinned out raw dough, which pipes nicely.  The whole thing is topped off with a tiny ball of chocolate chip cookie dough.

It's amazing.  Very rich, but really, really yummy.  Definitely a favorite birthday treat of mine!

The verdict: Just what I was hoping for - super tasty!
The husband's thoughts: Really liked it.  Might sprinkle chocolate chips on top instead of the extra little ball of dough.
Changes for next time: I might lessen the sugar in the raw dough a bit, just so it's a bit more balanced and not too sweet.
Difficulty: Easy, but multiple steps

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
(from Cupcake Project)
Makes 12 cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt butter over medium-heat in a small skillet or heavy-bottomed pot.  Continue to heat the butter, stirring it, until it turns brown (10-15 minutes).  The butter will foam, and then form large bubbles, and then begin to turn brown.  Promptly remove from stove to avoid burning it.  For a bit more information on browning butter, look HERE.  Pour browned butter into bowl and let cool to room temperature.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In large bowl, whip egg whites until light and frothy.  Slowly mix sugar into the egg whites.  Mix cooled browned butter and vanilla into the wet mixture.  Alternately mix dry ingredients and milk into the wet mixture.  Mix in chocolate chips.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.  Bake at 350 F degrees for 20 minutes or until cupcakes bounce back with lightly touched.  Remove to cooling rack and cool to room temperature before filling and frosting.

Raw Cookie Dough (for filling and frosting)
Makes...far more than you need, but who cares?  Save it for ice creams or eating it with a spoon.
(You may also use your own favorite cookie dough recipe!)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
4 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
Mini chocolate chips (to your preferences)
Heavy cream (~1/4 to 1/2 cup)

Mix butter, sugars, vanilla, milk and salt.  Then stir in flour (you may need to add more to get to an easily-rolled consistency).  Take out roughly 1/3 of dough, and place in small bowl.  Add mini chocolate chips to the smaller amount.  Scoop out about 1 rounded teaspoon of dough and roll into ball and set on parchment paper.  You'll need a dozen of these.  Then roll out 12 even smaller balls for decoration on top of the cupcakes.

With remaining 2/3 of plain dough, mix in cream until you reach desired consistency for piping.

Construction
Core out cooled cupcakes to make room for filling.  Feel free to eat the bits!  Drop in larger rolled ball of cookie dough. Pipe 'frosting' onto cupcake and top with smaller ball of cookie dough.

Enjoy!