It’s been a cold week. I know I mentioned the cold in my last post, but when you don’t have a car, the cold is always on your mind. I’ve been living in Canada my whole life, but that won’t stop me from complaining about the cold. My stats tell me that I have readers of this blog from warm places like Brazil and Jamaica (hi and welcome to all of you! :)). But just so you people in warm countries know what I’m dealing with, according to the Weather Network, it will be a high of -17 C on Tuesday…
Yup.
I’m not gonna lie — cold weather and bar study make me want to be a hermit and eat cookies. I’ll admit — sometimes I give in to those latent tendencies and I bake up a storm (lol. I’m just noticing that I wrote “bake” and did not write “study.” Quite telling. Anyways…) . That said, I want to make sure that whatever I put into my body is nutritious. I had a hankering for some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies the other day, and so I came up with this.
This is recipe is inspired by the cookie recipes of Melangery, Namely Marly and Oh She Glows.
Why these cookies are awesome sauce:
- They are nut-free, refined sugar-free, egg free, dairy-free and gluten-free
- They are soft and chewy and packed with protein. In fact, the hemp seeds serve as a plant-based source of complete protein
- They are filled with omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, iron, fiber and other vital nutrients
- They make the perfect after workout snack or accompaniment to a healthy breakfast
- In terms of cookies, these are, by far, one of most nutritious I’ve ever seen (*humble brag*)
½ cup sunflower seed butter (you can substitute another nut butter, like almond or hazelnut, but then it wouldn’t be nut free)
½ cup melted coconut oil
½ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
½ cup Sucanat or brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tbsp flaxmeal
3 Tbsp water
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (OR 1 cup brown rice flour + ½ cup buckwheat flour OR 1 ½ cups oat flour to make it gluten-free)
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
3 Tbsp chia seeds
3 Tbsp hemp seeds
2 Tbsp flaxmeal
1 cup chocolate chips, dairy-free (I used Camino’s 70% dark chocolate chips. Enjoy Life brand also has dairy-free chocolate chips)
There are two ways to make these cookies (or any cookie in general): the lazy way (which is what I did and is my preferred method), and the proper cookie making way.
The Lazy Way
- Preheat the oven to 350 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat (silicone baking liners).
- Combine the 1 tbsp of flaxmeal with the 3 tbsp of water and let sit for at least 5 minutes while you prepare the batter. The mucilaginous, gelatinous properties of flaxmeal will turn this mixture into our “flax egg.” Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the other ingredients (except the chocolate chips and flax egg). With a hand mixer (or a wooden spoon and a strong arm), mix all of the ingredients. Add the flax egg and mix some more until the batter is consistent. If the batter is dry, feel free to add a splash of non-dairy milk or water until you have a firm, cookie like batter (not dry and crumbly; it should hold together). Add the chocolate chips and mix again.
- Using an ice scream scoop or your bare hands, scoop 2 tbsp worth of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet and press them down into little rounds. The cookie should be no more than 1 cm thick. If you are a stickler for aesthetics, you can round and smooth the cracked edges with wet or moistened finger tips.
- Put the cookies into the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes (I baked mine for 11 minutes).
- Once baked, transfer carefully (because they are fragile and may crack!!) to a cooling rack.
- These cookies can be safely frozen once baked. I believe the batter can also be frozen to bake later as well.
The Proper Way
- Preheat the oven to 350 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat (silicone baking liners).
- Combine the 1 tbsp of flaxmeal with the 3 tbsp of water and let sit for at least 5 minutes while you prepare the batter. The mucilaginous, gelatinous properties of flaxmeal will turn this mixture into our “flax egg.” Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine all of the weet ingredients (except the flax egg). In other words, mix the sunflower seed butter, the melted coconut oil, the sugar and the vanilla together.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the other dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips). Stir to combine. Then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. With a hand mixer (or a wooden spoon and a strong arm), mix all of the ingredients (including flax egg) together until the batter is consistent. If the batter is dry, feel free to add a splash of non-dairy milk or water until you have a firm, cookie like batter (not dry and crumbly; it should hold together). Add the chocolate chips and mix again until well incorporated.
- Using an ice scream scoop or your bare hands, scoop 2 tbsp worth of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet and press them down into little rounds. The cookie should be no more than 1 cm thick. If you are a stickler for aesthetics, you can round and smooth the cracked edges with wet or moistened finger tips.
- Put the cookies into the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes (I baked mine for 11 minutes).
- Once baked, transfer carefully (because they are fragile and may crack!!) to a cooling rack.
- These cookies can be safely frozen once baked. I believe the batter can also be frozen to bake later as well.
Note: You can go all out with the seeds in this recipe and add more. I sure did. 🙂
Note: If you used the sunflower seed butter, once you bite into the cooled cookies, you may notice that they are green inside. This freaked me out, so I did some research. Apparently, it’s normal and nothing to worry about; your cookies are still edible. For more info on why this happens, see here, here and here.
They may not be pretty, but they are yummy! Enjoy these cookies with a tall glass of homemade almond milk and you’re all set!
Simone, I’m definitely trying this. BTW, I tried the Tex Mex soup yesterday. Nice! I had a small bag of quinoa I was contemplating throwing out, but kept hanging on to for months, hoping I would find a flavourful way to prepare it. This recipe saved it from the bin. Thanks!
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lol. Glad I could help Dionne (and even more glad you liked the soup recipe)!
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