Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

What is better than coming back from playing at the park on a Saturday afternoon to put delicious chewy vegan chocolate chip cookies into the oven? Nothing. As the amazing smell of freshly baked cookies filled my home, I realized that we had totally had the best Saturday afternoon as a family. I had thought of the idea while showering that morning. We could make up our cookie dough before we headed out the door, that way when we got home we could bake up a batch to enjoy after all the fun we had at the park. Out of love, Syfy and I decided to share how we make our vegan chocolate chip cookies LIVE on Facebook! For his first LIVE video, he did so well! He said that he wants to make banana cookies for our next episode, so I guess we are!

The secret to thicker chewy cookies

There are two different ways to love cookies. You can love the flat crunchy cookies or you can love thick chewy cookies. There's a secret, though, to achieving the thick chewy kind, especially if you are baking cookies with coconut oil instead of butter. This trick also works with butter based cookies, though, too! The trick to thicker chewy cookies is in refrigerating the dough before baking. When the dough is warm, the cookies will tend to fall completely flat, making larger crunchy cookies. So, if you want those thicker chewy cookies, refrigerate your dough for an hour or two before baking. With coconut oil cookies, it may be easier if you scoop the cookie dough onto the cookie sheets before refrigerating. Coconut oil will get very hard at cold temperatures and can be hard to scoop out when cold.  If you want the flatter crunchy cookies, simply omit the fridge time and bake the cookies right away!

Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 2 ¼ all purpose flour (You can make these cookies gluten-free by substituting the Namaste Gluten-Free flour blend!)
• 1 Tbsp. Cornstarch or arrowroot powder
• 1 tsp. Baking soda
• ¾ tsp real salt
• 1 cup unrefined coconut oil
• 1 ½ cup coconut sugar (or ¾ cup sugar, ¾ cup brown sugar)
• ¼ cup filtered water
• 1 Tbsp. Vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups dairy-free chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, arrowroot (cornstarch), and salt. Set dry ingredients aside.
2. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat coconut oil, coconut sugar, water, and vanilla until fluffy.
3. Slowly beat in the dry mixture. Once it's all mixed in, beat in the chocolate chips and any other chunky ingredients.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper
5. scoop dough onto lined pans leaving 2 inches space between each scoop.
6. Put the dough into the fridge to chill for 1 hours before baking. The dough can be frozen or refrigerated until you are ready to use! (If freezing, roll cookie dough into a cylinder shape wrapped in parchment paper. This will make it easier to cut into cookies!)
7. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden! Let cool in the pan and enjoy!