VEGAN ALMOND CHOCOLATE COCONUT COOKIES
Notes:
Almond, chocolate, and coconut lovers, you must try this recipe. These cookies have a flavor profile reminiscent of those old school girl scout samoas, but even better because they’re made with clean ingredients, they’re vegan, and you can almost feel good about eating them. The resulting cookies are crazy soft and I have to use a lot of will power to not eat more than a couple at a time. These cookies are by no means “low calorie”. They have a ton of good fat from the coconut cream and almond butter, but no added oils. They keep really well at room temp for a few days. They even stay soft in the fridge (except for the chocolate of course), but I don’t think they will last you very long. Share them and spread the love. Your non-vegan friends will be impressed. I promise.
As usual, ingredients where noted in grams were weighed and the cup measures are approximations.
Makes 8-9 cookies.
Prep time: 25 mins Bake time: 15 mins: Total time: 40 mins
Special Equipment:
Tart ring molds.
I use the DATANYA 12 Pack Tart Rings, Perforated Tart Ring, Stainless Steel Cake Rings (4 Inch) They help keep the cookies uniform in shape and from spreading too much because the dough is soft. Also super useful for most cookie recipes and for small tarts of course.
Piping bag (for piping chocolate drizzle on top)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup (195 g) heavy coconut cream
2/3 cup (180 g) unsalted creamy almond butter
Make sure it’s unsalted otherwise you’ll have to adjust the amount of salt you add. Either raw or roasted creamy almond butter are fine. Roasted almond butter will have a deeper color and flavor and that is what I used.
1 and 1/8 cup (145 g) bread flour
I used bread flour because there isn’t a lot of flour in this recipe so I wanted a higher gluten forming flour. You could try AP flour, but the cookies will likely be more crumbly.
1 tsp salt (I used pink Himalayan)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 cup (185 g) granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp plant milk of your choice
Dark Chocolate (I use 70% dark)
8-9 squares that are ~1.5” in length and width (85-95 g)
Dark chocolate for cookie tops (~45 g), melted
Directions:
Preheat oven to 360 F.
Pour the coconut cream into a large mixing bowl, then add the almond butter, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts and thoroughly whisk to smoothness.
In a separate medium bowl combine the flour, salt, corn starch, and baking soda and mix together then add to the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold the dough together. The dough should look shiny and smooth. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour to firm it up.
Break apart 8-9 dark chocolate squares (~1.5” L x W). Pull the dough out of the fridge and dollop 8-9 ice cream scoops of dough onto prepared baking sheets (at most 6 cookies on one sheet). Insert a dark chocolate square into the middle of each scoop of dough and make sure it’s completely covered by the dough.
Since there are no added oils to these cookies (only sources are the coconut cream and almond butter) you will need to thoroughly oil the inside of each tart ring mold before placing them around each cookie so you don’t get excessive sticking after they’re baked.
Mix the maple syrup and plant milk together and thoroughly brush onto the top of each cookie.
Melt the 45 g of extra dark chocolate in the microwave. Start with a 30 second burst and thorough mix, followed by a 25 second burst and thorough mix, and a final 20 second burst and thorough mix. Transfer the melted chocolate to a piping bag and cut the very tip off to allow a narrow stream of chocolate out. Squiggle the dark chocolate over the top of each cookie then use a chopstick to quickly swirl it into the tops.
Bake the cookies for 14-15 mins.
Let cool completely before removing from the tart ring molds. If needed use a small knife around the perimeter to release them if they’re sticking.
They keep really well for a few days at room temp and even longer in the fridge.