Vegan Almond Butter Crunch Cookies

If you are someone who is new to vegan and/or gluten-free cooking, these cookies from Angela Liddon's Oh She Glows Cookbook are a good place to start. They are so very good that I promise you won't miss the butter or eggs at all. I think a lot of times people equate vegan cooking with "health food," but it is actually quite diverse. Vegans need treats, too, and these cookies are defiantly a treat. While these cookies do contain a fair dose of sugar, they also have a decent amount of nutritional density, so I feel pretty good about giving them to my kids from time to time.

Don't expect a classic chocolate chip cookie texture. These are something a bit different altogether-- crisp and chocolatey, with a nubby texture. If I were going to compare them to anything, I would say they remind a bit of Dad's brand oatmeal cookies. I love them with chocolate chips, but I think they would also be great with golden raisins.

Ingredients:

1 flax egg (1 tbs ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tbs of water and allowed to thicken for 5 minutes)

1/4 coconut oil

1/4 cup roasted almond butter or peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cane sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp each baking soda

1/2 tsp each baking powder

1/2 tsp fine-grain sea salt

1 cup rolled oats 

1 cup almonds

1/4 mini dark chocolate chips or finely chopped dark chocolate

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Beat together the coconut oil and almond butter with a hand-held or stand mixer. 
• One at a time, beat in the sugars, flax egg, and vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• In a food process, grind the oats into a course flour. Add these to the wet ingredients and stir to combine.
• Add almonds to the food processor and grind into a course meal. Stir these into the dough.
• Add the chocolate chips and fold until well combined.
• Scoop 1 inch balls of dough and place 2 inches apart of baking sheets. If desired, flatten lightly with moisten fingers.
• Bake 10-13 minutes, until golden. Use care lifting these off the sheet pan--they will be very soft, but will really crisp as they cool. 

Notes:

• Angela doesn't flatten the balls of dough, but I like to. I find it yields a crisper cooking, which I like. Do whatever feels right to you.
• I find that these cookies really are best fresh, so I like to freeze some of the dough for another day. I simply arrange the dough balls carefully inside a freezer bag, and then freeze the balls flat. Once they are frozen, they can be jumbled together without sticking. Angela suggests thawing before baking, but I usually don't bother. Instead I simply bake from frozen, adding a few minutes onto the baking time.
• If it is important to you that these cookies be gluten free, be sure to buy gluten free oats.
• I have listed the ingredients based on the choices I typically make when making these cookies, but Angela does recommend some alternatives if you are interested. The original recipe can be found in The Oh She Glows Cookbook, and seems to be based on this similar recipe on her website at the link below:

 http://ohsheglows.com/2012/12/05/crispy-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies-vegan-gluten-free/