Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies That Are Fun to Devour

 

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A post shared by Haggai Leffler - Vegan Athlete (@haggai_leffler) on Aug 8, 2019 at 4:05am PDT

I'll start by saying these cookies taste like coconut.

If you're not a coconut fan, move on to the next recipe.

If you, like me, love coconut, stay right here 🙂

Great, I'm glad you stayed with me.

Since I returned from India several years ago, I've developed a special fondness for coconut, and coconut flour in particular.

There's something about that tropical texture and flavor that makes my heart (and stomach) feel good.

Today, you can find a wealth of wonderful products made from this amazing nut in supermarkets, such as:

Coconut cream, coconut milk, coconut flakes, coconut flour, and more.

In this recipe, if you're wondering, I used a major dairy brand's Almond-Coconut drink (who also participated in creating this recipe) and coconut flour.

Regarding the flour: working with it can be very challenging, especially in vegan recipes,

Because coconut flour contains no gluten, it isn't sticky, making it very difficult to bake with. Additionally, it has a high tendency to absorb liquids — in short, a problematic flour (but nutritious, I'll get to that in a moment).

My advice for coconut flour in vegan recipes: don't overcomplicate it.

Stick to simple recipes with 5-6 ingredients.

Bind the flour with almond butter, peanut butter, or tahini, add some delicious bits like chocolate or nuts, and pop them in the oven.

My previous attempts at adding layers and techniques ended in disappointment and a full trash can.

So why persist?

I especially like coconut flour for its nutritional values:

Look at how great this is!

100g of coconut flour contains about 21g of protein, only 16g of carbohydrates, and a very high amount of dietary fiber.

However, note that it also has a high calorie count—around 300 kcal per 100g.

It's a great way to add quality, healthy calories to your daily diet (perfect for toddlers and endurance athletes, for example).

A bit about Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies:

These cookies are soft and crumble easily (you can definitely dip them in a drink, but do so carefully).

These cookies don't require a long baking time, mainly because coconut flour has a tendency to burn. Therefore, a light tan in the oven will do the job.

I used a major dairy brand's Coconut-Almond drink (full disclosure: they were involved in creating this recipe), which provides a delicate and pleasant flavor of coconut and almonds. You can substitute it with a major dairy brand's soy or almond milk.

For sweetening, I used maple syrup—you can replace it with the same amount of silan (date syrup).

I used a bit of dark chocolate chips—you can add or swap them for your favorite nuts or finely chopped fruit.

For binding and as a good source of fatty acids, I used high-quality almond butter—you can replace it with the same amount of tahini or peanut butter. (Note that whole tahini can turn slightly bitter when baked, so it's better to use raw, hulled tahini).

Nutritional values by clinical dietitian and fitness coach Noam Bechar

One cookie out of 15, weighing 30g, contains:

• 141 calories
• 3g protein
• 12g carbohydrates
• 9g fat (of which 1g is saturated fat)

Want another chocolate chip cookie recipe?

Print

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

3g protein per cookie

Keyword coconut flour, gluten-free, chocolate, cookies

Prep Time 4 minutes

Cook Time 9 minutes

Servings 15 cookies

Calories 141 kcal

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup almond butter 200g
• 1/3 cup maple syrup 100g
• 1/4 cup a major dairy brand almond-coconut drink 60 ml
• 1/4 cup coconut flour 30g (6 tbsp)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips 60g

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (medium heat).

2. In a deep bowl, mix the almond butter with the maple syrup until well combined.

   

3. In winter or if the room is particularly cold, warm the almond butter for a few seconds in the microwave or over a double boiler.

4. Add the vanilla extract, almond-coconut drink, and salt, and mix well.

   

5. Add the coconut flour and baking powder and mix well until all the liquid is absorbed into the flour.

6. Fold the chocolate chips into the cookie dough.

   

7. Using your hands, form ping-pong sized balls and flatten them into cookie shapes.

   

8. Place them on a baking tray and bake for about 10 minutes.

9. Allow them to cool for about 15 minutes.

   

10. They stay fresh in the refrigerator for two to three days.