Vegan chocolate chip cookies invade my kitchen!

For those who haven't heard of the vegan cookie bible (Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar), listen up!

This great little book is packed with vegan cookies recipes that never fails to deliver.They're quick, easy and most importantly SERIOUSLY delicious vegan cookies. I've said before that the easiness and quickness of the recipes are the both good and bad news. I end up wiping up batches within minutes of a cookie or chocolate craving.

I have previously posted about the Carrot Cake Cookie recipe. A recipe I always come back to. Make sure to check that one out too if you're a fan of carrot cake. Anyway, onto the more traditional vegan chocolate chip cookie (Vegan cookies invade your cookie jar - Isa Chandra). Luckily, the recipe is up on Isa's Post Punk Kitchen site.

The Vegan Cookie Recipe

1/2 brown sugar

1/4 white sugar

2/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)

1 tablespoon tapioca flour

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

Mix together sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important that you don’t get lazy about that step. Mix in the vanilla.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stuff so use your hands to really work them in.

For 3 inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes – no more than 9 – until they are just a little browned around the edges. I usually get 16 out of these so I do two rounds of eight cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

For 2 dozen two inch cookies roll dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches and bake for only six minutes.

My Tip: If you prefer yours with a bit of crunch add a table spoon or 2 of granulated sugar and leave them in the oven for just a couple minutes longer. Or if you like yours soft and chewy, keep a serious close eye on them. Make sure they don't brown too much!

Also if you're looking for cheap vegan chocolate, Tesco have Ryeland's 'Plain Chocolate', which are just over a euro!

Vegan Carrot Cake Cookies

I love cookies and when you come across a vegan cookbook packed full of cookie recipes, you get pretty excited. I picked up this great book:Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar over Christmas and only really have started using it! All the measurements were in cups, but I got my hands on a cup measurement jug so I could bake to my hearts content after that. The book itself is really great and has so many amazing recipes in it.

The best (and kind of worst) thing is that they are all so quick and simple to make. I've been known to whip up a batch within minutes of having a cookie/chocolate craving!

I checked out a couple of the recipes but the Carrot Cake Cookies have got to be my favourite. It's a genius idea combining two amazing types of cake! So I had some homegrown pretty deformed looking carrots growing in my garden. So I thought, why not use them in this recipe and turn their ugly appearance into something delicious.

If you're digging this genius carrot cake and cookie combination so far, here is the recipe!

Carrot Raisin Spice Chews

1/3 cup non dairy milk
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds ( I didn't add these)
1/2 cup vegetable oil or peanut oil
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
1 1/2 tea spoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup finely shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup raisins
1 cup walnut (optional really)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree farenheit and grease or line 2 baking sheets with baking paper.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the milk, flak seeds, oil, brown sugar, sugar, orange zest and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and spices. Stir to moisten ingredients and then fold in carrots, coconut, raisins and walnuts. Dough will be sticky and moist.

3. Drop generous table spoons of the dough onto cookies sheets, leaving about 2 inches between them. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes until the edges brown and the tops are firm. Leave to cool and then enjoy!!

My Tips:
They're very sweet so maybe hold off on some of the sugar. Make a lemon glaze to go on top and go all out and make an amazing ice cream sandwich out of 2 cookies. 

Check out my post for vegan chocolate chip cookies!

Really easy, Really quick, Kind of healthy cookies..

These cookies are an adaption of the vegan choc chip cookies I posted about before.
I call these chocolatey, oaty, raisiny, peanut buttery and coconuty cookies. They basically have a load of yummy ingredients in it.
They are slightly dangerously easy and quick to make though. I've found myself twice this week wiping up a batch for myself..

Anyway, here is a recipe and I highly recommend it.
I don't have exact measurements for most of the ingredients as it's really down to your own taste. Everything is optional in the recipe really!

200g Plain Flour
Cocoa powder..as much as you want! Depends of how much you like chocolate
spoonful of Cinnamon
Desiccant coconut..as much as you want! I just use a good sprinkling
Oats.. I use a good handful or 2
Raisins..as much as you want! The more the better, I find.
Chocolate chips (optional)
-
120ml Vegetable oil
100ish grams Sugar (I use a mix of caster and soft brown sugar) Anything goes!
60ml Water

Peanut Butter (couple spoonfuls)

Bowl 1 
Combine the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, Oats, Raisins, Chocolate in a bowl (The first half of the ingredients)
Bowl 2
Combine the oil, sugar and water together until well mixed.


Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix together. Then just roll out little balls and flatten them down onto a baking tray!

Bake for aprox 10 mins!
And voila!

Recent food

I am constantly taking picture of food on my phone. Everything is a bit mixed up so instead of doing a load of separate posts I thought I'd throw them all into one.

I went out to the Happy Pear today for Lunch. I went for the pitta and salad. I didn't know the pitta had goats cheese in it though so I had to take it out and eat around the left over bit. I had a lovely coffee and vegan choc fruit and nut tiffin slice. I also love going to The Happy Pear.
I had another attempt at cupcakes but with another recipe. I used the Vegan cupcakes take over the world one. I didn't have all the ingredients really though. It required corn starch but I assumed that's corn flour. It made the cupcakes taste like corn flour though. They were alright though. Still not there yet. The icing was good though!

I came across these in Dunnes Stores and HAD to get them. Orange chocolate is a favourite. They tasted really good.
Here is a salad with a Good Life nut cutlet burger. I love them and they are so quick to cook under the grill.

Linda McCartney sausages. Last week people kept mentioning breakfast rolls and I was craving sausages and beans so bad. I made this for lunch a couple times and really hits the spot. It's a nice change from salad. The sausages are so tasty and only take a few minutes under the grill.

And this is my usual lunch while at home. I eat so many falafels but I don't know what I'd do with out them.

I made more cookies recently with the usual recipe. I guessed the measurements this time as my scales was broken. I added some chocolate powder into the mixture to make double chocolate cookies and oh my god they are dangerously tasty. I eat them all :/. The trick is to almost under cook them and then let them set and you get an extremely chewy cookie as the all the sugar sets but doesn't harden from being heated.

And another 'The Counter' post. As I've said before it's a great place to go for dinner when with non vegis and it's cheap and sooooooo tasty. This is the vegi burger in a bowl with various toppings such as avocado, roasted peppers and grilled pineapples. And you NEED to get the sweet potato fries.

And this is the falafel wrap from Gourmet Burger in Dun Loaghaire. It is very very tasty. It's vegan but you just have to ask for no Harisa. I get guac instead. It is so yummy when they grill the wrap after. It comes with rosemary chips!