Gather round dear readers, because this is a post that is YEARS in the making. Yes, years.  You see, chocolate chip cookies are my all time favorite cookies ever. There is something so perfect about the simple combination of slightly sweet dough and decadent chocolate that just makes my tastebuds sing.

But you’ve got to be [...]]]>

Gather round dear readers, because this is a post that is YEARS in the making. Yes, years.  You see, chocolate chip cookies are my all time favorite cookies ever. There is something so perfect about the simple combination of slightly sweet dough and decadent chocolate that just makes my tastebuds sing.

But you’ve got to be careful not to let the simplicity of the chocolate chip cookie fool you – making the perfect chocolate chip cookie can be quite challenging!

I’ve made dozens and dozens of batches over the years, and while, yes, I’ve enjoyed them all, they were not THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES IN THE VEGAN UNIVERSE. Some batches were too sweet, some didn’t have enough chocolate, some of the cookies were too flat, some were too bland, some too crispy, some not cakey and soft enough, and some were just plain boring. It was through sheer determination and a lot of trial and error that I finally achieved chocolate chip cookie nirvana.

These sweet chocolate filled discs of perfection are ever so slightly crisp on the outside, but instantly yield to a soft, cakey, chewy center of dough that is mellow and subtly sweet with lots of brown sugar flavor. The dark chocolate chunks stud each cookie evenly and melt slowly in your mouth, combining with the sweet dough to create a swirling mix of heaven. Really….make these cookies now!

Ingredients (makes a bit more than 2 dozen large cookies)

1/2 cup vegan butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 3 Tbsp water
2 tsp vanilla soy milk (yes, vanilla soy milk, NOT vanilla essence)
2 Tbsp applesauce
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 and 1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups chopped dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips

- Pre-heat oven to 350F

- In the microwave at 15 second intervals melt the vegan butter until it is extremely soft. You don’t want it completely liquefied just very, very soft.

- Combine the softened butter with the shortening and combine completely, adding both sugars and agave nectar.

- Sift together the flours, salt, and baking soda

- Put the flax water mixture in the microwave for 20 seconds and then pour into the butter mixture, combining completely

- Add the soy milk and applesauce to the butter mixture

- Slowly pour the flour mixture into the butter mixture and stir completely, lastly folding in the chocolate chunks

- Roll the dough into balls with your hands (the dough should not be very sticky and it should be easy to roll into balls) and place on parchment paper lined baking sheets and put into the refrigerator for 15 minutes before baking.

- Bake for 10 – 11 minutes. The cookies will still be very soft to the touch when you pull them out of the oven, that is what you want. Leave them on the pans for 10 minutes to firm up and then cool on cooking racks.

*****

And an extra big congratulations to Mara from Vegan Gluten-free Cooking because she is the winner of my Grand Opening Giveaway #3 and has won 2 boxes of vegan, organic, fair-trade chocolate from Sweet Earth Chocolates. Congratulations!

These are so delicious and so simple. What I like about them is that they stay moist and almost gooey for days. So fresh and good. I hope you guys like them! (Cody said they were his favorite cookies ever!)Dry Ingredients:1 and 1/2 cups flour1/2 cup baking cocoa1/2 teas. baking soda

Wet Ingredients:1/2 cup margarine, softened1/2 [...]]]>

These are so delicious and so simple. What I like about them is that they stay moist and almost gooey for days. So fresh and good. I hope you guys like them! (Cody said they were his favorite cookies ever!)

Dry Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teas. baking soda

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup soy milk
1 teas. vanilla

Peanut Butter Filling:
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

In a small bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda. In a large bowl beat together margarine, sugar, brown sugar. Add milk. Beat well. Gently mix in the flour mixture about 1/3 at a time until incorporated.

For the filling combine powdered sugar and 1/2 cup peanut butter in a mixing bowl and beat until sugar is absorbed and peanut butter feels stiffer. It should be pretty solid, if it’s too oily or thin just add more powdered sugar.

Using a piece of dough a bit smaller than a golf ball flatten the dough into a disc on a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Place a heaping spoonful of the peanut butter filling onto the centre of the dough. Carefully fold chocolate dough over the peanut butter ball and seal the edges. Roll dough into a ball.

Place balls and baking sheet, seam down, about one inch apart. Bake for about 8 minutes until the surface begins to slightly crack. Let cool for one minute and they will harden. While they are cooling sprinkle the tops with a bit of powdered sugar. Enjoy!