Deliciously Decadent Black Cocoa Cookies

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Black. Cocoa. Powder. Say it with me! Black. Cocoa. Powder! There it is on the left side compared to Dutch process cocoa powder on the right. It is by far my new favorite culinary discovery. This is the cocoa powder that gives Oreos their color and richness – not that I have eaten an Oreo lately, even though they are vegan.

I looked up black cocoa powder on The Kitchn website:

“Black cocoa powder is an ultra-Dutch processed cocoa powder. All the acidity has been neutralized, rendering the cocoa powder completely mellow, non-bitter, and very black. Think of black cocoa powder almost as more of a coloring ingredient than a flavoring one—it will turn your baked goods as deeply black as you could ever hope for.

Because it’s been so heavily Dutch processed, this cocoa powder presents some challenges when baking. It contains almost no fat, which can make baked goods dry and crumbly. You can either use half black cocoa and half regular Dutch-processed cocoa in your recipe, or you can up the fat a little bit.

Black cocoa also contains no acid, it won’t react with baking soda. Be sure to use baking powder instead, substituting one teaspoon of powder for every 1/4 teaspoon of soda called for in the recipe.”

A friend passed along a little jar of black cocoa and I decided my first baking project would be to make chocolate chip walnut cookies. I started with my recipe for my Even More Fabulous Aquafaba Chocolate Chip Cookies and tweaked it to incorporate the cocoa powders. It was just a matter of adding cocoa powder in the right proportion – adjusting the flour and splitting the cocoa powders 50/50 – and adjusting the baking powder measurement.

These little beauties are delicious, crispy, chewy, nutty and chocolatey. I’m in love!

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Makes a baker’s dozen (13) using a 6cm diameter ice cream scooper or 34 using a 4cm diameter scooper.

Dry Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup Black cocoa powder
1/4 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/4 cup walnuts
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients
1 cup vegan cane or beet sugar
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup sunflower oil
6 tablespoons aquafaba (chickpea bean water)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line a big baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a big bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk the aquafaba until it is foamy. Add the sugar, oil and vanilla and whisk to combine.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon into a dough.

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Using the ice cream scooper, scoop out the dough, pressing it onto the side of the bowl to pack it well, and then drop onto the sheet with a bit of space in between the cookies.

Bake for 20 minutes. When the cookies are cool to the touch, gently move them onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

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Meyer Lemon Coconut Sugar Cookies

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I love Meyer lemons. They are kind of like a combo between oranges and lemons. They are sweet yet tangy. The peel is soft and so the zest is a great addition to salads, dressings or whatever else. I have made a few different things with them this season, starting with these delightful little cookies. I also preserved them (post coming soon!). Hopefully you can still find some wherever you are.

I googled vegan lemon cookies and found this recipe. I tweaked it just slightly. I use coconut sugar and left out the zest but check out the original recipe if you want to include it. These little gems are delicious. We are in love.

This recipe makes 48 cookies using a 1 tablespoon ice cream scooper. (If you want to make bigger cookies, bake for 1 to 2 minutes longer.)

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups coconut sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sunflower oil
1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Line 2 big baking sheets with parchment.

Sift the flour and baking soda into a mixing bowl. Add the coconut sugar and salt and mix together.

Pour the oil, lemon juice and vanilla into a 2 cup measuring cup. Pour the whole thing into the dry ingredients and mix until it comes together.

Scoop up the batter and drop onto the baking sheet leaving a bit of space all around.

Bake for 8 minutes. When the timer goes off, take the cookies out of the oven. They will be puffy but as they cool, they will flatten out.

Enjoy!

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Fab Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Isa Moskowitz makes rosemary chocolate chip cookies. And so now, I do too! I used my own fab chocolate chip cookie recipe so that I didn’t have to learn a new one. I love the texture of the cookies from aquafaba – chewy on the inside, slightly crunchy around the edges. All I did was add a bunch of rosemary. How easy is that?

If you have your own chocolate chip recipe that you love, use it – it is really all about the combo of rosemary and chocolate. As Isa says, it is a magical unicorn combo that is other worldly.

I will be making a lot of these all holiday season and giving them out in little packages to friends and family!

Makes 9 cookies using a 3 tablespoon ice cream scooper

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
A tablespoon of chopped rosemary, about 2 small sprigs
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels)
1/4 cup sunflower oil
3 tablespoons aquafaba
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Chop the rosemary very finely.

Mix the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Add the oil, aquafaba and vanilla and mix well until a dough forms.

Using the ice cream scooper, scoop out the dough onto the sheet with a bit of space in between the cookies.

Bake for 15 minutes. They will be puffed up and won’t look done. Let the cookies cool so they can finish their magic outside of the oven and deflate into these perfectly chewy and crispy cookies. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

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These are fun and easy cookies to make. I brought them as gifts to a family gathering, three in each little bag, and they were a big hit!

These measurements make about 2 dozen cookies using a 3 tablespoon ice cream scooper.

Dry Ingredients
1 1/3 cups oats
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup vegan sugar
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon each baking soda and baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients
1 big banana
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup vegan milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix the dry ingredients in a big bowl.

In a small bowl, mash the banana. Add the oil, milk and vanilla and mix well. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well until it all comes together.

Scoop the mixture with an ice cream scooper, pack it up against the side of the bowl, and the scoop onto the baking sheet. Bake for 12 – 13 minutes. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies

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It’s cooke Sunday. When I saw this recipe on Chef Linda’s blog – she is the Director of Compassionate Cuisine at The Catskill Animal Sanctuary – I went into my pantry and luckily I had all of the ingredients on hand except I subbed sunflower oil for coconut oil. They came out fantastic – they are gluten-free and full of good ingredients.

I have to say I am impressed with myself. I always thought the kind of cookies would be more complicated but it is really just a matter of making a thumbprint (or a spoon print!)

This recipe makes a baker’s dozen using a 3 tablespoon ice cream scooper. I like big cookies but you can easily use a smaller measure like a tablespoon (as the original recipe says to.)

1 cup whole oats
1 cup unsalted peanuts
1 cup brown rice flour
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sunflower oil (or other oil)
1/2 cup maple syrup
Jam or preserves (I used organic raspberry)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Coarsely grind the oats in the food processor. Add peanuts to the ground oats and process again until the mixture looks like sand. Add the brown rice flour, vanilla powder and salt and pulse a few times until combined.

Add the oil and maple syrup and process until the dough comes together.

Using the ice cream scooper, scoop up the dough and the roll between your hands forming a round cookie. Then press it down on the baking sheet to make a circle. Leave about 2 inches between each cookie.

Work the back of the tip of a spoon around the center of each cookie and press down to make an indentation for the jelly.

Take two spoons, and with one, scoop up some jelly and use the other spoon to push the jelly off the first spoon and into the indentation. You may have to work the dough back together if the edges break a little.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the edges turn nice and brown. Let cool completely so they have time to really firm up. Enjoy!