291. Chocolate Emergency Cookies

In case you didn’t guess this already, these are my new favorite cookies. To review:  I call them “Emergency” Cookies bc they bake up so fast – seriously, it just takes the laziest of stirring with a dinner spoon or fork, and your’e done.   J and I are sharing a Winter CSA (Yay!) and she came over last week to drop off some produce so I took the opportunity to bake up an Emergency Cookie variation.  Chocolate, my friends!  Chocolate is one of the areas that I give myself (lots of) leeway when it comes to veganism.  These would be vegan except that I couldn’t resist putting in a handful of the white chocolate chips that live on an upper shelf in the pantry. (Side note:  Let’s assume my white cc’s are gluten free.  I’ll go check in a minute.)  But they are still flourless, eggless, made with no added sugar, and yummy for my tummy.  Don’t let the list of dietary attributes deter you from making these – these are delightful.  And I don’t joke about cookies.  If you require true vegan/dairy-free cookies, though, just use the chips you know are sanctioned.

Chocolate Emergency Cookies

Makes 6-7 cookies; these mix up in a flash and bake up in the toaster oven.  Time elapsed from when you start mixing to when you taste one warm from the oven:  15-20 minutes

Preheat toaster oven to 350, grease a small baking sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silpat.

▪   Approx. 2/3 c almond butter

▪   1/3 c unsweetened applesauce

▪   1 Tbsp ground flax

▪   ¼ tsp baking soda

▪   splash of vanilla

▪   2 Tb unsweetened cocoa powder

▪   2 Tb unsweetened shredded coconut (or sub rolled oats)

▪   handful of white chocolate chips

Mix the almond butter and applesauce.  When combined, add everything else in.  Drop by the spoonful or use an ice cream scoop to make cookie dough lumps on a greased or silpat/parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.  Let cool a little before digging in.  Store in the freezer (if you don’t eat them all).  If not warm from the oven, I like mine straight from the freezer or barely defrosted.

Emergency Cookie Variations:

186. So Simple: Coconut Chocolate Chip Bars [from delighted momma]

I was craving cookies on Saturday so I mixed these up really quickly and put them in the toaster oven and voila!  They were done before lunchtime.  Yes, I wanted cookies right after eating breakfast.  Being me, I chose to press the dough into a pan to make bars, although Delighted Momma’s original recipe is for cookies.  Very good looking cookies, I might add.  Scooping cookies out is doable for me, but fitting an appropriate baking tray into the toaster oven isn’t, so I opted for bars.  I also only had 1/4 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut on hand instead of the full 1/2 and the taste was still fabulous.  I only added a squirt of agave instead of the 3 TB of raw honey and the taste was plenty sweet for me.  Side note:   The chocolate chip and coconut combination is like a Mounds bar – score!

I’m still trying to use up the little bag of coconut flour that Mommy bought, and these were so good that I might have to start buying coconut flour in earnest.  The good part is that most recipes only use a little bit of it, so a little goes a long way because it’s really absorbent.  How do I know?  Elana says so.  These cookies/bars call for a full cup, but I might decrease it next time, especially if I add the full amount of coconut.  I already added some splashes of almond milk to help me mix this time, and I think the batter’s texture might benefit from some more moisture, but we’ll see.  As it was, I was very happy with the results.  So happy, in fact, that it was a good thing that RSKL came to visit, because I gave the majority of the bars to her (my GF friend), otherwise they would have all ended up in my tummy!

If you prefer no-holds barred baking:

34. (Tough) Cookie Monster

Did you catch my update on my ENT appointment yesterday?

Ed had a great time at the ENT’s office…