Super-Natural Double Chocolate Chunky Cookies
Loaded with whole grains, and exclusively sweetened with natural maple syrup, these mindful double chocolate chunk cookies are made super chunky by Santé coconut sugar baking chips. These vegan cookies lack nothing in decadence, love a glass of milk, and are easy to make gluten-free by substituting in your favorite cup-for-cup gluten-free flour mix. Developed by Ayurvedic chef & athlete Lentine Alexis.
Ingredients
3 cups gluten-free rolled oats (such as Bob’s Red Mill)
1 1/2 cups raw almonds
1 1/2 cups whole-grain all purpose flour (or your favorite gluten-free cup-for-cup flour mix)
1/2 cup raw cacao powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon (such as Diaspora Co.)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup extra virgin coconut oil (melted)
1 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup cacao nibs
2 cups Guittard 72% Santé Baking Chips made with Coconut Sugar
Directions
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Preheat oven to 325°F degrees.
Onto the baking sheet lined with parchment, spread the oats and almonds into two separate little rows - you want them to stay separate from each other, but you don't want them piled so the ingredients toast evenly. Place the oats and almonds in the preheated oven and toast until just aromatic, 13-14 minutes. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature on the baking sheet. Then, scoop the almonds off of the sheet pan and place them on a cutting board along with a handful of the oats. Use the parchment paper as a sling to transfer the remaining toasted oats to a large bowl, then return the parchment paper to the baking sheet. (It can be reused to bake your cookies!)
Then, with a large chef’s knife, roughly chop all toasted almonds and about half of toasted oats (this can also be done by gently pulsing in food processor.) Place the ingredients in the large bowl with the remaining unchopped oats. Add the flour, cacao powder, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and chocolate chips and cacao nibs to the bowl and stir with a spatula to combine. Set aside.
Melt coconut oil (this can be done by placing a jar of solid coconut oil in a pot of hot water for a few minutes or in the microwave.) To the melted oil, add the vanilla extract and the maple syrup and whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the mixed dry ingredients and stir with a large spoon or spatula until well combined. Mix with a large spoon until integrated. Then, refrigerate the cookie dough for 20 minutes to let it firm so it's ready to shape.
Remove cookie dough from the fridge and, using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, scoop out portions of cookie dough, shape them with your hands into mounds and place them on the cookie sheet, roughly 2" apart (you may need to bake the cookies in two stages to allow for enough space.) Repeat with the remaining dough. Bake the cookies for 18-21 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool completely on the cookie sheet, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week (if the batch lasts that long!)
