Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe at simple-nourished-living.com.  This is hands down the best "healthy" chocolate chip cookie recipe I've ever had.  I have experimented with a few and this one is leaps and bounds better than all of the others.  It tastes so good you would never know there isn't sugar, eggs, and butter in these.  Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup rolled oats

6 tablespoons canola, safflower, or sunflower oil (I used grapeseed oil)

6 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chocolate chip or vegan carob cookies (I use Enjoy Life brand- they are sugar, dairy, & soy free)

1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional- I didn't use nuts)

1 cup barley flour (I used spelt)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Directions

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Position one of your oven’s racks in the center. Preheat oven to 350 F. Process the oats in a food processor or blender until they are the consistency of coarse flour. (I didn't do this I just left the oats in there whole form.)

In a large bowl mix all ingredients until well combined.

With a small ice cream scoop or two 2 spoons, scoop out a heaping tablespoon of the batter onto the prepared cookie sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly with damp fingers or the bottom of a flat glass (Dip the glass in water first to prevent sticking.)

Bake one cookie sheet at a time on the center rack, for 11 minutes. 

Makes about 2 dozen

Sugar-Free No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I was craving those chocolate no-bake cookies tonight but didn't want to make the traditional recipe due to the refined sugars and high butter content in them so I set out on a quick search and found this recipe at food.com.  I made some minor adjustments to this recipe but it is so flexible that you really can't go wrong with it and I totally enjoyed every bite of every cookie I ate AND best part...it seriously took 5 minutes to make these...I love quick things.

*I just made these again with a few adjustments that I think I like better.  Agave is 1.5 times sweeter than sugar so I reduced the agave amount to 3 tablespoons instead of 1/3 cup and I used 1/4 cup milk instead of 3 tablespoons.  

Image from the royalcook.blogspot.com

Sugar-Free No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

3 tablespoons milk (I used 1/4 cup)
1/3 cup agave nectar (I used 3 tablespoons instead of 1/3 cup. You can use pure maple syrup as well.)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder (I used 2)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup all natural/organic peanut butte
1/8 cup wheat germ (heaping)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground flax seeds (optional)
1 cup quick oatmeal

Directions

Heat milk, agave, and cocoa powder over high heat until boiling, stirring constantly.
Take off heat and stir in vanilla and peanut butter; stir until peanut butter has melted completely.
Stir in wheat germ and oatmeal.
Drop by large spoonfuls onto wax paper or eat immediately.

*As I noted above, this recipe is VERY flexible. If you don't have wheat germ or flax seed, just use more oatmeal. The recipe above should work out just perfectly and does most of the time, but if your cookies come out crumbly, use less oatmeal next time. If they never set, use more oatmeal next time.

**Instead of flax seed and wheat germ I used unsweetened shredded coconut and chopped almonds.

Nikki's Healthy Cookies (aka Banana Batter Cookies)

Another great recipe from 101cookbooks.com.  I love love these cookies and the best part- They are healthy! (minus the chocolate chips of course.) I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Nikki's Healthy Cookies

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil- the recipe tastes great with either one of the oils)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal (if you don't have almond meal you can grind up whole or slivered almonds in a food processor or quality blender, like a blendtec, until the almonds are the texture of sand.  If you over process the almonds you will end up with almond butter.)
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes. (15 minutes is perfect for my oven.)

Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Who knew a peanut butter cookie with not sugar, butter, or eggs could be so irresistible?  I love this recipe and when I'm over indulging in these yummy cookies I like to think of them as more of a "protien bar" or circle for that matter :)

I found this recipe at 101cookbooks.com.  I love this site, it is an online healthy recipe journal.  It would be worth your time to checkout. I made one small tweek to the recipe.  The recipe is as follows:

Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups whole wheat flour (I grind mine fresh to maximize nutrients)

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1 cup organic natural peanut butter (you can use chunky peanut butter if you prefer- a peanut butter that doesn't separate with the oil on top will work best for these cookies)

1 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. in a separate larger bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined. Pour the flour mixture over the peanut butter mixture and stir until barely combined - still a bit dusty looking. Let sit for five minutes, give one more quick stir, just a stroke or two. Now drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Press down on each one gently with the back of a fork. It's a loose batter, so if you're set on doing criss-crosses, go ahead and chill the batter for an hour or so before this step. Bake for 10, maybe 11 minutes - but don't over bake or they will be dry. Let cool five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Make 2 - 3 dozen cookies.