Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you have never had vegan chocolate chip cookies, you are missing out! I honestly have to say that they are ten times better than regular chocolate chip cookies. It is a little taste of heaven...or 6 or 7 tastes. And you can even eat the raw cookie dough because there are no eggs. This might also come as a shock...are you ready for it...there is NO butter in these cookies. You say, "No butter? Well how can that be? You can't make cookies without butter." And to that I reply, YES YOU CAN! Vegans know how to do it. Especially this one vegan by the name of Isa Chandra Moskowitz, one of my veg heroes. She is amazing and so is the food she creates. I have 3 of her cookbooks...thanks to various family members! Shannon made these the other night and they turned out absolutely perfect. You can even see a bit of her shadow in the picture. Thanks babe! Enough congratulatory talk you say, show us the cookies!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes two dozen two inch cookies or about 16 three inch cookies

1/2 brown sugar
1/4 white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

Mix together sugars, oil, milk and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important that you don’t get lazy about that step. Mix in the vanilla.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stuff so use your hands to really work them in.

For 3 inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes – no more than 9 – until they are just a little browned around the edges. I usually get 16 out of these so I do two rounds of eight cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

For 2 dozen two inch cookies roll dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches and bake for only six minutes.