Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

I love chocolate chip cookies. Loving chocolate chip cookies seems to be the consensus among most of the US population. I’m sure the statistics run in the millions of chocolate chip cookies sold and consumed each year, the amount of chocolate chips sold, etcetera. I always like baking chocolate chip cookies. They wicked easy to make and taste really damn good. It was something I could do with my brothers, who would sit and eat the dough (my brother Anderson, also took to eating a spoonful of brown sugar every time I made cookies… something I also did… ah my youthful days). It was something I could do while talking on the phone, which is what I did last night while I spoke on the phone with Amy (Luxenburger). I haven’t made regular chocolate chip cookies for awhile, as I generally prefer the texture of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and like to fool myself into thinking that they are healthier. I still haven’t rewritten the cookie recipe named after Katie, and I knew that my brothers might not like them for various reasons. So, I had prepared to mess around with the original Toll House recipe until I opened, as fate would have, directly to Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s own chocolate chip cookie recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance. Feeling lazy, I opted to do her recipe as opposed to recreating my own, I tweaked with it a little however to suit my own personal preferences. I like these warm and gooey with a class of cold soy milk or ice water depending on my mood).

Recipe for Isa Chandra’s “There’s nothing healthy about these…”* Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, at room temperature. (Use Earth Balance if you can get it)

1 ¼ cups of sugar

1 tablespoon of molasses

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract (don’t use imitation… gross)

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups of semisweet chocolate chips (or chunks, which were the only vegan chocolate I was able to find. Don’t get my started on my rant about chocolate distributors).

 

 

Optional ingredients:

1 teaspoon extra molasses

½ teaspoon cinnamon (I add cinnamon to just about everything I bake that contains chocolate)

 

 

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F. (Buy an oven thermometer, they’re cheap and save you a lot of grief)

2. Cream together margarine and sugar until well combined and fluffy.

3. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) and mix until combined. (Don’t overmix the dough as you want to avoid making too much gluten)

4. Form cookies and place them a decent distance apart, approximately two or three inches.

5. Bake for 8-12 minutes (depending on your oven), or until golden.

6. Let cool for a few moments before transferring them to a cooling rack or onto a plate.

*This isn’t the actual name of the cookie, but I added that to highlight that they aren’t something you’d get at a health food store. I titled these after what she had written about them along with the recipe. They aren’t healthy, but sometimes you need to indulge and/or play with fire a little. I just suggest not eating them for breakfast like I did this morning.