Giant Bakery Style Double Chocolate Chip Cookies - Vegan

Have you ever heard chocolate chip cookies calling your name while giving your coffee order to the barista? Ever since I decided to go on an almost-vegan diet, their voices have gotten quieter and quieter. I just tell them that I'm a vegan (kind of true) and I can't eat them. It's empowering, but I still want some occasional chocolate chip cookies! Hence, the search for vegan chocolate chip cookie had begun. I found several recipes online but many of them had ingredients that I have never heard of, which means I'd have to go to a specialty store and they would probably be expensive. Then I found 'The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur'!!! Kelly Peloza, the creator of this recipe, explicitly says that "Making a batch of chocolate chip cookies shouldn’t involve running to five different health food stores searching for some elusive ingredient.” Yes, this is my kind of vegan baking! I found myself baking the following evening...

What goes in your body (8-10 giant vegan cookies ) :

• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (for melting)
• 1/2 cup soy milk
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 cups flour
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup chocolate chip

You are going to:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Melt the chocolate chips with 1/3 cup of the soy milk in either a microwave or in a glass dish placed in a saucepan of boiling water (makeshift double-boiler).
3. Pour the melted chocolate and soy milk into a large bowl, then add the rest of the soy milk, oil, vanilla, sugar, and cornstarch.
4. Add in the flour (unsifted), cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir until thoroughly mixed, then add the chocolate chips. (Look at this rich chocolaty dough, and it's safe to eat!)
   
   

5. Using your hands, grab handfuls of cookie dough and flatten them out to a little thicker than a 1/2″ on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 
6.  Bake for about 15 minutes (shorter if you made smaller cookies) or until the edges are very firm, and the centers look chewy and feel soft to the touch. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for a minute or so, then very carefully transfer to the cooling rack.

 Secrets from the chef:

• When purchasing chocolate chips, read the ingredients carefully as some of them contain milk. 
• Surprise your non-vegan friend with this yummy cookie! 

I can't wait for her book 'The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur: Over 140 Simply Delicious Recipes That Treat the Eyes and Taste Buds' to come out in November. Perfect time for a Christmas gift! (Hint, hint...)

Bon appétit!