The PPK's Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

What better way to follow-up a preachy post about veggies than with a recipe for cookies? Even vegans have unhealthy cravings, what more can I say? It started on Saturday when Johnny and I decided to check out a restaurant in the East Village called Quantum Leap. I was a little bummed when I realized Scott Bakula was not a server, but all was redeemed when I saw that they serve vegan banana pecan pancakes! That with a side order of "soysage" made for one of the more memorable breakfasts in my recent past. Johnny opted for the vegan blueberry waffles with scrambled eggs and soysage links. Yum!

Then Sunday night, I was watching "It's Complicated" (don't judge me, I have a penchant for love stories involving 60-year-olds) and there is a scene where Meryl Streep and Steve Martin are on a date. It's late at night and they've indulged in a bit of... ahem... *smoking* and she takes him to the bakery she owns and tells him she will make him anything he wants. (Basically my dream date.) He wisely chooses a "warm chocolate croissant" and she proceeds to make it from scratch. He nearly dies when he takes his first bite.

That was it, I had to bake something immediately! I settled on these cookies from The Post Punk Kitchen and wowie zowie, I was not disappointed! These suckers fulfilled every chocolate fantasy and I just had to share the recipe. Try not to look at the nutritional info, it'll just harsh your sugar buzz. These actually turn out pretty sweet, so in the future I may only use 1 1/2 cups sugar and unsweetened almond milk... ya know, to make them "healthy"! And Johnny is a fan, though next time I may half the recipe so we don't eat 24 cookies between the two of us. Maybe they'll freeze well?

No these aren't hamburger patties, they're delicious cookies!

Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

(From The Post Punk Kitchen)

Yields 3 dozen (mine only yielded 2 dozen and they weren't that big)

Ingredients
3/4 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole flax seeds (I used ground flax seed)
1/2 cup soymilk (I used vanilla almond milk)

2 cups all purpose flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips (make sure they are vegan!)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grind the flax seeds on high in a blender until they become a powder. Add soymilk and blend for another 30 seconds or so. Set aside. **Note: Rather than dirty my blender, I just whisked together the ground flax seed with the almond milk for a few minutes and set aside to thicken. This will only work if you are starting with ground flax seed though.**

In a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a separate large bowl cream together oil and sugar. Add the flax seed/soy milk mixture and mix well. Add the vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. When it starts to get too stiff to mix with a spatula, use your hands until a nice stiff dough forms. Add the chocolate chips and mix with your hands again.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that’s about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutritional info per cookie (based on a 2 dozen yield and the ingredient swaps I used): Calories 215; Total Fat 10.9g; Saturated Fat 2.8g; Trans Fat 0g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 103mg; Carbohydrate 31.1g; Dietary Fiber 3.5g; Sugars 20g; Protein 2.3g; Vitamin A 0%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 2%; Iron 6%