Why deprive a child with diabetes, or anyone for that matter, of a chocolate chip cookie? These cookies are made by modifying “America’s favorite cookie recipe,” but the ingredients are switched out with healthier, whole plant-based ingredients. Tahini (sesame seed butter) and apple sauce take the place of 1 cup of butter. These sources contain fiber, so the amount of flour is reduced to compensate and reduce dryness of the dough. The sugar is replaced with mostly date sugar, but for those who enjoy a little bit of crispness around the edges of their cookies, the dough can be lightly coated with some pure sugar cane.
For you raw cookie dough lovers: Though very rare, there are some concerns of flour contamination. To eliminate that concern, flour can be spread out on a baking mat and heated at 400 degrees for 3-5 minutes or placed in microwave for about a minute. There is no raw egg to worry about in this recipe, either. Crushed flaxseed gel works beautifully as an egg replacement in baked goods.
DRY INGREDIENTS
1 ¾ cups whole grain flour (reduced from 2 ¼) or a combination of flour and oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt + 1 teaspoon soy powder (or soybeans) to help buffer damaging effects of salt, to taste/health
OTHER INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup seed butter (ex. tahini), nut butter, ripe avocado (green in color), or banana (if banana flavor is acceptable)
1/2 cup apple sauce
2 flax eggs (2 tablespoon crushed flaxseed + 6 tablespoons water. Allow to set for 10 minutes to gel)
1 ½ cups date sugar and some pure cane sugar combined until palate adjusts to more date sugar. Date sugar is a whole food healthy sweetener whereas pure cane sugar contains very little remaining nutrients after molasses extraction and processing.
1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder, paste, or extract
1 – 1 ½ cups plant-based semisweet nondairy chocolate chips (2 cups is excessive, most contain refined oil. Check labels)
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional, but provide healthy omega oil and other nutrients
PREPARATION
Combine crushed flaxseed and water and allow 10 minutes to set until gelled.
Combine DRY INGREDIENTS in one bowl and combine OTHER INGREDIENTS, except for chips, in another.
Combine all ingredients and refrigerate dough for about an hour to make dough less sticky and rolling and shaping cookies easier.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Use some flour on your hands to make dough less sticky and roll easier. Consider a light coating of cane sugar to add some crispness.
Place uncooked cookie balls on a baking sheet and press to flatten them into a cookie shape before baking them
(the extra fiber makes them hold their shape)
Bake cookies for 7-10 minutes or until lightly browned (depends on size of cookies)
or for chocolate chip brownies:
Spread dough out in an 8×10″ nonstick baking dish or baking mold.
Bake brownies for 15-25 minutes depending on thickness and preference.