So you want to make an insanely delicious vegan chocolate chip cookie, but you don’t want to use vegan butter because palm oil is a travesty. I feel you. We’re going to use sunflower oil instead! Folks, please welcome into your home, Vegan Sunflower Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Now, I know you guys have come to know me as a healthy cookie maker, and I’m a huge fan of the “healthy cookie,” don’t get me wrong. I make things like Carrot Cake Cookies and Chickpea Cookie Dough Balls and Sweet Potato Breakfast Cookies, and all sorts of other nutrient-dense snacks all the time. I love them! And I feel good eating them for breakfast.
AND also, I love a regular-ass, oily, sugary, salty, crunchy cookie. Cookies that aren’t “healthy.” Cookies that are just a treat. And just in case there’s someone out there who needs to hear this: that’s ok.
There was a time when I didn’t think there was room for this type of recipe on this blog. I’ve come to understand, however, that being overly strict with food rules is detrimental. Prohibition breeds desire! Restriction leads to binging, and trying to be perfect when it comes to food choices is a recipe for judgement and frustration.
All foods can fit into a healthy dietary pattern, cookies included.
So, this post will not be telling you about any magical, health-promoting properties of the ingredients involved. Nope, this is just a damn delicious cookie recipe. I hope you enjoy it!
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields close to 2 dozen, depending on how much dough you eat
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp molasses*
- 1/2 cup sunflower oil**
- 1/4 cup water or plant milk
- splash of vanilla extract
- 1 scant cup vegan chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
*(Don’t want to bother with molasses? You can just use brown sugar for the sugar. In other words, replace the sugar and molasses with 2/3 cup + 2tbsp brown sugar)
** I haven’t tested it, but I’m confident canola oil would be a perfectly fine substitution.
METHOD
- If you are incredibly patient: Mix up these cookies and then chill in the fridge overnight before baking. If you’re like me, proceed as follows:
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, molasses, oil, water, and vanilla until smooth. Take your time with this step.
- Pour the wet into the dry and mix well. Then fold in the chocolate chips and nuts.
- Do you have a cookie scoop? Lucky devil. Use it now. Otherwise, divide the dough into balls using any means necessary and arrange them on a lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack.
Enjoy! You just made yourself some kick ass cookies 🙂
If you’re working on your relationship with food, as in, your relationship with food feels broken and you could use some help, I have some resources for you. Intuitive Eating is a must read. I can’t recommend it highly enough. If you’d prefer something you can listen to while you’re out for walks or tooling around the house, I highly recommend the Brain Over Binge podcast, as well as the Food Psych podcast. There’s a lot of paradigm-shifting insight in both of these podcasts. Wherever you’re at in your journey, I wish you well.