Vegan Brownie Cookies
These vegan brownie cookies are having a mid-life crisis, but in the best way possible. They're the perfect balance between a brownie and a cookie, and I don't think it's fair to make them decide what they have to be. Labels are sooo 2018.
These also might as well be called Super Bowl cookies, because they are a great dish to bring to a party to impress your friends, they are the best cookies I've had all year, and because I did in fact make these for the Super Bowl. Oh, and they're vegan and still very soft, melty and chocolate-y so they're pretty much the perfect cookie.
I'm a huge fan of melty vegan chocolate chip cookies finished off with a sprinkling of flaked sea salt. To beginning bakers, adding salt to sweet dishes may seem odd since salt is seen as a savory flavor, but salt is totally necessary to all baking. Salt is a flavor enhancer, and it perfectly tones down the cloying sweetness that you may find in some desserts, and it deepens the flavors as well. Salt is a necessity, and even though these brownie cookies will still taste great without flaked sea salt on top, I highly recommend you consider it.
My long-time blog readers will know by now that cookies are my absolute favorite thing to bake, and these easy brownie cookies don't disappoint. They've chewy, chocolatey, gooey, and vegan! You can't go wrong with this one :)
P.S. Trader Joe's chocolate is accidentally vegan, and I use their chocolate for my vegan recipes. You can also find tons of vegan chocolate options these days at your local grocery store, or Whole Foods.
Recipe
Ingredients
7 ounces vegan semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 TBSP vegan butter, room temperature
2 flax eggs
2 TBSP freshly brewed espresso or strong coffee, slightly cooled
1½ tsp pure vanilla extract
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup mini vegan chocolate chips, divided
flakey sea salt for sprinkling
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a double boiler on low heat, melt together the semisweet chocolate, unsweetened chocolate and vegan butter, stirring frequently. Remove from heat once chocolate has melted. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together flax eggs, espresso and vanilla until combined. Add the granulated sugar and mix on low until thick and creamy.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
Add the melted chocolate mixture to the flax egg and sugar mixture and blend on low speed until combined.
Add the flour mixture gradually and stir until ingredients are barely combined. You should still see some bits of flour in the batter. The batter will be thin, similar to cake batter.
Gently fold in ¾ cup of the vegan chocolate chips, reserving a ¼ cup for the tops of cookies. Do not over mix.
Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
When ready to bake, let dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before you begin to scoop dough.
Scoop dough two TBSP at a time and roll into uniform balls. Place cookie dough balls on cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Press 4-5 mini chocolate chips on the tops of each cookie ball.
Bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until edges are set but center of cookie still looks slightly under-baked. Allow to rest 3 minutes on the cookie sheets and then remove to a cooling rack to cool.
Adapted From: Browned Butter Blondie