Since it’s my birthday, I’ve decided to break the birthday cake rules, and bake cookies! I’ve never been a big fan of cake (aside from the frosting of course), but cookies hold a special place in my heart and appetite. My favorite cookies are still the chocolate chip cookies in Go Dairy Free. It’s just hard to beat the traditional desserts. But, for a birthday cookie, I felt like I needed to bake something extra special, something that was a little Super Natural, if you will. So I made these vegan mesquite chocolate chip cookies.
With a bag of fresh mesquite flour in hand, I’ve adapted Heidi Swanson’s famed recipe to be dairy-free and egg-free (see notes below if you prefer eggs in your cookies)! And no, I didn’t simply add an egg replacer and margarine. I re-crafted the original to be delicious in its own right, made with healthier ingredients, and completely margarine- and butter-free. Trust me, these vegan mesquite chocolate chip cookies are amazing! I had a hard time keeping my husband from eating that very last cookie pictured above.
David Lebovitz also made a version of these cookies, and he thought you could substitute buckwheat flour for the mesquite in a pinch. But I think these vegan mesquite chocolate chip cookies would work well with carob or cocoa powder swapped in for the mesquite flour, if needed.
Special Diet Notes: Vegan Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, nut-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian.
Do you prefer eggs? These really are amazing as is, so I saw no reason to test them with eggs. But, if are a die hard egg fan, feel free to sub two eggs for the flax / milk mixture in these cookies. It should work well.
- 6 tablespoons dairy-free milk beverage (I used unsweetened hemp milk, but any type will do)
- 4 teaspoons flaxseeds, finely ground (about 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed)
- 1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
- ½ cup mesquite flour
- 1 cup quick oats (can sub rolled oats if desired, but I prefer the quick oats)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup grapeseed oil or other neutral-tasting baking oil
- 2 tablespoons honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Whisk together the milk beverage and ground flax in a mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the two flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Returning to the flax mixture (which should have thickened a bit), blend in the sugar, oil, liquid sweetener, and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients and stir until well incorporated.
- Stir in the chocolate chips. The dough will be quite thick, so you may need to press some of the chocolate chips into the dough.
- Roll the dough into balls roughly the size of ping pong balls, and flatten them to about ½-inch thick on the baking sheet. They will spread a bit while baking, but not much.
- Press any chocolate chips stragglers into the cookies.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. You want to underbaked these if anything. They will just be beginning to set.
- Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
5 Comments
This looks yummy.can I substitute 1 1/2 cups almond flour for the w-w flour as I’m gluten feee?
Hi Hilary, you should be able to sub most gluten-free flour blends, but almond flour straight up isn’t a great 1:1 sub for wheat. It’s heavier and fattier than flour, so it doesn’t perform the same.
Can u substitute normal flour instead of mesquite flour?
I would use cocoa powder or carob powder as a substitute. It isn’t the weight or consistency of traditional flour and does add flavor.
I just love these cookies…I added maca powder too. I also put in ground up brazil nuts which was yummy. Thank you for this awesome recipe. My boyfriend and I just recently went vegan and we are loving our new found creativity.