Tags
cookies, faux egg, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, psyllium egg, vegan, vegan cookies, vegan egg, vegan egg replacer
You just can’t go wrong with these cookies. You can make them healthy, you can make them sweet, or add nuts or go crazy and add chocolate chip! They will still forgive you, and become cookies that won’t disappoint! Obviously, based on how much fat or sugar or whether you put chocolate chip or whole wheat flour in them, they will differ in taste. But the amazing thing is they still form into a cookie shape and they still will taste like a yummy oatmeal cookie that won’t disappoint!
The secret is my new discovery of using psyllium husk as vegan faux egg! Using ground flax seed plus water as egg replacer in baking is no vegan secret. What makes it a great egg replacer is that when flax seed meal is mixed into water and rested for a while, it turns into a gel like consistency somewhat like a gently whipped egg. Well, I knew psyllium also has that quality, but even more so, and apparently others have thought this too, as clearly evident from a mere google search. You know the song by The Platters, “The Great Pretender”? Well I have this image of the little psyllium husks singing it while they swim in the water, as they claim to be the best pretenders of eggs! I know…I have a wild imagination!
- 1/2 cup Earth Balance, softened (or 1/4 cup EB + 1/4 cup apple sauce)
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp psyllium husks + 1/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup unbleached flour (or whole wheat flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)
With a hand mixer or Kitchen Aid, mix EB, sugar and vanilla, and in a bowl or measuring cup mix the psyllium and water together (it will get thick pretty quickly, 20-30 seconds), and add that to the mixture, and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients, except the raisins, nuts and chip. Add the dry to the wet mixture and give it a good mix, and stir in the raisins, nuts and/or chocolate chips. I don’t like huge cookies, so I put a tablespoon of cookie dough at 1/2″ increments. Then flatten them out a little bit and put them in the fridge for 1/2 – 1 hour. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 10-15 minutes. It really depends on how much you’ve flattened them out. If you like crispy cookies, flatten them a lot and keep an eye out for them at 10-12 minutes. If you like chewy cookies, don’t flatten them too much, and look for them at 12-15 minute range. They really are forgiving BUT it is a small batch, maybe about 20 or so small cookies…so as forgiving as they are, don’t share them 😉