Double Chocolate Chippers // Cleaning Up 26

Underneath piles of wood, leaves, and old broken down planters, lay pretty little red brick stepping stones. I had to dig them up. Brush off the dirt. Re-position them.

It took three cartfuls to carry away all the junk. It still needs a lot of work.

And I thought. Why would anyone live with all of this trash, when they could have enjoyed the red brick stepping stones lying underneath it all?

Remember these little tummy aches? It took me three days to officially throw them out.

Why would I live for so long with cookies that made me feel sick, when I could have been enjoying these happy little festive things?

Boo!

Samuel and I got along very well with these cookies. I honestly have not seen him love a cookie this much.

They very quickly met their demise.

Chocolate, oil free with amazing texture, oats, coconut, craisins and the occasional chocolate chip.

Dunked in milk? Heaven.

I am off to go make some more.

Right after I tell you the recipe.

Double Chocolate Chippers
Adapted from Dreena Burton's, "Let Them Eat Vegan!"

Note From Ashlee: I've discovered that it's the chocolate chips that cause my tummy aches, not cocoa powder. Therefore, I used only 2 Tbsp. of chocolate chips, but you can feel free to increase that amount. These cookies have some serious satiation power with the oats and other components. They make me feel great when I eat them. If you would rather have oil in your cookie, replace the soy yogurt and the almond butter with 1/4 cup neutral-flavored oil. But the oil free texture is amazing. I recommend it.

Ingredients:

1 cup sifted spelt flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup finely shredded coconut
1/2 cup craisins
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup unrefined sugar (I cheated and used white sugar!)
2 TBSP to 1/3 cup nondairy chocolate chips (use combination of white and dark if you want)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder (High Altitude: 1/2 teaspoon baking powder)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (High Altitude: 1/8 teaspoon baking soda)
1/3 cup, slightly over-flowing, maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons, heaping, almond butter
1 tablespoon soy yogurt, applesauce, or chia seed gel (I used soy yogurt)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients (including the chips or your substitute of choice). Sift in the baking powder and baking soda, and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the maple syrup with the vanilla, then stir in the almond butter and soy yogurt (or replace with 1/4 cup of neutral-flavored oil)until well mixed. Add the wet mixture to the dry, and stir until just incorporated. If they are oil free, you will get quite the arm workout stirring these.

Place spoonfuls of the batter (about 1 tablespoon) on the prepared baking sheet and flatten a little. (If they are oil free, you may need to smash them down quite a bit). Bake for 11 to 12 minutes (mine were perfect at 11 minutes, 11 minutes if your cookies are smaller, 12 if they are larger).

Remove from the oven, let cool on the pan for a minute (not too much longer, to prevent drying, and if they are oil free I would remove the cookies from the pan immediately). Then transfer to a cooling rack.

If This Apron Could Talk: If cookie batter is dry when mixing, add another teaspoon of maple syrup plus 1 teaspoon of oil (or soy yogurt) and incorporate. The batter should be thick and somewhat moist, but not too moist, so go easy with incorporating more wet ingredients.




The kids and I have actually been having a lot of fun cleaning up our cottage, which we have now lovingly nicknamed, "26."

It's helped keep me occupied and productive, while Paul is away. We are trying to get it ready so we can have an open house tomorrow. Paul says we lose $26 a day on #26, when we don't have it rented out. Ha. Numbers man.

Do you have costumes yet? Are you going to dress up, or just your kids? I have no idea what I will do! Essie wants to be a cheerleader, Samuel, a fireman, and Megan is going to be a flower. YAY! I love Halloween!

I thought it might be fun to have a recipe round-up the day before Halloween, of recipes that would complete your healthful holiday. What do you think?

And yes, we are one of those families who is actually going to give out Halloween candy, not pencils and toothbrushes. Probably skip the milk chocolate stuff. How about you? What are you planning to give to trick-or-treaters?

I hope you have a great weekend, and enjoy the anticipation of Halloween!