Vegan Powerhouse cookies
When I was growing up you always heard a lot about Nestle Toll House cookies. I never understood the name, but if those were toll house cookies, then these are Powerhouse Cookies!
I guess another, slightly less catchy name for these would be “everything but the kitchen sink” cookies. These cookies are not for the fainthearted. They are not for anyone looking to lose weight. They are packed with energy. The kind of energy you might need on a winter hike, in-between periods when you’re playing a game of ice hockey, before a cross-fit workout, when you’re chopping wood for the fireplace or if you’re a bear waking up from hibernation. None of them applies to you? Uh, well, that’s OK, you can eat ’em anyway!
Before you scroll on by and head to the recipe, let’s take a minute to talk egg replacements. In a 100% plant-based recipe, we skip eggs. The two most common reasons for including egg in a recipe, when you are baking something, is to bind the ingredients together and to add moisture. But fear not, planticizing cake and cookie recipes is easy, and there are lots of ways to do it!
My favorite method of substituting eggs is to use ground flax seeds and water. While eggs contain cholesterol, flax seeds can actually help lower your cholesterol. They are also full of fiber and antioxidants, and some doctors say that they can help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. It’s important that you grind flax seeds before using them in any dish, whether in a smoothie or when baking, as our body can’t absorb all the goodness unless the husk is broken. Flax seed flavors run from mild, in the lighter varieties, to toasted and nutty in the darker ones – which are perfect in this recipe.
There are varying amounts of three different sugars in these cookies, but plain white sugar isn’t one of them. I won’t go as far as saying brown sugar is healthy, but hey, we all deserve a little treat now and then. While you’ll sometimes here molasses referred to as a “by product” or “leftover” of sugar production (making it sound bad), what’s leftover is a lot less sugar and a lot more vitamins and minerals, such as B6, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and manganese.
Then we have coconut sugar, which (in this recipe) is the best of the bunch. Apart from also containing a variety of vitamins and minerals, it contains a decent amount of inulin, a prebiotic that supports gut health, colon cancer prevention, blood sugar balance, fat metabolism and strong bones, while limiting fatty liver disease, obesity, and immunity. Now, remember, these are still sugars we’re talking about, so I’m not in any way saying you should start downing heaps and heaps of them. However, for that once-in-a-while cookie or cake that contains sugar – swapping out refined white sugar for coconut sugar and/or molasses should take a little weight off of your guilty conscience.
So, what else is in these? Well, whadaya got in the cupboard? No really, I won’t go through every ingredient one after another, but maybe wheat germ deserves an honorable mention. Although wheat germ is the most vitamin and mineral-rich part of the wheat kernel, when wheat is processed into white flour, it gets left behind. (Kind of like sugar and molasses.) Why do they do these things? Who knows? All we can do is out smart them and throw some wheat germ back into our recipe!
Despite all this talk about extra vitamins and “good for you this and that”, these cookies, like all cookies are meant to be enjoyed! And there are few people who enjoy cookies like I do. Whether or not you are also a cookie monster, I’m sure you’ll enjoy them too. They are hardy, chewy, nutty, crunchy and whatever task you may have in front of you, they’ve got your back!
So let’s hit the kitchen and bake some 100% plant-based powerhouse cookies!
Ingredients
- 2 - flax eggs* ( One egg = 1 Tbsp (15 ml) flax seeds plus 3 Tbsps (45 ml) water)
- 1 cup (2.4 dl) - vegan margarine, at room temperature
- 1 cup (2.4 dl) - light brown sugar
- ½ cup (1.2 dl) - coconut sugar
- ¼ cup (.6 dl) - black treacle*
- ⅓ cup (.8 dl) - peanut butter
- 1½ tsps (7.5 ml) - vanilla extract*
- 1½ cups (3.6 dl) - graham flour (or whole wheat flour)
- 1 cup (2.4 dl) - all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (2.4 dl) - wheat germ (vetegroddar på svenska)
- 1½ tsps (7.5 ml) - baking soda
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) - salt
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) - cinnamon
- 2 cups (4.8 dl) – oats (I love spelt and sometimes use half spelt and half oats.)
- 1 cup (2.4 dl) - raisins
- 1 cup (2.4 dl) - peanuts
- 1 cup (2.4 dl) - vegan chocloate chips (Dark chocolate, over 80% is often milk free, and therefore vegan.)
Instructions
- Grind flax seeds* and add them, and the water, to a large bowl. Mix and let gel for about 10 mins.
- Add the butter, brown sugar, molasses, peanut butter and vanilla to the bowl and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, mix the two flours, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, stirring so that all the ingredients are evenly blended.
- Add the oats and stir.
- Add the raisins, chocolate chips, and nuts. (I’m sure your bowl is quite full now, but be sure to distribute these three ingredients throughout the batter. You want to make sure that at the end, you don’t end up with too little batter and too many nuts and chips.)
- Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
- Cover two baking trays with baking paper.
- Use your hands to shape and press onto baking paper, flattening a little.
- Bake for 15 minutes. (When using two baking trays, switch them top/bottom after 7½ minutes.)
- Pull the baking paper off the tray to allow the cookies to cool. (The chocolate will still be soft and hot so try not to touch the cookies.)
Additional Info
Black treacle is a very dark British style of molasses with quite a strong flavor, similar to black strap molasses. If you prefer a lighter flavor, use light molasses.
To substitute vanilla powder for vanilla extract, use 1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) of powder for each tsp of liquid extract.